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2007.02.15 20.13 [meme] Definitely not me ( Read more... ) |
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2007.02.03 10.23 Tired I've been tired almost constantly lately, but that's boring. Everybody else is sick, so I figured out the perfect thing to donate to the FKO Interfilk auction: A box of tissues! Yes, tissues. It seemed fitting. Mood: tired |
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2007.01.21 22.32 [meme] I am absolutely shocked that this worked.  What type of Fae are you? At least -I- think it works for me. What do you think? |
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2007.01.21 05.13 [meme] That's odd . . . You know the Bible 87%! Wow! You are awesome! You are a true Biblical scholar, not just a hearer but a personal reader! The books, the characters, the events, the verses - you know it all! You are fantastic! I certainly am NOT a biblical scholar. I think I read it once. I used to listen to the stories at the fall fair, because their trailer was air conditioned and, unlike the rides, it didn't cost tickets. I'm actually rather taken aback by how high my score is. Then again, some of the "wrong" answers are pretty obviously wrong. 35. In Jesus' parable, who stopped to help a man in need? - Donald Trump - Donald Duck - Don Knotts - a Samaritan I mean, honestly! |
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2007.01.19 12.44 [meme] Well, there's the problem . . . If life were a high school, my head cheerleader just died. |
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2007.01.15 12.39 Service Dogs in Schools: a rant, mostly Thanks to a certain news article, service animals in schools have been a topic of debate in #filkhaven recently. I've been very frustrated with certain others' response to it, and their insistence that the principal could not POSSIBLY be violating the law. This is three people, pulled out of a broader chat log. Names removed to protect the clueless; excerpted under fair use for purposes of criticism. [Him] Bookwyrm: I assume you've been following the story about the hearing assist dog for the high schooler? (It's local, so we've heard a lot about it lately.) [Me] Vaguely. Schools are such a problem [Her} I missed that one - do tell [Him] The school system is insisting that the boy needs to file paperwork with them; he's maintaining that there's no such requirement because the dog is an assistance animal. Let me see if I can find a good article [Me] Good for him! [Him] http://www.newsday.com/news/local/longi [Me] Not many people would stand their ground there. [Me] "When he arrived this morning for classes, John Cave was met by W. Tresper Clarke High School Principal Timothy Voels, who told him the dog, Simba, was not permitted inside the building. John handed the dog's leash to his mother, Nancy, who took the dog back to the family car." [Me] That was the wrong move, though. [Another-Person] That's right around the corner from me, eh? [Him] They're taking the high road. With national attention on the case, it might be a bad move in the short term, but it's killing the schools, PRwise [Him] Mornng, [another-person's name]. Yep. [Me] The RIGHT move would have been to turn around WITH the dog and go home. [Her] [his-name], yep [Her] book, no, then the principal could accuse the kid of cutting [Her] kid could end up suspended [Her] they did it the right way [Me] And the kid could respond that he was denied access to the school. [Him] Bookwyrm: They've done that, up till now. [Her] this way, god forbid anything happens, the parents are in the right and can sue [Me] This is important: The right of access is with the PERSON, not with the dog. [Him] But I think they're trying to prevent any issues with the kid's graduation or academics [Me] If the person does not need the dog to function there, there is NO right of access [Her] ayup [Her] but the school does have the right to ask the parents to file for an exception [Me] By going in without the dog, he's proving that he does not need it, and weakening the human rights case [Me] [her-name]: Under what law? [Her] I work in a high school. If a parent files the paperwork, we don;t deny the exception [Me] [her-name]: That's not the point [Her] but that way, the school's ass is covered in case something happens [Me] "Filing the paperwork" is, in all likelihood, NOT a reasonable requirement. [Her] It partly is. BUllshit [Me] The fact that the school WANTS them to do it does not make it the law. [Her] IF the reason is legit, the parents hsould not have an issue with filing the paperwork\ [Another-Person] Filing the paperwork is an entirely reasonable requirement, actually [Another-Person] Schools live and die by paperwork [Her] yep [Another-Person] Leastwise in the State of NY and probably in the County of Nassau and the Town of East Meadow [Me] [another-person's name]: Not under the ADA, it's not. [Another-Person] I can't speak for Canadian schools [Her] and if something happens and the service animal breaks training and injures another kid, the paperwork covers the school [Him] The question is whether the paperwork is required, or a reasonable request. The schools ARE bound by the law, and we await the decision as to