While a child might find it cool to be in possession of stitches and a scar in the making, I confess I am not so thrilled. It has definitely put a crimp in my normal weekly activities; and having to explain to one hundred and one people why I am hobbling on a cane, as I had to do for the better part of the week, does not exactly make me a happy bunny. Fortunately the cane has been retired as of today, and the stitches are slated to come out on Monday. I am back to driving, which was problematic earlier since my laceration is on my right leg, just above the ankle.
I have said in seriousness that I was bitten by our lawn tractor trailer, and that is true. I was pulling the trailer by the yoke to our fire pit to dispose of blackberry vine trimmings, and it slipped out of my grip and took a zig zag path down through my skin & cutaneous tissue, mercifully stopping short of cutting my Achilles tendon. I got a split second view of said tendon, applied firm pressure as all good first aid training tells you to, and immediately sat down while my body began producing all those lovely cytokines and inflammatory molecules, completely with a healthy dose of shock. I was very, very lucky that I did not cut my tendon--according to the ER PA, I was a millimeter or so away from surgery and months of crutches and physical therapy to rehab it. I completely give the thanks for this to God, because only He could have cut away everything else and left that tendon perfectly intact.
It is not so fun to be on your tummy on a hospital table while a nurse intern scrubs your numbed wound clean. I am glad I couldn't see it, and I am glad that it didn't bleed much at all when it first happened. The sight of my own blood is never welcome. My husband got a nice view of it all, and commented that while he used to think he would love to see every bit of me, he has now been twice forced to amend that statement, as seeing bits of my c-section, and now this, have convinced him that he is far happier for my internal bits to stay intact and out of view. And I only had to endure the nasty stings of the numbing shots, which is not so bad, all things considered.
I have been reminded in a painful way of the foolishness of working on the Sabbath. And just to drive the point home for me, I have again encountered a verse attesting to this in my new Hebrews study: "There remains therefore a Sabbath rest for the people of God", Hebrews 4:9. Yes, I am that thickheaded, and God knows this and had to remind me of it again, just in case I was not convinced by the large gash and stitches. I have also been reminded that my natural carelessness/klutziness now impacts more than myself and my DH. Both of my children were very concerned about me, and both came running over when I hurt myself. They were not happy to see me being taken off, despite the kind and excellent care of a beloved neighbor. And my dear daughter was so disturbed by the whole affair that she crept into our room and into bed with us that night, wanting to make sure that a) I was there and b) that I was okay. Poor girl. She has since drawn me no less than four get well cards, as well as fussed and clucked over me like a mother hen on Monday. My son was clingy and anxious to see I was there, insisting on a long rocking chair session when I got home on Sunday night. That kid's radar is so fine tuned, he woke up the MINUTE we walked through the door and was crying for me.
It is a good reminder to me that I need to cultivate better care of my person. The older I get, the more serious it is to knock into things because I am just not that spatially aware. I can see how I could end up with a broken hip when I'm eighty, or a broken patella at 60 like my mom (who broke hers falling off a curb). I need to make a conscious effort to do better, for myself and my family. I don't want them to be worried about what I will do next. It is comic in some ways, but it's not so funny in others. Hopefully I can keep this just a blip and not another dot in a whole series of injuries!
Friday, September 26, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Leg o' Lamb
I am going to put up my leg now, but I wanted you, the small crew of blog readers who might be interested, to know that I am now sporting seven stitches on my leg since Sunday. The short story is I had a fight with a garden trailer and I lost, haha. However I am feeling a bit grumpy after standing up for a good portion of the afternoon teaching, so I will go elevate my leg and allow myself a bit of misery wallowing, then give you the story proper tomorrow. Good night!
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Brother, Can You Spare a Dime?
You could file this under the heading, "Things that Annoy Me". As you know, I really don't talk about politics on this blog, so forgive me for making an exception today. And really I am not discussing the candidates' political views, but moreso a fact that I believe reflects on the nature of their characters.
I was blog hopping the other day and came across a blog which asserted that Barack Obama has given less than 1% of his income to charity. Huh? Are you kidding me? This man who has put himself forward as a 'man of the people', fighting for the working poor, doesn't give even the national average to charity (7.47%, for the record through 2004, among taxpayers who itemize their deductions, like Mr. Obama)?
I thought, well, this is probably some propaganda being put forth about Obama, more election nastiness. But I googled it, and lo and behold, Obama's own stomping ground paper, The Chicago Tribune, wrote a two page story on it on Sep. 12th! According to this story, the national average of giving per household is 2.2%, which includes even those households which fall below the poverty line. Yet when Mr. Obama first ran for the Senate in 2002, they gave away only 0.4% of their income, even though their adjusted household income of $259,394 put them in the top bracket of earners. Wow. And then, after Obama signed his book deals, their household income went up substantially. Their 2006 income was $983,626, of which they donated $60,307 (6.13%). In 2005, their income was even higher, $1.65 million of which they donated $77,300 (4.68%). (Want to double-check the figures? Check out their tax returns on Obama's website here.) I suppose it should be comforting to think that they are trending in the right direction, but PEOPLE(!), shouldn't they have ALREADY been charitable, being so much better off than the many folks he worked with daily?? And they have yet to meet the national average for taxpayers in their income bracket (>$200,000), which is 7.35% (see Chart 2 here).
