Human emotions can prevent people from thinking clearly when it comes to
decisions regarding love and companionship. Two people will often commit to
marriage without fully realizing the consequences. Although love is a strong
component for keeping two people together, a good marriage needs more than that
emotion. There needs to be a mutual culmination of ideas and
interests.
Honest Communication
Communication is the cornerstone
of any relationship. Without being able to discuss things rationally with your
mate, problems can continue to mount. By keeping calm and talking things out,
problems that were once thought of as severe could be less likely to escalate.
Once the yelling starts, however, the conversation may be over. Take time away
from each other in order to calm down before discussing issues.
Equal
Partnership
In today's world, sharing the responsibilities equally can
resolve many issues regarding resentment or even jealousy. A marriage is a
merging of two individuals. You need to be a cohesive unit to overcome many
challenges that life will throw at you. You don't want to develop
co-dependencies, but you need to share the decisions and be equal partners
within the relationship.
The Team Mentality
When you enter a
marriage, a team mentality needs to be incorporated. The two of you will be
pitted against some of the toughest circumstances in life. By approaching these
situations together, you can benefit from each other. Experience, knowledge,
insight and more can be shared making the two of you greater together rather
than alone. Many arguments can be avoided if couples would discuss important
decisions together and weigh the pros and cons instead of making rash
choices.
Understanding
It takes a great deal of effort to truly
understand someone. However, it can reduce many problems if you take the time to
get to know your mate. Emotional distress can signify that someone is unhappy
with how situations are progressing. You cannot be oblivious to the feelings and
wants of your mate as it can cause trouble for you.
Not every marriage is
capable of surviving various complications. As long as both parties tried their
best, there is nothing more to do but to file for divorce. Organizations such as
Cordell & Cordell can help those that need to resolve divorce proceedings
when all else fails. Find out more information by clicking here, and view the
marriage as a learning experience
Monday, April 27, 2015
Friday, March 6, 2015
An Open Letter to Governor Larry Hogan
I have posted many times about the challenges that my wife and I have faced with raising a son with autism. He has been attending his current school for a little more than 5 years now and graduates in June. Upon graduation, we had hopes of getting him into a group home situation. We feel this would be the best situation for him to continue the progress he has made at his school. Whenever he comes home for a visit, he tends to regress. For this reason, we believe that an extended stay at home after graduation would be detrimental to his continued development.
We have been working with various agencies to try to accomplish the goal of getting him funding for a group home. A few days ago, we received a letter from the Developmental Disabilities Administration in Maryland with news. The letter stated that our son was classified in the greatest need for funding. That was the good news. The bad news is that there is no funding currently available. On the advice of his transitional coordinator at school, I have written to our Governor expressing the need for additional funding for the disabled community.
I have posted that communication below. Similar communications will be sent to my state Senator and Delegates.
Governor Hogan,
I voted for you in the last election, and now could use your help. I am writing in regards to my 20 year old son who has autism. Currently, he attends school at the Benedictine School for Exceptional Children in Ridgely, MD. He has been a student there for the past 5 years and graduates in June.
Our hope is that he would be able to get funding to enter a residential program through DDA upon graduation. He has been classified in the Crisis Resolution category as having the greatest need for services but that funding was not available and would have to be put on a waiting list.
Sending our son to live at the Benedictine School was one of the hardest things we ever had to do. However, it was the best thing for our son. He has made so much progress in their program. Unfortunately, when he is at home, he tends to regress. If he were to have to move home until funding is available for a residential program it would be detrimental to his well being.
Governor Hogan, it is for this reason that I write to you. I am asking that you and the state legislature to provide adequate funding so that the DDA can provide the services that my son, and other members of the community with disabilities can get the services they need. Thank you for your consideration.
We have been working with various agencies to try to accomplish the goal of getting him funding for a group home. A few days ago, we received a letter from the Developmental Disabilities Administration in Maryland with news. The letter stated that our son was classified in the greatest need for funding. That was the good news. The bad news is that there is no funding currently available. On the advice of his transitional coordinator at school, I have written to our Governor expressing the need for additional funding for the disabled community.
I have posted that communication below. Similar communications will be sent to my state Senator and Delegates.
Governor Hogan,
I voted for you in the last election, and now could use your help. I am writing in regards to my 20 year old son who has autism. Currently, he attends school at the Benedictine School for Exceptional Children in Ridgely, MD. He has been a student there for the past 5 years and graduates in June.
Our hope is that he would be able to get funding to enter a residential program through DDA upon graduation. He has been classified in the Crisis Resolution category as having the greatest need for services but that funding was not available and would have to be put on a waiting list.
Sending our son to live at the Benedictine School was one of the hardest things we ever had to do. However, it was the best thing for our son. He has made so much progress in their program. Unfortunately, when he is at home, he tends to regress. If he were to have to move home until funding is available for a residential program it would be detrimental to his well being.
Governor Hogan, it is for this reason that I write to you. I am asking that you and the state legislature to provide adequate funding so that the DDA can provide the services that my son, and other members of the community with disabilities can get the services they need. Thank you for your consideration.
Thursday, March 5, 2015
The Differences Between Beach and Indoor Volleyball
Several people play volleyball for
fun, exercise, and to make friends. Pick up games are constantly happening for
interested individuals. All you need is some basic equipment from All
Volleyball. Then, you can decide whether you prefer to play at the beach or
indoors. Both options are fun, and many people play at both venues. However,
there are key differences between beach volleyball and indoor volleyball. Before
you join a game, it is important to understand how each game is played.
Balls
You need different balls to play indoors and at the beach. The
indoor volleyballs are heavier and made of leather. They are designed to be more
powerful and move quicker around the court. Beach volleyballs are lighter and
softer than the balls used indoors. They are also a little bit bigger. The
lighter weight helps the ball float in the outdoor air, and it can benefit the
players in specific weather conditions.
Court Sizes
The size of the court is different for outdoor and indoor
volleyball games. Indoor courts are larger, and there is a line of attack that
the back row players cannot cross during the game. Beach volleyball courts are
smaller, and they do not have the attack line. Instead, a player can hit the
ball from anywhere on the court.
Players
Each team is allotted a specific amount of players during a
volleyball game. When the game is held indoors, six players are aloud on the
court at a time. All of these players have a certain position, and they usually
rotate to their spots during the game. Typically, beach volleyball is played in
pairs or doubles. The two players do not necessarily have positions. Instead,
one stays on the left and the other stays on the right.
Scoring
Scoring is important in any game because it indicates which
team wins. In volleyball, scoring can be confusing if you do not understand the
rules. During indoor games, the best of five sets wins. To win a set, the team
has to score 25 points first. If a fifth set is necessary, the first team to 15
points wins. Beach volleyball involves fewer sets, usually because there are
more rallies. Teams play best of three. The first two sets are played to 21
points, and the last set is played to 15 points. For both
indoor and outdoor volleyball, a team must win a set by two points.
These are the basic differences between beach and indoor volleyball.
