Friday, May 16, 2008
I don't travel a lot, but I've flown enough lately to see a few business opportunities that no one has jumped on, and I don't know why.
First it was the cigarette lighters. Many were discarded on the way in. People coming out wanted them. I don't understand why there weren't kids collecting them at the gates, and then selling them for a few cents at the baggage carousels.
Then it was the lotions and gels. Why weren't the stores in the airports selling three to six days supplies of shampoo, conditioner, etc., so people who weren't particular could simply not pack any, and then buy a small bottle, just enough for their stay, at their destination?
Now it's checked baggage. Some airlines are charging for every bag you check. Wouldn't it be nice if you didn't have to pack clothes? What if you could buy inexpensive clothes at the destination, and throw them away or sell them back before you go home? Or rent clothes?
Back in the late sixties there was a short-lived paper clothing fad. I've actually worn paper clothing, and my mother, who was very fashion and quality conscious, owned a few paper dresses, tops, and pants. They were fun. They felt every bit as soft as fabric. You "hemmed" them by cutting off the excess. You could repair tears with plain tape. They could be washed a few times. And if you didn't know, it wasn't easy to tell.
Here's some links:
http://www.news.wisc.edu/13367
http://www.everything2000.com/news/news2000/paperclothes.asp
http://www.geocities.com/FashionAvenue/Catwalk/1038/paperclothes.html
I think an airport store selling paper clothes (the modern paper should be even better than what we had in the '60s) could clean up!
-------------------------------
Dinner last night was at a Chinese buffet with about 40 different selections. When I eat out these days I rarely eat everything I'm served. I doggy bag about half, and it provides two more meals at home. But at the buffet dinners, I'll load my plate three times, and I eat every bit of it.
We got into a discussion last night as to why.
I think it's because all of it is so good, I want to taste everything. So I take a tiny bit of each thing. Really tiny bits. Like of the General Tso's chicken, I search for the smallest pieces of meat, and take two. Two tiny bits of Cajun chicken. Two bits of beef and three stalks of broccoli. One small scoop of the noodles. One small dumpling. Two of those cream cheese and crab rangoons (two 'cause I love them best). And so on for 40 things. It adds up, but it doesn't kick off the "I'm full" because they all taste different.
As one of the ladies pointed out, when I get halfway though a steak or baked potato, or serving of whatever green, I'm bored with the taste, and then I am more likely to hear the "Ok, that's enough for now".
Sigh. Save me from buffets.
.
Friday, May 16, 2008
Thursday, May 15, 2008
1813 Meeting Men
Thursday, May 15, 2008
I'm not looking for a man right now, thank goodness, but I'm aware of another young lady who is, and there doesn't seem to be anyone available and suitable among her immediate acquaintances. She asked how one goes about meeting guys.
I've been thinking about it. That's a hard one.
A year and a half ago when I wanted to meet men, lots of people had lots of suggestions, none of which were very helpful.
Internet dating.
Suitable. Suitable is a requirement. I met lots of men, but none of them were suitable. Maybe with exactly the right profile, and maybe with "winking" at every guy who seemed sane, maybe eventually it would have worked (Daughter met Hercules through Cupid.com), but I think the field is much more fertile for younger people than for my age group. Some of the guys I met were very emotionally damaged, and very desperate.
Church activities.
I'm sure that one might meet some very nice guys at church activities, but do I want a guy who's big on church activities? Uh, no, not especially.
Sierra Club, and Mohonk "singles' hikes", ski club, etc.
I'm sure one would meet healthy guys there, but do I want a guy who's seriously into hiking or skiing? Uh, no. Walking in the woods, yes. Hiking, no. Skiing, hell no. Besides, on the few singles hikes I went on, the only single guys were with dates.
Volunteering, Habitat for Humanity, etc.
I had high hopes for that one, especially Habitat. A guy big on volunteerism would be fine, and liking working with his hands is nice. Unfortunately, most of the people I've met through volunteering have been female. The few single males were downright nasty or decrepit.
Bars.
Single men my age don't go to bars alone unless they're alcoholics.
Folk dancing groups.
Probably lively men, but unlikely to be single, unless they're REALLY into folk dancing, and, uh, I'm not all that sure about a man my age who's really into folk dancing.
Ballroom dancing class.
Yeah, sure. The only men there were dragged in by women, and there were more women than men.
Community parties and small business networking.
This was one of the more likely areas. There were some suitable single men, and there were some possibilities there. But the competition was fierce and potentially vicious.
And so on.
I've concluded that you can't look at it as finding where there might be men in general. You have to first define what a suitable man is like, and where he's likely to be, and then go there.
A man I'd likely find suitable is unlikely to be a hiker, or skier, or dancer, or churchy guy, so there's no point in my looking there.
I'd need to join the local computer club. I find the topics boring, I wouldn't be there for myself, but it's more likely to have suitable single men.
