These online classes just are not working for me. Why on Earth am I
paying $70 per class to use an e textbook that doesn't even make sense
to use? I can't highlight it, I can't take notes, I can't flip back and
forth between pages without scrolling my eyes all out of focus and by
the time finding what I am looking for, forgetting what I was seeking in
the first place.
This is my first bout of online classes. The
first two weren't so bad... but this is my first program course,
principles of marketing... which shouldn't be a problem; I had a couple
years of marketing in high school. Which.... was .... ten... years....
ago.
No. The problem I am having is with a bazillion folders having to be
opened to locate one thing, and fifty more having to be opened and links
to go through to find the other thing that goes with it (and with my
lack of a short term memory, it can be rather frustrating) and that
everything comes as a download instead of being directly on the site...
why oh why does something so easy have to be so difficult? And it's
something that doesn't even have to be difficult. They just like to make
it that way it seems. Of course, there's reasons for why the school is
laid out that way. I don't know them, but I am sure there is.
So what's the difference between the reason and an excuse? Hmmm.... it's a fine line. Imagine this common scenario.
Student walks in late to class. Teacher asks "what's your excuse?" Student says they overslept. That is the true and honest reason. Result: detention for being late.
I believe there is a difference between an excuse and a reason. I just think excuse is used improperly way too much.
Say
someone just got fired from their job. Instead of picking up and
finding something new, they stay up until the wee hours of the morning,
sleep until 2 or 3 pm, and never leave the house all day. What's their
reason for not finding something new? There is no valid reason. What's
their reason? Making excuses. Laziness.
So why am I awake typing this at 230 a.m.? I'm way tired but don't feel
like sleeping. I know I should, because at the moment I am like a kid
waiting for Santa. When the parents tell the children "the sooner you go
to sleep, the sooner Christmas morning will be here...."
Yes,
the sooner I go to sleep, the sooner I will get to go home. This crazy
weekend visiting La Crosse has had its ups and downs. Unfortunately,
more downs than ups. I can just never make up my mind. When I am there, I
want to be here; and when I am here, I want to be there.
Monday, December 12, 2011
Saturday, October 8, 2011
Changes Are in Store...
So I no longer live in the apartment trailer park. Currently, I don't
want to change the name of the blog. I think it's cute. Maybe the
description though... I went from having three roommates and one cat to
three cats and one roommate.
I am glad I am out of that neighborhood though. Too much drama that I did not want to be involved in. Been on the south side of the city for almost a week now, and it's been okay. I think things will be okay.
I did have a job. Since the end of August I was working in a factory, started on first shift then transferred to second shift, but missed one day due to unforeseen things that happened that I am not going to post about, and then ended up leaving on my lunch break on Thursday evening because I was throwing up and in the bathroom more than I was on the line. I asked my supervisor if I could go home and he said yes. The temp place called me Friday morning and said they didn't want me back due to my attendance. I was working with Zach on first shift and that ended up leading to a few problems between us which kind of ended our friendship relationship. I miss do miss him but nothing will cure that but time.
Wow I thought this neighborhood was quiet. Just thought I heard gunshots but they were too rapid so I go peek out on the deck and someone's lighting off a ton of huge aerial fireworks. Nice.
Actually, it's not that quiet here. There's still a lot of construction going on from the tornado cleanup in this neighborhood and the hospital a few blocks away is undergoing a major overhaul. So it's difficult to sleep in when the windows are open, and they have been because it's been hot for a Wisconsin October!
I am going back to school though. Currently am doing online classes through Grand Canyon University (GCU) out of Phoenix, and am actually considering moving down there to attend on campus instead. Just looking into the options and possibilities and pros and cons and finances for getting there in time for spring semester. It's a tough decision, but what I'm feeling led to do. I feel there is nothing left for me in La Crosse right now, and the more I look into what the campus has to offer, the more I am getting excited to make it happen.
I am glad I am out of that neighborhood though. Too much drama that I did not want to be involved in. Been on the south side of the city for almost a week now, and it's been okay. I think things will be okay.
I did have a job. Since the end of August I was working in a factory, started on first shift then transferred to second shift, but missed one day due to unforeseen things that happened that I am not going to post about, and then ended up leaving on my lunch break on Thursday evening because I was throwing up and in the bathroom more than I was on the line. I asked my supervisor if I could go home and he said yes. The temp place called me Friday morning and said they didn't want me back due to my attendance. I was working with Zach on first shift and that ended up leading to a few problems between us which kind of ended our friendship relationship. I miss do miss him but nothing will cure that but time.
Wow I thought this neighborhood was quiet. Just thought I heard gunshots but they were too rapid so I go peek out on the deck and someone's lighting off a ton of huge aerial fireworks. Nice.
Actually, it's not that quiet here. There's still a lot of construction going on from the tornado cleanup in this neighborhood and the hospital a few blocks away is undergoing a major overhaul. So it's difficult to sleep in when the windows are open, and they have been because it's been hot for a Wisconsin October!
I am going back to school though. Currently am doing online classes through Grand Canyon University (GCU) out of Phoenix, and am actually considering moving down there to attend on campus instead. Just looking into the options and possibilities and pros and cons and finances for getting there in time for spring semester. It's a tough decision, but what I'm feeling led to do. I feel there is nothing left for me in La Crosse right now, and the more I look into what the campus has to offer, the more I am getting excited to make it happen.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Figuring Things Out
Wow. A lot has happened since I last posted. I've been slacking.
First of all, everyone told you to keep up on what happened with that bogus citation I got on Memorial Day weekend. Last written, it was headed to trial. Well, a week before trial the D.A. sent me a letter stating that the cost of a trial did not warrant the expense of the ticket.
Dismissed. No trial, no fine. However, a week later. things completely turned upside down but since this is the Internet, I am not going to go into details about that.
First of all, everyone told you to keep up on what happened with that bogus citation I got on Memorial Day weekend. Last written, it was headed to trial. Well, a week before trial the D.A. sent me a letter stating that the cost of a trial did not warrant the expense of the ticket.
Dismissed. No trial, no fine. However, a week later. things completely turned upside down but since this is the Internet, I am not going to go into details about that.
Monday, July 11, 2011
It's Going to Trial...
Met with the DA on Friday. Was hoping to get this bogus ticket
dismissed. Guess I was wrong. The DA was not interested in hearing what I
had to say.... only said he could reduce the fine amount. I even tried
explaining to him what happened... nope, didn't want to hear it. All he
said was it was between the deputy and I and if I wanted to ask him
questions then he would set a trial date and mail me the info... it
would probably be in thirty days or so.
Yeah and I thought about getting a lawyer, but everyone I have talked to about this thinks I have a pretty good case on my end... I know the law, I know the elements of the law and that reason alone is enough to let the judge know I did nothing fitting the elements of the crime. I have to go in and keep a cool head, but I do have plenty of questions for that deputy. The DA says (and not knowing how he got this out of the three sentence statement in the narrative from the officer) that it sounds like the deputy was just frustrated and sick of dealing with me.... still, not enough for a DC ticket... since I did nothing under the elements of the state statute for disorderly conduct.
On the other hand, some people are telling me to just pay the ticket and let it go. I would, if I knew I deserved it. There's only been two other tickets I have ever fought in my lifetime, because I know if I got the ticket I did it and am more than willing to pay for the consequences. But this one, I did not deserve. Therefore I am fighting. Most others have been traffic violations, some ordinance violations, but the only other two I fought were.... and here's good stories behind both... one was for prowling and the other for violation of ball playing regulations.
Seriously.
The prowling one, a friend and I were playing a game we invented called "Prowler" and just so happens well, we had nowhere to play (all the parks int he city are closed from 11 pm to 7 am) so we made the city block I live on our boundaries. Just so happens I lived half a block away from the PD, and as I was on the sidewalk looking around the corner for my prey, an off duty officer comes out of the PD claiming I was looking in the windows of the house on the corner. He chased and dragged me back to the PD and had an on duty officer come write me a ticket for prowling. That one was thrown out no problem.
The other one was for violation of ball playing regulations. Basketball. There's a nice park on Sand Lake Road with a basketball court so I was up there playing one night.... it was about 1040 ish (remember the park closes at 11) when an officer steps out and tells me they got a complaint about me playing basketball so if I left he would appreciate it. No problem, I left. Few nights later, I was out there about the same time, and an officer walks over to me from Kwik Trip across the street, munching on pretzels and Gatorade, and tells me I need to leave because the park will be closing soon. I said OK and I left.
Just after 1030 a few nights later, I'm out there playing basketball and a squad car flies up to the curb, steps out and yells across the court "Holly get over here and give me your driver's license!" I asked why (yeh I was young and rebellious) and he says "because you've been told you can't be out here playing ball this late and we've been out here a few times for you playing ball this late so tonight you're getting a ticket."
I was like, "a ticket for what?" and he replied for violation of ball playing regulations.... I was at the other end of the court, he was on the other side of the fence, and I was pissed, so I whipped the basketball across the court at him and it bounced off the fence next to him. He yelled "Do you wanna go to jail for disorderly conduct?" I said no and then he yelled for me to get over there and give him my ID.
This is the same officer that wrote me the prowling ticket. So he gives me the ticket and I asked him if the park is open til 11 why can't I play basketball until 11?
He says the park is open til 11, but there's a city ordinance saying no one can play basketball in any city park or playground between the hours of 1030 pm and 7 am.
The ticket was dismissed because even though it's a city ordinance, it''s not posted anywhere in the city in any of the parks or playgrounds. I told the city attorney that and he agreed.
So those were the only other tickets I've ever got that I've fought, because, come on now... they were both pretty bogus. As was this one. We'll see what happens at trial. Bring it on, 132!
Yeah and I thought about getting a lawyer, but everyone I have talked to about this thinks I have a pretty good case on my end... I know the law, I know the elements of the law and that reason alone is enough to let the judge know I did nothing fitting the elements of the crime. I have to go in and keep a cool head, but I do have plenty of questions for that deputy. The DA says (and not knowing how he got this out of the three sentence statement in the narrative from the officer) that it sounds like the deputy was just frustrated and sick of dealing with me.... still, not enough for a DC ticket... since I did nothing under the elements of the state statute for disorderly conduct.
On the other hand, some people are telling me to just pay the ticket and let it go. I would, if I knew I deserved it. There's only been two other tickets I have ever fought in my lifetime, because I know if I got the ticket I did it and am more than willing to pay for the consequences. But this one, I did not deserve. Therefore I am fighting. Most others have been traffic violations, some ordinance violations, but the only other two I fought were.... and here's good stories behind both... one was for prowling and the other for violation of ball playing regulations.
