Did a custody case today. Baby girl whose marginally mentally challenged mother and Mexican dad (why did this guy get with a challenged girl like this in the first place? He's a little brighter, but it seemed like it was kind of a no-brain, DUH, thing...some people really need others to look out for them... but anyway they produced a cute baby who I didn't see but anyway this other lady wanted to adopt the baby and got the man and woman to sign papers, and now they changing their minds...the girl went and retrieved the baby back...and now he says she didn't know what she was signing, since she's slow. And he didn't know either because he can't read English and the lady who wants to adopt the baby told them if he didn't he could get the baby taken away for good and never see her again....and on and on...well only THEY know how much they knew or didn't know. Anyway it's so good that so many people love the baby, the girl's family is helping her since she doesn't know how to cook. Yeah I have questions about her ability to protect the baby. Geez what was this guy doing, I mean they couldn't even talk to each other, but ya know it happens all the time- some things you do not need an interpreter for ;/ ... and she's a little retarded for cryin' out loud, but anyway what's done is done, the baby is here, and now HER life needs to be guarded and planned and loved and focused on, even if these people go through a what-the-hey-let's-do-whatever kind of lifestyle for themselves. NOW they need to change!
OK forget my rambling on. Just praying the baby goes to whom God wants.

calmer day

Calmer day for me.

Praying for a baby in Children's. Dillon. 5 months old, head trauma from mother's boyfriend's abusive behavior. (sigh) Just praying God just knits him back together and restores his brain.

Praying for Diego, too. We translated his diagnosis and treatment meeting. A little one with head injuries. Baby boy. Please pray for these little boys. Please pray for total healing.

Busy at work. A little calmer today. Recouped a little of my losses. Also found out my credit has gone down the toilet. Due to Toyota, to which I have been making payments on time, but it's been a month too late. So each on-time payment for 6 months has actually been, yikes, a month behind. ARRGH! And another thing there on my credit that I didn't know about. I have to get it back on track but it will take a year. Well that sucks now, don't it. No one makes it easy for me, least of all my bank. I live day to day. Steve has his investments and 401K locked away. Our retirements are locked away. So if I'm a day late and a dollar short I'm up a creek. In and of myself, I really have nothing. No assets. Nothing of material value. My life insurance probably isn't even up to date. I'm worth nothing dead, nothing alive. OK, monetarily.

Brian found his data. I had offered Steve's data recovery knowledge but Brian found it looking all over his computer. So he doesn't have to "hurl himself blindfolded from an I-75 overpass". Or something like that.

I wrote a "nice" letter to my bank. I will go see them tomorrow. Get this straightened out. If I can't, well, I tried. I may change banks. Though there are advantages to staying with the bank I have. For one, I have about ten zillion "points", enough for a couple of free airline tickets. Or an anniversary clock. Maybe "I'll take my clock and my thermos and my..chair...and...my...(shuffling away with pants down around knees)...and I was born...a poor black boy...."

Today everything is suicidal. Calamitous. Frustrating. For me, it has been a mildly irritating (money issues...bank problems...domestic problems...that I hope to resolve by yelling at my bank tomorrow). I'm irritated that I'm 40 and have to worry about petty crap like this. But some of my colleagues are stressed to the point of jumping off a cliff. Brian, for example. Had taped a whole interview for his pH.D. thesis. Took him forever to get this thing together and all these people. The first time not enough people showed. This time I and 3 other people were there. Well guess what. Computer screwed up and didn't tape it. He had a cassette tape there as auxiliary which he played as soon as the computer stopped recording. Well it turns out it didn't save it anywhere. Unless, unless it's in the temp file. SOMEWHERE. I looked in temp files and didn't see it. I looked at the dates by the temp files and they weren't even from 2005. But I'm looking in the wrong temp files. But we don't KNOW if it saved at ALL to a temp file. If it did not, it is devastating to Brian. He's utterly suicidal. As in, nothing whatsoever to salvage of this train wreck. Common sense would have been to run the cassette too the whole time in case of this kind of event. (sigh) Then I'm frustrated at work because one of the translators I took on to do some documents utterly sucked. She was SO FRICKIN BAD I do NOT know why her name is on our rolodex. Azza had SAID she was bad but I kinda thought she didn't like her personally, and we were in a pinch. SHE SO SUCKED and now it's causing us extra work. Plus I was a day late with one thing because Gerry (couldn't have been anyone else) stuck a Eudora file in the friggin TRASH. And of course will probably think it's my fault even though I reiterated time and again that I NEVER put Eudora stuff in the trash. EVER. I don't even know how to do that. I transfer files from one place to the other. That's it. Well I was waiting for a file that was unknowingly in the trash. I was interpreting all day yesterday (the due date) and by today still hadn't received it so called the translator in a panic and Gerry finally fished it out of the trash. (SIGH) But I should have taken care of that YESTERDAY when I did come in for a few hours (realized I didn't have it, etc.). So NOW I have a story board up with a DUE DATE for every single project we do. Anyway, we got that project out with some mad editing by Azza. Azza edits away and is compoundedly frustrated by this Amal's sucky work. Of course there are other frustrating details. SUCK SUCK SUCK and then my STUPID BANK changes its policy and, oh, that's a frustratingly LONG story and I HOPE TO FIX that problem tomorrow. MAN, I JUST NEED about $500 to just, just KEEP as backup, but financially though we strive and strive it seems Steve and I are ALWAYS still working without a net and seem to be financially in a crappier situation than ever.