About 1 in 100 men in Mensa are likely to be suitable, and luckily, I met one. Very lucky, in fact, since that was the first and only gathering he'd ever attended, and having attended a second with me, he swears he'll never go to another. So, there are suitable Mensa men, but they're rarely found through Mensa (Catch 22).
In conclusion, it's just like hunting. Standing around in a field is accepting any skunk or possum that comes along. If you're after big game, define your prey, figure out where it's likely to be found, then go there.
Don't forget to bait your trap.
.
I'm not looking for a man right now, thank goodness, but I'm aware of another young lady who is, and there doesn't seem to be anyone available and suitable among her immediate acquaintances. She asked how one goes about meeting guys.
I've been thinking about it. That's a hard one.
A year and a half ago when I wanted to meet men, lots of people had lots of suggestions, none of which were very helpful.
Internet dating.
Suitable. Suitable is a requirement. I met lots of men, but none of them were suitable. Maybe with exactly the right profile, and maybe with "winking" at every guy who seemed sane, maybe eventually it would have worked (Daughter met Hercules through Cupid.com), but I think the field is much more fertile for younger people than for my age group. Some of the guys I met were very emotionally damaged, and very desperate.
Church activities.
I'm sure that one might meet some very nice guys at church activities, but do I want a guy who's big on church activities? Uh, no, not especially.
Sierra Club, and Mohonk "singles' hikes", ski club, etc.
I'm sure one would meet healthy guys there, but do I want a guy who's seriously into hiking or skiing? Uh, no. Walking in the woods, yes. Hiking, no. Skiing, hell no. Besides, on the few singles hikes I went on, the only single guys were with dates.
Volunteering, Habitat for Humanity, etc.
I had high hopes for that one, especially Habitat. A guy big on volunteerism would be fine, and liking working with his hands is nice. Unfortunately, most of the people I've met through volunteering have been female. The few single males were downright nasty or decrepit.
Bars.
Single men my age don't go to bars alone unless they're alcoholics.
Folk dancing groups.
Probably lively men, but unlikely to be single, unless they're REALLY into folk dancing, and, uh, I'm not all that sure about a man my age who's really into folk dancing.
Ballroom dancing class.
Yeah, sure. The only men there were dragged in by women, and there were more women than men.
Community parties and small business networking.
This was one of the more likely areas. There were some suitable single men, and there were some possibilities there. But the competition was fierce and potentially vicious.
And so on.
I've concluded that you can't look at it as finding where there might be men in general. You have to first define what a suitable man is like, and where he's likely to be, and then go there.
A man I'd likely find suitable is unlikely to be a hiker, or skier, or dancer, or churchy guy, so there's no point in my looking there.
I'd need to join the local computer club. I find the topics boring, I wouldn't be there for myself, but it's more likely to have suitable single men.
About 1 in 100 men in Mensa are likely to be suitable, and luckily, I met one. Very lucky, in fact, since that was the first and only gathering he'd ever attended, and having attended a second with me, he swears he'll never go to another. So, there are suitable Mensa men, but they're rarely found through Mensa (Catch 22).
In conclusion, it's just like hunting. Standing around in a field is accepting any skunk or possum that comes along. If you're after big game, define your prey, figure out where it's likely to be found, then go there.
Don't forget to bait your trap.
.
1812 Frustration
Thursday, May 15, 2008
I chose to plant the lilies Tuesday because it was supposed to rain yesterday, and I can't water them otherwise, so that would be ideal.
It didn't rain yesterday.
It's supposed to rain today.
It isn't raining.
Ack!
.
I chose to plant the lilies Tuesday because it was supposed to rain yesterday, and I can't water them otherwise, so that would be ideal.
It didn't rain yesterday.
It's supposed to rain today.
It isn't raining.
Ack!
.
1811 Bush Blast
Thursday, May 15, 2008, about 1 am.
If you're a Bush fan, hit "back" now.
The Man alerted me to a Keith Olbermann MSNBC broadcast a few hours ago. The transcript and video are at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24632990/. I strongly recommend that you watch the video. It's pretty powerful.
.
If you're a Bush fan, hit "back" now.
The Man alerted me to a Keith Olbermann MSNBC broadcast a few hours ago. The transcript and video are at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24632990/. I strongly recommend that you watch the video. It's pretty powerful.
.
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
1810 I've Been Tagged...
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
...by Becs (tagged by Becs, that is).
What were you doing five years ago?
Let's see, that would be 2003? Jay died at the end of 2001, in 2002 I was busy taking classes, redecorating the house, settling the estate (did it mostly myself), volunteering with the emergency squad, and other stuff. In 2003 I crashed and burned. I sat and stared at the wall, and bought thousands of dollars worth of online stuff I didn't need, just so I could get "gifts" in the mail, and I began the 45 pounds I gained over the next two years.
What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
Well, today's almost over, so we'll try tomorrow:
. Go to the PO and return a shawl. The store sent me the wrong one.
. Wash the dishes.
. Buy weed spray, and, if it's not raining, spray.
. Sort clothing, store winter stuff.
. Go to dinner with friends.
What are five snacks you enjoy?
