This Year's Fair Parade

Once again, it's Fair season and another Fair parade has come and gone.

Like always, this year's parade was held on Thursday afternoon. Unlike always, it rained for about the first third of the parade - and unfortunately, they didn’t cancel it. I guess it takes things like lightning strikes before they cancel something like this. Though ironically, if there were lightning strikes, it would probably make the parade more interesting (especially if they made the marching politicians wear metal hats - not the tin foil kind they usually wear. These hats would have to be copper).

Fortunately, the rain seemed to thin out the crowd of annoying onlookers (not counting us). And I can't say whether it was due to the rain or not, but this year continued the recent trend of the declining clown-to-parade watcher ratio, so that was nice to see (or, not see). Bad weather, shortage of lead-based clown makeup - whatever the reason, fewer clowns = fewer clowns. That’s all that matters.

I'm only going to post this one photo for your viewing pleasure. It's pretty much all you need to see in order to capture the Fair parade excitement. Years ago, I used to take a ton of photos at the parade - and this was back when I had to pay, not only for film, but also for the processing. This photo is one of a total of only five photos I took this year. This is a pretty low amount but it beats my grand total of only three photos taken last year. You may be wondering, does this mean that this year's parade was more interesting than last year's parade? Answer: No.

This particular photo, like the other four, was taken near the end of the parade. This was during the exciting Grand Finale! The Grand Finale makes up approximately the last twenty to twenty-five percent of the parade (my estimate- not official) and, as in recent years, it seems to consist of a caravan of nothing but business vehicles - vehicles such as oil delivery trucks and home repair guys (and, presumably, gals). Though, as I’m writing this, I’m realizing that unlike in years past, there were no Coca-Cola delivery trucks! Apparently, the Parade Committee has completely lost touch with the Common Man (and Woman)!

Anyway, as this Coca-Cola-less caravan approached, I asked Sam if he wanted to get going. No dice. He wanted to stay until the bitter end (my words, not his). This, despite my subtle encouragement, prefacing the question with comments such as, “Well, looks like that’s the end coming up! Nothing but trucks!” and “Boy, I can't wait to get home and get out of these wet clothes!” But, as I said - no dice. We stayed till the very end.

In Sam’s defense, he gets to see a few people he knows. These are mostly folks from his school years - which makes him happy. So, all in all, I guess this makes the parade worthwhile - for both of us.

Oh! I did learn one interesting new parade fact this year. Given the choice between having to smell the wet horses, which stopped in front of us at one point, versus having to smell the diesel spewing trucks, which also stopped in front of us at one point, Sam would opt for having to smell the diesel spewing trucks - though this took a good bit of thought before he could commit to which of these odors was more offensive.

Figured I would pass this along for future reference.

Today's Non-Post

Last week, I was writing what was turning into a long, and convoluted post. The more I wrote, the more I was straying off into all sorts of different directions - pretty much like usual. It got so bad that at one point, I decided that I should break it off into two separate posts - which I did. Or at least, I started to.

The entire thing was about Sam transitioning away from school and into the workforce. What was going to be "Post, Part One" had to do with a long ago meeting with the then local school system.

What was becoming "Post, Part Two" had to do with recent events and the challenges in making, or in trying to make, this transition happen as smoothly as possible. This is not exactly new and the entire time I was writing, I was thinking, Why am I even bothering to say all of this? Who Cares? But if I let something like that stop me, I would never write anything.

But the more I wrote and the more emotionally invested I became, I kept thinking, I think I may have written about this before.

This happens to me more and more frequently. Usually, this is because it has to do with an event that has made a profound impression on me - in this case, an early IEP meeting with the school. I begin to wonder, did I write about this, or is it just because I play it over and over in my head so much that I only think I wrote about it?

Other times, I think this might happen just because of my admittedly limited world experiences. And since I've been writing this blog now for about eight years (not counting a couple of early aborted attempts), well, I guess I'm bound to retread some old ground once in a while (or, a lot - as the case may be). That's what I tell myself, anyway.

Sure enough, it turns out that I had written about this meeting before. (If you're so inclined, you can read it here.) I could have saved myself a lot of trouble by doing a search of my posts before I began writing, but first of all, I'm loath to go back and reread my own writing - particular my older stuff (though this is certainly true of the newer stuff, as well). But, as I was writing, and as I was getting more and more heated, this gnawing suspicion became harder and harder to ignore.

And second of all, I think I needed to go through the exercise of writing about this meeting again - if only for my own sake (which, I guess, when it comes down to it, is why I bother to write anything). Even though this particular meeting was over fifteen years ago, it still bother me. But in the end, the lessons I learned from it were profoundly important in understanding some of what I was up against when it came to trying to get help for Sam.

As I reread the old post, I was a little relieved (if that's the right word for it) that my recollection of that long ago meeting is exactly the same now, as it was back when I wrote that post. It's bad enough to be retreading old ground, but to retread it with different recollections would be kind of... scary.

