Thursday, February 8th, 2007

Time	Event
11:53a	Good stuff Hey, we didn't get the freezing drizzle (yet). Go us! Having a generally good day so far. Last week, if you recall, we were supposed to be visited by the Sears man to see why our dryer, bought new in November, will dry things 'til the cows come home but WON'T shut off automatically. I had carried the phone around with me all day, but made the foolish mistake of taking a few minutes to vacuum the tumbling herds of dust bunnies lurking in the laundry room crannies and corners. Yep, that was when they called to verify someone was home. :/ Today I did not vacuum. Actually, I didn't vacuum all week--I mean, why take a chance? So this time he DID get his directions and was able to complete his mission. It turns out that the dryer they sent us has a rare, strange defect (of COURSE it does--we have a magnet for those things) where someone at the factory installed the wrong timer motor, one that was not rated for 220V like the rest of the dryer! He has ordered a new part, and will be back next week to install it. If I don't forget and vacuum at the wrong time. In other good news today, I read in the online Pueblo Chieftain that the pickle factory up the road in La Junta which closed last year (putting over 100 people out of a job) has finally been sold. It had all these big old tanks and stuff, see, so someone is going to turn it into a BIODIESEL factory! All the farmers in the area with the ability to grow soybeans or sunflowers are going YAY! Current Mood: good (1 Comment | Comment on this)
2:23p	The Communicating Mike I think Mike's blog/LJ crabbymike fits in with the general topic of things that are good or going well. We haven't worked up to him typing it himself yet, because I think it's better to focus on one aspect at a time. I'm thrilled at how much he's getting into it, though. Where Mike is at, in general, is that he has a fairly good mental vocabulary, but he tends to stick with a rather basic and somewhat repetitive spoken one, probably because there is less risk of making mistakes, which he hates. If he dictates and I type, I can suggest topics or phrases for him to put in his own words. But even if he just more or less repeats back what I just said, he is practicing a new line of speech without realizing it. I can also casually correct word usage. He has several quirky phrases that I often don't notice in his everyday talk because I'm so used to the MikeSpeak. But when I am transcribing, my inner editor DOES notice. (Minds are funny, eh?) He usually wants me to read back his post three or four times, too, which is another subtle reinforcer for better speech patterns. Mike's motivation for writing his blog and sending emails is still heavily based on it earning him 'stars' which he can trade for time with his 'playing games', Train Simulator and the various roller coaster ones. But he's also gotten into the idea that when he sends out his messages, there are people reading them who are interested in what he has to say, and who say things back. The basic 'back-and-forth' of human interaction is one of the things that's hard for him, but the low-pressure/high-interest of email and blogging seems to be a good fit for where he's at. It's fun for me too, because sometimes when I am typing down what he says, he comes up with things that I didn't know he knew, or was worried about, or even that I didn't know had happened. Maybe it's a good learning experience for me too, getting me out of Lecturing Mom Mode! Current Mood: contemplative (3 Comments | Comment on this)

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