whether it holds [Me] Yeah; there really needs to be case law on it. [Her] My question i why the parents are so unwilling to file the paperwork [Another-Person] Well, yes, I agree, it would be [Another-Person] to turn aroudn with the dog (going back up) [Me] My question is why the parents are so sloppy with their language. [Another-Person] because they think They Are Right [Him] [her-name]: Because the paperwork is for an exception; they feel (possibly correctly) that a service dog is an independent tool, and that the law specifically exempts service dogs from those regulations [Her] IF a kid needs an elevator pass, we have the parents fill out paperwork, and issue the pass [Another-Person] And it's more important to them to Be Right than to actually just fill the paperwork out [Me] [his name]: Exactly [Her] I think [another-person's name] has the answer [Me] [another-person's name]: And good for them, if it is. [Her] But if everyone can just say, this is a service animal so you have to let me bring it in, there could be chaos [Me] [her name]: Gatekeepers can ask THREE questions [Him] My question is this: if it were a guide dog for the blind, would the schools have required paperwork? If so (and if that was upheld as not violating the law per se), then the parents have no case. Since this is an accredited service animal (or so I infer), it's an identical case [Me] What is your disability and how do you intend to prove it are NOT among them. [Her] I disagree with you, book. Filling out the paperwork obviates the need to ask the questions [Her] Far as I can see, the parents would still have to fill out the paperwork if it was a service animal for a blind person [Me] [his-name]: If it were a guide dog for the blind, and the school required paperwork, it would probably still be illegal [Her] at least in NYC [Her] I will ask my principal and the AP, Ops about it [Me] [her-name]: The principal is just as likely to be misinformed as anybody else. [Her] Our principal tends to be well-informed. but of course, since you seem to think that misinformed means "doesn;t agree with what I think it should be", you would probably find him so [Me] [her-name]: I know this field better than most. [Her] And you have an agenda to push [Him] Bookwyrm: My point, though, is that guide dogs for the blind tend to be automatically accepted; if there's discrimination among service animals, that's an issue. I have an agenda to push? Maybe. How's this for an agenda: service dogs are valuable assistance for disabled people and there is no [censored] reason on earth they should be denied entry to a school, or any other public place. This issue arises over and over again on my service dog related lists, with schools taking the position that they have the right to decide what a student needs, and they are neither qualified nor competent to make that judgement. The Department of Justice's ADA documentation is clear that even a preschooler using a service dog must be allowed to use it at preschool; there can be no question that a 14-year-old is even more competent to handle the animal. ADA Business Brief: Service Animals No Kidding Around for Child Care Centers and the ADA -- question 10 Baltimore City Schools Agree to Pay Blind Teacher $55,000 to Settle Disability Rights Law Suit -- schools are not exempt from the law, even when making hiring decisions Also, compare the US Department of Justice's Commonly Asked Questions About Service Animals in Place of Business -- especially questions three and six -- with North Central Indiana's Policy for an Assistance Animal to Attend School and be Transported by School Transportation I also don't agree that discrimination between types of service animal is the real issue; discriminating against people using service animals at all is simply intolerable. An agenda? Maybe. But justice and human rights really don't seem like a bad agenda to have. Mood: aggravated |
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2007.01.12 23.50 I can no more than listen to some filkers whom I hear; My voice won't sound good even if you've had much beer. I know the Escape Key will always escape me, Echo's Children, Puzzlebox, and there's Ookla with all he moks . . . Bob Kanefsky's too demented, Tom Smith writes off the cuff, Leslie Fish wrote Banned from Argo and, well, isn't that enough? No, I'll look back in time to a gentleman sublime, Whose wit and style were more supporting -- Whose contributions we still are sorting . . . When I grow up, I want to be like Dave Alway I want to welcome new friends with open arms I want to recite verse (doc) And puns from bad to worse (doc) And if you need a button made, well, I have just the charm (mostly doc) Who wants to be a hot concert performer? Who wants to win a Pegasus? I want to do my filk in circles and their ilk, I want to grow up just like Dave Alway and play without all the fuss! When I grow up, I want to be like Dave Alway, I'll provide a hat where pocketfolk can hide. There may be twenty-three Daves but I'll still be me And the shrdlu of the etaoins will fill me full of pride I want to build the duchy of Filkhaven And dedicate it to Naomi's child I'll do the heraldry and then we will just see How many others join the game and let their minds run wild When I grow up, I want to be like Dave Alway. I'll renovate my home and garden too With statues you can see at housefilks quarterly I'll feed you well and even tell filk safety tips anew! I want to learn to play dulcimer I want to take my friends along to cons I'll provide a subsidy so they can come with me I want to grow up just like Dave Alway, I'll chat with folk out in the hallway But I wish the real Dave Alway were not gone! Music: TTO Tom Smith's "Peter Lorre" |
