Kid and Caboodle

Chris, A.J. and I went to see my friend/neighbor/former boss perform with his garage band at a local restaurant tonight. It was good music for a great cause, but it was a little disconcerting to see how many of my coworkers also were there. These days with LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter I can’t help having my work and personal lives blend on the Internet, but it was a little weird to have it happen in real life as well. Also, I’ve been out of the office for the last six days and will still be out for the next three, so seeing so many of my coworkers tonight felt rather like stopping in the office while in the middle of vacation. Eh.

I have no idea how this person found my blog to ask me to participate in a survey, but she looks like a legitimate researcher. She seems to need more people, so if you’re a female blogger and want to participate, I post the full text of her note below:

I’m a mom, a blogger, and a Ph.D. student, and I need your help. I’m doing a study about why women blog, and you have been selected at random to participate in a short survey about what motivates you to blog and what you get out of blogging.

Here is the link: http://www.surveygizmo.com/s/231228/women-bloggers

Thanks in advance for your help. Feel free to contact me at gmmasull@syr.edu if you have any questions.

Gina Chen
Ph.D. student
S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications
Syracuse University

Public Service Announcement: Text YELE to 501501 to contribute $5 to disaster relief efforts in Haiti thru the Wyclef Jean Foundation (charge will appear on your phone bill) or HAITI to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross efforts.

More info from America.gov (a State Department Web site):
President Obama Urges Americans to Donate Assistance for Haiti

Just checked the Fairfax County Public Schools emergency announcement page and learned that school has been cancelled due to snow THROUGH WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23. This, combined with the winter break scheduled to start December 24, means that A.J. is not scheduled to go back to school again until JANUARY 4. Good grief!

It’s a good thing I was already scheduled to be off all this week and that Chris was already scheduled to be off all next week, else we’d be scrambling for child care!

As a bonus, though, the federal government (in the D.C. area) is also closed tomorrow, so Chris doesn’t have to figure out how to get to work. Believe it or not, the federal government rarely gives its workers free leave because it costs so much money. This has been one heck of a snowstorm!

1 p.m. December 20: Driveway and walk are clear, but still no sign of a snowplow.

I am fortunate to have access to really good health care in my area. This afternoon, for example, I took A.J. to the dentist to have sealants put on his permanent molars. These sealants are basically bits of plastic injected into the pits and cracks of his teeth so bacteria can’t grow in them and cause cavities. They used to be an expensive luxury, but nowadays they are becoming routine.

A.J.’s dentist is a pediatric dentist, not a standard one. Her office not only has all sorts of toys and children’s books in the waiting room, but it does its best to make the appointments comfortable and almost fun for the kids. For example, the children get to wear sunglasses to shield their eyes when being examined under high-powered lights. The toothpaste the staff uses during cleanings comes in flavors like cotton candy, grape, watermelon and bubble gum, and so do the dental floss and fluoride treatments. Kids without cavities win little prizes like tops, plastic bracelets, rubber balls, and the sorts of things in vending machines they always seem to love.

How I wish A.J.’s dentist took grownups as patients!

Student Privacy Spotlighted in Va.
Manassas School Board, City Pay in Discrimination Suit; Policies Tightened
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/26/AR2008092603641.html?hpid=topnews

This story makes me hopping mad. How dare the school target students with Hispanic names and distribute information from their personal records? Even if they had the right, which they DON’T appear to have had, why didn’t the school look at the residency records for ALL students — who is to say crowding doesn’t happen for Asians, blacks and whites?

And who wrote that ridiculous residency law anyway? Rather than saying, “A house cannot have more than X residents,” it says the residents must all be parents and children. So a couple with nine children can crowd into a two-bedroom condo, but an aunt can’t take in her sister and niece. That is not the way close-knit families work.

Attended a training session today by Shel Holtz on social media networks. I am mildly dazed by all the different tools that are out there. I thought I was doing fairly well by having a personal Web page, a blog and a Facebook presence, but apparently I should also explore Twitter, Second Life, digg, de.lici.ous and other software.

I think I’ll call it a night instead.

All week one of our neighbors has been setting off fireworks.  I can hear them going off right now, in fact, and it is past 10 p.m.  I understand tomorrow will be July 4th, and I’m all for having a good time, but I think it is fairly inconsiderate to make a lot of noise when people around you — particularly small children — could be trying to sleep.

A friend asked me tonight to review the first chapter of a book she has completed and plans to try publishing soon.  She asked me to be brutally honest, and … I was.  I can see an easy fix for the main plot problem I pointed out, but I don’t know how much rewriting she wants to do since she already has finished the book.  Hopefully she’s still willing to talk to me at this point to hear my suggestion!