ODDREE.COM

Reading Camp

Right about now I would be wrapping up my A+ class, so that I could hop in my Bug and drive 120 miles home in the dark. Yet, I was able to leave at about 2:00PM today. I ate my lunch around 1:00 and then walked out onto the sunny campus and plopped down in the grass with my laptop. Ah, a nice sunny afternoon! It was almost peaceful. Almost.

To work in a center for the metally handicapped, you have to develop a certain tolerance to noise. Examples?

• Baaa! *pause* Baaaa! - One of the "clients" (a handicapped person in care) makes noises like a goat. The poor guy really thinks it means something. So sometimes they talk back to him and it makes him happy. But, from the time he wakes up to the time he goes to sleep he makes the "Baaa!" noise.
  
• Bells, bells, bells - Some of the clients are very coordinated, so they get to spend time in their day riding around on bikes. They *REALLY* like the bicycle bells. A little too much. Here's a joke: Knock knock! Who's there? Isabelle. Isabelle who? Isa-belle really fucking necessary? I'm sick of it. Take the shit off.
  
• More bells - You can't be mad at a retarded person for pulling a fire bell. But I guess you could be mad that it takes them about an hour and a half to turn the bell off. By the time the ringing stopped, I had blocked it out in my mind. What bell?
  
• Ka-bang! - Okay, again, these people are retarded. They like loud noises, like slamming doors. So don't get upset when they walk in and out of a door several times just to hear the slamming noise. You have to keep your cool and think to yourself "this is the most fun he will have all day".
  
• Preacher! Preacher! - I actually like the guy who thinks I am a preacher. I'm not sure who he has me confused with. But he likes to shake my hand, and introduce me to everyone as "the preacher". I can't get to the snack machines between 2:00 and 4:00 without going through this charade.

All right, enough with that. Where was I going with all this? Oh yeah, I got to leave work early because my students called off. I was sitting on the lawn of the campus taking in the sounds, and looking for a wireless network to leech when a guard came yelling for me. "Lisa? Regina? They are not coming, so you can go". I think before he had finished his thoughts, I was all ready turning the block in my Bug. "Thanks!" - VRRoooOOOM!

It was a good day to come home early. My son had a "reading camp" thing tonight at his school, so I was able to take the family to it. It was a nice evening afterschool activity. The kids were to go room to room and complete silly little activities to win paper badges to glue on to paper sashes. Nice gimmick. The kids seemed to like it. It was intended for all grade levels, so most of the activities were around 2nd or 3rd grade levels (or easier). I'm sure the 4th grade kids were insulted by the whole thing.

Andy got to drag his sister around too. I'm sure he was frustrated taking his lil' sis around to all the activities, but his sister really appreciated it. She is enjoying the thought of being in school herself. She goes to Kindergarden next year! Of course, this whole evening was hell on the adults. You look around to all these otehr parents, and teachers who are trying to smile, but look pretty beat. If I could read minds, I think I would have heard "is it time to go home yet?" from just about all of them. Also, my prayers go out to the janitor who had to clean up after this bombardment of kids, food, paper scraps, etc.

And now, *RIGHT* now I would have been passing out of Tiffin Ohio on my way to greener corn fields. It's nice to be in bed on my lappy instead. I feel like I am forgetting something. Oh yeah! Dinner. See you later. I need to eat.

Things I wanted to talk about, but ran out of time and patience:

• Rob had eye surgery
  
• I submitted by book for review