Skip to content

Monthly Archives: January 2009 - 2. page

WhiteHouse.gov

As soon as Obama was sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, his new WhiteHouse.gov site went public.  One of the first signs that this “Change” will be good.  This tech-savvy president understands the importance of the internet in our new globel society.  If you’ve ever visited the old site, you will immediately see improvement as the first “wired president” takes advantage of the technology that helped to get him elected.

The new site is interactive and includes a blog.  Obama plans to use this new site to stay connected with citizens through the blog and also email and video updates.

A couple of things that struck me on my first visit was that you can email the president from the site and subscribe to email updates.

On the contact us page it states:  “President Obama is committed to creating the most open and accessible administration in American history.”

Under agenda and disabilities, I found the following quote:

“We must build a world free of unnecessary barriers, stereotypes, and discrimination…. policies must be developed, attitudes must be shaped, and buildings and organizations must be designed to ensure that everyone has a chance to get the education they need and live independently as full citizens in their communities.”
— Barack Obama, April 11, 2008

p.s.  Remember it’s whitehouse.gov, not to be confused with whitehouse.org, which is a spoof site.  Got to love the Internet!

Share
Technology | cindy | | Leave a comment |   disabilities internet Obama Technology whitehouse.gov whitehouse.org

Inauguration Day on Twitter

According to twitter’s blog, they received 5 times the normal tweets per second which peaked as Obama was being sworn in as the 44th president of the United States.

Other social-networking sites also reported surges.  Facebook received more than one million status updates with an average of over 4,000 updates per hour, which peaked during Obama’s inaugural speech.  This was a record for Facebook, one of the Internets most popular social networks.

My tweets and updates were among the millions who watched the days events and followed the news on-line.  The internet sure can bring people together and it makes the world a much smaller place.  I thought Barack’s speech was excellent and right for the times.  The world has changed and we need to adapt.  It is such a relief to have a competent leader in the White House during these difficult times.

Share
Technology | cindy | | Leave a comment |   facebook inauguration internet Obama Twitter

Inauguration Invite

I got this official-looking invitation in the mail a couple of weeks ago from the “Presidential Inaugural Committee”.   I have no idea why I got this invitation.  Do they just send out a bunch of these randomly?  I did volunteer for Obama’s campaign, maybe all volunteers got one, I don’t know?   But it sure is nice and a neat keepsake of this historic day.  I only wish I could actually be there in person, but I’m sure Barack would understand that I’d need more than a couple of weeks notice in order to pull together a team to care for the boys while I’m gone;-)

I’m so excited that January 20th is finally here!  I’m also a bit nervous.  I hope all goes well today.  How on earth will the secret service be able to protect him in that huge crowd?  It sounds like a security nightmare to me.  The election of Barack Obama is a giant step forward toward equality for all, but sadly we are not there yet.  There are still some crazy bigots out there.  I don’t know how one person can hold up to all the stress and expectations that Barack is under now and for the next 8 years.

I can’t be there in person, but I plan to watch the events on TV and also do what Barack has asked us all to do, make an ongoing commitment to do what I can to serve my fellow citizens.  For me this is a renewed commitment to offer support and resources for families of children with special needs and do what I can to build a better world for children and adults with disabilities, a world in which people with disabilities are welcome members of society and given the supports they need to live a healthy and productive life.

Barack is such an extremely gifted person and his timing on the political stage could not be better.  We are lucky to have such a talented person willing to serve our country.  But he can not do this alone.  We all need to join him and do what we can to work toward peace, to save our planet, create universal health care, and support the civil rights of all Americans, regardless of race, religion, sexual preference, or disability.  Our country has been moving in the wrong direction for the past eight years.  With so much at stake, now it’s time for all of us to make a positive difference in our community, in our country and hopefully in our world as well.

Happy Inauguration Day!  Here’s to a new beginning!

Share
Uncategorized | cindy | | 1 Comment |   Barack Obama historic inauguration Invitation January 20 Joe Biden presidential Volunteer

Grafton Community Ice Skating Party

Lake Ripple is one of Eric’s favorite places in Grafton.  For years I’ve been meaning to get him out onto the frozen lake, but I never seemed to get around to it.  Part of the reason is because I’m paranoid about water.  Not for myself, but for Eric.  Putting a kid in a wheelchair on water is like attaching an anchor around his waist.  If anything bad happens it would be just about impossible to save him.  We took him out on a schooner last summer.  He loved it, but I was just glad to get him back on land!

Yesterday was the annual Grafton Community Ice skating Party on the lake.  Since it has been extremely cold recently, I thought this would be a good and safe time to take Eric out on the ice.  The biggest challenge was the rather big, steep hill we had to climb down to get onto the lake.  Aaron and I made it down OK, but halfway down I was thinking, this is really dumb, how will I ever get him back to the van!  But there was no turning back at that point… Luckily, there where plenty of people around and when I was ready to leave, I asked three strong guys who were hanging around the bonfire if they would help me out and they did.  I had Eric in his jogger, which made it easier.   Each one took a wheel and dragged him up the hill.  It was worth it though as Eric was so excited to go “on” Lake Ripple and he will be talking about this for days.

Here is a photo of the twins. Aaron calls that hat his “Fargo” hat!  Of course, Aaron has his video camera with him in order to get some “stock footage”.

Eric could not believe that he was out in the middle of the lake!

A nice bonfire provided by the Grafton Recreation Department.  OK, this fire did make me nervous.  Why doesn’t it burn through the ice?  I went over and asked one of the guys tending the fire and he said, “I have no idea!”  That was not very reassuring.  However, I knew that they did this bonfire thing every year, so I could only assume that we were safe… I tried googling it when we got home, but couldn’t find an answer. If anyone knows why it’s OK to light a fire on ice, please leave a comment.

Getting dark and cold!  Aaron warming up by the fire.

Share
Family and Friends Local Community | cindy | | 3 Comments |   bissell bonfire Grafton Lake Ripple MA Skating Party twins