Seriously.
The prowling one, a friend and I were playing a game we invented called "Prowler" and just so happens well, we had nowhere to play (all the parks int he city are closed from 11 pm to 7 am) so we made the city block I live on our boundaries. Just so happens I lived half a block away from the PD, and as I was on the sidewalk looking around the corner for my prey, an off duty officer comes out of the PD claiming I was looking in the windows of the house on the corner. He chased and dragged me back to the PD and had an on duty officer come write me a ticket for prowling. That one was thrown out no problem.
The other one was for violation of ball playing regulations. Basketball. There's a nice park on Sand Lake Road with a basketball court so I was up there playing one night.... it was about 1040 ish (remember the park closes at 11) when an officer steps out and tells me they got a complaint about me playing basketball so if I left he would appreciate it. No problem, I left. Few nights later, I was out there about the same time, and an officer walks over to me from Kwik Trip across the street, munching on pretzels and Gatorade, and tells me I need to leave because the park will be closing soon. I said OK and I left.
Just after 1030 a few nights later, I'm out there playing basketball and a squad car flies up to the curb, steps out and yells across the court "Holly get over here and give me your driver's license!" I asked why (yeh I was young and rebellious) and he says "because you've been told you can't be out here playing ball this late and we've been out here a few times for you playing ball this late so tonight you're getting a ticket."
I was like, "a ticket for what?" and he replied for violation of ball playing regulations.... I was at the other end of the court, he was on the other side of the fence, and I was pissed, so I whipped the basketball across the court at him and it bounced off the fence next to him. He yelled "Do you wanna go to jail for disorderly conduct?" I said no and then he yelled for me to get over there and give him my ID.
This is the same officer that wrote me the prowling ticket. So he gives me the ticket and I asked him if the park is open til 11 why can't I play basketball until 11?
He says the park is open til 11, but there's a city ordinance saying no one can play basketball in any city park or playground between the hours of 1030 pm and 7 am.
The ticket was dismissed because even though it's a city ordinance, it''s not posted anywhere in the city in any of the parks or playgrounds. I told the city attorney that and he agreed.
So those were the only other tickets I've ever got that I've fought, because, come on now... they were both pretty bogus. As was this one. We'll see what happens at trial. Bring it on, 132!
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
The Saga Continues...
So I finally got a hold of the third shift Sgt. in regards to the ticket I got on Memorial Day weekend. (See earlier post here.) He told me himself that he tells anyone that gets a ticket in La Crosse County to contest it.
Anyways, he promised to speak with this deputy and let me know what the deputy says about the whole incident. I finally contacted him this past Saturday and he told me that the reason they didn't explain why I got the citation is that when they came back to the door to give it to me and I told them I was naked, they "didn't feel comfortable" talking about it face to face with me being undressed, which he said he could understand. He also said he didn't think they did anything wrong in their conduct of the whole situation, and another deputy (one who wasn't even there) told him that I got the ticket for calling 911 and telling them I was lost and I was a block away from home.
First of all, I was more than a block away from home.
Second, I never called 911. I called the crisis line first because of how I was feeling at the time and wanted to speak with someone. The crisis worker there basically hung up on me. So then I called 211, which is the resource line, and was transferred to a crisis worker, who called the police...
Third, if they were so "uncomfortable" speaking with me naked, why didn't they ask me to or wait til I put some clothes or a robe on or something?
Fourth, why did they wait to give me the ticket until after I was inside? Why didn't they give it to me before I was out of the car or as I was getting out and before they walked me to my apartment?
Court is Thursday. I'm pleading not guilty.
So I met with the counselor at the county today. Informed him of this whole situation. He suggested I seek legal advice and sue the shit out of them for breach of confidentiality, because the only time the crisis workers are allowed to call the police is if the person is in immediate danger or makes statements saying they will harm themselves. I never made any comments of the sort.
Guess we'll have to wait until Thursday.
I did get a chance to get away this weekend. Went to my sisters house and partied with all their neighbors. It was nice. Discovered my tent leaks because I didn't use it at all last summer and I forgot to waterproof it when I put it up, so I woke up Sunday morning a lil wet.
So I get home and my blinds are closed. I never close them. I am a natural light person all around as much as possible and I always like to see outside as much as possible, because if I can't see outside and don't know what's going on out there, I don't want to be surprised when I go out and see something that shouldn't be seen. OK I know I prolly lost most readers there, but it makes sense to me and I get it from my Daddy.
Anyways, guess the neighbor across the alley has been spying on us. This guy sits in his window all day and looks into our living room and writes down in a notebook what we do all day and night and shares it with the other neighbors. Never a dull moment in the apartment trailer park. Good news is.... the douchebag in apt 15 moved out.
Anyways, he promised to speak with this deputy and let me know what the deputy says about the whole incident. I finally contacted him this past Saturday and he told me that the reason they didn't explain why I got the citation is that when they came back to the door to give it to me and I told them I was naked, they "didn't feel comfortable" talking about it face to face with me being undressed, which he said he could understand. He also said he didn't think they did anything wrong in their conduct of the whole situation, and another deputy (one who wasn't even there) told him that I got the ticket for calling 911 and telling them I was lost and I was a block away from home.
First of all, I was more than a block away from home.
Second, I never called 911. I called the crisis line first because of how I was feeling at the time and wanted to speak with someone. The crisis worker there basically hung up on me. So then I called 211, which is the resource line, and was transferred to a crisis worker, who called the police...
Third, if they were so "uncomfortable" speaking with me naked, why didn't they ask me to or wait til I put some clothes or a robe on or something?
Fourth, why did they wait to give me the ticket until after I was inside? Why didn't they give it to me before I was out of the car or as I was getting out and before they walked me to my apartment?
Court is Thursday. I'm pleading not guilty.
So I met with the counselor at the county today. Informed him of this whole situation. He suggested I seek legal advice and sue the shit out of them for breach of confidentiality, because the only time the crisis workers are allowed to call the police is if the person is in immediate danger or makes statements saying they will harm themselves. I never made any comments of the sort.
Guess we'll have to wait until Thursday.
I did get a chance to get away this weekend. Went to my sisters house and partied with all their neighbors. It was nice. Discovered my tent leaks because I didn't use it at all last summer and I forgot to waterproof it when I put it up, so I woke up Sunday morning a lil wet.
So I get home and my blinds are closed. I never close them. I am a natural light person all around as much as possible and I always like to see outside as much as possible, because if I can't see outside and don't know what's going on out there, I don't want to be surprised when I go out and see something that shouldn't be seen. OK I know I prolly lost most readers there, but it makes sense to me and I get it from my Daddy.
Anyways, guess the neighbor across the alley has been spying on us. This guy sits in his window all day and looks into our living room and writes down in a notebook what we do all day and night and shares it with the other neighbors. Never a dull moment in the apartment trailer park. Good news is.... the douchebag in apt 15 moved out.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Daydreaming in Class....
Is it okay for me to say I really hate this class? Too late :)
I didn't know I had to take a history class. The class is "Diverse Cultures in America" which according to our syllabus, is supposed to be talking about the different sociological perspectives of race and diversity and cultures in America.
We have two weeks left after tonight. And so far we've spent every night talking about different races and cultures in America but nothing seems to be current. It's all about history and how these people came to assimilate into America, and the lack thereof. Doesn't help that there's only four of us in the class. Also the instructor is so behind the times! She's the first one I've had in all my four years of school that would not accept assignments via email. Everything must be printed and handed in. Not everyone has a printer or access to one.
Wow! This is probably the most current thing we've talked about in all of class! Political cartoons! Like I'm interested (*rolls eyes*) She's showing us an online game where you shoot Mexicans crossing the border. That's sad.
And isn't "ie." the abbreviation that means "example"? She uses "eg."
Ha ha we've been talking about skin color and race vs. ethnicity and I said that I used to be asked by strangers all the time if I was a boy or a girl. Cuz our instructor said strangers ask her all the time if her son is adopted or ask what he is because he has a darker complexion.
I don't want to know how many people were classified in the past! This isn't a history class!
There's really cool clouds outside. Wish she'd give us a break so I can go smoke and take pictures of it before it goes away.
Now we're talking about the census. Funniest thing about the 2010 census is that the government sent out a letter to inform everyone that they would be sending out the census!
"We say we're all equal and we say we all want to be treated equal, but we act differently." I hate everyone equally. That way I'm not racist and I don't discriminate.
Yay finally got a break and pictures of the cool clouds.
Pop quiz. Yay. I got like 2 right out of 10. I swear everything in this class goes right over my head.
I don't understand the Western and Eastern religions and ancestries of like from European descent and stuff. They didn't teach us about World Geography in school. We learned everything to know about the United States and the continents but barely studied anything about the countries on those continents outside of North America.
Does this instructor really have to smile after every other statement? Wow that's annoying. Now we're talking about Islam. Most in depth discussion about current culture and not history that we've had yet.
An hour and 15 minutes to go. Wow. 4 1/2 hour classes really suck. Most instructors don't keep us the full time. Most are done between 8:30 and 9, and we start at 5:30 pm. This is the first class I've had that's kept us til 10 every single week.
Hmm. That's interesting. Maybe I should convert to Islam.
I didn't know I had to take a history class. The class is "Diverse Cultures in America" which according to our syllabus, is supposed to be talking about the different sociological perspectives of race and diversity and cultures in America.
We have two weeks left after tonight. And so far we've spent every night talking about different races and cultures in America but nothing seems to be current. It's all about history and how these people came to assimilate into America, and the lack thereof. Doesn't help that there's only four of us in the class. Also the instructor is so behind the times! She's the first one I've had in all my four years of school that would not accept assignments via email. Everything must be printed and handed in. Not everyone has a printer or access to one.
Wow! This is probably the most current thing we've talked about in all of class! Political cartoons! Like I'm interested (*rolls eyes*) She's showing us an online game where you shoot Mexicans crossing the border. That's sad.
And isn't "ie." the abbreviation that means "example"? She uses "eg."
Ha ha we've been talking about skin color and race vs. ethnicity and I said that I used to be asked by strangers all the time if I was a boy or a girl. Cuz our instructor said strangers ask her all the time if her son is adopted or ask what he is because he has a darker complexion.
