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lydyI got an A on my final for A & P of Sleep and Breathing. This means I should get a B in the course. Which is not, you understand, an A. There goes my 4.0 record. But it is definitely the right trend. I got a C on my first test, a B on the next two, and now an A on the final. I feel pretty good about that, especially since I felt so lost during the course. Anatomy and Physiology are just not things that I learn easily. I have so little visual capability. Keeping track of where the hypothalamus is, and the thalamus, and the various parts of the medulla is just tough. As for heart circulation, it's hopeless. I get lost on the bits where the blood vessel is moving anteriorly along the sulcus to the apex of the heart. I can kinda understand it a little, but it doesn't stick. Fortunately, the final had very little about that.
A & P of Sleep and Breathing is really just half of a class. It only lasted 8 weeks. Now I'm in the other half of the class, Patho/Class of Sleep Disorders. I have no idea if it will be as tough as A & P. I need to start to worry about it almost instantly, since the first assignment is due Friday at midnight. At least, that's when I think it's due. I have to check that. I'm really bad at keeping track of the exact due dates of things. I've a little time, though, since the reading and the assignments only take me one day, two at the outside. I'll start to worry about them tomorrow.
In bad news, I got a C on the last quizz in Fundamentals of Polysomnography. I didn't study for it, I was too busy studying for the final, and I thought it would be easy. I missed at least one easy question, thinking that the easy answer was too easy and couldn't be the right one. Out thought myself on that one.
Other than school, nothing much goes on in my life. I accidentally registered for Minicon twice. Evidently, I had registered for Minicon at last Minicon, and had forgotten it. My cat is my study buddy. She tries to sit on the book to help me study. I have to chivvy her off it and onto my lap. She'll eventually sit on my lap and I put my book at my side to study. If she can get away with it, she'll rest her head on the book. It's very cute in a frustrating sort of way. But if we get sorted out so that I can read my book and she's in a comfortable position, she'll stay that way for hours. And then she wants to get fed. Usually about an hour before supper time. At which point she becomes amazingly obstreperous.
Oh, one odd thing has happened. I got a letter from my nephew who is in prison. It was a nice letter, with the full story of how he happened to get busted. Two weeks without sleep, on meth, and a lot of guns that he's stolen from the father of a friend of his. He's lucky he is alive. He wanted to shoot it out with the cops, but his girlfriend shut the trunk before he could get one of the shotguns out. He got 9 to 15 years for stealing and selling the guns, and possession of drugs. Being on meth probably makes you stupid, but staying awake for two weeks will surely make you stupid. All in all it was a nice letter, but there was a little hint there that maybe I would send him $50 for a CD player. He's in segregation again. Call it solitary. I forget what for this time. Fighting, I think. He's also changing his name from Jonathan Thomas to Sinner Lawrence Bilskirnir. He's into worshipping the Norse gods. Which I guess is fine, but the Norse have never been my favorite pantheon. They're awfully warlike and grim. Maybe this religion will do him some good. Lord knows his strict Christian upbringing gave him nothing.
I still haven't sent a response. I've written a bit, warning him that I have no money and no place for him to stay when he gets out. That should be the hard part, but it doesn't seem to be. I'm having trouble figuring out what else to say. The sad fact is that by all the numbers, Jonathan/Sinner is a lost cause. Recidivism is 80% overall, and he's not in the category of low recidivism, like murderers. Not that I want that he should have murdered some one. Good heavens, no. It's just that his chance of ending up back in prison is pretty high. He initially got caught up with the justice system for sexually abusing his siblings when he was 16. Then the thing with the meth and the guns. (Cops just hate guns. Even more guns and drugs.) The fact that he keeps ending up in segregation suggests that he's hopeless. He's got a terrible temper. He got kicked out of the rehab program he was in at 16 and sent to juvie because he threw a desk at a teacher, and other angry outbursts. He wonders sadly how he's going to make it on the outside. So do I. He's got facial tattoos, for heavens sake. And he's changing his name to Sinner. These just seem to be extremely non-world friendly. And so I don't have much encouragement to offer him. But he's probably being abandoned by his family, plus his family is one of the reasons why he's in this mess (home-schooled). I feel like I ought to offer emotional support. What's a letter? But I can't get involved in his life. I don't have the money or the trust that would need. I can't see inviting him as a guest, offering him a key to the house and the alarm code. I especially can't see my housemates accepting this idea. It's hard, though. I still think of him as the 8 year old who asked me how it was possible to live without God and all the rules. He didn't follow my advice, which was to keep his head down, hang on until he was 18, and book it. He also didn't follow my advice about not getting caught. I couldn't care less what drugs he takes, it's the stupid things you do on drugs that worry me.
