Category: Rachel

The Tale of Two Cities

We had planned a getaway for Memorial day that was a little quirky and not like us.  Little did we know that a tornado would get in the way.  Due to said tornado, I had closed myself emotionally.  While you could say I had a “good time.”  I don’t have any emotions to go along with the trip, something I typically have.  My wife wrote a blog post from her point of view, I highly recommend reading to see the contrast in our points of view.

We left as soon as we could on the Friday after the tornado and drove about halfway to our destination, St. Joseph / Benton Harbor Michigan.  We stayed the night in Lafayette, leaving early so we could arrive at our destination early.

As soon as we arrived, we learned about these two cities the hard way.  There seems to be a strong sense of division.  While St. Joseph is a nice, quaint resort community, Benton Harbor shows all of the “what used to be” looks.  There are many homes that used to be mansions, but are now dilapidated; some even boarded up.  It’s downtown area almost looks like a ghost town from the 1950’s.  There is some new growth, but it still feels like a ghetto.

The first thing we did was check into our hotel.  It was a pretty funky Courtyard by Marriott.  We decided to find something to eat, explore, and just relax that evening.  The views from St. Joseph are absolutely amazing.  It’s a great little resort community.  The whole time I was contemplating about what was happening back home and trying to calm my nerves by smoking copious amounts of tobacco.

Sunday was a mixed bag of not great weather conditions, so the beach was not an option.  After having the best breakfast I’ve ever had at any hotel, we headed for St. Joseph.  Our first stop was downtown.  They have a charming area filled with high fashion shops, and typical small town businesses.  They have animal statues on just about every corner, decorated in many different ways.  Taylor loved the “Cash Cow,” a cow covered with REAL money.  It was of course in front of a bank.  My fave was “Vincent Van Goat,” which had a depiction of “Starry Night” on one side and “Irises” on the other.

We then went to the most interesting pizza place I’ve ever been to.  Silver Beach Pizza is a pizza place located within an Amtrak train station.  I had an ice cold beer and a very good barbecue chicken pizza.  It was most excellent!

We then went to the Curious Kids museum.  It was fun for both the girls.  Taylor enjoyed encapsulating herself in a bubble.  Amelia enjoyed the water table, and acting OCD with random items.  They’ve ran out of space in the converted brick house they are located in, so with the price of admission you can also access their addition, which is located next to the indoor carousel.  We then went there.  They have stuff even the adults can appreciate.  They have a climbing wall, water tables galore, space items.  It was quite fascinating and good stuff.  We then went and had fun with the carousel.
We were a bit nervous, as Amelia had never been on one before.  She was a trooper, and had a blast.  It was good family fun for all!

Amelia’s nap time was approaching, so we headed back to the hotel.  Which was perfect timing, as a severe storm approached.  After going through the tornado, this was the first time a storm actually scared me.

That night, we played in the pool – all of us.  This hotel has a very interesting pool, it has an indoor and outdoor section; you can swim to either section through an opening in a glass wall.  We then found an arcade was in a mall not too far away and decided to check it out.  What we discovered was a mall that was essentially dead.  There were no anchor stores at all.  While there were interior stores, there weren’t that many.  We played for an hour or so and then went back to the hotel.

The next morning, we stopped at beautiful Silver Beach.  The difference between an ocean’s beach and a large lake’s beach is pure calm.  It’s an amazing place, with an amazing view.  The girls had fun, I put Amelia’s feet in the cold water and she didn’t want to leave!  The sand was so fine and plush that we decided to bring home a bucket full.  We all have glass jars of it to help remember the experience.

As fun end to our short trip, we stopped at Fair Oak’s Farm in northern Indiana.  It’s a large dairy farm that gives tours and offers many learning opportunities for children about where our dairy products come from.  We took a bus tour, which takes you through some of their barns to see how the cows live and what they eat.  Amelia sat with me, and I told her that these are cows, they go “moo.”  She started repeating me, it was adorable.  We then saw their carousel milker.  It’s an amazing machine that lets them produce vast quantities of moo juice.