Ok, I thought, let's be fair. Let's look at McCain's charitable giving and see where he is at. Here the waters get more muddied, as McCain files separately from his wife, Cindy. It seems that last year he gave more than 25% of his income to charity (ref). However, most of that was to his own foundation, which donated heavily to schools his children formerly attended, as well as charities such as the Halo Trust (landmine removal) and Operation Smile (craniofacial surgeries for children). Hmmm. It seems a bit smarmy, maybe, to donate to schools that your kids attend or used to attend, but on the other hand is it any less smarmy when parents do the same things for their kids' schools? Haven't we all read about the wealthy school districts with the kitted-out schools because the mommies and daddies with six figure salaries ensure that every kiddo has a laptop, while the ghetto schools struggle for grant money for computers, and work to keep old desktops functional in a central computer lab? Heck I would know more than most about that, as my mom is a grant administrator and computer lab superintendent (and sometime vice-prinicipal) at a high school in one of the ghetto-iest districts in SoCal. So I guess I get supporting your kids' schools, even if it is more than most of us can afford. The real question is how much Cindy gives to charity, but I respect her right not to have her personal finances pawed over by the public too, since she is not running for office. It sure would be nice to get a straight answer about her charitable giving, though.
Well, there you have it. An insight into the personal character of Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain. I am not going to lie and say I am impressed by Mr. McCain's egregious giving, since his wife is an heiress who is worth millions. However, I will give him credit for not being greedy and for giving away a substantial portion of his income. Frankly, it's the minimum I would expect from a couple who is extraordinarily wealthy. I am disappointed in the Obamas' charitable giving. Dude, WE give more to charity as a proportion of our income than the Obamas, and we are not even where I would like to be! I feel that we are skinflinty and poor managers of our resources, and I am earnestly seeking God's help with being a better steward of my resources. Frankly it is appalling how wealthy we ALL are, compared to the rest of the world. It was one of the things that called me to name by blog, "Lulled by Luxury", because we are truly spoiled in this country and we don't even realize it. I guess I have determined that personal charity is one of my immutable benchmarks, a most desirable character trait...and especially in a president of this country. I guess it's pretty clear who won't be getting my vote!
P.S. I would like to make it clear that I am a registered Independent voter. The Republican Party, having completely abandoned any sense of fiscal responsibility a decade ago, lost my affiliation before I was even eligible to vote. I have voted for Democratic and Republican contenders for public office, based on my evaluation of their suitability to represent my views.
I was blog hopping the other day and came across a blog which asserted that Barack Obama has given less than 1% of his income to charity. Huh? Are you kidding me? This man who has put himself forward as a 'man of the people', fighting for the working poor, doesn't give even the national average to charity (7.47%, for the record through 2004, among taxpayers who itemize their deductions, like Mr. Obama)?
I thought, well, this is probably some propaganda being put forth about Obama, more election nastiness. But I googled it, and lo and behold, Obama's own stomping ground paper, The Chicago Tribune, wrote a two page story on it on Sep. 12th! According to this story, the national average of giving per household is 2.2%, which includes even those households which fall below the poverty line. Yet when Mr. Obama first ran for the Senate in 2002, they gave away only 0.4% of their income, even though their adjusted household income of $259,394 put them in the top bracket of earners. Wow. And then, after Obama signed his book deals, their household income went up substantially. Their 2006 income was $983,626, of which they donated $60,307 (6.13%). In 2005, their income was even higher, $1.65 million of which they donated $77,300 (4.68%). (Want to double-check the figures? Check out their tax returns on Obama's website here.) I suppose it should be comforting to think that they are trending in the right direction, but PEOPLE(!), shouldn't they have ALREADY been charitable, being so much better off than the many folks he worked with daily?? And they have yet to meet the national average for taxpayers in their income bracket (>$200,000), which is 7.35% (see Chart 2 here).
Ok, I thought, let's be fair. Let's look at McCain's charitable giving and see where he is at. Here the waters get more muddied, as McCain files separately from his wife, Cindy. It seems that last year he gave more than 25% of his income to charity (ref). However, most of that was to his own foundation, which donated heavily to schools his children formerly attended, as well as charities such as the Halo Trust (landmine removal) and Operation Smile (craniofacial surgeries for children). Hmmm. It seems a bit smarmy, maybe, to donate to schools that your kids attend or used to attend, but on the other hand is it any less smarmy when parents do the same things for their kids' schools? Haven't we all read about the wealthy school districts with the kitted-out schools because the mommies and daddies with six figure salaries ensure that every kiddo has a laptop, while the ghetto schools struggle for grant money for computers, and work to keep old desktops functional in a central computer lab? Heck I would know more than most about that, as my mom is a grant administrator and computer lab superintendent (and sometime vice-prinicipal) at a high school in one of the ghetto-iest districts in SoCal. So I guess I get supporting your kids' schools, even if it is more than most of us can afford. The real question is how much Cindy gives to charity, but I respect her right not to have her personal finances pawed over by the public too, since she is not running for office. It sure would be nice to get a straight answer about her charitable giving, though.
