Oh the times, they are a changing…

Hi there.

Brief update:
Laureen has accepted a job next year with Garland ISD teaching in their alternative high school. This marks the end of her tenure at Hood Middle School in Dallas.

The move came about suddenly, but it seems to be a fit that answers prayers. Less of a drive, more discipline and support in the administration, a variety of subjects, and smaller class sizes (maximum of 12).

I’m going through a little nasty bit of depression right now. All I want to do is go back to bed, even though I don’t sleep well.

Gotta run. Work is picking up, and being busy is better than doing nothing.

Coming and going home

This last weekend was an interesting one. Saturday, I went over to Ft. Worth to spend the night at my parents’ house because Sunday we were driving to Oklahoma for my step-grandfather’s 80th birthday party.For those of you living in the Dallas area who travel north on 35: AAAAAAAGHH! There is pretty massive southbound construction just north of Denton, and it makes travel back into the metroplex a joy.

Sunday: we leave at 9:00 a.m., get up there by 12:30, go to the party, attempt to fix one of my aunt and uncle’s computers, and leave OK around 5:15. We get back to Ft. Worth at 9:45. Then I still get to drive an hour plus change over to Dallas.

I have to admit, there is something undeniably comforting about cresting the 635/35-E interchange going East into Dallas. Prior to that, it’s relatively city-free. However, once you hit that hill, here come the car dealerships, the warehouses, the big office buildings. Here’s Dallas. And strangely enough, after 10 years of living here, I feel like it’s home. It’s where I am. It’s where my wife is. It’s where our house is. We fit there.

Of course, Laureen’s a country girl (she grew up on 105 acres of cattle raisin’ country NE of San Antonio), and she’d prefer a place where you can see the stars at night without the interference of the lights of the nearby Supermarket.

However, as for right now, this is where I am.

Lack of recent updates

Greetings,

I’ve been somewhat reticent in updating the site. This is primarily because I am a lazy human being who feels very stressed out by…everything.

What we did for Mother’s Day

You know, this holiday snuck up on me this year. We went to go see my mom, and Laureen got in a good call with hers. I got L. and my mom some jewelry from Helzberg’s, so that was good. For me, seeing family is always good. Spring Creek BBQ has a new restaurant concept called Shady Oak Barbeque over in Ft. Worth. It’s the same food as Spring Creek (except the rolls are now tiny loaves of bread) and you get waiter service at tables instead of going through the line. They feature a platter that can feed about 6 people; it is served in a trashcan lid.

Still good food. I’d like to see one open up in Dallas.

Gotta run.

Teaching, 8th grade proms, etc.

Welcome to another day in the continuing struggle of my wife. Believe it or not, Laureen teaches in a place that holds an eighth grade prom. I kinda wondered about that, but I realized that sadly, for some of these kids, that’s as far as they’re going to go, whether it be by choice or by default.Anyway, the prom is coming up, plus many other social events (trip to six flags, movie days, etc.), and so the kids are really wanting to go. However, there’s a slight catch: you have to be a good student (where good = studious, hardworking, no trips to the office, no infractions of any kind, etc.). One of the girls (I’ll call her S) has already purchased her prom dress at a cost of approximately $125. It also costs $30 for a ticket to the prom. Of course, S is a discipline case. She obeys only the rules she feels like obeying. So after school yesterday, S comes to Laureen’s classroom and asks if Laureen would put in a good word for her with the pod leader, Mama G. Background info: Laureen’s school is divided into “pods” with each holding approximately 130 students. Mama G is a resilient teacher who has been through the wars, both here and other places, and she’s tough as nails when it comes to dealing with students.

Now, S has been to pod court before. She’s failed at least one class. She’s been to the office on quite a few occasions. You get the picture. So when she asked Laureen if Laureen would put in a good word, Laureen’s words were “I’ll tell Mama G. what I’ll tell your parents when I call them.” (Insert ominous music here.)

S gets the idea that Laureen isn’t going to say a good word. S then asks Laureen if she could ask another teacher to put in a good word, even though S doesn’t want to ask that other teacher herself. Laureen says she will, knowing full well what that other teacher thinks of S.

So Laureen goes to Mama G. Mama G. expresses what would be called a certain amount of frustration and notes that she’s had 25 messages from parents about why their kids can’t go to event X or event Y. “We send home three failure notices, and they don’t call. We call them and leave a message, and they don’t call. We tell them their kid is in Pod Court for a hearing with all of her teachers and it would be great if at least one of them could be there, and they don’t call or show up. But when their kid doesn’t get to go to a special activity…then, they call.”

Sigh.

