March 01 Week 5
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March 01 Week 5
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Better than a thousand days of diligent study is one day with a great teacher. Japanese proverb Monday March 26, 2001The Stock Market appeared to show signs of life for the second day... perked me up a bit. Christy went to Church and to Riverside, she took Christian... Christian is whizzing through his home study schoolwork. We did an experiment on phosphates in various soaps... that was amusing... Mrs. Raineri told me to pick Autumn up late so she could participate in the talent show rehearsal, she said she would keep Monica with her after school. I got the other girls (Mike was with Austin and his Mom, another story) and we went over Meadowlark School to see what was going on. The teacher asked Cindy to go on stage to keep Autumn safe... Autumn's class got up on stage
Mike and Austin were walking home because Chris was late, when they got to the corner at Crown Valley they were confronted by Frankie and Thomas Flores. Frankie started calling Austin names and Austin was trying to shine him on. Mike said "Are you gonna let him talk to you like that?" and Frankie pushed Austin, then he pushed him again, and punched him in the chest, Austin pushed him back and then Frankie got him in a headlock and started punching him in the face, a lady came by and yelled at them to stop and they did. About that time Mike and Austin spotted Chris's truck and took off. Mike wants me to take him to the AV Mall tomorrow... I told him "No" every way I could think of to say No and he wouldn't shut up. He kept getting madder and madder, I thought he was just being silly but he wasn't... He was mad at me and started in on Christian, like he was going to hurt him and it scared me... He eventually went to bed and he was fine in the morning but he is a jerk when he doesn't get his medicine. I'm about at my wit's end to decide what to do with him. Tuesday March 27, 2001 My appointment for the Tina (Pronounced Tie'nah) Woolfork the Kaiser Nurse Practitioner (Podiatrist) was for 1500 so Christy picked up the kids. Tina had scared the bejesus out of me the last time I saw her so I was religious about applying the medications and it looks like my diligence and her ministrations cured my problem, I was very pleased. She examined my feet and pronounced me healed, she gave me a pedicure and I was amazed at what she did... she showed me how to cut my toe-nails... you'd think a fella 57 years old would know some stuff about his own toe-nails but folks... I let me tell ya, this old codger was clueless, I was doing just about everything wrong... She spent about 20 minutes clipping carving and pruning and telling me what to do to keep the trouble form coming back... this pedicure business is pretty cool... Tina is a very pretty young woman and the whole procedure was very pleasant I am sorry she did such a good job, I'll probably never get to go back... Christy called to tell me that Mike wasn't at Acton School. He is supposed to be at Acton School at 1500 to be picked up... Christy and I know better than to worry about his well being we just get mad. I told her to go home and I would go look for him, he has been getting a ride with Chris Landis, his buddy Austin's Mom. I went up to their house and no-one was home, then I went up to Jesse's house, his Mom, Linda, said that Jesse said that Mike had gone with Austin. I headed back to the Landis's house and Christy called to say that Mike was up at the house. Chris was still there telling us what happened... Mike was supposed to walk into some sort of ambush... here's the story: Mike was told at lunch that a kid named Mark was going to be waiting for him after school... this Mark (I know his name and I know where he lives) is the same kid that Mike had trouble with at the beginning of the year. He had threatened Mike several times to the point where Mike was afraid to go to school, He told Christy "He knows my name but all he does is call me names." Chris asked "what does he call you...?" Mike said (Fag, he calls me "The Mulatto" or "Nigger", he never calls me Mike. Christy went ballistic, read the Principal chapter and verse from the State and Federal regulations about Racial and Ethnic taunting... and the kid was kicked out of school, he was being "home schooled" in Agua Dulce. Apparently Frankie and Thomas had told Mark about Austin and that Mike was Austin's friend. So Mark said he would come over and take Mike out. Frankie told Mike that Mark was waiting for him and that he had a knife, a "Butterfly Knife" to be precise. Several other kids asked Mike if he was going to fight Frankie and at least one other mentioned the knife. When Mike and Austin got out of school they saw a crowd of people at the corner. He told Austin "We may as well go down there because they aren't going to go away." There is no other way out of there . Luckily Chris Landis showed up and they climbed in to her truck and escaped. Wednesday March 28, 2001 Christy and I went in to talk with the Principal. Chris Landis met us there and we ended up talking with school Counselor ... not productive. We told her what happened and it became obvious that it was a case of two boys saying one thing and two other boys saying the opposite thing. It gets confusing because of the incident on Monday between Austin and Frankie. Apparently after we left they put Mike in OCS (On Campus Suspension). Christy and I talked about what our next step should be, Christy is livid, I am more disappointed than upset. I thought that the Principal was going to jump on this with both feet but he is taking the stance