Saturday coffee.

Today my oldest daughter turns 40.

Happy birthday, Jessica.

There are certain moments in a life that have a major impact on the psyche. Turning sixteen when I got my first driver’s license. Twenty-one when I wanted the guy at the liquor store to card me. Twenty-five years of sharing my life with Anne. Do we start counting when we moved in together or when we officially got married? We change our minds about that.  Turning 30, of course.  And today, when my oldest child turns 40.

It’s not bad. In fact, it is very much worth celebrating. It is just amazing how fast it seemed to have happened.

The coming week is a killer. Two twelve-hour work days that involve evening parent conferences. Our monthly union meeting Monday after school followed by a board meeting Monday night that a bunch of teachers are attending with concerns about the building facilities.

But when the bell rings on Friday afternoon, we are off for Thanksgiving week. Nice.

Which brings me to the topic of school holidays.

It is this: We don’t get paid for them. We don’t get a paid day off. Period. Understand. I’m not complaining. I just want it clear. In our district we are contracted for 185 days a year. If the legislature declares Fred Klonsky Day and closes the schools on November 14th, our board will just add another day at the end of the year. Thanksgiving off? Not paid for. Winter break? Not paid for. Summers? Nope. 185 days.

Teach your children well.

David Crosby and Graham Nash join Democracy Now! in studio after performing for the folks at Occupy Wall Street. Great video.

Mayor Emanuel’s budgets sucks.

The Chicago Mayor has tried to bamboozle the media into thinking he has backed off his plan to cut library hours in his proposed budget. But his cuts do exactly what you think they would do. They hit the neediest the hardest, while the Mayor was lobbying Springfield to give tax breaks to the Chicago Board of Trade and the Mercantile Exchange.

I just left a message with my alderman, Rey Colon, to vote no on the Mayor’s budget. If you’re a Chicagoan, do the same with your alderman.