. Popcorn with lots of butter and salt.
. Potato chips with bacon-horseradish dip.
. Spaghetti with butter, salt, pepper, and romano.
. Grits with butter, salt, pepper, and romano.
(Hmmm. There's a pattern developing.)
. Trail mix, the nuts and dried fruit kind.
. Sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
. Coffee flavored yogurt.
. Peanut butter cookies.
... only five?
What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
I don't know. I feel like one is pressured into grand philanthropic plans, distributing it here and there. But giving a wad of money, except for disasters and emergencies, usually comes to a bad end. If you invest a million wisely, you'll get an ongoing income of between 40 and 70K a year, and the principal should also increase (faster with the lower beginning income), thereby increasing the income every year. So I'd find 997 people and charities, and set up 1M trusts for each of them. The last 3M I'd keep for me. That's more than enough. I myself probably wouldn't do much differently. A maid, maybe. A nice house in a nice place.
What are five of your bad habits?
. I am a rotten housekeeper.
. I buy too many books, shoes, and clothes.
. I'd rather not eat than cook.
. I ignore deadlines and due dates.
. I am addicted to the internet.
I've got lots more....
What are five places where you have lived?
Backward from here:
. Highland, NY
. Gaithersburg, MD
. Ballwin, MO
. Ruby, NY
. Schwenksville, PA
The full list is more than 30 places long.
What are five jobs you’ve had?
. Retired!!!!
. Mother and suburban housewife.
. Within The Company - software tester, programmer, customer software rep, system design, legal support.
. Classroom teacher, mathematics.
. Restaurant bus girl.
What five people do you want to tag?
You, you, and, uh, you. You and you, too. If you recognize yourself in there, have at it.
.
...by Becs (tagged by Becs, that is).
What were you doing five years ago?
Let's see, that would be 2003? Jay died at the end of 2001, in 2002 I was busy taking classes, redecorating the house, settling the estate (did it mostly myself), volunteering with the emergency squad, and other stuff. In 2003 I crashed and burned. I sat and stared at the wall, and bought thousands of dollars worth of online stuff I didn't need, just so I could get "gifts" in the mail, and I began the 45 pounds I gained over the next two years.
What are five things on your to-do list for today (not in any particular order)?
Well, today's almost over, so we'll try tomorrow:
. Go to the PO and return a shawl. The store sent me the wrong one.
. Wash the dishes.
. Buy weed spray, and, if it's not raining, spray.
. Sort clothing, store winter stuff.
. Go to dinner with friends.
What are five snacks you enjoy?
. Popcorn with lots of butter and salt.
. Potato chips with bacon-horseradish dip.
. Spaghetti with butter, salt, pepper, and romano.
. Grits with butter, salt, pepper, and romano.
(Hmmm. There's a pattern developing.)
. Trail mix, the nuts and dried fruit kind.
. Sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
. Coffee flavored yogurt.
. Peanut butter cookies.
... only five?
What five things would you do if you were a billionaire?
I don't know. I feel like one is pressured into grand philanthropic plans, distributing it here and there. But giving a wad of money, except for disasters and emergencies, usually comes to a bad end. If you invest a million wisely, you'll get an ongoing income of between 40 and 70K a year, and the principal should also increase (faster with the lower beginning income), thereby increasing the income every year. So I'd find 997 people and charities, and set up 1M trusts for each of them. The last 3M I'd keep for me. That's more than enough. I myself probably wouldn't do much differently. A maid, maybe. A nice house in a nice place.
What are five of your bad habits?
. I am a rotten housekeeper.
. I buy too many books, shoes, and clothes.
. I'd rather not eat than cook.
. I ignore deadlines and due dates.
. I am addicted to the internet.
I've got lots more....
What are five places where you have lived?
Backward from here:
. Highland, NY
. Gaithersburg, MD
. Ballwin, MO
. Ruby, NY
. Schwenksville, PA
The full list is more than 30 places long.
What are five jobs you’ve had?
. Retired!!!!
. Mother and suburban housewife.
. Within The Company - software tester, programmer, customer software rep, system design, legal support.
. Classroom teacher, mathematics.
. Restaurant bus girl.
What five people do you want to tag?
You, you, and, uh, you. You and you, too. If you recognize yourself in there, have at it.
.
1808 Daylilies
Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Yesterday I went to Poughkeepsie with my trowel, shovel, and garden fork (not sure that's the right name - it's like a pitchfork, but with a shorter handle and stronger tines), to dig up some daylilies.
I'd had an email response to my request on Ecycle. The woman said she wanted them out so she could plant a shrub in that spot, so I should take them all. She gave me her address, a description of the house, and the location of the daylily bed. She said she'd be at work every day, but I could come and get them any time.
On the drive there, I got a little worried. What if this email was actually from someone else, as a joke or retaliation, and the owner would come home from work and find a hole where her beloved lilies had been? So I tried knocking on neighbors' doors, but no one was home.
I started digging. I half expected a police car to pull up and a cop to ask me what I was doing.
