Tuesday pm, when all is said and done...

My iPhone now charges and plays thru the 30 pin connector attached to the Ford radio.  I control the iPhone manually, not by the radio controls at all.  The only tricky part is getting the radio to be set to the cd disk 6 position, which seems to be the same as aux audio in.  I may go see the guys at fantaze audio to get everything finalized tomorrow or soon.  Now it works and the iPhone will always be charged when used in the car.  I could have bought a $25 charger and achieved the same result for less.  But then I would have had two cables to take care of.

I had the center console pulled out by the Galpin mechanic for $20.  My heater now works, the brakes work well, the brake release works well again, and I have new coolant and the brake fluid has been topped off.

I want to wash and detail the car, do the accounting, and get the dental work done, and get ready for the trip of a lifetime.

Have a good rest of your life.

Waiting @FantazyAudio for my iPhone connection

Got the instrument cluster fixed, sort of, at Galpin, and now waiting for the connector to be attached to the trunk connection.

Later to Lancer's for a great day.

Up at 7am and to Jay Taylor's at 8am.

He repaired an engine mount, flushed and put new coolant in the engine, fixed the brake cable and put brake fluid in the fluid thing, and tried to get the center console out of the Taurus.  I will now take it to Ford to see if they can do something.

The ac and heater now seem to work well.  Time will tell.

Yesterday, Monday, was a fine day.

Ordered a harness system to enable my iPhone to play through my stereo for $200 installed.  Later ate chicken dinner at Lancer's and bought about $134 worth of dvds to watch.

Fine pm.  Couldn't find the escrow papers yet.

Up at 9am after lots of rem sleep for 7 hours

Dreams of Rey, Travis, and Jair with housing issues after their discharge from vista.  I also was in a dream of looking for a stereo for my car along with Tony Cole?

Soon to be out of the house this am, I plan.  We'll see.

Sunday am up at 830 am feeling ok

Work today 3 to 11, complete accounting tomorrow.

Call Inga,

Call Hal,

Call or email Allan,

Call or email Les,

Email Derick in Idaho,

Have a great life, if possible.

Saturday am bought new shoes, socks, and pants

For the Bower Museum dinner after the lecture by Dr Ed Koop, but I didn't make it to Santa Ana on time.  I turned around and watched videos at home instead.  Still a good night.

Saturday am up at 9am feeling well.

Looking to buy new shoes and slacks for my trip to the museum to day.  Here's to a good day.

Good Friday pm at Palms.

Nothing major happened, except I'm not happy to have dvd players on one unit, computers in bedrooms on another unit, and an iPad on a third unit.  This is just asking for trouble.  No work Saturday, so I will see about Sunday night.

Quiet Thursday night, for a change

Nothing out of the ordinary to report here.  I'm happy I got the accounting started, the two bills mailed, and permission to go to the Bower Museum on Saturday.

Thursday up at 7am to go see Andrew Schnee soon

Getting ready to go to the accountant.

Wednesday night at Palms hassel with Aaron re food

Aaron wanted soup.  Linda was mad. Armando was mad.  I had to explain myself to Mike and Jonathan for more than a half an hour.  I talked a lot about how we don't give the kids much choice in their food.  It is pretty much "Eat this or go hungry.  We don't care if you don't like it or don't want it.  We are in the like it or lump it school of thought.

Aaron earns 78% of his points, yet, he has no outings, he can't play video games, he gets few at best paper projects, he can't spend his allowance as he wants to do.  He is just as handicapped as Varsety, but because we can't see it, he is mostly punished, not rewarded for his efforts.  Why?

Jonathan wants me to go through him  we'll see.

Wednesday up at 7am feeling well.

Out with Rey, Alex, and AJ last night.  Car brakes need attention soon.  Now doing property tax and then income tax, and then any other fees. 

Work at noon for part. 

Saturday for the lecture at the Bower Museum.  Yeah.

Tuesday, up at 10am feeling well. Accounting today

Mailed Fire and iPod back to Amazon and Apple.  Today mailed checks to SCWD and all pure.  Mail cards back to alter reality, and fax docs to sce for Marion's refund.  See Rey and the boys later today.

Meet Andrew in Burbank to begin accounting.

Be at vdm Wednesday at noon for part refresher, then all will be well.  Talk to Inga, Harold, Allan, and Les Soss.

Have a good life.

Monday up at 10am feeling well. Now to the chores

Completing all the chores before going to eat this fine rainy day.

Sunday breakfast at Lancer's. Good pm shift.

Lots of computers, xbox, and iPad on earth and ocean.  No other problems.

Saturday night video games, computers, & iPad

Games for the kids on Ocean, also a computer for a change.