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2007.01.01 17.05 Pengu the Penguin Plush 
This is the plush Pengu that you can expect to see on the auction table at FilKONtario. He will, of course, sing his Filk Safety song, like the vintage Pengu that Peter has. |
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2006.10.17 02.35 Service Dogs: an open letter (October 16 Unshelved Comic strip) Dear sirs, I appreciated your inclusion of a service dog in the October 16 Unshelved comic strip. I am looking forward to the follow-up in which Dewey and Tamara come to an understanding of the jobs a small service animal can do. What Dewey doesn't realise, though I am surprised that Tamara didn't know it, is that a service animal's size is dependent only on its ability to do the tasks required. We are, of course, accustomed to seeing Labs and Shepherds doing guide work for the blind; their height is necessary to put the guiding harness's handle at a reasonable height for an adult human. The same is obviously true for dogs who do balance support. Alerting animals, however, may not need to be as large. Hearing alert dogs obtain their deaf handlers' attention and lead them to the source of the noise (except for smoke detectors!). Since a sighted deaf person can see and follow a dog on a leash or even loose, there is no advantage to having a larger breed. Dogs who alert to scents, for those with severe chemical sensitivities, or to epilepsy or low blood sugar or manic episodes or incipient panic attacks, also may not need to be particularly large. You may be surprised to know that toy dogs have even excelled in helping those confined to wheelchairs; the 1999 Delta Society Service Dog of the Year was Peek, a papillon. He has been featured on television as well ( http://tinyurl.com/ymyk8c ) You might also find http://www.papillonclub.org/papserviced The reaction of the patron in the comic strip rang very true for me. We with invisible disabilities are challenged much more often than those who are more obviously impaired. It is common for me to be able to predict arguments made by gatekeepers of public access within a few words. It seems strange that a facility will lend a wheelchair to anybody who asks, but if one enters with one's own service animal they suddenly expect a complete medical history to 'justify' the adaptation. Any business has the right to evict a service animal team for disruptive behaviour, but many seem eager to do it pre-emptively. Thank you for your time, Bookwyrm and Empath Ontario, Canada |
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2006.10.16 09.52 Thoughts on Canine Dominance, Responsibility, and Food Aggression This is copied over from a post I made on one of my mailing lists; I really wanted to share it a bit more publically. Sharon's name has been munged for privacy. On 16/10/06, Sharon W--- wrote: > I'm afraid if I try to handle this food aggression by making > him more submissive with me he'll get even more timid in > general. On the contrary, it should make him more confident. The trick is that you raise yourself UP rather than knocking him DOWN. http://www.dragonflyllama.com/%20DOGS/W A dog is not qualified to lead a pack in our world, and he knows it. There are so many things going on that he can't control or even understand that it's a hopeless task . . . but somebody has to lead, and if you can't do it, he will try. And be overwhelmed. It's just too much responsibility. The way to be calm about things is to understand that it is Not Your Problem. If you see a building on fire, you don't HAVE to fill your pick-up bags with water from the nearest puddle and hopelessly try to splash it out; you call the fire department and people who are reliable and competent come deal with it. Not Your Problem. The dog is trying to make sure he gets enough to eat. Food appears at intervals beyond his control. If it goes away, he has no way of knowing if he'll be able to get it back. Of course, if YOU'RE the one responsible for making sure he gets enough to eat, he doesn't have to worry about it. Not His Problem. Explaining it might not be instant, though :-) When I saw a Sparky the Fire Dog robot ( http://www.robotronics.com/products/3 Sometimes I'm not okay; that's the catch with being a psychdog. When I'm not, his job is to get me safely out of the triggering situation --- even 'misbehaving' if I ignore his more polite attempts -- and part of his reward for that is that once I restabilise, the world goes back to being Not His Problem. (Because of training, the world suddenly becoming his problem is not as traumatic as it could be -- he knows how to control enough of the situation -- my presence in it -- that he CAN deal with the complexities of the world to the limited degree necessary to keep the pack safe.) For food aggression, a common trick is to put down the bowl of food, wait until he is eating, then come along and drop something BETTER into the bowl. (Huh? Mum came over, got near my bowl, and . . . ooooh! Liver!) Eventually, of course, you will work up to being able to pick the bowl up and put it elsewhere, or even have your hand IN the bowl as he eats, and he will consider it a Good Thing. -- Bookwyrm and Empath Ontario, Canada |
