Bugsy back in his element

     Got to the hospital this afternoon to pick up young Bugsy, whose numbers seem better or at least stable. The vet tech explained that the Bugster has been really “feisty” since the morning, meowing and even playing in his cage. When he was finally brought out to us, he was feisty all right—so much so that he pulled off the bandage over his IV wound. He started bleeding all over the place. But it was no biggie.

     As soon as Annie put the boy in my old jacket and against her chest, he went from feisty to calm and sleepy. It was amazing. He seemed to fall into a coma. On the road, we started to worry about the guy, tried to get him to open his eyes. He did a little, but opened them wide when we finally pulled off Live Oak to Lambrose Canyon, where the road gets bumpy and slow. He knew he was back home.

     When we let him inside my folks' home, he immediately owned the place. He stretched and checked out his old toys. My mom was ecstatic. “He’s so happy!” she kept saying. And he was. He soon made his rounds, rubbing his little tail on everybody’s legs, going from room to room, exploring the closet, inspecting his food bowl. He sure is an independent little guy.

     The boy was back in his element, and it was good. We all rejoiced quietly. We were very happy, at least for the moment.

BOT meeting: tomorrow and five years ago

     The September meeting of the SOCCCD BOT is tomorrow night (at 5:30). You can find the agenda here (a large pdf).
     For a little perspective on the here and now, you might want to view this brief video about the board meeting that occurred exactly five years ago:

BEFORE THE FALL*: Watch Fuentes beam about Mathur's efforts at providing "ethics training" for other districts.

Watch John Williams recall his football days at SC.

Watch Don Wagner genuinely praise the faculty (et al.) he worked with on the Accreditation Report.

*The massive falling out (between Wagner and Fuentes) caused by Wagner's sudden determination, incited by yet another obscene Mathurian connivery, to fire Mathur's ass.

Street, Bryson, Wagner, Fuentes, Williams--four years ago

     A typical scene, really, in OC politics: GOP candidates (and hopefuls) promoting GOP candidates (and hopefuls).
     As you can see, Anna Bryson, now running for 73rd Assembly District (against Wendy Gabriella, among others), was fraudster Chriss Street’s right-hand woman. But why is she here, with Street, at this board meeting? She doesn't actually say anything beyond her name and office.
     TV exposure. Bryson sought higher office (she was already an elected CAPO trustee and she remains so). And Street/Wagner/Fuentes were happy to oblige.
     Also on hand: John Williams, who soon went down in flames as among the most incompetent and sleazy elected officials in county history.

     Speaking of corruption and sleaze, check out this old chestnut from the OC Register, July 19, 2010:

     Chriss Street's travel bill: $60,000

     As trustee of a bankrupt company, Chriss Street got in trouble for using his client's money for his own self interests, including expensive dinners and resort hotels.
     As Orange County's treasurer-tax collector, Street and his top managers have spent more than $60,000 during the last two years attending conferences in such far-flung places as New York, Las Vegas and Washington D.C. -- with stays at the Waldorf Astoria and Venetian hotels.
. . .
     … Street was stripped of his investment duties by county supervisors in March. The action followed a U.S. bankruptcy court ruling that he wasted millions of his client's money in his former job as a bankruptcy trustee.
     Barred from investing, Street and his staff continue to travel and spend, with about six months left on his term as treasurer-tax collector.
     Expense documents reviewed by the Orange County Register show that Street and his human resources chief went to San Francisco for a "business process management" class in June at a cost of $11,462. Street's executive aide Anna Bryson is scheduled to go to South Carolina for a treasurer's conference later this month.
. . .
     [Street] Routinely made last minute flight arrangements and changes that boosted the cost of travel. In April 2008, Street and Bryson made so many changes that it pushed the cost of airfare for a San Francisco trip from $1,620 to $2,300….