Now that you understand the differences, you can join a pick up game in your
area. You will love meeting new friends and getting some exercise.
Monday, December 29, 2014
No Snacks For You
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| English: Snack Machine (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The article was about a new vending machine that they have developed in Europe. This vending machine uses facial recognition and can detect your age, build, and mood. It will then go through a series of calculations, including past purchases, before the machine decides whether or not to allow you to complete the purchase. So if you are stress eating your 4th Snickers bar of the day, good luck. It also has the capability to tie into your medical records in the approval process.
This disturbs me on so many levels. I know junk food is bad for me but sometimes I just need, no, want a Reese's Peanut Butter cup. The machine doesn't have any idea what I have had to eat that day so how can it make an educated guess as to whether or not to sell me the product? I might not even be buying the product for me. Perhaps my son or a friend is with me and I am treating them to a snack.
Let's also talk about the fact that the machine has the potential to tie into my medical records. That just blows my mind. There are somethings that nobody should have access and medical records is one of those. That info should only be accessible by me, my doctor, and my insurer. I would not trust that the info would be safe from other eyes that have no business seeing it.
Of course my geeky side thinks that the technology is very neat. However, that doesn't override in the least the objections I would have about it. Way too much Big Brother for my liking. I'd like to know what others think about it. Would you want a soulless machine to deny you a snack because it doesn't like the look on your face when you try to make the purchase or would you like a machine making decisions for you?
Wednesday, December 17, 2014
The Office Christmas Party
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| Christmas in the post-War United States (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Today was the day for my office Christmas party. It wasn't going to be a major affair. Just lunch and for those that wanted to participate some games and a gift exchange. Typically, I do not look forward to these affairs. My plan was to go to the party, sit with a couple friends, grab a bite to eat, and quietly watch the festivities.
I consider myself to be quite the introvert. So much so that if you look it up in the dictionary you just might find my picture. As an introvert, I tend to dislike being put in social situations that make me uncomfortable or anxious. Even at church, I hate the dreaded "greet your neighbor" portion of the service. Today ended up being one of those situations. When I get forced into one of those situations, I tend to withdraw and am easily agitated.
It takes me a while to get comfortable around most people. Once I do, I can be very friendly and talkative. Until I reach that point, however, I tend to clam up and not say a whole lot. When I arrived at the party today, I was handed a label with a picture from a Christmas movie. I was told that there was assigned seating and we had to sit at the table that corresponded to the label I was given. The idea was to force people to mingle with people that they wouldn't normally sit with. That was strike one.
Normally, I get to the office pretty early, usually an hour and a half to two hours before everyone else arrives. Since I get to work so early, I also eat lunch earlier than most, usually around noon. Today's party was supposed to start around 1 pm so I was already hungry when I arrived. It took a while for everyone to arrive. Then there were the speeches from the bosses. They didn't want everybody to flood the small buffet line, so they sent one table at a time to the line. So even though my table was closest to the buffet line, we went last. It was nearly 2 pm before we got to the line. Strike two.
I grabbed a paper plate and plastic cutlery and got in line. Whoever was responsible for ordering the food didn't do a very good job. When I got to the front of the line, there wasn't a whole lot to choose from. The vegetables did not look appetizing at all. The ham looked very dry, and you really couldn't get anything from it as all the slices were gone and there was nobody to slice more and no knife to cut it. The chicken was gone. That was strike three for me. I left without eating, went back to my desk, and finished up my day.
From what I hear, I didn't miss a whole lot. My best friend in the office told me the food wasn't very good. And my observation about the ham being dry was accurate. I wish that I could feel more comfortable in these situations. Unfortunately, like Popeye, "I yam what I yam." Even to this day, after 23 years of marriage to my wife, I still am uncomfortable when all her aunts, uncles, and cousins are at events. I'd say maybe someday, but I doubt it.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Easy Tips for Home Safety
Burglaries are one of the most common crimes in America with one occurring approximately every 15 seconds. However, a homeowner can do much to decrease intruders' interest in the home, to make the home difficult to break into, and to keep people and belongings safe should a break-in occur. Each of these tips is easy and inexpensive to implement.
First, homeowners must beware of leaving certain items outside that unintentionally lure intruders onto the premises. For example, burglars are attracted to expensive items on the property, such as scooters, bicycles, lawnmowers and power tools that are outside and easy to steal. Having motion detector lights installed around key entry points such as the garage or using landscaping lights around trees and bushes will make intruders less likely to creep around the house.
Second, homeowners must take special care to secure their property when on vacation. Timers can turn lights, radios and televisions each day at specified times. A trusted neighbor should be notified to keep a watchful eye on the premises when the homeowner is going out of town. In addition, vacationers should have their mail put on hold.
Thirdly, homeowners can make it difficult for burglars to get into their homes should they make it onto the property. Of course, keeping doors and windows locked when away and at night is a necessity. Outside doors and doors between the house and the garage should be installed with steel deadbolts and strike plates. Sliding patio doors can be easily lifted from their tracks by burglars; therefore, these should be secured with strong rods or dowels in the tracks as well as locks.
Finally, homeowners should use a home security system and have it monitored by a reputable company, such as Alarm Relay. These systems will notify the alarm Monitoring company if a door or window is breached or if motion is detected; these systems can also monitor for smoke or fire. The company will then notify police or the fire department in case of emergencies.
Homeowners can take a variety of easy steps to secure their properties from intruders and burglars. Making sure that doors and windows are locked each day is just the first step in home safety. Security monitoring companies help in this endeavor by having dispatchers on alert 24 hours a day to notify the authorities in case of a problem.
First, homeowners must beware of leaving certain items outside that unintentionally lure intruders onto the premises. For example, burglars are attracted to expensive items on the property, such as scooters, bicycles, lawnmowers and power tools that are outside and easy to steal. Having motion detector lights installed around key entry points such as the garage or using landscaping lights around trees and bushes will make intruders less likely to creep around the house.
Second, homeowners must take special care to secure their property when on vacation. Timers can turn lights, radios and televisions each day at specified times. A trusted neighbor should be notified to keep a watchful eye on the premises when the homeowner is going out of town. In addition, vacationers should have their mail put on hold.
Thirdly, homeowners can make it difficult for burglars to get into their homes should they make it onto the property. Of course, keeping doors and windows locked when away and at night is a necessity. Outside doors and doors between the house and the garage should be installed with steel deadbolts and strike plates. Sliding patio doors can be easily lifted from their tracks by burglars; therefore, these should be secured with strong rods or dowels in the tracks as well as locks.
Finally, homeowners should use a home security system and have it monitored by a reputable company, such as Alarm Relay. These systems will notify the alarm Monitoring company if a door or window is breached or if motion is detected; these systems can also monitor for smoke or fire. The company will then notify police or the fire department in case of emergencies.
Homeowners can take a variety of easy steps to secure their properties from intruders and burglars. Making sure that doors and windows are locked each day is just the first step in home safety. Security monitoring companies help in this endeavor by having dispatchers on alert 24 hours a day to notify the authorities in case of a problem.
