Vet visit

For the second time in three Tallahassee visits, we took the turtles to see Dr. Brumfield, the reptile vet at Northwood Animal Hospital, which also treated Frisco in his youth. We usually want Dr. Brumfield (pictured above with his colleagues, two of them relatively new) to give the turtles a general check-up plus to trim and shave their beaks and toenails. Both had had medical emergencies in the past year or so – ones that generated some calls but no actual visits to potential Kentuckiana reptile vets. We’d inadvertently left Speckles behind during a trip to Fort Wayne, Indiana, and she’d apparently fallen down the stairs and there was a little dark blood on her head, which she must have hit on her way down the basement (where we amazingly found her, looking for her, even though we didn’t know she was there). About a month ago Stephanie had cleaned out the bathtub with a bleach-based cleaner and then I – not knowing this – had filled the tub with water for Greenville for his weekly swim. About an hour later I figured out that the bubbles were residue from the bleach, and we called around and ultimately gave him a milk bath. Also, a third turtle, a water turtle named Speedy, had visited with Dr. Brumfield during our visit two and a half years ago, but Speedy subsequently died.

Dr. Brumfield weighed and examined their animals and did the nail and beak care (to the extent to which Speckles allowed him to), and he was generally positive about their condition. Later this week we’re going to bring the practice some fecal specimens to analyze. Among Dr. Brumfield’s suggestions:

Try leaving the turtles outside during the summer for a few hours. Of course, the last time he suggested this, disaster ensued as Sawyer escaped. But he gave us suggestions for keeping him, including burying the chicken wire for their outdoor play enclosure deep in the ground. Covering the enclosure with wire might ward off any airborne predators (such as hawks). Exposing them to direct sunlight is important.

Try harder to get the turtles to eat vegetables – not just fruit (if we’re lucky) and superworms (beetle larvae). Material he gave us suggested some vegetables we haven’t tried before (such as squash), and our Community-Supported Agriculture produce may provide some possibilities. He also suggested cooking – like pureeing (?) – vegetables to make them even easier to eat. Although we have vitamin and mineral powders to sprinkle on their food, we confessed we’ve never really used them, and he suggested we do so one or two days a week.

In the past Dr. Brumfield had turtles and he suggested using as the bedding of their habitat the mix he used: cypress chips and sphagnum moss. We’d tried that (instead of Sawyer’s Astroturf), but very recently had switched to something more expensive but probably similar – turtle bedding that was said to be less likely to have pesticides or bacteria in them. Instead, Dr. Brumfield this time suggested that we simply use dirt. He hinted that we also might try to keep the habitat moist, possibly by spraying water. In Minnesota, I briefly tried using a humidifier during the winter – with all of that dry heat – but found it difficult.

In winter, he suggested – consistent with other suggestions – giving the turtles a swim twice a week instead of once a week.

We’ll try to implement some of this. The materials Dr. Brumfield gave us had some daunting suggestions: including NOT using a glass case, NOT putting female and male turtles together (because sexual harassment by the guy will stress out the girl), and NOT leaving out food. In general, Dr. Brumfield said the turtles were in good health and looked well cared for, even if he had a few suggestions. Dr. Brumfield spent more than an hour with us (and that’s without the fecal test analysis), which also yielded one of the turtles’ more expensive vet bills. But, Greenville and Speckles, you’re worth every penny of it.

-- Perry

Surprise visit

We knew on the eve of my Aunt June's key doctor's visit that June and son Dustin - and, it turns out, Dustin's aunt on his father's side, Brenda - traveled to Missouri so that Dustin could meet his biological father for the first time. June called from the road - traveling from Missouri to Ohio in one day - to say hello and said they couldn't stop - but then Brenda helped change her mind. We met Brenda and heard about the trip - where Dustin spent a couple of days with his father and was emotional on the way back.



June has lost some weight and was about to find out that her illness has not grown worse but not grown better. June, Mom's youngest sister, has been eating partly through a feeding tube through her stomach and showed us some of this. This is another health issue, since it has not been working properly.

After June got home, the doctors put her on an IV, in hopes that she would gain weight. A week later June spent several hours at home - with her son and sister at home but not noticing her discomfort - with a blinding headache and vomiting. Eventually, son-in-law Jay called 911 and the squad took her to Mt. Carmel East hospital. Blood pressure spikes sometimes precede the headaches, but health care providers have never figured out what might be behind the headaches. Days later Stephanie actually drove June home, and she got to see Dustin again, as well as Barb, Diana, and Jay. Although we gave June, Dustin, and Brenda no grand tour, Stephanie had just put up a bunch of Christmas paraphernalia (see "Christmas preparation") and I had been cleaning the house. I feared that no one would see the Christmas paraphernalia - since Vincent was gone and we'd be gone for 2-3 weeks at Christmas - but June et al.'s visit - plus those by our plantsitter Jessi and her family - assured that someone would see our handiwork.

