EDUCATION:

Washington State University – 2 years
Major: Communication
Minor: Philosophy

North Seattle Community College, Fall 1994 – Winter 1996

WORK EXPERIENCE:

April 2003-October 2005

Moscow Farmer’s Market, Marketed and sold my own hand-made beaded jewelry

May 1997-May 1998

Reporter, The Daily Evergreen; Washington State University Newspaper

October 1995-Dec 1996

Reporter, “The Polaris”; North Seattle Community College Newspaper

SKILLS:
* Highly skilled with Word, Macintosh and Linux
* Familiar with Excel, Adobe Photoshop, Microsoft Windows, basic HTML, Web-page editing software
* Public Speaking: Primary school through college

LANGUAGES:
* English, Dutch, Russian, French

FUNDRAISING and VOLUNTEERING:

Poster Child, March of Dimes, 1980-1982
o Learned Public Speaking, acting in commercials
o Beadwork, French Beaded Flowers, Glass engraving by hand

November 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008:
* National Novel Writing Month; Municipal Liaison
* Coordinated Monthly and Weekly Meetings
* Assisted in moderation of online forums

September-November 2001 Volunteer, Red Cross
* Helped raise money for the September 11th crisis
* Coordinated distributing and collecting money buckets
* Answered office phones, took messages and donations.

AWARDS AND MEMBERSHIPS:
June 2004-Present:

Member, Writer’s Bloc, local writer’s critique group, that critiques fellow members’ manuscripts for spelling, grammar, and plot.

August 1997-May 1998:

President, WSU Society of Professional Journalists

June 15, 1996:
Journalism Essay Award, Washington Protection and Advocacy System

August 1995:
Delegate, Mobility International U.S.A. Russia Exchange
Learned about Russian & sign language; culture, and disability rights

July 1993:

Member, “The Perspective”-College Level newspaper
Washington State University Multicultural Summer Journalism Camp
Fine-tuned skills in editing, reporting, and layout.

<a href=”http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v217/Vennie/misc/?action=view&current=badday04030901.jpg” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/Vennie/misc/badday04030901.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”Photobucket”></a>

And the ecstacy…

<a href=”http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v217/Vennie/wsu/?action=view&current=mebschieffer.jpg” target=”_blank”><img src=”http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v217/Vennie/wsu/mebschieffer.jpg” border=”0″ alt=”Photobucket”></a>

And if the above are double spaced, I’m going to be annoyed.

I’m much more susceptible to bladder and Urinary Tract Infections then the general public, because of the Spina Bifida which caused me to be born partially paralyzed from the waist down.

Back in 1992, I caught a massive e-Coli infection along with hundreds of other children in the region during an e-Coli outbreak related to a fast food chain. I remember that I was a Junior in high school, but I don’t remember how many days I had to stay in the hospital – which was Children’s Hospital in Seattle. I remember a very great deal of pain, and that my kidneys did suffer mild permanent damage from the experience. My urologist warned me that I would be even more susceptible to e-Coli infections from then on, and he was very correct. Some of my more memorable subsequent infections were in 1994 when I wound up in the hospital for it again, 1999, and 2003. I’ve had some good luck for the past few years, but it seems my luck has come to an end.

Unless you’ve had a kidney infection before, several of the symptoms may be unrecognizable to the uninitiated, and they may seem more like the flu. The most obvious symptom will be cloudy urine, particularly if it smells unusually bad. Healthy kidneys should produce urine that might be yellow colored, but should be crystal clear to the bottom of the receptacle with no sediment at all. Other symptoms will include painful and or burning urination, feeling like you need to pee all of the time,  fever, sluggishness, “the chills,” stomach cramping, mental confusion, nausea with or without vomiting, and pain in your lover back, particularly on the sides. This time, I got to experience each and every one of these wonderful physical states.

I admit that I had some foul smelling urine for the last few weeks, but I began hydrating myself more vigalantly, hoping it would just go away. Sometimes it actually does, but this time it didn’t.  Last Monday at about this time I was awake, uncomfortable, nauseous, and gradually becoming more so. I began experiencing vomiting and diarrhea. I cancelled an appointment I had for that morning and went to bed. I spent the rest of the day suffering evacuation after evacuation. Late in the afternoon I called a friend and asked him to bring me fluids, including sports drinks, which have more electrolytes. I noted at this point that I had a fairly rapidly rising fever. Hind sight is 20/20, and “if I had known then what I know now,” I would have had him bring me directly to the E.R., full stop.