Well, there you have it. An insight into the personal character of Mr. Obama and Mr. McCain. I am not going to lie and say I am impressed by Mr. McCain's egregious giving, since his wife is an heiress who is worth millions. However, I will give him credit for not being greedy and for giving away a substantial portion of his income. Frankly, it's the minimum I would expect from a couple who is extraordinarily wealthy. I am disappointed in the Obamas' charitable giving. Dude, WE give more to charity as a proportion of our income than the Obamas, and we are not even where I would like to be! I feel that we are skinflinty and poor managers of our resources, and I am earnestly seeking God's help with being a better steward of my resources. Frankly it is appalling how wealthy we ALL are, compared to the rest of the world. It was one of the things that called me to name by blog, "Lulled by Luxury", because we are truly spoiled in this country and we don't even realize it. I guess I have determined that personal charity is one of my immutable benchmarks, a most desirable character trait...and especially in a president of this country. I guess it's pretty clear who won't be getting my vote!
P.S. I would like to make it clear that I am a registered Independent voter. The Republican Party, having completely abandoned any sense of fiscal responsibility a decade ago, lost my affiliation before I was even eligible to vote. I have voted for Democratic and Republican contenders for public office, based on my evaluation of their suitability to represent my views.
Color Me Gray...and White
Yesterday was my husband's work from home day, and I realized that if we had any hope of moving forward substantially on the bathroom this weekend, I needed to get cracking with painting the vanity and closet door. To speed things along, we bought a power paint sprayer (after trying to borrow one, but the borrowed one had missing parts). Since we have to paint our house next year, it will get plenty of use.
We have a sort of de facto equitable labor arrangement going for bathroom work. DH does the carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and heavy lifting, and I do the drywall, mudding, texturing, and painting. I have no problem with this arrangement, and it has worked well for us thus far. Plus I got to be the first to try out the new paint sprayer. Yippee!
First let me attest to the fact that there is no way you will keep a power paint sprayer looking like new. In fact, I know why they don't seal up the box with a cable tie like they do with other power tools, because if you so much as put paint anywhere in the vicinity of these things, they will get spatters of paint all over them; thus they do not have to worry about unscrupulous folks buying this particular tool for one job and attempting to return it. (As a side note I was unaware of this practice until I returned a circular saw, unused, to Home Depot, and watched the guy check that the cable tie was still in place on the box. Apparently it is not uncommon for people to buy tools, use them, and attempt to return them as new. Pathetic!)
Second, you do not want to use old primer or paint with one of these. They seem to clog with regularity of you tip the sprayer at any degree other than perfectly vertical, resulting in large, phlegm-like spatters of paint on your surfaces. This is made worse with older primer which is a bit thicker (and I know this because I did it). Just don't bother using old paint or primer, or, if you do, strain it or thin it first.
Third, to deal with the aforementioned paint phlegms, have a paintbrush handy and just brush them out over the surface. They will settle out just fine without any brush marks. Also use a stuttered trigger to combat constant clogging.
Fourth, wear a burqa or a similiar all-body covering device, or be prepared to wear paint for a few days. I have white primer and gray paint all over my legs and arms, and that's after scrubbing myself painfully with a nail brush in the shower last night. I don't want to think about what amount of sprayed paint particles got into my hair. I guess that is one advantage to having some gray hair, it is probably not that noticeable!
Fifth, if you attempt to use the tube feed and a gallon of paint, be aware that the tubes can cause the gallon of paint to tip over as you angle around spraying. This can result in the loss of a significant amount of paint. (I'm sure the grass in that area will recover...eventually...) Also, you cannot get the tubes clean without spraying water through them, so it is pointless to clean all the other parts first before attempting to clean the tubes. Just fill the container with water, stick the hoses in, and spray it out for a good five minutes before disassembling everything and cleaning it.
Lastly, beware when cleaning everything out. There are some small parts and it would be easy to lose some while cleaning. Check to make sure you have everything before closing up shop, so to speak.
Well, I hope by this weekend my paint splatters will have worn off. I will attempt further scrubbing when my skin does not feel like it's been assaulted by sandpaper. Of course as soon as I get rid of the paint, it will be thinset and grout getting stuck all over me. Thank goodness I have enough ratty t-shirts to sacrifice to this remodel. Stay tuned.
We have a sort of de facto equitable labor arrangement going for bathroom work. DH does the carpentry, plumbing, electrical, and heavy lifting, and I do the drywall, mudding, texturing, and painting. I have no problem with this arrangement, and it has worked well for us thus far. Plus I got to be the first to try out the new paint sprayer. Yippee!