-- Perry

Surprises

Two surprising things Mom’s financial advisor told us the week before Christmas:

- Mom might be able to pay $300 a month to secure long-term care insurance.

- The way tax brackets work is not that, when your income goes up from let’s say $10,000 to $20,000, you jump up from the 10 percent tax bracket to the 20 percent tax bracket. Instead, you pay federal taxes at 10 percent on the first $10,000 (or whatever) and then at 20 percent at just the rest of the year’s income.

The realtor also called us back to tell us that getting a house on the market by April before the $8,000 tax break for first-time homeowners expires would be good, but she hasn’t talked with that many clients who used this. In Louisville, many house for-sale signs include an extra sign about the tax credit; we’ve yet to see such a sign in Tallahassee (even though on a short dog walk earlier this week Frisco and I saw NINE houses and one lot for sale!).

For more information on Mom’s financial advisor, see: https://my.hdvest.com/clements
Her office is located in the shadow of the old Tallahassee Community Hospital (pictured above), where Mom nearly died 14 years ago.

-- Perry

Expert advice

Mom and I talked with realtor Libby Allen, recommended by, on Monday afternoon. She thought Mom – with $2,000-5,000 of work – could sell her house for around $160,000. (about $100 per square foot – with 1,600 plus square feet – not counting the exterior store room). She hinted against the rental option (and her team doesn’t manage rentals though she said she personally owns some rentals). She also hinted that the 1970s décor, etc. was dated and suggested selling the house empty (after Mom has moved out, likely to Westminster Oaks). She said buyers are not looking for fixers-uppers – they want to be able to start living immediately in a house without having to do a lot of work. She said it might take as long as six months to sell a house. She brought a lot of information about the neighborhood, including how much houses had initially been offered for, how much they sold for, and how long that took.

Among the suggestions she made:
- Fix some rotting wood on the outside of the house, pressure wash the outside (and hand remove vines if pressure washing doesn’t do it), and paint all of the gables and selectively paint elsewhere. Paint the floor of the exterior store room and the carport.

- Once out, have the carpet steam cleaned but don’t replace it (saving Mom about $2,500). Consider an end zone treatment to eliminate any odors. She was not overly concerned about nicks in the linoleum or the bulletin board on the door to the interior storeroom. Leave both as is.
- Get a new range hood – perhaps Braun – for about $100 – white.

- Have the kitchen cabinets painted whites and change out the pull hinges – brushed nickel or silver color – to update the look and match the appliances.

- Paint the whole interior of the house – the walls a neutral color close to the carpet – a tan color like desert fortress – and the trim and ceiling in white. It looks like we’ve painted the walls before in semi-gloss and therefore it may not be possible to go back to flat, and so a light semi-gloss like egg shell must do. Semi-gloss walls are OK if you live there, but – for selling – flat hides imperfections. Also, fix imperfections in the walls.

- For $40, get white ceiling fans for the bedrooms, with one globe each, and change the fan blades in the family room to white. She didn’t recommend ceiling fans in the kitchen and living room.

- In the hall bathroom, have it painted and at the same time caulk the vanity and get a new sink fixture – with a lever (?) handle, silver or brushed nickel – between $55 or $88- Peerless is most affordable, or Delta or Minerva (?). I believe she suggested touching up the bathtub too (?).

- Much more radical suggestions for the master bedroom bathroom: Take out the entire set of fixtures to the right of the toilet: the sink, lights, faucets, and cabinet. Get a pre-fab vanity complete with sink, and faucets – in white – and ge ta new light fixture at the top.

Keep the mosaic tiles on the floors of the two bathrooms – but go to a pool supply store – to use commercial bleach the tile.Extending a conversation she and I had about natural light, she recommended we get rid of the curtains and rods before painting so the painters can fill the holes and leave for buyers to install (Mom remembers putting up all of those curtain rods.) Get for each window - for $50 a window – 2-inch faux wood blinds, white. For some of the wider windows, we might get two sets of blinds if that’s cheaper.

She also suggested modernizing the three light domes on the kitchen ceiling and replacing the damaged door bell. Domes cost like $20 for a set of two – Postlander – silver or near white – 139989 – also use fourth dome to replace the dome in the hallway. Also get a globe for the outdoor light fixture. On the outside door from the exterior store room, get a gold kickback (?) to cover some imperfections.

