The Median Sib

Today’s QOTD:

“It is not best that we should all think alike; it is difference of opinion which makes horse races.” (Mark Twain)

Yesterday afternoon, I went through a two-hour refresher course on CPR. It included how to use an AED. Until yesterday, I had NO idea what an AED was. The letters stand for automatic external defibrillator. What an incredible machine! Although my last CPR refresher course was just a few years ago, the AED has changed the process. CPR is still done the same way, but if you have an AED, it makes it much easier. The machine literally tells you how to use it. Another part of yesterday’s training was to go over the Heimlich maneuver, and that made me think of Roger who died last week from choking on a sandwich. As I did the maneuver on the mannequin yesterday, I kept thinking of Roger’s death - what an absolute fluke that he was all alone at the time - and how it has changed Patti’s life. Patti called soon after I got home, and we talked for awhile. I feel so helpless that I can’t do anything to help her except listen when her grief gets too much to bear. I grilled myself a steak for dinner — and after watching the video in the class that showed a man choking on a steak, I ate more carefully than I ever have.

I’m a reading specialist, and I love my job. I truly do. I enjoy being at my school, and I enjoy working with children. I love that I’m able to read lots of children’s literature. I love that I no longer have to deal with the stress of grading papers, report cards, and all-day responsibility for a classroom of children. I love it when a kindergartener grabs my hand as we walk down the hall towards my classroom, and I love it when I can joke around with fifth graders as we discuss a book. I love being able to work with children on all grade levels. Most of all, I love that I sometimes make a profound difference in a child’s life.

Despite all that love, I live for the weekends. Every Friday afternoon, the possibilities of the weekend stretch out before me. I anticipate whatever I have planned. Then when Sunday evening gets here, I feel sad that the weekend is over and another work week is beginning.

Despite all that love, I rarely get to school before I have to, and each afternoon I leave as soon as I possibly can. I don’t spend a single minute at school beyond what is needed to do my job well.

Despite all that love, I agree with the quip that the three best reasons for being a teacher are June, July, and August. (Note: Although with new scheduling, August really isn’t part of the summer break anymore, and teachers aren’t paid for those months off work.)

Is it contradictory to love a job so much and still anticipate getting away from it?

I wrote a few weeks ago about a child (I’ll call her Meredith) in one of my reading groups who told me a story about how when she tried to pull something out of the ground, it flipped her up into the air. And her brother tried it, and it flipped him into the air, too. And then the very same thing happened to her father - flying in circles in the air! This week I told the children about riding in the airplane with PawPaw last weekend. Meredith immediately piped up with the story about the time her father was flying a helicopter and shot her brother from the air. (I guess this happened after the air flipping experience.) Methinks Meredith has a need to have a bigger and better story. Classic one-upmanship. Today I asked her if she had someone at home to read her book to, and she replied that she had a sister in the first grade. A pause. “No, wait,” she said, “She’s not in the first grade, she’s in the ‘twenty-grade.’” The other kids just looked at her.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, I will go camping again this weekend. I’m getting excited about it. The weather will be perfect - maybe even a little too warm. I know exactly where I want to camp - same place I went last time, but I’ll choose a different campsite this time. The campground probably won’t have a lot of people there like it did a couple weeks ago. Maybe I’ll be wrong about that. I will remember to take my camera this time to take pictures of my adventure. My throngs of readers can look forward to seeing the photos in a few days. Well, I’ll enjoy looking at them anyway.

I found another news article that tells it like it is. This one was written by Jeff Jacoby in The Boston Globe. It’s well worth reading.

According to a Washington Post story the CIA has numerous secret prisons in other countries in which they are holding terror suspects. The article is interesting - four cyber-pages long. After watching a video a couple years ago of terrorists in Iraq savagely sawing off an American reporter’s head with a knife and hearing the reporter’s cries and death gurgles, I really don’t worry much about whether or not terrorist prisoners are treated well. I understand that we don’t want to sink to the terrorists’ level by treating prisoners inhumanely. But I also understand that these terrorists are unlike any previous enemies we’ve had. All our civilized debate and public arguing about how we treat prisoners just make them that much bolder and give them more hope. We are our own worst enemy. I think it is time we let our soldiers FIGHT the war without our politicians interfering at every step.

An Argentine reporter asked President Bush what he carries in his pocket. The answer: a white handkerchief. That’s it. No wallet, no keys, no cell phone, no pen.

What’s in my pocket (i.e. purse, handbag, pocketbook)? Since I don’t have aides and assistants to handle daily chores for me, I have all the items mentioned above, plus make-up, glasses, sunglasses, cash/credit cards, gum, breath mints, drivers license,insurance cards, emery board, lots of pens–just to name a few. I need to simplify.

I enjoyed reading the article about George Bush. It illustrates his humor and his ability to speak Spanish.

So, what’s in your wallet? And speaking of wallets, have you followed the advice of security experts and photocopied all your credit cards and your drivers license?

My daughter and I were talking about blogging. Rather, I was talking about my blog and the blogs that I read regularly, and she was talking about how she just doesn’t get it. Why write a blog? Who really cares? What’s the purpose? How can you think of things to write about?

For me, it’s fun. More than that, though, is the satisfaction I get from writing out my thoughts and ideas. There is also the enjoyment of knowing other people are reading what I’ve written. I love getting the email notifications that someone has written a comment in my blog. I can’t read my blog from school because the school filters won’t allow it. So the email notifications during the day are my way of seeing how my blog is doing when I’m at work.

Okay, let’s be honest. There are other reasons: self-absorption- vanity - attention-seeking - a way to blow off steam - an easy soapbox? All or none could apply. Probably all apply at times.

