What a cool time we live in.

A while ago, Connor and I went on one of our bike rides to BK. While I was sitting there, I popped open my smart phone and had a conversation with Robert.

Robert was in Montreal Canada, on a business trip. He remarked at the wonder of being able to connect like this. I had just shrugged it off in a "yeah, so?" fashion. As soon as I did that, I realized how Jaded I was.

It is all too easy to go Luddite and proclaim the evils of tech, going so far as to post it on your blog. We can go the other route and become "one with the machine." Loosing out on the world around us for the joys of too much connectivity.

The yin yang symbol and the lesson of balance comes to mind with Mr. Miyagi accent intact.

a scant twenty years ago I wondered about people I used to know. Today I can check in with them and take part in memory scrubbing. It is great to see where they wound up (sometimes it is not that great...)

There are so many triumphs and tragedies that I get to share.

On going being on and going.

I have a feeling of glee as I pick out what shorts to wear for work. This is especially whimsical during the winter months. I have my ankle socks and undershirt out on the bed ready for post daily hygiene ritual.

I know that sometime during the day someone will remark on how cold it is, wondering how I could be dressed this way. Truth be told, I really do not feel cold during my work day, dressed in this fashion.

Also, I have ridden a bike 5 plus miles earlier that day. This gets curious reactions as well. The entire trip, for me, is between 15 and 20 minutes depending on various factors. I am wearing a jacket, tuuk, gloves and my shorts. By the time I lock up my bike and enter the facility my legs have warmed up comfortably. Some people see my ride as one of necessity as I possibly have no vehicle. Others see me as a green warrior combating the evil oil cartels. And then I could be some fitness nut trying to hold back the wages of time.

Why do I ride? That is more complex then I have fully rationalized. I do enjoy not seeing $$$ go into the tank of a vehicle. Not to mention there is a lack of wear and tear as well. Also, being a tad eccentric in the eyes of others has an appeal to my Ego. The fitness reasoning has its place as well.

I recall, not to long ago, struggling up the 4% grade that awaits me. Now I have great satisfaction of power up that hill with aplomb. The traffic forces you to be very alert and possibly carves new pathways into my aging grey matter. By deference of probabilities I have avoided many a mishap. Also, many new skills of a near acrobatic nature have manifested in regards to jumping up curbs and quick redirection.

The underlying theme for my dressing down in the cold and riding my bike to and fro has to be happiness. I am really enjoying this particular time in this particular place.

Yet there is a tinge of guilt for having this much fun.

Sounderwordisms.

Once upon a time I noted that sugar does not have an H, yet is pronounced as such. So I took to pronouncing it as Sue-gar. Just because it appealed to my sense of humor, I guess I could say it was my rebeller nature of not bowing the THE MAN. But, really it just tickles my fancy.

Along the weary road I travel there have been several such pronunciations that I have mangled to my dastardly purposes as well. Just as there are words my family has developed as well as inherited.

For instance the rubber spatula used to scrape bowls was commonly referred to as Kiddie-Cheater, when I grew up. Whipped desert topping is Fru-fru.

The Parmesan cheese that you purchase for dumping onto Italianish food is Shakey-Cheese. Something that Connor coined and Diana's Girl Scout troop adopted. So it is in the wild...

One of our family favorite internet cartoons, Strong Bad, gave us the phrase "No-Probalo" and "I aprekiate it"

A sieve in our house is called the Germanic Siep (read Zeep).

Some Cowboys from Calgary provided me with the wonderful phase "Usta-could." And the equally useful elimination of answer choices "Yes-No?" Added to the end of a question?

"So if I take that road I will make it to Sutherlin, Yes-No?"

"Usta-could, now its a dead end at the river."

Marvelous!

My kids had equally interesting pronunciations for the name Tobias (toby-us) and ambulance (am-bue-lense), and the colonel (Col-o-nell).

Some time ago I noted that wife, could be mis-pronounced weef. Without a thought to correctness last night, I introduced Tina to a co-worker using my dialect. Tina corrected me and the co-worker found it cute.

I'm sure every family has unique sounderwordisms like this. I am not sure they all have as much fun with them.

Skating stuff happens.

