Someone wrote that it is possible to put PowerPoint into Flash to post on a website. I want to see if I can do it or not.
I had thought to delete this, but I will leave it for the time being at least to see if anyone knows how to make this work better. I have uploaded it to Yahoo briefcase and then linked to it here. It was set up as an automatic presentation, but it is manual in Flash. Is that normal or did I do something wrong?
It would be nice to be able to include presentations like this on class blogs. As my students do presentations throughout the semester, I could post them to the blog so there would be a permanent record of them. But I need to know if what I am doing is what I should be doing. It seems to work, so I guess I am happy. But if anyone can give me some hints as to how to make it work better, I would appreciate it!
Update 1.29.06 Thanks to a note from Joanna, I discovered that no one else could access the file. I moved the file to elgg and I am trying again to see if it will work now.
Saturday, January 28, 2006
Friday, January 27, 2006
The wonders of the Internet
I am totally blown away! My daughter just asked me for help finding an article she needs for a paper for law school. She could find plenty of places to buy it from, but she was hoping to find it for free. I did a simple search on Yahoo for the author and part of the title and immediately found two sources of the article for free. One even let me send her a plain text copy of the article!
It's all out there if we are only willing to do a little work to find it. But I am always amazed when it happens!
Learning to search efficiently is the key, I think. That is something I want to work on with my students. They so often will try one search term and then give up. I have found this to be true when they do an Internet search and when they are searching the library databases for articles. Does anyone have any good ideas for helping me teach effective searching?
It's all out there if we are only willing to do a little work to find it. But I am always amazed when it happens!
Learning to search efficiently is the key, I think. That is something I want to work on with my students. They so often will try one search term and then give up. I have found this to be true when they do an Internet search and when they are searching the library databases for articles. Does anyone have any good ideas for helping me teach effective searching?
My students are blogging!
Today I brought my intermediate students to the computer lab to get them set up on our class blog. They were confused at first, but I think they are starting to get the hang of it. After showing them around, I had them each post something just for the experience of posting. Then I had them comment on each others' posts. There was a lot of laughter and excitement as they were reading the comments.
I am asking the to use the blog for some very specific purposes: to post daily logs, to post summaries of our reading, and to answer specific questions that I ask. I haven't decided yet if I will require comments. I hope they will pick up on it on their own, but I can easily build that in to my plan if they don't.
I realized today just how technologically inexperienced they are. They can do email and, since last semester, use PowerPoint, but there is so much they can't do, but it is only because they have never tried to do it. I hope that this class blog will give them some skills and experience that will be transferable to other uses of technology.
I am asking the to use the blog for some very specific purposes: to post daily logs, to post summaries of our reading, and to answer specific questions that I ask. I haven't decided yet if I will require comments. I hope they will pick up on it on their own, but I can easily build that in to my plan if they don't.
I realized today just how technologically inexperienced they are. They can do email and, since last semester, use PowerPoint, but there is so much they can't do, but it is only because they have never tried to do it. I hope that this class blog will give them some skills and experience that will be transferable to other uses of technology.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
WebQuests and Oral Skills
I am busy trying to get the semester off the ground and participate in the two EVO sessions I signed up for: Creating WebQuests and Oral Skills and Technology. As happened last year, I find I am more interested in one session than the other. But I am getting good ideas from both of them. It is so cool to see what we can learn from each other this way!
Next week I am supposed to begin designing a WebQuest. We'll see how that goes!
Next week I am supposed to begin designing a WebQuest. We'll see how that goes!
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Personalized learning
Clarence Fisher has an interesting post about personal learning. He makes what maybe should be a very obvious statement, and yet it's something that I know I lose sight of. He says:
Clarence goes on to say:
I need to think about how I can apply this to my own situation. I have planned this semester to give students more freedom in what they wrote about, but I am still basically supplying the vast majority of the content and structure.