We then went to the birthing barn, and witnessed the births of two calves.  While I had seen this many times as a child, Rachel and Taylor had not.  I think it was a good experience for both of them.

Next we stopped by the kids area, where Taylor got to do something she hadn’t done in a while, jumping on trampolines while attached to bungee cords.

We then visited the store, where I sampled some cheese.  We bought some souvenirs for the girls and they had some ice cream.

I had just started to heal from this life changing event, and our vacation was over.  Coming home was almost like a nightmare coming true.  While it was nice to get away, the mental extremes that it forced me to go through were almost too much to handle.

The Little Girl Isn’t Dead

This is a continuation of my last post, The Little Girl is Dead.

While on our short vacation, my mind refused me the opportunity to forget about what was going on at home.  Instead it kept thinking about that phrase that was etched into my mind that night.  I kept running scenarios in my head about my girls; I didn’t like to, but I had to.

I felt bad for everyone who had been affected by this storm, especially the less fortunate ones who lived in that trailer court, right next door to me.  They had lost everything, and probably didn’t have insurance.  There were many children living there, so many that the schools had 2 buses come for pickup and drop off.  We would see them all waiting for the bus in the mornings on our way to work.  I still see their faces, and imagine what they must have went through on that eventful night.

I received two phone calls that Saturday while we were in Michigan, our power had been restored!  It had been out for around 3 and 1/2 days.  We don’t know how many utility poles had to be replaced in total, but it was a large number.

Since I had Internet access, I was always keeping up on the news.  Our township trustee had organized a volunteer day, to help with tree & debris cleanup.  This made all of us happy, and was the first step in putting my heart and soul to ease.  In the end there were a total of 3 volunteer days, but the news that an IU student had disappeared shifted the focus, and the volunteers.

We returned from Michigan on Memorial day, and reality set in.  While I had no damage to my home, we had lost about 10 trees; including our beloved apple tree.  Many of these trees formed a ‘natural’ fence along my property line.  They provided large amounts of shade and oxygen, they were also wrapped in vines.  Anyone that knows me, knows that I’m a “jack of all trades.”  I have had experience in cutting trees since I was about 12, when I helped my then step-dad do just that for a living.

We had already lost our weeping willow tree and a maple tree due to wind and ice storms that occurred earlier in the year, we purchased a chain saw so I could clean them up; I was prepared.  Little did I know how difficult the task would be when vines were involved.  This was a task I couldn’t handle, this task needed a quantity of experience people.

We decided to get estimates from tree-trimming businesses.  I called around 5 companies, only one showed up and gave me an estimate.  It was more expensive than we wanted to pay, and under our homeowners insurance deductible.  I wasn’t going to feel at ease until this was taken care of; I was literally stuck between a bunch of trees and a hard place.

I turned to our township trustee’s office.  I called them and asked for assistance, but let them know that I should be placed on the bottom of their list.  I let them know that it was simply downed trees that needed to be cleaned up, there was no damage to my home and that it shouldn’t be a priority.  While we could have paid for the cleanup; it would have presented a financial burden that we might have not recovered from.

A few days go by and as I arrived home from class an Mennonite looking fellow was at my house.  He said he was surveying what needed to be done; he was assembling a crew.  The next day when I arrived home, the trees were almost cleaned up!  It was a group of boys and a man.  At the time I presumed they were Mennonite, since they used technology.  It turns out I was wrong; it was the Worthington Amish Youth Group.  I thanked each one of them personally, and asked if they needed anything at all.  They requested some water, which I promptly fetched and then they went about their business.

With all the property damage and the trailer court in ruins, I was blown away that they decided to help ME.  My whole family is in their debt and are working on a way to pay it forward and show them how much we appreciate what they’ve done for us.

After they finished cleaning up the trees, a larger group, including women went over to the trailer court and assisted cleanup.

The effects of this tornado will be felt and seen for many years to come.  Not just from the people (like me) who live where it happened, but by the thousands of travellers that take that section of Highway 45.  I went through many years of emotional issues as a child, which I thought had toughened me mentally.  I learned the hard way that I was wrong.

