THE OFFICIAL: Open Conversation Place

[Frances Jewell]

CJ

I should mention to check your email, I changed my email after you got the last one. My reply may be in the junk box.

Love

Fran

[CJ]

Hi Fran,

Yeah, you wound up in the spam box. I fixed that.

I had a day off yesterday. I think my Monday was even lazier than my Sunday, if that's possible. It rained all day (just like today). I read a bit (currently reading a science-fiction thriller called SpyWare by R.J. Piniero--it's so-so), slept for a bit, then played a video game for a few hours (Psychonauts, on the XBox), then slept a bit more. Then ate. Then read. Then... well, you get the picture. It was an awesome do-nothing day. It really was.

The following may not be too interesting to all you non-gamers out there, so feel free to skip the rest of this post. I want to talk a bit about that game, Psychonauts.

Here's the concept (and it's a great one, I think): you play the character of Raz (Rasputin), a goggle-eyed kid spending the summer at a camp for psychically gifted children. Inevitably, things start going haywire as the evil Dr. Loboto, who runs the nearby insane asylum, starts stealing the children's brains--literally. Now, the brainless children can only think of watching TV. Your mission is to find those brains and help the kindly old janitor, Ford Cruller--himself a retired Psychonaut agent--in his quest to "recranialize" the children's brains. You do this by using a "psycho-portal" (which looks like a tiny door that you just slap onto people's forehead) in order to penetrate the minds of the various characters you meet in the game. Once in their minds--and some of those minds are pretty wacky, I have to tell you!--you must, using all your psychic abilities, sort out their emotional baggage (literally, find the tags matching different pieces of luggage), clear up their mental cobwebs (by sucking up the glowing webs with your trusty cobweb vacuum), and collect the figments of their imagination (ghostly desires and memories floating around the character's mental world). Succeeding in these tasks will "cure" the character, who will then help you on your mission. Man, I only wish my RL job were so easy!

Here's a screen shot of the game, where Raz is trying to gain access to the asylum, the doors to which are guarded by Crispin, a former inmate turned orderly.



Now, the game may look (and sound) cartoonish but, trust me, it's not. This one ain't for the kiddies, folks. Not because of the language or the subject matter or anything (it's actually pretty tame in those regards and it's also free of the gruesome violence people have come to associate with video games), but because of the humour. The game is hilarious but it's the kind of sarcastic and sometimes cynical wit that's well beyond any 10-year old's capacity to grasp. Even the various settings contain a number of visual gags you've got to be quick to catch.

Game critics are unanimous: it's an excellent game that, unfortunately, wasn't properly marketed. Sales were disappointing. Today, it's quite hard to find and, when you do, it's expensive.

Anyway, I'm having a ball. Right now, I'm in former stage star (and insane asylum inmate) Gloria's mind, trying to direct the various plays in her mind in order to help her recapture some of her former glory so that I may cure her and she may give me her one award statuette... it looks like a claw and I need that claw as part of my "Dr. Loboto disguise" in order to fool Crispin into letting me into the asylum. Oy! Mental illness and mental health were never so much fun!

Have a great day, y'all!

Love,
CJ

[SilverLady(SO)]

Hi, Fran -

I've been busy working 12 hour days this week, and didn't know that tornadoes hit the state until late last night. Luckily for us, though, they were on the coast . . . Roanoke is in the Blue Ridge Mountains, on the opposite side of the state. We do have several members who live in the greater Norfolk area, though, and we hope they were all spared by the tornadoes.

Virginia and I will be taking a mini vacation from Thursday to Monday, heading down to the Sunshine State for a powerlifting championship and some much needed R&R. They do say that it's always 5 o'clock in Margaritaville!!

Hugs, everyone!!

- SL

[Frances Jewell]

SL
Glad to hear that you weren't near the tornado area. Out your way is pretty nice country with lots of beautiful scenery. Enjoy the trip.