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Crying Wolf...or in this case Racism
I confess. I am a white man who grew up in America. I make no apologies for it. The reason I bring up my race is that I had a little run in on Facebook recently with one of my friends, who happens to be an African-American woman, who I went to high school with. If you have read this blog before, then you know that I am a dyed in the wool conservative. My former classmate, a liberal.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that my former classmate and I were close friends back in high school, but it was cordial. We reconnected a few years ago on Facebook. I can't recall who sent the initial friend request through Facebook, but needless to say we did reconnect. The last time that I saw here was at the funeral of our mutual friend David Mills, who was also an African American liberal, not that it matters.
Our little run in occurred when she posted a link on Facebook with the headline "Rick Perry Refuses Obama's Offer For A Tarmac Handshake" that was on the liberal website Huffington Post. Along with the link to the article were her comments of "So disrespectful. So racist." That is where I took offense.
Ever since Barack Obama became president, it has become fashionable to label anybody who disagrees with him or gives him any sort of slight, it is automatically labeled "racist." After a while, you get tired of hearing that same, tired, baseless attack. Usually, I ignore liberal Facebook postings that I disagree with. This time, I made a comment. Perhaps, I should have stuck with my policy of ignoring those posts.
Essentially, I told my friend that I was disappointed that she decided to pull the "racist" card out of the bag. Needless to say, she was not happy with my response. I won't bore you with everything she responded with, but basically attacked me as a white man who would not understand what she experiences as a black woman.
To a degree, she is right. I do not know what it is like to be a black woman, or a black man for that matter. That does not mean that I do not understand what it is like or that I haven't experience racism myself. I have witnessed racism in all its ugliness and I have been on the receiving end of racism when growing up.
When I was in elementary school, we were given the opportunity to bring music that we liked into the classroom to share with our classmates. I brought in a record from the Disney movie "Dumbo" because I liked the song from the video below.
Several of my classmates mocked me and gave me a hard time because I brought in a record that was performed by some sort of derogatory term for African Americans. I was quite hurt.
A few years later, I was an overweight, 4-eyed white kid in a school with a large African American student body. I was left out of a lot of recess activities because I didn't "fit in." Eventually, I was able to show that I could hang with the more athletic peers on the field of battle as it were and earn a level of respect.
I would be naive to think that racism doesn't still exist with some people. People as a whole are fallen, sinful individuals, and nothing is going to change that. Unfortunately, in the Barack Obama age, society has become like the proverbial boy who cried wolf. The more people cry racism where it doesn't truly exist, the more likely people won't react when it really does.
I wouldn't go so far as to say that my former classmate and I were close friends back in high school, but it was cordial. We reconnected a few years ago on Facebook. I can't recall who sent the initial friend request through Facebook, but needless to say we did reconnect. The last time that I saw here was at the funeral of our mutual friend David Mills, who was also an African American liberal, not that it matters.
Our little run in occurred when she posted a link on Facebook with the headline "Rick Perry Refuses Obama's Offer For A Tarmac Handshake" that was on the liberal website Huffington Post. Along with the link to the article were her comments of "So disrespectful. So racist." That is where I took offense.
Ever since Barack Obama became president, it has become fashionable to label anybody who disagrees with him or gives him any sort of slight, it is automatically labeled "racist." After a while, you get tired of hearing that same, tired, baseless attack. Usually, I ignore liberal Facebook postings that I disagree with. This time, I made a comment. Perhaps, I should have stuck with my policy of ignoring those posts.
Essentially, I told my friend that I was disappointed that she decided to pull the "racist" card out of the bag. Needless to say, she was not happy with my response. I won't bore you with everything she responded with, but basically attacked me as a white man who would not understand what she experiences as a black woman.
To a degree, she is right. I do not know what it is like to be a black woman, or a black man for that matter. That does not mean that I do not understand what it is like or that I haven't experience racism myself. I have witnessed racism in all its ugliness and I have been on the receiving end of racism when growing up.
When I was in elementary school, we were given the opportunity to bring music that we liked into the classroom to share with our classmates. I brought in a record from the Disney movie "Dumbo" because I liked the song from the video below.
A few years later, I was an overweight, 4-eyed white kid in a school with a large African American student body. I was left out of a lot of recess activities because I didn't "fit in." Eventually, I was able to show that I could hang with the more athletic peers on the field of battle as it were and earn a level of respect.
I would be naive to think that racism doesn't still exist with some people. People as a whole are fallen, sinful individuals, and nothing is going to change that. Unfortunately, in the Barack Obama age, society has become like the proverbial boy who cried wolf. The more people cry racism where it doesn't truly exist, the more likely people won't react when it really does.
Sunday, May 11, 2014
A Not so Happy Mother's Day
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| Bowie Baysox (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The day started off well enough. My wife got up with me early and we went to my new church. After church we went to do the grocery shopping before we started our primary plans for the day. Our plan was to pick up our son at school and take him to a Bowie Baysox game instead of our usual visit of taking him to Golden Corral for lunch.
The visit started our well enough. We picked him up, and he was excited about going to the game. We got to the stadium, and he wanted a hamburger and french fries for lunch. He enjoyed the game, but unfortunately our Bowie Baysox lost the game. When it was time to leave, we stopped by the restroom before starting our drive back to his dorm.
That is when our troubles began. After my son finished urinating, he announced that he didn't want to go back to school and dropped to the ground in the men's room. Thankfully, another gentleman asked me if I needed help with him, and I had him go to the first aid station to see if they could help. He called one of the park policeman working security for assistance.
The three of us tried to calm my son down. We even tried to get my son into a wheelchair to try to take him out to our car. Eventually, we had to call the fire department and have them send out a crew with a stretcher to try to get him out to the car. I got him to walk out of the restroom, but he dropped again. At that point, the security officer, two paramedics and I carried him out to the car.
Once we got him to the car, he got up on his own and climbed into his seat in the car. We then headed back to school without incident. Once we got back to school, he ate the dinner that the had for him. While we were there, they showed us the technique they use for getting him up when he drops. I hope we never have to use it, but it was good info to know for the future.
Sunday, April 20, 2014
Autism and Compartmentalization
It has been far too long since I posted anything on my blog. It has been an even longer time since I have posted anything about my son and dealing with aspects of his autism. This post will fix both of those items.
My son has always had a way of compartmentalizing certain things. For example, there are certain games and activities that he will do with me that he won't do with my wife and vice versa. There will be times that she will try to get him to play one of the word game routines that he does with me and he will quickly change the conversation over to one that he does primarily with her.
Likewise, there are certain activities that he associates with school or the dorm that he refuses to do at home. Sadly, one of those is using the toilet for his bowel movements. The school and dorm have been getting him to use the toilet for bowel movements. There hasn't been any progress on transferring that behavior to the home setting.
