Spontaneous Musings

But, my health is bouncing back. I have energy again. I'm not insanely tired all the time. Also the brain fog is for the most part gone. Yes, there is life after COVID. Although still have lingering cough - no doubt due to allergies.

Just hope my niece comes through okay. She experienced "shortness of breath today" and it scared her. So she went to the health clinic - but they couldn't help. Instead, her parents, who are in NYC, convinced niece to go to the emergency room. So niece spent four hours in a London Emergency Room. They told her that her chest was clear and she was fine. (I actually had a little of it too - but I'm in my fifties, and have had it before, and did the breathing tests that my Aunt taught me. ) Poor niece is all alone in London, self-isolating, her roommate is elsewhere. And she has a final exam on Friday in International Law, which is eight hours long, and several essays, and she still has to study for it, so can't just relax and veg.

I worry about her. Her parents wish they could come and take care of her. I've been texting her back and forth as well - and let her know I had the shortness of breath too - it feels like the wind has been kicked out of you.

In other news, regarding COVID - NYC is now under high alert - the case level has risen to almost 10%, and is on the rise. The hospitals however are still okay - so they've not imposed the restrictions as of yet, but they are asking everyone to wear masks indoors and in public areas, also on public transportation. Not everyone is - because, sigh, people.

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Commute

I need to set this up right. I take the G subway train every morning at around 6:40 - 6:45 am. I leave my house at 6:30-6:31, and it takes me about five to ten minutes to get to the train, which stops halfway down the platform.

The first and last stop on the G is Church Avenue, my stop. The Southbound train stops at Church, they take it out of service, clean it, and empty it, and circle it around to take the next group of passengers north to Court Square. (I get off about 10-15 stops at Fulton St or twenty minute ride. )
Sometimes you have to wait for it , and the conductor who gets on it at the same time we do.

This morning, I ran to catch it - it clearly was running a bit later than usual and was full. I wondered why? Apparently there was a homeless guy at the very back of the car, or away from the conductor's cab. I was in the last car. It's a six car train - since the G is always smaller than other trains which are usually twelve cars. G's tend to be six to eight cars.
The homeless man had a very full grocery cart with all his earthly possessions, not a lot of clothes on, was filthy, and rambling. People understandably gave him a wide berth. He'd camped out at the end of the train, wasn't wearing a mask, and it was best to move as far away as possible.
( adventures in NYC commuting during pandemics )

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Dyslexia and Learning

Good and Bad News. NYC to Mandate Dyslexic Screening for all Students and Phonics in Elementary Schools

Good? Dyslexia Screening.
Bad? Mandating Phonics - Phonics was first dictated in the 1970s, Michael Landon got behind it. And it was introduced in all the schools at the time. The next best thing. It is also the reason I couldn't learn how to read until the second grade. And I wasn't alone, a lot of kids couldn't learn to read because of Phonics. My second grade teacher figured it out, Mrs. Viola. I'll never forget her. I desperately wanted to learn how to read - and she taught me and several other students - by pulling out an old sight and sound reader, it was the Dick and Jane books from he 1950s. See Dick. See Jane. Suddenly reading made sense to me. It wasn't a bunch of weird ass sounds that connected to nothing and sounded like machinery grinding together. It made sense. I thought visually. And the pictures didn't flip around on me. If it weren't for the Sight and Sound readers - I don't know if I would have learned to read. Phonics had been the bane of my existence, and I've met many others in my life who said the same thing.

It would help if people understood dyslexia better than they do. It's not just flipping letters around, or words around. It's far more complex than that. I remember a friend trying to explain it to two mutual friends doing a paper on dyslexia. They didn't have it. She said it was close to impossible to explain it to them - it's how she thought and viewed the world, she didn't know the other way - or how they saw things. It was normal for her.

Same. ( how I found out I was dyslexic or my journey with dyslexia )
I could go on and on...but my point is merely this, no one form of education should be mandated. You are actively discriminating against the poor students who cannot learn that way, and that's cruel. No student should be made to feel stupid or less than because they can't learn the way that is currently mandated or dictated by some well-meaning adult who has never met them.

We do not live in a one size fits all world, no matter how much we wish we did.

*******

Off to bed. Sorry for the long entry. It happens.

