[Blindtlk] Introduction.

Fri Jan 28 17:05:41 UTC 2011

Dear David;
	Let's see what I've learned from your email address:
There might be a radio or TV station somewhere in there because wcbi could
be a call sign.  K12 might be something to do with a school.  WI means your
somewhere is WI.  Tell me how wrong or right I am.  Are you a teacher in WI
who works at a radio or TV station also?  
	Now, about those birds.  I haven't heard that job advertised yet,
but it has security!  After all, there will always be birds leaving
deposits.  
	We have birds around our apartment complex too--very large crows who
come for breakfast every morning at dawn.  They gather, have a meeting, then
all fly away together.  They're sure noisy sometimes!  And they leave
deposits!  I'm glad I don't have to be walking under the trees at that time
of day!  
	I understand that the Art Center will provide gloves for people and
that's nice.  There was no description of the art, however, for blind
people, until now, unless they have a cell phone.  The reason for this is
because the Art Center has an Audio Tour, which people can access by calling
a number on a cell phone.  Some of us felt a cell phone should not be
necessary, so we arranged to have a Braille transcript made of the Audio
Tour for those who may not have or wish to use a phone.  Of course, we want
the tactile map so we can get the same concept of the design of the park
that sighted people can.  Everyone involved is very enthusiastic about the
project and with good reason.
	I'll ask Peggy and Curtis about the NFB history project.
	As I recall, the manual typewriters at the Braille School were
Royals and we had to learn to set tabs and margins and change ribbons.  The
school also had Hall as well as Perkins Braillers.  Nothing was electric!
I'm glad we now have machines that make us appear to really be accurate by
easily correcting mistakes because that old Correction Tape was a pain! Do
you recall using it?
	Dr. Jernigan was great!  We had our differences, of course, but he
sure taught me a lot!  I have several things I can tell about him, if
anyone's interested, e.g., he showed up at my door one Saturday morning to
take me on a walking tour of downtown Des Moines.  I had been at the
Orientation Center about a week, as I recall.  Am I ever glad I was up and
ready for the day!
	Write Again!
Sincerely,
Mary

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Hyde, David W. (ESC)
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 1:57 PM
To: 'blindtlk at nfbnet.org'
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Introduction.

Hi Mary. You and I sound of an age, since I too remember the IBM typewriter,
and the many manual ones I used before it. The people you said that gloves
are worn for examining sculptures are right. This seems to be the practice.
Now the hardest job to fill, is the fellow who is supposed to diaper all
those birds so their deposits don't damage the sculptures. This must be a
hard job to fill, since I see the results of their nonfeasance where ever I
go.
the N.F.B, is doing a history project. I believe there is a list for it. I
am sure that 
Curtis and Peggy Chong can tell you all about it.

I never had the opportunity to take formal training with Dr. Jernigan, but I
always got the informal kind whenever I worked with him. He really made a
difference for me, and I believe that what success I have achieved is in
part due to him, and in the main due to those of us around me who encouraged
me when I needed it, chastised me when I needed it, and praised me when I
earned it.

Welcome to the list.
-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Mary Mc Gee
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 11:37 AM
To: blindtlk at nfbnet.org
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Introduction.

Hello, Fellow Federationists!  

            I'm new to this net, so I want to introduce myself and ask any
of you who wish to do so, to either post a response or email me, as I'd like
to take my desire to correspond into the twenty-first century.  

            I practice law in Des Moines, Iowa and have done so since 1992,
when I became licensed.  Prior to that, I worked for an insurance company
because I had to work for the money to pay for the law school without taking
loans.  Before that, I trained at the Iowa Orientation Center when Kenneth
Jernigan was Director there.  

            It might be interesting to note that, when I was in Orientation,
we had no computers-we had IBM Selectric typewriters.  At the insurance
company, I used one of those MagCard machines to do policy administration.
The Kurzweil Reader was only an experiment then.

            I had the segregated education of the Iowa Braille School for
ten years, then finished public school with no accommodation whatsoever.  

            As you can tell, I'm fairly "old".  Consequently, I wrote a
narrative for the Iowa History of Blindness project, which the Department is
currently doing.  Isn't the N.F.B. working on something similar?  

            Believe it or not, I don't own a cell phone!  Can you believe
it?  I just don't see the economic feasibility of it, since we have to keep
phones turned off in court, etc.  I guess I figure, if someone wants to find
me, they can leave a message on my regular phone and I'll return the call.  

            Since I have some vision, I never learned Braille at the Braille
School.  Sounds strange, doesn't it?  Anyway, I learned it at the
Orientation Center, but let it go over the years.  This winter, I'm
relearning it so I can actually read it fast.  

            I'm currently Chair of the Access Advisory Board of the City of
Des Moines.  The Board's function is to advise the Mayor, City Council, and
the public with respect to accessibility matters in City programs and
facilities.  Right now, we're working with the Art Center and I.D.B. to post
a tactile map at the entrance to a sculpture park so that blind people will
be able to get a full perspective of the park when they visit it.  

            There's one aspect of the art park that I haven't really figured
out yet.  We're not supposed to touch the art.  The excuse is that the oil
in human skin will damage the finish.  What?  This doesn't make sense to me
because I can testify that the birds touch the art and they leave deposits
behind that you'd think would be more damaging than skin oil.  Go figure!  

            The assistive tech I use includes a Freedom Scientific Topaz
CCTV, ZoomText with Speech, and some kind of genius device that lets me use
the Topaz screen as a monitor for two computers.  Michael Barber and Curtis
Chong know everything there is to know about this tech stuff, believe me!

            I live only a few blocks from the I.D.B., so I walk there to
check out and return library books.  

            As I said, I'd be interested in hearing from any of you.

Sincerely,

Mary L. McGee, Attorney

mmcatitude at gmail.com

mlmcgee at q.com

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