Hugs Fran

[Frances Jewell]

Happy May Day everyone. After yesterdays snow flurries I was out mowing the lawn today. I was thinking as I was doing it how I complained about shoveling and now its yard work every few days. Ay least I won't freeze to death. The only thing warm on my toes is the color of the polish.
Hugs

Fran

[Caith]

No snow in Charlotte Wednesday or Thursday, but it was cool Wednesday morning. I mowed the front lawn in the morning and the back lawn in the afternoon. It was a great day for working in the yard, here.

[Jeannie]

What is going on with the weather lately? Snow in May,tornadoes in Virginia and it's going down to 34 tonight in fabulous Waterbury.
I just came up from the shop for a break. I need a vacation!
It was a usual week for me in this wonderful city. Last friday I was doing office work in the shop and heard a crash. I go out front and there's a telephone pole hanging over the street and a car wraped around it.
I said to myself. Great! I grab Marley and we go out and all the neighbors get together. It's a Waterbury block party!
The cops come and the fire engines get there and this guy is drunk as a skunk. He drove up the sidewalk,took down some street signs and hit the pole dead on. I'll give it 6. I've seen better.
The driver of the fire truck from right down the street is Kenny O'Toole. He was my daughter Katie's soccer coach and a great guy. I said" Hey Kenny! Another great night in Waterbury!" He replied"Tell me about it!"
I was talking with my next door neighbor and his wife who lives in the three family home a few houses up. He was glad the third floor tenants were evicted. Me too!
They were two guys that had three pitbulls and at 12 every night the traffic would start. Cars would pull up,someone would run in and right back out.
I think they were selling Avon but I'm not sure.
You'll like this Virginia. Tonight I'm running tickets for Ciarlo's Car Emporium. It's a car wash and lube center that was owned by Pete Ciarlo. Now his daughters are running it. I always wondered how Pete changed Mercedes like I changed pantyhose. Last year he got busted for selling Cocaine to an undercover cop 9 times. He's presently serving a 9 year sentence in the federal prison in Danbury.
On sunday Silver Lady my daughter Katie calls me and asked if I could come over her house and spread manure on the garden.Gee. When you think of manure you think of Jeannie.
She bought my Dads house and he had a big garden. Katie and Kevin decide to downsize the garden. All they did was pull out some weeds,throw some grass seed on all the lumpy garden and thought it would be fine!
Not only did I have to spread manure on the garden but I had to level all the part they seeded, fertilize it,put more seeds ,water it and cover it in hay. I'm doomed!
Katie is in graduate school,has a degree in Philosophy,English/creative writing from the The University of Hartford. $35,000 dollars a year down the crapper!
I have to get going. It's the Warden on the phone. Oh no!

Love
Jeannie

[CJ]

Wow! You folks down there got snow, eh? Well, not us. You can't blame Canada for this one, people... we got the liquid version.

So, Jeannie... Katie's going after a Philosophy degree, huh? Don't be so sure that the 35k/year it's costing is such a waste. Sometimes, that's what it costs to learn how to think properly. Creative writing is good, too. It'll give her an edge when the time comes to properly express what she's properly thinking.

My father--who's quite literally an "old school" type of guy--finds it too bad that the provincial government abandoned the classical education model back in the late 50's and early 60's. He says that, in his day, quite aside from the traditional "I had to walk three miles through the snow to get to school," they had to learn their Greek and Latin and come into contact with what we, today, would call Classical Studies or Liberal Arts... philosophy, cultural history, music, writing, fine arts, general science, international relations, etc., etc. Although, excepting a one-year stint in the Liberal Arts College at university, I never had a classical education, I do believe he's right in bemoaning the loss of this type of education. A classical education gives you a much rounder, richer, and fuller picture of the world. Moreover, it teaches you how to better interpret and analyze what goes on around you. Finally, it helps develop your ability to synthesize; to take elements of history, culture, and current affairs and combine them in novel ways.

These days, a "higher education" usually means a preparation for insertion into a market-driven economy. Our current culture of corporatism practically guarantees that partnerships--visible and invisible--between Big School and Big Business will further lead to the disintegration and erosion of the classical education model.