I guess I justify not letting students personalize their own learning more by saying that we have so much that they have tolearn and there isn't much time left over for anything else. But I wonder if that is really true. I think that I could do much better than I have been in this regard. I will be on the lookout for ideas on how to incorporate more of this kind of personalized learning into my classes as we move through this semester. Maybe next fall I will have some of it worked out and worked into my program.
Anyway, check out the whole post over at Remote Access.
Personalizing learning is a complex task in a classroom filled with 20 + students. But personalizing learning is not about us doing the personalization; it is about teaching our students how to become learners...It is interesting to me how we as teachers, as adults, frequently/often/almost always assume that we are the ones who have to make the decisions about what each student/child needs and should want.
Clarence goes on to say:
We must find ways to slowly shift the responsibility of providing content and questions from ourselves to our students so that we can spend our time doing the much more valuable tasks of helping them achieve this goal. It is a complete shift. From teacher as content provider, to teacher as director and supporter of learning.
I need to think about how I can apply this to my own situation. I have planned this semester to give students more freedom in what they wrote about, but I am still basically supplying the vast majority of the content and structure.
I guess I justify not letting students personalize their own learning more by saying that we have so much that they have tolearn and there isn't much time left over for anything else. But I wonder if that is really true. I think that I could do much better than I have been in this regard. I will be on the lookout for ideas on how to incorporate more of this kind of personalized learning into my classes as we move through this semester. Maybe next fall I will have some of it worked out and worked into my program.
Anyway, check out the whole post over at Remote Access.
Friday, January 20, 2006
A PBS blog?
Bud has once again pointed me in the direction of a new blog that should be interesting to follow. This one is from PBS and is written by Mark Glaser. It is called MediaShift.
I am glad that Bud wrote about it because a look at the PBS website gave no indication that there was such a blog. A search on the site turned it up, though, so maybe they are going to change the site to include mention of it on the homepage. I hope so. Anyway, it looks like it may be worth a read. Why not go on over and check it out?
I am glad that Bud wrote about it because a look at the PBS website gave no indication that there was such a blog. A search on the site turned it up, though, so maybe they are going to change the site to include mention of it on the homepage. I hope so. Anyway, it looks like it may be worth a read. Why not go on over and check it out?
Wednesday, January 18, 2006
Uses of Writely
Iris commented on my post below about use of Writely to share a document. In this case it was a document started in Brazil and finished in Portugal. What a great idea!
From what I can see so far, students who were going to be working in Writely as individuals would need only an email address and password. It would be easy for the teacher to set this up by posting a document and then inviting students to collaborate on it. The teacher would invite the students by providing their email addresses. They then log on with a password that they are given in the invitation email. That password can, of course, be changed.
I can't see how it would work to have more than one student editing a document at a time because I have to log out of one of my accounts to log in with another, but I think it should work well.
I really want to try this in the coming semester. Thanks, Iris, for the encouragement and example!
From what I can see so far, students who were going to be working in Writely as individuals would need only an email address and password. It would be easy for the teacher to set this up by posting a document and then inviting students to collaborate on it. The teacher would invite the students by providing their email addresses. They then log on with a password that they are given in the invitation email. That password can, of course, be changed.
I can't see how it would work to have more than one student editing a document at a time because I have to log out of one of my accounts to log in with another, but I think it should work well.
I really want to try this in the coming semester. Thanks, Iris, for the encouragement and example!
Monday, January 16, 2006
Writely
Have you heard about Writely? It is a tool for writing and collaboration that I read about over on Thoughts on Teaching. I went on over to check it out, and I think it is going to be pretty cool. I am trying it out on myself first to see how I think it might work for my students, but I think it has real potential. If anyone has looked at it, please let me know what you think and how you think it might be used in a classroom. I would like to see if I can use it for class editing of a document or collaboration on a story, for instance.
Anyway,check Writely out. I'll be interested in your comments.
Anyway,check Writely out. I'll be interested in your comments.
Sunday, January 15, 2006
Lies in science, too?