I don't want to know how many people were classified in the past! This isn't a history class!
There's really cool clouds outside. Wish she'd give us a break so I can go smoke and take pictures of it before it goes away.
Now we're talking about the census. Funniest thing about the 2010 census is that the government sent out a letter to inform everyone that they would be sending out the census!
"We say we're all equal and we say we all want to be treated equal, but we act differently." I hate everyone equally. That way I'm not racist and I don't discriminate.
Yay finally got a break and pictures of the cool clouds.
Pop quiz. Yay. I got like 2 right out of 10. I swear everything in this class goes right over my head.
I don't understand the Western and Eastern religions and ancestries of like from European descent and stuff. They didn't teach us about World Geography in school. We learned everything to know about the United States and the continents but barely studied anything about the countries on those continents outside of North America.
Does this instructor really have to smile after every other statement? Wow that's annoying. Now we're talking about Islam. Most in depth discussion about current culture and not history that we've had yet.
An hour and 15 minutes to go. Wow. 4 1/2 hour classes really suck. Most instructors don't keep us the full time. Most are done between 8:30 and 9, and we start at 5:30 pm. This is the first class I've had that's kept us til 10 every single week.
Hmm. That's interesting. Maybe I should convert to Islam.
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
I'm Just Not Into It...
School.
This year.
Maybe its because I have to take summer classes. Which suck.
Or maybe because things aren't going so well for me in other places.
All I want to do is sleep.
I have no ambition to do my homework or reading assignments or even go to class anymore.
On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to even live in this area anymore.
I don't know what I want. The fact that I'll be 28 this year and haven't really done anything with my life so far is somewhat depressing. I feel like I'm a couple years behind. Like I shouldn't be 27 now. I feel like I should still be 23. Then again, my boyfriend left me because he thinks he's still 21 and doesn't know who he is.
It's like I don't have any motivation til this time of the day. It's 12:20 a.m. I've spent all day in my pajamas until about 7 tonight when the cable went out and I went for a walk. I am so not a morning person. And the school schedule changes every 8 weeks.
Why can't I just live? There's so much pressure on my generation to go to college and get a degree and have a career and be married and have a family and what not.... but some of us just aren't gonna do that.
Ok I'm totally lost at what I was gonna write tonight. I just don't know. That's the basis of it. I just don't know.
This year.
Maybe its because I have to take summer classes. Which suck.
Or maybe because things aren't going so well for me in other places.
All I want to do is sleep.
I have no ambition to do my homework or reading assignments or even go to class anymore.
On the other hand, I'm not sure I want to even live in this area anymore.
I don't know what I want. The fact that I'll be 28 this year and haven't really done anything with my life so far is somewhat depressing. I feel like I'm a couple years behind. Like I shouldn't be 27 now. I feel like I should still be 23. Then again, my boyfriend left me because he thinks he's still 21 and doesn't know who he is.
It's like I don't have any motivation til this time of the day. It's 12:20 a.m. I've spent all day in my pajamas until about 7 tonight when the cable went out and I went for a walk. I am so not a morning person. And the school schedule changes every 8 weeks.
Why can't I just live? There's so much pressure on my generation to go to college and get a degree and have a career and be married and have a family and what not.... but some of us just aren't gonna do that.
Ok I'm totally lost at what I was gonna write tonight. I just don't know. That's the basis of it. I just don't know.
Monday, June 6, 2011
Are Children Any Different Today?
Than they were, say... 50 years ago?
Our instructor asked us that in class tonight. At the end of class he said we could write a one page reaction paper on what we discussed in class tonight. I had been taking notes all through class and already planned on writing a blog about it.
He said what he didn't want us to do was be judgmental and blame the parents. I think that's a large cop-out. Yes, technology and toys kids have these days are much more prominent now than when we were kids, but is that part of the reason?
I remembered during class reading an article a couple summers ago when I was back home about where all the kids were. You can view that Letter to the Editor here.
While trying to find this story, I came across many other letters to the editor about how people were blaming the parents for their children's behavior. Yes, kids will be kids. My parents had told us both that between the two of us, they feel they have dealt with everything. No, Mom, we both could have been a lot worse.
I didn't get into trouble at school because I was too afraid of the second punishment I would receive when I got home. Double jeopardy! Back in the day (before my school days) teachers were allowed to crack a kid on the knuckles with a yardstick. The most they did when I was in elementary school was send you to the principal's office. We had a part time principal who was only there in the afternoons. He was at another school in the mornings. Also, he was so old he knew my parents so whenever I got sent to his office, he was cool. And I mostly got sent to his office in 5th and 6th grade for leaving my History book out in the hallway intentionally so I didn't have to sit through Ms. Dehlinger's class.
But home punishments were worse. Writing sentences and bible verses over and over again: Galations 6:1 Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.
I will not lie.
I will not steal.
25 times the first time. Doubled every time I got in trouble. 50. Then 100. then 200. I think I made it to 500 something before it was changed to something else.
Then again, not only was I afraid of the wrath of my parents, I was a scared little kid overall. I was afraid of everything. To the point where I never would be the first one to get out of the car, or the first one to go into the dark house upon getting home.
When we would go to church or up north for a weekend to Park Falls to visit Grandpa and the fam, I always made sure I took something of sentimental value with me so if the house spontaneously combusted while we were away, I wouldn't have lost everything.
I never put pictures or awards on the wall until late in my teen years because I was afraid of losing them to a house fire. I kept all my pictures and things like that in one drawer and thought if the house was on fire, that drawer would get tossed out the window with me.
I was afraid to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom for fear that strange men would be peeking in the windows looking at me.
I hated thunderstorms and if there was even a chance of a storm forecast overnight, I would sleep on the floor in my parents bedroom, gradually moved to the floor outside their bedroom door, then eventually to the couch in the living room right next to their bedroom.
I was afraid to be outside after dark by myself.
I was afraid of the vacuum cleaner because I thought I would be sucked up into it.
We lived right next to the railroad tracks. So close that when trains came by the house would shake like there was an earthquake. It scared our visitors. I was afraid of the trains. If I was outside and heard one coming or the lights came on, I would run into the garage or onto the porch so the train couldn't see me.
Yeah I was a freakish little kid.
But anyways, when we were kids, MOM knew what we were up to before we got home. Can we say the same for nowadays? Have we evolved into the age where neighbors are more your enemy than your neighbors?
I think that depends on your neighborhood. The reason I like living where I do now is because the majority of people are very friendly; the island has that small town feel where anyone can strike up a conversation with anyone and become friends. For the most part. But it's a completely different setting in the inner city, or in rural areas where your closest neighbor is a few miles down the road.
We lived in a very tiny town as kids. We had a bank, post office, auto parts store, elementary school, little store and of course a bar that was connected to the store. Our house was connected to the post office; there was a wall between my parents bedroom and the mail room. We could hear the mail carts being rolled across the floor in the early morning and in the evening if the mail truck hit the cement loading area too hard the entire house would shake. The closest town was about 10 miles away. So most Wednesdays after school I would stay "up town" and go to the library or something and then meet my parents at church at 6. One time on the way home from church, Mom told me that someone had seen me walking on Main St in town with one of my friends and called her, asking if I had permission to be in town! I begged her and begged her to tell me who it was, but she never did.
And we had one lady in town who would walk around every night and talk to everyone.... so when she saw us outside or would come over she would fill us in on the news around town. We had a weekly county newspaper and the closest radio station at that time was 30 miles away. She was our real live "twitter"!
In class we also got into a conversation about vehicles: are they a necessity or a priority? Again, I think it depends on where you live. Where I grew up, yes it was a priority because everything in town (except the school) was locally owned and operated, so the closest work was in town a minimum of 10 miles away or to the city 30 miles or more in any direction. As Ashton Kuchter said in one episode of That 70s Show: "you don't need to die to get to a better place, you just need to drive 30 miles n any direction." The grocery store was 10 miles away. Church and upper level schools were 10 miles away. Decent work was more than 10 miles away. If we missed the school bus once in 7th grade, if you didn't have a car, you didn't go to school that day. The nearest gas station was 10 miles away. For emergencies, the local trucking/farming company would let us use his pump to buy gas, but only if he or his wife were home.
For me now, no a car is not a priority nor a necessity. Yes, it would be nice to have one again, but that's pretty much what influenced my major decision to move back up here to La Crosse from home last summer when my car blew up. Here in La Crosse I could find a job in the city and walk or ride bike or take the bus to school or work. Back home I would have to rely on someone else to get me to work and probably wouldn't have been able to get to school, considering that was 90 miles one way either to La Crosse or Madison....
My parents didn't buy me my first vehicle until I was 23. Their philosophy was "buy a car, then you can get your license." Not only that, it wasn't in the budget at all. On the other hand.... you need money to get a vehicle to get to work to get money to maintain and drive that vehicle!
We didn't have Playstations or cell phones or satellite TV or Internet when I was a kid. We were lucky to get 3 channels on the TV.
Our first microwave didn't even appear in our house until I was 15.
And the first air conditioner wasn't too far behind that.
The first computer around the time I was 14, which had nothing more than DOS and a typing program on it.
We doused each other with Super Soakers and played in the puddles in the rain.
We built tree forts and went black raspberry picking in the woods.
We rode our bikes all over town and went sledding on the hill in our backyard.
We threw rocks at the trains and put pennies on the railroad tracks.
Ideas of fun was shooting aluminum cans off the posts with Dad's wrist rocket, using train turds for ammo.
Mom called us inside by screaming our name from the screen door. Dark was our curfew (that sucked in the winter).
Our parents pushed us outside to play and wouldn't let us sit in the house.
We were allowed to watch an hour of TV after school (usually something on PBS or something like Full House which used to be on at 4) and TGIF on Friday nights, and 2 or 3 hours on Saturday nights.
Ice cream and soda in our house was a treat, once a week to once a month at the most.
Chores were switched off between cleaning the school bus that Dad drove and brought home and doing the dishes after dinner.
We fixed our own bikes and built our own race jumps and obstacle courses.
Our parents met our friends parents before we were allowed to go anywhere with them, and their address and phone numbers were always handy.
Sundays and Wednesday were reserved for church.
Leaving the house without a parent meant telling them where we were going, how long we were going to be gone, when we were going to be back, and who we were going to be with. If they weren't home, it meant leaving a note on the table where they would see it, even if we were just going to the store two doors away.
Any movie rated above PG had to be watched with a parent, if it was even allowed into the house at all. I tell ya, some things rated PG today would have been R back then!
