Laguna Honda Computer Club

Laguna Honda Computer Club

---We have started a computer club at Laguna Honda Hospital. It is my feeling that much of what is learned/taught in computer classes is not very relevant. On the practical side, one doesn’t need to know HOW a computer works…to work a computer. It is more important to know the kinds of things you enjoy and have the computer set up for you. You then have the things that you have told us you like on your favorites list.

---After you have chosen your likes, then you, for all intents and purposes, are in business. You will have things that were chosen by you…on your favorites list. You left click your mouse on the favorites list. Find the website that you want to visit and left click on the name. Your computer will go to that website.

---Let’s pretend that we go to YouTube. It seems that everyone likes music. We find the correct line on YouTube to type the artist’s name and the song. Many YouTube songs have more than one version. For example you type in Michael Jackson Billie Jean. There is more than one version. You can hear the cut from the record album or you can watch the live version where Michael J., does the moonwalk and sings. You have many choices of many songs. It is very hard to stump YouTube. And, I’m talking about every song that you’ve ever heard. And everything works much like YouTube. I like to say if you can follow simple directions you can probably work a computer. It isn’t much more complicated than reading a roadmap.

---We are affiliated with the Community Living Campaign and Marie Jobling and Company. If you have any questions for myself or Felipe M., we will, also, be available via, e-mail or you can make it known that you want to see us. If you are interested in a refurbished laptop computer of your own…you should make it a point to talk to one of us, also. We can set the wheels in motion.

---Computers can be a window to the world for us. There is nothing to fear about a computer. With Facebook and E-mail, it is easy to stay in contact with family and friends. A good portion of folks in the world are on Facebook. Even more folks have e-mail addresses. Practically everything is on the computer. Your job is, basically…to ask. You may have to exercise a little patience, but suddenly you may realize the whole world is at your fingertips. And…that is from your hospital bed. Take Care.

Marie Jobling, Judy Auda and Jennifer Walsh showed up today November 21. The members gathered and their questions were addressed and ALL went well...again. We had two new members - Patrick and David P. Marie J + Co. will be back on Jan., 02, 2013 at 1:30 to 3:30 pm. Their belief in what we do continues to breathe life into the project. They are the very necessary  backbone that, (as Bethany may say,) gives US the impetus to continue.
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We were glad to welcome Computer Coach Bethany Schwarz...who started with us Saturday, October 27. It was great to have her come aboard.  Bethany visited again...today, January 05, 2013. Another red-letter day for the LHCC. In the words of clubmember Frank A., ''angels do exist.''

Why the Laguna Honda Computer Club IS a Success

---Why I think that LHCC was an immediate success is because it was created with success/happiness of the user as being its primary measurement. The quote by Bill Gates goes right in here. The COMPUTER is the most empowering tool there is. It can handle communication, creativity and can be contoured to each individual using it.

---The Computer Club only asks for one thing, ‘’give us an opportunity to make you happy by exploring things that you enjoy...on the computer.’’  You are able to have Maslow peak experiences with minimum effort. In my vision we will increase the times this happens…allowing the patient to, eventually, do the driving when he feels ready. He/she is off and running, pursuing things that were half-heartedly imagined just a short time ago.

---I’ve seen miracles happen in the short time we have been in existence. With the correct coach the mystery and the stigma behind computers has been debunked. The computer is now their raison d’etre [reason to be.]  The benefit to the health is positive. Feeling better makes you better. People are able to reconnect with living again…and are taught skills where they can learn to take control of their own lives. They may take control, AGAIN…or, for the first time.