Charles Nelson, in a comment here, reminded me of the fact that chemistry teachers also "lie" to their students. Thinking back to a science class I recently sat in on, the instructor said, "Later on you will find out this isn't exactly true, but for now..." At least he was sort of honest. Charles' example and the case of the instructor I observed are definitely examples of trying to make things simpler for the beginner.
So I go back to writing... Is it helpful for beginners to be taught these "rules"? I was talking recently with a friend who told me she still tells her students they can't start sentences with "but". I remember being taught that 40 years ago or more. But of course, you don't write much without starting a few sentences with "but".
My philosophy for the last several years has been to let students write. Period. I try to teach about audience, and that is maybe where I would tell them that some people will not react favorably to certain constructions like contractions or more informal language. But I am not even sure that I am not lying to them still. Will a philosophy professor react negatively to a paper in which the student uses lots of informal language if he expresses himself clearly? I don't know. Guess I should ask one!
Charles has a blog if you would like to check it out.
So I go back to writing... Is it helpful for beginners to be taught these "rules"? I was talking recently with a friend who told me she still tells her students they can't start sentences with "but". I remember being taught that 40 years ago or more. But of course, you don't write much without starting a few sentences with "but".
My philosophy for the last several years has been to let students write. Period. I try to teach about audience, and that is maybe where I would tell them that some people will not react favorably to certain constructions like contractions or more informal language. But I am not even sure that I am not lying to them still. Will a philosophy professor react negatively to a paper in which the student uses lots of informal language if he expresses himself clearly? I don't know. Guess I should ask one!
Charles has a blog if you would like to check it out.
Saturday, January 14, 2006
Lies, lies and more lies
Bud shared part of a post from Tim about lies we tell our students. Bud mentions the lie of the 3-5 sentence paragraph.
We talk a lot in our Writing Project institutes about not giving students these formulaic views of writing. As readers we know we don't enjoy reading things that follow these "rules" and yet many teachers tell their students that they are RULES that must be followed.
Anyway, check out Bud's post and Tim's if you haven't seen them yet.
We talk a lot in our Writing Project institutes about not giving students these formulaic views of writing. As readers we know we don't enjoy reading things that follow these "rules" and yet many teachers tell their students that they are RULES that must be followed.
Anyway, check out Bud's post and Tim's if you haven't seen them yet.
Tuesday, January 10, 2006
The need to change education
While I can't imagine anyone reading my blog would not be reading Will Richardon first, I want to be sure everyone reads his post Change or Die.
Video Games
Having just spent a weekend with extended family, I was interested to read Dennis Jerz' post this morning.
My son, who is almost 19 and a really good kid, spent a bunch of time this weekend defending his love of video games. Now, my fmaily isn't really opposed to him playing games because they know him, but they feel video games cause other people lots of problems.
Responding to another post, Dennis says
Dennis makes some great points about the benefits of video games. I think there is more chance for someone to be really creative and involved and to learn something of value playing a video game than there is watching TV, for instance.
I really think a lot of this is a fear of the new. My brother, after talking about video games with my son, acknowledged that by jokingly referring to the fear we heard expressed when we were teens that Rock-and-Roll would destroy the nation. Every generation, it seems, has its "demon". Did Rock-and-Roll ruin us? There are some who would say yes, but for the most part I think we acknowledge that our music didn't destroy us. I don't think vidoe games will, either.
My son, who is almost 19 and a really good kid, spent a bunch of time this weekend defending his love of video games. Now, my fmaily isn't really opposed to him playing games because they know him, but they feel video games cause other people lots of problems.
Responding to another post, Dennis says
Diana laments that she can’t get her son to be social, to go shopping, go to a movie, or travel. But he may already be socializing with friends online. He may be shopping online, watching movies online, and exchanging e-mails with people from around the world.
If he knows how to negotiate alliances and trade resources in a virtual environment, he may be developing vital skills that will help him in the global information economy. Diana’s son may be developing leadership skills, mentoring newbies and rejoicing in their accomplishments. He may have have published his own game strategy guide, written fan fiction, or created his own user mods (new content that can be played by owners of existing games).