Great work day - had so much adrenaline, partly from the medium chai latte that I had after lunch, that I got off the train, darted into Target, bought a microwave and manually lugged it home.

To fully appreciate this - you should know the following: I did not use a car. I carried the microwave down an escalator to the first floor of Target, stood in line, bought it, carried it to the elevator, held it in the elevator, carried it to the street, down three blocks, down two flights of steeps to the subway. Set it down. Picked it up when the train arrived. Carried it into the subway. Sat with it on my lap. Carried it out of the train and down the equivalent of one incredibly long block and a half, then up three flights of steps to my apartment. I set it down four times on the way. It wasn't that expensive - about $50.
And I'd say about 100 pounds. Not sure. It's a 700 watt, 7 cubic microwave.

After setting it up, took off again and walked six blocks to pick up groceries (was out of gluten-free cereal) then back. Decided to do piliates in lieu of the gym, since the hike with the microwave sort of was the equivalent of a two hour work-out.

Work? Ah. I went on another site tour. Really enjoying these site tours. A site tour is visiting the construction site that requires rehabilitation, construction, demolition and (in my case) abatement of hazardous waste such as lead, mercury, pcb chemicals and asbestos. I go with the project manager, usually a specialist in hazaderous waste and/or an engineer, listen to the technical specs with the contractors who have been contacted to bid on the job, and inform them to contact me regarding questions, etc. Today we visited two train substations. A substation is the fueling station for the train or utlity unit. Train's are electric. So this is basically an electrical utility station, with high voltage cables and negative man-holes. You've seen them - they have reinforced metal fences around them, and lots of electrical cables and transformers. When I went into one of the active station's, every four or five minutes I could hear a buzz of the electricity going through the wires. The electrician in charge explained, in a thick Caribbean accent, somewhat lyrical in rhythm, that the buzz was when the AC went to DC and vice versa. AC was a low calibre and DC was high calibre wattage. The wattage increased whenever a train came through, then decreased once the train was gone.
The cables are wrapped in plastic - because it is highly durable, not biogradeable and doesn't break down. Then they were wrapped in asbestos, because asbestos is a highly durable substance, can't be broken down, or dispersed, and lasts forever. Unfortunately when you inhale it - it will latch onto your lung and act much the same way it does with the cables, except unlike the cables it strangles your lung. It would be fine if it wasn't possible to inhale it. Also, it causes cancer - so does prolonged exposure to electricity and other contaminates - hence the reason Long Island, NY has such a high probability of breast and lung cancer. Steve McQueen apparently got lung cancer from working with asbestos as a teenager.

We also discussed Govenor Eliot Spitzer - who is not having a good year. He got caught commissioning a prostitute to cross state lines. Everyone wants him to resign. If he does, Patterson will become the new governor, and will be the first African-American and legally blind governor in New York state history.

Fun day, with lots of cool conversations, very busy, got two things accomplished out of fifty. But am happy. Would much rather be busy and stressed than bored. Boredom is the root of all evil.

Going to take a hot shower, go to bed and maybe read a bit more of Kim Harrison. I'm apparently the only person who finds her writing really funny. A lot funnier than Charlain Harris, who after a while, I found fairly predictable and somewhat grating, not to mention dumb. Sookie Stackhouse basically thinks with her crotch, much like Stephanie Plum. Charlian Harris writes a bit like Janet Evanoich - her characters are stupid and we laugh at their stupidity. Although Hard Eight, the last Evanovich book I read did have two or three comedic sequences that were darkly situational - one involved a guy dressed in a rabbit suit, with his dick hanging out, incoherently threatening the heroine and her sex-starved 85 year old grandmother - which was insanely funny. Doesn't sound funny, I know. You'd have to read it to understand - it was again, laughter at the situation not the character, very tough to do.

Kim Harris writes a bit like Jim Butcher and Carl Hianssion and Elmore Leonard, her characters are sly, sarcastic and wickedly smart and we laugh with them at the crazy situations they find themselves in. It's black humor - because the situations are usually pretty grisely. I'm a huge fan of situational black humor - laughing at horrible situations. The more absurd the better. Like a demon showing up in a Englishman's attire and named Al. That makes me laugh for some reason. Humor - seems to be different for everyone.