It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I just pushed the fork in, and the whole mass levered up. I had been a bit disappointed that the patch was only about 22 by 18 inches, but it was very dense, and when I separated the plants, I ended up with well over 100 sets. Wow! Given the price the local nursery is asking for potted lilies, that's more than $600 dollars worth!
I spent the late afternoon planting them on my bank/cliff. That was WORK! Much of the bank is a shale-like rock. I know there's some soil there, because there are weeds (that's why I wanted the lilies, eventually they'll choke out the weeds) but much of that soil is shale. I had to dig about 200 holes before I found enough good spots for lily sets. When I finished I was drained.
I was standing there holding a trowel and the plastic garbage bag the sets had been in, admiring the plants, when a police car pulled up and a cop asked me what I was doing. "Everything ok?" Local guy. I've bought him coffee in the diner. He was just passing. He probably wonders why I found his question funny.
I felt like I'd pulled off the perfect "bank" robbery, having just buried the swag.
.
Yesterday I went to Poughkeepsie with my trowel, shovel, and garden fork (not sure that's the right name - it's like a pitchfork, but with a shorter handle and stronger tines), to dig up some daylilies.
I'd had an email response to my request on Ecycle. The woman said she wanted them out so she could plant a shrub in that spot, so I should take them all. She gave me her address, a description of the house, and the location of the daylily bed. She said she'd be at work every day, but I could come and get them any time.
On the drive there, I got a little worried. What if this email was actually from someone else, as a joke or retaliation, and the owner would come home from work and find a hole where her beloved lilies had been? So I tried knocking on neighbors' doors, but no one was home.
I started digging. I half expected a police car to pull up and a cop to ask me what I was doing.
It was a lot easier than I thought it would be. I just pushed the fork in, and the whole mass levered up. I had been a bit disappointed that the patch was only about 22 by 18 inches, but it was very dense, and when I separated the plants, I ended up with well over 100 sets. Wow! Given the price the local nursery is asking for potted lilies, that's more than $600 dollars worth!
I spent the late afternoon planting them on my bank/cliff. That was WORK! Much of the bank is a shale-like rock. I know there's some soil there, because there are weeds (that's why I wanted the lilies, eventually they'll choke out the weeds) but much of that soil is shale. I had to dig about 200 holes before I found enough good spots for lily sets. When I finished I was drained.
I was standing there holding a trowel and the plastic garbage bag the sets had been in, admiring the plants, when a police car pulled up and a cop asked me what I was doing. "Everything ok?" Local guy. I've bought him coffee in the diner. He was just passing. He probably wonders why I found his question funny.
I felt like I'd pulled off the perfect "bank" robbery, having just buried the swag.
.
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
1807 Free Stuff
Tuesday, May 13, 2008
I mentioned the local "free stuff exchange" Yahoo group. This is the list I received this morning. There will be two or three lists like this every day. I've listed and given away a king sized mattress, many bags of plastic peanuts and packing materials, and a few other things.
1. Wanted: fleece for spinning
2. wanted- any thomas the trains
3a. Wanted: Computer
4. Wanted: desk for girl's room
5. WANTED: In Rosendale, old red bricks
6. TAKEN: 35mm Point-and-Shoot Camera in Red Hook
7. OFFER: Elmo and Ernie Dolls- Rosendale
8. OFFER: Baby Stuff- Rosendale
9. OFFER: Girls jeans and capris size 8 1/2 in Hyde Park
10. Wanted: Highchair C/O Pok
11. PROMISED: Toddler Pool w/Pump & Cover
12. wanted : Boys clothes size 12
13. TAKEN Oster Kitchen Center in Saugerties
14. WANTED URGENT! - Dog costume for 6 year old
15. Wanted: two kittens or young cats
16. WANTED: Burning Bush, Yellow Magnolia or Golden Chain Tree
17. Wanted: Double Stroller - C/O Pok
18. Offer: Poughquag-36" lawn sweeper
19. Offer: Poughquag-40 feet of metal "Wiremold"
20. Offer: Poughquag- lattice
21. Offer: Poughquag-perf pipe
22. Needed: Old working crock-pot
23. WANTED: Patio furniture, girls summer clothes size 10
24. REOFFER: Weight Bench
25. OFFER: Full Size Foam Mattress
The preferred headers are Wanted, Offer, Promised, Taken, and ReOffer (when the item was promised but not taken). I've listed Wanteds for daylilies and lawn flamingos. I've got responses on both, will be digging up some daylilies today. A woman in Poughkeepsie wants to clear out a lily bed to put in some flowering bushes, so we both win.
(P.S. The links in the list are into my Yahoo mail, so they won't work for you.)
.
I mentioned the local "free stuff exchange" Yahoo group. This is the list I received this morning. There will be two or three lists like this every day. I've listed and given away a king sized mattress, many bags of plastic peanuts and packing materials, and a few other things.
