Today’s Activities
- Shower. DONE.
- Cat duty. Sister Jojo doing this for me while I’m away.
Log
07:15 AM: We’re all up. [Ann] came through all the dorm halls just now, loudly proclaiming that it’s time to get up. She’s funny. As feared, sleep was hard to catch overnight with Sasquatch in the room. But I did manage to drift out a few times, and I did feel surprisingly refreshed. But this was likely due more to my anticipation and excitement of the coming day of activities, than the amount of sleep I got.
07:45 AM: Now heading to breakfast with [Emmy] and [Mentat].
09:00 AM: The general business meeting begins. The WPSBC school superintendent, Tod Reeves, spoke about the school’s mission and his vision of how the school will serve special needs children in the coming years. He explained the renovations currently underway at the school and told us why they replaced the tiles in the old lower school building with drywall — to give it more of an at-home appearance; like a family room.
I gave my treasurer’s report, which was well-received by the crowd if I do say so myself. They supported my recommendation to leave our investments as they are and not to move them around at this time.
The issue of how to invest our money the best way given our group’s relatively short time horizon will be revisited in 2012, and in the meantime, the board will watch our funds and, should the stock market show signs of rapid growth or shrinkage, make adjustments as needed to minimize our risks.
10:30 AM: We took a short break.
03:00 PM: Upon return to WPSBC after the walk to [Emmy's], I thought I’d take a nap to freshen up for the banquet this evening. [Mentat] had the same idea too. But unfortunately, so did Sasquatch.
04:00 PM: The two of us tried in vane to sleep. But with Saquatch’s snoring, slurping, heavy breathing, and flopping around in his bed, shuteye was impossible to secure. Even when he left for the bathroom, we still found no silence because his cell phone rang. Grrrrrr. So I gave up and went downstairs to walk around and see who was about.
Some of the guests took a little field trip to the new Pittsburgh casino on the north shore this afternoon. But one guest brought some equipment specially tailored for blind and vision-impaired users. So I checked out her display. She showed me a talking GPS unit. But she experienced problems during her demonstration that cast a doubtful shadow over the performance of the unit. She also showcased an accessible digital voice recorder, which records in stereo and offers completely accessible menus. It has 4 GB of internal memory, a USB interface, and a memory card. It offered high fidelity sound; particularly through the powered computer speakers she brought with her. I bought nothing however; didn’t really need any of those devices.
05:15 PM: Heading back up to room #209 to get dressed for the banquet.
05:50 PM: On the way into the banquet hall, we ran into former school superintendent, Janet Simon. She and [Mentat] talked at length.
06:00 PM: The banquet began. Preliminary announcements made. Ellen Goldfon MC’ed the event. They served salad, fruit cup, steak, potatoes, coffee, and cheesecake. WTAE TV news reporter Marcie Cipriani addressed us; talking about her typical work day, how she and her crew put a story together, what her happiest and saddest stories were, and she took many questions from the audience. She did not however, accept our speaker’s fee; saying that this engagement was volunteer and that she was glad to help. That was sweet of her. The audience enjoyed her talk and I found her to be highly personable and engaging. The program committee definitely picked a winner in this popular television personality. Great job ladies.
We had a highly enjoyable cast of folks at our table, including [Mentat], [Emmy]. [Ron] and his girl friend, a long-time friend of the late Richard Parker, and myself. Parker’s friend and I got to know each other. Though I’ve seen this fellow at numerous Parker Christmas parties, I never really talked to him until now, and I’m sorry I waited so long to do so. I enjoyed talking to him; he, a judge that Parker used to present cases to before Parker became stricken with cancer back in 2002. This judge had high praises for Rich and reminisced about the parties and Rich’s relentless, careful, and honest work ethic.
08:30 PM: [Emmy] enjoyed the banquet as well as the rest of the weekend for that matter. I think she’s now glad that she came. We decided to go outside with the weather so nice and to listen to the mid-summer locusts buzz. They’ve always been very loud at the school, and hearing them brings back memories of the early days after returning from summer vacation, and swinging on the playground. In fact, [Tad] commented on them. Apparently, they remind hiim of summer’s end as well. We marveled at how, when they decide to stop for the night, how they do it, all together, within ten to fifteen minutes of dark. It takes them about that long to go from completely loud to completely quiet. 
10:45 PM: Like last night, [Emmy] and I sat outside in the driveway (old playground area), and chatted with several members. We discussed the But unlike last night, I grew tired soon after the banquet ended and now, I’m really beat. So I’m heading to bed much earlier than last night. Hopefully, Saquatch won’t keep me awake again. Good night.
Tom Hesley
Received Mail and Shipments
- Electricity bill. $224.34. Wow! This hot summer is costing us.
- Misc. bank papers.
- Mom’s dental bill.
- Mom’s wheelchair rental bill.
- Credit card offer from AAA. Not at this time, thanks.
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