The Thomas Journal - 2004
Below is a personal journal posted in reverse chronological order. Nothing special, just the day to day happenings and muses of Thomas...
After reading this journal, anyone can e-mail Thomas comments by clicking here .
Click here for journal for 2003.
December 31, 2004
Today I attended a spiritual war summit for the nation of India. Interesting way to end the year.
December 25, 2004
Today I had the Christmas from Hell. I spent the early part of the day cleaning my old apartment on Jeter Street, and I don't even want to get in to what happened later on. Let's just say Ginger and I are not together anymore. :(
I have made a New Year's Resolution for myself: To have a better Christmas next year.
December 12, 2004
Today I was standing at a urinal in the mens room at the Bedford Wal-Mart, when who should call my cell phone in mid-stream but JoAnn McFatter.
Well, some of you might recognize the name. (How many "JoAnn McFatter" 's can there be?) The rest of you can look her up on the net. There are 1,180 sites that mention her, that beats the 1,172 sites that mention me.
I like her. I hope we can be friends. :)
(Waving HI to JoAnn!)
December 08, 2004
Today I finally get this new site up and running.... I hope? *Blink*
November 28, 2004
Today I spent my first night in the new house. Reiki and Terri seem to be having problems adapting. They are fighting and hissing at each other. I am thinking they are trying to claim territory so I am just going to let them work it all out themselves.
I really like this place. I am glad I moved. :)
November 11, 2004
Today I did my talk for the ASA-GRV. I had a nice and fancy powerpoint all ready to go and they didn't have a projector. I had to have a 40 minute Q&A session and wing it the whole time.
I got my first standing ovation in years. Go figure.
I have another talk coming up December 10.
October 28, 2004
Today I did the talk at
Liberty University. It went well and
I taped it, but I am not sure I can do anything with the tape. Didn't
quite turn out like I wanted.
Now to get ready for November 11.
October 19, 2004
Today I have made a decision to move. I am moving a couple of blocks away to a nicer house that costs about $40.00 more a month. I find I am eager to get out of this old place.
October 16, 2004
Today (and yesterday and tomorrow) I am camping up in mountains of Bedford County. I am on the Peaks of Otter, well off the beaten trail.
I like it here. I hear this is to be an annual event by LMCI. I will definitely be here next year.
October 01, 2004
Today I was invited to speak at a conference in Salem, VA. This will only be a short conference of three 40 minute presentations by various speakers, but unlike the two hour Liberty University talk, I will be be paid for it.
I like that. :)
September 27, 2004
Today I had to call 911.
I was taking Carlin home from a martial arts class at the church, when we went by a car in the rain. Carlin told me that there was a woman in trouble so I backed up and sure enough, there was a damsel in distress.
She had swerved to avoid a deer and lost control of the car in the rain. The front wheels were buried in a ditched and try as we might, me and Carlin could not push her out.
The problem was that part of the car, the back end, was still sticking out into the street. She called her boyfriend on my cellular and then I called 911 to dispatch a deputy to the scene because I felt that the car sticking out in the rain and in the dark posed a hazard.
Meanwhile several burly guys in various pick up trucks showed up and they refused to pull her out. Rightfully so as it would have damaged the front of her car. Along comes her (idiot) boyfriend who pulls her out and sends the front of her car bouncing all over the place.
So then he tells her to flee the scene because the cops will give her a ticket for reckless driving and she will lose her license. Sufficiently frightened, she gets out of there with a car with damage her boyfriend inflicted.
So then the cop (finally) shows up and me and Carlin fill him in. Carlin asked if she would have gotten a ticket and he said NO. Meanwhile, this lady had full coverage on her car but the insurance won't repair it without a police report. Since she didn't wait around to get one, she is out of luck.
I am glad I am not like that idiot boyfriend.
September 06, 2004
Today I was invited to speak at a conference at Liberty University. This is Jerry Falwell's school, and we know how a lot of people feel about him. (And we also know how a lot of other people feel about him.)