1. Wanted: fleece for spinning
2. wanted- any thomas the trains
3a. Wanted: Computer
4. Wanted: desk for girl's room
5. WANTED: In Rosendale, old red bricks
6. TAKEN: 35mm Point-and-Shoot Camera in Red Hook
7. OFFER: Elmo and Ernie Dolls- Rosendale
8. OFFER: Baby Stuff- Rosendale
9. OFFER: Girls jeans and capris size 8 1/2 in Hyde Park
10. Wanted: Highchair C/O Pok
11. PROMISED: Toddler Pool w/Pump & Cover
12. wanted : Boys clothes size 12
13. TAKEN Oster Kitchen Center in Saugerties
14. WANTED URGENT! - Dog costume for 6 year old
15. Wanted: two kittens or young cats
16. WANTED: Burning Bush, Yellow Magnolia or Golden Chain Tree
17. Wanted: Double Stroller - C/O Pok
18. Offer: Poughquag-36" lawn sweeper
19. Offer: Poughquag-40 feet of metal "Wiremold"
20. Offer: Poughquag- lattice
21. Offer: Poughquag-perf pipe
22. Needed: Old working crock-pot
23. WANTED: Patio furniture, girls summer clothes size 10
24. REOFFER: Weight Bench
25. OFFER: Full Size Foam Mattress
The preferred headers are Wanted, Offer, Promised, Taken, and ReOffer (when the item was promised but not taken). I've listed Wanteds for daylilies and lawn flamingos. I've got responses on both, will be digging up some daylilies today. A woman in Poughkeepsie wants to clear out a lily bed to put in some flowering bushes, so we both win.
(P.S. The links in the list are into my Yahoo mail, so they won't work for you.)
.
Monday, May 12, 2008
1806 Thud
TV. TMZ ? (whatever that is, it's just on by default, you know?). Some minor celebrity is blocking traffic to pose for photos. Reporter remarks that she was there for a long time, what "felt like a lightyear".
Um, a lightyear is a measure of distance, not time.
Thud.
.
Um, a lightyear is a measure of distance, not time.
Thud.
.
1805 Dread
Monday, May 12, 2008
There's a woman I see occasionally at dance functions who wears dreadlocks. They suit her well. I saw her Saturday at a drum workshop, and she had them tied up, and decorated with bits of things, including a safety pin. I was amused.
It got me wondering how dreads are made, how they're maintained, does it hurt the hair, all kinds of questions. So I spent a portion of today learning about them and looking at lots of pictures.
I've decided the dreads I like best are the long thin smooth ones that it seems like only black folks' hair can make. They are actually mostly twists, using the natural corkscrew tendency of the hair, like this guy's:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=navagnf-njQ]
(That's Eric, and he has some cool stuff on YouTube.)
I don't much care for the very thick and matted looking ones, like the guy on the right.
Unfortunately, most hair, especially straight or merely wavy or loosely curly hair, needs to be teased into the dreads, and that's what contributes to the matted look.
My hair is an odd texture. It's very fine, has no weight, and even though it looks mostly straightish or wavy, it's actually crinkly. If you've ever handled theatrical crepe hair, that's the texture of my hair. I can take a lock and twist the length of it, let go, and it will stay twisted all day.
If I wanted to, I could probably make twisted "unlocked" (i. e. false) dreads all over my head. Except that my arms would get very tired. I'd have to get someone to do it for me.
Interesting.
What a waste of a day.
.
There's a woman I see occasionally at dance functions who wears dreadlocks. They suit her well. I saw her Saturday at a drum workshop, and she had them tied up, and decorated with bits of things, including a safety pin. I was amused.
It got me wondering how dreads are made, how they're maintained, does it hurt the hair, all kinds of questions. So I spent a portion of today learning about them and looking at lots of pictures.
I've decided the dreads I like best are the long thin smooth ones that it seems like only black folks' hair can make. They are actually mostly twists, using the natural corkscrew tendency of the hair, like this guy's:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=navagnf-njQ]
(That's Eric, and he has some cool stuff on YouTube.)
I don't much care for the very thick and matted looking ones, like the guy on the right.
Unfortunately, most hair, especially straight or merely wavy or loosely curly hair, needs to be teased into the dreads, and that's what contributes to the matted look.
My hair is an odd texture. It's very fine, has no weight, and even though it looks mostly straightish or wavy, it's actually crinkly. If you've ever handled theatrical crepe hair, that's the texture of my hair. I can take a lock and twist the length of it, let go, and it will stay twisted all day.
If I wanted to, I could probably make twisted "unlocked" (i. e. false) dreads all over my head. Except that my arms would get very tired. I'd have to get someone to do it for me.
Interesting.
What a waste of a day.
.
Sunday, May 11, 2008
1804 Gasoline Thoughts
Sunday, May 11, 2008
I just made a quick run into the village to mail some stuff, and noticed that the gas prices have gone up again. Saturday afternoon I paid $3.89/gal. This evening it ranges from $3.93 to $3.99.
There was a comment on the news a few days ago that more and more people have been using credit cards to pay for gas. The theory was that folks prefer to put off paying as long as possible. I don't think that's the reason. Not entirely, anyway.
