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Alarm clock don't work
Wake up frantic and sleepy
Get to work at ten

Fries...
Toast...
Dip...
Kissing...

selinker
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and Mike Selinker's journal beholds a wide range of beautiful things, from the most beautiful arcade game to the most beautiful chase scene and even the most beautiful New Year's resolution.

2xcreative
Have a great idea for a collaborative project but need a partner to bring your vision to life? Whether you're into interpretive knitting or photography and writing, check out this community to find the creative partner of your dreams.

azkatraz
Harry Potter fans have a lot going on this week. Not only does The Half-Blood Prince hit movie theaters everywhere, but also the Azaktraz conference takes San Francisco by storm starting July 18. Get all the news and updates at this community.

Folks:

THose hard-working and forward-thinking folks at the KCDHH (Kentucky Commission on the Deaf and Hard of Hearing) have done it again....They are now in the process of adding new wireless devices to their TAP program, which allots assistive devices on a first come, first served basis to those who meet certain requirements and submit an application for the devices.  For more information about this program, please check out their most recent newsletter at this link:

http://kcdhh.ky.gov/ois/newsletter.html

Simply select the June 2009 link once you are on the newsletter home page, and the information about the new devices is contained in an article written by Rowena Holloway, a Policy Analyst with the KCDHH.  It's an exciting time to see my "Old Kentucky Home" jumping forward into the 21st century.  I'm not sure just how many other states have made this venture, but I'm sure it is not many.

On another note, the PSC (Public Service Commission) here in Kentucky recently made some changes regarding the payments for Relay Services, and it is a WINNER all the way around.  For those of you who have land-line phones, you often will notice a 9 cent surcharge on your bill.  That surcharge is bill to all land-line users in the state, and it funds the Kentucky Relay Service, which enables the deaf and hard of hearing to make TDD calls.  Over the past couple of years, land line usage has dropped dramatically, as more and more people move to wireless only telephonic access.  This has led to a drop in the revenue funding the relay service here, as well as a drop in usage of the relay service, as more and more people are going to text messaging, videophones, and so forth.  One thing people don't realize, is that that funding was also used to fund the distribution program for assistive devices.

Now, with the new change, the wireless customers in Kentucky are also going to be billed on their monthly bill, at the rate of (I believe) 4 cents a month, and the landline users will see a drop in the charge on their bill to an equivalent amount.  So while wireless users may now pay 4 cents more a month (48 cents a year), landline users will see their bill drop from 9 cents to 4 cents a month.  This will enable the program to continue to be funded, while also reducing the bill on landline users.

Lastly, on the last page of the newsletter, you will see this absolutely ridiculous picture of me speaking at the Eastern Kentucky Town Hall Forum.  I was answering a question about a job expo that was coming to Pikeville at the time, and telling those people they need to get out and go to the expo, as there would be a lot of job openings there.  I'm wearing the maroon shirt and on the left side of the page.  I only wish I had know they were gonna take my picture, I would have TRIED to look a little less goofy.  :-)

Eddie

Waiting for the bus, cute plump girl in a tank top. Adjusted her boobs and I think she caught me staring. She and her friend were apparently talking in my direction. I just ignored it instead of trying to deal with it and a lack of communication making things worse.

Folks:

Too often, we take pause to write and bemoan the sad state of affairs as it pertains to hospitals and other medical providers being reluctant to provide interpreters for us deaf and HOH folks...Well, I'd like to share with you a POSITIVE experience that happened today.

My son had an appointment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital.  About 2 weeks prior to the appointment, my wife and I were contacted for pre-appointment questions by the medical staff there.  During the course of the conversation, the question was asked about native languages in the home.  My wife (proudly, I might add) told the woman that our hearing son is tri-lingual, English being his first language, and that he also is fairly fluent in Sign Language and Spanish and reads at a 5th grade level with the same verbal vocabulary (he is 8, folks).  Naturally, that lead to  follow up questions about his linguistic abilities, and they learned from my wife that I am deaf, hence his signing abilities.