What I didn’t know yet was that I was in the throes of a full-blown U.T.I., and that the toxins produced by the bacteria was already blocking my abilities to make clear decisions. I drank some fluids, then went back to bed and fell asleep again. I woke after 11 p.m., and took my temperature again. This time I was up at an alarming 103.4F, so I finally had the sense to panic and call a friend. The second friend I called was home and still awake, and she came over and brought me to the Emergency Room. By the time we got there I was also experiencing painful bladder contractions. There, they had to administer a full liter of fluids intravenously, as well as anti-nausea medications and antobiotics, and I continued to evacuate.

I’m now on a prescription for Ciprofloxacin, which has been effective for me in the past and has less side effects than some other drugs, which I’m grateful for. For the first 36 hours after I was released I was on a clear fluids diet, and then the B.R.A.T. diet for 24 hours after that. Adherence to the rules was the only thing that has reduced my nausea, which is actually still present at times.

I’m telling you all of this not to gross you out, but to show you as best as I can what I’m going through, and to remind you that you can avoid this fate by being careful to be aware of the symptoms that I listed earlier, should you ever experience them. If you do get these symptoms, the longer that you wait to see a doctor, the more you’re going to suffer for it.

In any event, the drug does seem to be working, the vomiting and… stuff… and the fever are all reducing. Hopefully in just a few more days I’ll feel back to normal completely.

Here is the link to that all important post:

http://servicecat.blogspot.com/2008/12/hi-i-have-spina-bifida-occulta-and-am.html

I also wish to update the information given there: last week the Bank of Whitman account recieved more donations, so actually, we’re now only trying to raise $300! I’m so excited and greatful it’s not funny.  It’s all moot anyway at the moment because it’s snowing like a storm of barn owls, long feathers trailing included, and I’ve just started a cold, so I’m not going anywhere tonight.  I hope you’re happy, cozy, warm and safe wherever you are tonight.

A little bit further up my street lies Bishop Place, a very high quality nursing home. During the day I’m barely aware of them because of the rest of the traffic, but at night I know when an ambulance and a fire truck drives up there to try to save someone who is passing away. I’m also generally aware of it whenever ambulances bring people to the Emergency Room, especially the helicopter ambulances that fly over my apartments. I really enjoy my view, it makes me feel quite safe from most natural disasters.

However as the years go on and joints grow stiff, I’d become grateful for Zippy’s ability to get me much, much further distances than I could ever achieve on my own. Until I recieved it I never knew what it was like to be able to move roughly at the same speed as able-bodied walkers. But now Zippy has been broken down since February, leaving me to use my crutches or wheelchair again. I live at the top of a hill far from the nearest bus stop in an extremely hilly city, therefore a manual wheelchair simply isn’t the same.

A couple of months ago, my friend Henry asked me all of the ugly details: An electric scooter that will meet my needs costs some $4000 at least, but that the Medicaire system will only pay for the first $2000, which is what leads most people to acquire inadequate scooters for their needs. Henry, who is the manager of the Pullman radio shack, formulated a plan to create a benefit account for me to raise the $2000 necessary to get the scooter, and then he had a column published in the October 28th Moscow-Pullman Daily news. He argues that if everyone in the Moscow-Pullman area donated approximately 50 cents, then we should be able to raise the money needed to purchase the scooter.

The Palouse has some through beautifully, and now we’re almost there. A few people have donated $100. With taxes, I just need to raise about $700 more dollars. One gentleman who insisted upon remaining anonymous has donated $1000 to my cause.

The fund is called, “The Nicole Rodovsky Benefit Fund,” and it’s at the Bank of Whitman. If you yourself would like to donate, checks should not be made out to Nicole Rodovsky, but to “For the Benefit of Nicole Rodovsky,” “F.B.O. Nicole Rodovsky,” or “F.B.O. Nicole.”

How do you thank an entire city, let alone a whole region? I don’t know what to say or do. It’s kind of maddening really, because anyone who knows me can tell you that I’m a pretty communicative person, but the generosity I’ve seen in the last couple of months leaves me pretty speechless. I feel like I’ve got to try to find the words, and they’re buried treasure this time.