Micah Burkette   Micah Burkettes place on the web to blog

This is the first I have heard of a city that does not allow cursing in public. If you are heard using any curse words, you get a ticket with a hefty fine. I really don’t see how this skirted the free speech and freedom of expression ideals. Just be warned that Virginia Beach takes cursing very personally and does not allow it. At least they have posted warning signs on all the street corners – of course, I had no idea what the signs even meant until I asked someone local.

While getting a haircut today, I was sitting next to a nice woman, Gail, who was talking about home schooling with another woman in the waiting area. Not that I intended to eavesdrop, but they were talking across the room loudly and everyone could hear.

Turns out that she was having so much trouble with her public school about her son with ADHD and she could not afford a private school, that she withdrew him from school and is home schooling her son by herself. She had gone to college to be a teacher but had gotten married to someone in the military and they traveled so much that she could never take a job as a full time teacher.

Now they have settled in this area and their son is struggling with a lot of attention issues, which the teachers complain are disruptive. I thought that the schools were required to provide this child with the education suited to his needs. I do not agree with the idea that disruptive students must be sent home for homeschooling. Not every parent is equipped with the skills to teach their own children – many have jobs that they need to support their families and cannot stay home with their children.

I am going to have to get in touch with my local congressmen and see what is being done to help these children.

The leaves are still falling in my neighborhood, even though they starting turning color back in early October. I think it might have to do with so little wind this year.

My neighbor, Josh, has twice as many trees in his yard as I do. His whole back yard is shaded with trees, as I only have about 6 or 7 that I have to mow around. The problem with having so many tees is having to rake up all the leaves in the fall.

Today, both Joshand I were out there raking leaves to get them bagged before the trash truck comes around in the morning. If I miss the trash truck, I either have to stash the bagged leaves for another week or drive them all the way across town tot he recycling center that accepts leaves and yard waste.

If you want to have a steak for dinner, where do you go?

I like to grill steaks at home. I would buy the best steak I could find at Sam’s Club and take it home to cook it just right.

But if I had to go out to a restaurant to eat the best steak, I have a lot of choices here. The Morton’s is really good but a little uppity. I think that Longhorn actually has the best atmosphere, the best menu and the best bar.

So my pick is Longhorn. What’s yours?