Kathy and Calvin's Home Page

Change.org wants us to contact our representatives to support an energy efficiency bill:

by requiring that utilities gradually increase energy savings - an average of one percent a year starting in 2012 through 2020.

That's nice but have they read the national building code requirements for newly constructed residential homes? Talk about out of date! It does not give credit for radiant heating (in floor) with a condensing gas water heater. This particular water heater costs $2500-$4500 and is 97% efficient! It has a stand by loss of 1% but that doesn't include about 6 months of the year when the radiant floor heating is in effect - because there is no standby.

Apparently you have an option of a tankless heater (do you have any idea of how much heat is lost through the stainless flu?), and ELECTRIC radiant heating system (expensive, can't fix if broke), or well insulated HVAC forced air ductwork. Yes, we all know a duct heating system is both efficient and gives you clean air (not). Radiant floor heating, on the other hand, can be very efficient and clean and has been around for a long, long time.

I used to get the Oregon Home magazine. At first it was free then about $6 a year. I quit getting them because I hate tearing out the pages and scanning the stuff I like. But now behold, an electronic version that even feels like a real magazine:

http://orhome.journalgraphicsdigital.com/pubs/orhome/mar09/

Check out the bathroom on page 54. If only they could give me a direct link to page 54 it would be perfect. Or if I could embed their pictures in my site like we do with youtube videos.

Anyways, this is a perfect way for me to get my magazine on without having to store the magazine, tear out pages I like, scan them, then recycle. Did I mention the link above is free? Hmmmm, freeeee.

http://www.salon.com/opinion/keillor/2008/01/30/education/
Whoo-be-gone! Garrison certainly peeved off (obviously) a bunch of teachers. Whoooeee! Of the first 30 or so responses (letters), not one respondent actually responded to what he wrote. See, we really do need Reading First - but let's start with using it on the teachers. Garrison wrote that although NCLB has flaws - Reading First is the best part of it. Reading First actually works!

But then teachers respond with:

The NCLB test is horrible, long, requires memorization, requires teaching to the test, etc. etc etc.

Really? There is one single NCLB test? Wow, I didn't know that. I thought that each state makes its own test. So whose fault is it?

I saw one lady that posted saying balanced literacy is phonics. Hold on, I have to stop laughing.

OK, I'm back. She is clearly an idiot. Balanced literacy is an outcropping of Whole Language. See, she also needs to go back and learn to read history.

I don't know, maybe it's just me, but I don't think they should drive.

After 3 months, I've just finished my student teaching in a rural town. I was super fortunate in getting a great host teacher, a classroom of wonderful fourth grade students, and a couple of willing principals. The sun and moon must have aligned for me because I really came out of the experience feeling positive with lots of questions - always a good thing to have more questions about how does a teacher do this or that when... Or at least it's better than saying that was an awful experience with no questions :)

I had students from out of my homeroom in reading, math, and science. They were all very accepting and polite. I really think it had to do with the host teacher having high expectations and a school that runs a positive behavior supports (PBS) program. I was, to say the least, very impressed with the professional level of the teachers. They would meet together to discuss direction, hash out standards, and ensure a continuum of behavioral strategies for students that went from class to class. The parents of the students are lucky - I'm not convinced all schools are run that well.

My husband sent a letter to Congressman DeFazio about the 700 BILLION dollar bailout. He got a 3 page letter back stating why the bailout was a horrible thing. As I read through the letter, I can see DeFazio going around from town to town in the desert sand wearing flip flops. He has a message. Some listen but many do not. It ends in a disaster.

Sounds familiar?

Geez, sometimes I wonder if meek will really inherit the earth. If DeFazio is anything, it is certainly meek. The weird part is that there are some serious right wingers that like him. The lefties are very happy with him (although they want him to go further). And he is super safe in his seat. Good luck to the guy people running against him (*snicker*).

1. Who is that man? I like the cut of his jib.
2. Smithers, did I win the debate?

I've just sold my mom's house. My husband, brother, sister, and 2 nieces/nephews took several weekends and days to get it in shape to sell. We did all the work ourselves and even listed it on craigslist. Fortunately, our open house was on the same day as other better advertised open houses on the same day. We actually sold the house in 3 days.

In selling by ourselves, we used NW Realty Consultants to do the paperwork after we found the buyer. It turns out my mother bought her Turner home through For-Sale-By-Owner (NW Realty Consultants) and I used their services in purchasing my house 5 years ago. We also used NW Realty Consultants to sell our Albany home. We paid an hourly rate to do the paperwork (correctly). It went very smooth.