Thursday last I was invited to learn more about the possibility of being a ref for the new roller derby group. They skate a session then have an hour after for practice. During the skating session, while heading into a curve, backwards, at higher speeds, about to transition to front skating using a "move" that I enjoy. I found out that the resurfaced rink is "tighter" then usual. That is to say I fell, and fell hard. As far as falls go it happened very fast. Balance lost, flying, impact, stars, realize what happened, realize I am not wearing my glasses.

I am fine, just bruised and strained with the aches and pains of folly. So I have attempted mentally to figure out what happened during the fall. the point of impact appears to be just above and to my left of where the spine meets the hips. This was either a small slice of time before my left forearm took the rest of the initial impact, quickly followed by my right which started with my pinky and ring finger and hand. I surmise I had tucked my head, chin to my sternum as the neck muscles on either side of the adams apple are very sore as well. I tried to keep my head from the impact but to little avail as the back of my skull did make a loud bounce and sling shotted my glasses across the floor.

It must have made a sickening sound and quite a production as they turned on the lights and the manager lady was heading across the floor towards. My first attempt to stand was unsuccessful. A second attempt found sure inline bladed footing. My glasses were handed to me and I skated off to the side to assess. Total elapsed time was less then 20 seconds.

Back of head: No bruising, forgetfulness, ringing, nausea, tiredness or slurring of speech. I had no problems recalling short term memory and I slept rather well.

Neck muscles: Trapezius was tight and slightly sore, a wifey massage helped that. The sternocleidomastoid muscles are sore to the touch but have a full range of motion.

Lower back: Bruised with some stiffness. Careful stretching and warm up counters this throughout the workday.

left forarm: Mild discolor from bruising. No ache or pain (I think I landed pretty good there).

right hand: Ring and Pinky finger are stiff. Careful stretch and warm up counter as well.

So all in all not a bad fall for an older guy.

Connors World

(As stated before in my notes, Connor is my 12 year old son who has Autism.)

We have been informed of our travel plans this summer. The declaration was put forth by our 12 year old, stated in no-nonsense terms. This is what will happen...

School ends June 10th. Then we pack the suitcase, and drive to hotel called Holiday inn. We put on swim suits and swim in the pool, go to sleep. Then have waffles and drive north to Canada.

Pretty straightforward right? It does actually fit pretty well with what we are going to do, with good reason. Connor likes for things to be static, ritualistic if you will. He does not handle change. Everyone has different ways of dealing with ambiguity, some better then others. Connor has been able to see and be comforted by finding the static within the change.

He is adaptive in his reasoning. If we go to a Quality Inn, instead of Holiday Inn, he will accept the difference, because he can see that it is still a hotel. Now if the hotel does not have a pool or the waffle maker breakfast. Things are going to begin to get dicey. Yes, we can work him through the situation and he will emerge from the other side. The thing is this, we will probably have to help him through other things, so why not accommodate what we can, as it provides him a degree of comfort and control.

Communication is something most people overlook when it comes to kids. Imagine someone obviously hurting and crying. This person is not able to relate the problem. It could be physical, it could be mental, it could be emotional. As a parent it is paramount to help and without the knowing what is wrong, the knowing how to help, is nigh impossible. It can be heart wrenching. It is...

When Connor can relate to us something like vacation plans. We engage the communication fully. We will make corrections to his expectations. We have also, purposefully, altered plans in order to teach him he can deal with ambiguity. So when unforeseen events occur he has those skills.

No one is crazy about change. The more draconian the more we push back. It is our nature. Yet, our environment is one of near constant change. I suppose the human condition is one of conflict.

The Yard

Grass Grows fast in Oregon. Getting dry enough weather to cut is problematic. Having to unclog wet grass every 10 feet is annoying. Next is having to bag the first couple of cuts of the season. Mulching mowers are a godsend. However, they only work if you do not have tall tall grass.

Our mower is a self propelled Toro with an electric starter. Really it has a Briggs Stratton engine, which is the more important. Trevor is our lawn cutter. He has done a better job each proceeding year.

We got three mows in this season. Each time the grass grew insanely after. I hope this last one will allow us to go into more of a weekly mow then not.

Athlete, am I?

Sometimes my mental definition does not seem to match a reality. Recently on Shoe's blog he announced that he had been an Athlete in High School. I recall thinking it would have been cool to have done that.

This totally disregards my two years on the swim team. Also, the countless hours playing little league baseball, skating, fencing and playing roller hockey. So what exactly is\was my definition? The more I thought about it the more I found I did not have a real definition, I just knew that it was not me.