Dennis makes some great points about the benefits of video games. I think there is more chance for someone to be really creative and involved and to learn something of value playing a video game than there is watching TV, for instance.
I really think a lot of this is a fear of the new. My brother, after talking about video games with my son, acknowledged that by jokingly referring to the fear we heard expressed when we were teens that Rock-and-Roll would destroy the nation. Every generation, it seems, has its "demon". Did Rock-and-Roll ruin us? There are some who would say yes, but for the most part I think we acknowledge that our music didn't destroy us. I don't think vidoe games will, either.
Monday, January 09, 2006
Opportunities to learn something new
It is time for TESOL's Electronic Village Online courses. Last year I did a blogging course, which led me to create this blog. I also did a Moodle course. This year I am taking one on using technology in teaching listening and speaking and another one on creating WebQuests. I am really looking forward to them.
In case you are interested, you might want to check out the call for participation.
In case you are interested, you might want to check out the call for participation.
Sunday, January 01, 2006
Happy New Year!
It has been a busy end of the old year/beginning of the new. We had to move the last of our things out of the house we were living in before the storm and put them in storage. Yesterday my husband, son and I sat on the porch of the old house and talked about how much we loved sitting on that porch. Living there was a wonderful experience.
But now that is behind us. We are in 2006, what we hope and pray will be a better year for most of us than 2005 was!
Happy new year to you all!
But now that is behind us. We are in 2006, what we hope and pray will be a better year for most of us than 2005 was!
Happy new year to you all!
Wednesday, December 28, 2005
Looking forward to the next semester
I am excited about this new semester. My intermediate reading students will be reading two books by Thomas Merton about the Psalms. We are going to have a class blog where we will post summaries of the reading we have done, daily class logs, and whatever else I come up with. I am going to require posts to the blog instead of having them type the same information up and print it out. I am also going to require comments. I haven't worked out all the details yet, but I am on my way!
My advanced writers, if I have any, will also blog. I haven't quite figured out how. I think I will move some of their journaling to the blog. We will also be reading a novel, and I may track their progress on it through the blog. I obviously have a lot of thinking to do on this class still!
Last semester's blogging was good in that it acquainted the students with the concept and with blogger. But that is about all it did for them. They never really got blogging. My goal this semester is to help them/us build a sense of community on a class blog. If they achieve that, they will be much, much closer to understanding what blogging really is and what it can do for them. I will be extremely happy if we get to that point!
My advanced writers, if I have any, will also blog. I haven't quite figured out how. I think I will move some of their journaling to the blog. We will also be reading a novel, and I may track their progress on it through the blog. I obviously have a lot of thinking to do on this class still!
Last semester's blogging was good in that it acquainted the students with the concept and with blogger. But that is about all it did for them. They never really got blogging. My goal this semester is to help them/us build a sense of community on a class blog. If they achieve that, they will be much, much closer to understanding what blogging really is and what it can do for them. I will be extremely happy if we get to that point!
Saturday, December 17, 2005
What do you want your kid to do?
As the mother of an 18 yr old who is occasionally trying to find some direction in his life, I really appreciated Kathy Sierra's post about career advice. I am so sad to see the number of kids who feel at 14 or even 18 that they have to know exactly what they want to do when they are 40!
Only one of my three children knew what they wanted to do by 18 or so. And even she has altered the picture somewhat. (She is a nurse.) Her sister at that age wanted to be a doctor one day and a diesel mechanic the next. She designed her own Bachelor's degree in "Sustainable Communities" and then decided she didn't want to work with non-profits. At 24 she decided she wanted to go to law school. Since starting law school she has become less sure about the kind of law she wants to practice. And my son? He may want to be a game designer or a chef or a librarian. Or something else.
