Posts Tagged ‘nothing’
Wednesday’s Hero
55 years old from Fort Belvoir, Virginia
Call it breaking the brass ceiling. Ann E. Dunwoody, after 33 years in the Army, ascended Friday to a peak never before reached by a woman in the U.S. military: four-star general.
At an emotional promotion ceremony, Dunwoody looked back on her years in uniform, said it was a credit to the Army?and a great surprise to her?that she would make history in a male-dominated military.
“Thirty-three years after I took the oath as a second lieutenant, I have to tell you this is not exactly how I envisioned my life unfolding,” she told a standing-room-only auditorium. “Even as a young kid, all I ever wanted to do was teach physical education and raise a family.
“It was clear to me that my Army experience was just going to be a two-year detour en route to my fitness profession,” she added. “So when asked, `Ann, did you ever think you were going to be a general officer, to say nothing about a four-star?’ I say, `Not in my wildest dreams.’
“There is no one more surprised than I?except, of course, my husband. You know what they say, `Behind every successful woman there is an astonished man.’”
You can read the rest of Gen. Dunwoody’s story here.
These brave men and women sacrifice so much in their lives so that others may enjoy the freedoms we get to enjoy everyday. For that, I am proud to call them Hero.
We Should Not Only Mourn These Men And Women Who Died, We Should Also Thank God That Such People Lived
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The Preschool Screening
My public school drives my absolutely bananas. I wanted to get Madison’s hearing screened just to make sure that there were no problems. We thought maybe some of Madison’s attention issues were due to her not hearing. However, my school being the pain in butt that they are wouldn’t do it unless we scheduled her to be prescreened for preschool through the school (which is a joke but I’ll tell you about that later). Obviously, there is some sort of federal funding they get for this, because I wanted a five minute screening and got stuck with an hour long screening. I sucked it up and took her.
I swear that they expect these kids to have a flash memory drive in their heads. I could hear some of the things they were testing her on, and from what I could tell, she was doing well. When they called me up after the testing was over, I was right. Except for cutting and catching, she scored everything else in the 6 year old range. Madison is only 4. I am seriously wondering if some of the attention issues we are having with her at preschool are due to her being bored. That was the good news.
The bad new was that we failed her hearing screening. I asked what the school would do for that. The answer: nothing. We would have to pay for additional testing elsewhere. The other thing that ticked me off to no end was that she couldn’t even get into the school preschool if I wanted to send her. The only kids who get in are those who are considered “at risk” (which Madison is obviously not) and if we made less than $80,000 a year. Umm, yeah. We make more than that. In Chicago, I am not sure if you can even own a decent house making less than $80,000 a year. Basically, the only kids who get in are those who don’t speak English (because there were several kids like that there) and low income people. I guess my question is what about the middle class? Why do we always get screwed?
Helicopter Crash
Did you all hear about the helicopter crash that happened in Aurora, IL on Thursday? I get upset everytime I hear about it, and since it is fairly local, it hits home. We use to live in Aurora near Copley Hospital where I think this happened. Also, as a mother, it breaks my heart to hear of a little one dying. The little girl (who was one) was being taken by helicopter to Children’s Memorial Hospital in Chicago. It seems as if the helicopter hit a radio tower. They aren’t sure if the lights were working on it. However, the tower operator swears they were on. From what I have also heard, this tower was used as a landmark and it was referenced on maps that should have been on the helicopter. I wonder if the families of all involved in this should be talking to helicopter accident lawyers (you can find some at HelicopterAccidentAttorney.com). The pilot of the helicopter was a father who worked two jobs to support his six kids. It is a sad story all the way around.
What floors me is that two years ago, the FAA was asked to force the companies who run these helicopters to give the pilot night goggles and training and devices that warn pilots about obstacles and terrain. They would only recommend it which means companies aren’t going to do it. Not surprising, the pilot of this crash did not have these safety devices. The rate of these helicopters crashed are at an epidemic, and as of right now, nothing is being done. That is almost as sad as these senseless deaths.
5 Days Left 