Opportunities

From a telephone conversation yesterday:

Husband: Can we have steak tonight for dinner?
Me: I'm just back from the store and I picked up a package of ribeyes on special. So, yes.
Husband: It's been a hard day; I need some comfort food.

There's a contrast between men and women. Men think comfort food is steak. I say it's chocolate or mac and cheese. Mashed potatoes. Carbs. When I'm stressed or in need of special comfort, I want lots of carbs. Men are wierd.

The son has signed up for tests in his three AP classes - English, U.S. History, and Psychology. They don't happen until May but we have to pay in advance. He received credit from his one AP test last year in World Geography, with not much preparation in advance on his part, so we are hoping for good things this year. He has been told to knock himself out and be super prepared for maximum points this year. He was honored, along with the other kids earning AP points for future college credits from last year's testing, Friday with breakfast burritos and fruit plates during his first period class.

An opportunity for students maybe not planning to go on to higher education is vo-tech training within my son's high school. The school has partnered with Outback Steakhouse and has a full, completely outfitted commercial kitchen provided by the restaurant chain. The students learn restaurant management, food service training, accounting practices, inventory purchasing, etc. The whole shebang. When I toured the school, prior to sending our son there, I remember thinking what a great idea the opportunity was for those kids. The restaurant on campus sells lunches there three days a week, allowing the students to receive real life experience cooking and serving, clean up, etc. Special events happen there, too, and the breakfast for the AP students was held there Friday.

So, one advantage to sending our son to a large high school is that they can go all out on both ends of the educational spectrum - on gifted and talented, advanced placement classes as well as students not pursuing college degrees.

Are you ready for 24/7 we heart Hillary media coverage? It's here with a vengeance. For a woman who has not done a single noticeable bit of legislation in her 6 years as a Senator, she sure is touted as a capable front runner. I watched a re-broadcast of her socialized health care roll out to the congress in 1993 last night on C-SPAN. I do it so you don't have to. It is said that she was not trusted because her meetings were without sunlight and always top secret. It is said she was thought to be too arrogant, with a 'just do it, I know best', kind of attitude.

Sound familiar?

An interesting observation by columnist David Broder, of the Washington Post, in yesterday's column was the performance by Hillary in the Senate Armed Forces committee during the hearing for Gen. Petraeus. Another senator running for president on the committee, John McCain, peppered Petraeus with lots of questions, running out of time before he ran out of questions. Hillary, though, asked not one question. She used her allotted time to make a partisan speech criticizing the president and his administration.

It was quite a contrast painted by Broder. I watched the hearing. Broder is no cheerleader for this administration, no doubt about that, so I was a bit surprised to read his thoughts of the hearing. If Hillary is to be taken seriously on the policies of the war, she'll have to start showing more than partisan speeches, solely with her eye on the next election.