Today, we saw another example of how he compartmentalizes certain things. This time in regards to food. For the past few days, he has been home on spring break for school. Originally, he was scheduled to go back to the dorm tomorrow. Since we have been having an extremely difficult time getting him back to school after breaks, my wife came up with the idea to take him back today after having Easter dinner at her parents' house.
All weekend long, he had been talking about going to Grammy's house to have ham and mac & cheese. We got to dinner and he refused to eat the ham. The only thing he would eat was the mac & cheese. We left my in-laws house and took him back to dorm where we got there in time for him to get dinner. They had fixed a plate for him consisting of ham, mac & cheese, green beans, meat balls, potato salad and a deviled egg. After insisting that I remove the egg and potato salad, he then proceeded to eat everything on his plate, including the green beans.
I wasn't surprised to see him eat the ham and meatballs, and of course, mac & cheese is one of his favorite dishes. I was shocked to see him eat all of the green beans. If we ever tried to put vegetables on his plate at home he would insist that they be removed from his plate. Just another example of how he will do certain things at school that he won't do at home.
My son has always had a way of compartmentalizing certain things. For example, there are certain games and activities that he will do with me that he won't do with my wife and vice versa. There will be times that she will try to get him to play one of the word game routines that he does with me and he will quickly change the conversation over to one that he does primarily with her.
Likewise, there are certain activities that he associates with school or the dorm that he refuses to do at home. Sadly, one of those is using the toilet for his bowel movements. The school and dorm have been getting him to use the toilet for bowel movements. There hasn't been any progress on transferring that behavior to the home setting.
Today, we saw another example of how he compartmentalizes certain things. This time in regards to food. For the past few days, he has been home on spring break for school. Originally, he was scheduled to go back to the dorm tomorrow. Since we have been having an extremely difficult time getting him back to school after breaks, my wife came up with the idea to take him back today after having Easter dinner at her parents' house.
All weekend long, he had been talking about going to Grammy's house to have ham and mac & cheese. We got to dinner and he refused to eat the ham. The only thing he would eat was the mac & cheese. We left my in-laws house and took him back to dorm where we got there in time for him to get dinner. They had fixed a plate for him consisting of ham, mac & cheese, green beans, meat balls, potato salad and a deviled egg. After insisting that I remove the egg and potato salad, he then proceeded to eat everything on his plate, including the green beans.
I wasn't surprised to see him eat the ham and meatballs, and of course, mac & cheese is one of his favorite dishes. I was shocked to see him eat all of the green beans. If we ever tried to put vegetables on his plate at home he would insist that they be removed from his plate. Just another example of how he will do certain things at school that he won't do at home.
Sunday, February 9, 2014
No Coincidences-Full Circle
My wife and I are regional co-chairs for the Benedictine Foundation. The Benedictine Foundation runs the school that my son has been attending for the last few years. Today was the day that we had our regional meeting to talk about the annual Spring Gala that takes place in April. This year, the theme of the event will be "Roman Holiday."
Since our home does not have a lot of space, my in-laws graciously agreed to host the meeting at their house. They have been actively involved with the Benedictine Foundation for far longer than my son has been attending the school. Prior to our son getting in, our nephew, their grandson, was in attendance at the school. My father in law serves on the Board of Directors and was vital in getting our son into the school.
During the meeting, everybody went around the room to introduce themselves and to tell how they came to be associated with Benedictine. My wife was first to speak and told how our son was currently attending the Benedictine School and that our nephew was a graduate of the school. A few other people told theirs stories.
Then it was my father in-laws turn to speak. He spoke about how both of his grandchildren were students at Benedictine and how much the school had helped them. Then he spoke about an event that occurred nearly 50 years ago when he was in the United States Air Force and stationed in Taiwan. He talked about how he and my mother in-law decided to adopt a local child to add to the family.
When they got to the orphanage, the nuns took my mother in-law to one part of the orphanage, and my father in-law to another. After they each toured the facility, they met up and both had found the daughter to add to their family. They found out that the girls were twins. They decided to adopt the sisters to keep them together. One of them became my wife and the mother of my son.
Now, I had heard the story of how they came to adopt their two daughters. What I had not heard, and neither had my wife, was the fact that the orphanage was run by nuns from the Benedictine order. In fact, one of the nuns was from Minnesota. Years later when my in-laws related the story to Sister Jeanette, who was the driving force in making the school what it is today, that she knew the nun that was in the orphanage.
I am sure that a lot of people will think that this is all one big coincidence. I prefer to think that it was more like the Hand of Providence. How else could you explain that my wife and her sister would be in an orphanage run by Benedictine nuns, both would have sons with autism, that would attend a school founded and run by Benedictine nuns.
Since our home does not have a lot of space, my in-laws graciously agreed to host the meeting at their house. They have been actively involved with the Benedictine Foundation for far longer than my son has been attending the school. Prior to our son getting in, our nephew, their grandson, was in attendance at the school. My father in law serves on the Board of Directors and was vital in getting our son into the school.
During the meeting, everybody went around the room to introduce themselves and to tell how they came to be associated with Benedictine. My wife was first to speak and told how our son was currently attending the Benedictine School and that our nephew was a graduate of the school. A few other people told theirs stories.
Then it was my father in-laws turn to speak. He spoke about how both of his grandchildren were students at Benedictine and how much the school had helped them. Then he spoke about an event that occurred nearly 50 years ago when he was in the United States Air Force and stationed in Taiwan. He talked about how he and my mother in-law decided to adopt a local child to add to the family.
When they got to the orphanage, the nuns took my mother in-law to one part of the orphanage, and my father in-law to another. After they each toured the facility, they met up and both had found the daughter to add to their family. They found out that the girls were twins. They decided to adopt the sisters to keep them together. One of them became my wife and the mother of my son.
Now, I had heard the story of how they came to adopt their two daughters. What I had not heard, and neither had my wife, was the fact that the orphanage was run by nuns from the Benedictine order. In fact, one of the nuns was from Minnesota. Years later when my in-laws related the story to Sister Jeanette, who was the driving force in making the school what it is today, that she knew the nun that was in the orphanage.
I am sure that a lot of people will think that this is all one big coincidence. I prefer to think that it was more like the Hand of Providence. How else could you explain that my wife and her sister would be in an orphanage run by Benedictine nuns, both would have sons with autism, that would attend a school founded and run by Benedictine nuns.
Monday, January 20, 2014
A Working Life
I have spent the vast majority of my working life in the retail industry. When I was 15, I started working at a local convenience store. From there, I moved on to a small local grocery chain that had about seven stores in the area. I worked for them for about 5 years when I landed a job at one of the major supermarkets in the area, thus doubling my hourly wage. Unfortunately, that position only lasted two months before the chain decided to pull out of the DC market.
After I lost my job at that chain, I was unemployed for about two months until I landed a job in the Safeway chain. At that time, no frills warehouse stores where you bag your own groceries were popular. I started with Safeway with their version called Food Barn, After I graduated college, I moved from the store side of the business to the backstage side in the local division buying office. I spent 21 years at Safeway before the company decided to centralize the buying function to their corporate offices in California.