So that's everything that's going on.
A & P of Sleep and Breathing is really just half of a class. It only lasted 8 weeks. Now I'm in the other half of the class, Patho/Class of Sleep Disorders. I have no idea if it will be as tough as A & P. I need to start to worry about it almost instantly, since the first assignment is due Friday at midnight. At least, that's when I think it's due. I have to check that. I'm really bad at keeping track of the exact due dates of things. I've a little time, though, since the reading and the assignments only take me one day, two at the outside. I'll start to worry about them tomorrow.
In bad news, I got a C on the last quizz in Fundamentals of Polysomnography. I didn't study for it, I was too busy studying for the final, and I thought it would be easy. I missed at least one easy question, thinking that the easy answer was too easy and couldn't be the right one. Out thought myself on that one.
Other than school, nothing much goes on in my life. I accidentally registered for Minicon twice. Evidently, I had registered for Minicon at last Minicon, and had forgotten it. My cat is my study buddy. She tries to sit on the book to help me study. I have to chivvy her off it and onto my lap. She'll eventually sit on my lap and I put my book at my side to study. If she can get away with it, she'll rest her head on the book. It's very cute in a frustrating sort of way. But if we get sorted out so that I can read my book and she's in a comfortable position, she'll stay that way for hours. And then she wants to get fed. Usually about an hour before supper time. At which point she becomes amazingly obstreperous.
Oh, one odd thing has happened. I got a letter from my nephew who is in prison. It was a nice letter, with the full story of how he happened to get busted. Two weeks without sleep, on meth, and a lot of guns that he's stolen from the father of a friend of his. He's lucky he is alive. He wanted to shoot it out with the cops, but his girlfriend shut the trunk before he could get one of the shotguns out. He got 9 to 15 years for stealing and selling the guns, and possession of drugs. Being on meth probably makes you stupid, but staying awake for two weeks will surely make you stupid. All in all it was a nice letter, but there was a little hint there that maybe I would send him $50 for a CD player. He's in segregation again. Call it solitary. I forget what for this time. Fighting, I think. He's also changing his name from Jonathan Thomas to Sinner Lawrence Bilskirnir. He's into worshipping the Norse gods. Which I guess is fine, but the Norse have never been my favorite pantheon. They're awfully warlike and grim. Maybe this religion will do him some good. Lord knows his strict Christian upbringing gave him nothing.
I still haven't sent a response. I've written a bit, warning him that I have no money and no place for him to stay when he gets out. That should be the hard part, but it doesn't seem to be. I'm having trouble figuring out what else to say. The sad fact is that by all the numbers, Jonathan/Sinner is a lost cause. Recidivism is 80% overall, and he's not in the category of low recidivism, like murderers. Not that I want that he should have murdered some one. Good heavens, no. It's just that his chance of ending up back in prison is pretty high. He initially got caught up with the justice system for sexually abusing his siblings when he was 16. Then the thing with the meth and the guns. (Cops just hate guns. Even more guns and drugs.) The fact that he keeps ending up in segregation suggests that he's hopeless. He's got a terrible temper. He got kicked out of the rehab program he was in at 16 and sent to juvie because he threw a desk at a teacher, and other angry outbursts. He wonders sadly how he's going to make it on the outside. So do I. He's got facial tattoos, for heavens sake. And he's changing his name to Sinner. These just seem to be extremely non-world friendly. And so I don't have much encouragement to offer him. But he's probably being abandoned by his family, plus his family is one of the reasons why he's in this mess (home-schooled). I feel like I ought to offer emotional support. What's a letter? But I can't get involved in his life. I don't have the money or the trust that would need. I can't see inviting him as a guest, offering him a key to the house and the alarm code. I especially can't see my housemates accepting this idea. It's hard, though. I still think of him as the 8 year old who asked me how it was possible to live without God and all the rules. He didn't follow my advice, which was to keep his head down, hang on until he was 18, and book it. He also didn't follow my advice about not getting caught. I couldn't care less what drugs he takes, it's the stupid things you do on drugs that worry me.