With no prompting, no request from my wife at all, the nurse/administrator simply stated "Oh, that is fine.  I will make a note and arrange for an interpreter to be present so your husband can follow the proceedings". 

Now, I'm like all too many other deaf individuals, it is a constant struggle for me to get doctors to understand that an interpreter is a much more reliable way to communicate with me regarding medical issues than simply "Oh, we can communicate fine.  That's what pen and paper are for".  I realize that the ADA only requires an EFFECTIVE mode of communication, and that this normally is okay with me because I am a pretty smart guy (contrary to what some of my friends might tell you) and can understand the basic terminology as it pertains to my once in a blue moon medical issues, hence, it is EFFECTIVE in my case.  However, I was feeling somewhat hesitant in this situation, because my son has been diagnosed with a mild form of petit mal-type epilepsy (Absence Seizures), and that is over my head, having never had any family history on either side to personally deal with.  But those good folks in Cincinnati took that worry right out of my head!

Fast forward to two weeks later (today).  We show up early as told, and just a couple of minutes later, the interpreters show up as well.  Introductions were made all around, and after a few minutes of social conversation, we were called back.  People, this lady (first name Tina is all I will say) was FANTASTIC.  She made the entire proceeding quite enjoyable, and was professional and courteous.  There was not a thing that I missed.  She also had an observer for the day (Stacy) whom is also an employee (new, I gathered) at the same agency, and she was great as well.  The whole experience left me feeling somewhat better about the small, but positive steps we are seeing in the acceptance of providing interpreters in medical settings.  The doctors and nurses were great, spoke directly to me instead of the interpreters, etc. with no prompting.  They obviously have their stuff together at the Cincinnati Children's Hospital and have a tremendously qualified and educated staff.

I'm not doing this because I benefit from it in any way, shape, or form.  I'm doing it because it is the right thing to do, so please allow me to say this:

To the interpreter from the Northern Kentucky Services for the Deaf (I hope I got the name right) and the Cincinnati Children's Hospital, I say "Thank You" for making today such a positive experience.  I told my wife on the way home I would be sure to blog about this because it is far too seldom we hear good things about situations such as this.  If you are ever in need of medical services for your deaf or hard of hearing child, or hearing child and you are deaf or hard of hearing yourself, I HIGHLY recommend this hospital if you are in the vicinity of it.  They truly seem to grasp the importance of ensuring good communication between all affected parties.

Thanks,
Eddie

Fark

Read it. Know it. Laugh.

So here is what Google has to say about me now:

What is the current listing status for journal.amanita.net?

This site is not currently listed as suspicious.

What happened when Google visited this site?

Of the 220 pages we tested on the site over the past 90 days, 0 page(s) resulted in malicious software being downloaded and installed without user consent. The last time Google visited this site was on 2009-07-07, and suspicious content was never found on this site within the past 90 days.

This site was hosted on 1 network(s) including AS26347 (DREAMHOST).

Has this site acted as an intermediary resulting in further distribution of malware?

Over the past 90 days, journal.amanita.net did not appear to function as an intermediary for the infection of any sites.

Has this site hosted malware?

No, this site has not hosted malicious software over the past 90 days.

And yet it still gives the warning when I try to visit with Firefox. I can't even post to my site with Firefox. I'm using IE to post this. Dammit! How do I kill that Firefox warning thing? Blah!

Q: What do Emmanuel Lewis and I have in common?
A: We're both sick of fucking Michael Jackson.

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4_eyez
Josh Neufeld has a lot going on. His cartoons played a starring role in Earth 2100, the ABC special about climate change, and his new graphic novel, A.D.: New Orleans After the Deluge, comes out in August. And he still finds time to update his LJ!

montreal
Residents, visitors, French speakers, English speakers—anyone interested in Montreal is welcome here. Find out everything from where to buy a tart burner to how get around on public transit, but be sure to check the memories and tags before you post.