Kathy says:
I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I guess I was lucky. Or maybe just not brave enough to think outside the box. But in my life I have had to be creative and flexible and resourceful. In addition to teaching a variety of subjects Pre-K through college , I have also worked as a bookkeeper, a nursing assistant, a mental health technician, an egg handler, a health club receptionist, a drug store cashier, and probably a few other things I can't remember right now. Right now I am teaching at a college. But what will I be doing in 10 years? Who knows?
As Kathy says, this isn't the the world of the parents of the 1950s, the world of my parents. We need to encourage our kids -- and ourselves -- to take Kathy's advice.
Only one of my three children knew what they wanted to do by 18 or so. And even she has altered the picture somewhat. (She is a nurse.) Her sister at that age wanted to be a doctor one day and a diesel mechanic the next. She designed her own Bachelor's degree in "Sustainable Communities" and then decided she didn't want to work with non-profits. At 24 she decided she wanted to go to law school. Since starting law school she has become less sure about the kind of law she wants to practice. And my son? He may want to be a game designer or a chef or a librarian. Or something else.
Kathy says:
The advice I would give ... is that the most important preparation skills/orientations today are:
* Creativity
* Flexibility
* Resourcefulness
* Synthesis
* Metacognition (thinking about thinking)
I always knew that I wanted to be a teacher. I guess I was lucky. Or maybe just not brave enough to think outside the box. But in my life I have had to be creative and flexible and resourceful. In addition to teaching a variety of subjects Pre-K through college , I have also worked as a bookkeeper, a nursing assistant, a mental health technician, an egg handler, a health club receptionist, a drug store cashier, and probably a few other things I can't remember right now. Right now I am teaching at a college. But what will I be doing in 10 years? Who knows?
As Kathy says, this isn't the the world of the parents of the 1950s, the world of my parents. We need to encourage our kids -- and ourselves -- to take Kathy's advice.
Wednesday, December 14, 2005
As the semester comes to a close...
I find myself trying to see what actually transpired in my classroom. It hasn't been a particularly stellar semester, but I am trying to not get bogged down in the negative. I am looking for some of the good and trying to figure out how to improve the rest.
I didn't give my students a fair shot a blogging this semester. It was complicated by switching blog providers mid-semester. But I just never managed to convey my enthusiasm for blogging to my students. But you know, I never really shared my blog with them, either. Maybe I will set up a class blog for the next semester. Maybe participating in it together will help them see the communal nature of blogging more easily.
I haven't worked this out in my mind yet, of course. As a matter of fact, the idea just came to me now as I was writing. But I can see advantages.
Mostly, though, I have to work on setting it up so they will want to blog. I have to help them see the value in it. I didn't achieve that goal this semester. Hope I do better next time!
I didn't give my students a fair shot a blogging this semester. It was complicated by switching blog providers mid-semester. But I just never managed to convey my enthusiasm for blogging to my students. But you know, I never really shared my blog with them, either. Maybe I will set up a class blog for the next semester. Maybe participating in it together will help them see the communal nature of blogging more easily.
I haven't worked this out in my mind yet, of course. As a matter of fact, the idea just came to me now as I was writing. But I can see advantages.
Mostly, though, I have to work on setting it up so they will want to blog. I have to help them see the value in it. I didn't achieve that goal this semester. Hope I do better next time!
Sunday, December 11, 2005
What is wrong with us?
If you read the Washington Post report on the student who was expelled for answering a question in Spanish, I hope you are asking yourself that question.
I can see encouraging students who are learning English to speak the language, but this kid was bilingual. What harm does it do? We should be praising him for being able to speak two languages. But instead, we expel him.
This is old thinking. Native Americans used to be punished for speaking their languages in school. Mexican Americans were often punished for the same thing. But that was 30 or more years ago. Have we really learned nothing?
Check out the article if you haven't yet.
I can see encouraging students who are learning English to speak the language, but this kid was bilingual. What harm does it do? We should be praising him for being able to speak two languages. But instead, we expel him.
This is old thinking. Native Americans used to be punished for speaking their languages in school. Mexican Americans were often punished for the same thing. But that was 30 or more years ago. Have we really learned nothing?
