Turtle math

Four out of five days of the second and final week of the summer camp-themed summer school at Stephanie's school, Stephanie and Vincent brought the turtles. On the first day they ate again (above) and then raced again. This time the kids timed the race, as an exercise in practical math. Stephanie took the camera this time and got some pictures and videos. The kids watched the eating.

Vincent worked with one of the two small groups of kids on math. One of the activities of the week was math bingo.

Unusually, Vincent smiled for the camera (below).

In spite of what he says about disliking kids, Vincent appeared to have fun with these kids.

Finally, the kids prepared for the great race between Greenville and Speckles.

I'll post a video of the race later.

-- Perry

Early July update

We took Vincent to the doctor Friday – a day off for me but not for the doctor – as Vincent was worried that an infection had attacked his foot – and the doctor did indeed prescribe an antibiotic. We also learned over the last week that Stephanie’s mother has gotten back lab results suggesting that the tumor in her liver has stabilized in the face of anticancer treatment (it had been shrinking). The good news is it’s not growing and Nancy may be able to cut back on chemotherapy treatment (regular treatment but less frequent). Since treatment has triggered unpleasant side effects and is generally exhausting, this will be a nice change. We’ve heard from my brother-in-law Serge’s cousins that Penny, Serge, and Jacob (who are staying with them) did indeed arrive safely in Paris earlier this week. On their second day, Penny e-mailed, they got up late but did something Jacob had been itching to do – go up into the Eiffel Tower and see the tower and Paris by night (pictured above from the tower). Later they’ll go on to Brittany, the area near Lyons where Serge’s parents live, and perhaps the French Alps. Safe travels.

-- Perry

Michael and Barack

Michael Jackson helped give us President Barack Obama. At the tail-end of the tumultuous 1960s, Jackson (then about 10 – about the same age as the Obama daughters now) and his Jackson 5 brothers gave us the clean-cut “ABC,” just as 10 years later Bill Cosby gave us the clean-cut but irascible Dr. Huxtable on “The Cosby Show.” After a decade (the 1970s) in which radio divided along racial lines (even though I loved Jackson’s 1979 “Off the Wall” and its brilliant “Don’t Stop ‘Till You Get Enough”), Jackson and his classic “Thriller” songs, dance moves, and videos (“Billie Jean,” “Beat It,” and “Thriller”) (on which he collaborated with lots of white artists) helped integrate and make MTV a cultural epicenter for America’s youth. (See the ephemeral “Thriller” dance moves in the clip at the end of this blog entry: http://saintmatthewsstation.blogspot.com/2009/01/early-halloween.html ). Along with Prince and others, Jackson also gave us a metrosexual, racially ambiguous figure whose floating poetry (despite the insipid “We Are the World” lyrics which we can blame on Lionel Richie - although the song helped beget the wonderful Live Aid concerts) sometimes focused on – well – “hope” and “change.”

From 1987’s “Man in the Mirror”:

I’m starting with the man in the mirror.
I’m asking him to change his ways.
And no message could have been any clearer.
If you wanna make the world a better place
(If you wanna make the world a better place),
take a look at yourself, and
then make a change.

(See also http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1zpTQCQEFhg .)

In the aftermath of Jackson’s death last week, it’s also clear that Jackson (like Obama, a fellow late baby-boomer, just a little older than me) has also been a great U.S. ambassador to the whole world, including the global South. From the walls of the prison in the Phillipines where prisoners for the second time reenacted the “Thriller” dance moves (see http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMnk7lh9M3o ) to hot spots Teheran and Tegucigalpa, Honduras, where mourning over Jackson briefly threatened to eclipse political conflict there, it’s clear that Jackson (despite his last checkered two decades) has been that great ambassador.

Rest in peace, Michael. Thanks for helping give us the new president.