Did a lot of this have to do with where we lived? Yes I think it did. We made our own fun, we didn't need someone to entertain us 24/7. We didn't dare tell my mother we were bored. Her remedy was sending us to scrub the bathroom floor on our hands and knees with a toothbrush. Dad's remedy was trying to get us to stand on our heads and gargle with peanut butter. And hey, I think we turned out OK.
So would things be different for kids today if we didn't have the internet and a TV in every bedroom and a DVR and everyone having a cell phone? I'm not sure. Minus that, I still think we're breeding a generation of laziness because that article I posted earlier is true. Where are all the children?
Our instructor asked us that in class tonight. At the end of class he said we could write a one page reaction paper on what we discussed in class tonight. I had been taking notes all through class and already planned on writing a blog about it.
He said what he didn't want us to do was be judgmental and blame the parents. I think that's a large cop-out. Yes, technology and toys kids have these days are much more prominent now than when we were kids, but is that part of the reason?
I remembered during class reading an article a couple summers ago when I was back home about where all the kids were. You can view that Letter to the Editor here.
While trying to find this story, I came across many other letters to the editor about how people were blaming the parents for their children's behavior. Yes, kids will be kids. My parents had told us both that between the two of us, they feel they have dealt with everything. No, Mom, we both could have been a lot worse.
I didn't get into trouble at school because I was too afraid of the second punishment I would receive when I got home. Double jeopardy! Back in the day (before my school days) teachers were allowed to crack a kid on the knuckles with a yardstick. The most they did when I was in elementary school was send you to the principal's office. We had a part time principal who was only there in the afternoons. He was at another school in the mornings. Also, he was so old he knew my parents so whenever I got sent to his office, he was cool. And I mostly got sent to his office in 5th and 6th grade for leaving my History book out in the hallway intentionally so I didn't have to sit through Ms. Dehlinger's class.
But home punishments were worse. Writing sentences and bible verses over and over again: Galations 6:1 Children obey your parents in the Lord for this is right.
I will not lie.
I will not steal.
25 times the first time. Doubled every time I got in trouble. 50. Then 100. then 200. I think I made it to 500 something before it was changed to something else.
Then again, not only was I afraid of the wrath of my parents, I was a scared little kid overall. I was afraid of everything. To the point where I never would be the first one to get out of the car, or the first one to go into the dark house upon getting home.
When we would go to church or up north for a weekend to Park Falls to visit Grandpa and the fam, I always made sure I took something of sentimental value with me so if the house spontaneously combusted while we were away, I wouldn't have lost everything.
I never put pictures or awards on the wall until late in my teen years because I was afraid of losing them to a house fire. I kept all my pictures and things like that in one drawer and thought if the house was on fire, that drawer would get tossed out the window with me.
I was afraid to get up in the middle of the night and go to the bathroom for fear that strange men would be peeking in the windows looking at me.
I hated thunderstorms and if there was even a chance of a storm forecast overnight, I would sleep on the floor in my parents bedroom, gradually moved to the floor outside their bedroom door, then eventually to the couch in the living room right next to their bedroom.
I was afraid to be outside after dark by myself.
I was afraid of the vacuum cleaner because I thought I would be sucked up into it.
We lived right next to the railroad tracks. So close that when trains came by the house would shake like there was an earthquake. It scared our visitors. I was afraid of the trains. If I was outside and heard one coming or the lights came on, I would run into the garage or onto the porch so the train couldn't see me.
Yeah I was a freakish little kid.
But anyways, when we were kids, MOM knew what we were up to before we got home. Can we say the same for nowadays? Have we evolved into the age where neighbors are more your enemy than your neighbors?
I think that depends on your neighborhood. The reason I like living where I do now is because the majority of people are very friendly; the island has that small town feel where anyone can strike up a conversation with anyone and become friends. For the most part. But it's a completely different setting in the inner city, or in rural areas where your closest neighbor is a few miles down the road.
We lived in a very tiny town as kids. We had a bank, post office, auto parts store, elementary school, little store and of course a bar that was connected to the store. Our house was connected to the post office; there was a wall between my parents bedroom and the mail room. We could hear the mail carts being rolled across the floor in the early morning and in the evening if the mail truck hit the cement loading area too hard the entire house would shake. The closest town was about 10 miles away. So most Wednesdays after school I would stay "up town" and go to the library or something and then meet my parents at church at 6. One time on the way home from church, Mom told me that someone had seen me walking on Main St in town with one of my friends and called her, asking if I had permission to be in town! I begged her and begged her to tell me who it was, but she never did.
And we had one lady in town who would walk around every night and talk to everyone.... so when she saw us outside or would come over she would fill us in on the news around town. We had a weekly county newspaper and the closest radio station at that time was 30 miles away. She was our real live "twitter"!
In class we also got into a conversation about vehicles: are they a necessity or a priority? Again, I think it depends on where you live. Where I grew up, yes it was a priority because everything in town (except the school) was locally owned and operated, so the closest work was in town a minimum of 10 miles away or to the city 30 miles or more in any direction. As Ashton Kuchter said in one episode of That 70s Show: "you don't need to die to get to a better place, you just need to drive 30 miles n any direction." The grocery store was 10 miles away. Church and upper level schools were 10 miles away. Decent work was more than 10 miles away. If we missed the school bus once in 7th grade, if you didn't have a car, you didn't go to school that day. The nearest gas station was 10 miles away. For emergencies, the local trucking/farming company would let us use his pump to buy gas, but only if he or his wife were home.
For me now, no a car is not a priority nor a necessity. Yes, it would be nice to have one again, but that's pretty much what influenced my major decision to move back up here to La Crosse from home last summer when my car blew up. Here in La Crosse I could find a job in the city and walk or ride bike or take the bus to school or work. Back home I would have to rely on someone else to get me to work and probably wouldn't have been able to get to school, considering that was 90 miles one way either to La Crosse or Madison....
My parents didn't buy me my first vehicle until I was 23. Their philosophy was "buy a car, then you can get your license." Not only that, it wasn't in the budget at all. On the other hand.... you need money to get a vehicle to get to work to get money to maintain and drive that vehicle!
We didn't have Playstations or cell phones or satellite TV or Internet when I was a kid. We were lucky to get 3 channels on the TV.
Our first microwave didn't even appear in our house until I was 15.
And the first air conditioner wasn't too far behind that.
The first computer around the time I was 14, which had nothing more than DOS and a typing program on it.
We doused each other with Super Soakers and played in the puddles in the rain.
We built tree forts and went black raspberry picking in the woods.
We rode our bikes all over town and went sledding on the hill in our backyard.
We threw rocks at the trains and put pennies on the railroad tracks.
Ideas of fun was shooting aluminum cans off the posts with Dad's wrist rocket, using train turds for ammo.
Mom called us inside by screaming our name from the screen door. Dark was our curfew (that sucked in the winter).
Our parents pushed us outside to play and wouldn't let us sit in the house.
We were allowed to watch an hour of TV after school (usually something on PBS or something like Full House which used to be on at 4) and TGIF on Friday nights, and 2 or 3 hours on Saturday nights.
Ice cream and soda in our house was a treat, once a week to once a month at the most.
Chores were switched off between cleaning the school bus that Dad drove and brought home and doing the dishes after dinner.
We fixed our own bikes and built our own race jumps and obstacle courses.
Our parents met our friends parents before we were allowed to go anywhere with them, and their address and phone numbers were always handy.
Sundays and Wednesday were reserved for church.
Leaving the house without a parent meant telling them where we were going, how long we were going to be gone, when we were going to be back, and who we were going to be with. If they weren't home, it meant leaving a note on the table where they would see it, even if we were just going to the store two doors away.
Any movie rated above PG had to be watched with a parent, if it was even allowed into the house at all. I tell ya, some things rated PG today would have been R back then!
Did a lot of this have to do with where we lived? Yes I think it did. We made our own fun, we didn't need someone to entertain us 24/7. We didn't dare tell my mother we were bored. Her remedy was sending us to scrub the bathroom floor on our hands and knees with a toothbrush. Dad's remedy was trying to get us to stand on our heads and gargle with peanut butter. And hey, I think we turned out OK.
So would things be different for kids today if we didn't have the internet and a TV in every bedroom and a DVR and everyone having a cell phone? I'm not sure. Minus that, I still think we're breeding a generation of laziness because that article I posted earlier is true. Where are all the children?
Sunday, June 5, 2011
This Isn't Justice!
Memorial Day weekend was freakin nuts!
We went out for karaoke Friday night. As usual. We go home and what not, it's pouring rain outside, I feel like going for a walk. So I do.
I find a local park to sit in and I'm on the phone. The parks here on the island don't have closing hours on them as the ones in the city do. I've been told in the past that if I'm going to be out wandering around after I've been drinking, then go hang out in a park so I don't get hit by a car or the PD doesn't get phone calls about me. Granted, the island does not have a public intox ordinance or anything like that either as does the city.
So I'm sitting in the park talking on my phone. Not being loud, disruptive, anything like that. 2 deputies pull up to me and the first thing they say is "get in the car or you're going to jail." I end the phone call and get up and get in the car, they drive me home.
The one walks me into my apartment to make sure I get inside okay, and they leave. I strip off my wet clothes right in the living room, and then there's a knock on the door. I open it far enough to stick my head out and see the same two deputies standing there.
They ask me to come out into the hallway so they can speak to me. I replied "I'm naked" and the one hands me a piece of paper through the door. Says "there's your ticket for disorderly conduct. Court dates on the top." And they walk away.
I shrug it off and go to bed. I would think about it later.
So when I wake up I try my darndest to figure out why I got this ticket. By WI law, DC is defined as
947.01 Disorderly conduct. Whoever, in a public or private place, engages in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances in which the conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
I was doing none of the above. I was simply sitting in the park, talking on the phone. I got there on my own; I could've gotten home on my own. Not only that, the deputies made nothing clear to me as to why they were called, why they were there, why they insisted on taking me home or to jail, and why I got the citation.
So I decided I would wait until Tuesday and make a visit to the Sheriff's Department to obtain a copy of the report explaining the reasoning behind their decision.
Monday night I'm outside grilling out our Memorial Day meal and one of my neighbors from across the street calls me and asks me to come over. I talked to her for about 20 minutes before I went over there, had to finish up cooking, and then I said I would come over. I'm not there 5 minutes and there's a knock on the door.
