The Phoenix

One week ago today, someone, or someones, lit fire to my daughter's elementary school in the middle of the night causing approximately $3 million worth of damage, completely destroying four classrooms and everything in them as well as causing smoke and water damage to all of the other classrooms, and forcing 350 students plus staff to relocate to another school for at least the rest of this school year. It was a very cowardly act of aggression. And it appears that it wasn't their first or last such act. The local police are now looking for a serial arsonist with at least 5 other school fires set in local schools the last 3 months.

While I am greatly saddened by the arsonist acts, and the sadness, grief, fear, anger, rage, nervousness, anxiety, frustration, hatred, worry, depression, and shock it has caused the students, teachers, staff, parents and community, that's not what I want to talk about. That would be too obvious and would dwell on the bad. Though the individual(s) is still on the loose, the students, staff, and community are moving on -- getting back to the business of teaching our children in the excellent fashion that our school district has been known for. They are not ignoring that the event(s) occurred, but choosing to not be held captive by the fear -- to rise above it.

When the company I work for was going through a massive growth spurt, stretching the internal resources way too thin trying to keep up with hundreds of new-hires, server capacity, etc, we used to comment that it was a good problem to have. Better to have to deal with how to manage too much business than how to manage not enough business. Since initial word of the fire broke last Monday, the community, students, families, and honestly, people around the world, have offered their help and resources. So many people flooded the school offering to help that the Principal and PTA president have had to ask people to stand down on their offers of assistance -- for now. You know how hard that must have been? To tell people "I'm sorry, we can't take your assistance right now." Their main focus and immediate concern was the student's safety, and getting something in place where they could continue their education.

There was SO much to do! In addition to the obvious requirements of time from the Police and Fire Departments (and the media), there was assessing and then finding a suitable location to continue schooling, evaluating the usability of the contents of the damaged school, dealing with the emotions of the staff affected, the logistics of bringing a school mothballed for almost 2 years back on-line and finding places for all of its guests for at least the next five months, preparing the school with comfort items to make the transition easier for the students, and I'm sure at least 500 items that we'll never even know about. All of this while dealing with the wide range of emotions running through their heads personally. I'm sure that their professionalism has held most of their emotions in check for now, but when the wave, hits, it will hit hard I'm sure.
They're not turning away the volunteers. They're not turning away the supplies being offered up by students, parents, local citizens, merchants, media and others. They're just deferring. As they get their hands around what's left to do, I'm sure that they will be GLAD to graciously accept the offers.

On Sunday afternoon, less than 7 days (only 156 hours) from the time the fire alarm went off, an uncountable group of persons transformed what was a devastating event in our community into a triumphant victory of teamwork, commitment and hard work as they opened the doors of the school now deemed the temporary home of those 350 students displaced by cowardice aggression, welcoming each of them with open arms. Despite the inherent confusion with all of those students and each of their parents crowding the school at once as if this was the first day of school, things looked incredible! The student's desks had their things in them (where possible). There were posters on the walls – many from other schools providing support and well wishes! There were pictures of past events all over the school. There were maps and signs and guides to make sure people knew where to go. There was A LOT of energy and excitement as students took to discovering new rooms and hallways. Some things may even seem like an "upgrade" – I remember my daughter commenting, "the bathrooms have three stalls in them!" This school also has air conditioning lacking in their last school. What was missing, mostly, was the fear. It had been supplanted by the positive energy and excitement all around.

There will be bumps in the road. Unplanned glitches will need to be addressed. Emotions will have to be discussed and overcome. The one thing that really came across though, almost from the start of the communications a week ago, was that everyone would be riding the same figurative bus down that road. It doesn't matter what school it stops at, it's the same group of people, the same community of caring teachers, staff, and parents that support these students. It's still the same school -- just in a different building... For now...

Sometimes you need to trust them

During lunch today, my son complained of a tummy ache. Though, I thought he was just trying to get away with not eating so he could play, I let him off the hook and didn't make him finish.