Connor with special Olympics he is a recognized athlete. I recently ran a 10K. wouldn't that qualify?

So running down the definition: a person who is trained or skilled in exercises, sports, or games requiring physical strength, agility, or stamina.

Well I was trained in baseball, water polo and roller hockey. Those are sports. I have not done any of these activities in six years or so... Roller skating in and of itself is not a sport, although there are sports that require skating, it is not a game. Running is a sport and an activity.

I can easily say I am athletic... is that the same thing?

Personal best 10K time!

I ran my personal best 10k today. Not really all that impressive, as it was my first 10K run today. My video crew filmed a bit near the end, in which I have been running an hour.

Time: 1:00:06

Shoes: River shoes (see previous blog entry)

Style: Forefooted running style (aka: barefooted style)

Calories burned: 890

Distance covered: 6.21 miles (10k... duh)

Aftermath:

Cardiovascular system, no issues, I had plenty of wind. Lower back, Forefooted style is with a straight back and level head, no issues. Knees, no issues. Shin splints, no issue. Ankles, no issue. Feet, nothing structural. I did suffer some blisters on my big toe. Next time I will need some socks to wick away the sweat in the river shoes. Yes, I said next time. Calf muscles, strained and sore. In getting the running style down I have a tendency to not let my heel touch the ground at all. I believe I have this issue resolved.

I cannot recall needing to ingest food like I did after the race. In a good way. More to follow, I have to go ride bikes with Connor now.

Once upon a Mesa

The suburban housing tract I grew up in provided me with many wonderful memories. One such memory was unlocked yesterday through a series of scanned pictures dating back to the late 1970's.

Getting in front of a group of people and making a fool of myself is not a big deal. While I can get embarrassed I always figure my quick wit will pull me through. However, getting up on stage, pretending to be someone written by someone else and parroting out the lines like they are my own, tends to tie my stomach up. So entertaining good, acting bad... for me...

In my formative years (read: High School), I was involved in, yet apart from the Drama Department. There was any number of reasons. Primarily because I was a willfully distracted student and my folks saw drama as a greater distraction.

They did strongly support and encourage my singing in Choir and Madrigals, without which I might have not attended school as regularly as I should. I guess I owe my parents many apologies for the angst I caused.

So I knew the Stage Crew, I knew the Drama kids, I was the Usher at many, many performances and did swing a hammer and grab a paintbrush or two.

A drama friend from High School posted a group of pictures from those old days on her Facebook page. This lead me to find David, the kid from up the street. An old friend.

David M. lived a few houses down from an outlet from our tract that was supposed to be a cul-de-sac. His backyard was next to the drainage ditch and the layout of his home matched my own. We both liked Sci-fi, and played Wild Wild West in his backyard. He was always building, forts and stages and other wonderful sets. He made a tropical paradise at one point, complete with Hammocks. We both started doing magical illusions around that time.

Still it was one of those friendships that lacked consistency. Every few months we would hang out then time would pass between.

Come High School things changed. He did hang out with a different crowd then I. However, I would catch up with him when I was hanging around the Drama folks. He was an artist, the best one I knew. Come graduation divergence of life paths occur and like so many others, I never really kept. track.

It is one of those things you wonder "whatever happened too" followed by the hope that they made themselves a good life.

Dave Wilder did just that and kept. very true to himself as well. He changed his last name (from Meek) to something fitting and as you can see on his link, is still very much an artist. He is also a cowboy, which fits his nature.

Autism and World of Warcraft

Autism and World of Warcraft. Meet Merve he is Eight years old and has Aspergers. This is of great interest. Both of my boys having Autism, Trevor on the Aspergers side of the scale.

W0W.com ran a feature on him which explains much better then I would in writing.

As parents we let our children play MMORPG's back when we were running around Asherons Call. Our kids would watch and hear the tales, naturally they wanted to give it a try. Both of them learned how to touch type and got to have their own adventures. We monitored them quite carefully and used every opportunity to teach them safe interaction skills.

"So where are do you live?" was answered with "Hebian-To in Dereth of course"

"How old are you?" was "level 26 now, should be 27 in a little bit"

Eventually we moved on to a superhero genre game City of Heroes. Connor was old enough to want to play. So we would let him explore the virtual city. Sometimes with surprising results. Once we found him leading a super team in a 'dangerous' warehouse raid, despite them warning him to "slow down" and asking "what are you doing?" he was surprisingly successful.