-- Perry

Sign of the times

Yet another business in a relatively new big box shopping area - one where we bought shirts and ties for Vincent after we bought him a suit that may or may not still fit - on the other side of St. Matthews went belly up (see above). Already - all part of national chains dying - Wild Oats, Linen and Things, and Circuit City has died - and - even as those stores stand empty- they continue to build new stores. I stopped by there earlier this week but nothing jumped out at me. Also this week we learned that Diane, our next-door neighbor, with whom we share a driveway, is getting laid off this week. (Her son, who had moved back in with her, also lost his job). Diane had been working as an office manager in a real estate-related firm for six years, and the slowdown in real estate finally got her laid off. She's going to take her severance and unemployment pay and take a little time off - and then go looking. At least she doesn't have rent or house payments. Although my manager informed us last week that there would apparently be no mass layoffs this fall, I'm still worried because - for the first time since I started working at the Presbyterian Center, as part of our annual review process - for just the second time, we're doing mid-year reviews - and I'm going to miss a bunch of the mid-year targets (June 30) he and I set for me - in some cases due to me not picking up the Panel skills and tasks that quickly, in other cases due to productivity issues, in some cases due to events beyond my control (like the February 2005 Panel data turning out to be in much worse shape than we thought), and in other cases due to me getting stuck with more work on other projects (like that Review of the PC(USA) as a Whole) that we had thought I would. We'll see how I shape my written mid-year review statement and then how the session later this month goes. He's been pushing me to finish various projects and finally set a line in the sand on two - before I go on vacation later this month - I should be able to make those but of course no one likes to be told in detail what to do. I've gone from working under the close supervision of one of my senior colleagues more to him (and really to both of them). Up to a point this is fine since I often don't really know what I'm doing. But it is still grating at times. I've always said no one pays attention to these reviews - but that's if they go well - you can still get laid off. We'll see if people pay attention if they do not go well. Of course, one of my worst moments at my current job was an hour-long conversation with our former manager in connection with an annual review 2 1/2 years ago - and formally the official written Review went fine - it's just he was tough on me during that hour (and sometimes not that coherent).

-- Perry

Transitions

For 4 1/2 years I've served in the same post for the Peace Speakers Toastmasters Club at the Presbyterian Center as I did briefly for my Toastmasters club in St. Paul - as Vice President for Education. I've planned the educational programs for almost every one of the twice-monthly meetings, actually led plenty of the programs, oriented new members, and taken on many responsibilities. The club's activity level has ebbed and flowed - and recently flowed - with some half a dozen new members joining in the past six months - and - with my would-be stroke, my promotion, and so on - I resolved in January to step down when my term was up June 30. I set up programs for the six months and tried run things more on auto-pilot and also tried to involve other officers and members in programming - which is good for everyone and good for the club. For more on the club, see one of my other blogs at: http://peacespeakerstoastmasters.blogspot.com/ . Wednesday two weeks ago was my last official meeting as VP for Education. I was part of a slate of officers elected - this time as VP for Public Relations - which includes what I've done with the blog. I hope to also construct a club Web site and brochure. So I'll be transitioning to a new role and lessened role within the club. Toastmasters has been critical for the belated success I occasionally had in the classroom, as well as success in job interviews and making presentations (like Monday, June 15, to the Review of the PC(USA) as a Whole committee and like tomorrow with an Environmental working group at work). A Stewardship Minute talk I gave at church in late October - whose text was on the blog - was a classic Toastmasters speech, and I personally believe that this speech was - if indirectly - important for me clinching my promotion at work. Late last week I was scheduled to meet with the incoming VP Education, Eric, and in preparation for this I went through a huge stack of Toastmasters materials in my office. I recycled a bunch of stuff, put in a box a stack of stuff for Eric, kept a few things to keep in my office, and brought a few things home. The only diploma/certificate-type item I have in my office right now is my Toastmasters Competent Communication program completion certificate. Friday I lunched with Eric, talked about responsibilities, and then turned over the box to him. Once upon a time - since we had no VCR that worked as a recorder - we asked Mom to record and mail stuff for us. Mom recorded John Edward's 2004 Democratic Natoinal Convention speech - which I only heard on the radio a bit while i was diriving from Illinois to Louisvlile - and we later watched this at a Toastmasters meeting as an example of a spech by an experienced speaker. The most recent time we've watched a speech like this was Governor Sarah Palin's speech when Senator McCain announced her as his running mate - except for then we turned over a new life, and watched it projected from YouTube - instead of with a VHS tape like this one (pictured above) that Mom and made and mailed to me. Another kind of transition took place for our family when I was cleaning out materials in the upstairs alcove, which has become an extra storage space for items I'm trying to keep closest to me. For a second time, Vincent had received materials from colleges - mainly from nearby colleges we had looked at - but occasionally from his ACT and SAT scores - from as far away as New York state's NYU and Skidmore - and we'd also accumulated standardized test review materials that we occasionally got him to use. The math study did not improve his ACT math score and the unusual circumstances of his SAT test did not promote a good score. Trying to sort materials: I kept two valuable test review books to take to Goodwill, and I kept in a file a few materials from a school Vincent might really go to - Indiana University Southeast - Otherwise, I took all the materials to recycling later in the week.

Speaking of college, we're pretty sure Vincent is going to get timed out of one of two dual-enrollment high school-college classes he's currently enrolled on-line. Stephanie has said Vincent will have to exit our house if he gets timed out (and conceivably kicked out of the school). I suspect I'll push for us to have him take the GED pretest and if he does well at that and gets a job and pays us medical debts and $100 monthly rent (and cleans his room and does his laundry), he can stay - Target is re-opening a bigger store early this fall. But that's an awful lot of ifs and as much as we sometimes enjoy having Vincent around, it's not clear it makes sense for us to support him ad nauseam if he's basically on a permanent vacation/retirment (besides tinkering with one class maybe 30-60 minutes a day four days a week and occasionally doing laundry). Good news early in the week: Stephanie also got her renewed IN teaching license - which she had worried she would have to take classes for or was applying for too late - which she now needs to get to her school district office (along with taking care of one more detail).

