Monday, October 17, 2022

 Monday, October 17, 2022

  I woke when the alarm went off at 5:30 a.m. but got up close to 8 a.m. I fed Elsa immediately, walking her afterward instead of before.

 I got around to gardening, cutting back bougainvillea in the backyard. The gardeners were coming today. They take all the green waste.

 I called Hawaiian Solar to tell them my whole system was down. They checked it on their end and said the system looked fine. The problem was with the Enphase app. I called them and got a person to speak to right away. It was an easy fix.

 I didn't have that kind of luck with Microsoft. A glitch in the program messed up the margins in one of my documents. I had no idea how to fix it. I tried several things, but nothing worked. Microsoft no longer offers in-person customer service. There's a customer service number that only deals with hardware problems.

  I was thinking of how to teach addition and subtraction to kids. "All you need to know is how to add and subtract the numbers up to 10." Then it occurred that wouldn't be true if you had a long enough list of numbers. I created problem 999 twelve times. Yeah, I know. The easiest way to solve that was with multiplication. But I wanted to figure out what happened when I had to carry a number greater than nine over. That didn't follow the principle of needing numbers between 0-9 to add and subtract. I checked my answer on my phone's calculator after I discovered Excel is no longer a free option in the Microsoft Suite- at least not on what I have on my computer. Huh! My answer did not correspond to the answer on the calculator. I called Jean, my Hanai sister. She has a Master's in math. She didn't have time to talk. I told her I would call tomorrow.

   I felt busy all day, so I did more than usual. As they say, "If you want to get something done, give it to a busy person." I feel sluggish when I don't have enough to do. Is this because I'm extraverted, or is this true for most people? Nothing is true for everyone.

  I posted the blurb, advertising my Phonics Discovery System videos on Facebook. The transcript of the 5 Stories showed up at the bottom. It wasn't what I copied from my Word document. I have to call Tommy for help. He sent me a link so I could access the YouTube videos directly. I haven't even opened his email, no less checked what it allowed me to do. I needed help.

 When I told adolescent D's mother he sometimes didn't protest when the sessions ran over, she asked if I thought he was ready to do longer ones. She proposed it to D. His immediate response was no.

     In our session today, I asked him why- not because I thought he would change his mind, but to help him develop critical thinking skills. His conclusion might still be different from mine.

  I asked whether he knew why he said no to the additional time. He said the thought made him uncomfortable. Anything new or unfamiliar makes us uncomfortable. We have to be prepared to override our feelings with judgment. If we're offered an opportunity, the first question is, "Is it dangerous? Can it cause harm?" If chances are good, we should say no. Once we have determined something isn't harmful, the next question is, "Could this be beneficial?" We have to decide whether to do it based on the activity's value versus the discomfort it causes us. Sometimes, I don't want to do something because of some ill-defined feeling. I have to decide whether it's just neurotic or the discomfort warns me of something dangerous. We can't always do what is most comfortable for us. I drilled the six main syllable types and the short and long vowel sounds using the keywords for the rest of the session.

   Elsa and I went to Paulette's today to get more Kangen water. We both love visiting with her. I look forward to a relaxing visit. Elsa is beside herself, looking forward to eating cat food and chasing after a stuffed mouse Paulette throws to her nonstop. Often, Elsa doesn't want to leave. Paulette has to shepherd to the car. 

     I had a scheduled appointment with the M & W sisters. When second-grade M signed on, she was in a moving car with her father, driving to a basketball tournament. No, no, and no. I couldn't even get consistent reception. We rescheduled for Friday.

  I ran into Karen walking Cookie Dough and Maverick on my evening walk. I knew Cookie Dough well. She was a sweet dog. Maverick charged at me, nipping at my hand. He was an undisciplined puppy. He wasn't hers. He belonged to a woman living next door, squatting in the house. She was a negligent dog owner. Karen felt sorry for Maverik. She said it wasn't the dog's fault he wasn't disciplined. Karen took him to the vet and got his shots; she bathes and walks him. Karen and I couldn't walk together because of Maverick's behavior. While his teeth never pierced my skin, he bruised my knuckles.