First let me attest to the fact that there is no way you will keep a power paint sprayer looking like new. In fact, I know why they don't seal up the box with a cable tie like they do with other power tools, because if you so much as put paint anywhere in the vicinity of these things, they will get spatters of paint all over them; thus they do not have to worry about unscrupulous folks buying this particular tool for one job and attempting to return it. (As a side note I was unaware of this practice until I returned a circular saw, unused, to Home Depot, and watched the guy check that the cable tie was still in place on the box. Apparently it is not uncommon for people to buy tools, use them, and attempt to return them as new. Pathetic!)
Second, you do not want to use old primer or paint with one of these. They seem to clog with regularity of you tip the sprayer at any degree other than perfectly vertical, resulting in large, phlegm-like spatters of paint on your surfaces. This is made worse with older primer which is a bit thicker (and I know this because I did it). Just don't bother using old paint or primer, or, if you do, strain it or thin it first.
Third, to deal with the aforementioned paint phlegms, have a paintbrush handy and just brush them out over the surface. They will settle out just fine without any brush marks. Also use a stuttered trigger to combat constant clogging.
Fourth, wear a burqa or a similiar all-body covering device, or be prepared to wear paint for a few days. I have white primer and gray paint all over my legs and arms, and that's after scrubbing myself painfully with a nail brush in the shower last night. I don't want to think about what amount of sprayed paint particles got into my hair. I guess that is one advantage to having some gray hair, it is probably not that noticeable!
Fifth, if you attempt to use the tube feed and a gallon of paint, be aware that the tubes can cause the gallon of paint to tip over as you angle around spraying. This can result in the loss of a significant amount of paint. (I'm sure the grass in that area will recover...eventually...) Also, you cannot get the tubes clean without spraying water through them, so it is pointless to clean all the other parts first before attempting to clean the tubes. Just fill the container with water, stick the hoses in, and spray it out for a good five minutes before disassembling everything and cleaning it.
Lastly, beware when cleaning everything out. There are some small parts and it would be easy to lose some while cleaning. Check to make sure you have everything before closing up shop, so to speak.
Well, I hope by this weekend my paint splatters will have worn off. I will attempt further scrubbing when my skin does not feel like it's been assaulted by sandpaper. Of course as soon as I get rid of the paint, it will be thinset and grout getting stuck all over me. Thank goodness I have enough ratty t-shirts to sacrifice to this remodel. Stay tuned.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
My Bob the Builder Husband
I am impressed by my husband. He is out there, in the dark, finishing up the stud section that will give us the necessary wall space for the tub, and simultaneously provide us with a useful shelf for the tub/shower. Ok, he is not exactly in the dark, as he has several lights on, but nonetheless I find it very impressive that he is out there laboring away at a time of day when we are normally relaxing in front of the TV or reading books in bed. I suppose it shows just how tired we both are of having only one bathroom, and (hopefully) a new desire to spur on to the finish line with this remodel business.
As for me, well, I sanded drywall seams today, and I re-sanded some of the vanity door fronts. It was the best I could manage with a playdate this morning, walk with the neighbors this afternoon, and my children doing their best to play hard in between. I am doing my best to be content with what progress we make. I had thought that it would be so GREAT if we were in a position to start tiling THIS WEEKEND!, but I don't think that is going to happen even if I wish wish wish, whipped-cream-nuts-and-a-cherry-on-top wishing. I think we will be doing very well if we get the rest of the drywalling done and get the seams mudded and some wall texturing started in the tub/toilet room. I have a vanity to finish painting, as well as a closet door to paint. And we haven't even picked trim or coving yet. I just don't think we are going to be ready to start snapping chalk lines and laying tile this weekend. *sigh* Sometimes this just seems like the neverending project!
As for me, well, I sanded drywall seams today, and I re-sanded some of the vanity door fronts. It was the best I could manage with a playdate this morning, walk with the neighbors this afternoon, and my children doing their best to play hard in between. I am doing my best to be content with what progress we make. I had thought that it would be so GREAT if we were in a position to start tiling THIS WEEKEND!, but I don't think that is going to happen even if I wish wish wish, whipped-cream-nuts-and-a-cherry-on-top wishing. I think we will be doing very well if we get the rest of the drywalling done and get the seams mudded and some wall texturing started in the tub/toilet room. I have a vanity to finish painting, as well as a closet door to paint. And we haven't even picked trim or coving yet. I just don't think we are going to be ready to start snapping chalk lines and laying tile this weekend. *sigh* Sometimes this just seems like the neverending project!
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Randomania
First, I am eating chocolate chip cookies and drinking root beer for breakfast. Worse still, they are not home-made chocolate chip cookies, merely home-baked. So who knows what preservatives I am filling my system with--whatever preservatives the Doughboy uses, I suppose, as it was Pillsbury ready to bake cookie dough. I confess I subscribed to momentary weakness when I saw them on sale through the Grocery Game. And worst of all, I am letting my children drink root beer with me. Oh the horror!
