Special Education.

I had the chance to experience what most parents go through in looking for a school for their child. Being single and childless, I don't think about these things.

My sister was off most of the week to visit a couple of schools that her 5 year old girl may be transfered to. The first school looks like a housing complex. I wouldn't know it is a school by just looking at it. Lots of concrete and modern design. The second school was older, looks like a school, and has the school feel. Both have programs for special needs children. One is managed by the county. This means that the teacher reports to the county administrators. The older school is ran by the school district. This means the teacher reports to the principal. The disadvantage of the county ran class is that if the school district needs that room, they can move it to another place. There is no "ownership" to the special educ. class.

Education is a beaurucracy. Ran by administrators with limited money and limited resources. Federal laws keep the programs alive. It is up to the parents to find and request for services for their child. There are advocates and dedicated people who assists the parents in finding the resources their child need. This task is time consuming and frustrating.

Emotions can ran high when parents requests are denied. They want the best for their child so he/she can be succesful in dealing with their special needs.

I, being an emotional person, was specially touched when I witnessed the experience of a special needs children. The range of disability has a wide range and it's a heart breaking experience. A person of weak faith will readily question the existence of God. A child was fastened on a chair, hands flailing and head bobbing wildly. His eyes looks medicated. Another child has disproportionate body dimensions and he too was fastened to a special chair that is specially built for his body. One kid was being held down by a teacher assistant on a chair to keep him from running away. None of the children can communicate. Most just moans and some use their hands to sign language. There are taught to use a button that talks for them. The bottons have pictures indicating a certain needs like milk, food, book, and bathroom issues.

After talking to the teachers and witnessing the behaviour of future classmates, we decided on the older school. It's closer to home and the staff members are mostly Filipinos.

Looking for schools are tiring so we had lunch at Max restaurant. The perfect end for a busy morning.

Changes happen.

It's nice to be able to go back to the old schools and see all the changes that occured since I was last there. The changes I'm talking about is mostly physical. Buildings demolished and new ones built over their sites. It is also nice to now that they are still around. Schools come and go but the ones I attended has been around for at least a century.

The last school I attended was LA County School of Nursing. It is now called LA County College of Nursing and Allied Health. We lost the old building that was built in the 1960's. Over it was the new medical center. Actually, the new hospital is over the old school and the old Psych building and several other buildings that used to be there. It is huge. Behind the new building is the General Hospital, yuup the one you see in the soap opera "General Hospital" I learned nursing in that behemoth of a hospital and I can tell you that it is quite impressive. It's halls are long and made of marble. Art deco everywhere. Every floor is high ceiling and there is no central air. 1000 bed capacity. On the 13th floor is, can you guess?, the jail ward. Manned by armed Sheriff deputies. Bullet proof windows and jail quality everything. I worked there too, that's why I know. Prisoners are nice when they are sick.

LA County School of nursing has been around for 110 years. My class was the 100th anniversary class and we had a time capsule ceremony back in 1995. The new building is not new but a recycled one. It's off campus just across the Women's and Children's Hospital. I've never been inside this school as I've already graduated by the time they moved there. I'm glad the school survived the axe due to budget cuts.

Next stop is USC. My god, SC never seized to amaze me. There is always a new building going up. The most impressive is the community. The school actually managed to change the whole neigborhood from bag to good. Businesses everywhere. I actually feel safe walking there. WOW. The school of engineering is celebrating it's 100 years anniversary. A sign as big as a building reminds everyone of that. I haven't given a cent to my school as there are plenty of rich white boys to take care of that.

There is no way I'm not checking out the Heritage Hall. Yup, that's where we keep the Heisman trophies. Reggy Bush, Matt Leinart, and Carson Palmer's just to name a few. They are lined up in an impressive collection with the 2004 BCS trophy in the middle.

Last but not the least is Los Angeles City College. The former site of UCLA before they moved to Westwood. The school is changing too. Not much in terms of new buildings but new parking lots. The sports sites are gone. The tennis courts are gone and a dirt paved parking lot replaced it. I used to practice my tennis there. The football field is now a faculty parking lot.

So, lots of changes in the old schools. The most unexpected one is that the DJ Bibingkahan on Vermont is closed. It looks like for good. Sanumlang is always open. It's bigger and better than before. Again, more change!

I enjoyed my trip to the old colleges. Hopefully, I'll get to know a new college and a new career.

Job fair, portal to new opportunities.

Pasadena, Ca. Today is job fair day. Advance Magazine for nurses is the sponsor. It's not as large as the Nurse Week Magazine job fair but it served it's purpose.

With 10 copies of my resume in hand, I walked around to see if there is someone out there from the old nursing school. None, no one is out here looking for a job. I found R, a friend of my sister and I and she too is looking for a case manager job.

I found her over the free resume consultant booth. She encouraged me to have mine checked and I told her I don't believe anyone is reading the resumes and no one cares how our resume looks. They want bodies to cover their schedule gaps and they want those filled now. She laughs and graciously dropped the subject.

There are a variety of things going on just by listening to the interested parties (nurses) and employers. I noticed that there are quite a few people of asian descent that is asking for immigration sponsorship. Responses ranged from we do but it's not free to our program is on hold right now. The hospital knows a lawyer to contact but the nurse pays for it all.

There are mostly new grads looking for rookie jobs and some old farts like me who is looking for new channels to make a killer living. The lifestyle is kinda high so low salaries were kinda snobbed for good reasons. These hospitals have the money but will not spend it on nurses. Bastards.

I found quite a few openings in case management. I like the salary range so it looks promising. There are also patient care openings that I might consider as long as it meets my requirements. Low stress, high pay, and lovely co-workers. Yeah right. But in this profession all these are states of mind. I just have to have the right attitude and all of it will come together.

