Justin is Off to College!!

My oldest son Justin, decided at the end of high school, that he wanted to go to college and become a heavy equipment mechanic. We researched two colleges in our area, Centennial College in Toronto, and Sir Sandford Fleming College in Lindsay. Justin decided that he wanted to attend Fleming, as their program looked better, and was designed by Tormont Caterpillar. Caroline and I talked him in applying at both, thus increasing his chances of being accepted. A short time later, Justin received a call from Centennial, asking him to attend an interview. My wife and son made the 1.5 hour drive for the interview that only lasted 10 minutes. A few months later, a letter from Centennial arrived. The letter explained that the Heavy Equipment course was full, but they would be pleased to offer him a position in the Heavy Equipment Operators course. This was not what Justin wanted, so he declined the offer. A few weeks later, another letter from Centennial arrived, this time they were offering him the course he wanted. As he had five or six weeks before he had to confirm, he decided to wait to see if he would hear from Fleming. A few weeks later, a letter from Fleming arrived. Carline checked on line, and confirmed that he had been accepted. We then went out and bought a cake and some small toy construction vehicles to place on top. When Justin arrived home from work, we surprised him with a pizza dinner, the cake, and the acceptance letter. Justin is off to college!

The program at Sir Sandford Fleming starts in January 2008, and runs until December 2008. The program includes a paid summer co-op period as well. After graduation from the program, Justin will be ready to assume an apprenticeship with an employer.

We just returned from a visit t the college in Lindsay where we met with some of the instructors. We also had the chance to talk to a former student. He told Justin about the many prospects that await him.

The Accident (Number 2)

Well, it happened again -It was mid-August and I had just started my new job. I was at work when I got the call from my wife. My eldest son was it by a car while at work! For those who have not read the post "A Parent's Worse Nightmare", this is the second time in a few months that he has been involved in an accident involving a car. Justin works at a local oil change franchise, and on this day, was working upstairs. They had just finished working on a Jeep, and Justin was standing in front of the vehicle, waiting for the driver to start it up so he could guide him out of the shop. The driver, an older man, jumped in, started the Jeep, and revved the engine. Unfortunately, the Jeep was a standard, and when he revved it up, it jumped forward, hitting Justin and knocking him down. The bumper caught him on the knee, and it started swelling right away. Justin was unable to walk or put weight on it, so his boss called 911. While in the ambulance, Justin called Caroline to let her know what happened, and to have her meet him at the hospital. Before she left, Caroline called me to let me know. Justin was sent for x-rays, and fortunately his injuries were limited to a sprained knee. Three days later, he saw the doctor and was cleared to return to work. The whole family is hoping that this ends his run in with cars!

Back after a long absence

My last post was July 30, two days before I started my new job. So much has happened since then, it is difficult to determine where to start. I will begin with the new job, and move forward. I am really enjoying the new job, and the people are great! The first week or so was difficult, learning new software and systems. Because my predecessor left before I started, I had no one to show me the procedures, operations, etc. Fortunately, by manager is great, but he is based in Atlanta. There are other IT personnel in Atlanta that I can call or instant message for support, and this work pretty well. The company has held a couple of events for the staff. My wife and I attended an evening dinner cruise, and I recently participated in the annual golf tournament, where my team came in third.

This is it for tonight. In the coming days, I will be posting about the rest of my summer. Stay tuned for posts about another car accident, my first race, and other interesting info.

Update on my son

My wife and son got home from the hospital around 11:00 Friday night. As he came through the door, I saw that he was wearing a neck collar. My wife had called from the hospital before she left and told me that he was alright.I figured he was wearing the collar the try and freak me out, but I did not show any reaction and his effort went unnoticed. Before taking my daughter to the Harry Potter book release, Caroline told me that everything looked OK. Other than a few scraps and bruises, he was fine. The doctor said he would be sore for a few days, and that he was very lucky not to be seriously injured. Justin later explained what had happened. He was going to met a friend, and decided to take the bike. He was riding on the sidewalk because it was a very bust road that he was travelling on. He approached a four lane cross road, and had the green light. from the cross road, he saw a small blue compact approach in the curb lane with the right turn signal on. He saw the driver look to his left, and assumed the driver would stop, as he had the red light. Unfortunately, the driver proceeded to make the right turn without looking to the right, or coming to a full stop. Justin was already part-way through the crosswalk when he was struck by the front of the front of the car. He is unsure how he ended up 15 feet around the corner.

The driver of the car offers a different version, where my son suddenly rides out in front of him while he is making a right turn on the red light. He then says that Justin ran into the side of his car, as he was already half way through the turn. I did not see any marks on the side of the car, and noticed that the police were looking at the front of it. As of now, no charges have been laid. The main thing is that no one was hurt, and I am grateful for that.

