My Warped View of Politics and Education

SO ....where do I rank myself politically? I wish I really knew, probably somewhere over the rainbow! I am rather conservative about most things but when it comes to education expenditures, nay not so!! Thus, I am rather disgusted with what SEEMS to be coming out of this legislature. It does not sit very well with me to read in the newspaper that some appointed state employee has been given a $30,000 raise but the cuts to education are alarming with not relief in the future but more of the same.

My View goes like this:: Politicians need to get themselves out of education. They know little about what they are doing except controlling the purse strings. What needs to be realized is that educators are not crazy in their requests... usually.
Teacher assistants are needful in kindergarten and first grade. I would like to see a legislator try to run a kindergarten classroom for a week without an assistant. Often first grade is just as difficult. You need to be an octopus to handle the needs of these youngsters on most days. Try taking them to lunch or onto the playground. Just transitioning from one place to another can be a trial. Can you imagine what it will be like with increased class size? Just imagine for a moment what it is like heading out to lunch with 28 or 30 little bodies trailing along, some crying, some needing their noses wiped, some who forgot to go potty, one who can't get his zipper up, some who forgot their lunch money, or left it on their desk, one who shoved another, another who tripped his friend and got pinched in the process, one who made the wrong turn, two whose shoes are untied, and one who just wants to tattle?? Any volunteers??
In North Carolina legislators don't think teacher assistants are needed. I worked in a middle school last year as a volunteer and I constantly was aware of their need of an extra body on staff to do lots of tasks to help teachers sometimes just to chase down that student who didn't come back from the bathroom or one who escaped the building. My teaching experience was largely in elementary school and I saw the need for every teacher to have some type of clerical help such that they could get on with the teaching, record keeping, and planning needed.

Every university needs to add another requirement to be allowed to major in education. One needs to have a bladder enlargement such that you do not need to empty except early in the morning and after 5PM!!

What is it that makes charters or private schools so appealing? One factor not to be denied or overlooked is small class size. SO with the "legislature guys and gals" at the same time we are offering tuition to "privates" they increase class size in public schools. Does something smell?? Indeed it does!

The next really intelligent thing the NC Legislature does is pull funding for Masters pay!! Super smart folks! Then the Lt. Govie decides to take on Common Core ... in the legislature yet!! I am no authority on Common Core but neither do I think this bunch of politicians are!
The big answer to it all might be to get the federal government out of education by funding the needs of North Carolina schools in North Carolina. Then you can throw out Common Core and go back to using the NC Standard Curriculum.

Just my view folks....you don't have to like it!!

Doggie Diabetes

So .. it is Memorial Day...and I feel like I am losing my "lease on life!" Guess that means I feel like I am losing control.
I am so confused about the best food to feed my canine with diabetes that I seem to be going in circles. From the very beginning of owning a dog I have been schooled in the learning of Science Diet being the absolutely worst dog food on the market, almost. The info I have always been given is that veterinarians really do not get the best nutrition instruction on food selection and the company owning SD takes advantage of that by giving them some kind of kick-backs on the sale of SD food, thus vets push the sale of that food to customers. ???? Fact, I don't know. Nevertheless, I have always heard it is terrible food -- don't use it! So, what has my Piper (who now has Type I diabetes) placed on during her sickness and stay at the vet hospital??? Why canned SD, of course. Piper was sick and would not eat but finally they got her interested by warming the SD canned food and offering it to her. I feel I need to feed her a more nutritious food but can't find information about prepared food for doggies with the big D. I know she should be getting limited carbs and those she does get need to be slow digesting, that her food needs to be high protein, low fat, high fiber, low carb but ?????

This has been such a frustrating diagnosis! First, the initial and continuing costs are unbelievable. My Piper was sick when I took her to the vet and showing the typical signs a human shows with diabetes. Thus, I was not surprised at the diagnosis. But Piper was in crisis and had to go to the veterinary specialty hospital for a few days to be hydrated and to get the insulin regulated. We started out on a Wednesday afternoon --at her regular vet. We paid a bill there of $235 and I was sent with her to the VSH where I was given a proposed bill of $4000.00 to keep her until Saturday and I needed to pay up front!
Each day I was updated on the amount of the money that had been consumed. Friday arrives and I am told they need to keep her through the weekend and we have used up $3600.00 of the money.