Look out the window (she had her AC on and windows and blinds closed) and there's a squad car sitting outside. Greeeeeaaaaaaaat.
Officer Carley said he was taking her to jail because the douchebag ex boyfriend of hers who is a dickwad and lives a couple buildings down accused her of yelling profanities out the window at him as he walked past her apartment. Then he sees me.
And accuses me of hearing it on my scanner that I heard he was on his way to her apartment and I came over to "warn her" so he could be taking me to jail also for "interfering with a police investigation."
Because he doesn't know her and thought she would run. She's handicapped, she can't run. I was outside grillin and smoking, And my scanner wasn't even on because it annoys my roommates.
And this moron who accused her of this also doesn't know what he's talking about. Because her AC had been on all day, she had been sleeping before I called her, and he claimed it happened an hour before the cops arrived. He also called Animal Control on her the week before claiming she abuses and neglects her cat. I can't wait til this idiot moves out of the apartment trailer park.
So she gets arrested and I go home. I'm slightly pissed. My roommate is over at the other neighbors house and I go over there to tell her what happened and she drags me away from his place saying he wants nothing to do with me because he thinks I called the cops on his neighbor Thursday night. Yeh, this creepy guy who sits in his window and spies on my apartment all day and tells everyone else what I'm up to and that I'm a lesbian and nothing but a "cop caller."
But I DID hear that call go out on the scanner Thursday night. And it was someone in the 1600 block of our street who called him in, we live at the end of the 1700 block. This guy is our Friday ngiht entertainment. When he gets drunk he likes to yell and cuss out everything and anyone around him. But whatever, I don't care what this guy thinks of me.
That's life in the Apartment Trailer Park.
So Tuesday I go down to the Sheriff's Department to see if I can get a copy of the report. The secretary told me since it was the holiday weekend they were backed up on reports but she would look and see if one was done yet. She comes back and says "it doesn't appear he did a report." Not that it wasn't done yet, that there wasn't one at all.
So I ask to speak with a commanding officer. She goes back and returns a few minutes later and tells me the road Sgt is out and not near downtown so she would have him call me. I gave her my name and number and I'm still waiting for a phone call.
I think my next step is to go file a complaint against this particular deputy. Nothing else is going anywhere. It was completely unprofessional the way the whole situation was handled. Whether or not they know who I am, they have no reason to treat me that way. The officers are supposed to take the circumstances of each individual call into perspective, not treat you like a piece of trash because of prior contacts and incidents.
We went out for karaoke Friday night. As usual. We go home and what not, it's pouring rain outside, I feel like going for a walk. So I do.
I find a local park to sit in and I'm on the phone. The parks here on the island don't have closing hours on them as the ones in the city do. I've been told in the past that if I'm going to be out wandering around after I've been drinking, then go hang out in a park so I don't get hit by a car or the PD doesn't get phone calls about me. Granted, the island does not have a public intox ordinance or anything like that either as does the city.
So I'm sitting in the park talking on my phone. Not being loud, disruptive, anything like that. 2 deputies pull up to me and the first thing they say is "get in the car or you're going to jail." I end the phone call and get up and get in the car, they drive me home.
The one walks me into my apartment to make sure I get inside okay, and they leave. I strip off my wet clothes right in the living room, and then there's a knock on the door. I open it far enough to stick my head out and see the same two deputies standing there.
They ask me to come out into the hallway so they can speak to me. I replied "I'm naked" and the one hands me a piece of paper through the door. Says "there's your ticket for disorderly conduct. Court dates on the top." And they walk away.
I shrug it off and go to bed. I would think about it later.
So when I wake up I try my darndest to figure out why I got this ticket. By WI law, DC is defined as
947.01 Disorderly conduct. Whoever, in a public or private place, engages in violent, abusive, indecent, profane, boisterous, unreasonably loud or otherwise disorderly conduct under circumstances in which the conduct tends to cause or provoke a disturbance is guilty of a Class B misdemeanor.
I was doing none of the above. I was simply sitting in the park, talking on the phone. I got there on my own; I could've gotten home on my own. Not only that, the deputies made nothing clear to me as to why they were called, why they were there, why they insisted on taking me home or to jail, and why I got the citation.
So I decided I would wait until Tuesday and make a visit to the Sheriff's Department to obtain a copy of the report explaining the reasoning behind their decision.
Monday night I'm outside grilling out our Memorial Day meal and one of my neighbors from across the street calls me and asks me to come over. I talked to her for about 20 minutes before I went over there, had to finish up cooking, and then I said I would come over. I'm not there 5 minutes and there's a knock on the door.
Look out the window (she had her AC on and windows and blinds closed) and there's a squad car sitting outside. Greeeeeaaaaaaaat.
Officer Carley said he was taking her to jail because the douchebag ex boyfriend of hers who is a dickwad and lives a couple buildings down accused her of yelling profanities out the window at him as he walked past her apartment. Then he sees me.
And accuses me of hearing it on my scanner that I heard he was on his way to her apartment and I came over to "warn her" so he could be taking me to jail also for "interfering with a police investigation."
Because he doesn't know her and thought she would run. She's handicapped, she can't run. I was outside grillin and smoking, And my scanner wasn't even on because it annoys my roommates.
And this moron who accused her of this also doesn't know what he's talking about. Because her AC had been on all day, she had been sleeping before I called her, and he claimed it happened an hour before the cops arrived. He also called Animal Control on her the week before claiming she abuses and neglects her cat. I can't wait til this idiot moves out of the apartment trailer park.
So she gets arrested and I go home. I'm slightly pissed. My roommate is over at the other neighbors house and I go over there to tell her what happened and she drags me away from his place saying he wants nothing to do with me because he thinks I called the cops on his neighbor Thursday night. Yeh, this creepy guy who sits in his window and spies on my apartment all day and tells everyone else what I'm up to and that I'm a lesbian and nothing but a "cop caller."
But I DID hear that call go out on the scanner Thursday night. And it was someone in the 1600 block of our street who called him in, we live at the end of the 1700 block. This guy is our Friday ngiht entertainment. When he gets drunk he likes to yell and cuss out everything and anyone around him. But whatever, I don't care what this guy thinks of me.
That's life in the Apartment Trailer Park.
So Tuesday I go down to the Sheriff's Department to see if I can get a copy of the report. The secretary told me since it was the holiday weekend they were backed up on reports but she would look and see if one was done yet. She comes back and says "it doesn't appear he did a report." Not that it wasn't done yet, that there wasn't one at all.
So I ask to speak with a commanding officer. She goes back and returns a few minutes later and tells me the road Sgt is out and not near downtown so she would have him call me. I gave her my name and number and I'm still waiting for a phone call.
I think my next step is to go file a complaint against this particular deputy. Nothing else is going anywhere. It was completely unprofessional the way the whole situation was handled. Whether or not they know who I am, they have no reason to treat me that way. The officers are supposed to take the circumstances of each individual call into perspective, not treat you like a piece of trash because of prior contacts and incidents.
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
And the Diagnosis is...
Pneumonia.
Yep.
I got what I thought I wouldn't catch.
Moral of the story:
Don't mix pain killers with alcohol.
But I felt fine after taking a couple.
I wanted to go out and sing karaoke...
and after taking two pain killers....
(because my teeth still hurt after four days)
I thought I would be fine.
I had the energy.
So we walked to the bar.
KARAOKE NIGHT!
It was a normal Saturday night.
My Zachary had to work.
So my roommates and I went out.
And we had a lot of fun.
We sang a lot of songs.
We even did an awesome ending encore.
And danced after karaoke was over.
And stayed til we got kicked out.
Which is normal.
I over did it.
I don't really know what happened next.
We weren't very far up the street.
Not far at all.
I was walking in between my two roommates.
One of them had my bike.
Because we walked all the way there
until I realized...
I forgot my wallet at home.
He went back to get it.
Isn't that nice???
I remember not being able to breathe.
I was wheezing and trying to breathe and trying to walk.
I had a hold of each of them on each side of me.
And I stopped walking.
I couldn't go on anymore.
And then there were red and blue lights behind me.
Officer Carley trying to talk to me.
Talking to my roommates.
Relaying the messages to the 1st Responders.
I couldn't understand what they were saying.
Then the rumble of the ambulance parked next to us.
They're throwing me on the cot.
And placing oxygen masks on my face.
I heard Officer Carley say
that I like to fight when I'm drunk.
He's right.
Not something I'm proud of
but history speaks for itself.
Its common to come to
and not know where you are
and freak out
and the first thought is
Who the hell are you, what are you doing to me, and how do I get out of here?
I heard him say he thought I was having an allergic reaction
to the alcohol and pain killers.
That I had my wisdom teeth pulled a couple days ago.
That he's seen me more intoxicated than this,
but never in a state of distress
to where I couldn't breathe
and every breath I took
felt as if it could have been my last.
An IV poke in my hand.
Oxygen tubes in my nose and around my mouth.
A Paramedic sitting next to me
trying to talk to me.
Officer Carley's headlights from the squad car
following the ambulance
blasting me in the eyes
as I was whisked away
to the emergency room.
Stripped of my clothes and assisted into a hospital gown
More pokes, prods and questions.
I've been coughing for more than a week.
I had two teeth pulled on Tuesday.
It gotten worse since then.
Thought I'd ride it out at home....
fluids, hot tea, cough syrup, gargle with warm salt water, lots of rest....
all the things Dr. Mom prescribes
wasn't good enough.
Poked three more times for blood draw.
The first phlebotomist couldn't get it.
I have squirmy veins.
A radiologist wheeled me down for a chest x-ray.
The nurse made me pee on the commode.
That was gross.
I wanted to go to the bathroom.
Instead they brought it to me.
The doctor came in
and said the chest x ray showed
I have a little bit of pneumonia
in my left lung.
Sent me with a scrip for an antibiotic and tylenol with codeine.
And got me a cab ride home.
I slept in the recliner for a couple hours Monday morning.
Because I would cough and hack my brains out if I tried to lie down.
I even tried reclining in my bed.
That didn't work.
I didn't go to school Monday.
Officer Carley came by Monday night
and asked my roommates how I was doing.
That was nice of him.
Tuesday was worse.
I really felt like I would die.
My roommates said give it one more day
to see if the antibiotics would kick in.
By now it felt like someone had a fist around my windpipe
and was squeezing tighter and tighter
with every breath.
Tuesday night I woke up at 3 a.m.
Coughing and wheezing.
I thought about calling 911
but I'm tough... I'll make it.