It would be nice if they were paying me, I am gambling (BIG gamble) that speaking at Liberty will look good on a resume.
July 25, 2004
Today I bought a scooter. You can see it here. This is a cute little street legal scooter that I bought to scoot around on in this tiny town of Bedford.
July 02, 2004
Today I heard back from Francis MacNutt. It wasn't all that I had hoped for, but as busy as he is, I am surprised to hear back from him at all.
He made my day.
June 26, 2004
Today after a week of hanging out, Ginger and I have decided to start dating. Sigh. I guess this means I have a girlfriend. I hope I am ready!
June 18, 2004
Today I am 39 years old. I also met an interesting girl at the church yesterday and I had a chance to talk to her today by the communion table. Hope I get to see her again.
June 12, 2004
Today I wrote a letter to Francis MacNutt. I am hoping to have his ear for a moment (I'll be lucky if I even get that long) at a conference where he will be speaking in August.
No guarantees he will get back to me, but I sure hope he does!
June 10, 2004
Today I started rebuilding the Lion of Judah site from scratch. It will be the same except it will be different.
I want to get it right this time. I will let you know when the new site is up.
June 08, 2004
Today I bought the Microsoft Frontpage program. I have not really been happy with the software that came with the Lion of Judah web site.
The good news here is that I get reimbursed from the church ($208.99), and I can program in DHTML instead of HTML. That will make all the difference.
June 04, 2004
Today, early, Dad went back home. I think he enjoyed his time here.
Don't tell anyone, but I did, too. :)
June 03, 2004
Today Dad and I had breakfast with my friend, Mygo, and lunch with Dale & Vicki. It was another busy day.
It was 24 years ago today that I went into the hospital for three years. But it seems like just yesterday because I still remember it well.
June 02, 2004
He may be 74 years old, but my father can wear me out!
Today we went to a junk store all the way out in Burnt Chimney (yes there is a Burnt Chimney, VA) we went to the Booker T. Washington Monument and we also had a guided tour of the National D-Day memorial, which is in my back yard.
Oh yes I almost forgot. We stopped at a garage sale where he paid $2.00 for a padlock without a key.
I hope tomorrow is not so busy!
(One more thing: The T in Booker T. Washington stands for "Taliaferro".)
June 01, 2004
Today my father is coming to visit from Columbus. This will be the first time in four years he has been here. EEK!
May 26, 2004
Today in e-mail I heard from someone who read this journal. She expressed some concern about what I wrote on April 14th (you can scroll down to read it) and I wanted to clarify my position.
I am guessing she was wondering about this quote: "I am researching the possibility of electrotherapy for autism."
What I was saying (and apparently saying very badly) was related to the TENS only. In no way do I now or will I ever endorse or advocate shock treatments for autism or for anything else.
Just wanted to be clear on this. :)
May 05, 2004
Today in the mail I received 900 Vitalzym. I am hopeful that this will help eat the scar tissue in my arm so I can have some mobility back.
In other news, it turns out Amazon missed the point. They are not removing the bad review of SWCTL. Instead they removed the bad review of Light on the Horizon, a review written by the same person who must have something against me for whatever reason. My attempts to get the bad review of SWCTL have pretty much failed.
So if y'all could post a GOOD REVIEW of SWCTL on Amazon, it would be most appreciated.
April 26, 2004
Today I received the most wonderful and welcome news that the one negative review of SWCTL that is on amazon.com will be REMOVED.
I can't even begin to tell you how HAPPY I AM about this. This means that SWCTL will once again have a 5 star rating on amazon. That is just too cool.
I had planned to publish a rebuttal to the review on my site, and I even have it written. Now it is unnecessary and that is okay with me because this is a much better solution.
April 24, 2004
Today I had the opportunity to speak at an autism conference in Danville...sort of.
Originally I was to do two talks, but one of them was literally TAKEN from me by someone else when we had to combine talks because of lack of room space. She was going to take half the time and I was going to take the other half but instead she took ALL the time! ARGH!