While we are mainly healed from this event, our souls will never forget it.  That storm took something from me.  Even though I don’t exactly know what “it” is, I feel incomplete inside.  I don’t know how to move on from this experience.  Writing this has certainly helped.

 

The Little Girl is Dead

Those are the words my mind tricked me into believing were true.  I heard a fireman say something that sounded like that on the night of May 25th, the night a EF1 tornado touched down very close to my home.

My wife, a person who is always concerned with the weather told me that the night was going to be a rough one.  I hear this on a fairly common basis, but something told me that I should stay on alert that night.  She had radar from WRTV 6 up on her computer, and we had a combination of the local weather and The Weather Channel on our TV the entire night.

I remember the exact moment when I knew we were going to be in for something.  While watching the TV, they were showing all of the tornado warning/watches in Illinois.  The state was covered in red; meaning the state was covered in tornado warnings.

Around 10:19pm our power went out, and almost instantly after that our weather radio went off; it was a tornado warning for us and we knew that this was serious.  My wife headed for our basement and told me to grab Amelia from her crib if I thought it was appropriate.  While I knew this was a serious situation, I had to see it for my own eyes.  That’s when I picked up my flashlight and looked at the large maple tree in my backyard.  It’s large canopy was swirling in a clockwise motion, something I had never seen before in that large of a tree.

I immediately ran to grab Amelia from her room and rushed to our utility room where Rachel was waiting.  Even though I had experienced a similar event when I was 12, I had never felt the urgency or threat that I felt at that moment.  It was the first time we had ‘ran for shelter’ from a storm.  While in our utility room, we could hear the intensity of the storm.  There was no sound like a train, rather the sound of a large volume of air moving at a high rate of speed.  It went away after a minute or so, but we decided to stay in our safe place for a few minutes, just to be sure.

Immediately, I went outside to inspect for damage.  The first thing I noticed was that a large limb from one of my trees had broken and fallen on my neighbor’s fence.  I called him to let him know, and that was when my mental state took a dive that it hadn’t had in a very long time.


He told me that his daughter had called him and by listening to the scanner, she had heard that the trailer court right next to our neighborhood was completely wiped out.  I felt a tremendous urge to go see what I could do to help.  I got in the Kia and discovered that a war zone now existed less than 1/4 mile away from my home; I was also trapped in our neighborhood.

I discovered another one of my neighbors outside, I asked him what he knew.  He said that there were several children trapped in one of the trailers.  He told me that he offered his assistance, but they didn’t want anyone who wasn’t trained in search & rescue to help out of the fear that they might also be hurt.

I then heard those words that I couldn’t get out of my head, “the little girl is dead.”  I had to run back home, I couldn’t help and I could barely hold my tears back.

Out of what seemed to be pure survival instinct, I started tweeting.  Besides our land line, it was my only way of communicating with the outside world at that point.  Here they are:

  • I’m a prisoner in my own neighborhood and there are people dead less than 1/4 miles away from me
  • Trailers stacked on top of trailers, it’s a sickening sight! If I only had a line to the outside world besides this
  • I can’t sleep knowing that my poor neighbor children lost everything, almost their lives tonight. I also confirmed with the fd, no death …
  • I now wish it would stay dark so I cannot see the remains of what was #didthisreallyhappen
  • I’ve only lost a few trees, which I loved -I feel bad for mentioning it, but I think it should be noted.
  • Please put the children who just lost everything in your thoughts and/or prayers. They really didn’t deserve this
  • You never realize how much you appreciate freedom until that freedom is taken – quote me

I then went back and found a larger group of my neighbors.  One of which had a friend over who is a policeman.  We went back and actually did some searching with the fire department.  I snapped some photos on my phone, but due to the atmospheric conditions, they didn’t turn out too well.

I went back home and told Rachel that I couldn’t go to sleep, and that I was going to leave as soon as I could.  I felt disconnected from what was happening, I needed information.  Around 3am, I started seeing headlights from cars driving around our neighborhood – the road must have been finally cleared.  I packed up my laptop, phone and associated cables to charge everything and headed into the unknown.  My destination was the IU Wells Library, but I wasn’t sure if I would make it.  I had to try.

