[Blindtlk] Introduction.

Sat Jan 29 21:17:53 UTC 2011

Hi again Mary. You have most of it right, but being east of the Mississippi, if I were at a radio station, the call would begin with a W. I do professional development for teachers around the state of Wisconsin, which is why I'm in the office on a Saturday.

It is nice to know that there are a few out there who remember how things were back in the day. I to remember the Royal typewriters, and doing all my college papers on one. I used to say that I wished they'd invent one that could spell. Now I have one. Just imagine going to school today and being able to edit your papers on the fly, and to re-use parts for other classes.

I met Dr. Jernigan in 77, when he came to Oregon for the convention. Actually, I did my best not to meet him, since I didn't think anyone my age could possibly have anything to say to him that would be of the least interest. I got to know him much better when I became president of the affiliate in 79, right in the middle, literally and figuratively, of the Washington and California problems. I had a chance to talk with him over the next fifteen or sixteen years, and once in a while, spend some time with him.

One of my favorite stories involves him, Ramona Wolhoff, and the new roof at the national center. I was there for a meeting of some committee, and Dr. Jernigan wanted to show Ramona the new roof. He and she took the elevator up to the roof, and the exited, and allowed the door to close. It was then that Dr. J. noticed that he'd left his keys on his desk. Now those of us waiting for him figured he was in conference or something, which was why he was late. About forty-five minutes after we were supposed to have started, he and Ramona came in through the front door of the center. He said that he knew the place was well built, since he made all the noise he could have, and nobody heard him down below. He said something like:

"Now the only way down was a fire escape. We finally went over to it because we figured out that none of you were going to come up and get us. Mrs. Wolhoff said that she didn't know how she was going to climb down in her high heels. So I told her, for goodness sakes Ramona, take the shoes off and drop them over. You can find them when we're on the ground."

We all had a good laugh, and it reminded me to always check for my keys before I went through a potentially locked door.

Take care. Hope I get a chance to meet you at something. At our age, it may well be in the seniors division.

-----Original Message-----
From: blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org [mailto:blindtlk-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Mary Mc Gee
Sent: Friday, January 28, 2011 11:06 AM
To: 'Blind Talk Mailing List'
Subject: Re: [Blindtlk] Introduction.

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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