So why am I eating whatever is easily available for breakfast with a minimal effort? Well, I will attribute it to being over in the Emerald City last night for a nice dinner out with DH, the kids, and a former co-worker of mine. We did dinner reasonably early to (hopefully) ensure good behavior on the part of our children. Thankfully they did behave pretty well, although DS did start melting down a bit toward the end of the meal. I had thought about getting a sitter for them, but on a school night our teenage babysitter was unavailable, and our normal adult babysitter was out of town, so we were SOL.
Yesterday was a strange modge-podge of a day, since I had a plumber back out to correct the tub spout, which was too low for our tub. That was achieved by remarkable negotiation on the part of DH, who ended up talking to the plumbing company's VP after we called to take them up on their plumber's assurance of a "no charge" call to fix anything that was amiss after he re-did the bathtub/shower plumbing. Yeah, well, it was no charge, but only after DH spoke to the VP and refused to be drawn into a "he said, we said" situation. We were both there, we both know what the guy said, and thankfully the VP had the common sense to do the right thing for their company and take care of it for us. This is why I leave these things to DH, because I would be red in the face and irritated in vocal tone on the phone, whereas DH can sit there placidly and say things like, "My wife informed {Plumber's Name} that our new tub was 18" high and the old one was 15" high. Furthermore we offered to go purchase the tub at Home Depot, for which we had all the technical information online, and be back in twenty minutes, but {Plumber's Name} insisted that was not necessary and that he would happily return free of charge to fix any problems." I would have been irritable and just a *touch* cranky with the guy, but DH is a master at skillful silences and completely dispassionate discourse with CSRs, so this was right up his alley. Score one for DH, and one for the plumbing company for doing the right thing and securing any future business from us.
Anyway, I also had a friend from church drop by with some ingredients for two special desserts which I am making for tonight's first meeting our women's Bible study. This resulted in me doing some frantic tidying up and organizing right after lunch, a time when I am normally putting my feet up to enjoy some quiet time while the kids are napping (DS) or playing quietly in their rooms (DD). All this while I was turning off the water for the plumber and sort of hovering to do...well I don't know why I was hovering, really! Some odd part of my brain was hoping he wasn't thinking, "This is far more complicated than we thought! This will be a (bazillion) dollars, not FREE!" As if me hovering and popping in to see how he's getting on with fixing it is going to help that at all. I know, I am strange.
And then I had the business of getting the kids in the car, hopping the ferry, and changing their clothes in the car, on the ferry to something less "street urchin" and more "presentable, clean". Dinner was really nice, and I had a great time catching up with my old co-worker. He has landed on his feet in a much better job, and I am very happy for him. My former workplace is still the king of high turnover and low pay, and nearly everyone I counted as a friend is gone now. I have one lone stalwart remaining, but at least he has secured for himself a relative degree of autonomy which helps him deal with the ridiculous nature of some of the "management" that goes on there. In short everyone of whom I think well there, has secured a decent position or advanced, so that makes me happy.
Lastly, I got called to teach this quarter, which is good. In the usual fashion, the college has called with about two weeks' notice, but frankly I don't mind as NOW I have already taught this course before, and thus will be a bit better prepared (stop laughing, I can hope, people!!) to teach it. And the secretary let slip that the person I am teaching for (instead of?) is easing toward retirement, so maybe in a few years when he fully retires, they will have a full-time position open. And THAT is happy news indeed! Time for me to finish up rewriting a lab that I mentioned to him last quarter as an inquiry-based lab. Nothing like a bit of eagerness to underscore my affirmative interest in teaching there on a more permanent basis.
All in all it was one of those odd days where all the disjointed bits of my universe seem to collide and meld into a crazy collage, but it's still somewhat pretty in its way. I got to feel useful (teaching!), organized (tidying!), helpful & charitable (baking for church!), handy (plumbing supervision!), educated (discussion of science!) and civilized (dinner out! with clean & reasonably behaved children!). Rare day indeed, as usually I feel incompetent (what was that about group seventeen elements?), disorganized (I know I put that bill somewhere around here...*waves arm generally at mass of untidy mail on counter*), selfish & proud (I can make this recipe for church because I'm SUCH a good from-scratch baker), decidely UN-handy (need I remind you of the copper soldering post?), uneducated (I know I got a Ph.D. but all I can do is sing The Backyardigans theme song again and again), and decidely uncivilized (I think the sticky hair can be hidden with a headband...and his shirt's not THAT dirty, it will do for the playdate). It's a crazy roller coaster ride, but sometimes the views from the heights remind me that it's worth all the dips.
So why am I eating whatever is easily available for breakfast with a minimal effort? Well, I will attribute it to being over in the Emerald City last night for a nice dinner out with DH, the kids, and a former co-worker of mine. We did dinner reasonably early to (hopefully) ensure good behavior on the part of our children. Thankfully they did behave pretty well, although DS did start melting down a bit toward the end of the meal. I had thought about getting a sitter for them, but on a school night our teenage babysitter was unavailable, and our normal adult babysitter was out of town, so we were SOL.