-- Perry

Summertime scenes

This week we got a respite from last week's blazing 90 degrees plus heat. I've been out during several lunchtimes - when I don't have to go home to walk the dog - on the Waterfront between my office building and the Ohio River. There's a new Subway on that walk. Stephanie has been able to grill. Tuesday night she grilled some huge chicken breasts and also cooked corn on the cob. Not pictured is the yummy homemade ice cream she made with nectarines she got at a farmers' market Saturday. Yum!

-- Perry

Medical emergency

Late Saturday night Vincent yelled down "Mom!" Stephanie had gone to bed early. It turns out that Vincent - who had newly acquired some knives again really without our permission - had knocked one fo them over and it had sliced a tendon in his foot. I knew from Vincent's voice that he needed to go to the emergency room. But I was annoyed because if he'd been asleep and not ever gotten the knives he wouldn't be injured. We had also told him he was responsible for medical copayments now that he was smoking, and ER copays had gone up to $150 at the first of the year (it would be his second time to an ER). Also - somehow he had smeered blood all over the carpet in his room. Vincent also couldn't find his health insurance card which I had given him upon request (in hinsight in error). Stephanie finally bundled Vincent into the car - at about midnight - and then to Baptist East hospital - a suburban hospital where we had been for my hernia surgery and Stephanie's blood clot lab work. Judging from the phone calls - amazingly on a Saturday night - there was no big line, and Vincent got in and got 12 stitches and crutches training and was back by about 2:45 a.m. In the picture above he is hobbling in the front door. I realized before he got there that he would be staying in Grandma Martha's/Jon's room - the computer room/extra bedroom - and in the picture low he headed in there with help from Stephanie.



While they were at the hospital - I hadn't dusted Vincent's room for several months and you could tell (although I'd cleaned his bathroom two months ago before I left for Florida) - I was cleaning blood off the floor and cleaned Vincent's room and bathroom - which was a disaster in general. He also had done little laundry for weeks and so I trundled loads of clean and dirty laundry down into the basement (where Stephanie is currently doing it - Vincent can't right now). After three hours I had cleaned up most of all of this (and dusted). (Sunday and Monday I finished the bathroom, went through the whole alcove (my stuff), and vacuumed.) I quit about 3:30 a.m. We called Monday for a professional steam cleaning for the upper floor (they didn't move furniture but went under the bed). Below are two pictures of Vincent's room - cleaned up - but with furniture elevated a bit to clear more area for steam cleaning. Before I moved anything into the house, we had the whole house - all three floors - professionally cleaned.

On Monday Stephanie took off the gauze over Vincent's foot for the first time and he took a bath - complicated - without getting his foot wet. I didn't see this process but got a picture (below) of his foot later that night - as he was propped up at the kitchen table. He tries to elevate it, read the post-stitches surgery carefully (you can see Stephanie reading over it in the second picture), and is often worried it's getting infected. The situation has also replicated the house arrest in that Vincent can't go anywhere without us - and is unlikely to try to go anywhere. This is nicely timed in between Vincent was helping Stephanie during summer school and when his friend Samantha is supposed to come back from Denmark (next Wednesday Tuesday). Vincent's appointment with the doctor - when he may get the stitches taken off and when he may get cleared to quit using the crutches - is also Tuesday.

Vincent's former prom date, Jessi - who returned from Minnesota and broke up with her on-line friend - has visited twice and was helping Vincent back into his temporary room during her first visit.

Tuesday all three of us went to Vincent's appointment with his psychiatrist - complicated because Vincent is now 18. I had taken Vincent there a month ago when Stephanie was still teaching. But we got there 15 minutes late and they asked us to reschedule. Here we were waiting for Dr. Knox. Things did not go great until Vincent ordered us out and - taking a second whole appointment up - Vincent and Dr. Knox followed up on a suggestion from his counselor and he got prescribed a name-brand antidepressant to go with the mood-disorder drug he'd already been taking (that we thought she was going to phase out). We explained that things with Vincent had been a little more up and down - but one issue might have been when Vincent first got back from the hospital and was dealing with court issues we didn't really press him on school work (and in fact he did some laundry and housecleaning when he couldn't see Sam because of the house arrest).

Tuesday I was finally at home when Stephanie was removing Vincent's gauze. (Viewer's alert) - here below is Vincent wound, having been stitiched up. Pretty gross (but no clear sign of infection, despite Vincent's worries).

Stephanie applied some lotion. Vincent has been taking Ibuprophen too, as long with his two psychiatric drugs.

-- Perry