Monday May 14, 2001
... I went to CCS to see if there was a spare walker there for Autumn to use... I know they have them because I have seen them hanging in the store room, I have even used a couple of them on a trial basis... but they said; "Oh no Mr. Daggett, we couldn't allow that, they need to be fitted to her specifically, if she should fall and get hurt you could hold us responsible." They are scared to death to make a decision on their own... they will second guess a parent in a heart beat but not their own policies... They know perfectly well that there is a walker down there that would suffice but they don't have the autonomy in their organization to make a compassionate exception to the rules, I remember giving a customer what they wanted by reconfiguring a Centrex to route some calls to a recording, I got in big trouble, not because it was illegal, or threatening to the network, or jeopardizing to the switch,
I was in trouble because Marketing didn't have a billing structure in place to cover it... My boss stood up for me but I had to take the work-around out... and we lost a major customer... but we didn't upset Marketing...
Frank X. Tyndall's daughter is working at Meadowlark School... surreal... I worked with her father off and on for almost 20 years... a very nice fella, as smart as anyone I have ever met in my life... he can't see the forest for the trees though when it comes to taking care of himself but he'll be there if you need him... He saved my butt with his knowledge of software a hundred times...
Turns out Kaiser has Autumn covered on PME's (Medi-speak for "Permanent Medical Devices") CCS led me to believe that we had to go through them... Kaiser has it covered... cool...
Lumpy decided to enter a French's Mustard contest to see who can make the most original "food face, now I don't know about you but this is definitely original... grotesque and unappetizing... bit original...
Cindy has a dance to go to at the Junior High on Friday night, Chris went out to get her something to wear... Cindy is an innocent... a baby in that world... the last time we went shopping she picked out a pair of shoes with pictures of Barbie on them... I am very apprehensive about exposing her to this... she has no real craving yet to be "in", I don't think she understands that concept yet, but her peers do, Cindy is a victim in training... I am going to be a nervous wreck...
She came back with sandals that have lights in them... Christy tried to dissuade her but... Cindy would have made a major scene... I will take them back and exchange them.
Tuesday May 15, 2001
... Autumn to therapy to get measured for a new walker. It went pretty good... Janie and I hardly argued at all... we both selected the same walker... She tried to get me a "loaner" but the guy wasn't in... Autumn and I went to McDonalds to wait... McDonalds is definitely her "comfort zone"...
Christy took Mokie to Kaiser to figure out about the headaches and bloody noses she's been having, I think she is having a reaction to the classroom... they are "Modulars" and they have a lot of formaldehyde... formaldehyde can cause headaches and bloody noses over extended periods of exposure... but the school has assured us that there is no problem and no reason to be concerned...
Cadillac "Service Engine" light came in... says that the Torque Converter is having trouble... something to do with a "viscous converter clutch malfunction" happy day... I will get it in to AV Transmission ASAP... previous owner says it has had that lamp come on since she bought it...
Wednesday May 16, 2001
... I got a call on Autumn's new walker... they work fast... we got a call from Kaiser last night saying we could get in to see Dr Nathan today at 0830... that's in Hollywood... we jumped at it... Christy went down and they checked out Autumn every way possible, she is set up for an MRI, an EKG, an appointment at the Neuro-Motor Clinic, and an appointment with the nutritionist, The are going to wean her onto a new drug for controlling seizures and then get her off Phenobarbital... Phenobarbital is what is causing her slow learning, they plan to get her weight up and then insert a pump into her stomach that will inject a drug that should stop her spasticity so she can walk and use her hands better... all and all it was a very positive experience... I, for one, am ecstatic ...
I went to the "Thank You" dinner that was put on by the organizers of the "Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival" I took my PC down and showed them the pictures I took... the guy that was in charge said he would hire me to take pictures at the next one... I said; "Thanks... I'll do it... you just can't tell me which pictures to take..."
I like candid pictures... the folks who go to that affair in costume really like to get their pictures taken... it is hard to get candid pictures because they didn't get all duded up like that to be wall-flowers... the positive side is that they will do anything you tell them to do if you have a camera.