Use a razor blade on a set of spots on the interior storeroom linoleum floor.

In the kitchen, spend $100 to get a new faucet, a high-rise, and use Barkeeper’s Friend to clean the kitchen sink (also clean the overflow sink next to the washing machine.

- Keep all appliances: refrigerator, stove, dishwasher, and even the washer and dryer – they can tip the balance if the buyer doesn’t have these.

- In the yard, also mow and rake the yard more closely, clear out some sticks and debris, and trim the grass around and pressure wash the steps leading from the driveway to the front porch but keep some of the “shrubbery’ in the back yard – near the back fences – because this obscures the view of the apartment complex behind our house and the yards of the houses to the right and left of ours. On the whole, she liked our yards.

We’ll have t spend about $2,000 more at the end – documentary stamps, termite inspection, home warranty.

She can list this as a 4-bedroom or a 3-bedroom. She pays to get listings for the house in the paper and in (Tallahassee) Homes and Lands magazine, rotates the listing through her marquee on North Monroe Street, and gets the listing with about 20 photos on the Web. She’ll put a lockbox outside of our house, and when realtors stop by with potential buyers, she gets an e-mail that tells her who has stopped by, she follows up by asking what they thought, and then she gets feedback about what people do and don’t like about the house, which she’ll share with us.

The realtor also shared with us that there are 500 fewer (from 2,000 down to 1,500) realtors working in Tallahassee than there were five years ago, and she went from a staff of 14 realtor, to three, which she said is fine with her.

She also said in the past year she has started writing Christian contemporary songs, built a recording studio where she uses a synthesizer to play all of the instruments, and then brings in a friend to sing the lyrics. She even shared with us a CD. Her non-real estate Web site has the first song she wrote, about loss: http://www.myspace.com/libbyallensongs

-- Perry

New job

Since Stephanie’s mother helped Vincent get his now repaired cell phone back last week, Stephanie and I have talked with him periodically by cell phone. Stephanie heard distressing news about Vincent’s phone calls to his former prom date and former girlfriend, Jessi, and his hairbrained scheme to come back someday to Louisville to live with a different woman. Vincent landed a new job Thursday, at the Five Guys restaurant in Easton (which Mom and I ironically noticed a Tallahassee version of earlier this week), the gigantic mixed-use residential, shopping, and entertainment district, about a mile from where Vincent and his father lived. He won’t tell us how he’s been getting back and forth. But today he started as a French fry specialist at the restaurant, also helping prepare hamburgers and so on. He burned or cut himself on the first day and Stephanie said Vincent said it was hard work. The work reminds me a little of that of what we called a “fry boy” when I worked as a waiter at Ouy Lin Chinese Restaurant in Tallahassee. (Landing the job makes it very unlikely he’ll go with us to Florida and likely he’ll be staying in Ohio for at least a while into the new year.) Stephanie has been trying to arrange connecting with Vincent and both of her parents this weekend. Stephanie may head to Ohio Saturday morning, hopefully see Vincent after work both nights and then leave for Florida Monday morning. In the mean time, my sister and her family, slated to leave for Florida next Saturday, may have some plans change because the very bad winter weather has already changed their weekend. Good luck to them dealing with the weather, to Vincent cooking those fries this weekend, and to Stephanie traveling this weekend.

For more on Vincent’s restaurant chain, click here: http://www.fiveguys.com/home.aspx

-- Perry

Christmas dog

Christmas prep (without the boy)

With almost no help from me (and no help from Vincent - AWOL in Ohio - last year he and then girlfriend Samantha helped a little), Stephanie assembled and decorated the tree and the house.

Soon after Stephanie - whose father had taken her to see The Nutcracker ballet in Columbus - took Vincent to see The Nutcracker - Stephanie began getting Vincent novelty nutcrackers. My favorite is still a Halloween present from a year or two ago: the Dracula nutcracker. This year we've gotten two new nutcrackers for Vincent, but haven't gotten to given them to him - one for Thansksgiving (the pilgrim) and then the cool rock 'n roll Elvis nutcracker (both below).

Stephanie (pictured below) gazed approvingly at her work.

She also put some of our older nutcrackers and other Christmas items on the mantle, around the clocks.

The Christmas tree (pictured below) is an artificial tree Stephanie acquired several years ago. The decorations are ones we've acquired over the years or - in some cases - inherited from our families.

