Showing posts with label Front Line. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Front Line. Show all posts

Wednesday, May 21, 2014

Spring 2014 5 21 Wednesday

70 degrees this morning. Should be a great morning on the patio!
Still some "jet lag" effects on sleeping patterns, but otherwise reentry has been good and the jet lag effects aren't that bad.  
Thinking some more about the Front Line program on solitary confinement, I had never really thought before the effects of total mindless rage, to the point that a person slams themselves against a steel door for hours and bleeds and other.  I was actually stunned by the program.  There are some actions that even writing can't really get across the overwhelming rage that someone feels.  I have seen it in residents who feel they have no say in a situation, and perhaps I vaguely feel it for brief moments about the way the spoiled brat professional politician and the board of fools are destroying Lakeland.  However, I can move, the resident normally gets some response (maybe not in the current Lakeland), but the prisoner has absolutely no say or even any response to his or her focused anger.  I'll look more at this.
One of the aspects of China I noticed I miss is the sound of the language itself.  I expect if I could understand it, I wouldn't notice it,but the musical nature of it is intriguing, with there being major differences in men and women speaking it.  I actually also enjoyed most of the food, much more than I expected.  
Sitting out on my patio again.  I guess I am pushing it, it probably is just a little too cool yet for early morning patio.  (The rest of the day is fine, but enjoy the early morning the best.)  I am going to sit out here for a while, but probably will give up and go in.  
I have a "virtual coffee"  (through FaceTime) later this morning.  I wish I had invested in a headphone/microphone combination for this, I'm sure it won't be the last one I have.  
At the last hotel we stayed at, they had walnuts to put in your oatmeal (this was the "western" breakfast buffet of course).  I liked it so much I am adding walnuts to my oatmeal, along with the cinnamon, blueberries and honey!  Pretty soon, I'll wander where the oatmeal went!  I eat that and an apple with peanut butter every morning.  I may need to delay the apple and peanut butter to later in the day, it is becoming a big breakfast.  
Evernote-I keep hearing about how good it is and I have been a "premium" subscriber for years.  I just recently have really started to use it, organize my notes etc.  I think I can use it to replace some database programs I pay more for.  It is so hard to get assistance on it.  That is a major reason I like Apple products, if nothing else I can go to the Apple Store and get assistance on anything Apple sells.  I'm not aware of any other product that does that.  
I wish Apple would buy Evernote!  That would really be a fascistic combination.  Evernote just has such a long learning curve and they have very little support, although eventually someone responds to me.  However, either I don't explain myself well, or they are that familiar with the program themselves.  I think they have a "in the rut" type of thinking on what the program should do and they don't envision what I am trying to do.  For years, I basically just listed the books I wanted to read (so I could refer to it) and my car mileage and occasionally some other things.  I learned the "notebook/note" system and now hopefully learning the reminder system.  I am also keeping articles in it instead of on my computer.
I really enjoy the "online" USA Today (I think it is the best on-line paper), but it is so hard to retain articles (other than on the iPad itself).
I am attending a "Veterans" Job Fair tomorrow.  I have never been to one, so it will be interesting.  

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Spring 2014 5 20 Tuesday

70 degrees this morning.  A little cool, but I decide to sit on our wonderful patio to write this.  The wind is blowing through the trees, the birds a chirping and it is wonderful.  First time this spring.
Re-entry into daily life after China has been ok.  I have gotten back into my exercise routine without any problems.  I am waking up at 2 a.m., probably related to jet lag.  I like the extra productivity time, but I know it isn't sustainable.  My experience in China has made me a lot more aware of Chinese stories and books..  Actually, in China I really enjoyed the "Shanghai Daily", which was a English language paper for Shanghai residents and provided a lot of insight into Shanghai.  
Reading and listening to "The Bully Pulpit" by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  I love her books.  I read it on the way from Shanghai on the plane and got about maybe 25% through, so it is not a fast read but it is  a good one.  I also am listening to it on my morning walk.  I discovered I liked doing that since one reinforces the other.  It is a book about Teddy Roosevelt, but also William Taft and S.S. McClure and numerous other characters that are woven into a really enjoyable story.  
I first heard Doris Kearns Goodwin at a landmark City Managers Conference in Cincinnati.  I immediately got all of her books and started reading them (it took me several years).  At the same Conference I heard Beck Weathers (Left for Dead) and his fascinating story about mountain climbing, which was more of a story about addiction (not the right word) and focusing on the wrong thing and not letting yourself lose focus over what is important in life.  I also started reading mountain climbing books, and still do, but I have not desire to climb a mountain, any more than I'd like to learn boxing because of my secret liking for boxing.  
I heard Doris Kearns Goodwin in Pittsburg and actually met her at the TGIFridays restaurant in the Airport.  (She spoke on "Team of Rivals".  I just told her I enjoyed her books and left her alone, but I was kicking myself for not bringing all of her books with me to ask her to sign them!  
She is going to be at a conference later this year and I"m sure, will speak on The Bully  Pulpit. I am looking forward to it and I want to finish the book and the recording before the conference.  The recording is challenging, I think it is 39 hours.  At 1/2 hour per day (my walking time), it will take me about 3 months to listen to the entire book.  
I will be going to my first "job fair' this week.  I am going more for experience as anything, but who knows.  
Rats, wind is coming up a little too cool on the patio.  I don't know how it looks so bare in winter and so lush in Summer.
Our house is on the market again.  The buyer we had the contract with backed out for a variety of reasons.  She wanted some modifications and I think found they cost than she expected.  
One of the difficult aspects of being away for awhile is to catch up on all your mail and reading material (magazines etc.).  It takes me a week to go through everything and I just throw away all the back magazines and newspapers.  I learned a long time ago not to even try.
Watched a Front Line last night about "solitary confinement".  It was fascinating, a study of absolute rage at being in a small room by yourself and how prisoners deal with it.  
On the plane, I noticed how everyone waited the next meal, snack etc.  Kind of like being in prison you think of it, you're in a seat belt, under complete control of authority, and no means to escape!
That's it for today.  Tuesday, May 20, 2014.