I've been mostly paying with a credit card lately, and I pay my entire credit card bills every month, so it has nothing to do with using credit or spreading payments. I do it because more and more stations require that you go inside and pay BEFORE you pump, and I find that a royal pain. I don't know what the total will be, and I'm not going to hand them a handful of money without a receipt, and I don't like having to go back in for change, and I don't like the pump cutting off before the tank is full. So, I use the credit card. It's faster and easier.
The news report went on to say that the use of credit cards is putting smaller gas stations out of business because the credit card companies eat the profit.
Now, this I checked out with two local station owners, and it appears to be accurate, or at least "that's their story and they're sticking to it". The stations make a profit of about $.12 per gallon, regardless of what the pump price is. The credit card companies charge 3% on every purchase. So if you buy a gallon of gas at $4 per gallon, and put it on a credit card, the credit card company charges $.12 to process that purchase, and the station has no profit on the sale. The stations actually have a higher profit when the price is lower. A price over $4 and an increasing use of credit cards spells doom.
Tall Dark 'n Handsome says that they have one or two "drive offs" per day, every day, and they're a small station in a small village, and one of the few that don't require prepayment, because they don't want to anger customers or pay credit card charges. I always pay cash there because I don't have to prepay. They may have to start requiring prepayment, because the driveoffs are likely to increase, and they can't withstand that. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place.
And that's why, when the price of a future delivery is going to go up, the stations will raise their price on the gas already in the ground in anticipation.
So now I have a moral dilemma. Knowing this, do I continue to use a credit card at prepay stations? Doing so might lead to fewer gas stations, and less market competition.
.
I just made a quick run into the village to mail some stuff, and noticed that the gas prices have gone up again. Saturday afternoon I paid $3.89/gal. This evening it ranges from $3.93 to $3.99.
There was a comment on the news a few days ago that more and more people have been using credit cards to pay for gas. The theory was that folks prefer to put off paying as long as possible. I don't think that's the reason. Not entirely, anyway.
I've been mostly paying with a credit card lately, and I pay my entire credit card bills every month, so it has nothing to do with using credit or spreading payments. I do it because more and more stations require that you go inside and pay BEFORE you pump, and I find that a royal pain. I don't know what the total will be, and I'm not going to hand them a handful of money without a receipt, and I don't like having to go back in for change, and I don't like the pump cutting off before the tank is full. So, I use the credit card. It's faster and easier.
The news report went on to say that the use of credit cards is putting smaller gas stations out of business because the credit card companies eat the profit.
Now, this I checked out with two local station owners, and it appears to be accurate, or at least "that's their story and they're sticking to it". The stations make a profit of about $.12 per gallon, regardless of what the pump price is. The credit card companies charge 3% on every purchase. So if you buy a gallon of gas at $4 per gallon, and put it on a credit card, the credit card company charges $.12 to process that purchase, and the station has no profit on the sale. The stations actually have a higher profit when the price is lower. A price over $4 and an increasing use of credit cards spells doom.
Tall Dark 'n Handsome says that they have one or two "drive offs" per day, every day, and they're a small station in a small village, and one of the few that don't require prepayment, because they don't want to anger customers or pay credit card charges. I always pay cash there because I don't have to prepay. They may have to start requiring prepayment, because the driveoffs are likely to increase, and they can't withstand that. They're stuck between a rock and a hard place.
And that's why, when the price of a future delivery is going to go up, the stations will raise their price on the gas already in the ground in anticipation.
So now I have a moral dilemma. Knowing this, do I continue to use a credit card at prepay stations? Doing so might lead to fewer gas stations, and less market competition.
.
1803 Daylilies
Sunday, May 11, 2008
You don't fall in love with a person. You fall in love with the way you feel when you're with that person.
------------------------
I've been watching for orphan daylilies along the roads, and feeling discouraged, when I remembered the HudsonValleyEcycle Yahoo group. You can subscribe to the group, and list anything that you want to give away, or anything that you're looking for. The only rules are that they must be legal, free, and not taken for resale. (I don't know how they can enforce that last bit....)
I looked, and sure enough, someone had listed daylilies she wants dug up. I contacted her, and someone had already indicated they'd take them, but she'll get back to me if they don't.
Then I put up my own "Wanted - daylilies" posting, and within minutes I was contacted by a woman whose daylily patch needs thinning. I replied, and now I'm waiting to hear when it will be convenient for me to stop by.
Wow. Cool. Free!
.
You don't fall in love with a person. You fall in love with the way you feel when you're with that person.
------------------------
I've been watching for orphan daylilies along the roads, and feeling discouraged, when I remembered the HudsonValleyEcycle Yahoo group. You can subscribe to the group, and list anything that you want to give away, or anything that you're looking for. The only rules are that they must be legal, free, and not taken for resale. (I don't know how they can enforce that last bit....)
I looked, and sure enough, someone had listed daylilies she wants dug up. I contacted her, and someone had already indicated they'd take them, but she'll get back to me if they don't.