-- Perry

Eventful week

Stephanie has had an eventful week plus at school. Last Thursday a pre-programmed lesson in her READ 180 curriculum has students – remember, English as a new language and other students – discuss immigration. Several of her ENL students talked about harrowing journeys to the United States – including above the train a la the movie Sin Nombre Stephanie and I saw earlier this year – and it was interesting for them to talk about and for other students to hear. One of her newest students seemed to remember a particularly tough journey.

Then on Friday Stephanie accompanied some of the 4th graders to the Kentucky Center for the Arts, where – a few weeks earlier – we had seen a dance performance with Penny – to see The Nutcracker, a childhood favorite of Stephanie and Vincent – and ours. The students from Stephanie’s school who went were from a special etiquette/citizenship afterschool program that the school guidance counselor helped lead (for the first year – separately – for boys too). The kids came dressed in suits and dresses and were trained and urged to be on their best behavior. When they got to the Kentucky Center – for a kids’ day shortened performance – they were the best dressed and – as it turns out, from the nosebleed seats – the best behaved kids there. Stephanie was very proud of her students.

Also late last week the principal at Stephanie’s school did her usual surprise evaluation and Friday Stephanie got good marks: excellents and a couple of goods.

This week continued to be eventful at school for Stephanie. Already this year – in an effort to boost middle school standardized test scores – Stephanie and two of her colleagues have been teaching READ 180 to a mix of ENL and non-ENL students who are OK but still below-grade-level readers. This fall the new district superintendent has also pushed schools to regularly test all students and math and then divide students in each grade level into several groups based on their math skills and have different staff teach them, then re-test them regularly. At Stephanie’s small school, this will involve pulling all possible staff to help teach math. Already this fall, as part of Stephanie dropping in to help out in classes with a number of ENL students, Stephanie has been taking a small group of students to her classroom to teach math – but the classroom teacher has been doing all of the lesson plans. Now, Stephanie will have to do the lesson plans also – and she’ll be teaching a mix of ENL and non-ENL students, as in her READ 180 class. I believe this will start in January.

Also this past week, as in December 2008, Stephanie had students in one of her classes draw pictures of their favorite foods, and then we scanned and color-printed them, and then they make books out of these pages, as presents for their parents. Today the students put their books together.

Today Stephanie also lost two of her ENL teaching colleagues for a short time. This past weekend the school’s other ENL teacher, also named Stephanie, gave birth to a baby (her fourth – twins two years ago!), and she’ll miss teaching during part of the winter months. The translator-aide who works with the other Stephanie most, Annabelle, is taking education classes and will do her student teaching during the first few months of 2010 and so won’t be back until around April. I believe a teacher who covered for a colleague of Stephanie on medical leave will take over for the other Stephanie this winter. Stephanie and some of her colleagues gathered after work today to talk shop and celebrate the end of the year, and this ended a busy 10 days for Stephanie and her colleagues.

-- Perry

Storm

As a winter storm approaches, temperatures or plunging and winds up to 50 mph knocked down and - unfortunately - broke a new outside Christmas decoration that Stephanie had put up for the first time after Thanskgiving.

-- Perry

Unusual events

Several unusual things happened Monday and Tuesday:We got our first snow (see above) and Stephanie got to stay home two extra hours: two-hour delay, thanks to the school buses having trouble up in the Knobs. With the delay, Stephanie got a light day at work – until Monday afternoon, when her next to last Culture Club produced a Fairmont Elementary first: a call home to a parent because of the behavior of a child (a non-English as a new language Culture Club participant, no less).

Tuesday brought other unusual occurrences: This fall some of Stephanie’s Fairmont colleagues have once or twice a week been gathering together for a workout with a Hip Hop Abs video that they play on a wide screen TV in the school. Tuesday after school Stephanie joined them for the first time. Monday – nine days after we’d dropped off Vincent’s phone for repair – Stephanie’s mother and grandmother dropped the phone off at Vincent's apartment complex (thanks, Nancy!) and his father’s apartment complex. And so Tuesday Stephanie called Vincent as she left work and talked with him for 22 minutes (first time we’d called him when he wasn’t asleep or home with his father).

Tuesday we also completed our first week splitting a Community Supported Agriculture basket of winter vegetables, eggs, and milk with my colleague Gail. We both paid in advance and for 10 weeks split the produce (plus chicken we bought and cheese Gail bought) from local farmers. Stephanie cooked the last of the mushrooms and tatsoi (plus some more of the turkey Pape Larry brought us at Thanksgiving) for dinner Tuesday.

After dinner Tuesday, to get ready for a church officer potluck Wednesday, I did something I hadn’t done much lately – or ever. With some help from Stephanie, I made a fruit salad for the event (pictured below) (and I haven’t really cooked for months – and I’ve never made a fruit salad).