The journey is only about 6 miles, but it seemed like 50.  The entire west side of Bloomington was pitch black.  No stop lights or street lights.  When I finally made it to campus it was even worse.  Trees were down everywhere, what is normally a somewhat linear route ended up to be a criss cross puzzle.

I finally felt okay.  I sat with some of my TCC co-workers and briefed them of the situation.  I logged onto a computer and started my hunt for information.  I printed every article I could find, from the Herald-Times, to the Indy Star to even MSNBC.

Once everything was charged, and my search for information was complete I headed back home.  Little did I know that the drive home would be even more treacherous than the drive in.

Still no lights or businesses open.  It was daylight now, I what I had feared was true; it had to have been a tornado that came through.  While there were spots here and there in town and on campus that had tree damage, there was a defined path of destruction starting just west of Curry Pike/Leonard Springs Road on Highway 45.  This defined path followed me on my journey home, and that’s when I encountered the sheriff’s deputy blocking the road to my home. “And where do you think you’re going?” he asked me.  “Home” I passionately stated.  He let me through.

The next day we left on a planned vacation to Michigan.  We felt it would be better to leave the sadness and destruction, than to stay and be constantly reminded of it.

I’ll continue this tale in my next post.

 

 

Day Two

My “second” day of being a student wasn’t nearly as crazy as I thought it would be.  You see, I have 15 minutes between the time I leave my job to when my class starts on the opposite side of campus at Swain Hall East.

The trip wasn’t as stressful and energy sucking as I thought it would be.  As a matter of fact I made it to class with 5 minutes to spare!

The class on the other hand seems like it’s going to be one I have to pay close attention to, and keep up on.  It’s the first statistics course I’ve ever taken!  A few of my co-workers recommended the course and said it was “easy.”  With those kind of recommendations I couldn’t pass this one up.  A fellow co-worker is taking it this semester as well, so I’ll have him for any help I might need.

As soon as I’m done with class, I have a quick bike ride back to the IMU, where Rachel and Amelia should be on their way or waiting on me.  Not so bad.

Essentially I will be doing this “day one” and “day two” routine twice each week, with my Friday’s being split amongst Kelley and some study time at the library.

The one thing I have to change is the seat on my bicycle.  It’s never been comfortable in the 15 years I’ve owned it.  Now that I’m using it 4 times a week, it’s downright painful.  I ordered an awesome seat last night from amazon, and hope to have it installed this weekend.

Day One

My first day as a student at IU was exciting, exhausting and fulfilling.

I first worked my job at Technology Services at KSoB.  I then rushed over to McNutt for my other job with UITS/TCC.  When I arrived and started to settle in, I received a call asking me to go to Read due to some staffing issues.  So I rushed over to the other end of campus as quick as I could to fulfill this request.

When I arrived I was in shock.  Whomever had worked there last had left the supply cabinet unlocked, and all of it’s contents inside unlocked.  We keep a radio, laptop, hubs and other supplies in it.  Someone could have simply walked in and taken them without worry.

The consultant that should have been there arrived about 30 minutes late, he’s obviously a underclassmen, he didn’t show any sense of responsibility.  We had many tickets and a few appointments to go on as there are many people around campus having problems connecting to IU’s network.  We called many people and were able to resolve the issue on the phone, or close the ticket because the issue had been fixed.

Printing was also basically down across the whole campus.  The printing system was migrated to a new system without any time for testing that is normally done.  Basically what was once many was migrated to a few and all hell broke loose.  As I write this printing is down again.  I hope this issue gets resolved soon, as I genuinely feel bad for these students who rely on university printers.

It was a good, hard and hot shift, but we were productive.

I then rode my bike over to Ballantine Hall, where my American Studies class is.  I arrived almost an hour early, so I had time to relax from the fast paced day I had.

I was amazed to find that my class is very small, only about 10 students!  The topic of this class is how the computer changed history and culture.  I think it’s going to be a fun and interesting class.  Since I’m the geek that I am with regards to computers and history I think it’s the perfect fit for me.