At this point my Irish temper kicks in and I said, "Oh, no, you told me I could bring her home on Saturday and I expect to check her out by Saturday evening." The story they were giving me was that she had no energy, was lethargic, and needed more time there. However, I visited with her daily and the night before I played with her and knew better. Before I could bring her home on Saturday I had to go to the drugstore and pick up a bottle of insulin and a box of needles -- 100. This was another $100.
When I checked her out of the hospital the total charge was $4672.00. Do the math ---at this point I have spent five thousand dollars. Still her insulin is not at the correct level. So, in ten days I needed to take her in for an "insulin curve." A study to determine how much her insulin needed to be increased. This was another $300.00. Her insulin was increased one unit -- up to four. After ten days I received a call from the vet that it was time to bring her back in for another curve. So...last week she went in for another insulin curve -- meaning they check her glucose levels every two hours. After checking the patterns the vet determines how much to increase or decrease the insulin. This time I was directed to increase the insulin one unit again -- now we are at five units. I am to return on this Wednesday for another curve. Last week's charge was $197.00. I bought a glucometer of my own hoping to be able to do the glucose check myself but haven't succeeded to any extent. I have a hard time getting enough blood to activate the strip, as least as of this writing. And...the glucometer was $117.00. Now I think I understand why folks online are complaining about the increased costs of having a diabetic dog. It is not just about the insulin and syringes. My vet keeps telling me it will not be this way once we get the insulin regulated. Go figure, who am I to believe?

My Girls

Everyone who knows me knows that I am "stoopid" about these two schnauzers who share my existence. It all started when my sister and her husband gave me the first schnauzer six months after Ken died. My Sassy is the doggie you see at the top of this blog. I had her for almost twelve years and loved her every day of that time. At age six she had developed bladder stones and needed surgery. In fact, we had scheduled her surgery shortly after diagnosis. It was Christmas / New Year's season. The night before surgery one of those mean 'ole stones lodged and she wound up spending the night in the emergency vet hospital. The next morning I picked her up and transported her to her vet for surgery. They were really "bad guys" and it took a while to rid her of them that day. After that, we made lots of trips back and forth to the NC State Vet school and spent far too many dollars doing ultrasound after ultrasound always being concerned as to whether she was developing any others. Then at the age of almost twelve she started to limp on a fore paw. Her vet thought perhaps she might be developing arthritis and gave her a specific medication that should make a difference. When it did not, off we went again to the NC State Vet School. This time for an MRI. It revealed that she had cancer where the paw connected to her body -- a brachial plexis tumor which was totally wrapped up in the nerves and blood vessels. I was told I could choose to have the paw amputated. We talked about life expectancy. The conversation went something like this. Will amputation cure the problem? Answer: No How long will she have with amputation? Answer: Six months How long will she have without amputation? Answer: Six months.

You know which I chose, I am sure. Sassy rests now on the mantle in a chest. I love her today as always.

In the meantime, I had gone back to the breeder when Sassy had the bladder surgery and adopted/bought a new puppy. So now, I have two...enter Miss Piper Kensleigh! She was a new experience! Where Sassy had been sweet and oh so easy to love Piper was my Wild Child!! At one point I almost gave up on her. My brother-in-law (who loved all schnauzers, no matter) kept her for about two months. At that point I felt guilty and brought her home. Since then we have made peace and she is my older girl.
Piper had been a truly healthy schnauzer until a few weeks ago when she started to drink an unusual amount of water. I knew what that meant in human talk ---unfortunately, it means the same in doggie talk -- diabetes. After a four day stay in the veterinary specialty hospital and some more really nice sized $$$ bills, I am learning to be a doggie nursemaid to a diabetic schnauzer. As of this particular moment I am certain we do not have the insulin regulated correctly but we are working on that task. I am learning to use glucometers and insulin and needles. I get frustrated when she will not eat. With a doggie insulin is given after a meal depending on whether and how much they eat. Oh, and the most frightening aspect during this diabetes scare, Piper lost five pounds in what seemed like a few days. That truly scared me!!