After the fair R and I went to Chinatown for a late lunch. We stuffed ourselves with the best in Chinese food. Yummy. I also gave her the swing that the twins used when they visited me last week. Apparently, R's boyfriend doesn't want to get one so I just gave her mine. Hummph, that's my godson and he will get a swing. This will give R the chance to work on something else while the baby is sleeping in the swing.

It's a great day. I stopped by the Goodwill store before going to the fair and donated more of mom's clothes and my old microwave oven. This frees up more space in my kitchen counter top.

Today is a 10!

It's rare to get a 10 of a day. Compared to my previous days that were -1's due to depression about my stinking job as a nurse and other health issues. I've been reading motivational books and so far it's working. I'm working again this week after 2 weeks off due to visitors and back pain.

I studied ways to approach prospects for my small business. That's always encouraging. I need to find new ways to earn a living by helping people.

I also met up with my friend J, the one getting divorced. Rode his new Suburban. The truck rides like a boat. V8 power, 16 miles per gallon. He didn't get the leather and nav system but those are luxuries that can only add to cost. This baby is already in the 40K range as it is.

We went to Hooters and ate fried chicken balanced with raw carrots and celery. What the hell are vegetables doing on a fried everything platter? I dunno...

After feasting my eyes on those young Hooter girls and watching some basket ball, off to the strip bar. There my buddy J bought me my first lap dance ever. It was really nice! So, I got another one. LOL. It was even better. The first was a Cambodian-Chinese hottie and the second was a Southern belle blondie. Life is good again. Smiling as I'm writing this blog. Haaaah, throw away those antidepressants, I like mine on heels and thongs. Heeh, haah..

Obviously, I need a girlfriend. Gotta work on that one. Man, those stippers are hot.

5 year old and twin babies took over home.

After 5 days of cleaning, my sister's family has arrived. E, my favorite niece is now accompanied by her twin sisters. Three girls. WOW. I now have three favorites.

I bought a swing and a play pen so that they didn't have to bring theirs. This leaves a lot more room for the kids in the minivan. The minus side was they lost the mobility.

This vacation was a bit more relaxed than the other vacations. Having two babies is not an easy task specially when moving around town. Most meals were spent at home as it is much easier to order out. We did manage to go to Tokyo Lobby in San Gabriel. It's been a while since sister and I had the Boat. It's dinner served on a boat shaped plate. In it are three lobsters, teriyaki chicken, teriyaki steak, tempura shrimps and vegetables, and california rolls. Man, we feel bundat. Bundat is the feeling of fullness beyond fullness. To finish it off, green tea ice cream.

We rented quite a few movies for entertainment. The Island was an interesting movie. It gives me an idea on how to solve the biggest problem in medicine. It's illegal as heck but it might be a solution. lol. Then there was "The Proof". It was promising but ran out of steam at the end.

I noticed a lot of things about the twins that was very interesting. Over all they are very satisfied babies whose needs are met by their experienced mother. We went to Baby's R Us to buy supplies. V, my brother in law, was left in the minivan with the twins while my sister, E, and I went shopping. The prices of baby stuff is incredible. Sticker shock to say the least. The price of safety, I guess. Diaper, formula, snot suction, foam baby bath padding, etc, etc. were purchased.

At home the babies were bathed in my sink like a factory. One after the other. They enjoyed their bath, no crying or fussing. E was bathed last and she went straight to bed afterwards.

The days are long and the nights are noisy. E has the tendency to hit the wall thus making a thud in the middle of the night. I'm not used to it and I will wake up several times during the night. There was also the occassional baby crying in the early mornings.

Poor sargent, my dog, spent the days in a wire kennel in the backyard. A constant entertainment for E. She will stay by the glass door and stare at the dog the whole day. Sarge then spent the nights in the garage in his portable kennel. As the days went, Sarge got used to the back yard and I let him out for exercise. He barks and whines a lot when left in the wire kennel so I just left him to roam. He seems happier.

The twins are rather challenging to take care of. One's crying triggers the other sometimes. There are times one will sleep while the other just plays. A rattle or a toy seems to keep them occupied. Teething seems to be bothering them at night. They will crying without resolution. They will wave out toys and milk bottles. Thank God for Orajel. It eases the pain of teething.

I enjoyed putting them to sleep on my arms. Their weight can sometimes put my arm to sleep but it's worth the experience. E, the older sister used to sleep on my chest. She's 5 now and that's no longer possible. I was glad I was there when she was small. There is just nothing like putting a baby to sleep on your arms.

Sis was able to ease her need to eat the pancakes from Bravo Burger. Their soft, light and buttery pancakes was her craving for about a year now. So, for 5 straight days, that's all she had for breakfast. She didn't eat it all. She gave E part of it. E loved it for the sweet taste.

Sunday, R showed up with her mom. R has been our friend since we met at McD's 24 years ago. Like my sis, and myself, R is a nurse and she was also a new mom. Her 2 month old son (my god son) was a quiet one. He just slept. R and her mom took over my kitchen. They cooked lumpia. They brought lunch with them and we had a feast. That night they cooked potato salad. It was very good. they added chicken to it so it's like a potato/chicken salad. R and family didn't leave until almost 11:30 p.m. Her boyfriend was constantly calling and she wasn't answering the cell. LOL.

The babies left Thursday and I will miss them. I don't know how parents raise kids but they do it. The laughing babies and happy children are the rewards of caring for them. In two weeks, it's my turn to visit them in the Bay Area. As for the house, it's time for entropy to take place as neatness slowly turns to mess.