That was the start of a rather tough period in my life. It took almost a year to find a solid full time position that would pay the bills on a regular basis. We thankfully made it through that tough time, but it was definitely a struggle. We didn't have a lot of money in the bank, and unemployment didn't come close to covering our expenses. I had a severance package for a few months, but after it ran out, I went through whatever retirement savings I had in my 401k with Safeway.
It was during this one year period that I tried a failed attempt to work in sales. I really floundered as a salesman. A lot of what I did was cold telemarketing. It was brutal. Most of my calls were calling numbers out of the phone book. It wasn't very productive. I might have had a little more success if I had of had access to a service like List Giant. They provide targeted lists to sales and marketing folks for the purpose direct mail and telemarketing. With a more focused and targeted list of potential customers, I might have been more successful in sales.
After that, I moved on to a company that did the category management function in the stationary category for grocery chains in different parts of the company. Unfortunately, it looked like that company wasn't going to be around for long, so I left there after a couple years when I landed a job as a buyer for a company that sold products to property management firms for apartment rehabs. I stayed there for another two years before I finally got back to what I knew best.
For the last six years, I have been back in the retail world and it is the happiest I have been since my Safeway days. It is also the longest tenure of a company that I have been with besides the 21 years at Safeway. The company I work with now has retail stores in airports across the country. I started off as the candy and snack buyer until we decided to put in a software package to do our store planograms. For those that don't know, a planogram is a diagram of where to put product in the store. I volunteered to head up that initiative for the company and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
After I lost my job at that chain, I was unemployed for about two months until I landed a job in the Safeway chain. At that time, no frills warehouse stores where you bag your own groceries were popular. I started with Safeway with their version called Food Barn, After I graduated college, I moved from the store side of the business to the backstage side in the local division buying office. I spent 21 years at Safeway before the company decided to centralize the buying function to their corporate offices in California.
That was the start of a rather tough period in my life. It took almost a year to find a solid full time position that would pay the bills on a regular basis. We thankfully made it through that tough time, but it was definitely a struggle. We didn't have a lot of money in the bank, and unemployment didn't come close to covering our expenses. I had a severance package for a few months, but after it ran out, I went through whatever retirement savings I had in my 401k with Safeway.
It was during this one year period that I tried a failed attempt to work in sales. I really floundered as a salesman. A lot of what I did was cold telemarketing. It was brutal. Most of my calls were calling numbers out of the phone book. It wasn't very productive. I might have had a little more success if I had of had access to a service like List Giant. They provide targeted lists to sales and marketing folks for the purpose direct mail and telemarketing. With a more focused and targeted list of potential customers, I might have been more successful in sales.
After that, I moved on to a company that did the category management function in the stationary category for grocery chains in different parts of the company. Unfortunately, it looked like that company wasn't going to be around for long, so I left there after a couple years when I landed a job as a buyer for a company that sold products to property management firms for apartment rehabs. I stayed there for another two years before I finally got back to what I knew best.
For the last six years, I have been back in the retail world and it is the happiest I have been since my Safeway days. It is also the longest tenure of a company that I have been with besides the 21 years at Safeway. The company I work with now has retail stores in airports across the country. I started off as the candy and snack buyer until we decided to put in a software package to do our store planograms. For those that don't know, a planogram is a diagram of where to put product in the store. I volunteered to head up that initiative for the company and it was one of the best decisions I ever made.
Sunday, December 29, 2013
If You Like Your Lightbulbs....
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| (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Thanks to the ruling elite who know far better than the rest of us what types of products we should have and use, effective January 1st, the United States will ban the production of an item that has been in American homes for over 100 years, the incandescent light bulb. Thomas Edison must be spinning in his grave. You'll still be able to buy them until existing inventory sells through, so stock up now.
George W. Bush proved that he was no real conservative when he signed into law the bill that phases out the traditional light bulb. Sure compared to Barack Obama, he is a right wing nut job as my liberal friends would say, but no true conservative would take a safe and reliable product used by nearly everybody and force people to have to go to more expensive, and in some cases, more hazardous products. That is not how the free market works.
Granted, the choices we will now have will last longer and save you on your electric bill, but the initial outlay is a bit much for the average person's wallet, especially those who live paycheck to paycheck. It is really going to be a hardship for lower and middle income families. I am not crazy about any of the options the government is forcing upon its citizenry. Just another little bit of our freedom being taken away from us.
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| English: Compact fluorescent light bulb (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
The other option that folks have to choose from are LED lights. LED lights apparently aren't much safer as they may contain arsenic and lead. Again, there are very detailed instructions on cleaning up an LED light if they break. One site I saw said to wear gloves and a mask when cleaning up a broken LED light and to use a broom, no vacuum. Then dispose of those gloves, mask, and broom after cleaning. Also, LED lights are extremely expensive.
Today, I did my grocery shopping at my local Wegman's Supermarket. I decided to pick up a few packs of incandescent bulbs. Unfortunately, there was only one 4-pack of 60 watt bulbs available. I looked at some of the options available to me and was saddened. Some of the LED lights were nearly $20 per bulb. I conservatively have about 20 light bulbs in my house. When I do have to replace them, they usually come in bunches. That is not an outlay of cash that I am prepared to make. Hopefully, there will be something more affordable. Until then, I will be stocking up on my incandescent bulbs while I can.
Sunday, December 22, 2013
Spread Some Joy--Say Merry Christmas
The Christmas holiday season can be a time of great stress for some people. I am not immune from the stress of the holidays. My son has been home from school for the Christmas break since Friday. I am already stressed about trying to get him back to school on January 1st.
I should explain what happened on the Thanksgiving break with our son. From the time he got home for that break, he refused to leave the house. Even though he talked about going to my brother's house for Thanksgiving dinner, when it came time to go, he refused. We ended up having dinner at home. Thankfully, I had bought a small turkey that my wife planned to cook the day after Thanksgiving so that we would have "leftovers."
When it came time to take our son back to school on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it was one of the worst experiences in some time for that task. We fought him for most of the afternoon before giving up for the night. He hit me so hard in the ear that my ears rang and I had some residual hearing issues for several days after. My wife finally got him back a day late but it was a monumental task.
So what has me stressed a few days before Christmas? You can probably guess from the preceding two paragraphs that so far during the break, my son is refusing to go anywhere. I offered to take him out to lunch for hamburgers, no luck. Same thing with trying to get him to go for a ride to look at Christmas lights. So far he is saying he is going to go to my sister's and my in-laws houses for Christmas. Let's hope he does.
Sunday mornings is one of the days that I usually use to take care of my grocery shopping. I left the house to go take care of the groceries and it was pouring down rain. I got in the car, with everything on my mind and headed to the store. By the time I got to Wegman's, the rain had slowed to a trickle, so at least I wouldn't get drenched going from the parking lot to the store.