In the intervening times(s) I had gone back to the breeder in Tennessee and acquired another schnauzer before Sassy went away. Enter Kamelot Kamryn!! Kamelot because her mother is Guinevere!! We call her Kami and she is my wild child now. Cute as a button and unlike either of the other two. All three of these schnauzer girls have different personalities and have turned out to be wonderful pets. They are beautiful schnauzers. (Someday I will get current pictures of them up for viewing.)
Interestingly, they were all bred in Tennessee and come from the same bloodlines. But, the breeder has sold the schnauzer stock and this is the last of the girls from Tennessee.

Me Thinks...

I believe that bunch of "circus clowns" meeting downtown in the so-called legislative building need to just pack up their goodie bags and go home. The longer they stay the more evident it becomes that they really are up to no good and are wasting the tax payers' money. In spite of all they might claim with words like restructuring the tax code, doing away with teacher tenure, revising state employment job termination options, messing with voting districts, marriage laws, photo ID's to vote, only to mention a few, I think they have done plenty of damage and just need to go home and not return period! Period, I mean, like stay home forever!

These people have generated some of the most ridiculous pieces of legislation ever! It sometimes seems they got their ideas from a brainstorming session when they were all stoned. Words like vengeance, pay back, gotcha, are some that go through the mind.

One can only hope that the voters of North Carolina wake up by the next time they vote---and, oh yes, be certain to take your photograph and proof of address if you want your vote to count!

I Called Her Mom

Tomorrow is another day....something I heard my mother say often. So...tomorrow is another day in 2013, but it is an especially designated day...Mother's Day. For some it is a happy day filled with visits from children and family. For others who do not receive that special attention, it may not be considered so special. And then for still others it could be a sad day missing, while still remembering, those they have loved but who are missing from their lives at this time.

For me, I shall remember fondly, my Mom. She is a very short Mom physically standing barely five feet tall, yet being seven feet tall to those whose lives she shaped. She is of Irish descent and lots of others, no doubt. However, our Grandfather Daugherty was around as she was being reared, thus she remembers Irish!

My Mom was a good cook as was her mother. She taught me how to cook and clean, do the laundry and to sew. Thus, I have no excuse for being a sorry example of all of those at this point in my existence. (I don't like to cook, clean, and I do not sew. I do the laundry because I must!) My Mom would not be very happy with my excuses.

When I was small I can remember a time when all of the window treatments in our home were made by my Mom. They weren't any shabby looking homemade looking jobs either. They were "So Fine!" Our home burned on December 18th one year and all of those things went up in flames. Those events seemed to have sucked a lot of "the life" from my Mom for a little while. Our experiences in life seem to color our thinking and our being and such it was with my Mom. Our spirit gets battered around a great deal in this life. Mom had rheumatic fever at age six, her father was killed when she was eight, she lived through what was known as The Great Depression and who knows how many more dreadful things. But her zest for life, determination, love of learning soon surfaced and off she went in pursuit of life and its new experiences, whatever! I loved that she never lost her interest in what was new and "keeping up-to-date!"

My Mother had five children altogether. Her first was stillborn, the second, a son, George William, lived but a few hours after birth. Then there was me! I was the only one for six years, then another son, my brother. Another five years passed and my sister was born. That completed our family. Three children had survived and as far apart as we were born we were afforded the attention usually given to an only child while being fortunate enough to have siblings. Three makes a nice sized family of children but then so would five!!

We loved our times together!! Gathering at their home as adult children with children we often bored our parents out of their skulls with our steady conversation and chatter about politics and education. At some point in our lives we have all been involved in the field of education. Sometimes our folks (Mom and Dad) would just leave us in the middle of deep discussion and migrate to their favorite places in their home as we continued those discussions.
Our Mom has been gone twenty-one years now. (1992)

We miss Mom....and we know she is happy now with Daddy! Happy Mother's Day ALL!