Yesterday was a strange modge-podge of a day, since I had a plumber back out to correct the tub spout, which was too low for our tub. That was achieved by remarkable negotiation on the part of DH, who ended up talking to the plumbing company's VP after we called to take them up on their plumber's assurance of a "no charge" call to fix anything that was amiss after he re-did the bathtub/shower plumbing. Yeah, well, it was no charge, but only after DH spoke to the VP and refused to be drawn into a "he said, we said" situation. We were both there, we both know what the guy said, and thankfully the VP had the common sense to do the right thing for their company and take care of it for us. This is why I leave these things to DH, because I would be red in the face and irritated in vocal tone on the phone, whereas DH can sit there placidly and say things like, "My wife informed {Plumber's Name} that our new tub was 18" high and the old one was 15" high. Furthermore we offered to go purchase the tub at Home Depot, for which we had all the technical information online, and be back in twenty minutes, but {Plumber's Name} insisted that was not necessary and that he would happily return free of charge to fix any problems." I would have been irritable and just a *touch* cranky with the guy, but DH is a master at skillful silences and completely dispassionate discourse with CSRs, so this was right up his alley. Score one for DH, and one for the plumbing company for doing the right thing and securing any future business from us.
Anyway, I also had a friend from church drop by with some ingredients for two special desserts which I am making for tonight's first meeting our women's Bible study. This resulted in me doing some frantic tidying up and organizing right after lunch, a time when I am normally putting my feet up to enjoy some quiet time while the kids are napping (DS) or playing quietly in their rooms (DD). All this while I was turning off the water for the plumber and sort of hovering to do...well I don't know why I was hovering, really! Some odd part of my brain was hoping he wasn't thinking, "This is far more complicated than we thought! This will be a (bazillion) dollars, not FREE!" As if me hovering and popping in to see how he's getting on with fixing it is going to help that at all. I know, I am strange.
And then I had the business of getting the kids in the car, hopping the ferry, and changing their clothes in the car, on the ferry to something less "street urchin" and more "presentable, clean". Dinner was really nice, and I had a great time catching up with my old co-worker. He has landed on his feet in a much better job, and I am very happy for him. My former workplace is still the king of high turnover and low pay, and nearly everyone I counted as a friend is gone now. I have one lone stalwart remaining, but at least he has secured for himself a relative degree of autonomy which helps him deal with the ridiculous nature of some of the "management" that goes on there. In short everyone of whom I think well there, has secured a decent position or advanced, so that makes me happy.
Lastly, I got called to teach this quarter, which is good. In the usual fashion, the college has called with about two weeks' notice, but frankly I don't mind as NOW I have already taught this course before, and thus will be a bit better prepared (stop laughing, I can hope, people!!) to teach it. And the secretary let slip that the person I am teaching for (instead of?) is easing toward retirement, so maybe in a few years when he fully retires, they will have a full-time position open. And THAT is happy news indeed! Time for me to finish up rewriting a lab that I mentioned to him last quarter as an inquiry-based lab. Nothing like a bit of eagerness to underscore my affirmative interest in teaching there on a more permanent basis.
All in all it was one of those odd days where all the disjointed bits of my universe seem to collide and meld into a crazy collage, but it's still somewhat pretty in its way. I got to feel useful (teaching!), organized (tidying!), helpful & charitable (baking for church!), handy (plumbing supervision!), educated (discussion of science!) and civilized (dinner out! with clean & reasonably behaved children!). Rare day indeed, as usually I feel incompetent (what was that about group seventeen elements?), disorganized (I know I put that bill somewhere around here...*waves arm generally at mass of untidy mail on counter*), selfish & proud (I can make this recipe for church because I'm SUCH a good from-scratch baker), decidely UN-handy (need I remind you of the copper soldering post?), uneducated (I know I got a Ph.D. but all I can do is sing The Backyardigans theme song again and again), and decidely uncivilized (I think the sticky hair can be hidden with a headband...and his shirt's not THAT dirty, it will do for the playdate). It's a crazy roller coaster ride, but sometimes the views from the heights remind me that it's worth all the dips.
Friday, September 5, 2008
Flying with Children
Well, that was fun. Yep, I adore being locked in a plane with nearly all the people in a twenty aisle radius despising my child while he screams his head off for three hours of a four hour flight. Good times. At least I swapped seats with DH halfway through to get a break, and was treated to a pretty complaisant DD who was quite happy with her DVD of Dora and a snack. I admit, however, that I was more than a little interrupted in my attempts to read Pamela Aidan's Pride & Prejudice spin-off, An Assembly Such As This, by the fact that my child was screaming for me three aisles up.
But I digress. Let me acquaint you with theteeth gritting, hair pulling, 'why on earth would anyone in Customer Service think this is the way to treat people I ASK YOU???' inconveniences of traveling by air with small children these days. Ahem.
