11 JUN 07: THE BATTLE OF BULL RUN

An e-mail reached me Sunday, which had me scratching my blogger-head at first....

Now I can't wait for the part of Wells' story in Spain where he visits a school so he can deduct his trip from taxes This mental thinking is what has been running our schools for how long?

The Sunday Ledger-Enquirer filled in the gaps. Believe it or not, Muscogee County School Board member John Wells plans to join in the "running of the bulls" in Spain this summer! If the school district had an active Future Farmers of America program, I might understand this....

John Wells says he'd heading to Pamplona in July to run with the bulls -- at age 67. Well, the 900-yard road course in Pamplona IS a lot shorter than the Peachtree Road Race in Atlanta.

John Wells explains he became fascinated with Spain and bullfighting by reading the works of Ernest Hemingway. Our e-mailer apparently wishes Wells would read those works a little differently, and retire to Key West.

John Wells admitted to the Ledger-Enquirer his wife is trying to talk him out of running with the bulls. But he says he wants to touch one of the animals. There's a very different way to do this - and Harris County will have its annual rodeo sometime in September.

In fact, John Wells could have touched a "fighting bull" Sunday without even leaving Muscogee County. The Plaza Sol shopping center on North Lumpkin Road is holding Mexican-style rodeos called "jaripeos" about once a month. No, I don't know if they serve jaripeo jalapeños.

I haven't been to a jaripeo, but I assume the Columbus events are held in the area set aside for the Plaza Sol Flea Market. So this could be a bit like Pamplona, Spain. If you're shopping for jewelry, don't turn your back on the aisles.

But I digress: John Wells says you only have to dodge the bulls in Pamplona, Spain for about three-and-a-half minutes at a time. This makes a middle school hallway between periods sound like a marathon.

So do you see the e-mailer's point? John Wells arguably could visit a Spanish school, and declare the whole thing a deductible business trip. But the federal tax rules for Schedule C were changed several years ago, to state the trip has to be for "a bona fide business purpose." And bona fide is Latin, not Spanish....

John Wells never talks in the Ledger-Enquirer article about visiting schools in Spain. But he says he's already making plans to visit the Great Wall of China next year. I can hear the critics now - warning he's going to come home with a discount-priced CharBroil grill.

John Wells is not the only person connected with Muscogee County Schools with an interest in unusual travel. Remember a few years ago, when Superintendent John Phillips went hunting in Wyoming - while school was in session during the fall? Maybe this is what led to Northside High School having a marksmanship team.

Then there's former School Board Chair Mary Sue Polleys. Her husband, former City Attorney Hardy Polleys, has hiked the Appalachian Trail. I suppose that's less dangerous than running with the bulls in Spain - unless a bear or a family of deer come running across while you're sleeping.

By the way, congratulations are in order for Mary Sue Polleys. She's been named Georgia "Educator of the Year." This follows Susan Andrews of Harris County being named Superintendent of the Year - so Muscogee County's Teacher of the Year had better ace the interview for the state title, or she might be asked to give back that free car.

Our thanks to the e-mailer who tipped us off to this story - because the weekend news didn't provide much else:

+ The annual Bike Ride Across Georgia began at the Columbus Civic Center. Did you see the people riding those "low-rider" bikes, which look like they're in reclining chairs? All they need are baskets on the side, filled with tortilla chips and soda bottles.

+ The Ledger-Enquirer reported Jay Toyota will be upgraded to become a "supercenter." So?! Bill Heard Chevrolet has been running "super shows" on TV for years....

+ Oxbow Meadows held a Second Sunday program on the pastime of "geocaching." If you can get cash for an old Geo these days, you're probably doing very.... no wait....

+ A brushfire started on an island in the middle of Lake Martin. Somewhere in New York, a CBS executive had an idea - to put state lawmakers on that island, and call it "Survivor Alabama."

+ Instant Message to everyone in Hurtsboro: I miss you - really.

BURKARD'S BEST BETS: Gas for $2.89 a gallon at Dolly Madison on Victory Drive.... Whopper Juniors for one dollar at Burger King.... FREE prayers for rain today, per Georgia Governor Perdue (hey, it couldn't hurt)....

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