Only 4 kids on Sky, outing for several kids on high levels, and a quiet night except for the fact that Christian has Derick's key buzzer and is planning an awol Saturday night and all the staff is on the alert for an escape.  Don't lose your keys?

Gingrich won the SC primary, which I don't think bodes well for the Republicans.

Friday night quiet at Palms, to the gym for a change

Rehab ran the evening until after 7pm, at which time it was computers and iPad, and DS for Aaron.  Good time was had by all.  James went home and Christian almost went to the hospital, but stayed on Palms.  Nothing major to report.  Good lunch at Cupid's and dinner with McDonald's.  Slept well.

Friday up at 830am feeling well. Called State Farm

Commented about the poor web site design of the StateFarm.com web site.  No payment due now.

Now to call sce and try to get the refund again.

Then call Andrew to get the accounting finished.

Then mail the ipod and the Fire back, and the alter realty cards as well.

Then eat something good and go to work on time.

Have a good life, but get started now.

Thursday night better than usual. No crisises

Tee Booze took James, Travis, and Varcety to the dental apt.  Computers and ps2 for Ocean and Sky.  Csi and models  two times.  Four staff sit around a table and talk, ignoring the kids.

Dinner at Wendy's, which was good.

Good Wednesday training and shift, overall.

Got new training book, endured another hygiene class by Lorena and Sarah, and watched only Level 2s and 3s play video games.  Computers for Earth but not Ocean today.

Aaron was upset a lot, Armando was needlessly cruel to Aaron, as he is frequently to many kids.  Jonathan counseled Aaron for most of an hour.  I'm thinking of making a suggestion of letting Aaron use my DS when he is with me because he is doing well, mostly.  He is disabled as much as Varcety is, except not in the physical sense.  Aaron needs some rewards, not enhanced consequences, discipline, and punishment.  He practically cries for a cup of soup at snack time, and is often given a bag of Cheezits. 

I didn't mail the bills, ship the returns, or get out of the house after calling sce back for the refund check.  I'll try to do so this am.

Wednesday up at 9am. Mail bills and ship things.

Mail bills to scwd, all pure, and call sce re refund.  Ship Fire to Kindle, iPod to Apple, and cards to Alter Reality.

Call Andrew for an appointment, call Inga, and call Harold, Allan, and Harold.

Start to start to get ready for my Cross USA Round Trip starting May 1, 2012

Tuesday stayed home.

Watched net and read net.  Napped.  Felt lazy.  Nothing else done.  Ate well.

Monday up early, talked with Howard.

Got ups inergie charging battery for $78 and it may be worth it.  GamePad now works with Emerald Mine.  Got email forwarded from Allan which touts a defense of Ron Paul.

I should ship the Kindle Fire back to Amazon, ship the iPod back to Apple, mail the cards back to the card company, call the sce co to get the refund for Marion's electricity bill, wash more clothes, go to Fry's again, and Best Buy as well.

Now thinking about going out to Lancer's, Henri's, El Ranchito, Laura's, or else where?

I feel well and should go out now.

Sunday pm shift went well. No electronics for Ocean

Today is a paid holiday for me from vdm.  I will pay all pure and scwd and call Andrew for an appointment, and call Inga for a chat and to tell her that the accounting is on apace and I will call sce and ask them to re issue the check for the refund and send it to me via Priority Mail.

Otherwise, waiting for ups to deliver my iphone/ipod/ipad/mp3 charger, and then to Henri's or Lancer's.

I slept well and feel good now.

Saturday pm shift went pretty well. James back

Nick H called to talk to Jesse.  Video games and computers for most of the kids.  Some level 3s went to the movies, other kids got Carl's Jr meals they had to wait for.

No major issues to record.  Ate ok at a mex restaurant in Reseda.  Got haircut as well.  Feeling well.

Friday pm called out ill, Lancers & ups returns

I feel much better.  I won't go into work to see the kids sit around and watch movies on the little tv on ocean, four kids at a time, or watch nothing on sky.  Too bad for the kids.  Tony won't be able to say that the kids can play video games as soon as I bring them in for the kids to play.  I hate working at vdm.

Now to go out and have a good day and go to Lancer's for clam chowder as well.

Goals:

ups both the ipod and the Fire,

Mail the alter reality cards back,

Mail the all pure and scwd payments in.

Have a good day, and get my hair cut tomorrow at 11 am.

Friday up at 8:30 am feeling a bit tired, but good.

Made apt for haircut tomorrow at 11am.  Good.  I am hungry and want to mail the ups items today.  Now to go hurry.

Thursday good am, poor shift at vdm

I am unhappy at what is happening at vdm.  Staff are hurtful to the kids on purpose, insensitive, cruel, and heartless on purpose.  If I make an issue of it, then the staff will hate me and I won't be able to work there any more.  Oh, well.