Life after dog

There’s a big sense of calm around the house, but also a big sense of loss, still. I hear stories almost nightly about missing the jingling of his collar, or how he looked startled when the drugs hit his vein, or about how some things just remind us of him. (admission: I’m tearing up a bit while writing this). I’m not a dog psychologist, so I can’t read Chewie’s mind to see what she’s thinking.

But, life goes on. I think there will be at least a few people who are glad to have April over this year. We just found out one of our church friends is in the hospital with a suspected case of meningitis (Becki C., for those of you around the church). Other people have problems too, but I’m beginning to wonder how we keep soldiering on. I mean, is faith that strong, to continue to make us get out of bed and face a new day? Or is it something else, a type of ennui that just slides us along like a moving sidewalk along the corridor of time? I don’t know, but as I said, life goes on.

I’m really tired. Laureen hit another six week grading period, so last night was spent in a grading and recording frenzy. Fortunately, she has a computer gradebook to help dicky around the numbers, but the consensus is this: most students in Laureen’s class just plain don’t care about anything except what is told to them on TV, what is shown in the movies and music videos they see, and the oppressive rise of street culture, which, whether or not it is applicable to a particular area, has influenced people to believe that no institution is there to really help them. Instead of working toward racial understanding, there seems to be a greater division BY THE KIDS THEMSELVES. “We seek our own for comfort and protection” doesn’t really lend itself to many of our visions of harmony and peace. Student’s in Dallas ISD can do absolutely nothing for six weeks but sit in classes (or sleep in classes) and still get a district-mandated grade of 50.

Was this type of thing happening when I was growing up? I know some of my high-school alumni were graciously allowed to graduate, but when I was younger, I guess I thought that school was uniform for everyone, and that everyone would get the same benefit out of it.

{{LINK http://www.cnn.com/2003/EDUCATION/04/23/education.report.ap/index.html This}} is one of the more telling things I’ve seen in a while. After calculating that Laureen lost one-sixth of her school year to high-stakes testing, I think I’m going to start an area on this site devoted to educational improvement. The current model that Ross Perot and the great businessmen at {{LINK http://www.achieve.org Achieve.org}} have really done what Linda McNeil (an education professor at Rice) called “taking education out of the hands of educational professionals and putting it under the control of businessmen with a businesslike mentaility for improvement. (NOTE: this is a paraphrase of the highest order. Google Linda McNeil to find the actual article.)”

So, I’ll work on that. And maybe I’ll write some more on things. I just haven’t felt like writing lately; it isn’t the dog, but it’s just that life goes on.

Obituary for Rambo Jones

Rambo “Bo-Bo” Augustus Dotson Jones Jan. 1, 1996 – April 21, 2003

Rambo Jones was put to sleep yesterday at 5:15 p.m. at Springhill Veterinary Clinic by injection. Rambo lived a full 7-plus years of life, becoming a member of the Jones household when he was four months old on April 15, 1996. He was a purebred Chow-Chow, and as such bonded to one person, his adopter Laureen Jones. He was rambunctious as a puppy, but steps were taken by Laureen and her husband Kevin to “de-aggress” him. These steps included neutering him at a young age (the surgery had to be postponed due to an anemic condition discovered in his bloodwork), and also sending him to obedience school. Rambo received his obedience certificate from K-9 university in 1999 after 4 weeks of intensive training, plus many followup practica with other fellow students.

While Rambo was aggressive, when he was at home, he was often peaceful, loving, and always vigilant. He enjoyed barking at intruders in his line of vision, such as the neighborhood cat Bubba. His owners took great care to not allow him around unfamiliar people, but even that didn’t preclude a series of bites to family members. The final bite occurred on April 9th, 2003, when Kevin was bitten four times in the right leg. A period of in-home quarantine commenced after that. Much soul-searching was done by Kevin and Laureen to determine what options were available, but what drove the decision home was Title II section 22.19 of Garland’s Codes and Ordinances. This section defines what a dangerous animal is, and Rambo unfortunately fit the bill. Later sections of the same code prohibit sale, transfer, giving away, or any other mechanism of removal from the household. As Rambo was considered just too much of a threat to other people, including any future family members, being put to sleep was the only option available.

Both Laureen and Kevin were present at the office when the procedure was performed. Rambo is survived by his adopted sister Chewie along with his owners Kevin and Laureen. It is hoped by those who came into contact with Rambo will remember him for his good qualities instead of those that led to his demise. It may be a bit much for an animal, but since this was the first real pet for both Laureen and Kevin–the first animal for whom they had complete care–it hurts a bit more than it might.

Love your pets while you can. You never know what may happen to you or them.

