Sabine’s Blog

So … I always pride myself in being a rather educated person. To the point of being somewhat on the snobby side when talking about my ’superior German education’ ….courtesy of 13 years of Catholic schools … and all the baggage that comes with it ….

Part of that education, back in 6th grade I believe (long time ago … memory isn’t what it used to be) was the geography lessons we received from our dear old teacher Mrs. Bierbaum (yes, that translates as beertree in English ….) She was OLD, I mean, close to retirement and then some … maybe in her mid 60’s. Yikes, that seemed old to a six grader … now, not so much.

Anyways, she believed in teaching a healthy portion of Allgemeinwissen …. or what I now refer to as ‘Trivial Pursuit Knowledge’ … and had us not only memorize all countries of the world but also their Capitals AND, get this, DRAW the continent and the countries location and OUTLINE. Yes, that is what I call education! Catholic schools were good for something …

Anyways, so back then, I knew all the countries, all the Capitals and could point out where on God’s green earth they were located. Which made me feel well prepared for the quiz I was suckered into via a link on www.testpattern.msnbc.com … but more on that further down … DON’T click yet!

Mind you, much has changed since those good old school days in the 80’s. For one, that was before central Europe exploded from just being USSR and a couple of Eastern Block countries into two dozen countries that I couldn’t identify on a map if you paid me. Same holds true for the many name changes in the region of Central and Western Africa. I KNOW they changed names, I think …. let’s say, I would maybe recognize what continent they are on if you give me their new name … or maybe not …. well, whatever.

Still, based on my belief that I knew my way around the globe, I visited the following website ….. http://www.oneplusyou.com/bb/view2/countries …… via a blog on  www.testpattern.msnbc.com … wide eyed and bushy tailed, thinking: how bad can it be?I am smart. Well ….

Before I tell you how I did …. go ahead and get a dose of global embarrassment yourself.The goal is to list as many countries as you can in a 5 min span …. the timer starts right away so start thinking now …. GO!

Tick Tock. Tick Tock. Tick Tock……. 

Did it? Yeah? How many did you get?

I am embarrassed to say that I missed 202 countries …. among them Liechtenstein (ok, maybe not so embarrassing for an American … but I lived 3 hours away from that mini-State and visited it many times ……I did get Luxembourg though!), Austria (helloooooo, 1o years of childhood vacations …..), Malawi (c’mon, know your celebrity’s favorite country to adopt from …..) and Vatican City (scroll up! I learned all this in Catholic School ….. the nuns are rolling in their graves right now …).

Insert Political Statement Here: Thanks to Mr. W though, I had no problem naming Iraq, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan ….

I am making no excuses ….. I sucked (hopefully less than you, though :->)….. well, I’ll slip in one excuse ….my one and only one worth mentioning is that I learned all of these names in GERMAN and the countries need to be entered by their ENGLISH name …. and I still don’t know how to spell Fidji in English .. well, now I know …. it’s without the d ….

So, let me know how you do ….  I’ll be busy eating some crow and whining over my deteriorating superior education ….. 

 And here they are last summer …. running like the wind in Maine ….. 

Well, running like the wind, trying to win the race … what you don’t see in this Rockwell-eque setting is that 5 minutes later they were in a fight over who won and who lost …… gotta love it

Geez, I was going through a long lost file on my computer the other day (sad when your clutter extends into the virtual world ….) and found these photos of my thumblings when they were just that …..

first one is noah after making his own camping bed the first night in our new house …. he was two. the next two are from the day benji came home from the hospital ….. where do the years go …. feeling old.

So it has become abundantly clear since the conception of this blog site, that I am not a blogger. I am not sure why. I mean, as mentioned in my very first blog, it’s not that I don’t like to talk. And it’s not as if I ever suffered from a lack of an opinion on anything and everything that goes on. I mean, let’s be honest, we all think we have at least 10 cents worth to add to every discussion.

But I am missing the back and forth of conversation. Stimulating exchange. Someone saying something and that triggers something I want to say. And so on and so forth ….