I was promised the keynote for next year, though. I hope that happens because I really like to do keynotes. There is much more freedom in a keynote than there is an a breakout session.
April 22, 2004
Today I got a new TENS in the mail. Since the one I had been using was working so well, I decided to get something with a bit more juice to experiment further. So I got a TENS 6000. I really like the digital aspect of this unit, though it is missing a few key features, like it doesn't turn off on its own like my old analog TENS does. It just beeps forever. Or at least it seems forever.
It does have a nice safety feature though in that it does not produce current if electrodes become disconnected. The analog TENS was not intelligent to this and I got shocked a few times. Also the new TENS has a cover on the amplitude dials and this is why I chose this model. I got tired of bumping (or being bumped) and having the amplitude increase and electrocute me.
For what I paid, it was well worth the price.
April 16, 2004
I think this TENS is great I am really starting to like it. I am feeling better and more energetic and motivated, and I am actually GETTING STUFF DONE! I guess it could be a placebo effect and it might wear off, but right now, I really don't care. :)
My main concern at this point is that if I am not careful, I will be responsible for the next "cure of the month" and that is bad advocacy. I don't want that to happen.
So if any of you want more information, you can e-mail me here:
thomas (at) thomasamckean (dot) com
But please, please don't just go running willy nilly to get a TENS unit for your child. I don't want this to be like AIT or F/C or Secretin.
April 15, 2004
Happy tax day. Today I think I am having some good results with the TENS, now that I know what I am doing. I have played around with it before but I have found from reading that CD below that there is more (much more) to effective TENS treatment than just plugging it in and turning it on.
So far, with the settings I have chosen (and I never would have picked these settings without reading the CD), I think I am in less pain than I have been in for a while now.
April 14, 2004
Today I got mail from jolly England.
I got two things. One was a CD called, "TENS: The Advanced Users Guide" and the other thing was some TAC-GEL.
I am researching the
possibility of electrotherapy TENS for autism.
March 17, 2004
Faith N Begorra if 'tisnt St. Patrick's Day. :)
Reiki is doing fine. :) I took her to the vet and after a traumatic x-ray, we found that despite what we all thought, she did not have heart disease or cancer. She has a severe feline asthma. So I will have to keep an eye on her from now on, and probably go to the vet more frequently, but the up side is that I still have a few years left with my Reiki.
March 14, 2004
Reiki is not responding to treatment. And she is looking more and more lethargic and sad. It is looking bad for my kitty. I have had her for about 10 years now and I don't really want to be without her.
Tomorrow I will take her in and then post this journal.
March 11, 2004
Yesterday I bought a new phone. I want to recommend this to anyone who might be looking for one.
This is a cordless phone by Uniden, and you can see it here and also here. Note that I am not having the problems that other reviewer is having with the "tinny sound."
What got my attention about this, being only 2.4ghz when I was looking for a 5.8ghz, was a small button on the answering machine. It was a different color than the other buttons and it was labeled, Do Not Disturb.
And I saw that and I thought, "No, that can't be true. It is too good to be true!"
But yes it is true. :) You push that button, the button lights up and both your phones and your answering machine go silent. And this is what life is all about, people, a DO NOT DISTURB button on your phone system. When you are ready to talk, you just push it again. The light goes off and phones and machine are returned to normal.
Good job, Uniden. I hope the others follow your lead.
March 8, 2004
Today I took my kitties to the V-E-T for immunizations. Terri is in excellent health but it turns out that Reiki is very sick. :(
I knew she was under the weather but I did not know it was this bad. She has a lot of fluid in her lungs and she may have a tumor. ACK!
I am giving her medicine for the week and if that doesn't help, we do an x-ray and go from there.
March 5, 2004
I had to cancel my appearance in Richmond. All that barfing last night convinced me that maybe it wasn't a good idea to go.
There was a time when I would have done it anyway. But I think those days are over.
