WobblyReport

This morning I utilized a generic, OS X native Epson driver to produce two copies of the document shown below with the FX-890 dot matrix printer shown above. 

Michigan’s Public Act 451 purports to require school to begin after Labor Day. Most Michigan schools do not. The law was a gift to the tourism industry lobby, passed by the state legislature in 2005. Educators were against it from the start, preferring local control. Exceptions within the law have allowed most schools that control. Current, local, prevailing wisdom on when to start the school year was not forthcoming last Friday afternoon, a few days before school started in Standish, Au Gres, West Branch and Mio and a few days after students’ first day in Fairview. Phones at administrative offices went to voicemail, sometimes without so much as a ring. The same went for the Michigan Association of School Boards. A representative of the Michigan Department of Education was careful to explain the department only issues waivers to districts that request them and that they do not analyze any resulting data. Off the record, he suggested collective bargaining contracts are influential i...

After Sunday’s 5k jog around the south side of Omer City, around noontime, my body was desperate to shed accumulated heat. The Rifle River Public Access provided opportunity to fully submerge. People preparing for or packing up after a float downriver were bustling around both sides of my vehicle as I returned. Using a towel, I changed into a pair of bottoms with pockets, dropped my key into one of them and locked the car doors, readying to head back down to the river for an extended cool-down. As the door swung shut and the alarm system chimed its activated status, I patted my front pocket and felt instant regret. There on the driver’s seat of the vehicle lay the key. Its friends, wallet and phone, sat in the passenger seat. As I voiced my dismay, the lot around me quickly cleared out and within minutes of the tragic blunder, I was quite alone, with nothing to do but start walking with extended thumb in the direction of the spare key, in West Branch. An Omer resident picked me up not ...

Running shorts On runs, sentences... July was a month of making up for lost training time. My log after 22 days showed more than 92 miles jogged. Here are brief reflections on some of those miles. Rifle River Recreation Area The temperature was close to 90 F (32 C) on July 5 for this jaunty two-miler through the hilly, difficult section of Rifle River Recreation Area’s trails, beginning from the parking area near Grousehaven Lake. The route is fully shaded and runs along several ridges, with the feel of a coastal trail. Two others hiked the route in the opposite direction to my own. The route is easily navigable. More loops, longer ones extending south that I explored last year, are accessible from the same parking area and trailhead. But those were for another day. The lake access was teeming with people relaxing, barbecuing and cooling off. Entry is free with a Recreation Passport, which is available as an opt-in on license plate renewal. Loud Creek Non-Motorized Trail Sys...

The petition to bring ranked choice voting to Michigan elections began circulating last week. Director Pat Zabawa reportedly logged his own signature as the campaign's first last Thursday. “One down, 446,197 to go,” said Zabawa. “Obviously, we have our work cut out for us: when we qualify for the ballot, it will have taken the biggest signature collection campaign in Michigan history. That might intimidate some campaigns, but it’s what this team is built for. We have thousands of volunteers who are very eager to win this with shoe leather and hard work. We’re now in the stage of the campaign where progress is measured in how much ink we put on paper and how many conversations we have with our friends and neighbors.” Conversations with our friends and neighbors indeed. Circulating petitions, and engaging with circulators when we encounter them in public, provide simple and direct opportunities to establish and reestablish community connections. Whether or not we agree or disagree...