During dinner, he said he was stuffed after just a few bites. This time I didn't relent and made him eat more. It was a struggle, but he often plays games to avoid finishing his meal. He's been saying he's hungry all day for several days so I didn't want to continue that pattern. We just can't fill him up right now. He's in a growth spurt. So when he said he was stuffed (while his brother and sister played) I thought that this was just another ploy so that he could go play with them instead of eating.

I was wrong.

He told me, actually my wife first, that I was wrong when he awoke at 12:30am just now and threw up all of that meal that he didn't want to eat but I made him eat all over his bed and himself.

"Take that!" his stomach was telling us. And just for emphasis, after my wife and I got him all cleaned up, changed his sheets, got him tucked back in bed and had headed back to find our own Mr. Sandman, he threw up again!

Ah well. Guess as parents we never learn that sometimes we should just trust him a little more when he says he doesn't want to eat anymore. He's not gonna starve.

Let's try this again... I hear Mr. Sandman calling my name...

Gas prices

GasBuddy has an interesting graphic (called a heatmap) that shows the average price of gas around the nation. I would think that, in general, the further you are away from the source of the product (the Gulf mostly) the higher the price would be because of transportation costs. Obviously there are other things in the mix here too though based on this picture; Supply and demand issues and local taxes come to mind.

Another interesting use of heatmaps is shown by some research done by EyeTools that tracked where subjects eyes looked while looking at a Google results page.

GCal Widget...

Apparently, the Google Calendar widget I installed to make it easier to get to the Google Calendar listing Radio Disney events does not work as expected. I left all of the detail right from the Radio Disney site in the descriptions so that you'd have easy access to it, but unless you are signed in to Google, you can't expand the event to actually see those details. Sorry. I'll leave it on there for those of you that do have a Google account, but keep that in mind. I'll see if I can find an alternative, but you can always look at the RadioDisney site directly as well.

Going Down?

I've been a GMail user for quite a while and one of the things that I REALLY like about it is that I don't have to worry about SPAM. I don't mean I only get a few. I mean I don't ahve to worry about it at all! (can you say that about YOUR email provider?) I was so confident that GMail could handle all of the SPAM I could throw at it, I now have it sucking in my old 99.95% used-for-SPAM account. And even with over 130+ messages a day for that email account alone, I still only see 3 to 5 A WEEK that it misses! I dutifully click on "report as SPAM" and save hundreds or thousands from seeing the same SPAM in their mailbox as I help train GMail's filters. I don't even check my SPAM "folder" in GMail anymore either 'cuz they have only marked a couple of messages as SPAM in the life of my account that really weren't SPAM -- and even then, just bulk newsletters. Honestly, after reading them, they were kinda SPAMmy... :-)

According to the graphic represented above (click to enlarge), Google's doing a pretty darn good job of staying on top of the continuous flow of SPAM. Another reason to switch to GMail!

PS. You can usually click on the leading graphics in my posts when I include them to get to some more information. In this case, I linked the graphic to Google's explanation on how the manage SPAM. Check it out!

Deezer's Back!

Looks like Deezer is back online. I hadn't checked it out for quite a while after the problems I'd been seeing with the embedded music I'd included with some of my posts. I'll add some more in the upcoming posts and see if they can stay online... {fingers crossed}

Whew!

The great folks over at Radio Disney caught my post about creating another calendar listing Radio Disney appearances and were kind enough to leave a message saying that they didn't mind a little extra (free) advertising for their Road Crew! Ok, I'm paraphrasing. But they deserve it. Job well done Radio Disney Road Crew!

No need to keep watching my mailbox for a letter from their lawyer. :-)

Cell phone support numbers

Not everyone has a fancy iPhone with all its applications and connectivity. For those of us still hobbling along with a plain old cell phone that just makes phone calls, there are still some resources available to help you get along a little better in life...

