edshots

As a Worker where I'm at, I notice that sometimes things don't go as I plan. The perfect safety plan for a child, that assures safety and continuity, suddenly becomes a cluster fart because somebody who wasn't even a part of it decides thatthey want to change it. It's even more annoying when the person wanting to change it isn't a part of the case at the open, they just show up.
When working a case, the primary goal is to assure that no further harm comes to the child. In many cases that is simple- don't let the person who may have done the harm near the kid. When there are cases where it is not clear whom the person that may have caused harm is, it gets more difficult. Then you can only plan to minimize the probability that it will happen again.
That's where the fun starts. You talk to the parties involved, talk to others, and begin to form a safety plan. Then other people come in and screw it up. A family member that hasn't had squat to do with the child in question suddenly becomes a highly concerned family member. The Problems then begin.
As a caseworker, and an agent of the government, I have to not only protect the child, I have to be aware of the rights of the family members I'm deaaling with. ANd therfore, even tough this new entity is a total jack-off, I can't say that they are a total jack-off an prevent them from being involved in the family situation. I can see why some people would rather just let the government take charge and damn the rights of everybody.
Additionally, I have to deal with people who, for whatever reason, just can't tell people to go the hell away, you're not having anything to do with my child. Granted, it's usually the parent who isn't realted to the jack-off, but I can't believe that I would let my kid be around somebody that I wanted nothing to do with.

George W Bush often refers to Karl Rove as the Boy Genius. And he's proven it again. With his remarks at a meeting of New York Republicans, he's managed to make Democrats look weak, foolish and hypocritical all at the same time. By referring to the liberal reaction to 9/11 as seeking therapy and understanding he exposed the left's weakness on defense issues. But he was slick referring to liberals, not democrats. SHortly after the remarks the usual suspects started complaining and demanding an apology. AMong them were John Kerry, who by the way denied that he was a liberal during the presidental campaign. This gave the White House the oppurtunity to point out all those other stupid things that Democats have been saying, like the comment sby Durbin and Dean lately.

Boy Genius indeed.

Went to see Batman Begins this weekend. I'm favorably disposed to almost anything Batman since I've been a Batfan since I was a kid, (Although I admit that even I had a hard time with the 4th Batman movie with Clooney et al.) but I thought the movie was great. It did bog down on occasion, but over all I thought that it captured the spirit of the character. I liked some of the cute lines (Gordon on the Batmobile for example, " I gotta get me one of those") and the romantic plot with Katie Holmes was little enough that I didn't mind it. I liked the touch of Liam Neesam being Ra's al Ghul who comes back to haunt Batman. Michael Caine as Alfred was a good pick. And Christian Bales as Bruce and Batman was fine. The ending of the movie where Gordon talks about how the bad guys keep ratcheting it up against the good guys was a great scene, especially the end. I liked the catch lines of why we fall and especially the one about what you do being what really matters.

A good message for the youngsters that were watching. Which weren't many at the showing that I went to, surprisingly. I went to the matinee showing on Sunday (Yes, I'm cheap) and it was 90% adults in the theatre.

Anyway on the Ed rating scale, I give the flick at least three-and-a-half of four, and part of that is just because I don't like to give out fours.

I read the other day that Leon Askin, who played General Burkhalter in Hogan's Heroes, passed away. I hadn't known it but he was actually a survivor of the Hitler days in Bulgaria. He and his family escaped to America after time in a concentration camp.

The man escapes the Nazis, then ends up playing one as a buffoon on a show that portrays them all as bumbling fools that Hogan and the gang run rings around. He had to get some strange satisfaction from that.

May he rest in peace.

The Senate, last week, in a move to bring even more glory on itself and/or for no other reason than it is made up of a bunch of knuckle-heads issued a resolution apologizing for not making it a Federal crime to lynch a person. The same senate that each time a anti-lynching bill came before it would use the holy tactic of the filibuster to prevent it from ever voting on the bill. The same Senate that has the former Kleagle of the KKK as one of the Democratic elder statesmen.

The only thing that made this stupid move even more despicable was listening to some of the rhetoric about the bill. The same week that Dick Durbin (D-IL) bemoans American soldiers as being on a level with Hitler and Pol-Pot, they have the gumption to play this propagandistic token of high-thinking BS.