I was up for three more hours coughing and wheezing.
I couldn't relax.
I couldn't lay down.
The only thing that helped
was sitting up in bed.
My lower abdomen was starting to throb
from coughing so hard.
By Wednesday when I woke up
my roommates said they could hear me wheezing
from across the room.
I was just trying to breathe.
I called the Nurse Advisor line
and she told me to come back to the hospital.
I had been progressively getting worse.
I couldn't say a sentence
without gasping for air.
I couldn't walk across the hall to the bathroom
without hacking my lungs out.
To Urgent Care it was
on the next bus.
They whisked me off to the emergency room
Again.
Back in the hospital gown.
Back to the breathing treatments.
Back to the x ray room.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
That was courtesy of the kitten
walking on my keyboard.
More questions.
No I haven't been coughing anything up.
No I haven't had a fever.
But if I had
the Tylenol with codeine
they had given me a few days ago
would hide that well.
I'd been wheezing for two days.
Why didn't they give me an inhaler
the first time?
Is the mold we found in my room
a cause of the pneumonia?
Since they have me antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia,
not viral.
Which means I'm not contagious.
The doc said
if I wasn't responding to the breathing treatments
through the nebulizer
that I would have to stay in the hospital.
I've only had to once.
I didn't like it.
The first two didn't seem to work.
Two hours down and I was starting to breathe a little easier.
They gave me another.
and I was OK.
So they made sure I could breathe
after the 4th one.
Four hours later
I was discharged.
The chest x ray showed
I had swelling in my lungs
more than the pneumonia brought on.
So they gave me an inhaler and a steroid
to breathe easier and get the swollen lungs down.
Said I should be back to normal by the weekend.
And set me up with a local doctor.
I'm already feeling better.
I can talk.
I'm not wheezing with every breath.
I have a little bit of energy.
But I think I'm going to save it.
for....
KARAOKE NIGHT
this weekend ;)
Yep.
I got what I thought I wouldn't catch.
Moral of the story:
Don't mix pain killers with alcohol.
But I felt fine after taking a couple.
I wanted to go out and sing karaoke...
and after taking two pain killers....
(because my teeth still hurt after four days)
I thought I would be fine.
I had the energy.
So we walked to the bar.
KARAOKE NIGHT!
It was a normal Saturday night.
My Zachary had to work.
So my roommates and I went out.
And we had a lot of fun.
We sang a lot of songs.
We even did an awesome ending encore.
And danced after karaoke was over.
And stayed til we got kicked out.
Which is normal.
I over did it.
I don't really know what happened next.
We weren't very far up the street.
Not far at all.
I was walking in between my two roommates.
One of them had my bike.
Because we walked all the way there
until I realized...
I forgot my wallet at home.
He went back to get it.
Isn't that nice???
I remember not being able to breathe.
I was wheezing and trying to breathe and trying to walk.
I had a hold of each of them on each side of me.
And I stopped walking.
I couldn't go on anymore.
And then there were red and blue lights behind me.
Officer Carley trying to talk to me.
Talking to my roommates.
Relaying the messages to the 1st Responders.
I couldn't understand what they were saying.
Then the rumble of the ambulance parked next to us.
They're throwing me on the cot.
And placing oxygen masks on my face.
I heard Officer Carley say
that I like to fight when I'm drunk.
He's right.
Not something I'm proud of
but history speaks for itself.
Its common to come to
and not know where you are
and freak out
and the first thought is
Who the hell are you, what are you doing to me, and how do I get out of here?
I heard him say he thought I was having an allergic reaction
to the alcohol and pain killers.
That I had my wisdom teeth pulled a couple days ago.
That he's seen me more intoxicated than this,
but never in a state of distress
to where I couldn't breathe
and every breath I took
felt as if it could have been my last.
An IV poke in my hand.
Oxygen tubes in my nose and around my mouth.
A Paramedic sitting next to me
trying to talk to me.
Officer Carley's headlights from the squad car
following the ambulance
blasting me in the eyes
as I was whisked away
to the emergency room.
Stripped of my clothes and assisted into a hospital gown
More pokes, prods and questions.
I've been coughing for more than a week.
I had two teeth pulled on Tuesday.
It gotten worse since then.
Thought I'd ride it out at home....
fluids, hot tea, cough syrup, gargle with warm salt water, lots of rest....
all the things Dr. Mom prescribes
wasn't good enough.
Poked three more times for blood draw.
The first phlebotomist couldn't get it.
I have squirmy veins.
A radiologist wheeled me down for a chest x-ray.
The nurse made me pee on the commode.
That was gross.
I wanted to go to the bathroom.
Instead they brought it to me.
The doctor came in
and said the chest x ray showed
I have a little bit of pneumonia
in my left lung.
Sent me with a scrip for an antibiotic and tylenol with codeine.
And got me a cab ride home.
I slept in the recliner for a couple hours Monday morning.
Because I would cough and hack my brains out if I tried to lie down.
I even tried reclining in my bed.
That didn't work.
I didn't go to school Monday.
Officer Carley came by Monday night
and asked my roommates how I was doing.
That was nice of him.
Tuesday was worse.
I really felt like I would die.
My roommates said give it one more day
to see if the antibiotics would kick in.
By now it felt like someone had a fist around my windpipe
and was squeezing tighter and tighter
with every breath.
Tuesday night I woke up at 3 a.m.
Coughing and wheezing.
I thought about calling 911
but I'm tough... I'll make it.
I was up for three more hours coughing and wheezing.
I couldn't relax.
I couldn't lay down.
The only thing that helped
was sitting up in bed.
My lower abdomen was starting to throb
from coughing so hard.
By Wednesday when I woke up
my roommates said they could hear me wheezing
from across the room.
I was just trying to breathe.
I called the Nurse Advisor line
and she told me to come back to the hospital.
I had been progressively getting worse.
I couldn't say a sentence
without gasping for air.
I couldn't walk across the hall to the bathroom
without hacking my lungs out.
To Urgent Care it was
on the next bus.
They whisked me off to the emergency room
Again.
Back in the hospital gown.
Back to the breathing treatments.
Back to the x ray room.
1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111
That was courtesy of the kitten
walking on my keyboard.
More questions.
No I haven't been coughing anything up.
No I haven't had a fever.
But if I had
the Tylenol with codeine
they had given me a few days ago
would hide that well.
I'd been wheezing for two days.
Why didn't they give me an inhaler
the first time?
Is the mold we found in my room
a cause of the pneumonia?
Since they have me antibiotics for bacterial pneumonia,
not viral.
Which means I'm not contagious.
The doc said
if I wasn't responding to the breathing treatments
through the nebulizer
that I would have to stay in the hospital.
I've only had to once.
I didn't like it.
The first two didn't seem to work.
Two hours down and I was starting to breathe a little easier.
They gave me another.
and I was OK.
So they made sure I could breathe
after the 4th one.
Four hours later
I was discharged.
The chest x ray showed
I had swelling in my lungs
more than the pneumonia brought on.
So they gave me an inhaler and a steroid
to breathe easier and get the swollen lungs down.
Said I should be back to normal by the weekend.
And set me up with a local doctor.
I'm already feeling better.
I can talk.
I'm not wheezing with every breath.
I have a little bit of energy.
But I think I'm going to save it.
for....
KARAOKE NIGHT
this weekend ;)
Friday, March 25, 2011
We is All a Bunch of Sicklies
Yep. I've had this crazy cough for a little more than a week now... it
didn't really start to come about til I kissed Zach last Friday.... that
man has the worst immune system in the world... if he can catch
something, he will. It doesn't help that he works in the lab at the
clinic and can catch just about anything. This time he's said its his
tonsils. Again. Which he apparently has something wrong with them about
every four months.
I'm not even coughing anything up, just have a sore throat and a harsh, deep cough. I saw on the news last night that there have been several cases of whooping cough confirmed in our area but I looked up the symptoms to that and I don't seem to have them... sounds like bronchitis but I have to sleep sitting up because the cough is worse at night and I don't want it to turn into pneumonia.... everyone's telling me to see a dr but I have Dr Mom ;)
So I have been hiding in my room alot, under the vaporizer and humidifier with cough syrup and cough drops and hot tea with lemon and sugar pumping into me like water... doesn't help that I had two teeth pulled out on Tuesday morning and got good painkillers for that... so I've pretty much been an invalid for the past three days.
Akira was in the hospital last night... dr said on Wed. she had the stomach flu and yesterday she was worse so she was taken in and they admitted her because she was dehydrated and had low blood sugar. They didn't really say much more than that... but she's home now and acting like the normal three year old that she is, for the most part. Just hoping everyone else in the house doesn't get sick now also... it's making the rounds....
I'm not even coughing anything up, just have a sore throat and a harsh, deep cough. I saw on the news last night that there have been several cases of whooping cough confirmed in our area but I looked up the symptoms to that and I don't seem to have them... sounds like bronchitis but I have to sleep sitting up because the cough is worse at night and I don't want it to turn into pneumonia.... everyone's telling me to see a dr but I have Dr Mom ;)
So I have been hiding in my room alot, under the vaporizer and humidifier with cough syrup and cough drops and hot tea with lemon and sugar pumping into me like water... doesn't help that I had two teeth pulled out on Tuesday morning and got good painkillers for that... so I've pretty much been an invalid for the past three days.
Akira was in the hospital last night... dr said on Wed. she had the stomach flu and yesterday she was worse so she was taken in and they admitted her because she was dehydrated and had low blood sugar. They didn't really say much more than that... but she's home now and acting like the normal three year old that she is, for the most part. Just hoping everyone else in the house doesn't get sick now also... it's making the rounds....
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
AS IF!!!!
So my book didn't make it to the quarter finals round of the ABNA Novel
thing. Oh well... I don't think these people know what they're talking
about because these are the reviews I got back from 2 "Expert
Reviewers"....
ABNA Expert Reviewer:
What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
I'm really trying to think of something positive to say, but I can't. I guess it's nice to see Haley and Corey have a wholesome, fun relationship. It can be such a drag when relationships happen between two people who are obviously very bad for each other.
What aspect needs the most work?
Where to start?
The main character, Haley, sounds and acts like she is all of twelve years old. I couldn't believe it when it mentioned she was a senior in high school. From her word choices to what she does, Haley seems like a child. I mean, her idea of fun is terrorizing kids on the bus? That sounds like elementary school, for crying out loud!