Check out the article if you haven't yet.
Thursday, December 01, 2005
But I am grateful for so many things.
The last post was very depressing, and it is important that you know that most of the time everything is pretty good and I am doing pretty well. The problems we have here are minor compared to what people in many parts of the world experience on a daily basis. I have no real right to complain!
I am grateful for the fact that, even though it is maddening slow, there is progress. Things are improving. Everyone that I know personally is OK. Some have lost their jobs; others have lost their homes; a few have lost both. But they are alive. That is a blessing. My family and I have a place to live and jobs to go to. Everything else is really pretty trivial!
I am also grateful to the many friends from around the world who have taken time to write to me or to leave comments here since Katrina. It is nice to know that people I have never met face to face care enough to send a good word or ask a caring question. Part of the difficulty for us in this recovery process is that everyone around us is in the same boat or worse. There is no one here who can really lend a hand or even an ear because everyone has their own situation to deal with. So you are all especially important to me right now.
I hope to get back to blogging on a regular basis. It is important to me. Thank you for reading and sharing.
I am grateful for the fact that, even though it is maddening slow, there is progress. Things are improving. Everyone that I know personally is OK. Some have lost their jobs; others have lost their homes; a few have lost both. But they are alive. That is a blessing. My family and I have a place to live and jobs to go to. Everything else is really pretty trivial!
I am also grateful to the many friends from around the world who have taken time to write to me or to leave comments here since Katrina. It is nice to know that people I have never met face to face care enough to send a good word or ask a caring question. Part of the difficulty for us in this recovery process is that everyone around us is in the same boat or worse. There is no one here who can really lend a hand or even an ear because everyone has their own situation to deal with. So you are all especially important to me right now.
I hope to get back to blogging on a regular basis. It is important to me. Thank you for reading and sharing.
To give you an idea of what we live with still...
People are always asking me if life here is back to normal yet. Surely, here on the north side of the lake where there was not as much devastation as in New Orleans, things are back to normal! Well, it is 8:35 am. Let me tell you about my day so far.
I got up and got ready for work. I live about 3 miles from the college where I teach, and the trip takes me 5-7 minutes. Well, I was about 2 minutes from work, on River Road, the little road the college is on, when I saw up ahead a lot of trucks and a big machine moving debris from the side of the road and loading it into the truck. There was no warning. They were just there. There were a number of other vehicles lined up along the road in front of me, but they were all trucks of workers involved in the project. I waited a couple minutes, but as there was no workman on my side of the work, no one knew I was there. Now, I have waited as much as 15 minutes for these guys to finish loading a truck before they let cars pass. I have also waited 15 minutes and still not seen any sign that they were going to let cars pass, so I have turned around and gone another way. I chose to leave after just a couple minutes today because it was pretty obvious they had a long ways to go before the truck would be filled. So I backed up, turned around and went back towards home. I had to wait a couple minutes to get back onto the highway because of all the traffic. Finally I was able to get on the highway and get to an alternate way to get to school. Everything was going well. I got back to River Road the college was on, or almost to it, when I saw a big truck -- a semi tractor pulling probably a 30 foot trailer that was built up to carry storm debris. I was on River Road and wanted to turn onto the road I was on. Now, you have to understand that these are not real roads. Two cars can pass on them, but there is no shoulder, so passing a truck that big requires caution. I waited and let the truck begin his turn -- because he gave no sign of waiting for me to do anything else. The turn is not a normal 90 degree turn but, from the side he was on, probably about 75 degrees. And there is, of course, a power pole right on the corner. He could not make it in one try or even two or even three. Finally, he recognized the fact that the truck would have to be perfectly positioned on River Road before it could hope to turn onto the smaller road I was on. So he played around and got the truck back on River Road. After a bit longer, he backed up enough to clear the intersection, and I was finally able to turn onto River Road and get to work. All this took about 30 minutes.
