Camp Tales

I have been to camp with my boys each year since we moved to Maryland, but this is my first time to attend a youth camp with one of them. Since both of our boys are autistic, we do our best to help them understand proper responses for social situations. Sometimes it is much harder for them to grasp.

Ashton went to his first youth camp last year. Wendy went also, but he had freedom because she was not staying in his cabin, obviously. He had some problems when one of the boys from his group told him to leave them alone because nobody liked him. Although it really hurt his feelings, he made other friends during that week and simply hung out with these boys. Since Ashton does not quite get the social aspects of making friends, for example he never learned their names, we were very happy that he was able to make some friends and enjoy the rest of his camp experience.

This year I was glad to find out that a couple of his friends would be at camp, but both of these boys have discovered girls and are too busy showing off for the girls to spend time with Ashton. I could not make the first day of camp because of our Patriotic Musical. I drove down the second day arriving just in time for lunch. As soon as Ashton saw me he came to sit with me at a table full of adults. His two friends sat at a table with a bunch of girls. Ashton really wanted me to come to his afternoon track times (sports) and it quickly became apparent that he was not making any effort to make friends with any of the other youth.

I am torn between enjoying the time that he and I have to spend together and wanting him to succeed in making some friends and enjoying being a youth at camp. He is oblivious to what others may think while he is with me. Most of the time as we walk from one activity to the next he reaches out to hold my hand. Most seventh graders would not do this in front of their peers. Or fifth grader doesn't like me to hold his hand around his friends. He also wants me to sit by him at every bible study, worship time, etc. I have not seen him trying to talk to any of the youth from our group. And even though some girls started talking to him about how he looks like some guy from their church, he simply shrugged his shoulders at them and continued talking to me about how funny something was on the first day that I missed.

It breaks my heart to see how he does not seem to fit in with his own group and yet he seems oblivious and very happy to just be with me. I guess it is good that he enjoys being with me, because the last thing I would want to have done at his age is spend time with my parents at a youth camp. So I guess I will simply enjoy the time we have together and not worry about what apparently is not bothering him.

Switching to a Mac

I recently made the switch to a MacBook Pro after nearly 25 years of using PCs running Microsoft operating systems. My first home computer was actually a Commodore 64. Great little gaming computer back around 1980. Then I moved up to the Amiga and thought I was in heaven. During that time I was using PCs with Microsoft DOS at work and school. I remember installing my first copy of Windows 3.1 and how exciting it was that Microsoft had finally moved to a graphical interface. Then I progressed to Windows 95 on a little desktop that wewere given for our home. Around 1998 I finally got rid of my Amiga and we purchased a home computer that had Windows 98. After Windows XP came out I tried to upgrade that computer and eventually gave up and bought another computer that had XP installed. I never made the switch to Windows ME, but we did purchase a laptop for my wife last year which had Vista on it.

After four days with my new MacBook Pro, I can honestly say that this has been the easiest change. There are a few things that I still need to get used to on the Mac (for instance, where is the "end" key so that I can edit a sentence and then jump to the end of the line?), but I am so happy that I was able to make the change. I do not think I will ever go back to a Windows based computer. [NOTE: I have installed Windows 7 on my Mac so that I can use a few Windows based programs that I will still need, i.e. FrontPage, and I do believe that if Microsoft can plug up their security problems and fix the instability problems then this operating system will be a giant leap for them].

First Impressions

A choir member sent these videos to me after my devotional last night on not judging too quickly. They are hilarious, so I thought I would share them with you.

HQ - Ti lascio una canzone - 'O sole mio: Trio Ginoble-Boschetto-Barone - Live

I doubt that we could get three teen boys from our youth choir to sing like this. These guys are good. After some lessons on stage appearance they will shine.

The Things You Find On Facebook

I got a friend request from somebody I did not recognize, so I clicked on their link to find out more about them. I was amused by what showed up in the info section:

Government Motors Bailout

I am not a politician. I do not understand how much $30 billion is, so I broke it down into a number I could better understand.

GM is getting $82 million per day for the next year. No, still too big of a number.

GM is getting $8 million per day for the next 10 years. No, still too big of a number.

GM is getting just over $800,000 per day for the next 100 years. Getting closer. That amount could buy 10 houses like our house in Florida. Maybe somebody from GM would like to buy it?

GM is getting $41,095.89 per day for the next 2000 years. That is more per day than a starting school teacher makes in an entire year.

GM is getting $100 from every man, woman and child who lives in the US. I don't know about you, but I do not have an additional $400 to give to the government so they can buy GM. And this is just one of the many multi-billion dollar bailouts that the new government has given out.

Memorial Day 2009

In honor of the many men and women who have fought for the freedoms of our country and especially for those who have died in the pursuit to keep us free, I dedicate this poem for Memorial Day 2009. I wrote it for my father eight years ago. It expresses for me how much of a sacrifice he made and why I will always be thankful to the men and women who serve valiantly defending America.


War Never Ends
© 2001, Stephen R. Poole

I stood there near a ship
Looking out to sea
I hardly knew the man
He hardly knew me

His eyes spoke of hardships
Things too hard to tell
His hands rough and cracked
And then I heard a bell

He turned and looked at me
His voice choked, yet strong
“The war continues raging
I cannot linger long”

He turned, faced my mom
The tears began to flow
His fingers wiped the tears
I heard the whistle blow

Boarded, bound for somewhere
I watched him as he went
Whenever one fell wounded
Another one was sent

I never really knew him
Until the very end
The war, long forgotten
Left many wounds to mend