Azza's back, etc.

Azza's back. Well I didn't screw up TOO bad doing her workload while she was basking in the warm Egyptian sun. :) OK there were a couple of things I didn't know about (and hence neglected) because 1) I didn't pay attention to everything she said before she left, or 2) I'm not psychic. Take your pick. But overall she said "OK, Ann, you did OK." ;) Gerry himself changed a lot of stuff while she was gone that he'd have been afraid to change in her presence- and he's the boss. So I'm back to interpreting more and still in the office managing projects though Azza will take her workload back on. I will just take the main accounts that we acquired while she was gone (Children's and maybe I will learn and take over the huge Procomm account Gerry's working on, formatting business cards in every language under the sun and maybe some others- anyone know how to say "Industrial Hygienist" in Klingon?)

Don't get Sprint. I now loathe that company with a passion. Don't get me started! It's a long story but i canceled because of their CRAPPY customer service, then they wait 2 months and charge me a cancellation fee! STUPID company. Is their competition this bad? I can't imagine Sprint remaining in business with such terrible service. Years of miserable customer service. I have NEVER known any other company with such shitty customer service. Utterly noncommunicative, with wrong information with each office you're transferred to, people who won't or can't do anything to help you. Maybe since I'm just one person out of millions...they don't care to lose me...but oh they sure want my money any way they can get it...it's not that I'm even opposed to overage charges, fee for this, fee for that, etc. It's the sneaky, underhanded way they slip those things in your bills without telling you! For YEARS I've been arguing over "what's this charge?" on my bill, I never ordered this, never ordered that...they are the WORST company ever. I can't believe they haven't gone the way of Enron. I guess crappy CS isn't as bad as crappy accounting in their eyes. I can't believe they don't lose more customers. The only possible explanation is that the other companies are just as bad and I just can't fathom that possibility.

What's YOUR experience with a lousy company?

All you women out there, I'm having a Mary Kay party at my house for my friend Mary Floyd who just began selling MK products. I've bought a couple of things- lipstick and the bronzing beads. OH MANNNNNN I SWEAR by those bronzing beads. They are SOOOO awesome!!! Anyway the party's at my house from 6-8 on Jan. 29. No obligation to buy anything but you can try everything. I'll have food. Meet my neighbors and friends and relatives. My house is small but I hope you don't mind. I already said no obligation to buy BUUUUT if we have total sales of at least $500 I will win a Bahamas cruise and more importantly, one of YOU will! So at the cost of using my house and two hours, YES, I will do this for Mary and maybe I (and you) will win a cruise. :) Price from Cincy to Ft. Myers is cheap (so probably elsewhere in Fla is sorta cheap too) and Delta's cutting even more, so hey if you can get somewhere near Bahamas, I guess, the rest is paid.