Here's a list of phone numbers that you might want to add to your cell phone. All use voice recognition, so they're (fairly) safe to use while you're driving -- hands free of course. I took a ride in a friend's Sync equipped Ford Fusion the other day. These kinds of resources are a perfect fit for that system!

Directions – spell out "DIRECTIONS" on your phone (347-328-4667) and tell it where you are and where you want to get to and it will send you text messages from MapQuest with driving directions. It uses voice recognition. You can ask for a specific address, a business name, or an event. See http://www.dialdirections.com/. Synch could even read these text messages back to you!

Free 411 – free directory assistance – 888-373-3411. It uses voice recognition, but has live-operator backup if needed. See http://www.free411.com/.

Google's free 411 (Goog-411) – 800-466-4411. Directory search. It will connect you to the number you're asking about as well as send a text message or map link if requested. See http://www.google.com/goog411/

Jott – allows you to send email reminders to yourself and others. You must configure your account first via Jott, but then when you call it will ask you who you want to Jott (including "myself") and you speak the message that is transcribed into an email (with link to recorded voice for backup). 877-568-8486. I use this to send reminders to myself, either to my regular email account or to my blog site to remind me about things to post about.

MS Live Search – 800-225-5411
From Press Release: "Call 1-800-CALL-411 (1-800-225-5411) and say where you are and what you're looking for. You can also get text messages, maps, traffic maps, and text-based driving directions sent to your mobile phone.

We've built Live Search 411 to go beyond just finding business information. Because our goal is to help you complete your task, we've included features like:
· Connect to any business listing you find-for free
· Receive SMS links to maps, driving directions and traffic conditions (just say "text me the info")
· Get movie showtimes and even buy tickets over the phone (via our partnership with Fandango)
· Share text messages of business details with friends so they can easily meet you there
· Hear the current weather conditions and the forecast
· Quickly access travel resources like airlines, hotels, and rental cars
· Remember your personalized locations for movie theaters, weather and traffic, and your preferences for receiving text messages. "

Tellme – Also recently acquired by Microsoft. Call 800-555-8355 (800-555-TELL) and get weather, news, sports, stock quotes, business search, driving directions, movies, horoscopes, etc. They used to allow you to set up favorites (stock symbols, sections of news, etc). Can't seem to verify that this is available any more.

My Traffic – 866-698-7232 visit http://www.traffic.com/ You Can also set up alerts via email from the site for your common routes.

From Site: "When drivers call 1-866-MY-TRAFC, they receive a detailed traffic report that includes a Jam Factor(R) rating (a traffic scale that grades traffic conditions from 0-10 with 10 representing the worst possible traffic conditions); travel and delay times; accident reports; construction delays; and more.
Registered users of the http://www.traffic.com/ Web site can access their saved, personalized drives via the hotline; unregistered users will be prompted for their city and the roadway on which they are traveling. The driver will then receive the real-time traffic report for that particular drive or road."

What other voice-based systems do you use?

Where's my editor?!

Blogger's spell check feature is still down, so let me know if you find any errors... :-)

50 life lessons

Every once in a while, something that would normally get stuck in the spam file catches my eye. This one happed to do just that. I have no idea if the prelude is true and I don't care. I'm not going to bother to check Snopes 'cuz it really doesn't matter. The prelude is not the important part. The rest of the pieces are the important part... (but I present it in it's entirety)

For over 7 years, Regina Brett was a columnist at The Beacon Journal in Akron, Ohio. During that time, she was diagnosed and successfully treated for breast cancer. Regina is now a columnist for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland , Ohio.