---Laguna Honda Hospital can be seen as a Nursing Home...home to about 770 - 780 patients. Housed at Laguna Honda is the underserved population. This is an upgraded version of the same Laguna Honda Hospital that is being made popular by Dr. Victoria Sweet (my former doctor) in her book ''God's Hotel.'' I wholeheartedly recommend reading it. My name is in the acknowledgments. I lived there for seven years. I now live in the newly built LHH next door. Take Care.
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POSTED: November 8, 2012

TEDtalk Dr. Victoria Sweet

TWELFTH CENTURY NUN MEETS COMPUTER CLUB

Hildegarde of Bingham meets

The 21th Century Laguna Honda Residents/Patients and

Hence…The Computer Club

---Hildegarde of Bingham was a nun in the twelfth century. She saw the human organism to be much like a plant equipped to heal itself if left alone. If anyone cares to follow up on any part of her life…feel free. There is much to be found in Dr. Victoria Sweet’s book, ‘’God’s Hotel.’’ She saw mankind as having its own power to green itself…and become well again if not interfered with by many of the things that through a search for convenience in a ‘’fool’s paradise,’’ have placed his very existence in jeopardy.

---Just as Dr. Victoria Sweet relates in her book, ‘’God’s Hotel,’’ her patient, Terry Becker, is an example of this. To treat Terry’s near fatal bedsore that developed by living in such a way that causes MUCH wear and tear on the body. To give the best course of treatment, Dr. Sweet called upon the work of Hildegarde the nun of the 12^th century. The best course seemed to Dr. Sweet to be to remove all the things interfering with theviriditas (the chi, the prana, the life-force, the cosmic-force, the universal-force, the love-force, the god-force, the Divine, etc., whatever one feels comfortable in calling this force) from doing its thing on Terry Becker. Dr. Sweet went to work on getting rid of all the negative distractions that got in the way of the human organism’s ability to heal itself. That refers to everything negative to this process. Over time, a good long time…the bedsore healed.

---In ALL patients being treated anywhere…for anything…it works much the sameway. The necessary plan has to be made to allow the viriditas, the life-force, (has many different names) to do its thing. Its thing is to correct or make right the organism. We ALL have this inside. Remove whatever obstructs the life-force, the viriditas, from doing its thing…then allows it to do its thing.

---How do we see Hildegarde meeting the Computer Club? I see it this way – one of the objectives of the computer club is to find the point-of-entry of the resident. That is usually where the point of true happiness resides. Happiness is contentedness…the point where all is well with the world.  Where the point-of-well-being happens to be. One is most receptive to the Divine...at this point. The point of IS.

---Since most of everything can be found on the computer, we match the preferences of the patient with things that he has been searching for most of his life which are in one form or another…on the computer. The preference could be a piece of music that has meaning to him from his past. It could be a place that has meaning. It could reconnecting with others that grow his socialness. It can resolve past transgressions by communication between patients, friends and family members. This state of eliminating attitudinal + behaviorial negatives and removing hindrances and obstructions to receiving the viriditas or life-force (the Divine) from doing what it does…allows it do its thing.

---On the computer…one can, also, explore different interests on multitudes of subjects. One can just watch TV Shows and/or listens to radio shows of the past. One can, also, access stations, events or see scenes or scenery from all over the world. What I’m trying to say is that most folks can find something or other to match with something of interest and has meaning in their life…on the computer.

---When one gets reintouch with that part of himself that seems to lie dormant in many of us…he reactivates all of the vital juices of life and living that many years of wrong thinking and wrong living has left us with. What is reactivated (in all of us) is the very thing that Hildegarde is speaking of – the viriditas.

---When one learns to work with and to allow the life-force to reactivate and be a player in his show…the quality of his life improves many, many times over.  Wellness is now looming in his life. Take Care.

CAT AT COMPUTER SCREEN!

More FAQ's

What is the time bank?

---The time bank is simply this – You deposit one unit of service for every one hour of service that you do.

---If you spend two hours helping someone else, you can deposit two hours/units into the time bank. If you recently purchased a refurbished laptop computer at 24 units of service, you can spend the two hours/units on the laptop computer. You now owe 22 hours/units of service.

What is the $20.00 fee?

---There is a $20.00 fee that is collected when/if you qualify and want a refurbished laptop computer. If you have NO need for a computer then there will be NO fee.