My stress did not subside once I got inside the store. In fact, it started to increase. One of the first things that I was looking for in the meat department was out of stock. It was going to be dinner tonight so I quickly came up with a Plan B. The store was particularly crowded, and the aisles of the store were stacked with merchandise so maneuvering through the aisles was difficult at best.
As I was nearing the end of my shopping trip, I am sure that my face was not the friendliest it could be. It was then that I pushed my cart pass another father pushing a car with his little daughter in the seat. She leaned over and with the biggest smile on her face squealed to me, "Merry Christmas!"
My demeanor instantly changed and the frown on my face melted and was replaced with a smile. I look at her and cheerfully said to her, "Well Merry Christmas to you too!" She laughed with delight. So do yourself and someone else a favor and put a smile on your face and tell somebody "Merry Christmas." You just might make someone's day.
I should explain what happened on the Thanksgiving break with our son. From the time he got home for that break, he refused to leave the house. Even though he talked about going to my brother's house for Thanksgiving dinner, when it came time to go, he refused. We ended up having dinner at home. Thankfully, I had bought a small turkey that my wife planned to cook the day after Thanksgiving so that we would have "leftovers."
When it came time to take our son back to school on the Sunday after Thanksgiving, it was one of the worst experiences in some time for that task. We fought him for most of the afternoon before giving up for the night. He hit me so hard in the ear that my ears rang and I had some residual hearing issues for several days after. My wife finally got him back a day late but it was a monumental task.
So what has me stressed a few days before Christmas? You can probably guess from the preceding two paragraphs that so far during the break, my son is refusing to go anywhere. I offered to take him out to lunch for hamburgers, no luck. Same thing with trying to get him to go for a ride to look at Christmas lights. So far he is saying he is going to go to my sister's and my in-laws houses for Christmas. Let's hope he does.
Sunday mornings is one of the days that I usually use to take care of my grocery shopping. I left the house to go take care of the groceries and it was pouring down rain. I got in the car, with everything on my mind and headed to the store. By the time I got to Wegman's, the rain had slowed to a trickle, so at least I wouldn't get drenched going from the parking lot to the store.
My stress did not subside once I got inside the store. In fact, it started to increase. One of the first things that I was looking for in the meat department was out of stock. It was going to be dinner tonight so I quickly came up with a Plan B. The store was particularly crowded, and the aisles of the store were stacked with merchandise so maneuvering through the aisles was difficult at best.
As I was nearing the end of my shopping trip, I am sure that my face was not the friendliest it could be. It was then that I pushed my cart pass another father pushing a car with his little daughter in the seat. She leaned over and with the biggest smile on her face squealed to me, "Merry Christmas!"
My demeanor instantly changed and the frown on my face melted and was replaced with a smile. I look at her and cheerfully said to her, "Well Merry Christmas to you too!" She laughed with delight. So do yourself and someone else a favor and put a smile on your face and tell somebody "Merry Christmas." You just might make someone's day.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
My Solution to the Washington Redskins Name Controversy
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| Redskins primary logo 1972-1981, 1983-present (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Now, these days, my beloved Washington Redskins are under attack. I live in the DC area, and it seems like you can't watch a local news broadcast without somebody bringing up the team name. Even President Obama, when he should be more concerned about the government shutdown, is chiming in saying that the Redskins should consider changing the name because some groups think it is racially offensive.
This isn't the first time that the question of whether or not the Redskins should change their name has been brought up. It is the first time that it has gained the traction in the media that it has. Naturally, those that stoke the fire are the liberal, politically correct, elitists of the world. I don't have to tell you how little use I have for that crowd.
Years ago, when Tony Kornheiser of ESPN was still writing for the Washington Post, he suggested that rather than change the name of the team, the team should change their mascot. Instead of the noble looking Native American that adorns the helmet, he suggested to change the logo to a potato, as in redskin potatoes/ A humorous concept but then we would have to re-write the team fight song. Here is my first pass at it:
Hail to the Redskins, Hail to Victory, Spuds on the Warpath, Fight for old DC. Run or pass and score, we want a lot more. Bake 'em, Fry 'em, Touchdown! Watch the point soar. Fight on, Fight on, til you have won, Spuds of Washington!It just isn't the same.
Instead, if things persist, my suggestion would be for the Redskins to take a page from the musician Prince. Remember when Prince decided to change his name to a symbol? Until he went back to using the name Prince, everybody always referred to him as "The Artist Formerly Known as Prince." The Redskins could do the same thing. Instead of the Washington Redskins, they could become the Washington the NFL team formerly called the Redskins.
Quite frankly, I hope it doesn't come to that. I am so tired of the liberal mindset where anything that is offensive to anybody has to be forbidden. I find the name Barack Obama offensive but you don't see me calling for him to change it (though I thought about Tweeting that). If the NFL does cave in and forces the Redskins to change their name, I may be done with the NFL.
Hail to the Redskins!
Sunday, October 13, 2013
I Think the Coffee Machine at Work is a Dude!
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| Flavia Machine via dickster1961 |
We have a Flavia machine in my office. For those of you who do not know what it is, it is a single serve brewer that uses individual pouches to brew a cup of coffee or tea. It can also be used to make cappuccinos and mochaccinos by combining two different pouches.
Unlike my Keurig K-Cup brewer, the Flavia machine has a sensor under the spout to prevent the brewer from brewing if there is nothing beneath the spout to catch the hot liquid. I hate to admit this, but there has been more than one occasion when I began brewing a K-Cup and forgot to place a mug under the spout. What a mess! Sometimes you just operate on automatic first thing in the morning, and accidents happen.
Recently, I have been having a few issues with the Flavia machine at work. As you can see in the picture above, when the machine is brewing, the liquid flows straight down, directly into the mug. On more than one occasion, the machine has been a little less than accurate with the brewing of my beverage. Instead of the drink flowing straight down into my mug, the drink sprayed either behind the mug or off to the side. Not only do I not get a full beverage, but then I have a mess to clean up.
It reminded me of my when my son was learning to urinate in the toilet. Let's just say that his aim wasn't the best. Not that I myself am not subject to occasional bad aim, especially if I wake up in the middle of the night and need to relieve myself. Sure, I have all sorts of reasons...er excuses. Perhaps I didn't turn on the light because I didn't want to disturb anybody, perhaps I was sleepwalking, or I just didn't put on my glasses and couldn't see. So that is the reason I think the coffee machine at work is a dude.
Saturday, September 14, 2013
Is Customer Service Dead?
I started working when I was 15 years old. At that time, the concept of customer service was instilled into my psyche. I was taught that the better I treated the customers, the more they would return, resulting in more hours for me, and therefore more money. Consequently, I tend to spend my money at businesses where I am treated well. Conversely, I avoid those places that don't.
My wife and I have recently had some very bad experiences. The first occurred when my wife went to get her eyes examined. She had her exam and got her prescription from the doctor. She picked out a set of frames and wanted to find out how much her glasses were going to cost before committing to purchasing them. The customer service representative refused to help her saying it would take too much time to figure it out if my wife wasn't going to buy the glasses. We took our business elsewhere.