First, there is no such thing as "pre-boarding" any more, people...at least not with American Airlines. We got to pre-board with British Airways for our trip to Ireland, but apparently any domestic destination magically means parents don't need any extra time to shepherd recalcitrant children onto their unfamiliar aircraft, navigate the aisles carrying aircraft-approved carseats, and get said carseats properly installed in such a way that you can actually unbuckle the airline seatbelts when you get to your destination. Well, as you can probably guess, we did need that extra time. I suppose it is something of a marvel to me, how many parents we saw flying with children in the regular airplane seatbelts, but personally I just cannot fathom putting my kids in the airplane seatbelts. First, I know for a fact that they would definitely NOT stay in them. Each would be wiggled out of that sucker faster than I could threaten grievous consequences (no Dora! no ice cream!). Then would follow the agony of grabbing at flailing child parts from underneath the seat, or the one in front, or the aisle. Yes, that would be SO fun, wouldn't it? Second, what about the danger to the kids from turbulence or worse? (And yes, it does happen, having been on a pretty turbulent flight myself, and YES, planes do crash occasionally, and I personally know a plane crash survivor, so maybe I am a bit more paranoid than most.) If your kid is old enough that you have to pay for the seat anyway, what difference is it to you if you have to bring the carseat or booster? They make these marvelous things called "luggage wheels", and you can attach them to your carseat...and you know, it doesn't count as a carry-on! Imagine!
Anyhoo, we had a total of four flights for this little cross-country jaunt to Virginia, and that meant we had four times of wondering whether we would get to pre-board or not. The first gate agent explained that First Class and the "Preferred" classes (AA frequent flyers, Emerald, Ruby, Garnet, Tourmaline, Jet, Jet-Lagged...you name it, these encompass about a third of the plane and they all get to board before you) had the luxury of pre-boarding, but they do not pre-board families with small children. How nice. Thank you so much. She winked and nudged us in when we would have "pre-boarded" on British Airways, for which we are most grateful. However, the other three gate agents exhibited varying degrees of sympathy for our situation, from "None" to "You can board with Group 2" instead of Group 3. Oh gee, how generous. Thanks much. Carrying the carseat & attempting not to slam it into other people's elbows was really all we could each manage, so the kids HAD to get down the aisle on their own two feet. I'm sure all the folks backed up the jetway while we coaxed our reluctant 19 month old all the way down, down, down the aisle were understanding of their stay in a non-air conditioned jetway in Dallas/Ft. Worth in August. Really.
Next, we were informed abruptly at the first gate that we could NOT sit four together, and still use both carseats. What? Yes, their policy is that carseats must be used ONLY in a window seat, so we could either not use a carseat for one of our children (see above), or we had to get our seats reassigned to a 2 x 2 arrangement. Oh joy. I, for one, was pretty hacked off that their website, which they direct you to for ANY sort of customer service or assistance, had absolutely NO NOTICE of this policy! You can bet your bippy that we are writing a tidy little letter to American about this little gem of information which was so happily neglected from all relevant booking details on their entire website. Again our first gate agent was a gem and reassigned two people to other seats so we could be in two contiguous rows, and she was able to do the same for our flight from DFW to Virginia. Yay! On our way home, however, we were not so fortunate. We had no way of changing our seat assignment online and the phone agent could do nothing for us, so we had to rely on the gate agent. Well, the gate agents on the way back were less helpful. They were not terribly willing to move people, and as a result on our last flight we were separated by three rows.
At least it not me who had to deal with the woman across the aisle from my howling son, but my DH. I would probably not have the grace to have responded as politely as he had to her suggestion of, "Give that baby some milk and crackers, he's probably hungry." Um, yeah. In case you hadn't noticed, he has refused every snack offered. My DH said, "Thanks, but he's just tired and needs to go to sleep." Nothing more fun than strangers offering pointless advice because they are annoyed by your screaming child, yet not doing anything that might help him to go to sleep, like keep their own slightly older children from constantly peeping at the crying child, causing him to stop 'zoning out' toward sleep and laugh at your child, before screaming again when she peeps out of view. And I need not mention the flickering cabin lights that had the same effect.
I have nothing but good things to say about the baggage handling. They did not lose any of our bags, and they did get them out to the carousel before we arrived at it. Of course, this could have something to do with the fact that we were, without exception, the last people off every plane we were on.
All in all, I would recommend highly to anyone even contemplating travel with a baby from the age of 18 months to 3 years--just don't do it. JUST DON'T DO IT. Please, spare yourself the agonizing embarassment and teeth grinding frustration of dealing with a child in an unfamiliar situation who is old enough to know what he/she WANTS and not old enough to be distracted or reasoned with. That's it. We are staying WA for the next 18 months, or traveling in short distances by car. I could not repeat that experience again. And if you happen to be an employee of American Airlines, please b#$%h slap the VP who removed the pre-boarding option for families with young children. And while you're at it, slap your idiot web designer too, who hasn't included any information on carseats or ways to indicate that you will be using one for your minor child. Ugh.