Then I put up my own "Wanted - daylilies" posting, and within minutes I was contacted by a woman whose daylily patch needs thinning. I replied, and now I'm waiting to hear when it will be convenient for me to stop by.
Wow. Cool. Free!
.
1802 Bits
Sunday, May 11, 2008
Bertrand Russell: "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."
------------------------------
Jay's father died yesterday. I was having a late lunch with Daughter when Jay's eldest sister called to tell me. I feel guilty, because I was planning to go to Rochester to see him today. I was sure that he'd have at least a few more days.
That sureness came from my own arrogance. All my life people close to me who were on the way out have waited for me before they went. I feel a call, I go, I hold their hand, we talk, I tell them it's ok, and then they leave easily, while I'm holding them. It's happened so often I began to feel like that was my role, to ease the passage. Jay's father had told me many times that he found me the easiest to talk to, and in the past few years he often cried when we talked, cried about all the abilities he was losing and all that had been taken from him. He couldn't cry before anyone else.
I am comforted by the thought that Jay was with him. Of the living, his two youngest daughters and one of the caretakers were there (not the most calm group of people). The eldest daughter told me that they're still not sure that he'd had strokes, because scans showed nothing, but he had severe weakness on his left side, so that's what they assumed. I pointed out to her that that's the same side Jay had lost. Yeah, I think Jay was there, has been for a while, perhaps even pulling him.
I met up with Daughter and Hercules yesterday at a geocaching flash mob in a NJ park, after which they took me to find a nearby cache they thought would amuse me. It was right out in the open, at the base of a tree in the woods near the dog park. The owner of the cache had made a brown cement cast of her dog's poop, hollowed out underneath to hold the log book. I took one look, yelled "Raccoon poop!" and ran the other direction.
Daughter and Hercules laughed, but didn't explain it to the other cachers. I guess we don't want to start a panic, eh?
For Mothers' Day, Daughter gave me an essay, in her own handwriting, on what she loves about where she lives, and Hercules gave me a container of his own recipe peanut butter cookies. This was exactly what I wanted.
I had spent Friday evening with the man, sent him off on Saturday morning to visit his mother - a 10-12 hour drive.
I still don't understand the attraction. When I'm not with him, I wonder what I'm doing, and why. Why am I wasting time on something that I don't see as ever being anything more than what it is now. There's so much against this ... whatever it is, and I'm fully aware of that, and I'm too old to waste time. And yet, since the first time he touched me, I've had no interest in any other man, real or ideal. When I'm with him, I don't care about all the negatives, all the differences. I adore his mind, the way he sees so clearly. I find the timbre of his voice exciting, deep and slightly rough. He's technically not handsome, but when I see him I see handsome, I see beauty, I love his face, his body, the way he moves. I love sitting across a table from him.
I wish I could see the future.
.
Bertrand Russell: "The trouble with the world is that the stupid are cocksure and the intelligent are full of doubt."
------------------------------
Jay's father died yesterday. I was having a late lunch with Daughter when Jay's eldest sister called to tell me. I feel guilty, because I was planning to go to Rochester to see him today. I was sure that he'd have at least a few more days.
That sureness came from my own arrogance. All my life people close to me who were on the way out have waited for me before they went. I feel a call, I go, I hold their hand, we talk, I tell them it's ok, and then they leave easily, while I'm holding them. It's happened so often I began to feel like that was my role, to ease the passage. Jay's father had told me many times that he found me the easiest to talk to, and in the past few years he often cried when we talked, cried about all the abilities he was losing and all that had been taken from him. He couldn't cry before anyone else.
I am comforted by the thought that Jay was with him. Of the living, his two youngest daughters and one of the caretakers were there (not the most calm group of people). The eldest daughter told me that they're still not sure that he'd had strokes, because scans showed nothing, but he had severe weakness on his left side, so that's what they assumed. I pointed out to her that that's the same side Jay had lost. Yeah, I think Jay was there, has been for a while, perhaps even pulling him.
I met up with Daughter and Hercules yesterday at a geocaching flash mob in a NJ park, after which they took me to find a nearby cache they thought would amuse me. It was right out in the open, at the base of a tree in the woods near the dog park. The owner of the cache had made a brown cement cast of her dog's poop, hollowed out underneath to hold the log book. I took one look, yelled "Raccoon poop!" and ran the other direction.
Daughter and Hercules laughed, but didn't explain it to the other cachers. I guess we don't want to start a panic, eh?
For Mothers' Day, Daughter gave me an essay, in her own handwriting, on what she loves about where she lives, and Hercules gave me a container of his own recipe peanut butter cookies. This was exactly what I wanted.
I had spent Friday evening with the man, sent him off on Saturday morning to visit his mother - a 10-12 hour drive.
