Monday, May 22, 2023

 Monday, May 22, 2023

              The scale was 146.5 this morning. Ah, thank God. If it goes up and down, my weight probably isn’t driven by diabetes. Of course, I had thirteen nuggets yesterday. Betty, where is your restraint?

        I had a wonderful night’s sleep; I don’t think I got up even once to pee. But who knows? I fall asleep so quickly when I return to bed. I got up to take care of a piece of business.  

      I bought bras from Amazon that promised to be the most comfortable things on the planet. A miracle. Okay, I thought I’d try. I tried one on. Wow! Had I gained that much weight? 

I measured the underband. Twenty-three inches on a 36 DD bra. I measured my other bras. The underband was 33 inches. A ten-inch difference! Obviously, something was wrong. I had to check an email from Amazon called the “Try Before You Buy” policy. How was this different from what it usually was. Maybe they were enforcing a seven-day return policy. I went through the steps to get a refund. I packed the bras and put them in my car for delivery to UPS tomorrow. 

     I was going to town anyway to see my computer guy, Bailey, at Jack Be Click. I had problems with both my computers. 

I can’t print from the tablet. When I press control P, the print option comes up, but it says I must save the document. I do, and it still doesn’t print. 

  Also, I can’t get Microsoft Word working on my new Apple. It asks me to put in my password. I do. It accepts it but doesn’t allow me to use it. It accessed files from 2021 from the computer but not from the files on my current One Drive. And it won’t let me type in a single letter. I do have access to the Internet, at least. I called Bailey today. He says he can help me figure out what’s going on.  

     I thought I bought lifetime access to Microsoft 365. It’s on my tablet without a problem. Why isn’t it on my Apple? I got this program from some Microsoft customer service outfit out of India. At one point, the man I had the most contact with called to tell me there was a problem and they had to refund my money. I had worked with this guy for several years. I knew him well- I thought. When he said I was family, and he was concerned for me, I should have known then and there. 

     The whole transaction was funny. Alex handed me over to some guy who would ‘help’ me. I drove him nuts. Open your bank account. How do I do that? Put in your pin number. I don’t have one. What do you mean you don’t have a pin number? I never use it. How do you get money from your bank? I go there. When were you there last? Yesterday? Oh, boy. I could feel the frustration coming through the line. One guy had me on the line, insisting I never close my computer. He blew up at me. “You’re so spoiled. I could live on $700 a year.” That’s how I remember how much I paid for my lifetime access to Microsoft. They put a new guy the next day. It was the oddest state of mind I’ve ever been in. One part of me knew what was happening and laughed at how ridiculous it was. The other part was taking the whole thing seriously. It ended when I received my final instructions in the Target parking lot with one leg out the door. Go to the service counter and order $6000 in gift cards. “Don’t be ridiculous. If I do that, they will call the cops.” “Tell them it’s for your grandchildren.” I don’t have any grandchildren.” ‘Stay on the phone at all times, but don’t let them know you are on the phone.” Click! The penny dropped on both sides of my brain. I hung up and drove home. The phone kept ringing, and the texts kept coming. I picked up the phone once to tell them I was heading to my bank to change my account. I never heard from them again. It was a fascinating experience. 

     On some level, I loved it. I asked two hunters in my life if there was an intimacy between the hunter and the prey. They said yes. That’s what I felt. An intimacy I hadn’t experienced since Mike died. I could see why people fall for romance scams and then defend the predator in court against charges. I still get a charge thinking about the whole experience, not just my escape but every minute of it.   

     A year or so after this experience, the company called me and asked me why I hadn’t contacted them. I told them they had their nerve after they tried to scam me. Poor guy. As it wound up, Alex, my primary contact, was in jail for his activities. Now, I have to find out what my status is with Microsoft. Do I need them? Can I work with Google Docs that so many others love? Can I transfer all my documents over? I will need access to something like PowerPoint. Does Google Docs include that?

   I did some research. Google Docs is a possibility. It sure is cheaper than Microsoft. I know many people who prefer it. I would have to get all my files shifted over, including my photos.  

   I had a session with Adolescent D today. No, he didn’t finish all his assignments. Did he get more done with me or without me? He said, “On my own.” I doubt that. He is most proficient at avoidance.   

      I told him I had spoken to his mom, and she was impressed with his reading. “I doubt that,” he said with disgust. “You don’t read as well as the best reader at your grade level. You may not read as well as the lowest student above you. However, your improvement is mindblowing. Your mother thinks I’m a miracle worker.” Three years ago, he was on a first-grade reading level. In September two years ago, the public school special education teacher evaluated his reading to be on a second-grade level, heavily dependent on sight words. However, he couldn’t recognize the word they and confused her and here.

      He said he wanted to work on his book Investing for Young Adults. The improvement in his reading was mind-blowing. I have seen improvement since last week. “The rich get richer.” The more we can do, the easier it is for us to learn more. His mother told me he was taking notes. I asked him if he had started working on reading multi-syllable words one at a time before blending them. Yes! My God, the boy is making an effort on his own!   

     He read exceptionally well and more than he had ever read before. Then he started making mistakes. He had worked hard. He has to tame his nervous system, and rewire it, so he can read. That he could read as much as he did was spectacular. He was suffering from brain exhaustion. I told him it was time to rest. Knowing when to take a break is an important study skill. It’s also important to sit down and push yourself through the task. In this case, it was time for a rest.   

      I told him I would read the text. When I came to multisyllabic words, I would produce the individual syllables and allow him to blend them. In English, it is possible to decode the word ‘correctly’ but not pronounce it they way we normally do. I read the syllables with an eye to producing challenging options. In the word interest, I pronounced the syllable as in/ter/est. We don’t say the word that way; we drop the first e and say /in/trest/. He experienced cognitive dissonance as he wrestled with the way the word was written versus the way we usually say it. I presented the word aside as as/ide. Figuring out words using context clues is a necessity in English. Hebrew is worse.  

     I called his mom after the session to tell her about the improvement I had heard. She laughed. She had come into the room as he was reading and heard. She asked if we could work on practicing for the Learner’s Permit Driver’s written this summer. I had done some work on it a while ago, thinking it was material he might be interested in. Not so much. His mom asked him if he would be interested now. He said yes. I would be delighted to work with him on it. Besides reading skills, I can teach study skills.  

    I had a session with second-grade M at four pm. I continued working on reading comprehension. Her oral reading was pretty good. She did excellent work decoding multi-syllable words at a third-grade level. She misread some function words. I’d work on that over the summer. My biggest concern was her comprehension.  

      She and some of my other students confused reading comprehension with background knowledge. They answer what they think is true rather than what the text says. I usually start by telling them, “ I’m a twelve-year-old boy with bright red hair. What did I say?” Is any of that true? No, absolutely not. When asked a comprehension question, the teacher asks what the story says. I saw almost 100% improvement.   

      I called her mom after the session to tell her what I was seeing. I also asked her mom to recommend me by posting an ad on her Facebook page. She gave my number to her officemate, who is an educator. The woman observed me teaching M and thought I was fantastic. Apparently, she recommended me to several people. I could expect parents to contact me. I didn’t count my clients before they hatch. This would be great. Maybe I can get this ‘educator’ interested in my teaching methods. I want them used by others.  

   I continued watching Firefly Lane. I think it’s fantastic. I particularly love the adolescent scenes. Those actresses almost have me convinced they’re not acting. Of course, I am vulnerable to suspending disbelief.