the random musings not worthy of new thread thread

[reese125]

yeah, no question you dont put top shelf liquor in an 8-mix drink or whatever a long island is...its pointless. On the rocks or a 1-mixer, you gotta have the goods

[Seabiscuit36]

I just got forwarded this letter after nearly 2 years.  A former teacher is ripping the current principal at my old high school about changes and some of the other teachers.  The best part is my buddy and i predicted the one teacher sleeping with the priest and the other teacher touching students when we were sophmores 8 years ago

August 17, 2006

To: Shirley Bounds

From: Christopher Novak

And so...now that I am due to receive my last pay check, I will begin responding to the many calls, letters and e-mails I've received from various members of the Saint Elizabeth Community.  And yes, my good name is slowly starting to recover from the terrible rumors you allowed to fester after my fair departure.  I am still shocked!  I gave you exactly what you wanted: I left Saint Elizabeth so that you and your Precious John could rule the "Kingdom" together.  I also fulfilled your silly list of "Items of Closure" so that you could "continue salary and benefits" which were due to me anyway.  How did you reciprocate?  You allowed my good name to be dragged through the streets of the community.  Thanks, Shirley.  You didn't have enough class or decency to stand up at an assembly and tell the kids that none of those awful rumors were true.  And god-forbid you have one of the Benedictine Sisters or that pathetically weak pastor do it in Church.  Oh, yeah...the pastor.  I wonder how well you sleep, knowing that you conspired against me with the very same conspirator I exposed for you four years ago.  I'll never forget his words as he sipped his fourth martini:

You know Chris, it's wrong to assume that Shirley Bounds is going to get the job
(Principalship) when Sister Mary Ellen retires.  We have to consider bringing in
someone new with fresh ideas, but we want you to be around for a very long time.

I'll also never forget the way he cursed at me on the phone for exposing him or the way he danced around the issue when Sister Mary Ellen confronted him.  Retaliation!  It is glaringly obvious why it was so easy for him to sign-on with Team Petruzelli, aside from the fact that Precious John is a frequent sleep-over guest in the rectory. Yes, Team Petruzelli.  Many of my old teachers who are still employed at the school warned me on the day of Sister Mary Ellen's funeral, "Shirley Bounds has always wanted to bring John Petruzelli back to St E's, but Sister Mary Ellen would never let her.  Be careful, Chris."   

It was so incredibly naïve of me not to believe them.  The truth is that Sister Mary Ellen's body was still warm when you and your Precious John began plotting to eliminate the Assistant Principal.  You employed such time-tested MBNA tactics.  It all began by relegating me to the office of insignificance on the day you rehired Precious John:

1.  You took me off the Open House lead so that Precious John could begin promoting himself.  "You just have too much to do, Chris.  We have to lighten your load."  I still did all the work, but Precious John got his name in bold print in the Principal's Newsletter.
John Petruzelli, John Petruzelli, John Petruzelli

2.  You hid the budget from me, even though it was in my job responsibility to assist you with it.  Oh, you just couldn't let me see all the secret deals you made with the various members of Team Petruzelli.  Also, I would see the enormous budget given to the recruitment/campus ministry department, headed by Precious John, along with the salary for his assistant and the raise for his secretary.  Wow, I wish I could have been given that kind of support network as the #2 administrator...instead I typed my own letters, ran my own copies, returned my own calls...you get the idea.  It was part of your plan to make it easy for Precious John to succeed and so difficult for me that I would leave. 

3.  You tried to give the 401(k) lead to a secretary, but when she failed miserably at it, you came crawling back for help.

4.  You stopped referring to me as your assistant when you addressed audiences.  I soon became your "partner in crime...well...I guess it's not really crime."  That act became more and more embarrassing, hurtful and humiliating every time you performed it.  The true crime is that you were never any kind of mentor...only a sick, paranoid competitor who childishly accused me of trying to take her job.

5.  You undermined my authority as an educational leader by giving new teacher mentoring responsibilities to someone who was not herself a certified teacher.  Even my classroom observation reports were ignored, hidden away in a file somewhere in your office.  My fifteen years of experience as a certified teacher were of no value to you...but as I understand it, the AP History scores were honorable for the first time ever. Were they not?  You promoted the new mentoring program as successful, but how many new teachers, who truly needed mentoring, returned for another year?   Not successful, just another program headed-up by a member of Team Petruzelli.

6.  You charged your Precious John with so many "responsibilities of recognition" so that you could print his name over-and-over-and-over in the Principal's Newsletter, The Church Bulletin and The Dialogue: John Petruzelli, John Petruzelli, John Petruzelli; whereas, I was left to deal with the dark, behind-the-scene issues like: Mottinger; Hulsey; Cassidy (Beddow); Loesline (Beddow); past-due tuition accounts; grouchy parishioners and parents; ineffective department heads; or teachers with sloppy classrooms, excessive tardiness or inappropriate attire. All people could do was wonder why I rarely attended happy hours or sporting events.  The 7am mass was worth the loss of sleep...anything to avoid the scornful looks and sneers at the later masses.  When your role is the bad guy, all you want to do is hide when you can.  Instead of supporting me, you used all the criticism that came back in my face against me.  It worked-in perfectly with the plan.  No one ever stood in front of me as I endured the awful repercussions of being the heavy hand; likewise, no one ever stood in front of Sister Mary Ellen, which I now attribute to her failing health and sudden, tragic departure from this world.  It is no coincidence that my reputation around the parish and the diocese collapsed the very same day she did.