---If you want a refurbished laptop then you sign up for a computer. IF YOU QUALIFY then you agree to do 24 hours/units of service and pay $20.00. We hang on to the $20.00 and you get a laptop.

---The $20.00 is returned to you after you complete the 24 hours/units of service. The laptop + $20.00 then belongs to you free and clear…but, with hope that you continue to help others when necessary and use the time bank.

IN A NUTSHELL -

Laguna Honda Computer Club Blogsite
Bethany Schwarz - Computer Teacher:
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---The residents at Laguna Honda Hospital have formed a Computer Club with many of the ‘’key elements needed for success in the LHH environment,’’ says resident pointman Paul H. It was his idea that has germinated into the present form of the Computer Club. The Club motto is – ‘’give us an opportunity to make you HAPPY by exploring things that you ENJOY…on the computer. Our OBJECTIVE is your happiness and to make you an EXPLORER according to your abilities.’’
---Things have fallen into place for the Computer Club virtually right away. ‘’I had an idea for residents to purchase laptops,’’ says Paul. With much help from Judith Klain, LHH Administrator, they had a grant written by Thomas McEvoy that was picked up by Marie Jobling of the San Francisco Community Living Campaign. The CLC provided a few refurbished computers for residents who meet the criteria of understanding their enrollment in the time bank and would benefit from having a PC (personal computer) of their own. Some already have one.
---We set the table very quickly…when Bethany Schwarz made her entrance. She was hired through the time bank by CLC,  but they never felt her talents were being optimized. She was sent our way and are we fortunate that she was. Bethany came to the LHCC armed with all the right stuff. ‘’Her philosophy and talents couldn’t fit any better,’’ says Paul H.
---Bethany’s first day showed how she immediately  ‘’got’’ what her assignment would be.  Bethany hooked up a resident with her daughter’s Facebook page. She saw pictures of her daughter and grandchildren her daughter had posted. It was a magical moment. She taught SKYPE to a member of the Laguna Honda’s Spanish community. He plans to use SKYPE for himself and others he knows to get in touch with family members in other countries.  She next had a resident with  memory challenges. It was not determined how much his lack of memory skills would interfere with his enjoyment of the computer that his family gave him. I left for a few moments only to return to Bethany and the resident singing  old DOORS songs from his computer…that he remembered from his past. Kiddingly…Bethany gave him an A+ for his work…making his day (if NOT his year.)  She thinks that it will not be too difficult to set his up his computer for him.
---Bethany has only been to LHH twice and after the holidays plans to come more regularly. Watching Bethany do her thing is a great joy for me as well as with watching every resident she has encountered. One success after another is easy to watch…even with double-vision like I have. She says that she cherishes coming to work with the folks here.
---The quote by Bill Gates would fit nicely here, ‘’the computer is the most empowering tool ever invented. Tools for communication, tools for creativity. And, as a tool, is shaped by the user.’’ Bethany says, ’’if you give people the impetus to continue…they will.’’ 
---My vision is to have a team of people who are savvy with computers.  I realize that much of what Bethany did was fundamental, but was made special by her knowledge, demeanor and comfort level on many subjects. Her ability to convey what she was doing was something to behold. Bethany is doing one-on-one visits to be able to see the struggles with computers that some residents may encounter in their own areas.
---If we can have the supply and demand grow together – amount of laptops needed with the amount of computer coaches needed… grow in a way that stays aligned with each other…I really feel that we can change many lives for the better. Google - Laguna Honda Computer Club and you will find it. There is nothing overly impressive about the blogsite except for the 150 views it is getting each day. Truthfully…I’m NOT used to this kind of traffic. BUT…I am aware that it is a winning combination, at this point…and has the potential of bringing many folks back to the ‘’land of the living.’’ Take Care.
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---We are looking for computer coaches who know their way around the computer. If volunteering at Laguna Honda Hospital is something that is possible for you - call the volunteer office and speak to someone in charge. We'd be glad that you did. Telephone is (415 - 759 - 3333)