I could take the route my dear hubby is taking …. taking pix of his empty booze bottle and posting that …. do I need to even explain why that is not the way to go? Didn’t think so.

But I do like to share. I like to share those items that you find on the net by accident and feel like forwarding . The ones that trigger a quick IM to someone because you just have to have someone say “really?” along with you.

So while browsing the www this weekend I found that some people do just that in their blog. They do their ‘interesting factoid or article of the day’ link and then give a short comment …. well, Jeeves, I shall like to try that.

So, new approach …. while I can’t promise to do it on a daily basis (some people have to actually work during the day and then have no desire to even come near a computer at night ….) I will try to come up with those ‘Did you see that?’ links that made me go ‘hmmmm’ and post them here.

We’ll give it a try …..

Ah, Mickey. Ich krieg immer noch so ein schoenes Disney gefuehl im Magen, wenn ich mir die Fotos anschaue. Die von Disney wissen schon, wie man Urlaub machen soll…..

Ich sag zwar immer, wir gehen wegen der Jungs nach Disney, aber in Wirklichkeit haben Jerry und ich auch schon immer die totale Vorfreude. Wenn wir dann da sind, kriegt Jerry zwar oefters mal den ‘das ist mir alles zuviel’ Anfall, aber mir kann es nie zuviel Disney sein. …. aber nach einer Woche hat man erst mal wieder genug.

So what do you do when your employer calls you into a meeting and tells you the job you have been doing for the last 6 years will have a totally different scope in a couple of months?

I don’t know. Never thought about it. ….. will have to start thinking about though it since that is exactly what happened to me just yesterday.

I am a project manager for a non-profit providing housing for low income seniors. I manage three properties, about 150 units, financial stuff, facilities stuff, social stuff, and am there to just chat. I love what I do. It is a job that, while underpaid, pays back by giving me the feeling I make a difference in a person’s live. Many times, I am the only person these seniors see on a regular basis. Heck, sometimes I am the only person they see at all. My properties and the rent subsidies we provide are the only way they can afford to live in their own independent world, have an apartment door to close behind them and a key to lock it.

And while my main function is to make sure that all of my properties are in compliance with the myriad of rules put upon us by State and Federal government,  the most rewarding part is when I receive a thank you card from one of ‘my’seniors because I remembered their birthday. Or someone will stop by with candy to give to my boys.

But I also love the regulartory part of my job. Auditing files, certifying residents to be eligible for federal aid, generating budgets, managing spending, dealing with HUD, etc. etc. That is a part of my job that, though sometimes agitating due to red tape and bureoucracy, I love and, don’t mind saying, am really really good at.

And now, all of a sudden, they want to take that part of my job away. Corporate decided, to keep up with the competition, we need to turn into a service provider, case managers. Centralize all of the regulatory and financial aspects of my job and turn me into a social worker. Take our mission of providing housing and make it play second fiddle to providing case management and social services.

When we met yesterday and heard the news, my colleagues and I (there are 8 of us) were stunned. Not sure what to say. We all see the need for more on site care for our residents. Medicaid and HUD cuts courtesy of the Bush government have made “aging in place” the norm and often times only option for our low income seniors. Residents on Medicaid who used to be guaranteed a nursing home bed if the need arises are now told to stay put and arrange for care at home. 

But, while that is certainly the perferable route from a social and touchy feely aspect, it is like telling a 1st grader to write a thesis on Moby Dick. Impossible.

Let me back up a bit. When the government last year implemented the change in Medicaid administration they thought, to save money, we will tell seniors that THEY are in charge of their care, they can chose (Hence the Choices for Care motto …..hahaha) whether they want to go to a nursing home or assisted living to receive care when they need it OR whether they want to stay in their homes and get the care there. Well, who would chose option 1? I wouldn’t. But, the dear government failed to tell seniors that when they meant ‘you are in charge of your choices’ they also mean ‘ you have to figure out how to get that care ….” 