After class I caught the Bloomington Transit, the city’s public bus system.  I get to ride it free since I’m a student at IU.  My bike and I rode over to Wal-Mart where Rachel and Amelia were waiting on me.  This is a better alternative than Rachel packing her up and driving back to campus to pick me up.  I haven’t rode the bus since I was in middle school!  The one thing I can say is bus design has changed significantly since then.

Once we got home, I basically crashed from the days’ activities.  I hope I can keep up the pace.

Today is going to be a whole new adventure that I will update you on tomorrow.

First Impressions

I finally stepped into the world of Apple.  While I thought it would be a new and exciting experience, I must say I’m somewhat disappointed.

I purchased a Black MacBook off eBay that came with many accessories.  The auction included a laptop bag, 500gb Lacie external hard drive, the original box and restore discs and an Apple keyboard and mouse.

It’s specs aren’t the best, but I don’t need them.  It has a 2.16 ghz Core 2 Duo Intel processor, 2gb of ram and a 200gb hard drive.  I plan on upgrading the ram to 4gb once I learn all I can on OSX and need to start working with VM Ware.

I must say that the design of and abilities of my MacBook amaze me, while some aspects of it downright disappoint me.

The first issue I had was with it’s “slot loading” disc drive.  This computer came with Tiger (10.4) so I purchased Snow Leopard (10.6.3), and my first task was upgrading to this OS.  While I’m still not sure if something is wrong with mine, or if this is a design flaw; my particular machine doesn’t particularly like to load or unload discs.  The only way I can get them to load is by pushing the disc in all the way using a foreign object.  Ejection is similar, as it only ejects about 1/16″ out of the machine.  I asked some of my co-workers about this and they confirmed that these drives are finicky at best.

My second issue is with the seemingly “closed” nature of the Mac OS.  While I’m basically a newbie, it doesn’t seem as friendly to someone who likes to customize everything like myself.  While there are options, they are limited.  Luckily I have vast experience with Linux, the second cousin twice removed to OSX; this makes my learning curve much more shallow than if I had no experience at all.

Let me restate for all the fan boys out there, these are just first impressions.  I haven’t had a chance to dig deep into this machine yet.  I’m diving head first into the mac world and only using a PC when required or when I can’t use it; such as at work or when I’m doing some work for my business.

I transferred my entire music library last night and eagerly anticipate setting up iTunes and seeing how similar the Mac version is compared to the Windows version.  I’m also going to start transferring all of my personal home videos using iMovie and iDVD.  Two programs I actually need to learn for my job at IU.

Since I have went on a technology “spending spree” of sorts, I am imposing on myself a probation from technology purchases.  The only caveat is if something fails and needs replaced.  I think I’ve put enough financial stress on my wife for a year or so in that department regarding this and my recent HTPC purchase.

Goodbye Friends

Saturday I sold my mower and trailer.  I had listed them on craigslist.  They went to a really nice guy from the Cincinnati Ohio area.  I still can’t believe he drove that far to purchase such old equipment.

My mower was old and tired.  I had called it the “little mower that could.”  A reference to The Little Engine That Could.  It wouldn’t give up and was a very good mower, but time wasn’t on it’s side.  It was a mid 80’s model, and the almost 30 years of use was rearing it’s ugly head on the engine.  I had a oil leak that started to become something to watch last year.  It was the first time I had to add oil to it.  I had talked around to several people about repairing it, but nothing panned out.  In the end, we replaced it due to blue smoke billowing out of the top of the engine after mowing the front yard.

I purchased the trailer from a former boss of mine when I worked for Sternberg.  Part of my job description was to mow their frontage property on Dillman Road and Highway 37.  The trouble with this was the fact that it was about an acre of total land, and I was not provided with the proper equipment – just a run down push mower and weed eater.  As I wrote  previously I snagged a Independent Contractor gig out of them and made an extra $30 a week mowing this.

I only had one problem, and a serious one at that.  I had no way to get my mower to the job site!  When I mentioned this to my boss, he said he had a trailer that he’d sell to me with terms I couldn’t refuse.  I really wanted a trailer, so this made my month!