No video games for Level 1 or level s kids.  No exceptions.  This is just someone's pronouncement and it is taken as the Will Of God.  Why?  What is the justification.  Why not take the tv time away from the kids when they mis behave, or the music time, or the outside time, or the board game time?  Why is the only effective punishment to take their video game time away?

I really don't like working their under these circumstances.  I have little regard for how Tony and Lorena do their jobs.  They are unfailingly hostile to the kids, resentful, angry, and punitive.  The fact that they may be fine people does not excuse the fact that they take their frustration out on the kids every day.  Armando, John, Shannon, Jermain, Tee Booze, Marva, Kim, and Pam all do the same thing, with minor exceptions.

The staff that don't do this as much are me, Rob, Yonas, Chris Kim, and Walter a bit.  Walter enraged Gabe last Saturday night because Gabe asked to put his clothes in the washer after his bed time.  Walter said no as we all used to say back when we were much more strict with the kids at all times.  We could almost restrain kids for non compliance.  Not so much now.  I also saw Brad and Derrick refuse to give Gabe Tylenol when Gabe requested it.  Brad said "I don't think you need it."  Derrick eventually gave it to him.  Hard times?  Not so much, just frustrating.  VDM will get in trouble if any of this becomes public.  Tough.

Wednesday up at 8:30 am, needing haircut.

More REM sleep longing after Toni after all these years.  The same vain attempts to win her love.  Sad to say.  Are men always on the hunt for the love of a good woman?  Probably.

I feel well.

I feel good physically.

I feel good emotionally.

I love my house.

I love my car.

I tolerate my job.

I look forward to enjoyable doings in the near future, i.e. starting on May 1, 2012 (which is only 111 days from now)

111 days from now I can retire, or at least take a leave of absence for 90 or 120 days.

I hate working in an environment wherein the kids are punished by giving them unit restrictions and video game restrictions.  Video games are the only thing that can be used as a consequence for bad behavior, since we don't use early beds any more.  Points don't count any more since several of the kids have closed placements and can't go any where any how.

I'm trying not to feel resentful most of the time at work.  It is hard to not feel disappointed at the casual meanness expressed to the kids on a regular basis.  Oh, well.  What can I do, except make a major issue out of it and quit my job with almost everyone hating me.  Huh!

Now to try to get my haircut.

Tuesday night liver and onions well at Lancers

Good dinner, more or less.  Most parts were excellent.  Very healthy, I hope.  Good pm on tech news mostly.  Slept well, as well.

Tuesday am up at 5am. Breakfast at Lancer's?

Took AJ and Alex to library and Carl's Jr last night.  All was well.  Rey in NM.  Terry called at 7pm to ask about the "settlement" of Marion's estate.  I told her I am waiting for the refund from SCE and then the accounting will be done and the estate probated.  Time will tell.

Monday am up at 8:30 am feeling a bit tired but well

Call SCE, all pure, Andrew, scwd, Ed, Rey, Alex, AJ, and mail the iPod and the Fire, and then call Howard and Inga. 

All today.  Have a good day as well.

Sunday pm better. Computer and xbox in rotunda.

I separated from the units by using the rotunda security booth for the computer and video game.  No issues therein.  Good pm overall.  Fewer than usual usage of electronics by the kids hurts the kids, not me.  Casual harshness prevails at vdm.  Always has.

I look forward to getting out of there.  I only stay for the money I earn.

Otherwise a fine pm.

Saturday night went poorly. Derrick hostile to kids.

Derrick was abrupt, short, authoritarian, commanding, not sensitive to their needs or aware of how the kids felt.  Everything was an order with no questions accepted.  He became frustrated and punished the kids with long reports on the log books and on the telephone reports.

It all began with the mandatory shift meeting where in the questions and answers are always the same:

How way your day?  Answer:  Fine or not good.

What can you do to have a good shift?  Follow my program, and follow staff's directions.

Ok, let's have a good day.

We don't do this useless meeting and the pink pages during the week, at least on second shift.  They may do it every morning before school, just to keep the pink log filled out correctly.

Derrick engaged in hostile back and forth with Damian and Gabe.  In both instances the boys were clearly upset and the back and forth did nothing to help the situation, it only made it worse and escalated the situation.  If your only tool is a hammer, every thing looks like a nail.

The end result was an agitated unit all night long, in spite of me and Walter on the unit.  Both Walter and I are reasonably cooperative with the kids, but this doesn't help any when one member of the team is pissed and angry at the kids.  It reminds me of the typical interaction of Rehab's Tony and Lorena and the kids.  Hostitility begets hostility.