The group had a laugh to find a five year old Autistic boy was their erstwhile leader. Now it is a standing reward system for our boys, depending upon work done or activity earned. Connor still loves exploring and his ability to get a weaker character to the middle of a very dangerous zone baffles the mind.

The linked blog and write up is a great example of how autism can work.

Count down to April 17th!

Doctor Who Season is about to begin! The longest running sci-fi series has a new face in Matt Smith.

He replaced the beloved David Tennant last year who left us with a sad
David Tennants Regeneration into Matt Smith - Click here for the most popular videos">"I dont want to go" changing to a near manic Matt Smith.

The innovation of the series is the written in ability of a Time Lord to regenerate into another person or actor. Matt Smith being the 11th actor in the series.

Mr. Smith is the youngest Actor to take the role and has suffered many doubts of his ability based on Mr. Tennants favored portrayal. Which is pretty funny as Christopher Eccleston, the previous doctor to Tennant, was likewise deemed impossible to follow.

I myself have haunted the various Whovian websites getting those bits of information that only wet the appetite for us fanbois, and I have really liked what I have seen.

So this Saturday, tune into BBC America (check listings) or set the DVR. This is going to be quite a fun ride!

Working World

The sun peeked out yesterday and I got a good 20 minutes running among the photons. This brightened my significantly dour mood for the rest of the day.

I enjoy my job, even though DOOM is in the air. The cuts that are coming have everyone feeling down. Getting a second part time job is very tough around this area. I have a couple of prospects that I have been praying about.

On the brighter side, Trevor was able to stop his sinking ship college career. He had achieved a fiscal suspension for poor grades. At my eldest sisters suggestion Tina has me run interference at his collage. It was a little too eye opening. Personally, I cannot conceive how you can get below a B at our community collage. Just showing up and handing something in will get you a C.

We were able to work with the administration to finish up and turn in unfinished assignments. This got him back on the grants list. Part of me is glad he can further his education, part of me moans for my ill spent tax dollars.

Here is a question for you. How can a huge increase in enrollment (students = customers) mean a shortfall in revenue for the collage?? Ugh! We cannot afford to have this many customers! HELP!!!

I hope there is more sunlight today. I could use another soak.

Top 15 Misconceptions About Catholics

Original Posting (As a Catholic I enjoyed this read as I have heard all of these)

With nearly one quarter of the U.S. population Catholic, they make up a huge part of society and the largest Christian denomination. Yet with so many, how is it they are so misunderstood and characterized by films, television shows, etc.?

Failing to do the proper research explains a great deal of it. With a simple search on the internet, we were able to find many interesting answers to the top 15 misconceptions about Catholics. They are both from official sources, reporters, academics, and more.

1. Priests Are More Likely to be Pedophiles : The most dangerous of all myths concerning Catholics, this can lead to many negative and unfair consequences. Recently in a book entitled Pedophiles and Priests, an extensive study – and the only one of it kind – took a look at the pedophile statistics of over 2,200 priests. It found that only 0.3% of all Catholic clergy are involved in any pedophilia matter, guilty or not. This number is actually very low and according to Counter Pedophilia Investigative Unit, who reports that children are more likely to be victims of pedophile activity at school with nearly 14% of students estimated to be molested by a member of the school staff.

2. Everything in “The Da Vinci Code” is True : Even author Dan Brown himself doesn’t agree to this. In this free film from Hulu, Mr. Brown admits to writing his novel as a step in his own spiritual journey. As he confesses to being swayed by his extensive research, the experts behind the research weigh in with facts. Simon Cox is the author of “Cracking the Da Vinci Code” and tells more about his work in this documentary. If you don’t have 90 minutes to view it, you can get the real story behind Opus Dei, the villain organization in the novel, from ABC news.

3. Women Are Oppressed in the Catholic Church : Although women are still not eligible to become priests as explained by Pope John Paul II, they were still acknowledged as valued members of the church as far back as 1947. In a Papal Directive from then Pope Pius XII, he expressed his admiration of women “to take part in the battle: you have not sought to do so, but courageously you accept your new duties; not as resigned victims nor merely in a defensive spirit.” Also, in 2004 then Pope John Paul II historically appointed two women theologians to the International Theological Commission and named another as the president of the Pontifical Academy of Social Sciences.