One way to avoid this in our own lives (as both undergraduate and graduate students) is to start off our post-high school studies with a degree in Liberal Arts. Aside from giving you a much more solid foundation, two years in this type of program--prior to any form of specialization--will increase the likelihood of your making an informed choice in career or vocation options.

Ours being a world of technicians or technicism (in the sense of people with, or jobs requiring, highly specialized skills and training), we lack the insights brought to us by what used to be called "Renaissance Men (and Women)"--people whose general knowledge allowed them to take strands from many different (and sometimes apparently unconnected) fields and weave new webs of knowledge out of those strands. We need people like that. While the technicians, for instance, will give us the technology, it's the ethicists and philosophers that will force us to reflect on our use of that technology. It's the artists and writers that will use pigment and word to paint new worlds for us to think on, not the technicians. This is where your (or Katie's) $35,000/year is going, Jeannie. It's worth every penny.

Bright minds still first need to be set alight.

Love,
CJ

[Jeannie]

Hi CJ
I was only kidding about the 35,000 bucks a year. It was money well spent.Katie can read,write and think unlike her old man. Years ago people could work for one company or in a factory their whole life and make a decent living but no more. Those days are gone.
The newer generations will have many jobs and will have to be able to adapt to rapidly changing technology. Companies will pay for a strong mind not a strong back. I have a little story for you.
Katie loves to write poetry and won some contests in college.There was a little ceremony in a classroom with a group of other Philosophy and English majors. Their was this old man who was the guest speaker.
He had graduated a long time ago from the University of Hartford with a Philosophy degree and couldn't find a job so he took an office job in a small shipping company. The company grew and he moved up the ranks and ended up doing training and management seminars around the world for thee company and retired early. As he put it "I fell into a manhole on this one" It was his first and last job CJ. The Company was UPS and he made a fortune on the stock options he was given and is a big contributor to The University of Hartford.
It think he would agree it was the best $3000 dollars a year he spent on college.
Enjoy your weekend . I have to get back down to the saltmine. Hugs.

Love
Auntie Jeannie,Aka Printasaurus Rex.

PS Everyone has one of their own personal printers next to their computer! Rats! Lucky my Dad louie showed me all the old school numbering,perforating,diecutting,slitting and scoring. Try that on your computers you young punks. My little Heidelbergs last forever and will out live me. Those Germans know how to build a machine CJ.

[Frances Jewell]

Hi Jeannie and CJ,
The problem with the cost of the education today that it limits the ability of many to attend school, though I have found Community Colleges to be an exceptional value, and the fact that while loans are currently tough to get being strapped with the debt is a killer to start out life with. My daughter who is graduating from High School in June is only 3 course short of a College degree from the local community college. She almost had a college degree, but the college wasn't offering the courses she needed this semester. I will say that it is pretty tough today to get through life at least in outr society without an education. And when the body is worn out you can generally count on the mind.

Fran

[Jeannie]

Hi Fran
Community colleges are a great value. Private institutions are out of reach for most unless the student plays football or basketball. I live in CT and even the state schools are very expensive.
UConn is $22,000 for state residents and $37,000 for out of state students. UConn has been a basketball powerhouse in the last few years driving up costs. Look at these numbers that Coach Jim Calhoun makes:

"Calhoun will receive a base salary of $200,000 for the 2004-05 academic year and that amount will increase by $25,000 annually through the contract. In addition to his base salary, Calhoun will receive $1,200,000 in the first year of the contract for institutional public relations commitments, which include speaking engagements and media-related appearances for a total of $1,400,000. These two combined figures will be $1,500,000 for 2005-06, 2006-07 and 2007-08 and will be $1,600,000 in 2008-09 and 2009-10.