And once again it went very smooth. As a bonus, I worked with Ticor Title in both Salem (where the house is located) and Corvallis (where I could drive down the street to sign papers). Talk about handy.

After 2 years of writing lots of papers and 7 tests later, I have come to the point of starting student teaching. I begin the final phase in the quest of gaining elementary teacher licensure. The past 2 days I attended a reading conference by a Reading First speaker which was pretty good overall. At the conference I got to know my host teacher along with the new principal and other grade school level teacher better. They seem like a good bunch and are truly caring and even careful in trying to do right by the kids.

As our health care system is rather broke, I had a thought about the Samaritan Health Care system and the fact that they are sometimes tied to insurance. So what happens if you are a state employee and choose Samaritan Health HMO for your insurance but they end up sending you a "[we] find that we can no longer provide you with health care services" letter. Are you no longer able to get health care due to the fact that your insurance is tied to their services?

I suspect Samaritan Health doesn't do that for several reasons:

1. They have the emergency room and likely can't turn someone away in life and death situations
2. They have ethics
3. They can stand on their good reputation and a blogger won't faze them

The Corvallis Clinic has an Immediate Care and Ambulatory Surgical Center but those aren't really emergency rooms.

I also wonder if they can fire other family members, like my husband or my son. They are no longer treating my son as one of their pediatricians is pretty inept at diagnosing autism so that is not a problem. But I do wonder if they will stop treating my husband.

Time will tell.

I've used iggyshouse.com to list a house for sale and get it on the MLS for free. It worked pretty well, although truth be told, I think craigslist.com was really responsible for bringing in the buyers (3 of them).

In the past 2 weeks, I've been trying to list another house on Iggy's House but to no avail. The website is usually down. I did get it listed but now the site has been down for almost a week. This does not bode well. I will be considering owners.com - it might cost $385 and list the house in MLS for only 6 months but they seem to be up.

I had blogged about a medical establishment and thought I was getting a cease and desist letter. After thinking about it for a day, I decided to strip out their name and anything that might be taken as derogatory. The story still holds - and we still need to get rid of blood sucking, for-profit medical establishments that put their profits ahead of their patients. Good thing there is some competition so I could find another doctor.

Well the registered letter was just their official way of terminating me as a client. There needs to be respect between them and their clients and I was not respectful. I wonder if they were respectful to me when one of their doctors didn't know what autism looked like and questioned me as to why I thought my 2 year old had autism. Or the fact that they do not spend the 2 minutes needed to run screenings for some well baby visits. Or the fact that they are incompetent in drawing blood in children who barely move.

Well let me tell you that since I moved to the Mid-Valley Children's Clinic in Albany I've have no billing issues, no problems in drawing blood, and a doctor that not only listens but respects my concerns.

I am unable to get medical care from my doctor for a post that I've since deleted. They have dropped me as a patient for the blog post and offered to refer me to other doctors in the area. I hung up on the nice lady knowing this *FREE* country is, well, maybe not so free.

I'll try my old doctor's office back. I had no problems with them except that the doctor actually moved out of state and they did not find a replacement for him.

Apparently, Sara Gelser is voting for Hillary Clinton. I agree with almost everything Sara says and does, except for this point - and I won't hold it against her. Once Obama wins, she'll see the light. Or maybe not. I noticed Darlene Hooley, a sell out, used her super delegate powers to cast her vote for Clinton *before* Oregon voted. Nice. Did someone get a post in the Clinton White House promised to them?

Which makes me wonder. Did Sara get something promised to her for coming out in favor of Clinton? I'm a woman - and damn it, it's about friggin time a woman gets voted into the White House. But Clinton, an ardent supporter of Israel (not always at the best interest of the US citizens), and part of the good old boys club (read: corporations and lobbyists), is simply not the right woman.

Come on ladies - we can better. And that better is Obama.

About time. I don't like people losing their jobs but when the job involves taking money from people in the form of taxes and donations for a method of teaching that DOES NOT WORK, then I don't feel so bad.

Reading to children will not teach them to read. Yes, it might interest them in reading. Yes, it might be better than having the child watch TV. Yes, reading to children is considered quality time.

But no, it takes more than that to actually have the child read. For about $15, you can get the book Teach Your Child to Read in 100 Easy Lessons by Engelmann. You'll see what it takes to teach 3 to 5 year olds to read. With daily short lessons, any child can read. My son, who did not know all of his letter names, learned to read anyways because, well, you need to know the sounds of the letters, not the names, in order to read.