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2006.10.14 14.41 Argh!!! I borrowed an Uxcell Classic style MP3 player -- http://tinyurl.com/yhwnad -- but the disc partitions were fouled up beyond all recognition. Specifically, my Redhat 9 box could not recognise them in order to add files. I finally deleted the partitions, replaced them with a new FAT partition and reformatted the player's flash drive, Everything is lovely, except for one minor issue. I can add files to the player, but the player doesn't recognise that MP3 files exist on it. My suspicion is that it looks in a specific directory for MP3 files, and it can't find mine because they're not in that directory. Of course, I don't know what the correct directory might be called, either. I'm hoping somebody can help me. Please? I can use the radio, and store files on it, and use the voice recorder (though apparently the voice files are not written to the USB drive); it just can't play the mp3 file I put on. Mood: frustrated |
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2006.10.07 22.48 Fun With Memes Kidnapped and altered from FilkerDave: -- The first five people to respond to this post will get a personal action figure designed by me, specifically for them, based on what I believe they will like, and with a "feel" of their choice . . . well, ideally, with a couple of decent photos of them and a few comments about appropriate accessories. As with most memes, if you sign up, it is desirable (but not required) that you put some variant of this in your own journal as well. Filkerdave was doing songs. If you feel comfortable with me having your mailing addess, I will mail the doll to you. Otherwise, ummm . . . why are you signing up? :-) I make no promises at all about doing this with any great speed. I'll try to do them in a timely fashion, but the materials and inspiration may not hasten to me. :-) Mood: creative |
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2006.10.03 01.00 Planning, Packing, Worrying :-) As I've been bouncing about in the filk communities, I'm going to OVFF this year! This is making for interesting travel plans. Plane, train, bus . . . I need to find a way to sneak 'boat' in there, and I'll be thorough indeed. It will be the first MAJOR trip with my service dog. The first one to a non-dog-centric multi-day event. When the event revolves around dogs, one can count on being able to find somebody from whom to borrow, say, a forgotten water dish. Or know where the nearest place to get premium dog food is. Or whatever. It's also involving meeting friends whom I've never met in realspace. I'm hoping they don't all decide they hate me. But no amount of pre-worrying will address that. It may address other issues. Like packing. Already on Empath's collar is an engraved tag noting where we will be staying from October 23-27; since I won't know the room number at the hotel until check-in, I'll have to settle for a paper hand-written tag for the hotel nights. Or maybe I can write the room number information onto the back of it on arrival, and get one printed or engraved with the other information in advance? Anyway . . . carry-on list:
Empath's Pack:
Checked bag:
Cables and metal dish should be packed near the top, so if they open it to look for bombs they can see the source of the suspicious stuff. How's it look? Mood: stressed |
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2006.09.18 15.32 Just a silly ol' test
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2006.09.07 04.55 A miniature keyboard, looking entirely too hand-crafted  |
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2006.08.26 02.10 Debbie-Anne Filk this is just a silly little filk to the tune of "Marianne" by the Easy Riders: All day, all night, virus scans "Why not switch to Linux?" asks Debbie-Anne Even my Word documents need virus scan "Stop using Microsoft!" cries Debbie-Anne. Debbie-Anne, Oh Debbie-Anne, Oh won't you please help me? All I see is a blue screen on my new PC I'd run a scan for viruses But right now that is moot All that you can do now Is reboot All day, all night, virus scans "Why not switch to Linux?" asks Debbie-Anne Even my Word documents need virus scan "Stop using Microsoft!" cries Debbie-Anne. I tried out her text editor With colons and escapes I tried to hit the backspace But I got a Caret-H In her heart are bits and bytes; how could a mortal man Ever hope to vi for Debbie-Anne All day, all night, virus scans "Why not switch to Linux?" asks Debbie-Anne Even my Word documents need virus scan "Stop using Microsoft!" cries Debbie-Anne. Try X Windows, you will see It has a G. U. I. You can use StarOffice Surely it's worth a try? With my mouse I point and click, and e-mail I can send It's better than C shells or bourne a-gain All day, all night, virus scans "Why not switch to Linux?" asks Debbie-Anne Even my Word documents need virus scan "Stop using Microsoft!" cries Debbie-Anne. |
