Blogeline's Journal: 10/05/2003

Friday, October 10, 2003

Off for the weekend!!!!

Well, I'll guess I'll go home pretty soon.
Nothing to write about.
I hope everybody that reads this (hahahaha) has a nice weekend. Some of you a**holes gets to stay home on Monday, but not me.
I will go and pick out all the carpet and the kitchen and everything else for my new house tomorrow!!!!!
See Ya!

What a perfect match!

Dutton To Play Moose In Sniper Movie

Just go look at those pictures.

The breed of my dog?

Ok, something really weird happened to me yesterday.
I was looking around online to try and get an idea of how much my homeowner's insurance is going to be. So I went to Allstate's site and did the price quote. It has about six steps and the first page is just some general information. They want to know your name, where you live, if you have been an Allstate customer before, and easy things like this. No questions about the house yet. So then I come to the bottom of the page and what questions is there?
What breed is you dog? Please select.!!!!!
First I thought I went to the wrong website, but it was Allsate. Probably some webmaster dude thought it'd be funny to put that in there.
I don't even have a dog.

UPDATE:
Here is the proof

Friday Five

1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones?
Well, right now it has got to be Baseball, but I am one of those that only watches Baseball in October...
Other than that, I like to watch Soccer, but only international one or German soccer, which I don't get to do very often. The, last but not least, I try to watch Formula One racing, but mostly it is so early on the weekends that I miss it.

2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes?
Well, I like many teams, but I am a real St. Pauli fan!!!! That's a soccer team in Hamburg, Germany. When I still lived there I went to every game. Six years straight. I still have all my season passes. I love them, and I know they'll be back!

3. Are there any sports you hate?
I hate to say it, but I can't watch women play soccer. It just doesn't look right. I know, I am a woman myself and I even played soccer in High School, but that just looks stupid. Sorry.

4. Have you ever been to a sports event?
Well, of course soccer games. But I don't think I have ever been to any other event. Oh yes, I went to the Le Mans race in DC last year. It was fun.

5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play?
Ok, I stated young. I did track and field when I was six. I was very fast and have about 8 medals at home...all Gold and Silver! One time I won the ( I believe) 1000 meter race of all of Berlin! I quit when we moved to Hamburg and then I started playing Handball (???) If you don't know what this is, just go here. I played in a Club and also in School. Then I was also on the school soccer team, basketball team, and on the track team. But then I began to be "coo" and started smoking and then it just wasn't fun anymore. My PE teacher was really upset with me. But I'm still fast as hell.

Thursday, October 09, 2003

Ananova - Hunters find 140 shoes filled with butter

Now, that is weird....

Tuesday, October 07, 2003

Which school to close?

My husband just told me that finally an article was published in the Washington Post about Virginia's problem with its two Schools for the Deaf and Blind.
My stepson goes to the school in Hampton, which serves mainly students that have another disability besides, in our case, blindness. Hence the name: The Virginia School for the Deaf and Blind and Multi-Disabled in Hampton!
The other school in Staunton, Virginia mainly serves students with "only" one disability, which makes it more academically focused than Hampton.

Staunton graduates are expected to go to college or work. About half of Hampton graduates go to work, while the rest move into the care of local agencies or group homes.

The problem is, that Virginia does not have enough money to keep both schools open, so they don't know which school to close.
Some indicate that Hampton has the worse position because it mainly serves African-American students, which I disagree with, not only because my stepson is white but also because I have been to both schools and could clearly see that Staunton couldn't help my stepson in terms of his needs concerning independent living. Staunton refused to take my stepson as a student and send us to Hampton.

So, my question is, how can those two schools be combined? The students should still be separated because of their different needs.

Of course then they have these smart educators that say we don't need any of those schools because:

Federal law requires schools to provide access to children with disabilities. Only if teachers and parents agree that the local system cannot give a child an appropriate education can they consider outside placements.

This has caused some educators from Virginia school districts to say:

Rarely have we made that recommendation," said Billy Ritter, vision specialist for Prince William schools, which sent three of its 188 hearing and visually impaired students to Staunton last year and one to Hampton. "It's both that we're very confident in services for our children and we feel that if students are going to live and function in a community, they should live in that community."

Fairfax County sent three of its 740 hearing or visually impaired students to Staunton last year and seven to Hampton. Those who stay home have a range of options, including classes taught by special teachers, interpreters to accompany them to classes and classes taught in sign language.

Well, that is bulls**t, because how in the world is a disabled child supposed to learn how to live independently, if he or she is still going home at the end of the day where mommy and daddy are making dinner and washing the closes and helping them bathe? Residential schools are the best possibility in those cases.
Now, that argument could mean that Staunton the really doesn't need to be open because those kids know all those things. They are "only" there to be together with other kids alike, which is very important too.

Ideally, both schools should stay open and keep servicing and teaching and teaching both kids, but evidently that is impossible.

I guess, my only concern is that once one school is closed or even both and a new one built, it will be harder for my stepson and his peers to adjust to that new school or even worse that new school simply would not be able to serve them anymore because they are too disabled. Luckily he is old enough to where other options might be available but this is the first time that he has improved so much and seems to be able to be independent, or at least without parents, in the future.