On another occasion, my wife and I went out to eat at a local brew pub. We have been regular visitor of this brew pub since they opened several years ago. Over the years, I have built up a sizable collection of pint glasses and t-shirts from the various seasonal beer launch parties that they have every month. Unfortunately, after our most recent visit to this establishment, we will never be back.
I ordered a salad and my wife ordered the seafood cannelloni. When they brought our food, my wife's dinner wasn't hot. She complained about it and asked to have the dish remade. Our server was very apologetic and seemed willing to help. Unfortunately management wasn't so helpful. He came out and told us they could not remake her dish. Instead, he argued with us, telling us that the dish was made correctly, brought out hot, and the best they could do was reheat it for us.
We objected saying we wanted a fresh dish as a reheated dish would not be as good as a fresh dish. Eventually, the server came back out with another plate. This time the food was hot and you could see steam coming from the sauce. Unfortunately, it became obvious that it was the same dish heated in the microwave. The pasta was overcooked and hard. The cheese looked like a frozen dinner that had not melted completely.
We came home from dinner and I went to the corporate website and sent a complaint detailing what had happened during the evening. In the past, whenever we have complained about service in a restaurant, we have either received a written apology, and in some cases gift certificates to visit again to give them another chance. This time, we received no acknowledgement that we had a problem. We won't be back to that establishment ever again.
My wife and I have recently had some very bad experiences. The first occurred when my wife went to get her eyes examined. She had her exam and got her prescription from the doctor. She picked out a set of frames and wanted to find out how much her glasses were going to cost before committing to purchasing them. The customer service representative refused to help her saying it would take too much time to figure it out if my wife wasn't going to buy the glasses. We took our business elsewhere.
On another occasion, my wife and I went out to eat at a local brew pub. We have been regular visitor of this brew pub since they opened several years ago. Over the years, I have built up a sizable collection of pint glasses and t-shirts from the various seasonal beer launch parties that they have every month. Unfortunately, after our most recent visit to this establishment, we will never be back.
I ordered a salad and my wife ordered the seafood cannelloni. When they brought our food, my wife's dinner wasn't hot. She complained about it and asked to have the dish remade. Our server was very apologetic and seemed willing to help. Unfortunately management wasn't so helpful. He came out and told us they could not remake her dish. Instead, he argued with us, telling us that the dish was made correctly, brought out hot, and the best they could do was reheat it for us.
We objected saying we wanted a fresh dish as a reheated dish would not be as good as a fresh dish. Eventually, the server came back out with another plate. This time the food was hot and you could see steam coming from the sauce. Unfortunately, it became obvious that it was the same dish heated in the microwave. The pasta was overcooked and hard. The cheese looked like a frozen dinner that had not melted completely.
We came home from dinner and I went to the corporate website and sent a complaint detailing what had happened during the evening. In the past, whenever we have complained about service in a restaurant, we have either received a written apology, and in some cases gift certificates to visit again to give them another chance. This time, we received no acknowledgement that we had a problem. We won't be back to that establishment ever again.
Sunday, September 8, 2013
Still Around
I have not been around here in the blogosphere much lately. It isn't that I haven't had anything to talk about or that I have decide to abandon blogging. I haven't fallen off the face of the earth or have had anything disastrous befall me. I just have been busy doing other things.
I have been very active in other areas of social media and interaction. Twitter has been my main form of communication in that arena. There is just something about being able to share brief thoughts quickly that has been appealing of late. The ability to see an article I like, share it with my followers with a brief comment, without having to sit down and write a blog post has fit in with everything else that I have been up to. You can find me on Twitter at dickster1961.
I have also been doing a lot of reading lately. My Kindle is by my side constantly. I make it a point to read during my lunch breaks at work and in the evening. There have been so many free and bargain books that I have downloaded from Amazon that I have really enjoyed. Mostly, I am reading theology and Christian living, but I am also enjoying books by Brad Thor and James Rollins.
Last year, when it became apparent that Mitt Romney was running an ineffectual campaign and that Barack Obama was going to get re-elected, I made the decision to cut back on my consumption of political news. I instead decided to pursue things of a more spiritual nature. Now, instead of listening to conservative talk radio like Sean Hannity, I am listening to Family Talk Radio and pastors Michael Youssef and RC Sproul and their radio programs.
Just before the election, I made it my goal to read through the Bible in a year. I have read the entire Bible in the past, but not as part of a dedicated reading plan. I downloaded the Bible App from YouVersion on my tablet and used one of their Bible in a year plans. I am happy to say that I actually finished reading through the Bible in about 9 months. If you want to read the Bible, a highly recommend the YouVersion app.
Still, I have neglected this blog for too long and it is time for that to change. About a month or so ago, one of my old blogging buddies from the Adgitize days sent me a message through Twitter to check up on me. I assured him that I was alive and well. He also helped me to work through an unnatural links penalty from Google. You can find a link to his website Ask the Blogster in my blogroll.
So, I hope to be updating this blog on a more regular basis. I don't think that I will ever get back to updating nearly everyday like I did when Adgitize was up and running, but I do hope to update it at least two or three times a week going forward. I also have another project that I hope to start soon which I will share here when it is up and running.
I have been very active in other areas of social media and interaction. Twitter has been my main form of communication in that arena. There is just something about being able to share brief thoughts quickly that has been appealing of late. The ability to see an article I like, share it with my followers with a brief comment, without having to sit down and write a blog post has fit in with everything else that I have been up to. You can find me on Twitter at dickster1961.
I have also been doing a lot of reading lately. My Kindle is by my side constantly. I make it a point to read during my lunch breaks at work and in the evening. There have been so many free and bargain books that I have downloaded from Amazon that I have really enjoyed. Mostly, I am reading theology and Christian living, but I am also enjoying books by Brad Thor and James Rollins.
Last year, when it became apparent that Mitt Romney was running an ineffectual campaign and that Barack Obama was going to get re-elected, I made the decision to cut back on my consumption of political news. I instead decided to pursue things of a more spiritual nature. Now, instead of listening to conservative talk radio like Sean Hannity, I am listening to Family Talk Radio and pastors Michael Youssef and RC Sproul and their radio programs.
Just before the election, I made it my goal to read through the Bible in a year. I have read the entire Bible in the past, but not as part of a dedicated reading plan. I downloaded the Bible App from YouVersion on my tablet and used one of their Bible in a year plans. I am happy to say that I actually finished reading through the Bible in about 9 months. If you want to read the Bible, a highly recommend the YouVersion app.
Still, I have neglected this blog for too long and it is time for that to change. About a month or so ago, one of my old blogging buddies from the Adgitize days sent me a message through Twitter to check up on me. I assured him that I was alive and well. He also helped me to work through an unnatural links penalty from Google. You can find a link to his website Ask the Blogster in my blogroll.
