7 and a half hours driving Texas

[bill_schubert]

So I survived a day of driving on Memorial Day Texas roads.  Didn't even have my trusty sidearm.  Fortunately we're not yet required to carry guns.  Soon enough.

Meanwhile I drove from home to a farm an hour away to pick up what turned out to be two of the three CASA kids.  One has decided to stay in Houston.  The two younger half brothers are going to the adoptive home up here.  The lack of Internet on the farm split the boys.  The younger two don't care as much.  The older brother fancies he has a career in EA Sports.  He might.  I don't know.  But no Internet was not a choice for him.

So I picked up the two boys, ages 13 and 12, and drove them two and a half hours south east to Houston.  I had sent the route to both houses having never been to either and got a thumb's up from them.  So I knew the routes were correct but did not think to download them.  No Internet means NO INTERNET.  No Googles.  No map.  Ah, the things we take for granted.  I headed vaguely south until I got back to civilization and got a clue.  Easy from there.  Not much traffic in the morning and we made it about when I thought we should have with only a delay at Dairy Queen for a Blizzard.

Then a turn around and reversal of course with only one stop for gas on the way back.  Fortunately the traffic was backed up going south and fairly clear my direction.  And I had a good audio book.  I left at about 8AM and got back at about 3:45.  My inner ear was off all night from a day of motion.

The two stops were interesting.  The two employees at DQ had masks on but one had it dipped below the nose, the signal that she knew better but was required to wear the mask and would do so with contempt.  The gas and coffee stop on the way back was full of people and employees.  Half the people were maskless.  Only one of the employees wore a mask.  No one yelled.  No one glared.  We all just did our thing and got along.  The future.

Funny thing.  I did not force the kids to wear masks in the car and I did not wear one.  Minor chance taking.  But we got to DQ and the 13 year old asked his brother if he had a mask.  My lovely wife had prepped a couple of disposable masks in a zip lock bag so I was able to supply.  I was pleasantly surprised that they thought about it and was happy that I could support their consciousness.  

I'm ready for a holiday now.

Comments

[texasts.livejournal.com]

So will the oldest decline the adoption? Is he planning to be a Software Engineer or a Professional player? That's likely a hard gig to get. Not to mention sustain. The engineering might be easier to obtain but may not be his dream. Anyway these are the kind of questions that would keep me up at night, if I allowed such things.

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

Not really my circus. My job is to ensure his best interests are served by CPS. I'm not a big brother and am really not supposed to be. CPS and the courts ask my opinion and I give it. There are others that guide him. Once his life is settled in permanent care I'm gone. Hard boundaries.

He is half brother to the other two. Different fathers. He wants to play games. Knows nothing of software of really anything about engineering or computers. I doubt he's got what it takes to be really good but one never knows. His father is guiding him towards plumbing. More likely.

I maintain a pretty high degree of separation. He's in a good situation with good people and will age out of the system in a couple of years. My face will represent a bad time in his life so I'll fade away. Same with the younger two.

CASA is a weird kind of gig but I'm not the big brother type. I can wrangle a judge and keep things straight and push some levers but then I'm gone.

[texasts.livejournal.com]

Long as it works for you AND them.

I've done some reading on CASA, and it does seem a bit weird.

[taz-39.livejournal.com]

This week, on the way home from work, my phone service provider had an outage that lasted me through nearly 30 minutes of my hour commute. As someone who grew up without internet and used printed MapQuest directions to drive cross-country, I am amazed at how vulnerable I felt. And on such a familiar stretch of road too. Something we take for granted indeed!

[bill-schubert.livejournal.com]

I grew up with gas station maps and could get by with them again and if I knew I had to I'd find a road atlas and use it just fine. BUT it does require some advance notice.

[zestfive.livejournal.com]

I was a paid GAL here in MN for a few years back in the 90s. I always wondered if anything I did had any positive impact except for one young man. It mattered for the time I was with him but then things changed again. I hope those kids who are now adults are doing okay in their lives.