5062 Corporate Conscience?

Tuesday, May 2, 2016

Fifty is the new forty for men. Fifty is still sixty for women.

– 30 Rock --

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I had written a post on the demolishing of IBM Kingston Bldg. 025, at http://thesilkentouch.blogspot.com/2016/04/5068-bldg-025.html.  Rocky's comment was about contamination at IBM Endicott, and Becs commented on a pharmaceutical company.  You know, I suspect all large companies (and some small ones) dirty up their grounds.  It's cheaper and easier that way, and you know what any company's main concern is.  Sigh.

Anyway, I did a little internet research.  IBM fouled Endicott, Kingston, Poughkeepsie, and Fishkill, four NY plants that all worked together.  The Fishkill one was new to me, and when I'd said that Jay had been out of Bldg. 025 for a few years before his cancer, well, surprise, he'd worked that time at Fishkill.  

The most surprising thing I found out was that IBM was aware of the groundwater pollution plume in Kingston back in the late '70s.  They built Bldg. 025 smack on top of that plume after they found out about it.

Surprise.

.

5061 Waterloo

Tuesday, May 3, 2016

The less people know, the more stubbornly they know it

 – Osho --

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I've managed to make it up to the Hudson Valley house every weekend lately.  Not that I manage to get much done every trip, bit every little bit is a step ahead.  That doesn't leave a lot of time to fool around here.

The weekend of April 29, as I was leaving on Monday, I decided not to leave my notebook (notepad?  mini laptop?  whatever the heck it is) there.  I had planned to leave it, since that's pretty much the only place I use it, but I carry an overnight bag every trip not because I need anything while there, but in case something goes wrong and I have to stay at a hotel.  I hate ending up at a hotel without my toothbrush and toothpaste, and something to sleep in.  Since my phone is useless for anything but calls, I decided maybe I should carry the notebook all the time, too.  Just in case.  I'm less likely to have an emergency if I'm prepared.  That's just the way it works.

So I packed it up and put it on the porch next to the front door so I could grab it on the way out.

Naturally, I forgot it.

I didn't notice until I was unloading the van here.  If I had realized I'd forgotten it at any point on the highway, I'd have turned around and gone back for it.  So I called the Hairless Hunk and asked him to take care of it for me and I'd collect it this past weekend.

He hid it behind some junk on the porch.  Sigh.   Oh well, it didn't get wet and was still there....

This past weekend's trip, I managed to clear out almost all of the pantry closet, producing four bags of very heavy garbage and one of containers to recycle.  It was all stuff from before Jay's illness, so everything in there was like 16 years old.  All kinds of mixes, spices, varieties of pasta, all kinds of rice, five kinds of flours, just a lot of stuff.  I was really good about dumping it all.  There was about 10 pounds of sugar, and I hesitated, thinking even though I won't use it maybe Daughter could, but then I shrugged and dumped it, too.  I suspected she'd be mad at me for not tossing it.  We had a lot of trouble with mice, so almost everything was in glass or heavy plastic containers (many of which I kept, dumping just the contents), so there was nothing wrong with it but age. I was amazed that the three kinds of brown sugar was even still soft.  Tossed it all.

I finally lost my determination, met my defeat, when I found the three unopened bottles of Pickapeppa Sauce.  I love that stuff.  It's made in Jamaica, has always been a bit difficult to find, and is impossible to find around here.  I can buy it on Amazon, but only by the case, and very expensively.

I brought them home.  I won't tell Daughter how I failed.  I'm cooking a pork chop for dinner, just for the Pickapeppa.
.