The other thing about that post, is it was written at a time when Sam was facing a significant transition in his life. And that's exactly why I was writing the post that I just finished.

We are at another threshold in Sam's life. This time, it's because we're at a point where, within the next six months, Sam's relationship with the school system will be coming to an end.

And I worry.

As I said back then, I worry about making the wrong decisions for him, and I worry about not doing him justice.

I guess some things will never change.

Today's Brief Comment

My problem (or one of them, anyway) is that it's often hard for me to start writing.

And then, once I do, it's hard to stop.

Nancy, Part Three

Because I don't have a lot to say at the moment (without going on another rant about SSI), I will instead post this link. This is yet another article about the comic strip, Nancy. (Yes, I've managed to find another Nancy article that I haven't linked to.)

As I mentioned elsewhere (more than once, I'm sure), I have a real affection for this strip - both the original ones and, as I'm increasingly finding, the new strips, as well. 

When it comes to the original strips, my affection was (and still is), largely driven by nostalgia. But, along with the nostalgia, I find I really like the character. It's been kind of hard to figure out why (not that anyone has been asking). But there are a couple of quotes in the above linked article, which, for me, identify a lot of her appeal. 

The first quote comes from cartoonist Paul Karasik, who says, "She’s resilient and she’s tough. She’s a great problem solver. And she’s still a real kid.” I agree with all of this but, more than that, there's this quote from Ms. Jaimes, who says, "...she has anxieties, but she’s also really confident." 

I think that's what I like. It's what makes the character not only interesting, but also endearing.

If you haven't bothered to read the linked article (your loss) and you have somehow managed to read this far, at least check out this strip. It's one I can relate to. (And as I write this, I'm realizing that it reminds me a lot of Sam.)

Anyway, now back to SSI...

Saturday's Event

In the previous posts, I mentioned a two day Pokemon Go “event”. To explain what this is, you have to know a little about Pokemon Go (obviously). I’m not going to get into all of the details about about it - neither of us has the time for that - but if you’re really interested, this article is a pretty good palce to start (at least, I think so. I didn't read enough of it to be sure.).

From my end of it, all you need to really know is that it involves having the Pokemon Go app on a so-called "smart phone". Once you have that, then you go around catching these creatures called "Pokemon".

There are two primary benefits to this game. One is that you have to actually go outdoors in order to participate. The other is that if you don't know how to read a map, you slowly learn how to - whether you meant to or not.

I was  going to say that it also encourages exercise because you have to walk around to different spots in order to collect these things, but that's not always the case.

Once you collect these creatures, there are things you can do with them but whatever those things are, it's irrelevant because Sam just likes to collect them - which is exactly what I would expect.

I guess one last thing you need to know is that periodically, they have these things called "events". During an "event", there is a proliferation of a particular type of Pokemon available for catching. The particular type available is not up to the player (or "collector") but rather, it is determined in advance by the unseen Pokemon Gods. Usually, the proliferation (i.e.: "event") only lasts for a limited amount of time - generally, for a few hours and usually (for us, at least) on a Saturday or Sunday.

Feel free to not correct me if any of this is wrong. My entire point is that this is my understanding. It has nothing to do with accuracy.

So anyway, there was a two day Pokemon Go event on Saturday and Sunday. Naturally, it poured on Saturday - so Sam and I (and apparently everyone else on the road), drove around town at a snail's pace, stopping randomly and unexpectedly to catch some Pokemon, before pulling away to randomly stop and catch some more.

During our stops, Sam would catch his Pokemon, while I would sit there and wait. I would pass the time by listening to the rain as it pounded on the car - and sometimes snap some photos. This went on for about two hours.

 That was it. That was the event.

All of this might sound like a pretty boring Saturday afternoon, but actually, it made for a lovely, relaxing day together. Sam was happy because he caught a lot of Pokemon. And I was happy because I got to sit for a while - and do nothing but listen to the rainfall, and spend some time with Sam - all of which are things that I enjoy...

Picking Up Where We Left Off

Sam’s new phone was waiting for me when I got home from work on Friday afternoon. This arrived quicker than I expected, but about as quick as I was hoping for. In the couple of days since the demise of his old phone, Sam’s frustration, while not gone entirely, had subsided greatly.

Now all that was left (hopefully) was to install the old sim card and then set up the new phone. I was dreading both of these things. The old sim card had gotten wet when the old phone got wet. Does this ruin a sim card? I had no idea, but we were about to find out. I installed the card and it only took a few tries (it’s too small to easily manipulate with my fat fingers). The phone started right up.

Now, onto setting up the phone...

As I mentioned elsewhere, when I had to replace my old phone, setting up the new one took several frustrating attempts - and this was using my old phone as the backup. As I also mentioned, Sam’s old phone was fried.

Amazingly (and thankfully), the setup process went more smoothly for Sam than it had for me. I think one of the reasons was that Sam didn’t care so much about retrieving his call history and his texts. If he had, I’m pretty sure we would still be working on it.