Thursday May 17, 2001
Autumn had Therapy... still not thrilled with those folks... I think a lot of it stems from the fact that they are bordering on rude... like they have some sort of agenda and it is our responsibility to see to it that they are not impeded in any way. As though they are the client and we are the provider... and Jane is still too firm with Autumn... I don't like it... Myra is about 5 months pregnant...(Christy's guess) so no telling when she will be out of the picture. I can't see that Autumn is benefiting very much from their ministrations either
Saw my neighbor down at the 76 Station and sat and talked with him for a while... he is a pretty nice fella... said someone broke some windows out of an old trailer he has parked on his property... I asked the boys about it... they deny it... but I think they have a story to tell... damn.
Calie and Cindy had her Back to School Night tonight, Cindy is still an enigma to me... she just doesn't seem to fit into any category, she is doing well in the cloistered world of Mrs. Conant's classroom. Out in the real world she is like a rabbit on the freeway at rush hour...
Christy had lunch with Carol...
I took Calie and Cindy out to get some shoes.. we returned the sandals that lit up and went to another store... I bought her some plain white sandals... they look nice.
Calie's classroom looked like a street bazaar in Singapore, I have never seen so much stuff, there were pictures, reports, projects, covering every square inch of the room, there was even mobile like things hanging from the ceiling and a video playing their last flute recital blaring in the background... I wonder if her teacher ever heard of a phenomenon called Sensory Overload. Calie is keeping a journal... it is a lot of fun to read... she ran me all over the classroom to show me all the stuff she is doing. She really loves school she works very hard, if this school were any good she would get some credit for how hard she tries...but she doesn't... the Acton School is really letting the kids that try their best down... they give big rewards to the kids who get straight A's but pay only token attention to the kids who struggle to
get B's and C's, Calie.
Christy was teaching in Lancaster tonight... got back about 2245...
Friday May 18, 2001
Today started off badly with Cindy having a hard time this morning... about once every week or so Cindy is just not able to cope with the concept of being awake... she just can't function... I don't know why... no one does... she cries, she cusses, she has tantrums... there is just no way to appease her. The only thing we can do to get through it is to let it run it's course... which is usually about 45 minutes to an hour... that means one more trip to school... I took Mike and Monica, came back for Cindy and Calie but Cindy was still not lucid so I took Calie and took my time coming back up the hill... when I got home Cindy was fine so I took her to school... as I was driving back up the hill Christy called to tell me that Cindy had missed the bus ride to Junior High so I turned around and picked her up and took her to the Junior High
Get Acquainted / Indoctrination / Whatever... I walked her into the auditorium and she was just lost... poor kid... her class was already seated and there was no room, she didn't know what to do, I was about to take her hand and seat her in the back when a eighth grader took her hand and helped her find a seat...
Gas is $2.07 for regular at the 76... damn
Cindy went to her first school dance tonight... I was apprehensive... unjustifiably... She had a good time... she sang and danced the night away (till 2130). It is hard to tell with Cindy... she says she had fun and I think it is possible that she did... she has few friends but it appears the ones she has take good care of her... I am impressed by them actually.
Christy was teaching again tonight so logistics were a pain in the butt... the kids were pretty good... I was a bear... Mike tried to work another scam tonight and I was in a foul mood...
Saturday May 19, 2001
I get awfully frustrated with things around here occasionally, teenagers are a pain in the butt... at least mine is. I tried to explain to him that I do not live to serve him. The money that comes into this house is destined to keep food on the table and a roof over our heads... not to buy him a motorcycle and $150.00 sneakers... poor kid... he should have been adopted by Bill Gates. Mike is over at his buddy Brian's house again... Christian is over at Shoen's.
I took the kids out to the book fair at Meadowlark... the Book Fair is where they charge you 20% to 50% over cost for books, supplies and software and kick back some of the money to the school... the PTO runs it, but a separate company supplies the books and they are the ones who appear to make the real profits... There was a kid dressed up like Clifford , the Big Red Dog... Autumn fell in love with him... I think she was miffed that I wouldn't buy him for her
Sunday May 20, 2001
The girls and I went to see
"Shrek"... A very funny movie, you will feel better if you can find a kid to accompany you but its worth seeing even if you don't have a kid... bear in mind that it was produced by Jeffrey Katzenberg, he and Michael Eisner don't like each other there are several "dump on Disney" inside jokes... I really enjoyed it.
Christy is not feeling well, upset stomach and a fever...
