[Blindtlk] Introduction.

[Mary Mc Gee]

Dear Steve;
	Since this is Friday, I'll answer all these letters now because
doing so is much more enjoyable than some other things on the DO List.  
	I don't know about the "remarkable" part, but I've had a lot of
experience in this and that!  And I've learned many things through some
trial and much error!  When I was younger, there was no mentoring, etc., so
you pretty much had to just try things and not be afraid to fail.  I've done
that a lot and probably will some more, but, anyway, that's life.
	If I have a wish about Des Moines, it's that our transit system was
as good as Chicago's, where I could take a bus to literally anywhere in the
city.  I know I'd have more job opportunities, etc. if I had more busses to
take.  This morning our news had a story about how the city wants to put
more bike lanes in the streets.  We have one of two streets with bike lanes
already and a few blind people have complained about having a difficult time
getting off the bus and finding the sidewalk because the bus doesn't stop
precisely where it's supposed to stop.  Have you or anyone else reading this
had any experience, good or bad, with bike lanes?
Sincerely,
Mary


-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On
Behalf Of Steve P. Deeley
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 12:52 PM
To: Blind Talk Mailing List
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Introduction.

You sound like a remarkable lady!Steve
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Mary Mc Gee" <mmcatitude at gmail.com>
To: <blindtlk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Wednesday, January 26, 2011 12:36 PM
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
>
>
>
>
>
> NOTICE:  This E-mail (including attachments) is covered by the Electronic
> Communications Privacy Act, 18 U.S.C. Sections 2510-2521, is confidential
> and may be legally privileged.  If you are not the intended recipient, you
> are hereby notified that any tetention, dissemination, distribution, or
> copying of this communication is strictly prohibited.  Please reply to the
> sender that you have received the message in error, then delete.  Thank 
> you.
>
>
>
>
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