7.  You tipped your hand when you took Precious John to Brooks Brothers to be fitted for a new suit. "You look so good in your suits, Chris.  I just want John to look good for Open House."  Why in the world would you need to compare my attire to Precious John's?  And why in the world would you go as far as to help him pick-out the suit? How was the suit purchased? I have an idea...and you say this was not about John Petruzelli!
8.  Although you and Sister Marie both agreed that Precious John had no right to change the long standing traditional format of Incoming Freshman Interviews, you failed to support me when he responded in an inappropriate way to my professional e-mail detailing my concerns.  Worse, when I thanked him and Joanne for their efforts and informed the faculty that we'd be returning to the traditional format, you yelled at me as if I was an unshaven student who was out-of-uniform, "You undercut my authority!  You undercut my authority!"  How in the world could I have undercut your authority when you agreed that Precious John had no right to make such a decision without administrative approval?  I am still waiting on a clear explanation and answer to that question! And how in the world can you accuse me of undercutting your authority when, in a very professional and private manner, I expressed to you all of the above enumerated ways you insulted, embarrassed and disrespected me as your trusted assistant over three years?  Have Steve Parisi (Tech Coordinator) pull out the e-mails!  I bit my tongue for three years to keep the peace...and finally I stood-up to Precious John who picked and pulled at me for the past two years!  You allowed him to drive the bus from the back seat...and then wondered why you lost the support of a trusted, dedicated assistant!  You lied about this situation to Father Dillingham, to Brother Jim, the Benedictine Sisters, and probably the Bishop's Office because you knew that your weak, pathetic triangulating is what caused it.  You insisted I apologize to Precious John who arrogantly refused to shake my hand. And finally, when I asked Precious John not to erase the substitution board in the faculty room, he probably cried and threatened to leave...which led to the "big meeting."  I am still waiting on an explanation for why Precious John should be allowed to erase a record of stipends owed to other faculty members just so he can list his own substitution needs?  Isn't there a procedure for that?  Not for Precious John.  Can you imagine someone doing that to Frank Webb (former Asst. Principal)?  Whose authority was undercut, Shirley?

I could go on and on with this list of cold-hearted and scheming tactics you employed to run me out of the building, but what's the sense?  You're probably sitting there shaking your head...as if none of this is true, but all of it can easily be proven.  That is why I am not hesitant to share this letter with teachers, parents, students and members of the community.  The truth will always haunt you, Shirley Bounds.  That is your problem.  My problem is to continue recovering my good name as an educator and administrator in the community.  Now that you can no longer hold salary and benefits over my head, I will begin vindicating myself to everyone who always knew me as a fighter and wondered why I left without incident.  I will not rest until everyone knows the truth, and I will live everyday for the rest of my life to respond.  If one good thing has come of this, it is that with this letter, I have finally bled my very last drop of maroon and gold.       

Disrespectfully,


Christopher Novak

[Wingspan]

Whoever was talking about getting that HDDVD player recently...I hope you kept the receipt.

Warner and New Line announced last week to be exclusive Blu-Ray, which pretty much gives blu-ray a 70/30 split, which will effectively end the format war by the end of the year.

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

I was talking about not getting one or only getting one once the format war was over or all players accepted both.  Turns out I'm a genius.

[SunMo]

well that sucks

[PoopyfaceMcGee]

In related news, Sony just announced a price increase on the PS3.

OK, not really.

[rjs246]

Wow. That's actually a really big surprise.  The Blu-Ray shtein that is, not FF's nonsense.

[DH]

So I got real wasted at this bar on Saturday night in Hoboken...It burned to the ground this morning.

Makes me mad that I paid all that money for the booze when all of it went up in flames just a few short hours later.

[rjs246]

You're looking at it all wrong. Be happy that you were lucky enough to be able to get booze there before it was all cruelly taken from this world.

[BigEd76]

words...words....words...

So is Shirley really a bitch or was Chris insane?

[DH]

Thats an angle Ive thought of, but then I think about the money I spent which is nothing more than soot and ashes now.

That and all the innocent alcohol which was lost makes me sad and mad all at the same time.

[rjs246]

What did the alcohol do to deserve this? Sometimes, I just don't understand this world we live in.

[Seabiscuit36]

words...words....words...

So is Shirley really a bitch or was Chris insane?

a little of both.  Shirley apparently went crazy with power, when i was there she was an assistant principal.  Chris was a douche in my mind, but they tried to say he was getting with students. 

[Seabiscuit36]

Yay for higher prices.  Blue ray runs at least 5 dollars more per dvd

[Sgt PSN]

Warner and New Line announced last week to be exclusive Blu-Ray, which pretty much gives blu-ray a 70/30 split, which will effectively end the format war by the end of the year.

Is this strictly to get "HD" type dvd's?  In other words, if Warner puts out a movie on disk, will it be available on Blu-Ray and regular DVD?  Or am I going to have to buy a Blu Ray player to watch any future movie put out by Warner and New Line?