So, I hope to be updating this blog on a more regular basis. I don't think that I will ever get back to updating nearly everyday like I did when Adgitize was up and running, but I do hope to update it at least two or three times a week going forward. I also have another project that I hope to start soon which I will share here when it is up and running.
Monday, June 3, 2013
Not so Family Friendly Family Channel
I am not a prude by any stretch of the imagination. While I consider myself a conservative Christian, I fully appreciate that not everybody in the world shares my views. As such, I am not easily offended by viewpoints in popular culture that run contrary to those beliefs. Those that do not share my beliefs are free to express their own beliefs, but I feel it should be done in the proper place.
I bring this up because of something that I saw yesterday while visiting my son at his school. Most of his dorm mates were off on an outing, but several kids stayed behind. We gave our son the choice of going out for lunch or having a pizza delivered. He decided that he wanted to stay in the dorm, so we went ahead and had a pizza delivered for our lunch.
While we waited for the delivery to arrive and while we ate our lunch, the other kids in the dorm recreation room were watching some Disney movies on the ABC Family station. At one point, I was watching the television and I saw two women engaging in a romantic kiss. The station was promoting one of their new programs which features a lesbian couple raising a family together.
I was shocked. Not because there was such a show being produced, but because it was being promoted and shown on a station that proclaimed to be a "family channel." I was even more shocked because the promo was occurring during kid friendly Disney movies. Had the advertisement occurred on a station like Lifetime or Bravo, I wouldn't have batted an eye.
It used to be that subject matter of a more controversial or mature nature would only be shown later in the evening when kids would typically be sleeping and not watching television. Promotions for those shows would never be broadcast during what would be considered kid friendly programming. I guess those standards no longer apply.
I am not one of those who would call for a boycott of the channel or those that advertise on it. I don't watch the ABC Family channel, nor do I watch anything on ABC. After seeing the promotion yesterday, I am more inclined not to watch anything on those stations. It just shows that the entertainment industry is continuously trying to promote their liberal worldview on us, and forcing it on our kids with no regard.
I bring this up because of something that I saw yesterday while visiting my son at his school. Most of his dorm mates were off on an outing, but several kids stayed behind. We gave our son the choice of going out for lunch or having a pizza delivered. He decided that he wanted to stay in the dorm, so we went ahead and had a pizza delivered for our lunch.
While we waited for the delivery to arrive and while we ate our lunch, the other kids in the dorm recreation room were watching some Disney movies on the ABC Family station. At one point, I was watching the television and I saw two women engaging in a romantic kiss. The station was promoting one of their new programs which features a lesbian couple raising a family together.
I was shocked. Not because there was such a show being produced, but because it was being promoted and shown on a station that proclaimed to be a "family channel." I was even more shocked because the promo was occurring during kid friendly Disney movies. Had the advertisement occurred on a station like Lifetime or Bravo, I wouldn't have batted an eye.
It used to be that subject matter of a more controversial or mature nature would only be shown later in the evening when kids would typically be sleeping and not watching television. Promotions for those shows would never be broadcast during what would be considered kid friendly programming. I guess those standards no longer apply.
I am not one of those who would call for a boycott of the channel or those that advertise on it. I don't watch the ABC Family channel, nor do I watch anything on ABC. After seeing the promotion yesterday, I am more inclined not to watch anything on those stations. It just shows that the entertainment industry is continuously trying to promote their liberal worldview on us, and forcing it on our kids with no regard.
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Happy Mother's Day
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| Happy Mothers Day #family #fam #mom #dad #TagsForLikes #brother #sister #brothers #sisters #bro #sis #siblings #love #instagood #father #mother #related #fun #photooftheday #children #kids #life #happy #familytime #cute #smile #fun via dickster1961 |
That was not our original plan for Mother's Day, nor is it our usual routine when visiting our son. Our original plan for Mother's Day was to pick up our son for an unscheduled weekend home and to take him to a Bowie Baysox game today, then drive him back to school. Normally, when we visit our son, we take him off campus for lunch at Golden Corral and then either to Target or Walmart to get a new CD or DVD.
To explain why we changed our original plans and normal routine, we had to go back one week to our last visit with our son. It started like several successful visits of late. We picked up our son shortly after 11:00 and headed out to the Golden Corral in Easton, MD. He ate three plates of his favorite foods from Golden Corral; pot roast, bourbon chicken, mashed potatoes, and macaroni & cheese. So far, it was the start of a very pleasant visit.
After lunch, we got back in the car and headed to Target. Once there, my son headed straight to the back of the store to the music department to find a CD or DVD. He walked up and down each aisle looking for something, but just couldn't find anything that he wanted. With my son's autism, even though he is very verbal, he sometimes has a difficult time telling us what he wants when he can't find it. That is when things took a decided turn for the worse.
One of my son's undesirable behaviors is one we refer to as dropping. If he doesn't want to do something, or is upset for some reason, he will drop to the ground, make himself dead weight, and refuse to get up. When he drops, it can last for a few moments, or in some cases quite a long time. This particular incident was one of the longer ones. We spent over two hours trying to calm our son down, figure out what he wanted, and get him back to school.
We tried singing to him, stroking his hands, bringing him CDs and DVDs of acts that he has enjoyed in the past. Nothing worked. We got a few smiles and responses but we just couldn't get him off the floor. At one point, we called the school to see if they could send somebody out to try to help get him back. At long last, my wife came back to where we were with something that got our son off of the ground.
One of the things that my son likes to watch is, of all things, infomercials. He particularly likes the ones that feature vacuum cleaners. My wife came back with an inexpensive, rechargeable portable Dirt Devil. That did the trick. He got up, grabbed the vacuum, and headed to the front of the store just as the back up from the school showed up to help. Now, he has his own personal vacuum in his dorm.
After an incident like this, it usually takes us a little while before we try to venture back out. We were very hesitant to bring him home for the weekend for fear of a repeat performance at the stadium. We were also very hesitant to try our usual routine of lunch at Golden Corral. As it turned out, we had a nice little lunch and visit on campus, and he was in a great mood when we left.
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Area Rug Cleaning Works Wonders
There are many reasons why people may need area rug cleaning services. It can be a result of the wear and tear of a rug, a pet or just a lot of people using the same space. Since there can be very many spills onto carpets, it will really help when a homeowner accesses an area rug cleaning service to clean the place up.
Using an area rug cleaning service has a lot of pluses. Since it is done to the part of the rug that is dirty, it doesn't cost as much as a whole rug cleaning. It is also specific to the type of rug, which makes it work extremely well. It can restore a rug to its original state before it was dirtied by stains or other means.
Having access to an area rug cleaning service online is really beneficial. It works well for the people that need it because they are able to access it at any point of the day or night. When they need assistance, they will be able to reach someone online. It is really simple for them to use, and they will find the service to be commendable.
Anyone can use an area rug cleaning service if they need to. It can be done in big houses or in small apartments. The space is not the issue, the rug is. They will find that this service will save them money in the long run because they will only be charged for the rug in question.
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