There was one caveat, my boss lived in Story, IN.  Which is in the middle of nowhere.  One Friday night Rachel and I drove out there to take a look at the trailer.  It was not in the shape you see it above.  The wheels were rusted, the tires were dry rotted.  There was no light kit, and the deck was barely there.

After getting it home (which I was surprised it made the journey).  I immediately put new wheels, lighting kit and deck on.  I got it inspected and applied for a title for it.  I also put a new coupler (what the trailer attaches with) on.  I also tried my hand at building some ramps with the materials I had left over (big mistake).  So I bought some ramp end caps and used some lumber for ramps.

I was very happy with the trailer!  It was very handy when we moved furniture or bought new furniture.  It was the perfect size for my mower as well!

Since we sold my truck last year, we haven’t had anything that is capable of towing (yet).  So the trailer has just sat.  I had tried to sell it previously, but wasn’t liking the offers I would get.

I would have kept the trailer, but the new mower we purchased is much larger than my little John Deere STX38.  With a 8 inch larger deck, and taller stance this thing makes my old mower look like a toy.  I figured it would be easier to sell them as a package – tow and go, then separate.

You both filled a need in my life, but your time has moved on.  I hope you make your new owner as happy as you made me over the years!

Goodbye Gil

We happened upon Gillham (Gil for short) while at the Fun Frolic in 2007.  We decided to play the “win a bunny” game, only because it said you could win an alternate prize.

Over the almost 3 years we’ve had Gil, he’s earned a place in our hearts that no animal or person can replace.

We have came to a fork in the road of life that has forced us to make a hard decision.  We have too many responsibilities currently.  Between work, school, caring for an infant, constant home renovation projects and life we don’t have time to do anything else.

We have loved Gil since that erratic day he entered our lives, and hopes he brings that same joy into the many lives he will be friends with at his new home, Childs Elementary School here in Bloomington.

We didn’t want to take him to a shelter, or give him to another person, mainly because of what happened to Baby Tat.  We learned the guy we gave her to got rid of her within a few months.  Rachel had a bright idea and sent an email to every teacher she could find in the area.  She got several responses, mainly from kindergarten teachers.  In the end, it was a 6th grade teacher who decided he would make a happy addition to her classroom.  She’s very excited and will be picking him up Friday night.

We learned through him that rabbits are high maintenance pets.  Some owners decide to not let them out of their cages, but something about that just seemed cruel & unusual to us.  Rabbits by nature run and hop about, we didn’t want to change that.  So we regularly let him out every night for an hour or so, so he could stretch his legs.  He learned to love and emulate the behavior of his feline roommates.

After the birth of Amelia, that nightly routine has become very hard to follow.  With me at school 3 nights a week, and Rachel caring for Amelia while I’m away, we’re both exhausted by the time it comes to let him out.  Now Amelia is starting to learn to crawl, which has brought more thoughts to our attention.  While sitting in his cage, Gil kicks out some of his bedding and some of his feces.  It would be a full time job keeping that clean and away from a child who will be crawling very soon.

We will miss you Gil!  We hope you have a fun and happy life with all those 6th graders!

Down With the Sickness

Life lately in the Lawmaster household has been anything but fun as of recent.  We all came down with forms of the same sickness.  Fortunately we have all recovered.

Originally I thought it was a new recipe that Rachel had tried, Baked chicken thighs with brown sugar.  I think it really might have been part of a larger sickness going around our area.

Little Amelia saw the effects first.  She spit up ( or should I say threw up) almost half of a couple of her bottles, was warm and somewhat fussy for a day.  Some children’s Tylenol made her much better.

Rachel saw her effects span over a two day period.  It started with nausea and diahhrea on the first day and ended with body aches, fever and a general not feeling well on the second day.  She felt much better after a day of rest.

My case became overly complex and is becoming a nightmare in process.  I woke up on the same day that Rachel’s symptoms started feeling the same nausea and diahhrea, but with the addition of severe body aches.

I didn’t have to be at work until noon, so I thought I would sleep in the Kelley School of Business changing rooms – a place I often nap in during lunch.  The 3 hour nap helped me tremendously, but didn’t get rid of the severe body aches that made even walking a nightmare.

