Grandpa Ron and I just mailed out our Winter Newsletter! OK, so it is only 3 months late! Better late than never!! –And today is 70 degrees on the beach in LA…….
Accomplishment of the Winter Season
March 15, 2010
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Great Sunday!
March 14, 2010Grandpa Ron and I had a great Sunday! We started by going to the Wayfarer’s Chapel for the Sunday service. The celebrant, Jonathan Mitchell was brilliant as always. We really get a lot out of the services. The chapel is a very special, spiritual place for us. To top it off, the Wayfarer’s Chapel Gift Shop ordered more copies of my book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! as they had sold out of the ones they had! Woo! Hoo! After a wonderful patio lunch in the warm sun and light ocean breeze at the San Pedro Doubletree Hotel, we did a quick tour of the harbor and then did our weekend chores. It was a super day!
Check out ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂
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College Education and Employability – Succeeding in School
March 13, 2010I found the Numbers page of the March 22 & 29, 2010, Business Week fascinating. I wanted to link to it but couldn’t find the page on-line. I know it is getting more and more expensive to get a college degree every year – BUT – it is definitely worth it in the long run. Most colleges and universities have programs to help. I believe it is very important to start early to instill in your young children a love of learning – and a lot of it is done by watching your example!
So, I will share the facts I thought very interesting:
Using data gathered since 2000 and ending in February 2010, the unemployment rates were binned by level of education. Here are the results.
Of the people who had Bachelor or higher degrees, 5.0% were unemployed.
Of the people who had Associate degrees or some college, 8.0% were unemployed.
Of the people who had high school diplomas but no college,10.5% were unemployed.
Of the people who had not earned a high school diploma, 15.6% were unemployed
Nobody got fantastically big raises for 2009; however, the median salary for advanced degree holders was triple the median salary of people with less than a high school diploma!
All right. Then what?
I found an interesting article called Educational Systems of Japan and the US on the University of Michigan website that discusses the different emphasis put on education in Japan and the US. I found the whole study food for thought.
Ok….
So, how do we help our kids? Ahhhh……
I have found a great website Helping Children Succeed in School by the University of Illinois Extension (University of Illinois at Urbana- Champaign) for the adults. Mom & Dad, Grandma & Grandpa — do take some time to peruse this wealth of information and absorb the guidance.
Here’s a fun, educational page for the kids. Yes, the two adjectives fun and educational can be used at the same time! 🙂
Check out more ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! 🙂
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LA Angels Flight to Reopen
March 12, 2010Known as the “shortest railway in the world,” the Los Angeles landmark Angels Flight is planned to reopen on April 15th with its runs up and down Bunker Hill. Current plans are that it will still only cost a quarter, but that might change in the future. It had closed following the death of an 83 year old man and injuries to seven others when the brakes failed on one of the cars in 2001. The California Public Utilities Commission has recertified the railway after Angels Flight Railway Company fixed the defects that caused the accident.
Joe Thompson, the Cable Car Guy, has this Angels Flight info on his website. Dace Taube’s Angel Flight page has a 1996 Quicktime movie and several old photographs from 1898-1960. Try this link from LAist of the funicular railway for a Rich Alossi video of test runs last January as noted by Zach Behrens. Check out Mike Ebert’s Virtual Ride from Saturday, Feb. 24, 1996, when it reopened a short distance away from its original site after an almost 27 year absence.
Check out more ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! 🙂
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Happy Hollow Park and Zoo
March 11, 2010When our daughter was small she loved to go to Happy Hollow Park & Zoo in San Jose, CA. A couple years ago it closed. Just saw that there will be a great Re-Opening on March 20, 2010. Check out the photos in the San Jose Mercury News article By Mayra Flores De Marcotte! How great will that be for the young adults with small children of their own who remembered the fun they had in the park so long ago! As part of the Measure P Safe Neighborhood Parks and Recreation bond measure approved by voters in 2000, the park closed in 2008 to undergo a $72 million green renovation. Sneak-A-Peek of the ‘new’ park here! Here’s a list of the Yelp Old Memories – it will be fun to see how the new ones after March 20 will compare!