You also need to decide whether this story is being told in the past tense or the present tense. The narrative constantly switches. For example:
"Corey was Haley’s best buddy on the bus. Together, the two of them were major partners in crime. Big-time. He is also valedictorian of their senior class."
Corey WAS Haley's best buddy...the two of them WERE major partners...these are past tense statements. He IS valedictorian - that is present tense. The tense changes how the story is told and what the reader can expect from it...and it HAS TO BE CONSISTENT throughout the narrative.
What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?
I would not recommend this to anyone.
The dialogue is unnatural and stiff; teenagers don't really talk like Haley, Corey and Nick.
The writing itself is very juvenile. If I had to guess, I would say that someone between the ages of twelve and fifteen wrote it. The language is unsophisticated, and the simplistic plot and characterizations show an underdeveloped, immature writer. I guess that's the good news - if the writer is as young as I suspect, than as he/she grows older and matures, the writing will also improve.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
The excerpt does a good job establishing the relationships among the main characters without being overly expository. There are also a number of foreshadowing threads suggesting the mystery to come, and of course the problem of the cliffhanger ending to grab the reader's attention.
What aspect needs the most work?
The dialogue does not seem very realistic for teenagers, and the character's behavior and emotional responses also seem simplistic, so that the characters seem much younger than they are supposed to be (which makes the seeming foreshadowing of amorous feelings between the underage protagonist and the bus driver even more creepy). The narrative style also seems overly simple, even for a young adult audience.
What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?
The plot seems as if it may have some potential, but would benefit from more realistic dialogue, character development, and developed narration.
--------------------------------------------------
Yeh, these people said teenagers really don't talk like this... apparently none of these "expert reviewers" have ever lived or grown up in rural Midwest town where they have to create their own fun. Whatever. Everyone else who's read it loved it, including my English Composition instructor. Why would she say its great and encourage me to publish it, if it wasn't?
ABNA Expert Reviewer:
What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
I'm really trying to think of something positive to say, but I can't. I guess it's nice to see Haley and Corey have a wholesome, fun relationship. It can be such a drag when relationships happen between two people who are obviously very bad for each other.
What aspect needs the most work?
Where to start?
The main character, Haley, sounds and acts like she is all of twelve years old. I couldn't believe it when it mentioned she was a senior in high school. From her word choices to what she does, Haley seems like a child. I mean, her idea of fun is terrorizing kids on the bus? That sounds like elementary school, for crying out loud!
You also need to decide whether this story is being told in the past tense or the present tense. The narrative constantly switches. For example:
"Corey was Haley’s best buddy on the bus. Together, the two of them were major partners in crime. Big-time. He is also valedictorian of their senior class."
Corey WAS Haley's best buddy...the two of them WERE major partners...these are past tense statements. He IS valedictorian - that is present tense. The tense changes how the story is told and what the reader can expect from it...and it HAS TO BE CONSISTENT throughout the narrative.
What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?
I would not recommend this to anyone.
The dialogue is unnatural and stiff; teenagers don't really talk like Haley, Corey and Nick.
The writing itself is very juvenile. If I had to guess, I would say that someone between the ages of twelve and fifteen wrote it. The language is unsophisticated, and the simplistic plot and characterizations show an underdeveloped, immature writer. I guess that's the good news - if the writer is as young as I suspect, than as he/she grows older and matures, the writing will also improve.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
What is the strongest aspect of this excerpt?
The excerpt does a good job establishing the relationships among the main characters without being overly expository. There are also a number of foreshadowing threads suggesting the mystery to come, and of course the problem of the cliffhanger ending to grab the reader's attention.
What aspect needs the most work?
The dialogue does not seem very realistic for teenagers, and the character's behavior and emotional responses also seem simplistic, so that the characters seem much younger than they are supposed to be (which makes the seeming foreshadowing of amorous feelings between the underage protagonist and the bus driver even more creepy). The narrative style also seems overly simple, even for a young adult audience.
What is your overall opinion of this excerpt?
The plot seems as if it may have some potential, but would benefit from more realistic dialogue, character development, and developed narration.
--------------------------------------------------
Yeh, these people said teenagers really don't talk like this... apparently none of these "expert reviewers" have ever lived or grown up in rural Midwest town where they have to create their own fun. Whatever. Everyone else who's read it loved it, including my English Composition instructor. Why would she say its great and encourage me to publish it, if it wasn't?
Thursday, February 10, 2011
It's the end of the world as we know it...
I've started my Day Zero Project list... and only completed 3 things so
far... with many more in progress. You can check out the links here on
my blog from my homepage.
So I just made out the rent check and now I have runny black ink all over my fingers. Greeeeeaaaaaaat.
Anyways... this week has kinda sucked and kinda been ok. Monday I got a rejection letter from the Random House contest I entered that says:
Dear Writer:
Thank you for participating in the thirtieth annual Delacorte Press contest. We are sorry to tell you that your submission was not selected as our prizewinner, though we appreciate your having given us the opportunity to read it. Because of the number of entries, we are unable to comment specifically on your manuscript, but we wish you every success with your writing.
Sincerely
The Editors
Delacorte Press
And they returned my cover letter with that.
Is it because I wrote it when I was 17 and I told them that? I thought they would be impressed.
Is it because they dont know good writing when they see it? Yeah I think thats more like it because everyone who has read the excerpt and the book so far has said its awesome but I havent believed them.
And another rejection came today... with an email reply from Sprint saying they're not moving forward with my application at this time. Thats the third time I've been turned down by them, although the first time I actually had an interview.
Looks like I may have to resort to working in fast food. Ewwww.
The only thing thats kept me going this week is my Zachary. He's finally starting to come around and act like a boyfriend who loves his girlfriend. He hasn't come right out and told me he loves me yet, but a couple weekends ago he said "I think I'm falling in love with you" and said 1-4-3 instead of I love you but I know what he meant.
He has also been calling me during the week while we are apart, which he has not done ever, we would only text during the week and see each other on weekends. And he took me out to Sprint last week for the job fair then to lunch before he took me to school.
Maybe I'm just stressed out. I don't know what over besides the fact I cant seem to find a job. And unemployments going to run out here anytime soon. Got my taxes done last night and should have those back in a week or two so that takes care of rent for next month...
I guess Im just sick of rejection. What next?
So I just made out the rent check and now I have runny black ink all over my fingers. Greeeeeaaaaaaat.
Anyways... this week has kinda sucked and kinda been ok. Monday I got a rejection letter from the Random House contest I entered that says:
Dear Writer:
Thank you for participating in the thirtieth annual Delacorte Press contest. We are sorry to tell you that your submission was not selected as our prizewinner, though we appreciate your having given us the opportunity to read it. Because of the number of entries, we are unable to comment specifically on your manuscript, but we wish you every success with your writing.
Sincerely
The Editors
Delacorte Press
And they returned my cover letter with that.
Is it because I wrote it when I was 17 and I told them that? I thought they would be impressed.
Is it because they dont know good writing when they see it? Yeah I think thats more like it because everyone who has read the excerpt and the book so far has said its awesome but I havent believed them.
And another rejection came today... with an email reply from Sprint saying they're not moving forward with my application at this time. Thats the third time I've been turned down by them, although the first time I actually had an interview.
Looks like I may have to resort to working in fast food. Ewwww.
The only thing thats kept me going this week is my Zachary. He's finally starting to come around and act like a boyfriend who loves his girlfriend. He hasn't come right out and told me he loves me yet, but a couple weekends ago he said "I think I'm falling in love with you" and said 1-4-3 instead of I love you but I know what he meant.
He has also been calling me during the week while we are apart, which he has not done ever, we would only text during the week and see each other on weekends. And he took me out to Sprint last week for the job fair then to lunch before he took me to school.
Maybe I'm just stressed out. I don't know what over besides the fact I cant seem to find a job. And unemployments going to run out here anytime soon. Got my taxes done last night and should have those back in a week or two so that takes care of rent for next month...
I guess Im just sick of rejection. What next?
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Stupid Politics!
So I thought I would get out of watching President Obama's State of the
Union Address because I had class tonight. "The President's on! He's on
every channel!" Which comedian was that... Louie Anderson? I was
relieved I have cable for one night.
Well, that was until I got to class and our instructor told us she was planning on watching it in class if we chose to.
I was grossly outnumbered. 16 people in the class, 14 females, 2 males, and only about 3 of us who didn't care to watch it at all, about 8 who said they would have watched it had they not been in class, and the rest said they wanted to watch it.
So here I sat. Bored out of my mind in the middle of the classroom texting to facebook and Twitter about how much clapping and standing going on. Did everyone seriously have to stand and clap EVERY single time the President said something?
A couple things did make me laugh though... such as when he stated that nobody is going to be denied the right to serve the country they love because of who they love... and the camera showed random dudes in uniform who were NOT clapping. NOT smiling. And NOT moving a muscle. They didn't look too happy.
And also when he said something about how the Interior Dept deals with freshwater salmon, the Commerce Dept deals with saltwater salmon, and when it's smoked its another whole different department!
Yeah I was still bored to no end.
It didn't help that my instructor brought snacks.
Because I don't care about politics. I simply don't care. I don't vote, yet I don't complain about the way the government does things or what's going on in the political world.
And now we have to wrote a one page paper about how what he said will influence our work as social workers.
You know how I think it will influence it? He's talking about cutting spending to community programs.... that's prolly where most of us will be working... therefore many of us will be competing for one job that MAY be available among 3000 people applying for it.
So yeah, what do I think about politics? :P
Give me a damn job now and I'll be happy forever. Until its shipped to India for a robot to do it for a quarter of the price.
Well, that was until I got to class and our instructor told us she was planning on watching it in class if we chose to.
I was grossly outnumbered. 16 people in the class, 14 females, 2 males, and only about 3 of us who didn't care to watch it at all, about 8 who said they would have watched it had they not been in class, and the rest said they wanted to watch it.
So here I sat. Bored out of my mind in the middle of the classroom texting to facebook and Twitter about how much clapping and standing going on. Did everyone seriously have to stand and clap EVERY single time the President said something?
A couple things did make me laugh though... such as when he stated that nobody is going to be denied the right to serve the country they love because of who they love... and the camera showed random dudes in uniform who were NOT clapping. NOT smiling. And NOT moving a muscle. They didn't look too happy.
And also when he said something about how the Interior Dept deals with freshwater salmon, the Commerce Dept deals with saltwater salmon, and when it's smoked its another whole different department!