Due to the strict attendance policies in place at my job, I thought I would give working a go.  The lab that I work in on that day requires some physical stamina, as I have to cover this lab, this lab, this lab and this lab.  I tried my hardest to fulfill my duties, but was unable and thought it would be best for me to leave and see a doctor.

I went to my doctor’s walk-in clinic.  Where I was almost immediately seen.  They took my vital signs, asked me what I was having problems with and then had me give a urine specimen which I thought was quite odd.  Then the waiting began.  I waited an hour before I was seen by a nurse practitioner, who for some strange reason thinks my appendix was (and still is) about to burst.

I was then directed to take some blood tests and immediately go to the hospital for a CT scan.  I’ll never forget what the nurse told me, “you cannot pass go, you cannot collect $200 – go straight to the hospital.”

I get to the hospital, where I then went to pickup a contrast agent that I had to drink with Gatorade.  Thank god for the Gatorade.  I learned later that particular contrast is used to be able to see the digestive tract.  Then more waiting.  I waited for two and a half hours before I even got the scan!  I then had to wait almost two more hours to get the results, which I got from that same nurse practitioner via phone call!

She said that I had a large amount of lymph nodes that were swollen and my white blood cell count was up significantly but there were no signs that my appendix was in trouble.  In layman’s terms, my body is fighting a infection of some sort.  She then prescribed me 4 antibiotics, which I’m not taking.  I believe I have MRSA and I have read that antibiotics actually perpetuate the spreading of these potentially killer infections.

After finally getting home at almost 9pm, I drank a couple shots of my cure all, Nyquil and went to bed.  I woke up the next morning feeling like a brand new man!

Today I got a call from the walk-in clinic.  They want me to do another CT scan in 3 months to make sure I’m okay.  WTF?  This sounds like either a very inexperienced health care provider, or an organization that is trying to generate some revenue through services that are not needed.  I don’t think I’m going to go to that particular walk-in clinic again.

Spring Semester 2010

It’s a new year and a new decade (for those who believe).

I’m still taking classes at Ivy Tech and this semester will make me or break me.  I’m taking MATH-111, Intermediate Algebra and CINS-102, Information Systems Fundamentals.

I took the math course years ago, and failed miserably.  I don’t know why exactly, but I do know that I have much more desire and drive to succeed than I did back then.  My instructor seems like a really nice guy who is good at explaining concepts and ensuring everyone understands.  Something lacking in instructors at that school.

My CINS course seems to be another story however.  While I believe the content of the course shouldn’t be too hard, the instructor’s attitude clashes with me in a big way.  I won’t go into specifics, but I would change courses if I could.  This course focuses on XHTML, HTML and CSS.  The main focus of this class is to create a web site and to learn how to manage it on a Unix server.  Ivy Tech has one for student use, it’s name is Bob.

Little Amelia is growing and changing like never before.  At her last checkup, Dr. Laughlin said this would be a period of “social explosion.”  Boy was he right.  She loves using her voice, and discovering what new sounds she can make.  She also likes to support her own weight by “standing” with support from someone.

She has also learned how to grasp and hold objects.  Her rattle and yellow duck are her favorites at this point.  She tracks objects with her eyes, which are beautifully deep.

Rachel has been on maternity leave since the birth of our daughter.  However, all good things must come to an end.  She went back to work on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week.  Next week she goes back full time.  I’ve noticed it’s difficult on her, but it’s good for her to have time away and get a greater appreciation of our little miracle.  We found a stay at home mom who will be watching Amelia.  She has a 4 year old daughter, named Madison who adores Snow White.

Today I officially sent in my resignation to the CSR or what I would like to call “the window to hell.”  I wasn’t scheduled at all for last semester, which was really hard on our checkbook.  I looked and looked and in the end a co-worker at TS, Kasey became the connection to my new 2nd job, TCC or Technology Center Consulting.  It is a division of UITS which is Indiana University’s information technology department.  TCC’s primary objective is to staff the numerous computing labs around campus.  We also help students in the dorms with networking issues.  I have worked one week with them and it’s been interesting to say the least!