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2005.01.02 16.00 Look what I can do!  I made this as a gift for Lauranna for the winter solstice. ( More photos available inside. ) Mood: accomplished |
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2004.04.15 11.47 In more cheerful news . . . Not that I suppose this surprises you:  You are a GRAMMAR GOD! If your mission in life is not already to preserve the English tongue, it should be. Congratulations and thank you! How grammatically sound are you? brought to you by Quizilla *preen* |
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2004.04.14 16.23 I got a great deal on a tent today. A mini-dome one-person tent (50" * 72") for about $25. The weather's been lovely; I think this would be a great time to "go camping". Comic Link |
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2004.04.05 12.46 I'm not dead yet! Pity, really. So many good people are dead and I, who should be, am not. ( Read more... ) |
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2004.01.21 15.00 Making bad decisions Yeah, I'm stupid. Or at least, I act that way. And I don't care. I guess I just don't care about myself enough to make good decisions. I'm not actively suicidal, at this point, but I did something a little self-destructive today. Just a little. Though I suppose it started last week, when I cancelled my doctor's appointment that was to renew my prescription, electing to just stop taking it instead. It's cheaper. And if not taking it leads me to kill myself eventually, well, burial is expensive but I think the cost of living is higher . . . especially given that one will die and have to be disposed of eventually, anyway. I can't afford the medroxyprogesterone acetate anyway. I have the forms to apply for the Trillium Drug Program, but I probably won't get around to filing them . . . I don't want everyone else in the province to pay for my drugs . . . I'm really not worth it. Maybe the condition will go away on its own. Heck, the drugs only have a 50% chance of working anyway . . .. So since I am not able to take the drugs, the efficacy of which would be followed up with an ultrasound at the end of March, I called today and cancelled the ultrasound. And the clinic appointment, too. No point bothering with it, I was told when the ultrasound appointment was made for me, if I didn't have the ultrasound. So, basically, I'm just completely eschewing medical treatment and monitoring. Which is probably a bad decision. But I don't care. I'm not worth the trouble of treating and monitoring. And anyway, if the decision is lethally bad . . . well, it will save me the trouble of killing myself. :-) |
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2003.12.12 16.04 Well . . . for the first time, I've lost a temp assignment because I'm not good enough. Darn it. Darn it. DARN IT. "Your assignment at atripco has Ended. They wanted someone quicker." I will try to remember that at every other position I've had, my supervisors were beyond happy with my speed. But that doesn't matter, does it? *sigh* Mood: depressed |
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2003.12.10 00.23 And in silly news . . . Apparently, if I were a muppet, I'd be Beaker. ( Read more... ) Mood: Meep! |
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2003.12.09 17.15 Mixed Simple and Complex Hyperplasia with Atypia I like Dr. Pawaroo a lot. Not my gynecologist, but my everyday doctor. She doesn't necessarily know everything, but she -talks- to me. And, better yet, she gave me a photocopy of the pathology report. She didn't understand it even as well as I did, but she gave me the tools to use my own resources to learn more. So . . . I entered a fair copy of the pathology report in a backdated entry. If you care, you can look. I care. And I'm going to babble about it now. ( Read more... ) Mood: ignorant |
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2003.11.18 12.50 Yes, another entry. I don't have anybody to talk to. I'm stressed. Deal with it. I'm trying to deal with it, anyway . . . I'm hungry. And I need to go to the post office. So I should go out. But I'm a bit scattered to do that yet. So, umm, yeah. Interesting point somebody mentioned last night . . . about a hysterectomy not necessarily ruling out genetic motherhood, even without the (very expensive) option of taking eggs beforehand. I'd still need a surrogate mother, of course, but . . . heck, there is going to be no affordable option, and 'later' I'll at least theoretically be able to afford it. It's rather a prerequisite for having a child, anyway, financial stability. Anyway, linkage. It's hope. Since the concern is endometrial, they should leave the ovaries intact . . . the aftereffects are certainly more major if they don't, and there are no reports of my ovaries being in trouble. I think I'm going to try to pull myself together, go to lunch at Mandarin, and try to get some stuff mailed. To maybe make people happy. Because that makes me happy. And I could use some happy right now. Mood: scattered |
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