Sitting at my place here in Gettysburg, where thousands of men gave their lives in an effort to protect a Government dedicated to the concept that all men were created equal, I got to read the words of John Lewis (D-GA). He states that the US government has never apologized for the lynchings. HE says that the US government has never apologized for slavery or ever gone on the record condemning slavery. This idiot needs to make a trip an hour north of Washington and visit us here. This Dipwad needs to read the Constitution that he promised to protect and defend and read the little bit in there about slavery being outlawed. This Jag-off needs to quit hanging out with old Senator Sheets Byrd, who has the distinction of being the only senator to vote against both blacks appointed to the Supreme Court.

This is what passes for politics today. When they should be working on important issues like the war, the courts, and finding ways to cut the waste in the system, they are apologizing for something that none of them ( with the possible exception of Byrd) had anything to do with. One of the principles at the founding was that a person could not be held responsible for the acts of another. I wish the idiots in DC remembered that and would stop apologizing for things they had nothing to do with.

Michael Jackson was found "not guilty" on all counts on Monday. The key phrase is "not guilty." I noticed some of the media outlets were using that term rather than innocent , but not all of them. It's good to see that they recognize the difference. I just wonder if they would say innocent if the person involved wasn't so strange.

I personally expected that he would be found guilty on some of the charges, maybe the furnishing intoxicants to a minor or the conspiracy, but never really expected him to be found guilty on the abuse charges. I know how hard it is to get a conviction on that type of charge when the victim doesn't have credibility issues and there's forensic evidence. This case didn't have either of those making it even harder to reach the burden of proof. I would have been surprised if he was found guilty on the molestation charges.

The good news is that he will now slip back into that fog where once hot celebrities go when they aren't popular anymore. We won't hear too much about him until he dangles a baby or lets another boy into his bedroom at neverland. Hopefully that won't be for a long time.

Women are an interesting thing.

It is interesting how one can flirt and proposition some and it never amounts to anything. In other cases, it regularly comes close to meaning something. There was a situation recently that I was talking to a someone that I find attracive. Not beautiful, but intriguing. One that I wouldn't mind spending an evening with (wink, wink, nudge nudge). But we've known each other long enough, including while I was married, that the firting and propositioning that we had done all that time, when we knew nothing was to come of it, also plays a part.

One of the biggest adjudgements of being single again is playing in those areas. When commmitted to another, I could say "let's do the nasty" and know that neither I or her would do so. Now, there is the possibility. That makes it both more and less fun.

Back to the original point though... Women are interesting. I dread the day that I never have to deal with hese kinds of concerns again. I would much rather have to be concerned than not to.

Today is Flag Day.

It is also the 230th birthday of the US Army.

A wonderful day.

The weather has been rather warm as of late, hitting into the high 80s and even supposed to hit 90 today. The nights aren't much better, it only got down to the mid 70s last night. As I am not a svelte as I once was, the heat has a bit more effect on me than it used to. I don't really mind the heat so much but it does make me sweat. I have had to use more powder than usual just to avoid stinking.

The worst part of the heat is when I have to do a walk. I put on a thick shirt, wool pants, wool vest and get to stand in the heat. That's when the powder really comes in handy. There's not much worse than hot wool on sticky skin to drive you nuts. A lot of people wonder how I can stand it but I've found that after about 20 minutes, I don't really notice anymore than I would if I had been standing there in shorts and a t-shirt. One thing that is different though is the need for water. I found that on some of these hot days that I have walks, I can drink about a gallon of water and not have to use the bathroom since I've sweat all the water out.

I've always thought that about 90% of a person's reaction to the weather is half mental (apologies to Yogi). The weather lately makes me believe that even more.

With the win over the Tampa Bay Devil Rays last night, the Pittsburgh Pirates are at .500 for the first time this late in the season since 1999. For most teams, that's no big deal. When you haven't had a winning season in over a decade, it's a big deal. I think I'll find a way to celebrate.

As I was sitting on the side of the bed this AM, I looked over at the corner of the room. There, in three large baskets, were my dirty clothes. I am lucky enough to have a washer & dryer in the apartment building where I live, but I rarely use it. Most of the reason for that is that I don't really like to do laundry. If I were to use the machines in the building, I could only do two loads of laundry at a time. By the time I get around to doing laundry, there's about the equivalent of ten loads. To do them one at a time would take all day, and I don't really have that kind of time. I find it easier to go to the laundry mat and do all ten loads at one time. The I can dry all ten loads at one time as well. This means that doing laundry only takes a couple of hours instead of all day. I can take a bottle of diet coke, a news paper and all those dirty clothes and be finished by the time I get finished with the crossword puzzles in the paper.

We had a big storm come through the area yesterday. Winds, Rain, lightning, thunder, the whole thing.