Reuters, The Bastion of Bias

I don’t know anymore. Maybe Reuters has been kicked in the teeth by AP and UPI along with the instant news networks too many times, but they’re pretty much doing away with sensible reporting and headline writing. Chris Wright has documented some of Reuters headlines showing obvious democratic bias, but today I’d like to show how the Repubs got one.? Check this story out. According to this link, 10,965,822 Californians went to the polls in the 2000 election returns (at least these are the “official” numbers–who knows how many votes were lost through routine election mishaps).

The poll conducted covered 695 people. Let’s see… That’s 0.006338% of the total vote from 2000. However, they did get results (and a margin of error making the distinction meaningless), and they did get a sensational headline.

Statistics, polls, and people or organizations with hidden motives will be biased. This should be expected as a fact before any data is considered in any circumstance.

Use what God gave you, folks. Think about everything you read and try to test its validity if it is information that supports one position over another.

Why reality shows suck, and also why they don’t suck

We get Time Magazine at home, and this particular week featured a short blurb on proposed Reality shows that are or are being considered for production.

Proud admission of something many people would consider beneath themselves: I like reality shows–some of them.

Basically, let’s run down the reality shows that have happened. I may forget a few, but that’s because there have been some dreadful ones that absolutely refused to make impact on my synapses.

Survivor (I,II,III,IV,V)
Big Brother (I,II,III,IV)
Boot Camp (both regular and celebrity)
The Amazing Race (I, II, and coming soon: III)
Eco-Quest (numerous–only been televised for the past 4 years or so).
The Mole (I, II, and celebrity)
I’m a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
GAAACKKKK…. a.k.a. The Anna Nicole Smith Show
American Idol (I, II)
Who wants to marry a multimillionaire?
The Bachelor (I, II)
The Bachelorette
Joe Millionaire
Married by America
American Girl

Of this list, the ones I have watched (and will again) are Survivor, The Amazing Race, Eco-Quest, and The Mole.

There is a common theme among these four shows (plus Boot Camp normal people) in that they use ordinary, not perfect, fat, old, slow, short, whatever people and use them as the basis for their contestants.

The Bachelor(ette) shows don’t qualify in my opinion, simply because these people are way too camera-ready. The suitors are already pre-screened to weed out normal human beings. Joe Millionaire also falls into this category.

American Girl puts women into pointless competition against each other. It’s much like Bravo TV’s The IT factor, except again, a premium is being put on those who aren’t ordinary looking.

Other shows that attempt to use celebrities in contrived situations also miss the point, in my opinion. These people have already had a measure of success (regardless of how long ago it happened), and so once again, they’re just not ordinary.

Big Brother reminds me a lot like the MTV reality series Road Rules and Real World. Of course, these two shows have spawned off so many extra Challenge shows that they plus the Osbornes constitute approximately 95% of MTV’s programming. The flaw with these is that while the people are somewhat ordinary, they’re also so freakin’ narcissistic it’s painful to watch.

I like watching real people be put into situations of stress arising from circumstances. I also like the race type feel of TAR, simply because there’s a purpose for what they’re doing.

There are some upcoming shows. Let’s evaluate them:

Jason Mewes: HBO is producing a series on how Jason (otherwise know as Jay from “Jay and Silent Bob” in the Kevin Smith film series) kicks his heroin habit. Fortunately, it’s on HBO, so we’ll actually get to hear the dialogue instead of 90% of it being bleeped out. I don’t have HBO, so that makes not watching this one a default choice.

Jessica Simpson and her singer husband are planning a show on how they are working through the issues of marriage as newlyweds. Celebrities, beautiful, rich. Survey says….BZZZZT.

Stan Lee, creator of many beloved Marvel comic book superheroes, is part of a planned series where people pitch their superhero idea to him by wearing a homemade costume and going through an audition. While this might be entertaining, it’d only be so in the way that train wrecks or listening to Anna Nicole display her eighth grade education are entertaining.

Donald Trump: start with 20 people in a business, and fire one of them a week. First of all, does this man really need any more press? Trump Airlines, Trump Casino, Trump Tower, Trump Reality Show… I’m also really offended by the entire concept of firing people from a job they might need just for the entertainment of others. We’ve become the Roman Senate.

Liza Minelli and David Gest: they pitched an idea to VH1 to have dinner parties with interesting people. The show will never get produced, simply because the couple and the channel are suing and countersuing each other. Again, it’s a celebrity show, although what David Gest has done to make him a celebrity is completely beyond me. He just seems like Webster’s definition of “pompous ass”.

The one thing to remember is that no matter what happens, these shows only exemplify the fact that fame doesn’t run on a 15-minute clock. It’s more like 15 seconds. Anybody wonder what big gay Richard from Survivor I is doing these days?