Checkin' in at work. Azza is back the 20th so pretty soon I'll be back to interpreting more and managing fewer projects- only the big ones- I'm keeping Children's- and also putting out feelers to other jobs. Found a couple I really am interested in. Need more stability here. Just got my resume fixed up and it looks good. Wow do I look good on paper! Don't we all!?! Use enough euphemisms, and make sure to change them every few years ("downsize" is no longer a good word) and presto chango, you've got yourself a fine-looking resume no matter what you do. Drug dealer? You're an "independent pharmaceutical manufacturer". Pimp? You're a "labor management technician". Did you sell 2 glasses this yearof lemonade instead of 1 last year? Bought more lemonade mix at a closer store? You've "increased revenue 100% and successfully strategized supply chain logistics reorganization." Your mom was happy about it? You've "gained shareholder appreciation and confidence." Anyone can be an enterprising upstart.

Checking in from the great and mighty Pierre. Had to send one guy home. He begged me to help him and lie about his fake docs. I couldn't. I hate seeing this happen to people. He's not illegal because he wants to me. He's almost analphabetic (illiterate) and really I just think he doesn't know where to go to apply legally. I know, I know, not an excuse, but if you met the guy, he's just an old guy trying to support himself. Truth be told he's by far not the only illegal one. I hate seeing people spend all their money on a fake doc and work while a temp agency doesn't check carefully or looks the other way, then finally get caught, have to go home. This guy's lucky he wasn't arrested as was a guy in a court case I'm interpreting for. People are scared to death and when something really bad happens to them- robbed, raped, attacked, assaulted- here, they are even afraid to go to the police because they're afraid of being found out and getting deported. All that effort to stay here from some lousy $8/hour job and a rathole apartment, it must be BAD in a lot of places economically. (sigh) The best thing they have to keep them here is usually an anchor baby (sigh)- life is SO rough, and these are GOOD people, all they want to do is work. Let's show them how to get their legal papers. It would be a good thing if the gov't came up with a plan to say: OK, we KNOW you're illegal. We're giving you amnesty long enough to just GO to Immigration and get your work done legally. So many times they just don't know how to do that, and then when they do, the hoops they have to jump through are just too hard.

Cancer, tidal waves, and lunch

I called up a longtime friend of mine and Steve's, Suhith, to make sure he hadn't gone home for vacation and gotten all washed up in the tidal wave- he's from Sri Lanka. Well it turned out he hadn't. He's had his own huge battle that I didn't know about until now since I hadn't spoken with him in a couple of years. He had some kind of weird cancer- a muscle cancer in a hip, which eventually spread to the bone- so they had to take part of his hip bones completely out. He was on leave from work for 11 months and went into chemo twice. How excruciating! I am SO glad he's still with us. And he's only 41!!! Well since he's missing a bunch of his bones in his left hip now (literally they took out half of his butt bones) he's had to adjust to a life of crutches (I'm surprised he can still even walk at all, trying doing that without a ball and socket joint) and wheelchair. Wow. So I'm going to see him very soon this week since he works near me and we're going to do lunch.

I'm also gonna do lunch with my SIL Tracy since it turns out we work a few blocks from each other, too.

PS I LOVE you Tracy and Rachael! I am SO glad you 2 are my sisters-in-law! You are both so much fun!

This and the following are of Oxford Townie Night.My SIL Tracy. Long Tran (friend from school that I finally reconnected with) on left with, I guess, his brother or BIL, I can't tell. Tracy and I are gonna do lunch sometime.

Joe and Dan, my wild brothers

Joe and Dan and others The Mortine-Tran clan are partially shown on the left. I mean there are like 6 or 7 of them.

Rachael, Gabe, and ?

my brother Dave and my friend Ed on Townie night

I don't know if this guy is trying to beat Steve up...:) This is the Barr party at the downtown Hall of Mirrors. Very posh and ritzy! And following this series of pix is the trip we took to Dayton for the Bonnell part of Christmas.

I realize that though Cincinnati is just old regular home to me, it interest people elsewhere- you can take a downtown pony ride and this was taken on the night of the Barr party.

tree in the downtown Hilton Netherland Plaza...

couple sitting across from us who speak Ewe

Micah's face has always twisted into as many different expressions as Jim Carrey's...and I catch him despite his protests...

Papa and Nana (aka Jim and Jackie, or, for the past 7 years, "Big" Jackie, so as not to be confused with her little granddaughter)

Isn't Jackie just adorable!!!! I made her a little scarf for Christmas and when we went to the play (described below) another girl her age was wearing EXACTLY the same scarf! Someone else had gotten the SAME yarn and had the SAME idea I did! Talk about coinky-dinks!

