Articles for Slide Presentation

Hutchinson, S. (2000). Waiting for the Bus. Social Text, 18(2_63), 107.

Kaplan, S., & Prato, C. (2012). Risk factors associated with bus accident severity in the United States: A generalized ordered logit model. Journal Of Safety Research, 43(3), 171-180. doi:10.1016/j.jsr.2012.05.003

LANDERS, J. (2012). GAO Evaluates TIFIA Financing, Bus Rapid Transit Programs. Civil Engineering (08857024), 82(10), 16-17.

Waiting for the Miracle of Life: Lexi and her Journey with my Neice

Yesterday, a major event happened in my life. My best friend and sister, Alexandria (Lexi) gave birth to a healthy beautiful baby girl, Hailie-Marie. It was a very long process. In August, she learned that she was 6 weeks pregnant. She and her fiance were worried but happy. After she wrapped her head around the news, she told me. I had a bit of a freak out session (in a good way) but after I calmed down, we started planning things out. She went to the doctor again and they gave her a due date of March 9, 2014.
The months passed by quickly. February came and she had the baby shower. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to go because I was teaming a weekend-long overnight retreat and I couldn't leave because the shower was during my speech. Then we were in the last 4 weeks before her due date. Everything was being finished up, plans being finalized. Then, with 2 weeks left, there was an issue. There was a phone call from UMass Memorial Hospital in Worcester. Mommy Kate was there in the ICU.
I'm not sure of all the details but she was at work. Something happened and the brought her to the hospital. While examining her, they found out that she had a brain aneurysm that burst. She was put under and the doctors surgically drained the pressure from her brain. At first estimate,  Mommy Kate wasn't going to be released until after March 9th. This was a major problem because Lexi NEEDED her mommy to be in the room with her. She started stressing out. Stress is not good at any point of a pregnancy but nearing the end, it could send you into early labor and could cause problems for the baby. Mommy Kate's doctors were actually really surprised that Lexi didn't go into labor on the first visit to Mommy Kate. But little Hailie-Marie just wasn't ready yet.
March 9th came and went, with no contractions. Doctor's appointment on the 11th. No dilation but Braxton Hicks. They decide that if there isn't any change by Friday night,  they will induce. Friday comes and there is no change. They tell her to be at Women and Infants Hospital by 7:30 pm on Saturday, March 15 to start a cervical ripening. Sunday, they start Lexi on the pitocin. Monday morning comes and she's about 2 centimeters dilated. They up the dosage. Monday at 12:59 pm, Lexi's water breaks. I leave my Math class early so I could go and at least sit in the lobby if they wouldn't let me in because there isa visitor limit while you are in the Labor and Delivery department. Her fiance, Nate, needed a break so he could go home and grab some clean clothes and shower because he hadn't planned to be there for so long. So, I got to take his place around 5. When I got to the room, they were checking her dilation. She was at 4 cm, 70 effaced. Contractions were about 3-5 minutes apart. When I left her around 10:30, contractions were 1-2 minutes apart but nowhere near strong enough yet and she still wasn't dilated enough.
Yesterday morning, and still not much change. Talk of possible c-section if there still wasn't much after the 24 hour mark after water breakage. 1 pm, the 24 hour mark, contractions stronger so the doctor decides to wait. 4pm, doctor checks dilation again. 7 cm. Getting there! Not too much longer now!
Approximately 7:40 pm, time to push! At 8:09 pm, little Hailie-Marie makes her appearance into the world weighing 8 lbs and 15 oz, 9 days overdue. This beautiful buddle of joy has already shown her Irish stubbornness and kept MANY people waiting WAY too long. But it was well worth the weight :)

Commuter Life #3

SNOW-walks

This is what the sidewalks of Woonsocket looked like just after the last snow storm. The city only clears the area around the schools and on Cass Avenue, one of the main roads. The only reason that Cass Ave's sidewalks get cleared is because the high school is on Cass Ave and a large portion of the students have to walk down Cass Ave to get home. This sidewalk is at the bus stop, in front of city property. So it should be cleared by the city.
There is an ordinance in the city that states that residents and business owners are required to clear the sidewalk in front of their property. Some people do; like business owners. They clear their parking lots and clear their sidewalks as close to the pavement as they can. This is because they care about their customers and want them to be able to visit. It's also most likely to avoid any lawsuits from people slipping and seriously injuring themselves. But a lot of people don't take care of the sidewalks. I feel that if the city wants us to clear in front of our properties, they should clear in front of their's. I mean, its for the safety of the public. And we do have a public safety division. We also have a parks and rec division, who don't really do anything other than run the ice rink during the winter. So why can't they get paid for actually doing something to take care of the city instead of just sitting around?

Commuter Life #2

Waiting for the bus a couple weeks ago. I was heading to campus. This was taken in Woonsocket at about 6:00 am while I wait for the 6:11 bus. Which didn't show up until 6:22 that day. It was really really cold, about 20 degrees.