But I digress. Let me acquaint you with the
First, there is no such thing as "pre-boarding" any more, people...at least not with American Airlines. We got to pre-board with British Airways for our trip to Ireland, but apparently any domestic destination magically means parents don't need any extra time to shepherd recalcitrant children onto their unfamiliar aircraft, navigate the aisles carrying aircraft-approved carseats, and get said carseats properly installed in such a way that you can actually unbuckle the airline seatbelts when you get to your destination. Well, as you can probably guess, we did need that extra time. I suppose it is something of a marvel to me, how many parents we saw flying with children in the regular airplane seatbelts, but personally I just cannot fathom putting my kids in the airplane seatbelts. First, I know for a fact that they would definitely NOT stay in them. Each would be wiggled out of that sucker faster than I could threaten grievous consequences (no Dora! no ice cream!). Then would follow the agony of grabbing at flailing child parts from underneath the seat, or the one in front, or the aisle. Yes, that would be SO fun, wouldn't it? Second, what about the danger to the kids from turbulence or worse? (And yes, it does happen, having been on a pretty turbulent flight myself, and YES, planes do crash occasionally, and I personally know a plane crash survivor, so maybe I am a bit more paranoid than most.) If your kid is old enough that you have to pay for the seat anyway, what difference is it to you if you have to bring the carseat or booster? They make these marvelous things called "luggage wheels", and you can attach them to your carseat...and you know, it doesn't count as a carry-on! Imagine!
Anyhoo, we had a total of four flights for this little cross-country jaunt to Virginia, and that meant we had four times of wondering whether we would get to pre-board or not. The first gate agent explained that First Class and the "Preferred" classes (AA frequent flyers, Emerald, Ruby, Garnet, Tourmaline, Jet, Jet-Lagged...you name it, these encompass about a third of the plane and they all get to board before you) had the luxury of pre-boarding, but they do not pre-board families with small children. How nice. Thank you so much. She winked and nudged us in when we would have "pre-boarded" on British Airways, for which we are most grateful. However, the other three gate agents exhibited varying degrees of sympathy for our situation, from "None" to "You can board with Group 2" instead of Group 3. Oh gee, how generous. Thanks much. Carrying the carseat & attempting not to slam it into other people's elbows was really all we could each manage, so the kids HAD to get down the aisle on their own two feet. I'm sure all the folks backed up the jetway while we coaxed our reluctant 19 month old all the way down, down, down the aisle were understanding of their stay in a non-air conditioned jetway in Dallas/Ft. Worth in August. Really.
Next, we were informed abruptly at the first gate that we could NOT sit four together, and still use both carseats. What? Yes, their policy is that carseats must be used ONLY in a window seat, so we could either not use a carseat for one of our children (see above), or we had to get our seats reassigned to a 2 x 2 arrangement. Oh joy. I, for one, was pretty hacked off that their website, which they direct you to for ANY sort of customer service or assistance, had absolutely NO NOTICE of this policy! You can bet your bippy that we are writing a tidy little letter to American about this little gem of information which was so happily neglected from all relevant booking details on their entire website. Again our first gate agent was a gem and reassigned two people to other seats so we could be in two contiguous rows, and she was able to do the same for our flight from DFW to Virginia. Yay! On our way home, however, we were not so fortunate. We had no way of changing our seat assignment online and the phone agent could do nothing for us, so we had to rely on the gate agent. Well, the gate agents on the way back were less helpful. They were not terribly willing to move people, and as a result on our last flight we were separated by three rows.
At least it not me who had to deal with the woman across the aisle from my howling son, but my DH. I would probably not have the grace to have responded as politely as he had to her suggestion of, "Give that baby some milk and crackers, he's probably hungry." Um, yeah. In case you hadn't noticed, he has refused every snack offered. My DH said, "Thanks, but he's just tired and needs to go to sleep." Nothing more fun than strangers offering pointless advice because they are annoyed by your screaming child, yet not doing anything that might help him to go to sleep, like keep their own slightly older children from constantly peeping at the crying child, causing him to stop 'zoning out' toward sleep and laugh at your child, before screaming again when she peeps out of view. And I need not mention the flickering cabin lights that had the same effect.
I have nothing but good things to say about the baggage handling. They did not lose any of our bags, and they did get them out to the carousel before we arrived at it. Of course, this could have something to do with the fact that we were, without exception, the last people off every plane we were on.
All in all, I would recommend highly to anyone even contemplating travel with a baby from the age of 18 months to 3 years--just don't do it. JUST DON'T DO IT. Please, spare yourself the agonizing embarassment and teeth grinding frustration of dealing with a child in an unfamiliar situation who is old enough to know what he/she WANTS and not old enough to be distracted or reasoned with. That's it. We are staying WA for the next 18 months, or traveling in short distances by car. I could not repeat that experience again. And if you happen to be an employee of American Airlines, please b#$%h slap the VP who removed the pre-boarding option for families with young children. And while you're at it, slap your idiot web designer too, who hasn't included any information on carseats or ways to indicate that you will be using one for your minor child. Ugh.
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