I like to watch a good storm. The gods of wind and thunder at work. It's always an enjoyable show.

There may have been some tornadoes that came through with the front. Lots of people are afraid of tornadoes, and they should be. I guess a bit of the fear comes from never having experienced a tornado. The unknown is always a big fear factor. I had an experience with a tornado years ago. Mom and I were coming home after having dropped my sister off at Girl Scout Camp. We were traveling along the highway when the storm hit. The wind and rain made it very difficult to see past the hood of the car. We eventually pulled over to the side of the road until we could see. The wind kept up and got stronger. The car could be felt rocking. The it slowed and stopped. We continued on home. Later that day we found that where we pulled over was about 1/4 mile from a path where a twister had ripped a path almost a half mile wide. If we had stopped a minute sooner, it would have been right over us. Since then, Tornadoes don't hold quite the same awfulness for me.

The Pirates played the Braves this weekend. The Atlanta Braves. The ones who air on TBS. The TBS that's a national cable network. The one owned by Ted. The one that broadcasts about 150 of the 162 games the Braves play. Guess which three they choose not to broadcast.

That's right. The Pirates series. Not one. One of the few chances that I get to see a Pirates game is when they play the Braves since none of the cable companies in Gettysburg carry Fox Sports Pittsburgh. And they don't show one of the friggin' games!

Damn that Turner.

It's interesting when you begin a new version of something that you've been doing for years and you feel like a rookie all over again. I did my first version of a new ghost tour this weekend. Even though I've been doing tours for years, I was more nervous than I had been in a long time. Even though I knew the stories, I knew the ground, and I knew how to handle the weather...I was nervous. I did mostly okay. I forgot the name of widow at the one house, I stopped at a place other than I wanted to at one point, and I forgot part of a story, I don't think that the customers noticed most of the mistakes. They seemed to enjoy the tour and complimented me at the end. It may have helped that I warned them that this was my first tour on the new route and was still getting used to it.

It's been similar at the day job as well. As I continue to get reacquainted with the ins and outs of the work, it is beginning to all come back to me. Which is good.

It's been a bit since the last post so it's time to catch up.

Babies are so cool
This afternoon, I got to see the grandkid of some people I know. The child is about eight months old. It amazing how much bigger the child has gotten in that time. When first seen the child was smaller than a football. Not so anymore.
The funny part is as I was thyinking about this before I came to make this entry, I was sitting on the balcony watching out over the parking lot. A young mom that I had seen earlier (somewhat attractive from what I could see either time) came into the parking lot behind the building. SHe put the babe on the trunk and proceded to change the diaper on the back of the car. After that she put the kid back in the stroller and continued on her way. I thought changing stations in public restrooms were strange (especially in men's rooms) but now I guess that at that age it's even more true that when you gotta go you gotta go.

Technology advances
I was informed yesterday as they installed my new computer at work that the 3 1/2 inch discs are becoming obselete. I had just begun to figure out how to effectively use them to travel data from place to place and then it doesn't matter. That's not a bad thing; advances that improve effectiveness are always good. I just wish that I had time to catch up before I got behind.
Of course I feel that way about things other than technology.

Deep Throat
The mysterious source of the information leading to the downfall of Richard Nixon wasn't the saint that many thought but rather a pissed off civil servant who didn't get the job he wanted. As an occasionally pissed off civil servant I'm not sure if I like that idea or not. I know that several years ago, in the private sector, I suggested to a newspaperman I knew that he might want to look at happenings at the place I was working. I had no reason not to as I wasn't bound by any limitations about talking about my job other than the laws of case confidentialy.
I think the best analysis of the events of Watergate have been phrased up by others. It was a corrupt and out of control FBI against a corrupt and out of control president. The Corrupt FBI won.

Baseball
The Pirates are playing good baseball having won 4 of five against the Marlins and Braves. I'm looking forward to be able to watch the Bucs play the Braves tonight on TBS...what...it's not on? The team that broadcasts 99% of the games, home and away, won't be on TV tonight???
Just one more reason that Ted Turner is a major jackoff. Whether he has any to do with it or not. May he burn in the appropriate level of hell when his time comes. (Not that I'm upset or anything.)

Comic Books
I'm still trying to figure out how to get organized all the comics that I've brought home from Mom's over the past month. It is neat to be able to go through the books and pull out some of the issues to read. I look at some of the ones that I bagged almost twenty years ago and wonder why. I look at some that I didn't and wonder why not. HIndsight is always 20/20, unless it's 20/15.