July 17

July 17, 2013

Dear Pat,

I hope you are having a good morning so far. I am getting ready to go to my office today for a couple of meetings. One of them is with my department chair to look over my post-tenure review documents before I hand them in. I hope he'll say they're all right. I sure am glad that it's a man who will be helping me with the file, since I know two women would certainly mess that up!

Later on in the afternoon I have a meeting with one of my students. She sent me an email recently telling me that she resigned from her teaching position in Wake County. I have seen her teach, and heard her talk about teaching in my classes, so I know that she is good at her job and really loves it. However, I'm afraid that she's going to tell me that the policies that you all are coming up with regarding education have chased her out of the classroom. She is almost finished with her master's program and now I am worried that she might not finish since it will cost her more money to finish (some) than she will get as a raise when she finishes (none). Like I said, she's already a terrific teacher, so why should she complete her degree? My meeting with her is in the early afternoon, so if you can tell us what she should choose by then, I know we will both appreciate it!

Well, I have to leave soon so that I can find a parking spot on the street. I needed to give up my on-campus parking spot a couple of years ago when the price went up to about $600 a year. Did you know that some people who work for the private sector actually get free parking at their offices? I'm sure you must pay even more for your parking spot since your state job is certainly more important than mine!

I will look for your response later before I meet with my student.

Thank you for your help!

Nancy

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July 17

Dear Governor McCrory,

Good morning! Today I am planning to accompany my sister and her granddaughter to the zoo. My husband says that it is ok for us to go. Do you think I should pack some food to take with us or just buy lunch there? It will be a bigger boost for the economy if I buy food there, so maybe that is the way to go.

I'm so glad you and I are getting to be friends because from what I just read in the News and Observer, it seems that you need some friends. I hate to be the one to tell you, but your popularity is falling, and fast! I guess your boyish good looks and moderate sounding catch-phrases just aren't enough to keep the populous enthralled. I actually read that all of the protesters that you are having arrested at the Moral Monday demonstrations are even more popular than the legislature.

Of course I don't know much about politics or government; I know that is man stuff, but maybe you ought to listen to some of these people since it seems that such a large number of North Carolinians are very unhappy with your policies. I mean, that's just a suggestion. You could pray about it too and ask for guidance or even read the Bible. Jesus had a lot to say about poor people. Fracking, not so much.

I hope you have a wonderful day and don't let those numbers get you too down. You know what they say, things are liable to get worse before they get better!

Sincerely,
Debbie Leonard

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