Monday 27 November

Hello
Back to the grind. Walked a dog then went downtown for an apt. Saw this charter school. Wonder what they teach there.
Geez that Swiss-Chez Eagles defense was embarrising!! More later

Lower Merion High 25th Reunion

Hello
It was held at the Hilton in Valley Forge Pa. Dinner was very good and those who showed up had a fun time. Here are some pictures. Thank you to Jeff and Rich for organizing this one. Hope we can do it again for number 30!

Penn Valley Choir 1976

In keeping with going back to the past, Here is a album from the Penn Valley Elementry School Choir in the year 1976. The choir director was Tom Flocco who had the choir tour like it was a band. He is the man on the right with the white leasure suit next to the gray-suited Congressman I was in 7th grade when this came out. My brother is on the 1st row 3rd from the left. I was in it back in 1975. The picture was taken in Washington DC along with the Congressman Larry Caughlin. In 1976 Frank L. Rizzo was mayor of Philly and the 1st Rock flick came out

Thanksgiving 2006

It was a mellow time. We ate the excellent turkey and fixins from Zelphy's. The pumkin pie was to die for! It had a nice molassas and cinnamon taste. We then watched the Cowbows THUMP the Bucs. One of the announcers was calling the Cowboys QB Tony Romo the best right as he was standing next to Troy Akman. It was obvious that Akman was tired of the over the top love-fest about Romo. We then came home and pretty much went to sleep. It was cool. Its now 8:30 and I think I will make some coffee. We were going to take my mother to Jim's on Main St in Millville but decided to save time and stay home. Its open from Columbus Day to Memorial Day then is closed " For the Season." Going to get ready for the Lower Merion 25th Reunion and leave for Wynnewood around 5 today.

It was 25 Years Ago

Its Thankgiving and its 4 days off of work in a row!! Having dinner early in Clarks Pond in Fairfield Twp with Densie and Jon. Tomorrow nite will be my 25 High School Reunion. Yup Lower Merion class of 1981. Thank God we have a group cause I would never go if it was just myself going. I mean 5 years ago alot of the folks REVERTED back to behavor from high school. It was fairly creepy and distirbing. I think so cause I was not Mr. Popular and did not hang with the spoiled buttheads. Some act like in high school but with kids and a gut. It will be a trip though. Hope to get some good photos of folks. Its in Valley Forge instead of Center City Philly but we are staying the night so it will not be too bad. The photo on the left is yours truly in the Summer of 1981 with my Step-Father Bob. We moved right after Graduation and I went to a College called Webster University in St. Louis. I lasted one year and had to get the hell out. More on another posting.

Dear Gov. Rendell

I think this letter says it all:

We the members of SEIU Local 668/PSSU and employees of the County Assistance Offices strongly urge you to increase staffing in our offices. During the past several years there have been considerable cuts in staff while at the same time the welfare rolls have increased. Additionally, we have worked very hard to decrease the Food Stamp Quality Control error rate and to meet the Work Participation Rate. The Office of Income Maintenance has attempted to deal with the staffing shortages by simplifying regulations and decreasing contact with our customers. They have also paid considerable amounts of the taxpayers’ money to consulting firms to devise projects such as the Model Office, which has been an utter failure.

Our members know that there are better ways to save money and cutting staff is not one of them. We strongly believe that increasing staff will lead to more of our customers leaving the welfare rolls by helping them to become self sufficient. Also, it will lead to eliminating fraud. The combination of less staff, simplifying regulations, including less verification of income, expenses and residence, and less client contact, can only result in an increase in fraudulent cases. Additionally, our union has proposed ways to help clients and to improve verification of income that have been mostly ignored.

You will be sending your new budget to the legislature in the coming months. We hope that you reverse this trend in cutting staff and instead increase the complement of the County Assistance Offices. We believe that doing so will be a benefit to both our customers and the taxpayers. Given the increase in the costs of Medical Assistance and Long Term Care it is essential that only those who are eligible receive benefits.

Thank you for your consideration of this matter.

