Basketball Saturday

Well its basketball day! Both Anna's and Hailee's team lost. It was too bad, the team Hailee played didn't have enough players to start playing, so instead of throwing in the towel, Hailee played for a little bit for the opposing team. It only lasted for a short while. Hailee did get a basket for her team. Anna did very well. She didn't get a basket but she got lots of assists.

parenting

There are times it is really difficult being a parent. It is the hardest most important job in the world. It has been done since the beginning of time, and still the human being is so complex, that we can't get it right.

The hardest thing is to remember that we are all human and emotional creatures. We always forget, children and parents, that things we say and do may hurt. This is especially hard for someone that spent 20 years in the naval submarine force.

Cookie sales

It's that time of year again, Girl Scout Cookie sales time. If you would like some please email me at djplouffe@cox.net They are $3.50 a box in Rhode Island. Every girl scout troop (by state) dictates their own price, kind of interesting concept.

They still have some of the cookies we all know:

• Carmel delights (Somoas)
• Peanut butter patties
• Shortbread
• Thin Mints (my father's favorite)
• Peanut butter sandwich
• Thanks-a-lots
• Lemonades (my favorite)
• and new this year cinna-spins (tastes like Cinnamon buns)

Basketball Sunday

It's Saturday and it's basketball! Anna's team won. Anna did get any baskets but she did get allot of assists. Hailee's team lost; however, Hailee got 10 points! She got her teams first 4 baskets and was on fire! All you could see on the court was how happy she was! I didn't get any of her baskets on video though. She is currently having her celebration Diet Coke.

Elections

We are so in need of election reforms. I think it should be illegal for a politician that is currently holding office, running for another office. Senator Chris Dodd from CT announced that he is dropping out of the presidential race. While he was running he did not participate in any CT votes. He even moved his family to Iowa, while still being the CT senator. He raised approximately 7 million dollars for his presidential run. If he only spent 5 million in his efforts, he PROFITED 2 million dollars. All while maintaining his salary from the people of CT to be senator for a job he did not do!

I wish I could work a second job, during the time I am getting paid to do my primary job!

Here an article discussing the campaign funds and how they pad thier retirements with comtributions: http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=950DE2D7143AF931A15752C0A96F948260&sec=&spon=&pagewanted=all

Stuff

I've been writing allot. I don't know, maybe its a way to vent some creative influence. Maybe its just a way to vent. Nobody likes to sit around with someone and get a lecture all the time. Since I have allot to say most of the time, I suppose writing it down is a better way to vent. You can easily just turn me off. And writing is forever, nothing is more powerful than the written word. I also have allot of articles on this associated content website. I'm actually getting addicted to it. However, no one wants to read my stuff. Too much educational and historical articles. The articles that have received the most hits have been "The best Christmas lights in New England."

I started my statistics class on the first. We were speaking in my office about stereotypes yesterday and an interesting stereotype came up. What do you think if someone stated they got their education through distance learning? The most common assumption people make is "diploma mills." Distance learning does not equal diploma mills. But this is a common assumption that some people make. Northcentral University (where I go) is fully regionally accredited and much more difficult than anything I did with the University of Oklahoma, etc. It's just an interesting stereotype that I never thought off.

Anyone looking into college or sending their kids should check out this blog: http://diplomamills.blogspot.com This website is a great resource that exposes not only diploma mills, but accreditation mills. That's right phony accreditation mills! It is scary when you look at how close these fake colleges name are so close to real colleges. Of course another great website is the US Department of Education http://www.ed.gov

Read my stuff about college, examinations and other stuff at http://www.associatedcontent.com/user/121316/david_plouffe.html

The Grind

Well it's back to work today after the long break. The kids are back to school today also. We hope everyone has had a safe New Years.

We had a bit of a scare New Years eve. My mother got admitted to the hospital. She had internal bleeding and they were not sure where it was. Come to find out she has four ulcers that might be causing the lose of blood. She is still at Sturdy Hospital in Attleboro, but the ulcers were actually good news. At 83 years old, it could have been much worse.