-- Perry

Tutoring

For the second year in a row, Stephanie is being paid by a U.S. government "21st Century schools" grant to stay after school on Monday and Wednesday. Monday at 4:30 is Culture Club, but Monday and Wednesday at 3:30 is tutoring - with four or five usually non-English as a new language students. Stephanie helps the students work on their homework and then usually does some sort of joint reading (Monday) or math (Wednesday) skills activity. I stopped by there on a Monday last month to bring Stephanie a replacement pair of shoes, after her shoes broke.



At 4:15 the tutorees break for snack and Stephanie goes to the lunchroom as sees other teachers - on Monday - getting ready for activities like basketball and Culture Club.



Below is Sammy, one of Stephanie's Culture Club students, as they get ready for Culture Club.

Since Culture Club last month and the visit of the school district administrator who talked about how the district's elementary schools could help the district pass Average Yearly Progress, two startling events have occurred. . . . Racing to pick up his kid from Culture Club, one of Stephanie's students' parents was stopped for speeding, which has sent him into the immigration crackdown spiral. This could be the first of Stephanie's Indiana families that is really deported. Some Southern IN law enforcement officials apparently don't make immigration referrals, but this one did. Stephanie ended up driving the kid home from Culture Club and noticed no parents (just an older sibling) was home - but it turns out because the dad was in trouble. . . . Also - after Thanksgiving - the new district superintendent offered golden parachutes to a number of top district administrators - including the person in charge of the ENL program for the district - who has been very generous with Stephanie's program - as well as the person who spoke at Stephanie's school last month. Stephanie will miss working with the ENL administrator and has to wonder how things will work out with whoever gets the job next.

-- Perry

One more game

I like to tell people I arrived in Tallahassee the same year as Coach Bobby Bowden. Even though I had grown up in Gainesville as a Gator, I made an easy transition. As a North Floridian, I already knew college football was king. Bowden made the 1970s an exciting time to be in Tallahassee: the upset victories against Top 10 opponents, the crowds shutting down the Tennessee Street "Strip," Renegade, and the war chant. This was all before that incredible 1987-2000 run of 10-win, Top 4 finishes. Perhaps because I remember that period and even have an inkling of what life was like for FSU football before Bowden, I'm much more charitable to Bowden than some of the younger people in our KY Seminole Club, who were out for Bowden going back to the Jeff Bowden as offensive coordinator period. Some of my best and worst memories are tied to FSU football. Watching in Tallahassee on TV FSU's incredible comeback against the Gators, where we went from being down 28-3 to tying 31-31, with Danny Kanell. Watching by myself in Brooklyn and Washington Heights several depressing Wide Right etc. games against Miami and that 1981 Orange Bowl when we led Oklahoma with 1 minute to go. Bittersweet classroom memories also link to Bowden and the football team. I remind folks that I taught three starters on the 1999 national championship team - Social Inequality, a class in which the two African American players - one of them later an NFL star - were fairly radical - without explaining how - perhaps a tiny bit with the looming presence of those players - that was one of the worst classroom experiences of my life. I also began my job talk at what became my first tenure-track job - ill-fated in some ways - at the University of St. Thomas in St. Paul - with a quip about Chris Weinke, the Heisman Trophy winner who led that 1999 team and was from St. Thomas' nearby feeder high school, Cretin-Durham High School. I never met Bowden - though I've driven by his house in Killearn - but I have heard him speak. Memorably, one of my big business newspaper sources, J.T. Williams, introduced him, as he warmed up the crowd at what is - for now - called Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium - for Johnny Cash and June Carter and then Billy Graham at my only Billy Graham revival. I've quipped for years that as long as Bowden was still coaching, my Mom could still work. Unfortunately, I fear the Bowden debate this fall in Tallahassee - that has centered on whether people in their late 70s can still work - may have focused unneeded attention on Mom. Either way, it may be time. I wish the university had really let Bowden decide whether to stay on for another. Perhaps Mom will get another year

-- Perry

Lightning

My colleague Gail (pictured below), her son Tugi, and I went to the inaugural game of Louisville's new professional indoor soccer team, the Lightning, at a soccer arena between home and work. I'd only been to one similar event - the final game of the ill-fated Tallahassee Scorpions at the Civic Center - although of course I'd been to half a dozen indoor soccer games that Vincent played in in St. Paul. Tugi had played soccer in a league here and so they recognized some people. One kid from church was also there. The Lightning led while I was there, but Cincinnati ended up rallying

-- Perry