4. Catholicism and Science Don’t Mix : It has been theorized that science leads down one path while religion, such as Catholicism, leads down another. However, in the mid 1200’s Saint Thomas Aquinas was preaching just the opposite: that all paths lead to God. In fact, one of his most notable quotes “The truth of our faith becomes a matter of ridicule among the infidels if any Catholic, not gifted with the necessary scientific learning, presents as dogma what scientific scrutiny shows to be false” is listed on Brainy Quote. A modern day professor from Columbia University also gives his take on the subject.

5. Catholics Place Too Much Emphasis on Jesus’ Mother : Believing in the Immaculate Conception – the virgin conception of Christ – is a key factor in Catholic belief. But does that mean that she sits above or even at the same level as the Son or the Father? This article by Bishop Pivarunas details her role in the church and even uses actual scripture to explain why.

6. Catholics are Cannibals : The Eucharist is a sacred part of the Catholic mass and in it, followers are asked to eat the body and drink the blood of Christ. But is it a figure of speech or is there actually flesh and blood involved? In this article from Catholic Answers, two church officials certify that the answer is in keeping with the Catholic faith. The meaning of the scripture quote “”I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst” is discussed thoroughly.

7. Catholics Don’t Believe in Dinosaurs : In a popular Catholic forum, the question of the dinosaur comes up. Expert Apologist Michelle Arnold tackles the age-old question in a four part answer, which acknowledges the existence of dinosaurs. It includes universal death, life after death, the opportunity to question one’s own faith, and reassessing one’s own beliefs.

8. No Meat on Fridays : Until 1983 Catholics were required to abstain from eating meat on Friday for the 40 days of Lent and the following Holy Week. However, the rule was changed to “abstinence from meat, or from some other food as determined by the Episcopal Conference, is to be observed on all Fridays.” Which basically means that instead of foregoing meat on Fridays, Catholics can choose to give up something else. In addition, abstinence and fasting are required on both Ash Wednesday and Good Friday.

9. No Alcohol for Catholics : Although a certain sense of moderation is present, Catholics are actually encouraged to feast, have joyous processions, and an elated thanksgiving for God’s grace. In fact, this priest from Saint Mary Magdalen in Brighton proclaims that champagne is the preferred drink of Catholics.

10. Catholics Worship Saints : Father Jeff explains the myth behind saint worship in this video from YouTube. He explains how prayer is different from worship and how the lives of saints are remarkable. He also uses the more modern comparison of a Prayer Line in his explanation.

11. Purgatory is Another Hell : Catholic belief in purgatory can be confusing and perplexing. More a belief on the afterlife, purgatory is believed to be where sinners go to “purge” themselves of sin before entering heaven. This encyclopedia article from New Advent has more.

12. Catholic Mass is Really Just a Homily : Father Z. is a popular Catholic blogger and priest in Philadelphia. In answering a reader’s question, he discusses the issue of the importance and meaning of the homily in Mass. In short, a homily is a sort of summary by priest or deacon after a reading and before the Procession of Faith. Father Z. explains exactly what it is and why it is important.

13. Catholics Can Confess Anything Away : A belief that confession is just a formality with no real consequence is a myth. In fact, just the act of admitting a sin can be doubly cathartic and reconciliatory. This article tells more on what is expected of a good confession. However, even the Vatican warns that a confession is not a counseling session.

14. The Pope is Perfect : Even Catholics don’t believe this and state that papal infallibility has its limitations. In an article from Slate, papal infallibility is explained as pertaining to when the pontiff is ruling on a spiritual or moral manner. There is a similar infallibility belief when ecumenical councils are ruling on similar issues. Other than that, the pope and the rest are just as fallible as the anyone.

15. Children Aren’t Allowed at Mass : In another answer from Father Z., he tackles the question of what to do with “wiggle aged” children at Mass. He addresses the positives and negatives of bringing these kids to church, what should be done, and what can be done as an alternative. Over 160 comments were left after the blog entry and tell even more on the subject.

Even if you disagree with any or all of the top 15 misconceptions about Catholics, it is important that you understand them fully so as to know why. Whether writing a paper, dating a Catholic, or just looking to understand the faith more, there is much to know and much damage to undo caused by myths.