How does my 85 year old resident with early onset dementia navigate through the jungle of available options? Who makes sure she gets groceries, has her medication refilled, checks in on her housekeeping and personal hygiene?? How does she know where to call to get qualified for nurse visits??? The Agencies on Aging and Visiting Nurse Associations are supposed to ‘case manage’ and help with that. They have the State mandate for that. But they are so understaffed, they have a 100 to 1 client/staff ratio.

So now my company thinks, we need to turn into case managers even though, by State law, we are not allowed to. And, to bring it down to my level, I am supposed to turn from a Project Manager into a Case Manager. My responsibilities go from making sure the bills are paid and the budget is balanced to Mrs. Smith pills are refilled and someone gives her a bath once a week.

Don’t get me wrong. Someone has to. I am frustrated on a daily basis when I see how little help my seniors have. I often do their laundry, get groceries, change their lightbulbs, call the phone company because they don’t understand the bill, wade through the piles of junk mail that say “send me $100 and you will win a a prize!!!!” But I do it because I can, because I volunteer. I am not QUALIFIED to take it on as a full time job. And neither are my colleagues. We are, when it comes down to it, paper pushers. Regulatory geniuses. Account balancers. NOT social workers.

So, our dilemma is, what to do? Do you say, as a group “sorry, that won’t work for us?” And risk being told “well, then we will find someone else”. Would they say that to their entire staff all at once? I don’t know.

And the other dilemma is, am I just afraid of change? Is this the chance I have been waiting for to make a change in my career? Would the social work field be something I could be good at?

Argh, I just don’t know. Right now, all I know is, I understand my seniors much better. How often do I come to them with a new brilliant idea and they are skeptical, unwilling to try it. Afraid of change.

And what do I usually tell them? Change is good, people! Try something new.

Take that, know-it-all. Crow tastes disgusting. 

 Ok, nicht so einfach ein Foto hochzuladen …. muss mir das noch mal in der Hilfe section nachlesen … aber zumindest mal ein Anfang …

After pontificating about the State of PermaWinter in Vermont just now, I remembered a funny email I received from one of my co-workers a while back. I am usually not into those chain mail, everybody laugh haha jokes, but this one, I admit, almost made me pee my pants …

Even though I am not a ‘TRUE’ Vermonter (that is a WHOLE other blog …..) I could check off almost every single one of the below qualifying marks :-> 

If your local Dairy Queen is closed from September through May, you live in Vermont . Check

If someone in a Home Depot store offers you assistance and they don’t work there, you live in Vermont . Check

If you’ve worn shorts and a parka at the same time, you live in Vermont . … not yet

If you’ve had a lengthy telephone conversation with someone who dialed a wrong number, you live in Vermont . … since my cell phone number is only one digit off the local crafts council number, this one is a Check, Check, Check

If you measure distance in hours, you live in Vermont . Check

If you know several people who have hit a deer more than once, you live in Vermont. Alright, have to pass on that one …

If you have switched from “heat” to “A/C” in the same day and back again, you live in Vermont . Check

If you can drive 75 mph through 2 feet of snow during a raging blizzard without flinching, you live in Vermont . Check (one of the things I DEFINITELY learned by living here ….)

If you install security lights on your house and garage, but leave both unlocked, you live in Vermont . Check (note: I also leave my car unlocked with the keys in it …. it’s in the garage though, and that has security lights …. )

If you carry jumpers in your car and you know how to use them, you live in Vermont . Check

If you design your kid’s Halloween costume to fit over a snowsuit, you live in Vermont . Check … wait, that is not how it works in the rest of the country?????

If the speed limit on the highway is 55 mph — you’re going 80 and everybody is passing you, you live in Vermont . Check … though most of the people passing have Quebec license plates

If driving is better in the winter because the potholes are filled with snow, you live in Vermont . Check … sadly, that applies most certainly to my own driveway …

If you know all 4 seasons: almost winter, winter, mud season and road construction season, you live in Vermont . Check …ah. mud season, as sure a sign of spring coming as the cherry blossoms in DC ….