Nana gave us all peanut butter fudge as one of the gifts, and Nathanael couldn't have been happier. This is a Bonnell family favorite. Unfortunately too many pieces of this are now evident on my hips. My kingdom for his metabolism!

My devastatingly handsome nephew Travis Smith. Now the main purpose of the Dayton visit was not to open presents, but to see Travis in the community theater play A Christmas Carol. This was a bit more than the traditional Christmas Carol- it was actually about Charles Dickens- and Dickens was played by a guy who was the spitting image of James Earl Jones- but it TOTALLY worked! Travis played many parts- young Dickens, Dickens' son, one of the Cratchets, etc. etc. et. and he danced VERY well! We were all impressed.

Micah's new binoculars.

my exquisitely beautiful little niece Jackie Smith, age 7. She loves to play and romp and isn't as girly-girl as you'd think. She loves Micah!

Lego pride!

The Nathanalator

The Micahlator

Micah's cookie decorating skills

my tree

This and the following odd little photos are some of Nathanael's creativities in action.

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Helen found nothing edible here.

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New Year's

It's warm here, almost 60 degrees the past few days, so the two feet of snow have melted into slushy puddles. New Year's Steve and I took the kids to my parents'. We went uptown Oxford and there wasn't much going on. I did see a friend Gina at The Brick where she works. We talked for a few min. and she's such a kewl person. (That's Ed's sister, btw, you know, Ed from the previous blog entry for the 0 or 1 of you who EVER read these epistles.)
I've been injecting myself with heavy amounts of CNN and FOX lately, drawn into the eddy of the tsunami story like so many people...Oh I want to take those children home, I keep saying I want to adopt one. Of course I know it's too shocking to adopt an orphan right away and take the little one to a strange land with strange faces and a strange language, which would terrify anyone but a baby (think China and Korea and Russia and Romania and Guatemala, where Americans adopt so many kids)...but I still would love to take one home. It's not ideal because I don't think Steve would approve and besides, Steve and I have problems. Not that the children need to go to Mike and Carol Brady, either. Well I think it's just human or maybe maternal instinct to see little ones and want to just grab them and love them, especially if they're in pain.
So Steve and I went uptown tonight and sloshed around in the warm night air. It was fun and I played a game of Galaga at the Brick. It's a game I was good at Waaaaaayyyyback in the 80's. I'm not as good as I used to be. It was so uneventful that we ended up coming back to the folks' and watching New Year's pass uneventfully at Times Square on my parents' plasma TV that my dad has still not figured out a full year later. He still cusses at the remote just like he just won't deal with computers (though I'm on his right now). He's at the age where new words like "blog" and even "web site" are just getting to be a foreign language. Another example: my parents travel a LOT. But they always go with one of two travel groups that has someone to make ALL the arrangements. It's all pre-done for them. My brother Dan and his wife Tracy and I were kind of laughing about it- I said to him don't even TRY to show them how to buy airplane tickets online. My dad had tried to buy my brother Joe's ticket online and he just kept getting more and more frustrated until Tracy just did it in a few clicks. Or when my son put a t-shirt from strongbad on his Christmas list "for the Troxel side", my dad tried to order it online. He got as far as finding the website, but he kept getting so frustrated at the pop-ups that he gave up and called Dave and Rachael to do it. :) Dan, who saves money by wheeling dealing any way he can, also just can't understand that my parents will pay twice the price just to have a travel agent book everything for them instead of planning their own trip. OK, Dan, just let them do their thing. Now my mom will try sometimes to do a few of these things but she's got this mental block too- it was momentous when she finally learned to use their old computer (two computers ago) as a word processor and chuck the typewriter. :) I guess I will be that way too someday. The brain physically changes as we get older, and that's why people get more set in their ways- learn more slowly- I've tried to teach older people a new language and it is so tough for them- but there are a few people who defy the odds and keep learning and keep that mental pliability- what is the secret? Keep challenging yourself? Get out of your comfort zone? Just to keep that mental acuity- man I don't want to lose that. I have to always remind myself to keep seeing things from a fresh perspective. Wasn't Moses 80 when he led the people out of Egypt? (Why were they Israelites then and Israelis now? Anybody know?)

Sorry this blog is so long. Feel free to skip it. But if you've actually read to here, I guess you didn't. Sorry.