Check out other blogs for ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! 🙂
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Help Julie Packard’s Latest Action to Support the Sea Otters
March 10, 2010Help Monterey Bay Aquarium‘s Executive Director Julie Packard in her latest action alert to save sea otters like Kit. The Aquarium’s Sea Otter Research and Conservation (SORAC) program has been trying to save the threatened southern sea otter since 1984.
See my other sea otter mentions on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com, a website about and for grandparents, parents and their special children in their lives by award-winning author Grandma Sue. 🙂
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Earthpark
March 9, 2010A fascinating, new Earthpark is being conceptualized by Ted Townsend and his Townsend Vision organizations Earthpark, Great Ape Trust of Iowa, US Center for Citizen Diplomacy. It would be a wonderful learning adventure and environment in the middle of Iowa! It will be interesting to follow their progress.
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Dallas Party
March 8, 2010Looks like the planning for the Dallas Party is coming along nicely for David and Betsy Roe. Cool!
From the Central Alumni page:
Help us celebrate David and Betsy Roe’s retirement and move to DALLAS with a Texas-sized party in P.H. Kuyper Gymnasium, Saturday, April 17, from 5:30-8:30 p.m. A program will begin at 6:45 p.m. Student meal plans will be in effect. Come to bid farewell to the Roes, hear great stories from featured speakers, enjoy the legendary delicacies of Central Dining Services and free entertainment courtesy of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, Steel Pans and Jazz Combos. Attire for the event is Texas themed. Registration is required. RSVP by picking up your free tickets at the Maytag Information Booth after March 22. Or, register now online, call 800-447-0287 or e-mail alumni@central.edu.
The Roe party continues with a dance at the Pella Opera House Saturday, April 17, from 8:30-11:30 p.m. Cost is $15 per person and registration is required. RSVP by purchasing your tickets at the Maytag Information Booth after March 22. Or, register now online, call 800-447-0287 or e-mail alumni@central.edu.
I have other items mentioning Central College at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 🙂
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Barn Owls and Great Horned Owls
March 7, 2010The Orange County Register (6 March 2010) ran an article Barn Owl webcam a surprise hit about the webcam at Starr Ranch Sanctuary. That got me googling for more barn owl info and I found some very interesting links!
We thought we had a barn owl that loves to perch on our chimney in Reno, almost always at night but sometimes at dusk. There is another one in the neighborhood that answers his/her calls. It’s neat but also seems to follow the old Apache Indian folklore of predicting a death. According to the same owl mythology link in the Sierras (where Reno is), native Indians believed the Great Horned Owl captured the souls of the dead and carried them to the underworld. Thanks to the recordings of the different owl calls on the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site, we now realize it is a Great Horned Owl. We reviewed all the recordings on the owl pages and “our owl” call is exactly like the one recorded for the Great Horned Owl – only it can go on and on and on and on….. Ah, according to the Oregon Zoo, mating season can be as early as February – so maybe that was the reason! It was February that loooong night of owl calls. I also learned that the female has the lower voice, but the response was too faint to distinguish which was lower…. 🙂
Here’s a radio show dedicated to birds called Birdnote.
The Hungry Owl Project has a camsite and photos as well.
I have other birding blogs and other child activities at https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com 😮
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Great Blog: 5 Kids with Disabilities and Remaining Sane
March 5, 2010Oh my gosh! I laughed out loud! What an entertaining woman! Gotta love her! Check out http://5kidswdisabilities.wordpress.com for just wonderful blogs! What a great ending to a frustrating day!! Oh, my! How she made me laugh! There is always something extra going on! What a special person – couple – to take in these kids and to have such a great outlook! Kudos to you! 🙂
Check out my other blogs for ideas and activities to do with kids on https://mygrandmasue.wordpress.com by the author of the award-winning children’s book Grandpa, Do It! I Do It, Too! 🙂
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MyGrandmaSue 