MY LIFE: My Daughter Must Have Had Fun

This started out as a tweet for my Twitter page, but it just became too long. - OlderMusicGeek

Well, my daughter obviously had fun at the overnight camping trip that her after school program had organized. I don't think they camped per se, but rather slept in cabins. But I don't know because I haven't had a chance to talk to her about it. Why haven't I had a chance? Well, let me tell you.

She got home yesterday afternoon and went to her mom's place. I went over to her mom's place later in the early evening to pick her up.

I knocked on the door and there was no answer. So I knocked again. Still no answer. I texted my daughter letting her know I was there. No reply. I called her cell. I got the voice mail. I called her mom's land line. I got the answering machine. I left a message saying I had been there and that I'd see her at home. - I only live a block away. - I tried knocking one more time, but of no avail.

My daughter had sent me a text earlier in the day asking if she could spend the night with a friend. So I called the friend's mother. She said my daughter wasn't there and hadn't even heard about her spending the night. She asked me worriedly where I thought my daughter could be. I casually said she probably just fell asleep and didn't hear me knock.

And sure enough, 45 minutes later, my daughter comes strolling into our apartment saying she had fallen asleep and didn't hear me knock... or call... or text. I told her I assumed as much and didn't worry about then.

Unfortunately, somebody did. We got a call about a half hour later from the mother of the friend asking with concern if I heard from my daughter and knew where she was. I told her she was home and had fallen asleep before, and I apologized for not letting her know.

As for my daughter, when she got to my place, she immediately plopped on the couch and watched tv... and fell asleep shortly thereafter. I suggested she go to her bedroom and watch tv there... twice. Both times, she mumbled something back incomprehensible and fell asleep again within ten minutes.

The third time, I finally made her get up and go to her bedroom.

Then when I went to bed, I checked in on her. She lying fully dressed on a pile of blankets with her glasses on and her mouth open and a bit of dribble coming down. I grabbed what bit of the blanket was loose and covered her up. That woke her up enough to take off her glasses and get covered properly.

And she continued to sleep until I had to leave for work at 7:30 the next morning when I woke her to send her to her mom's. And she barely woke up then!

More posts on my daughter

CULTURE/SOCIETY and SPIRITUALITY/RELIGION: The Flying Spaghetti Monster's Pirate Fish Saves the Day

Usually I don't reprint too many blog post from The Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster, cus they can be even too anti-religion for an anti-religion type like me. But this one is pretty cute. - OlderMusicGeek

December 9, 2007 - a cold, wintery night in Cleveland, Ohio. I dropped my keys outside a Panini’s (sports bar franchise) in the Warehouse district. In a strapless dress, heels and no coat I walked all the way back to my car only to realize I had no way in. Frustrated and tired, I spent the night at a friends and waited for my sister to come in the morning with a spare key. As we approached the lot, my car was nowhere to be found. The towing company did not have it. The only other option… STOLEN. My poor Honda Civic was being violated by the hands of a complete stranger.

The cops made a report and then did nothing. The following Friday I received a voicemail from a man named Ray whom I’d never met and said he had information about my car. Apparently it was in the ghetto of Cleveland preferably known as “Crackland.” Evidently a homeless man had found the keys and used the remote to locate it. Very resourceful.

Since the police would not tow it, I called my insurance company. There was a field agent in the area. With a multitude of Civics in the general population hope of finding mine was slim. The only distinguishing marker of my vehicle was an FSM Pirate fish spray painted in white on the back window. If it had not been for my love of FSM and my sheer distaste for organized religion I would still not have my car back. The representative found the fish and my car and everything is back to normal. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Kristina K

A link to the original blog post

CULTURE/SOCIETY and SCIENCE/TECHNOLOGY: Bring Back the Busy Signal

This is a piece of Ira Flatow, the host of Talk of the Nation: Science Friday on NPR, from the Science Friday blog. I don't know if I agree with him. I know I don't feel guilty about sending people to voice mail if I'm on the phone or busy. I never take another call unless I'm sure it's important. I guess it's all how you use technology. But I thought Ira makes some good points, so I'm reprinting it here. - OlderMusicGeek

Bring Back the Busy Signal
posted by Ira Flatow on Thursday, July 12. 2007

Not too long after 9/11 , I did away with “call-waiting.” My priorities changed. I no longer felt the urgency to interrupt a perfectly good conversation with “can I put you on hold for a minute while I get this?” I could devote my total attention to the call at hand and not have to feel pressured. It made life simpler:

At first, I thought I’d have to apologize. But the very first caller applauded my decision. Instead of anger, the excited voice on the other end expressed amazement.

“You have a busy signal,” she said. “When I called and tried to get through I didn’t get your voice mail box, or a recorded message telling me to leave a message, to take a hike. I got that beep-beep-beep of a busy-signal, I hadn’t heard in years. No one has a busy-signal any more, except YOU!”

I sort of knew that when I brought back my busy signal, I’d have a lot of explaining to do. so I was ready.

“That’s right,” I said. “I disconnected my call waiting and went retro. Back to the good old days of the busy-signal.”

If you think about it, the busy-signal makes a definitive statement. It says “yes, I am here, and I am busy,” It doesn’t say “maybe I’m here, screening calls to avoid you.” It’s an honest message, refreshingly honest in this political double-talk era. The busy signal is not pretentious; it doesn’t command attention. It just does it’s job and does it well.

And much to my surprise the busy signal keeps your party interested and prepared. By attesting to the fact that you are there, literally, in your office, the busy signal reassures the caller to “just be patient, try again.” There is no ambiguity. Callers, as this one did, will sit and wait patiently knowing that there is a live body on the other end, waiting to respond. And if they really want to talk to you, they do call back.

Voice mail is a tool for deception. “Gee, I must have missed your voice mail. It never works in my office.” The busy signal takes away temptation; no need to make up a story about pushing the wrong button that “whoops” erased the caller you’re trying to avoid. And no more hating yourself for hanging up on a good call to take one that tried to enlist your vote.

The busy signal is the kind of simple technology we would have to invent if it had never existed. “Wouldn’t it be great if some genius found an automatic way of telling people I’m busy, that I can’t talk now? What a great device that would be.”

So let’s bring back the simple busy signal. It never really went away; it’s just been in storage for a few years while we went on a crazy, heads-in-the-sand binge. But our sanity is finally coming back. And it should be, too.

A link to the original piece on the Science Friday blog
A link to the Science Friday blog
A link to the Science Friday website