So, while I now have Internet at home, life is hardly normal. Or at least I hope this isn't normal. I am really tired of it. In all honesty, I think they should declare a moratorium on debris pick-up over here. That would help me get back to normal more than having all the debris picked up will. This formerly heavily wooded area will never be back to normal in my lifetime. All we can do is try to make life as easy on us as it can be.
Sometimes I think people who have evacuated feel that they are suffering more than those of us who are here now are. They feel a loss of community and experience a lot of nostalgia for how things used to be. They do not, however, have to deal with the fact that nothing works yet. Nothing. We may have the basic services, but we don't get the bills on time or we don't get them at all or they are totally wrong. Everything is a battle.
I didn't sleep well last night, and that may account for some of this, but my tiredness is deeper than lack of a good night's sleep. I am tired of the struggle that life here is now.
My friend Melanie wrote
So this is my life for now. I don't expect you to really be able to understand because I don't even, really. But I wanted to try to explain anyway. Thanks for listening.
I got up and got ready for work. I live about 3 miles from the college where I teach, and the trip takes me 5-7 minutes. Well, I was about 2 minutes from work, on River Road, the little road the college is on, when I saw up ahead a lot of trucks and a big machine moving debris from the side of the road and loading it into the truck. There was no warning. They were just there. There were a number of other vehicles lined up along the road in front of me, but they were all trucks of workers involved in the project. I waited a couple minutes, but as there was no workman on my side of the work, no one knew I was there. Now, I have waited as much as 15 minutes for these guys to finish loading a truck before they let cars pass. I have also waited 15 minutes and still not seen any sign that they were going to let cars pass, so I have turned around and gone another way. I chose to leave after just a couple minutes today because it was pretty obvious they had a long ways to go before the truck would be filled. So I backed up, turned around and went back towards home. I had to wait a couple minutes to get back onto the highway because of all the traffic. Finally I was able to get on the highway and get to an alternate way to get to school. Everything was going well. I got back to River Road the college was on, or almost to it, when I saw a big truck -- a semi tractor pulling probably a 30 foot trailer that was built up to carry storm debris. I was on River Road and wanted to turn onto the road I was on. Now, you have to understand that these are not real roads. Two cars can pass on them, but there is no shoulder, so passing a truck that big requires caution. I waited and let the truck begin his turn -- because he gave no sign of waiting for me to do anything else. The turn is not a normal 90 degree turn but, from the side he was on, probably about 75 degrees. And there is, of course, a power pole right on the corner. He could not make it in one try or even two or even three. Finally, he recognized the fact that the truck would have to be perfectly positioned on River Road before it could hope to turn onto the smaller road I was on. So he played around and got the truck back on River Road. After a bit longer, he backed up enough to clear the intersection, and I was finally able to turn onto River Road and get to work. All this took about 30 minutes.
So, while I now have Internet at home, life is hardly normal. Or at least I hope this isn't normal. I am really tired of it. In all honesty, I think they should declare a moratorium on debris pick-up over here. That would help me get back to normal more than having all the debris picked up will. This formerly heavily wooded area will never be back to normal in my lifetime. All we can do is try to make life as easy on us as it can be.
Sometimes I think people who have evacuated feel that they are suffering more than those of us who are here now are. They feel a loss of community and experience a lot of nostalgia for how things used to be. They do not, however, have to deal with the fact that nothing works yet. Nothing. We may have the basic services, but we don't get the bills on time or we don't get them at all or they are totally wrong. Everything is a battle.
I didn't sleep well last night, and that may account for some of this, but my tiredness is deeper than lack of a good night's sleep. I am tired of the struggle that life here is now.
My friend Melanie wrote
I wish I could remember being light-hearted and happy, feeling attractive, being fun and flirtatious. I've gotten so old-hearted lately. I've lost my mirth. And I don't know how to retrieve it. Is innocence and joy ruined?I understand completely. There is a heaviness in all of us that doesn't seem to want to go away.
So this is my life for now. I don't expect you to really be able to understand because I don't even, really. But I wanted to try to explain anyway. Thanks for listening.
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