Random Thursday Morning Thoughts

• I had a fantastic moment on Tuesday when my Bridgeport Fourth Grade teacher, Mrs. Hill, was on the courthouse square and just stopped by the office because she was feeling "sentimental" and just wanted to give me a hug. 
• That made me think about how people influence you as a young person. She ran her class by dividing us up into three different groups based upon the grades you had made in grades one through three. The top group received harder assignments and more homework than the lower groups. But the genius was each group competed against their peers. I told her, "You could not get away with that today." I think she wanted to go on a rant about the current state of education.
• Her late husband, V.M. Hill, may have been the greatest discplinarine I've ever seen and also had an impact on me. Crazy things I remember: I was late for his home room 7th grade class one morning (Drafting. Anyone out there know what drafting is?) I walked into the room and he stared me down in front of the quiet class and asked me why I was late. I blamed it on my mom. I still remember it: "Mr. Green, I happened to know where you live. You could have walked here and been on time if you had wanted to make the effort." I would never again be embarrassed for not making an effort.
• He was also the 7th and 8th grade football coach and it came down to a miraculous chance at a perfect season for both teams. On the 7th grade team, in the last game, I sniffed out an end around in the last two minutes against Bowie and abandoned my responsibilities as defensive end and tracked down the slot receiver as he was about to get the ball in the backfield. Much to my horror, the quarterback saw I had sniffed it out, didn't hand off the ball, and took off around the end where I was supposed to be. I don't know which teammate bailed me out, but they stopped him before he got to the end zone and we won. However, Coach Hill pulled me out of the game immediately (the first time all season) so I got to watch the win from bench. Lessons: (1) You aren't as smart as you think you are, and (2) You do your job as you have been taught. 
• Both 7th and 8th grade teams finished undefeated. V.M. Hill surprised everyone in the Spring by retiring. He went out on top.
• I can't get enough of this Donald Trump craziness.
• I've dogged Texas lawyer Tony Buzbee to no end. He's a Plaintiff's lawyer who has made a fortune, is cocky, and is on the board of regents for aTm. And this morning I see this lead sentence of a story: "After a six-day long trial, Tony Buzbee's client, the estate of Jose Flores, a seaman who died after being bitten by a spider while working on a vessel, won a $41 million jury verdict against the company that operated the ship."
• Someone dropped by a wooden hand carved cross at the office yesterday in honor of my mother. The guy who made it was featured in an article in the Messenger a while back. This has been one heck of a week. And, honestly, I want this year to be over.
• One Idiocracy thing about the Republican Debate was how many of the candidates wore red (a tie), white (shirt), and blue (suit).