He's a freakin' basketball coach Fran! Our government keeps telling us how important an education is for all children. This is the best Fran. When our kids were born we started to save for college for both of them. We always lived in the three family house over the shop and I drive a 1996 Subaru.
You go to the government to try to get a low interest student loan and they say"Screw you. You saved money for your kids so you're not eligilble"
The family who has 8 kids, the father is on disability and the Mother is a crack head get a free ride.
They penalize you for being responsible and reward you for bad behavior. Go figure!
I have to go back down my shop. My daughter Katie is taking graduate courses. In my next life I'm coming back as a heroin addict with a hooker wife. All my kids will go to college for free!


Love
Jeannie the jerk.

[Frances Jewell]

Hi Jeannie,
I know it the government has it worked out that any scholarships work against financial aid also. I told her to get a job in government, good benefits, good pay, and they seldom have cut backs. I just found out that our local Congressman get (and he's a first termer) gets chauffeured to and from his local office daily. The guy only lives a mile and a half from me, I didn't realize that his neighborhood was so ritzy.

Fran

[CJ]

Hi all,

Well, I cannot say anything more about the state of education down there as I don't know how the American system works. So I'll keep mum.

changing the subject, today's a big day for Roxanne and me: we're getting rid of the car. We no longer need it. I don't drive, to begin with--I don't even have a driver's license... never have--and, as it is, we mostly use the car on weekends anyway.

We're moving at the end of the month much closer to our respective workplaces. Essentially, we'll be downtown, on the northeastern rim of the city's center. I'll be a 3-minute walk away from my office (which I go to but twice a week, using public transportation for my "road trips" for much of the rest of the week) and Roxanne will be a 10-minute bus ride from her own office (enjoying what's basically a "door-to-door" service).

The apartment complex we're moving into (about 1,350 dwellings spread over three towers) has all the (underground) amenities we could possibly need in a pinch: a supermarket, a small shopping mall, many restaurants, a cinema, a four-story fitness club and spa, and a rooftop outdoor swimming pool (heated, accessible 365 days a year). I think it'll be a blast. I've even seen people shopping down there in December and January while wearing only sweatpants and a T-shirt (with style, mind you! ). See the pix below.

So, the car goes. We're trying to find ways to reduce our carbon footprint and every little bit counts. Roxanne and I both have good bikes; in the summer, she mostly uses hers for pleasure while I use mine more often, even for work. We are, however, looking into the possibility of buying a scooter--something that's already very popular in many European cities.

I'm supposing that the idea of going carless may make many Americans cringe. I know I've had this conversation in the past with our esteemed ruler, Sharon, and she's of the opinion that you cannot get around in the States without a car. At least, not in Texas nor in the Midwest or California. But Montreal is a different story. Though the city is big (1.8 million residents on the island itself), Montreal has a most excellent public transit system, including close to 280 bus routes (night routes included) and 69 Métro (subway) stations, the closest of which is but a five-minute walk away from our new home.

Can you tell we're pretty excited with the move? We're going urban, looks like.

Love,
CJ

[Jeannie]

Hi CJ
Sounds like you have everything you need at your fingertips. It would be wonderful not to own a car. They pollute more than kids and are just as expensive to maintain. At least my commute is short CJ, but it's a bitch going down three flights of stairs in heels.
I have to get back to work. I'm saving up to fill my tank. I delivered to one of printing accounts and next door is Joe who owns an electrical contracting business. A few weeks ago someome siphoned the gas out of his 4 vans overnight. All you need is a portable hand drill, a small siphoning pump, a couple of 5 gallon plastic gas containers and your in business. They can't keep them in stock at Home Depot. There is a warning label on each pump. "Do not use with flammable liquids." I can't wait to hear the first explosion CJ.
Ah yes. The joys of living in Waterbury.Let me go out on the deck to check if my car is still in the backyard or maybe the wheels are gone.
Enjoy your new crib Hon. Big hug.

Love
Jeannie

[Caith]

Jeannie, why doesn't he keep a sleeping Rottweiler or Pit Bull in each of his vehicles overnight? That would help discourage the thieves. Of course, there's the expense of maintenance and upkeep for each one, and the licenses, and cleaning up behind them, but they make great riding buddies!