Don

A Parent's Worse Nightmare

It was around 8:30, Friday July 20. My wife was getting ready to take our daughter to the Harry Potter party at the local Chapter's store. The phone rang, and my wife answered it. Right away I knew it was not good news, and was already putting on my shoes. When she got off of the phone, my wife told me that our oldest son was struck by a car while ready his bike. The caller told us where the accident occurred (one of the busiest intersection in the city), and that the ambulance was already on-site. My wife and I quickly made our way to the accident scene. As I ran up, I noticed that they were just getting ready to load Justin in the the ambulance. I ran up and let him know that we were there. The paramedic said that he looked to be OK. He was complaining of some shoulder pain, but other than that, there did not appear to be any other injuries. I spoke to the officer in charge, but she had only spoken to the driver of the car, so only had one side of the story. She would get a statement from Justin at the hospital. My wife and I decided that she would go to the hospital, and I would take the bike home and wait with our other two children. As this point, I have not heard anything, so I will have to update everybody on Saturday.

Don

Sleep lab update

I finally got a chance to update everyone about my adventure to the sleep lab Monday night. I arrived at the hospital around, and after registering, I went down to the lab in the basement. I met Wayne, who would be the technician that would be prepping me for sleep monitoring. Wayne first connected a lead to the calf muscles in each leg. I then had my head measured so he could connect four leads to my head - one by each temple, one one behind each ear. Wayne then proceeded to connected two more to the top of my head. After that, I had a lead connected to my chin, and one near my Adam's apple. Two more leads were attached near my collar bones. I then had a sensor place on my upper lip with two probes to monitor air flow through my nose, and one to measure air flow through my mouth. Wayne then attached two monitor straps around my torso - one around my abdomen, and the other around my chest. Then the other end of these leads were connected to a small box that was then connected to the monitoring equipment at the head of the bed. Once I was ready for bed, I had a pulse monitor attached to my finger.

I went to bed around 10:30, and had a very fitful sleep. I was difficult to get comfortable, what all the wires attached to me. What sleep I did get was plagued with dreams. Around 5:30 AM, Wayne came and woke me up (I was already awake at that point, waiting anxiously to get out). He disconnected all of the leads, and after cleaning, I left for home. Now I have to wait for the doctor to review the results to see if my sleep hypopnea has gotten worse.

Stay tuned,
Don

I am off to see the wizard...

I will soon be signing off for the day, as I have get ready to leave and go to the sleep lab at the local hospital. Two years ago I was diagnosed with sleep hypopnea and tried using a CPAP mask, but got even less sleep. After speaking to the doctor, it was determined that I was better off not using the mask. I would then go back after two years and be retested to see if the problem has gotten worse. If it has, we will need to discuss the options. I will update this thread later.

Don

Seeing the light (metaphorically speaking)...

After creating my first blog, and posting the first entry, I received a lot of positive comments, and interest from family and friends. The only drawback, now I have them asking me what it is all about, and how to get started. If it gets them doing something useful and creative, rather than mindlessly surfing the web, or playing games, than I guess it is a good thing.

I have some family that I only have occasional contact with - either due to busy schedules, or because of distance. It has been suggested that this format of communication would be useful to keep in touch with family, and update them on the interesting aspects of family life. Looking at other blogs, I find that publishing day-to-day things makes up a large percentage of the blogs that are out there. I too, am starting to see the usefulness of such formats as this. I am currently working on a web site for my brother, promoting the line of Victorian screen doors that he makes as part of a side business.

So I have decided that in amongst my random thoughts, I will publish posts about things that happen in the day-to-day routine of me and my family. Hopefully today, I will be publishing a blog about a my success in acquiring a new job. In that blog, I may also discuss the experiences I have had in my search for employment.

Stay tuned,
Don

being 'on the web'

It's funny how some people take to the web like a duck takes to water. Some people feel the need to be on the World Wide Web - to make their existence know to the world. They have their own web sites, blogs, belong to Facebook, My Space, et al. Surprisingly, despite this blog, I am not one of those people. I created this blog to see what all of the excitement was about. You see, I work in the Information Technology field, and I have quite a few people ask me about 'getting on the web', and how to blog and use Face Book. I guess they figure because I work in the filed that I know everything about it. So in order to get them an informed answer, I decided to create this blog. Who knows, I might even sign up for Face Book, or create my own web site.

I think the need to know that other people like you, or find you interesting, or that it is cool to 'be on the web' is what is driving things like blogging, My Space, and other such site. As long as this sites are used in the appropriate manner, that is OK. When people start to use them to bully, spread hate or lies, then these sites have become nothing more than a modern version of Adolf Hitler's propaganda machine.

So I enter into this experiment with an open, but cautious mind, determined to try and understand the allure of being 'on the web'. Hopefully when the next person asks me about blogging, I will be able to give them an informed answer.

Don