Walter demonstrated this himself at 9:15 pm when Gabe asked to do his laundry.  Walter said no because the time to do laundry had passed.  Gabe said "Hell No", or words to that effect, took his laundry basket and kicked the door of the laundry room open and did his laundry any way.  No hands were laid on, but a few years ago this behavior would have been cause for a major incident, including a restraint, perhaps assault charges filed against the kid, perhaps staff getting fired, and loads of paperwork.  As it was, Gabe washed his clothes and all was well.  He had already lost so many points and had such a bad report written and telephoned in on him that this didn't add much to his punishment.  This is a kid who spends lots of time plucking his eyebrows and shaving his arms and legs.  He seems greatly concerned with his appearance and we frustrate him in his desire to do his laundry?  For no good reason?  To what avail?

So, Gabe and Damian didn't get to play video games or use the computer.  They both watched tv a lot.  I take that back.  Damian did play his xbox game for half an hour.  Derick played basket ball outside for half an hour with James and watched a lot of tv himself.

I don't bring the computers or video games to other units any more because it is too upsetting and disruptive to the multiple kids who have unit restrictions (all of the kids on all of the units) and those who have the one restriction for any infraction, which is no video games.  I'm a bit frustrated as well.

Friday night not well at vdm. Christian arrested.

Rehab is angry at the kids on a regular basis and lays on the punishment with gusto. The beatings will continue until moral improves.

Staff are gone for hours at a time and nobody says a word. Oh well.

Christian got out of the unlocked door and was chased by staff.  It ended up with Christian threatening staff with scissors or a knife or something, the cops were called and Christian was taken away in hand cuffs.  Lots of paperwork for the staff to do.

Rehab announced that there was too much tv, board games, and video game time during rehab time.  This has to stop.  They didn't mention computer music time, but I'm sure that it is included in the ban.

What do the kids do during rehab time?  Play basket ball, four square, football, or Frisbee ball? Or else they do academic exercises on social skills or hygiene skills and standards, which are taught as a class to up to 24 students at a time, with the kids sitting on the floor and doing work sheets many of them can't even read.  Then the rehab staff get mad at the kids and send them back to their units as a group punishment.  Oh, well.  Time will tell.

Friday am. Slept til noon. Still not done the chores.

Postponed the all pure, and scwd bill pay and the accounting with Andrew.  Other wise all is well as can be expected.

Thursday at Palms. Another poor day for the kids.

Did cpr training, ate lox and cream cheese sandwich at Role N Rye, little computers or xbox or video games because Armando wishes to sit and watch tv and play dominoes with other staff.  Oh, well.

I dislike being there a lot.  I had to do the thank you notes and the hygiene quiz with the kids.  Rehab simply passes out the papers.  Too bad.

I don't like it a bit.  Time will tell.

Wednesday at vdm. Poor day for the kids.

No xbox, few computers, unhappy Aaron, Damian, James, Christian, and Darby.  Mostly treading water.

Tuesday pm, dinner at Lancer's, shopped at ...

Fry's, and Wal Mart for $200 total, but I got a lot of good things to go for it.

Reading the Times stories of seniors who think they have enough to live on who then find them selves out of luck.  I'll try and be careful and not let it happen to me.

Tuesday, more of the same as yesterday. Go out!

Now to go eat at Lancer's or where ever, go to Fry's, go to Wal Mart, mail the Fire, and the Nano, and call all pure and scwd and Andrew, and do laundry, and clean up the apartment, and fix the garbage disposal and get the light fixed and get the heater fixed, and have a good life.  Less than 4 months til I retire from vdm.

cpr Thursday at 9am.

Monday stayed home. I have to modify my sleeps.

This habit by default of staying up til sunrise and sleeping most of the day and not feeling really rested should stop, by my choice.  I don't do any thing and I feel bad doing it.

I didn't go out to dinner at BBB or Lancer's or even go to Fry's.  Still a good day with dvds, blue ray, and the net, but it is important to go out some times.

Sunday, 1.1.12 went well.

Welcome to 2012.  Hoping and working to have a very good year.

Pay rent, mail back Nano and Fire, pay All Pure and scwd, see Andrew Schnee, get hair cut and fix Ed's computer, call Hal, Les, Allan, and Inga.

Clean apt and car, fix heater, enjoy life as usual.

Be of good cheer, as much as possible.

Happy New Year 2012. Here's to a good year.

Pizza dinner for all at vdm.  No major issues.  Most kids satisfied with their lot at this time, as am I.

Rent due.

Mail all pure and scwd bills.

Return Nano and Fire.

See Andrew Schnee.

See Rey and the guys soon.

See Ed for a haircut and to fix his computer.

Call Inga, Harold, Allan, and Les.

Get the heater fixed.

Continue, as much as possible, to be healthy, wealthy, and wise.