Staring at the electric cesspool,
Kevin

The war with Iraq: a continuing question

Two questions:

Number one:
Where’s Osama bin Laden? Remember him? The guy actually behind the 9-11 strikes?

Number two:
Is anyone else as skeptical as I am of the rush to label any drum of chemicals “possible weapons of mass destruction”? We’re not looking for smoking guns. We’re looking for justifications for what we’ve done. We have the 21st century Salem Witch Trials going on, all on live TV. I have MSNBC on in the background, and they’re reporting that Saddam and his sons may be dead. Well, let’s face it: there’s a 50 percent chance they’re right. If no such chemical weapons, or nuke-u-ler weapons, or anything of the sort is found, what will it mean for the U.S.’s role in the post-conflict world?

Give me a reason why this war had to happen, and I’ll be satisfied (and saddened). But I haven’t seen anything like it yet.

A dog with bite


Laureen and I have a chow-chow, approx. 7 years old, named Bo-Bo. His name was changed from Rambo in a deliberate move to de-aggress him (okay, it might not be a word, but I’m trying to capture the “je ne c’est what?” of the thing here).

Prior to Wednesday night, I’d been bitten twice by him. Laureen has also been bitten twice. My brother and her sister have each been bitten once. Our housekeeper had a mark from him as well. We’d been taking actions to not allow him around anyone but us at all times, but even that didn’t prevent what happened Wednesday night.

Our master bathroom is not functioning at the moment, so I got out of bed to use the half-bath on the same floor of our house. I came back, and the house was unlit. I waited until my eyes adjusted, then I tried to walk into the bedroom. I knew the dog was near the doorway, and I called out his name.

So, from his viewpoint, someone has stepped close to him, awakened him from a deep sleep, and it’s dark. What does the dog do? He reverts to instinctual behavior, which is to attack.

Before my wife could wake up and force him away from me, my pajama bottoms were ripped and my hands were covering the area right below my knee. After she dealt with him, we decided to first go to the fire station nearest us (where there’s a first aid clinic). At the station, they said they don’t have tetanus shots available, so we should go on to the emergency room.

So off we went. I was in pain, but this wasn’t life-threatening. It just hurt like nothing before it.

We get to the hospital formerly known as Baylor Richardson and proceed to the triage area. The bite marks had clotted up some by now, so I get sent to the area of emergency known as “minor trauma”. This apparently means that while you’re important, there are other crises that may get the doctor’s attention before they treat you. I found out I’d been bitten in four places: a full-mouth type of bite at the knee, a laceration-type byte at the left side of the right calf where I’d apparently pulled away from him, and two bite spots on the top of my foot.

We wait an hour and a half, then the nurse comes in to clean the wounds. I get a tetanus shot (good for at least 5 years!). The doctor explains that they don’t stitch up dog bites for fear of possible later infection. The wounds get wrapped, and at 2:00 a.m., we get home.

A few processes were set in motion by this. Garland animal control had to be notified of the situation. I got to take the next day off from work to rest and purchase the supplies to redress the wounds as needed. I’m already on a set of massive antibiotics, so that’s one thing going my way.

I get interviewed by Animal Control, and believe it or not, they were pretty friendly. There are four courses of action that they can take:

  1. Take the animal to their facility to monitor it for ten days at a cost of $10.00 a day to you.
  2. Take the animal to a veterinary facility with quarantine capacity at whatever the vet would charge you for ten days.
  3. Home quarantine – whereby the dog stays at home, isolated from all but one person, in a room by him or herself except for leashed purgative visits outside. You pay animal control $50.00 for their time to come out and see if this is acceptable or not.
  4. Take the animal and euthanize it.

The common misconception people have is that they will automatically euthanize an animal just because it bit a human. That is categorically not true. It is an option that they have, but they will quarantine and even return pets to their owners after the period.

We chose option 3. Laureen takes care of the dog for this time, and we start thinking about euthanizing him.

This is hard for me to do. It’s the first time as an adult that I’ve had to consider putting one of my own animals down, and I am really struggling to cope with this. There are tons of rational, logical reasons why we can’t keep him around, including that his presence would automatically negate any attempts at starting a family of our own, but right now, I’m having a hard time separating emotion from reality.

I’m back here in at work today, and while I can’t show off my marks, I’m here.

I know in the end that this is all small potatoes–I’m still healthy, my family and friends (including all of you who read this) are doing OK if not well, and this isn’t comparable to cancer, death, or sudden loss due to horrible circumstances, but within that realm of small potatoes, it’s the biggest thing on my mind.