So that's everything that's going on.
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no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 06:16 pm (UTC)I had a trend in the opposite direction when I took organic chemistry in high school. It involved a sort of memorization that I turned out to be very bad at -- which was very annoying, since I'd always thought I was good at memorizing stuff.
As for your nephew, I have no good advice. I hope he can use you as some sort of touchstone.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 06:33 pm (UTC)2) There have been some interesting studies involving nutrition and prison inmates. While I seriously doubt that it's a cure-all, the preliminary results have been very promising with regards to reducing/eliminating sudden rage-like behaviors. If there's a zero-commitment way that you could get him into such a program, it might help. However, I agree that he does sound like a lost cause at this point.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 07:04 pm (UTC)I have no advice about your nephew, because you already know anything I would want so say. Well, one note: odds are that he's not going to do a formal name change while he's in prison, and even if he does, if he realizes that's not a world-friendly name, he can introduce himself as Lawrence or Larry, put "S. Lawrence" on job apps, and if/when he has to tell people, look vaguely embarrassed and say "parents, you know. Larry will do."
no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 07:07 pm (UTC)If you don't mind taking the time to write him, I suspect that a guy in prison might just like hearing from someone who is willing to write him and to read anything he has to pass along. It's gotta be lonely, especially if many have written you off. Obviously I wouldn't share info about your life that you don't want him to know, but hearing anything might be cool for him. Saying you aren't in a position to do anything for him financially right now should be understandable. And I wouldn't worry about saying he can't stay with you since it sounds like he won't be out for a while anyway.
A person could try to tactfully explain why the name change and certain other things might make things tougher for him or be worth waiting on, but one would want to do it in the least judgemental way imaginable I suppose. I dunno. Rough. I imagine he may be surprised if you respond at all, given the sound of things, so any letter may be welcome, but I don't know.
no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 08:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-14 08:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2009-03-15 04:26 am (UTC)Jonathan is a sad case. At least while he's in it's easy for you to maintain boundaries. My own inclination is toward conversation with frequent reminders of no further commitment (totally ignoring anything that might be a hint for money!) and occasional suggestions (like, "Sinner" sounds kind of impractical).
Wikipedia says Bilskirnir is a building, not a person, so I suspect he's pretty superficial most of the way around.
Exception to above is if he gets into the Identity stuff. Then tell him to write if he gets better, but maybe not before.
I've never worked out to my satisfaction the ethics of dealing with people who look really hopeless whom you shouldn't just get rid of.
Best wishes with the next round of classes.
I was going to say Happy Spring, but then it hit me to look at the calendar. Holy crap, Minicon's in four weeks!
no subject
Date: 2009-03-17 01:30 am (UTC)Nebraska Department of Corrections
Inmate Name: Thomas
Inmate Number 64502
P. O. Box 2500
Lincoln, NE 68542-2500
no subject
Date: 2009-03-17 12:05 pm (UTC)my son
Date: 2009-05-04 05:52 pm (UTC)We have discussed Jon before and you obviously have no respect for my parenting skills.
I can't believe you blame homeschooling and Christianity on jon's troubles.
I seriously can not believe that you would say that we have abandoned him.
My heart aches everyday for him, I visit every other week.
Homeschooling our grade schoolers was the best choice I ever made. (I just visited my 1st graders class and came home with such guilt about having to put him in that environment at such an age).
Jon and I have a very close relationship. he is very open about his religious choices and has told me that he doesn't feel rejected because I don't agree. We have mutually agreed to disagree. he knows that i will respect the decisions he has to make for his own life. I may not agree but I do not preach and I am open to listen and try to understand where he is. In fact, I encourage him to learn and explore what he is interested in.
Main point - I can't believe that, yet again, you have belittled and disrespected me.