There is also loads more to be found on the internet and a good place to start is these Twelve Catholic Myths where Michael Voris tackles even more misconceptions on Catholics.

Connor's Early Morning.

I guess this is not all that amusing. Until you take into account Connors Autism. When he responds to a situation it can take you off guard.

He again lost a tooth handed it to mom with strict instructions to throw it away, because that "tooth is trouble". This kid does NOT want some fairy with money visiting him! No-siree bob!

I have the duty of rousting him from a nights sleep. This generally occurs around 7:15 AM Pacific Time (GMT -08:00). The response given will run the gambit from nothing to a near leaping from his upper bunk!

This morning was an example of the former. "Good Morning Connor! It is Wednesday and Time to get ready for school!" Instead of the disheveled squinting, labored mobilization to a sitting position, instead a verbal response was issued.

"Dangit!"

Which gave me a chuckle, in all empathy!"

Bike riding

The only way to get better at an activity is to do said activity. Profound eh?

I read someplace that putting in 10,000 hours makes you an expert. While I am not really sure about expert, assuming the quality of the time you would certainly be much better. There may be oblique proof in my roller skating. I certainly put in the hours. I can certainly skate well now.

So with my statistical sampling of one goes, it is factual!

Connor has made great strides in riding his bike. He still has lots of control issues. Things like riding straight, starting from a stop, needs more time. His confidence has nearly outpaced his ability.

While camping he found great joy in heading down the boat ramp and seeing how close to the water he could stop. Mom got palpitations watching that one. He has enthusiasm galore and the ability to crash, recover and get back on the bike. I mean bad bruise raising incidents. Nary a tear as well. Just him grimacing and saying ow until the pain subsides and getting back on board.

It is oddly inspiring and a source of pride seeing this. His mind really is remarkable, as he is a remarkable kid.

Today we were going to go the the park and ride to Wendy's. The rain started and I decided going up the street for a root beer would allow us to get to cover easier then the park. We headed down our road (pretty good incline downwards). Connor was very happy with his using the break to not careen out of control into traffic (I was trepidation personified). At the bottom he followed my verbal instructions to the letter, going on the sidewalk and pulling to the right for pedestrians.

Whom Connor talked to with a friendly "Good Afternoon!" The bridge near our house has a very narrow sidewalk. Connor was not able to pedal across. So we walk\rode it across to were there is no sidewalk. I pointed out how he is to ride on the dirt and he complied. We visited the market and got some soda's. Rode to his old elementary school (via a foot bridge). Drank our beverages and headed out into the nature trails.

Connor had a route already planned, allowing him to see various features, which we dutifully stopped and explored. As Oregon weather complied by not dumping rain on us, it was a fun outing. I figure he has 99,990 hours to go...

Rollar Skating

FYI: Healthcare is now a right. Demand your right for any visit, test or procedure today!

My skates have reverted to their previous size. I have a pair of Hockey style inline skates. Hard thick leather with a steel toe. They are size 10. My feet are 10-1/2 somewhat closer to size 11. This is typical for hockey, you want an intimate fit. The problem is the skates had shrunk just enough that my big toe would impact the steel like shell. Which is painful after a couple hours skating. The combination of sweat, pressure and heat has remolded them to their previous glove like status!

Woot!

And you go camping.

Connor got really excited about spring break. He wants to go camping.

So we booked a Yurt at a nearby campground. Not very expensive and close enough to home in case his idea of camping and the reality of camping collide. Not that I think that will happen. We have had situations in the past where a good exit plan is required.

Autism builds rituals which can become tradition in short order. When we celebrate advent, we have the candles and readings followed by holiday songs. Connor has assigned us which song we are to sing. The elder two are not happy about the song choices thrust upon them. However, when pressed for an alternative, they cannot think of any. So they acquiesce to the request.

Last week he started making our summer vacation plans. We have a tentative Canada trip planned to see Omi, Aunt Connie and the cousins. Along with other sorted outings. Although, in Connors mind an important part is making sure we drive North and stop at a motel with a swimming pool.

Awareness, Correct, Correctness

Connor likes people. Lets qualify that, he likes when people direct a certain amount of attention towards him.

