Sometimes I'm a little concerned about that training, WS. I had a few attendants here that seemed to think that meant "Ask a million questions when your client bruises her knee."(Because I'm pale, I can have a big bruise without a big incident) I know their hearts were in the right place and stuff, but somehow, I'm sure that was not intended by the trainers.

I figure someone who can answer, "Dude, where'd you get that bruise?" with a "Fuck, I dunno. You know me, I bruise like a banana," is quite capable of reporting abuse accurately, so my obligation is to not ignore the bruise. Basically I am satisfied to ask, and then respect whatever answer. I have a different obligation to people who aren't really sure what bruises, bananas, or abuse really are (or might understand but cannot articulate their understanding). And then there is the CYA aspect of it. I hate coming in to work at a location for the first time in a few days to find someone who can't talk has some unexplained injury that is obviously not new, but no other staff person has documented it. A nice "he came in from work with a bunch of dirt on the knee of his pants leg and when he got in the shower, this writer saw a bruise on his knee," or something works. But when you don't have that, trouble starts.

This child abuse training would have made far more sense if it were for people who actually work with children. I don't. I mean, once in a while I'll have a student who's 17, or sometimes a homeschooled 16-year-old taking college courses, but for the most part, my students are at least 18. Most of this training focused on pretty small kids. There were barely any scenarios that even involved teenagers.

Well, you're not running a math camp at your particular university...

I have a classmate on Blackboard who is just begging for a long, well-cited take-down from first principles. But, good lord do I not want to write it.

When my son Bobby was just a few months old he managed to get some kind of virus that caused extreme bruising. His body was covered with fingertip bruises from holding him, changing his diapers, etc. Total and complete freak out. His pediatrician couldn't even do the blood draw because he was so young and it had to be done at the hospital. Miracle drugs fixed it.

That was by far the worst bruising my kids ever had, but it was the beginning of a long string of massive bruising from crashing to the ground from zip lines, bike crashes, football, soccer, basketball, yeah they were active.

It surely is an art to look into a person's eyes (soul) and figure out what is normal and what isn't. My kids discovered early on that poking my arm with a finger would leave a bruise. The Mom looks stopped that behavior.

Long story short, it ain't easy to judge these things.

No, it isn't. As a h.s. teacher, I reported several instances of abuse/suicidal thoughts. You have to report ANYTHING you might think would be abuse.||

But college? Like Hil said, they're usually not minors, and I don't recall being told about being a mandated reporter in college. I mean, if I'd seen anything worrisome, I would have talked to the student, but honestly, being a college prof isn't as intimate a view of a student's life, and training for domestic or drug abuse would seem more logical at that age.

I am considerably better, but not enough that I'd feel confident going someplace where finding a bathroom might take some time, so I'm missing the Mini Maker Fair. Boo!

Boo indeed. But I'm glad you're feeling better, nonetheless.

Boo! for missing hte Mini Maker Fair.

We had an ALL Store Meeting this morning. Learned some new stuff, Best Buy makes some really funny videos about new info (not all of them but the more recent ones are especially good). Learned new info about my department

and

was named co-MVP for my department! Which translates to these rewards points we get (although I forgot to ask if ours were split or if we each got the full points). The other MVP was the guy who was hired with me and just hired on as full time.

In fact the store manager said he'd never had a situation where 2 people were hired on the same day, did their new employee training together, and were hired as full time on the same day. Then someone piped up "And were named MVP on the same day".

And another guy who was in our training was named MVP for his department.

My Halloween costume didn't really come together the way I wanted and I realized now a better idea - by the cheap outdated electronics and go as the Ghost of Technology Past, but I'll save that for next year.

I have a cold. I was thinking about not going to work. But at about 1 , one of our cats made a strange meow. , dilated eyes and couldn't walk. The er vet say all his lymph nodes are swollen and he is dizzy. Nothing to tell with out lab work. So off to my vet in the am. Nathaniel is in the big crate and safe for the night.