With my usual dose of determination, inquisitiveness, sense of fair play in an unfair world world (whoever said "it" was going to be fair, anyway?), a lack of willingness to wait too long (past stated deadlines and promised dates), a dash of desperation, and my nearly typical full speed ahead-ed-ness, I called the TV pilot producer (from the interview of almost two weeks ago) and asked the casual question: "Neh....what's up, doc?"
Of course, I did it on the terrible Wednesday, when the world was falling apart and nothing was going right. The day that made breathing and acting as humanly normal as possible become merely an illusion. People were in peril that day, and nobody knew a thing.
I called BK while sitting in my car at the OCC campus, after dropping Karl off for his Java class. See, normally, after letting Karl out of the car, I turn around and head for home. Let's face it, there is a lot to do - even without a full time job (or a part time job, for that matter).
Though, before we left the house that morning, I had already called several agencies supposed to be helping Karl and members of the OCC staff, and their supervisors, and was either awaiting callbacks or planning next moves. This whole "post-high" program they pretend to have Karl in is a huge sham, and I fell for it, just like I believed school personnel were behind him in HS. Thpppbbbbbt!
Turns out Karl's MRS (MI Rehabilitation Services) caseworker (Melanie) hasn't been working with MRS for weeks! and nobody let us know. Which really is par for the course since the woman never returned ANY calls during the last three months of attempts (January, February, March). I even asked his Care Coordinator to assist in contacting this new person, and she (Nancy) dropped off the radar!!
Sometimes it gets pretty overwhelming.
Cut to the chase: Her (Melanie's) supervisor - the District Manager for the Macomb/Oakland area - was astounded to learn we didn't know Melanie was no longer working on Karl's behalf...not that she ever was. Also, the DM was surprised to hear that nobody said a word about the lack of Melanie to us when I phoned and specifically asked for help regarding her at the office that morning. AND, the DM was more surprised to hear I left a VME for Melanie on her voicemail, where the outgoing message still gave instructions specifically for reaching Melanie at either that office number or another location with another phone number referenced! How's that for stirring the pot?
My incredulousness grew as the DM became surprised with the news.
Worse yet, Karl's "account" for assistance from this program reflects a substantial debit against the total for time against the balance...even though nothing was really ever done for him by anyone either from CLS or MRS. Twice, he received a ride to class at OCC from the Care Coordinator (Nancy), but that was a one way drive on two separate occasions, and the bill reflected shows hours of use! It's a twenty minute ride - so you KNOW she billed for a lot more than the pick up and delivery. So Karl's account balance dwindles with nothing to show of it all. I want to get paid for transporting him!!!!
Hey! Where's my paycheck??
Deep breath. In........... Out..........
Also that Wednesday, there was the phone run-in with a well-meaning but self-important, under-brain-challenged, sad-excuse-for-an-administrator woman at OCC (Mary) who tried to get out from under a blunder. As she was railing and spewing and pointing pointless fingers in my direction (and Karl's), I told her I was on campus and didn't think the conversation was best had over the phone, so I told her to hang tight for 5 minutes and I would find her office. This took her completely by surprise.
I was left in the outer waiting room to cool my heals, when suddenly a 'severe weather' announcement sounded and drove all occupants of the building to the shelter area, away for the small office.
Let's hear it for perfect timing.
I made my way to the corridor I knew Karl would be entering from, and caught up with him in order to spend that time productively.
Once the drill ended (half an hour later), Karl went with me to the office to have the meeting with Mary - and her supervisor, Mary.
I won't go into everything, because it was very long and involved, and it would be hard to navigate with all the blessed Marys in the room. Suffice to say, Karl was told he would have to make a big decision: drop/withdraw from the java class in order to save his GPA, or take an incomplete for the semester and repeat the entire class over the summer session, and try to improve the overall grade. A third option was to complete the class this term and hope that his grade would be good enough. Currently he has several missing assignments which he has not had any help with as his tutor has missed more than half of her time with him due to sick kids and her own flagging helth.
Any way you cut it, the options are bleak and unfairly balanced against Karl at this time.
He has until April 10th to withdraw, if he so chooses. More on this another time.
As I said much earlier, I did get a return call from BK regarding the camera position for the TV pilot, and the word is that they are hoping to get rolling by Easter, if not before. The Monday meeting (which should have been all-inclusive) sort of changed, and other conversations were had. So, this will be very much like other productions I have been involved with. Hopefully, as things become more stable and the show is up and running, communication will improve. For now...I sit and wait.
On a brighter note, here's a link to one of my BF's having an interview on The View, early in March. Ahhhhh, enjoy.
http://www.whedon.info/Nathan-Fillion-The-View-Tv-Show.html
If you watch it, Nathan goes on to talk briefly about his cat (due to Whoopi's question), and this aspect just makes him that much more adorable, and provides a reason to respect him beyond his Canadian meaty goodness. I always appreciate an update about the cat and a chance to watch those beautifully quirky facial expressions.
Brian's interview with the author who has asked him to illustrate his comic book went well, and Bud expects to be getting a copy of the story to begin illustrating to shortly. I am adamant about having a contract regarding the pay and use of the artwork, rights to it, etc., etc. This is critical, and I think Brian may be hesitant to bring it up for fear of losing out on the opportunity. There is still time, but he needs to be up front and proactive right from the get-go. I am proud of him for moving forward and trying this. As for his big southern excursion - yes, he still thinks he will be driving the rat trap of a pick-up to Georgia in June! Argh!!!
Dear Lord, please let me win the lottery before then.
As for the family pictorial project: I have nearly 400 photos edited - but I have not devoted time every day, as I thought I would, so I am not as close to the finish line for this portion of the project as I hoped to be. I still have over 500 photos yet to edit!
I know, right?!
Uh-oh news: The dryer is now not drying clothes any longer. It tumbles with great enthusiasm, but there is no hot air whatsoever, and so the clothes are nearly as damp coming out after 3 turns of the dial as when they entered. Can't tell you with any certainty when this whole death of the dryer happened, but it was quite recent.
I know one thing...it is going to make the last 4 loads of jeans and towels and such a real challenge! [Laughing madly to keep from crying] Have figured out I can simply wash them here at home, then bag the loads and drive them to a laundromat to dry for the time being. Once the weather turns nice I will take to hanging them outdoors on the line again. I used to love doing it on the farm in Hadley, so why not? All I need to get are clothes pins! tah-daaaaahhhh!
We have been rat-sitting Lillie (or is it Lilie...or Lily?) since last week. She is a cutie pie, and a lot of fun for the cats (and for the humans, too). She had an infection no too long ago which seems to have left her blind in one eye...so she is very challenged when it comes to looking around and taking it all in. It is sad to see her lose her balance and tumble just trying to do simple things, but she is a love and really perseveres, so you can't help but adore her.
The boys and I will head to Gram's tomorrow to visit both the grandmas for a short while. Brian has an outing planned, and I still have things to get done, but seeing mom and having the boys visit their great-Gram is important.
Today marked the 40th or 41st anniversary of Martin Luther King's assassination...what a thing to memorialize. Saw a great bumper sticker on a car while out with Karl today. It was simply the drawings of Ghandi, Mother Theresa and MLK with something about your life's actions defining you or defining who you are. Karl thought about it for a moment then said, "George Carlin is the only thing missing from that bumper sticker." Huh.
And on that note...
See, I told you it was going to be a lot of random memory-type stuff. Hope some of it made sense
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