While learning to ride his bike Connor would stop passers by with a friendly "Excuse me!" Folks out for a walk in the park tend to be a forgiving bunch, when it comes to kids. Or so I found out.

Connor would then go on to say something like "Look, I can pedal!" followed by "Okay, gotta go!"

The people would chuckle, I would explain he just learned how to ride. Then we would head off down the path. After about the fifth group, I decided this ritual pattern is not in the best interest of Connor, bike riding, park walkers and myself. So I cautioned him to just ride and say "good afternoon" This worked much better then the staccato start and stopping.

His cheery good afternoon was met with many happy returns, except for the grunting of the teens who appeared to resent walking and daylight and the world in general...

So here is the conundrum. Connor needs to learn to engage in back and forth conversation to relate idea's, concepts and information. So if he is in distress we can ask him "What happened" and have him respond "I fell and banged my head."

There is nothing malicious about Connor. We prompt him and praise him for his observations. What to do when his correct observations lack 'correctness'.

During our second ride as we approached a couple, Connor noted the woman and informed her that she had a baby in her stomach and she was a "big fat lady". I corrected him (we have been attempting to rid the phrase 'big fat'), I apologized and explained his condition. She was gracious enough but damage done.

So Connor was partially correct in his observation, but not in a way that is polite. Honesty and truth is good. Moderation and restraint does need appropriate application.

Now to teach that....

The Government is causing Obesity!

My buddy Flying Van is hostile towards school lunches. I believe he feels that the government is spending his money incorrectly. A point I am in agreement with.

The idea behind the lunch entitlement is that poor people can not afford to buy food or they care so little about the kids they have they choose not to feed them or they lack the training on how to purchase and prepare food. Seeing how kids are required to go to school, this makes it a logical place to feed these poor starving kids, who must be thinking about their empty stomachs instead of learning reading, writing and arithmetics.

That is to say your brain needs calories to function. Add to that the fact that hunger is a distraction and you have a prime example of the Government aiding education!

One of the primary problems with the above idea that people are starving. No doubt there are people in the US, who cannot access the cornucopia of goodness. If someone is starving the human thing to do is to get them fed, then have them to feed themselves. Finally have them help feed those who are starving.

So holding a parent responsible for providing for their child gets jettisoned. Having a community wanting to help the less fortunate is also jettisoned. And the chance of the child learning to feed themselves is shunted towards letting the government feed you.

Case in point: If you are on food stamps the USDA added incentives and other changes that targets the link between Obesity and Food Stamps with an idea to trim rampant obesity rates among low-income groups. Obesity is not caused by starvation... Right?

So we know that food stamps, from the government, are making poor people fat. Now I read that school lunches are not just making sure that hungry kid has sustenance to insure better performance. No our School lunch program, from the government, are making hungry kids Obese.

I never got\purchased school lunches. My mom made me a sandwich with some fruit and veg for quite a number of years. Sadly, many of those lunches were never eaten. Sometime around third grade I was responsible for my own lunch. Which means I had breakfast and dinner at home and ignored lunch. In HS I was on swim team and had instant breakfast (beats upchucking). Again, if I did have some lunch it was not everyday.

Basically, I was too lazy to make a lunch and too busy to bother with lunch. When I did eat, I made up for the missing meals. I did a pretty good job of burning off any extra calories as well.

Now my daughter needs to have regular intervals of food intake or she gets listless. My nephew would have to eat a certain nutritional balance to avoid nasty headaches.

To my way of thinking. Yes, we need to feed habitually hungry kids. The parents need to be held responsible or face some kind of consequence. Funding a Union does not seem to be covering the basic need.

Adult Activities for Health and fitness.

With loosing some weight there is a desire to move and exercise. There is in me at least. It boils down to wanting to do things. Over the weekend I ran two and a half miles with Connor learning to ride the bike. Which was pretty good, I thought.

Tuesday afternoon they have an adult skate. Yes, in the afternoon. I went and it was nice and open, around 6 other people (I was the youngest...). I really enjoy skating. It is a bit odd for me to see the skill level has declined.

On recomendation I picked up the book, Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen

While the writers style irks me at times, the overall book is quite a remarkable journey into the past\present and future of running. Why is it that a community in the Copper Canyon area can run hundreds of miles a day without knee, foot, ankle problems? And why are they running into the 80's?

Because, we high tech shoe wearing folks are running wrong.