March 1, 2004
It is definitely time to post this. :) I will be speaking at a conference in Richmond on Friday. I will be doing a talk called, "Unlocking the Mysteries of Sensory Dysfunction." This title comes from a book by the same name that I wrote the introduction for. I still think it is among the best three pages I have ever written.
Hello to Mandy, if she is reading this. :)
February 17, 2004
As the great Roger Miller once said, "Dear folks, sorry I haven't written lately."
My car is fixed. YAY! Lion of Judah takes care of its own. Great church to be a part of. Now can exit my car appropriately without looking like an idiot iun the parking lot, rolling my window down to reach 'round the outside to open it.
Recently I have been having a problem with some kind of parasthesia, which is why I haven't been keeping this journal up.
I went to a neurologist who poked me repeatedly with a paperclip and told me to stop wasting his time cuz there is nothing wrong with me. Oh I hate when they do that.
What else... Well, my car's odometer rolled over to 200,000 miles and the car is still in great shape. You can believe I will be even more careful about the oil now because I want ANOTHER 200,000 out of it!
January 27, 2004
Word to the wise: Do NOT purchase that program listed below. ACK! Awful program!
I found a FREE program I am using that is much better. Yahoo Site Builder. The catch is that the program is free, but the site costs $11.95 a month to use the software. Worth it, I think. :)
Still no word on the part I ordered for my car.
January 24, 2004
Today I bought a new program, you can see it here. I got it to begin serious work on the Lion of Judah web site. I have scratched the original site and I am now working on a better site. Keep checking back to www.lofj.org to see how it is going. This will be a priority for me for the next couple of weeks, I think.
January 22, 2004
Today we *finally* got a domain for the Lion of Judah web site. YAHOO! You can see what I have so far by going to www.lofj.org. I am wanting this site to be a bit more "professional" than my own. But the software I have (Frontpage Express) doesn't seem to be up to the job.
January 21, 2004
Today I went to get the part for my car that was broken at ROAD CONNECTIONS here in Bedford. It wasn't really a pleasant experience. I still think Road Connections should fix it. But hey if they want to lose my business (really stupid thing to do as old as the car is) then that is their loss.
They told me they would call when the past was in. It cost me $51.86 to get what I needed.
January 20, 2004
Today I went to my mailbox imagine my surprise and my delight to discover a big package from my friend Annie who sent me flannel sheets to keep me warm at night, and Reese's Peanut butter hearts and also a toy for the cats that makes me think there is a dead bird in my bear room every time I walk by.
But the cats love it. You can see a pic of Reiki playing with it if you click here and also here.
As you can see, it looks like she is actually eating a live bird.
Yes and try telling me that this doesn't look like a bird! Tweet!
January 19, 2004
Here are some pics of my cat, Terri. You can see her here, with another pic here.
January 10, 2004
Today I took my car in for repairs and they BROKE my car door so it will not open on the driver's side.
I asked if they would cover the cost of repairs since it happened on their watch and the response I received was (and I quote), "It may have happened on our watch but it is not our fault."
Well HELLO whose fault is it then I wonder?
This happened at ROAD CONNECTIONS in Bedford.
January 05, 2004
Today I started work on a website for Lion of Judah Ministries. I will post the link as soon as it gets underway.
January 03, 2004
Here is a pic of the Bedford County Weiner Stand.
And
Here is a pic of the entrance to the National D-Day Memorial, which happens to be in my back yard.
I just LOVE living in Bedford!
January 02, 2004
Today my kindly mother sent me a digital camera in the mail. So be looking for this journal to have a lot more pictures this year. For instance, here is a picture of the back of my car. Note the license plate. :) Took me a long time to come up with that. I wanted something "uplifting but not preachy."
January 01, 2004
Today I celebrate the new year, just like the rest of you. Looking back, at least my new year did not start out like last new year. This is a good thing.
I also found out that Hazel, the lady that lives upstairs, is moving out after living here for over 20 years. She is not as young as she once was and she is having a problem getting up and down the steps.
There goes my ill-gotten cable, but I suppose that is all for the best. :)
Happy New Year, everyone. :)