If you have more miles on your snow blower than your car, you live in Vermont . Sort of check … we ditched the snow blower and went with a full blown dedicated plow vehicle … in addition to the bobcat …

If you find 10 degrees “a little chilly”, you live in Vermont . 10 degrees a little chilly, please, that is reason to leave the house without a coat ….

If you actually understand these jokes, you must live in Vermont .. Yikes …..

First day of spring! Ah! Time to pack away the winter gear, start thinking about gardening, enjoy the warmer weather …. PSYCH! Not in Vermont my friends. In Vermont, we are under a Winter Storm Warning with snow accumulation of 4 to 8 inches expected by tomorrow.

I admit, this is nothing unusual for Vermont. We have had snow as late as late April. In fact, the year that my oldest son Noah was born on April 14th, we had almost three feet of snow in the backyard when I went into the hospital. Mind you, while there we had a major melt and three days later most of it was gone. But still. Nothing unusual, nothing new, nothing changed.

What makes me go “Huh???” though is the article in our local newspaper this morning headlined “Earlier spring a sure sign of global warming, studies say.” Don’t get me wrong, I am not debating the facts or message of the article. I strongly believe that global warming is a serious issue and agree that we all need to rethink how we treat Mother Earth or our kids and grandkids will pay the price. I am just thinking that the timing on this article is a wee bit off …. considering the local market and weather forecast.

The article talks about the cherry blossoms in DC primed to bloom, butterflies showing up in CA, seasonal allergies already on the rise in PA. Yet, here in Vermont, we had one of the snowiest winters on record. SO, maybe, just maybe, the local newspaper editor wants to rethink the timing of the article. Because if other people react the way I did when reading the headline, with a resounding “yeah, right”, it might not have the desired impact.

On a sidenote, I did see the first Robin of the year land in the crabapple bush in front of my office window early last week. Now THAT is early. He seemed a bit forlorn and the pair of cardinals, who live in that bush all winter long looked at him with what even in the bird world must be known as the ‘Dude, what are you smoking??’ look. It was too funny.

Anyways, gotta go. Gotta tell my plow contractor to get his %$#& in gear so my old folks (I manage several senior living facilities) can get out of the house safely.

Cheerio.

Ah, der Spellchecker wird sicher verrueckt werden, wenn er sich dieses Blog ansieht. ‘Verrueckt’ ist nun mal kein Wort, das man als Englisch ansehen koennte … ich kann schon die Gehirnstraenge gluehen sehen “Verrueckt” …..ahhh …. does not compute …

Jedenfalls, mein lieber Mann meinte, ich muesste mich in die Welt des Blogs begeben, denn das sei ja nun mal hip und cool …. und wer will schon nicht hip und cool sein. Das Problem ist, ich weiss nicht, worueber ich denn nun bloggen soll. Und nichts ist trauriger anzuschauen, als eine total leere weisse Computerseite.

Ich hatte ja immer mal mit dem Gedanken gespielt, eine Webseite zu gestalten, auf der ich schnell und bequem Fotos etc. mit meinen Leuten in Deutschland teilen kann. Wenn ich versuche, meine neusten fotografischen Werke via email an meinen lieben Bruder zu schicken, kriege ich immer die “attachment to larg” email zurueck. Und natuerlich dauert es auch noch ewig, bis die email erst mal loszieht.

Da ist das mit dem Blog hoffentlich einfacher … kann man ja einfach mal so hochladen … hoffe ich jedenfalls, dass das ‘einfach mal’ so geht ….

Hach, jetzt fuehle ich mich doch schon etwas besser … endlich keine weisse Seite mehr. Es gibts ja nichts schlimmers, als wenn dieBlogosphere glaubt, du haettest nichts zu sagen.

Na dann, bis bald.

PS : Ich rede ja so ein bischen mit mir selbst hier, denn im Moment weiss ja noch niemand, dass ich ueberhaupt ein Blog habe … hmmm … manche Leute gehen welcher solcher Problemen zum Psychater …. ich komme mir schon was komisch vor.

Sabine, hoer auf mit dir selber zu reden.

Was?

Hoer auf, mit dir selber zu reden!!

HUH??? usw.usw.