Ever since I was in the fifth grade, I’ve kept a journal. My first one was brown leather and was given to me by my father when he came home from being out of town. I’ve gone through phases where I’ve written in my journal daily. Other times, I’ve let months go by without any entries. But my journal was always there - either paper or electronic - and I always eventually got back to it. So blogging is an extension of those journals. Although my fellow bloggers understand why we do this, there are others who just don’t get it.

I read Reasoned Audacity’s take on the issue of women notifying the father prior to having an abortion. A baby is created by TWO people. The egg doesn’t self-fertilize. Although the mother’s body is where the baby grows, there are two parents involved. Both are dependent on the other in order to make a baby. Men should be afforded the courtesy of at least being notified when their wife/girlfriend/friend with privileges/acqaintance decides to abort the child they created together. For the record - yes, I believe that women should have control over what happens to their body. In abortion, however, they are controlling the life/death of someone else’s body.

So apparently Aaron Brown is leaving CNN, and they are putting Anderson Cooper in that time slot. That’s like replacing Walter Cronkite with Geraldo Rivera… Oprah with Sally Jesse Raphael…Sean Connery with Tom Arnold…or Diana with Camilla. I could go on, but I won’t. They’re replacing class with … well, something less than class. I guess it’s to be expected. Aaron Brown is dignified while Anderson Cooper just seems slick. I still remember Anderson Cooper as the host of the reality show “The Mole” - a reality show that even THIS reality show junkie couldn’t stand.

On my drive to work this morning I passed a church with the following sign out front: “God knows you no matter what costume you have on.” I loved that! Great sermon topic, I think. We wear so many costumes at times.

I just read Reasoned Audacity and had to laugh! Check it out. Are there people who sincerely believe that Pluto was lonely way out there in outer space?

This recipe was given to me by Gimmie - my wonderful mother-in-law. I made it last night for tonight’s family dinner. And it was extremely quick and easy! I’ll post a note later about how it tastes. Gimmie swears it’s absolutely delicious.

1 yellow cake mix
1 12-oz pkg. grated coconut
8 oz. sour cream
1 ½ cups sugar

Mix the cake following the directions on the box. Pour the cake into TWO cake pans. (There isn’t enough icing for three layers. If you want three layers, make more icing or don’t put icing on the sides!) WHILE the cake is baking, mix the coconut, sour cream and sugar. The mixture will be grainy since the sugar isn’t dissolved. As soon as the cake comes out of the oven, put the icing on it. The heat from the warm cake will melt the sugar and soak some of the icing into the cake.

(Later Note: Dinner is over, all my guests have gone home — and the coconut cake was delicious. Since it is iced while it is still warm, it is extremely moist. Everyone really liked it! Thanks for the recipe, Gimmie!)

I don’t watch the news on TV very much, but this morning I watched a few minutes of “Good Morning, America” on ABC. Those few minutes were eye-opening for me. I’ve already written about the Hershey-funded study of the benefits of dark chocolate. The other story that made me laugh and shake my head was the one about bird flu. Each “authority” that they interviewed was shown with a dark and shadowy background - giving them an almost spooky appearance. Then the images shown during the segment were of workers digging graves, rows of coffins, people lying on beds lined side by side and filling up sports stadiums — all stark, frightening and foreboding. They talked of quarantined neighborhoods and cities and of how people were hoarding the vaccine, how the vaccine manufacturer has stopped shipments to the United States, and how there was only enough vaccine for first-responders and the military. It was obvious they were trying to alarm people.

Whatever happened to objectivity in reporting the news? Does that ever happen anymore?

I was reading some news stories on the internet this morning. One that caught my eye was the one about the pastor in Waco, Texas - Rev. Kyle Lake - who was about to baptize someone. While standing in the baptistry with water up to his waist, he reached over to adjust a nearby microphone - and was electrocuted while the congregation watched. He was only 33 years old.

It wasn’t a very smart thing to do. However, it WAS the kind of thing that people do when they’re in a hurry and not thinking through their actions. It wouldn’t have made the national news except that it happened to a minister during a baptism. Fortunately, the woman to be baptized had not entered the baptistry yet. Surely a minister of God, performing a sacred ritual should be exempt from such freakish accidents. It’s like when rescue workers are killed while trying to save someone’s life. It seems so wrong.

I hesitate to write about religious topics since I’m definitely not knowledgeable about such things, and I have many family members who know so much more than I. However, I believe it all comes down to free will. There are laws of nature and laws of God, and when people don’t follow those laws, there are consequences - regardless of who the person is. God didn’t hold back the minister’s hand from touching the microphone, and He didn’t keep the electrical current from killing him. The minister had the free will to forget or ignore the law of electrical currents, and the consequences proved fatal. Does God ever suspend the laws of nature to “save” someone? Those are the miracles we hear about. But are they miracles, coincidence, or circumstance? I don’t know. Everyone who has ever touched an electrical appliance while in a tub has not been electrocuted. People run red lights every day and nothing bad happens, and yet someone else can do it for the first time and his/her whole life is changed by the consequences.

I remember a long time ago in psychology class in college, we studied conditioning and positive and negative reinforcement. I don’t remember the specifics, but I believe that constant positive or negative reinforcement was less effective in conditioning responses than intermittent reinforcement. I’m not sure how to explain how that applies to the minister being electrocuted. However when I thought of how sometimes people survive such accidents, and other times they don’t, it reminded me of it. Perhaps that’s a topic for a later post or for someone with deeper thoughts than mine this morning.