Sam’s primary concern (aside from having a phone to actually make phone calls) was to make sure he still had his Santa Tracker and his Pokemon Go app. The Santa Tracker was no problem. The Pokemon Go app took a little more work. But with a little fiddling with some of the settings, he was back in business- THANK GOD!

Out of all of the things in this process, the thing stressing me out the most - by far - was this Pokemon Go stuff. Not only was there a Pokemon Go “event” coming up that weekend, but the prospect of Sam losing his Pokemon collection - well, it would not have been something that he would easily let go of.

But it all went as smoothly as I had a right to expect.

By bedtime, things had pretty much returned to where they should be. Gone was the stress and the worry of a few nights before. Sam climbed into bed and I gave him a kiss. We each said "good night" and "I love you".

Then, I shut off his light and I went downstairs, to sit for a while, alone in the quiet - before finally falling asleep.

A Minor Mishap

I came in the door from work last Wednesday to see the contents of Sam's wallet spread out on paper towels across the dining room table. As I was trying to digest this, I looked over at Sam and saw him sitting at the computer. He turned and looked at me with a look of sheer panic on his face. Apparently, he had gone in a swimming pool and he forgot to empty the contents of his pockets - which included, not only his wallet, but also his cell phone.

This cell phone is one I bought for Sam close to two years ago. I got it, not so much to give him a phone (he had a flip phone at the time) but because I wanted him to get familiar with using some of the other things, things such as reading maps and accessing his calendar and putting together shopping lists. Since that time, he has not only become fairly proficient with some of these programs, but he also uses it to read the news and of course, to play Pokemon Go.

Anyway, as I'm standing in the dining room, digesting all of this, Sam, with his look of panic, is trying to find the right words and trying to relate all of what happened, and as he does he slaps his forehead, hard - and he tells me that he made a mistake.

At this point, I've been in the house for maybe as much as a minute. So, aside from telling him to please not hit himself, I’m still standing there trying to take all of this in.

I'm not someone who yells, but when something goes wrong (and even when it doesn’t) I have a habit of letting out a sigh. When I heard about Sam’s phone, I let out a sigh. Unfortunately, Sam picks up on things like this.

I did my best to stifle any frustration and to "regain my composure," which is to say, to try and not sigh - and with my head still spinning, I told Sam it was just a mistake and that we had insurance on it - and I asked him if he could let me get on the computer so that I could contact Tech Support.

So, I got on the computer and contacted Tech Support and I chatted with them, twice - once as me, and when they realized that Sam was legally an adult, once as Sam.

While I was on the computer, a heavy storm rolled in - as if to say that there wasn’t enough drama already. As I’m chatting away online, lightning was exploding outside my window. Knowing how things usually go, I expected to lose power at any minute. So, racing (and I use that word loosely) against the deadline of the inevitable power outage, I was typing more frantically and incoherently than usual.

Between the typing and the re-typing and the re-logging on, the chat lasted about forty-five minutes. But the power stayed on and while there were a few stumbling blocks along the way, ultimately it was decided that they would send out a replacement phone.

Great. This was step one.

Step two was going to be setting up the new phone. I was kind of dreading step two.

A couple of months ago, I went through a similar thing with my own phone. The battery on my old phone was no longer holding a charge and it was time for a replacement. I went through a similar process with tech support (without the thunder and lightning) and when the replacement phone arrived, transferring files and settings from the old phone to the new one was something less than seamless.

Ultimately, setting up the new phone took four tries - and nearly three hours - before I was able to import everything - and that was with me being able to use my old phone for a backup. Sam's old phone was completely dead. If I were going to be able to restore anything, it would have to be from an online backup - a backup that I wasn’t sure existed.

I knew Sam’s contacts would be online, but I wasn’t sure about what else. Sam cared about his contacts, but otherwise, his biggest concern was losing his Pokemon Go app and his Santa Tracker app. I figured we had plenty of time before he needed his Santa Tracker app but I knew there was a Pokemon Go event coming up (don’t ask) and he would be worrying about it up until then. “Don’t worry. We’ll do the best we can,” I said. That’s about as positive as I could be while not quite making any commitments.

Losing his phone was still bothering him at bedtime. As I covered him up, he was wearing his trademarked stressed-out face. Not only that, he was whispering to himself - something he doesn’t do as often as he used to - unless he is really, REALLY stressed out.

He still felt bad about wrecking the phone, he said, and I could really feel his pain (an expression I hate - but at the moment, I can’t think of anything more appropriate). I felt bad about my earlier insignificant frustration, which by now had melted away.

Making sure I refrained from any more sighing (even though this time, it would have been out of sadness and empathy instead of frustration) I sat down in the chair next to his bed and I patted his back and let him know that it was a simple mistake, that it could have happened to anybody, including me, and it would all work out.

I stayed for a little longer and we talked a little bit more. But mostly, I just sat there patting his back, and I told him that that I loved him and I did my best to convince myself that it was somehow making a difference.