Yeah I was still bored to no end.
It didn't help that my instructor brought snacks.
Because I don't care about politics. I simply don't care. I don't vote, yet I don't complain about the way the government does things or what's going on in the political world.
And now we have to wrote a one page paper about how what he said will influence our work as social workers.
You know how I think it will influence it? He's talking about cutting spending to community programs.... that's prolly where most of us will be working... therefore many of us will be competing for one job that MAY be available among 3000 people applying for it.
So yeah, what do I think about politics? :P
Give me a damn job now and I'll be happy forever. Until its shipped to India for a robot to do it for a quarter of the price.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Ups and Downs
Grow up.
Sit up.
Stand up.
Shut up.
Heads up!
Wait up.
What’s up?
Knocked up.
Throw up.
Make up.
Break up.
Shake it up.
Keep up.
Time’s up.
Burnt up.
Why do we say “up” when the majority of these phrases actually mean just the opposite?
We usually say “grow up” to someone who is acting like a young child or someone you would look DOWN upon for their actions.
Sit up. They’re already sitting DOWN.
Stand up. Again, they’re sitting DOWN.
Shut up means quiet DOWN. That’s just an all-around put DOWN.
When someone yells “Heads up!” it’s usually best to duck and run.
Wait up… what do you mean by that? Someone has to slow DOWN in order to wait for someone else to catch up.
What’s up? Well, when someone asks me that, I anticipate they expect a DOWN-to Earth reply.
Knocked up. Ouch. Aren’t women on like, bed rest during the latter stages of pregnancy?
And when you’re throwing up, ick. You wanna be anyhere EXCEPT vertical.
Make
up. Could be looked at two different ways. One, the cosmetics people
use to cover what they don’t want people to see, or to make them look
better so no one puts them DOWN.
Two, making up after a break up because you’re so DOWN and out about no longer being with them, which brings me to break up.
It’s the same, only opposite. Don’t you break up because you’re no longer happy with the person or with something they did to upset you/bring you DOWN?
Shake it up. Ya gotta flip it upside DOWN to cover/mix the bottom?
Keep up. We tell someone that when they’re slowing DOWN or keeping us slowed DOWN.
Time’s
up. The time’s not up! It’s DOWN, gone, never to be returned again.
There’s no refund on time. It’s dead. Dead. DOWN. In the ground.
Burnt up. When a structure/object burns up, there’s nothing left. It burned DOWN. Disintegrated into a pile of kindling, unless you’re referring to BBQ.
Well,
then it’s just the way Dad likes it! As he always tells his servers:
When the smoke detector goes off, turn it over. When the fire dept. gets
here, bring it to me!
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Homework Inspiration
Tonight in class we were talking of personal stereotypes and biases.
Also of how laws and norms have changed over the years. We have to write
a reflection paper on something we talk about or learn or discuss in
class every week and it reminded me of this note I wrote on facebook....
from when I was in jail in January of 2009.
I was thinking earlier how I remembered as we drove past the courthouse Austin would occasionally ask what this big building was. I never knew how to explain that to a 4 yr old. The only way I can think to explain it to him is that it's where grown ups get sent for a time out. Nope. He was too smart for that. "The police come and take them away and that's where they put them?" Yeah, that kid's brilliant. Just like his Aunt Holly. Too smart for her own good. And that's why she keeps getting brought back? No. She keeps getting brought back because she's a stubborn woman who has a problem following the rules of society, aka laws/ordinances/statutes/etc.
So this is how it works. As a baby, you cry, you get attention. As a toddler, you begin to explore on your own and learn the dangers of things from your own mistakes, such as touching something hot hurts you so you don't do it again. Unless you like pain, of course. Your parents teach you right from wrong and you answer to them for your wrongdoing. Once in school, you answer to the teacher(s) or the principal. AND your parents when you get home! Talk about double jeopardy! As an adult, you answer to the laws of society and the police officers counted on to enforce those laws. They, in essence, take you to answer to a judge. Once we die, we'll answer to the final judge: GOD. In a workplace setting, we answer to the supervisor/boss and if we don't like what they have to say we can go find one who does. If that boss is breaking the rules, he has a boss somewhere.
My point is this: everyone answers to somebody. Whether or not we like it, whether or not we may even know it. Traffic rules. Rules of the playground. Policies in the workplace. Laws in society. House rules. Landlord's rules. Rules we've instilled into our children for their safety and our sanity. No shoes, no shirt, no service. Codes of conduct. Bylaws. Regulations. Do not. Can not. Will not. Shall not. May not.
So do I have a problem with authority? No. I have a problem with following rules, in turn, having a problem with those in charge of enforcing them. There's a difference. Yeah, I know. Behave and I won't have a problem with the latter. Correct?
LOL I guess it's all in how the individual perceives it.
I was thinking earlier how I remembered as we drove past the courthouse Austin would occasionally ask what this big building was. I never knew how to explain that to a 4 yr old. The only way I can think to explain it to him is that it's where grown ups get sent for a time out. Nope. He was too smart for that. "The police come and take them away and that's where they put them?" Yeah, that kid's brilliant. Just like his Aunt Holly. Too smart for her own good. And that's why she keeps getting brought back? No. She keeps getting brought back because she's a stubborn woman who has a problem following the rules of society, aka laws/ordinances/statutes/etc.
So this is how it works. As a baby, you cry, you get attention. As a toddler, you begin to explore on your own and learn the dangers of things from your own mistakes, such as touching something hot hurts you so you don't do it again. Unless you like pain, of course. Your parents teach you right from wrong and you answer to them for your wrongdoing. Once in school, you answer to the teacher(s) or the principal. AND your parents when you get home! Talk about double jeopardy! As an adult, you answer to the laws of society and the police officers counted on to enforce those laws. They, in essence, take you to answer to a judge. Once we die, we'll answer to the final judge: GOD. In a workplace setting, we answer to the supervisor/boss and if we don't like what they have to say we can go find one who does. If that boss is breaking the rules, he has a boss somewhere.
My point is this: everyone answers to somebody. Whether or not we like it, whether or not we may even know it. Traffic rules. Rules of the playground. Policies in the workplace. Laws in society. House rules. Landlord's rules. Rules we've instilled into our children for their safety and our sanity. No shoes, no shirt, no service. Codes of conduct. Bylaws. Regulations. Do not. Can not. Will not. Shall not. May not.
So do I have a problem with authority? No. I have a problem with following rules, in turn, having a problem with those in charge of enforcing them. There's a difference. Yeah, I know. Behave and I won't have a problem with the latter. Correct?
LOL I guess it's all in how the individual perceives it.
Monday, January 10, 2011
Homeless: Motel Kids
If
you ever get a chance to watch this documentary, DO IT. I got the
chance to watch this last night and it hit me hard close to home. I
couldn't believe the conditions these kids live in and the things they
learn in school.
Basically the documentary
is about families who live in a motel in Orange County California,
across the street from Disneyland. 4, 6, 8 people and pets crammed into a
room. Sadly, it reminded me of the way many of my old friends in the
Dells live, and how the Dells is known to everyone else as a tourist
attraction where those who visit have a hard time realizing people live
there let alone live in motel rooms as families with 4 or 6 people
crammed into a kitchenette unit.
Its the
same way here... people picture Orange County as a tourist location with
Disneyland and the beaches and stuff, but probably have no clue these
families and kids are right there across the street from their
playground.... where the city streets and parking lots for these kids is
a playground.
The video goes on to show
about Project Hope, which is a school for homeless children funded by
the government, but at the end they stated due to budget cuts they had
to let two of their teachers go, including one who was in the video. I
also couldn't believe that these kids were learning about legal and
illegal drugs in 3rd and 4th grade! Is that due to the decay of society
or how much drug activity there is in California compared to Wisconsin? I
don't think I even began hearing about drugs at least til 7th or 8th
grade, except cigarettes.
There were a few
things that made my heart melt tho. Just shows how these kids are so
different... an 11 yr old boy was asked what does home mean to him? And
he replied he really doesn't know what that means. He lieved in a room
with 3 or 4 other children and his mother and 4 dogs.
A
6 yr old in the classroom, when they were talking about living in
America and the "rights" Americans have, this 6 yr old said "I have the
right to remain silent." He's 6!!!! And I'm sure he didn't learn that
from watching the tv show.... This is the same 6 year old when asked
what he wanted this summer, replied "a mansion and all the guns in the
world."
The one thing I DIDN'T like at all
is when the interviewer asked the kids why they thought God would let
them be homeless. I don't remember exactly what the kids replies were,
but it just bothered me that she would ask that.
Anyways,
go check this out if you haven't seen it. I wound up catching it at 2
am on HBO Signature channel this morning and I looked for it on demand
and couldn't locate it... but its a good flick. Moving and
heartbreaking. It made me want to go there and help these kids, even
though I have no clue how.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
I Have a New Love...
And that happens to be....
Karaoke.
You can check out the video from last night here.
I never was much into singing... but this has been fun. I only did it in the quietness of my own apartment singing at the top of my lungs and freaking out the neighbors. Not so much anymore... cause we don't have any neighbors here to freak out :)
My Christmas vacation from school has come to an end :( Go back tomorrow night. Still waiting for one more book, hoping it will be here tomorrow but I have tomorrow's book already... waiting for the book I need for Tuesday night classes.
Christmas break went pretty quick for me. Not really I am bored out of my mind. The job hunt is not going so well either. I spent near a half an hour online tonight applying for this work at home job, went through all the steps then the final step is a test run from your computer to see if its compatible with the system software. After all that time... why don't they do that first? Why waste the time to enter all the information if the only reason you may not get the job is because your computers too stupid? Ay yi yi
Karaoke.
You can check out the video from last night here.
I never was much into singing... but this has been fun. I only did it in the quietness of my own apartment singing at the top of my lungs and freaking out the neighbors. Not so much anymore... cause we don't have any neighbors here to freak out :)
My Christmas vacation from school has come to an end :( Go back tomorrow night. Still waiting for one more book, hoping it will be here tomorrow but I have tomorrow's book already... waiting for the book I need for Tuesday night classes.
Christmas break went pretty quick for me. Not really I am bored out of my mind. The job hunt is not going so well either. I spent near a half an hour online tonight applying for this work at home job, went through all the steps then the final step is a test run from your computer to see if its compatible with the system software. After all that time... why don't they do that first? Why waste the time to enter all the information if the only reason you may not get the job is because your computers too stupid? Ay yi yi
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