When the power went off at the elementary school, the cook couldn't serve a hot meal in the cafeteria. She had to feed the children something, so at the last minute she whipped up great stacks of peanut-butter and jelly sandwiches.

As one little boy filled his plate, he said, "It's about time. At last -- a home cooked meal!"

OK, I know, that was a lame one I found at basicjokes.com. But I thought it might start an interesting and perhaps humorous discussion about cafeteria food and the things you do with it. I had a friend in middle school who liked to fling peas on the ceiling. They stuck there for years. My teenage brother won some sort of catsup eating contest not long ago. He also ate a lizard for $50. So what about it, folks, let's hear those crazy cafeteria stories.

On the horizon

Think it's too early to be thinking about Christmas? Not according to Old Town Cape.

According to a press release sent out by the group, Old Town Cape Christmas ornaments are now available at downtown businesses. This year's version depicts the River Campus.

SUNSHINE ISSUE: I know some of you have been wondering what progress has been made on our request for information that I vaguely mentioned the other day in this blog.

I know this is all vague, but we're working on it probably for Wednesday. The official has done a better job explaining to our reporter what the budget items are, but he has still not unveiled who the arrangements are with. Since I blogged, the official has been more forthcoming, but still not as much as we had hoped. As I've said before, we're not on a witch hunt, just trying to understand where the dollars come and go. He's trying to protect the interest of the agency for competitive reasons. I remember when Jay Knudtson first ran for office, he said he wanted to run the city like a business. I also remember the mayor saying publicly later on that he didn't realize until he took office how unlike a business government operations really were. I don't know if Jay was talking specifically about public information vs. competitive interests, but he was right on the larger point: The same rules do not apply to government entities that apply to businesses. Jay has found ways to use his business skillset as a negotiator -- and indeed, the city is competitive with other cities in terms of recruitment and grants and so on. (FYI -- the city of Cape is not the public body in question here.) But a government entity, in my mind, shouldn't be competing at all with private business. In my mind, if a private enterprise can use information obtained by the government to make his or her business more profitable, then so be it. It's not the job of the government, in my opinion, to stifle private enterprise.

Out and about

Wonder why I led with a joke about cafeteria food?

Over the lunch hour Tuesday, I attended my son's Lunch Bunch, where parents get to have lunch with their kids. The parents get to bring food in, sparing children from the cafeteria offerings. It was inspiring to see so many parents attend the event at South Elementary. It's great knowing that so many parents are supportive and active. Trust me, it's not always easy getting off on the lunch hour.

I noticed my son and all of his friends were wearing buttons that said "Everybody Counts" buttons. This apparently is a school-district wide campaign recognizing and embracing students who have disabilities. As someone who has a brother with a disability -- and knowing that he got picked on at school -- I wanted to give a virtual high five to school leaders for this campaign.