Boston Havoc

Does anyone else find it strange that the Boston Marathon was being run with special honors paid to the Newtown Tragedy only to be hit by its own mad terror. Obviously perpetrated by supreme cowardice this act took the lives of three and injured roughly one hundred fifty people who were observing and waiting at the race's finish line. One of the victims, an eight year-old boy was waiting for his father to finish the race. The mother of this youngster has serious brain injuries, his sister lost a leg. How sad this story is! The details being released of the contents of the bombs indicate plain unadulterated meanness of intent! Bombs were hidden in duffel bags containing nails, metal shards, and shrapnel meant to maim and damage. Clearly the individual who designed these bombs did so in such a manner that these nails, shards, and shrapnel would do the maximum damage to those they struck. Evil, evil!!

It is difficult to understand the mind of a criminal wanting to do such harm to his/her fellow man. On the other hand, we all felt the same gratitude for those who scurried to help from every corner of the area. Watching it roll out on the screen, these people put aside personal concerns and scampered to help without thought other than people were hurt and needed their assistance. Some were doctors and nurses at the finish line, some were observers, some were runners themselves. The hospitals were filled with runners who just kept running to give blood. Many doctors who were in the race as runners and observers went on to the hospitals to offer their medical services. Whether fortunate or however you want to describe it, the Boston area is filled with hospitals, some of the best known in our country. Adequate medical resources were mobilized to help these individuals. We are all grateful.

Going forward not only those injured and maimed but those who witnessed and those who assisted and treated these individuals will need counseling to get beyond or to be able to cope with and handle the emotional damage done to their psyche.

More details will be discovered and known as the days go on and the investigation progresses. This event will not curtail the American spirit, neither will it keep us from running recreationally. It will, however, teach us a little more about precautions that need to be taken to keep our citizens safe when they gather for events. It is difficult to comprehend that right among us dwell those who do not wish us well but represent evil.

Again, I express my own condemnation of this act! I will continue to remember these fellow Americans and Boston in prayers.
4/16/2013

CJD

There are days when I wonder and wonder....almost frozen in thought and time. I ponder, look, and research. The hurt never really goes away although it takes a different form with time. I will go to my grave living with the frustrations this rare disease inflicted on an otherwise healthy body. It was like this.....

What Causes Creutzfeldt-Jakob Disease?

Some researchers believe an unusual "slow virus" or another organism causes CJD. However, they have never been able to isolate a virus or other organism in people with the disease. Furthermore, the agent that causes CJD has several characteristics that are unusual for known organisms such as viruses and bacteria. It is difficult to kill, it does not appear to contain any genetic information in the form of nucleic acids (DNA or RNA), and it usually has a long incubation period before symptoms appear. In some cases, the incubation period may be as long as 50 years. The leading scientific theory at this time maintains that CJD and the other TSEs are caused by a type of protein called a prion.

Prion proteins occur in both a normal form, which is a harmless protein found in the body’s cells, and in an infectious form, which causes disease. The harmless and infectious forms of the prion protein have the same sequence of amino acids (the "building blocks" of proteins) but the infectious form of the protein takes a different folded shape than the normal protein. Sporadic CJD may develop because some of a person’s normal prions spontaneously change into the infectious form of the protein and then alter the prions in other cells in a chain reaction.

Once they appear, abnormal prion proteins aggregate, or clump together. Investigators think these protein aggregates may lead to the neuron loss and other brain damage seen in CJD. However, they do not know exactly how this damage occurs.

About 5 to 10 percent of all CJD cases are inherited. These cases arise from a mutation, or change, in the gene that controls formation of the normal prion protein. While prions themselves do not contain genetic information and do not require genes to reproduce themselves, infectious prions can arise if a mutation occurs in the gene for the body’s normal prion protein. If the prion protein gene is altered in a person’s sperm or egg cells, the mutation can be transmitted to the person’s offspring. All mutations in the prion protein gene are inherited as dominant traits. Therefore, family history is helpful in considering the diagnosis. Several different mutations in the prion gene have been identified. The particular mutation found in each family affects how frequently the disease appears and what symptoms are most noticeable. However, not all people with mutations in the prion protein gene develop CJD.
More later....