that since the kid doesn't go to his school, the fight never actually took place because Mike and Austin escaped and that technically nothing happened on the campus he is absolved of having to do anything. Why he put Mike in OCS for avoiding getting stabbed is a bit of a mystery too. I had a call from the Principal on my cell-phone after Autumn's "Talent Show" but it was too late to call. "B" and his therapist called, we talked for a while about how "B" was doing, he apparently had to be "restrained" once for attacking a "Staff". Not sure what that was all about. "B" is on "Spring Break" starting Friday< I will be working the Cowboy Poetry and Music Festival over the weekend, and told him that I would pick him up at Devereux on the 2nd of April... I went up to the Landis's and waited for the Sheriffs... They didn't show up by 1740 so I took Autumn down to get ready for her show. About five minutes after I arrived there I got a call from Chris the Sheriffs finally showed up, it was 1800, I ran up and met with them, as I suspected, they wouldn't even take a report... after trying to convince them I thought this was a pretty serious deal it became obvious I was wasting my breath, I smiled and left. I watched Autumn's show, she was adorable, this was quite a production, luckily Mrs. Raineri's Kindergarten class was the second act. Cindy had been acting up so I couldn't bring her, one of the moms volunteered to sit up there with Autumn... it's
I was taking a Video and Mike was taking pictures with my digital camera, he held his thumb over the flash in every picture... the fuzzy one to the left is the only one I could salvage. Thursday March 29, 2001 This morning Mike showed me a notice saying he was on suspension until Friday... now what the hell is that all about, I can't figure out what he did wrong. I took Mike down to school early to find out what the Principal was planning to do about Mark, I told Mike to stay in the truck because if he never showed up for class I wouldn't have to make a big deal about pulling him out. I went in loaded for bear but there was no one to talk to. The Principal was a was otherwise occupied so was the Counselor... I went home. We had an IPP scheduled for Autumn today, Christy had forgotten all about it till late yesterday afternoon, we were up till midnight cleaning and Christy got up early to do dishes. Tanya (Autumn's Regional Center Case Worker) called at exactly 10:00, I went down to escort up here but she was driving a brand new Ford Van... I said "You better let me drive you up, I don't want you to hurt your truck." Christy was really tense, she said she was waiting for Tanya to say just one thing wrong and she was going to jump down her throat... after about 10 minutes it was clear that Tanya was a class act. Christy really liked her and Tanya was very helpful, she not only gave us tons of information she offered to help us fight "city hall" and get Autumn's teeth fixed. Friday March 30, 2001 Kites harness the force of the wind. They express our intent, But they cannot change the wind. TAO Autumn's Therapy went fairly well, Janie said "You need to keep these braces on her at least part of every day" She showed me how her right foot is stiffening up, the left is pretty good but the Right needs to have the Achilles tendon stretched. I told her she wears them infrequently, she said "I know, she hasn't warn them to therapy in months" This needs mentioning because last year I mentioned that I thought the braces were actually impeding her progress in walking, Janie agreed, now the implication is that we aren't taking proper care of her because we aren't putting her in her braces every day... Well I just bought a Cadillac... always wanted one... expected it a bit newer than the one I bought though. It's a 1988 Cadillac Sedan Deville with 175k miles... Christy goes to church with the family that owned it... it is really in damn good shape, I tried to find something wrong with it except for the expected 13 years of wear & tear... Christy's Buick is finally giving up the ghost I think... I will run it down to T&J on Monday and let them put it back into good enough shape to sell. I am anticipating driving it back to New Jersey for the USS Cogswell Reunion at the end of July, I want to stop in Phoenix (See sister Sue and the Republican), Fort Collins (See Cousin John), Colfax and Waterloo Iowa, Rockford Ill, Daggett Mills PA, Lebanon PA see my new grand nephews in Myerstown PA, Concord, NH, Boston (See Sister Leigh's place), Presque Isle & Ashland Maine... take some pictures. I wonder how much I will actually be able to do. Fun day tomorrow, going to go to the Cowboy Poetry & Music Festival... got to get some sleep...have to be there at 0830 and at my assigned post by 0900... The formula for a happy marriage is the same as the formula for living in California; if you find a fault don't dwell on it. Saturday March 31, 2001 Tomorrow is April Fools Day, interesting that it is also the date we set the clocks ahead... It could lead to a lot of confusion. I am starting to get April Fools stuff and . The Acton/Agua Dulce News, it says right on the cover (APRIL FOOL'S DAY SPECIAL, APRIL 1, 2001). Every year someone gets irate about an article. This one has two, one about reopening the Governor Mine, and the other about the "Sunset Development Company" having received approval to build a seventy-five acre lake in Agua Dulce...
These people call themselves Re-enactors (My spelling) some of these costumes are incredibly expensive. They have contests, everything from their underwear to the change in their pockets has to be authentic.
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