Lessons in Life By Regina Brett:
To celebrate growing older, I once wrote the 45 lessons life taught me. It is the most requested column I've ever written. My odometer rolls over to 50 this week, so here's an update:

1. Life isn't fair, but it's still good.

2. When in doubt, just take the next small step.

3. Life is too short to waste time hating anyone.

4. Don't take yourself so seriously. No one else does.

5. Pay off your credit cards every month.

6. You don't have to win every argument. Agree to disagree.

7. Cry with someone. It's mo re healing than crying alone.

8. It's OK to get angry with God. He can take it.

9. Save for retirement starting with your first paycheck.

10. When it comes to chocolate, resistance is futile.

11. Make peace with your past so it won't screw up the present.

12. It's OK to let your children see you cry.

13. Don't compare your life to others. You have no idea what their journey is all about.

14. If a relationship has to be a secret, you shouldn't be in it.

15. Everything can change in the blink of an eye. But don't worry; God never blinks.

16. Life is too short for long pity parties. Get busy living, or get busy dying.

17. You can get through anything if you stay put in today.

18. A writer writes. If you want to be a writer, write.

19. It's never too late to have a happy childhood. But the second one is up to you and no one else.

20. When it comes to going after what you love in life, don't take no
for an answer.

21. Burn the candles, use the nice sheets, wear the fancy lingerie. Don't save it for a special occasion. Today is special.

22. Over prepare, then go with the flow.

23. Be eccentric now. Don't wait for old age to wear purple.

24. The most important sex organ is the brain.

25. No one is in charge of your happiness except you.

26. Frame every so-called disaster with these words: "In five years, will this matter?"

27. Always choose life.

28. Forgive everyone, everything.

29. What other people think of you is none of your business.

30. Time heals almost everything. Give time, time.

31. However good or bad a situation is, it will change.

32. Your job won't take care of you when you are sick. Your friends will. Stay in touch.

33. Believe in miracles.

34. God loves you because of who God is, not because of anything you did or didn't do.

35. Whatever doesn't kill you really does make you stronger.

36. Growing old beats the alternative - dying young.

37. Your children get only one childhood. Make it memorable.

38. Read the Psalms. They cover every human emotion.

39. Get outside every day. Miracles are waiting everywhere.

40. If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else's, we'd grab ours back.

41. Don't audit life. Show up and make the most of it now.

42. Get rid of anything that isn't useful, beautiful or joyful.

43. All that truly matters in the end is that you loved.

44. Envy is a waste of time. You already have all you need.

45. The best is yet to come.

46. No matter how you feel, get up, dress up and show up.

47. Take a deep breath. It calms the mind.

48. If you don't ask, you don't get.

49. Yield.

50. Life isn't tied with a bow, but it's still a gift.

Got any more to add? Leave a comment.

Quicker access to Radio Disney event calendar!

I just noticed a feature of Google Calendar that I hadn't noticed before -- the ability to embed a calendar in a external site. So... I've added the Radio Disney calendar I created a couple of weeks ago to the right bar of this blog! Easier access, and it works even if you don't use Google Calendar yourself. Hope to see you there!

That darn river quiz again

This time it's in Japanese -- the classic "get everyone across the river but follow all the rules about who can stay with whom" game.

Read the translated rules below and then click on the blue circle in the lower right of the site to begin.
~ Only 2 persons on the raft at a time
~ The father cannot stay with any of the daughters, without their mother's presence
~ The mother cannot stay with any of the sons, without their father's presence
~ The thief (striped shirt) can not stay with any family member,if the Policeman is not there
~ Only the Father, the Mother and the Policeman know how to operate the raft

To move the people click on them. To move the raft click on the pole on the opposite side of the river.

I you figure it out, post the solution in the comments for those of us with bruises on our heads from hitting the wall...

A stitch in time...

...creates a panoramic picture! AutoStitch is a small downloadable application that will create some pretty cool panoramic shots out of your pictures. Simply take a bunch of pictures of a scene in slightly different angles (remember to overlap a bit) and feed them to the Stitcher. It finds the common points and "stitches" the pictures together creating a bigger panoramic picure out of the composites.

A lot of the samples shown in the Gallery are of outdoor snowy scenes that I would imagine would be more difficult to stitch (with all the white and all), but they came out great.

Give it a try. Maybe I'll find a new graphic for my blog header...