March 6, 2008

The Great Fever Debate
By Tina Urrutia
Turlock, CA

There are two camps in which people belong. One is the camp that thinks children should stay home from school when they’re sick. The rest of us believe that’s a nice theory, but we can’t do it. Between a rock and a hard place is where most Americans are. I’m not talking about throwing-up sick, chicken pox, or the flu. I mean, times when it’s iffy, at best, that the child is anywhere near being truly sick.

Schools want you to keep your child home if they have a “Fever” of 100 degrees. Or they want you to come pick them up at school if they suddenly “have” one. My kids “get fevers” after lunch or recess. Am I suspicious? Yes, I am. I don’t have a stupid sticker on my head! If a child comes in right after lunch, complaining that they’re hot, maybe with a flushed face, my first guess would be they need to be hydrated after having a great recess. The school nurse says, “Fever.” Ach! This brings me to the actual point. Once you pick them up (because it’s a waste of time trying to talk some sense into school administrators), then you’re further penalized. You’re also not supposed to bring them back the next day. Begin snowball effect. Then, the school wants you to pick up the class work your child is missing. But they shouldn’t be missing it at all, because the kid is watching television all day and begging to go to the park since they feel fine!

Now, I’m not really the administrator-hater that it may sound like. I don’t rebel against the man. The school my children attend actually has a very nice nurse. Can we be serious, though? A child needs to be evaluated well. Everything needs to be taken into account. Has the child been running around? Have they stopped for any water, if they’ve been playing hard? Is it a hot day outside? Do they have any other symptoms, such as runny nose, chills, or a cough? I think the right questions need to be asked by the grown-ups in charge. My kids now know that saying “I feel hot,” to the nurse is their get-out-of-jail-free card. And every kid knows how to manipulate someone. Mine use the slightly sad, tired, kind of confused expression on the nurse. I’ve tried to tell her they’re fine (when I know what’s going on), but she’s got that darn thermometer! How can I argue with that?!

March 6, 2008

Pimp My Ride, Much
By Cheryl Masters
Crows Landing

Today I had to take my daughter to get x-rays done on her hips. Since she isn't mobile and often looks like a frog, they want to be sure her hip joints are in the sockets. Anyway, when we were walking out of the hospital, this car was behind me and the music was really loud. I hate that. I find it totally disrespectful and REALLY annoying.

I don't want to hear about how you smack your hos or how you kill your bros. I don't want to hear about your milkshake or how you spend your g's. I really don't like the sound of an electric guitar and I don't like my children being exposed to death metal. I don't want my inner ear bones to rattle to the point that my vision blurs and I do like hearing clearly out of both ears.

I don't care about free speech, blah blah blah. This has nothing to do with free speech. It's my right not to have to listen to things that I find to be garbage. It's your right to listen to things that I find to be garbage in the comfort of your own home or car in a manner that doesn't pollute the earth with more useless and unnecessary noise. Blast your ears out if you want to, just don't make me take part.

So when this particular car was behind me, blasting this obscene music as loud as possible, in a hospital parking lot no less, I naturally turned to give the driver a death glare, and quite possibly the bird if I felt so inclined, and it was then that I became confused. The windows of the truck were all rolled up. So how on earth could the music be coming out so clear? External speakers. WHAT THE HECK?! Is that really necessary? Is this what the world is coming to? This is just out of control.

February 1, 2008

Language Debacle
By Wilbur Force Macy

In a conversation, do you ever find yourself keying in on all the mispronounciated words instead of listening to the dialogue? Now I'm not OCD, but I have a lot of trouble in this area. I've been called anal along with a number of other things, but that's a whole nother story. I just don't understand how a person could be death in one ear. Is there a "g" in onion? We are not on the brink of nucular war. Realitors do not sell homes. Sometimes taking the upmost pride in calling someone on their mishap can be inappropriate. I've even found myself chomping at the bit to laugh from acrossed the table at any sign of a muffed word. At the heighth of my sarcastic tendencies I began to notice that my behavior towards others was becoming not only annoying, but rude, distasteful, primitive, unrefined, excetera… Needles to say I don't take my friendships for granite anymore. From now on when people say words such as "ridicolas", "libary" or "ambolance", I just sit back, take a sip of my expresso and listen to what they really have to say.

From the lap of WF Macy - February 1, 2000 and 8

January 30, 2008

In response to Shari Hanneman's soapbox article
" 8 Year Olds Are Never Sexy "

By Kat and Anna
www.localchoicescv.com

Well said Shari....
Let's teach these young minds to be enthusiastic about their local environment, their emothional & physical health, how to invest time in their community, and what about guiding them to become much needed humanitarians....the world is such a big, beautiful place to explore! As adults, we owe that to their future, let's all be good examples.

January 1, 2008

What about Daylight Saving Time
By Thom Worthington

Thanks to technology, I didn’t have to reset my clocks. Thanks to congress, I now have to set my clocks twice. Once because my clocks were programmed for the old DST. Now I have to reset them, even though I know they would be correct in a week or so.
I just bought this wall clock last year that has an internal calendar built in. Unexpectedly, I was awakened by an increased ticking sound at 2am. I followed the sound into the dining room where I discovered the clock was advancing 10 times as fast. It isn‘t wise to push the hands backwards, so there it was rotating around 11 hours. Admittedly, that was kind of fun to watch, even if it did take me away from my sleep. When March 11th came around in ‘07 it didn’t move and I had forgotten that it was supposed to. So, I reset the clock manually. I should have guessed something was up when my other clocks around the house didn't respond to the DST. Three weeks later it pushed forward and I woke up that morning thinking that I was an hour late for church.
I did a little research and found that I should have gotten that clock half price. Not true for my other clocks but that wall clock I got in '06. According to http://www.computer.org/portal/pages/itpro/content/Daylight_Saving_Time_2007.html The Energy Policy Act revised US DST by the year 2005. I found out a lot of other interesting things about what happens to the time changing and how it affects the rest of the world from this site. Until I get fed up with it or it breaks, I’m afraid that I will be stuck with resetting my clocks at least 4 times a year.

October 31st, 2007

8 Year Olds Are Never Sexy
By Shari Hanneman

Last summer we took our two young daughters to a 4th of July Parade. I was not prepared for what we saw. We watched in horror as a team of 8-10 year old girls danced provocatively to Avril Lavigne’s song “Girlfriend.”

Hey! Hey! You! You!
I don’t like your girlfriend!
No way! No way!
I think you need a new one
Hey! Hey! You! You!
I could be your girlfriend

I swear, they might as well have just waved at the crowd and said, “Yoo-hoo! Mr. Sexual Predator! Here I am. Look at me!” This wasn’t an isolated incident. Our friend commented that most children on the cheer and dance teams looked and acted like pole dancers instead of children.
It makes me shake my head in wonder and disgust. Have the coaches and parents completely lost their minds? How do responsible adults rationalize their daughter doing a dance routine that deliberately and repeatedly draws attention to her pelvis and chest, trying to be “sexy?”
What is WRONG with our society that people think an 8 (or 10, or12 or…) year old “exotic dancer” is not only appropriate, but cute? It’s just so infuriating! These cheer teams are teaching girls at a very young age that sex sells. They’re having their innocence and childhood stolen from them and they don’t even realize it…yet. They should be hanging out with friends and discovering their talents. They shouldn’t be wasting time being taught that being sexy is what makes them special.
These girls deserve better. And their parents and society as a whole are letting them down.
I have two beautiful little girls and once again I am dreading sending them out into a world where this type of behavior is considered mainstream. Something has to be done.