Odds and Ends

My life is pretty simple. Consisting of school, riding the bus, work, riding the bus, and home. Oh yeah and riding the bus. One of my favorite things about bus culture is the fact that you can almost always find a newspaper free on the bus. It's an unspoken code amongst readers that when you're done with it, get rid of it. Just the other day as I was waiting for the bus at Fred Meyer I decided to kill time by eating and reading, after I had plunked down Mr. Washington for a paper I approached the deli only to find some kind reader had left their paper for the next traveler. Dang it. But with the advent and implementation of new technologies such as e-readers and smart phones, where will the beloved tradition end up?
Our nephew Michael is so cute. Audrey has habit of sending me pictures and videos (I think because I am the only one who can receive them that actually cares about the whipper snapper, though my dad would be all over that i'm sure). I am very excited for Thanksgiving so we can go and hang out with the family. Oh yeah, and so I can eat my heart out. Mmmmm.... food.
Read an article in the paper yesterday (which I got for free) about the HOPE scholarship, a program in Georgia which guarantees that any graduating senior with at least a 3.0 would have a full ride to any one of the state schools. Meaning F-R-E-E. The author of the article was suggesting the Oregon do what it takes to implement a similar program like the twenty other states who modeled their program after Georgia's. In comparing spending (the money comes from state lottery dollars) they showed that Georgia spent nearly FIVE times as much on higher education than Oregon (nearly half a billion dollars). Now that's impressive but what was more impressive was the feeling I got when finishing the article the author mentioned that if we wanted to get involved that all we had to do was call his friend, who's number he listed. I had never felt as I did when I read this article, the newspaper is much for stirring feelings for me, but without I doubt this is the kind of vision I want for Oregon (and really the world). I believe everyone who works hard in High School (and really... a 3.0 isn't that hard) should have that opportunity. I knew at one time Philomath did this for it's graduating seniors thanks to a generous grant from some wealthy townspeople but I would love to see the barriers to education be lowered, that money shouldn't be the deciding factor if they are willing to put in the work. Anyway I think i'll be calling this guy up and trying to help any way I can.