VICTORY AT LAST

WOW!! The Senate and the House! Good bye Rick Santorum and Rumsfeld
This is unbelieveable
What a birthday present for me and our country a real 2 party govt.

Pizza Time

Hello.
I decided for my birthday to drive on down to good ole West Philly (e.g. Univ. City, the hood) to partake in a Pizza Tasting event. It was the 2nd one held. I missed the 1st one 2 years ago. Dan Myers ran the contest and Melini held it at her nice home. I think the one I like ended up being College Pizza. I thought it was Colonial Pizza since I lived on the same block 15 years ago. It was very fun. They even sang Happy Birthday to me as well. As this morning ELECTION DAY, no results have been posted. I did not see ANY Dibold's there so I feel my vote will not be shredded

45 and Feeling Alive

Yes, Its my birthday and here I am at the Arts Center after finishing painting the 2nd coat on the the pedestals behind me. We are going to eat at Zelphy's at 5:30 tonite. I then am off to Philly for errends and a pizza tasting contest. This is being run by folks on a listserv I am in. Go to www.purple.com and follow the instructions if you dare.
Lets hope for a SMASHING Democrat victory in 2 days!

Almost 45

Hello.
As I sit here with my cat on my lap and 30 min from my birthday. I think of how random life can be. One picture you see is the President of the University of Pennsylvania at her yearly Holloween party.
on Oct 31st. The man on left is a student who decided to dress as a suicide bomber. Its caused an uproar in Philly and on the Penn campus. Oh well, what can I say about this in George Bush's America.
On a brighter note. First Friday in Bridgeton was pretty cool. We went to Brenners Brew saw some art and hung out before going to gallery 50 an afterparty. Today, I painted several items at the art center and got some coffee and smoothies. YUM!! It was a mellow way to forget about my work drama. Good nite. Let us hope as I get older, I get wiser. Hope springs eternal! Right??

6 Days Left

This email is to formally state that I will resign effective today November 2nd 2006 as Assistant Shop Steward of Elmwood District of Phila CAO.

Due to the illness of Shop Steward ####, I have acted as the Shop Steward of

Elmwood District. During a shop council meeting held today, it was expressed in

strong terms that I did not have the support nor respect of sizable numbers of

our shop. Certain shop council members.

Without the support OR respect from fellow shop council member and other rank and file,
it will be impossible to have a united shop during this crucial time. I do plan to attend chapter board

meetings and be involved.

You will have to speak to Mr. C or Ms. R. They have been performing the

Duties of a shop steward.

If you wish to discuss you can call me at work or better yet on my cell 215 990 6254.


In Solidarity



Mark Krull

I am Mark and I Approved this Message!

I am sitting here drinkin...coffee and reading all about that unpatrotic VET John Kerry getting SLAMMED by chickenhawks who NEVER put on a uniform. These same folks want to make dissent unpoplar by creating fear of getting attacked
They have NO shame and this is how
they get away with it. The so-called liberal media is so afraid of them that they carry water for them.
I think Kieth Olberman said it best:

Thus the President will now begin the apologies he owes our troops, right?

This President must apologize to the troops — for having suggested, six weeks ago, that the chaos in Iraq, the death and the carnage, the slaughtered Iraqi civilians and the dead American service personnel, will, to history, quote "look like just a comma."

This President must apologize to the troops — because the intelligence he claims led us into Iraq proved to be undeniably and irredeemably wrong.

This President must apologize to the troops — for having laughed about the failure of that intelligence, at a banquet, while our troops were in harm's way.

This President must apologize to the troops — because the streets of Iraq were not strewn with flowers and its residents did not greet them as liberators.

This President must apologize to the troops — because his administration ran out of "plan" after barely two months.

This President must apologize to the troops — for getting 2,815 of them killed.
This President must apologize to the troops — for getting this country into a war without a clue.

And Mr. Bush owes us an apology… for this destructive and omnivorous presidency.
We will not receive them, of course.
This President never apologizes.
Not to the troops.
Not to the people.
Nor will those henchmen who have echoed him.