I still don't understand the attraction. When I'm not with him, I wonder what I'm doing, and why. Why am I wasting time on something that I don't see as ever being anything more than what it is now. There's so much against this ... whatever it is, and I'm fully aware of that, and I'm too old to waste time. And yet, since the first time he touched me, I've had no interest in any other man, real or ideal. When I'm with him, I don't care about all the negatives, all the differences. I adore his mind, the way he sees so clearly. I find the timbre of his voice exciting, deep and slightly rough. He's technically not handsome, but when I see him I see handsome, I see beauty, I love his face, his body, the way he moves. I love sitting across a table from him.
I wish I could see the future.
.
Thursday, May 08, 2008
1801 Possible Hiatus
Thursday, May 8, 2008
There's a bunch of things happening and I'm going to be very busy for a few days. Not like anyone would actually worry, but, well, don't worry if I don't post for a while. I'll be back.
.
There's a bunch of things happening and I'm going to be very busy for a few days. Not like anyone would actually worry, but, well, don't worry if I don't post for a while. I'll be back.
.
1800 Grass!
Thursday, May 8, 2008
Grass! I've got grass!
The Hunk had finished grading the side yard, and had spread grass seed on the front half. He wanted to water it, but my water pressure isn't good enough. So he wanted to spread straw, but I said no, because it would then have to be raked up, and that's a pretty large area. So the grass seed just lay there on the ground. The Hunk was very pessimistic as to its chances, and worried because it was a few hundred dollars worth of seed. I assured him that Nature would do her thing, if the turkeys didn't eat the seed first. We had a little rain, off and on, but as of Tuesday, two days ago, the seed all still lay there. I examined it closely, and it looked like the Hunk might be right. No sprouting whatsoever.
Today there's grass! Real grass! Not just a little here and there, either. It's thick, and as long as my little finger! It's like magic! I didn't look as closely yesterday as on Tuesday, but I swear there was nothing visible yesterday.
I checked the back half, where I had spread the wildflower seeds, and there's still no action, but I have more hope now.
About two years ago, in a fit of rebellion against Roman, who had said something nasty about lawn flamingos, I bought a wholesale lot of about 30 of the freakin' things in a variety of sizes and poses. At the time, I couldn't put them in the lawn because the guys who mow would have to remove and replace them. I thought about putting them in the woods along the driveway, but the undergrowth got so thick they'd disappear. So they're sitting in boxes in the basement.
Ahah! The section of the graded woods where I planted the wildflowers will be perfect for a flock of flamingos! Peeking between the trees. Flowers to their knees. Visible to visitors from the top of the driveway. Pure kitsch! Competition for the turkeys!
When the Hunk sees it, he'll crack up. He already thinks I'm funny.
.
Grass! I've got grass!
The Hunk had finished grading the side yard, and had spread grass seed on the front half. He wanted to water it, but my water pressure isn't good enough. So he wanted to spread straw, but I said no, because it would then have to be raked up, and that's a pretty large area. So the grass seed just lay there on the ground. The Hunk was very pessimistic as to its chances, and worried because it was a few hundred dollars worth of seed. I assured him that Nature would do her thing, if the turkeys didn't eat the seed first. We had a little rain, off and on, but as of Tuesday, two days ago, the seed all still lay there. I examined it closely, and it looked like the Hunk might be right. No sprouting whatsoever.
Today there's grass! Real grass! Not just a little here and there, either. It's thick, and as long as my little finger! It's like magic! I didn't look as closely yesterday as on Tuesday, but I swear there was nothing visible yesterday.
I checked the back half, where I had spread the wildflower seeds, and there's still no action, but I have more hope now.
About two years ago, in a fit of rebellion against Roman, who had said something nasty about lawn flamingos, I bought a wholesale lot of about 30 of the freakin' things in a variety of sizes and poses. At the time, I couldn't put them in the lawn because the guys who mow would have to remove and replace them. I thought about putting them in the woods along the driveway, but the undergrowth got so thick they'd disappear. So they're sitting in boxes in the basement.
Ahah! The section of the graded woods where I planted the wildflowers will be perfect for a flock of flamingos! Peeking between the trees. Flowers to their knees. Visible to visitors from the top of the driveway. Pure kitsch! Competition for the turkeys!
When the Hunk sees it, he'll crack up. He already thinks I'm funny.
.
Wednesday, May 07, 2008
1799 Up and Down Wednesday
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
I had another of those long lunches with Piper today. I took Clyde, the Pleo, so he could meet him, and during the course of the afternoon The Angel, Jim, and Vinnie stopped by, either at the office or at the restaurant, so they got to meet him, too.
I am amused at how different people have such different reactions to Clyde. It's almost always a different reaction than I would expect from that person.
This afternoon I got a call from Jay's eldest sister. Jay's father has had a series of strokes, and he isn't able to swallow. Today is his 91st birthday. They haven't yet decided what direction to go in treatment, but all agree he'd be a lot happier at home, no matter what else is decided.
He already has three live-in caregivers, so as soon as they can be trained in the new requirements of his care, he'll go home. We've agreed that the day after the transfer, I should go to visit.
Distance is our enemy here. The father lives in Rochester, NY, the eldest daughter is just south of Washington, DC, the next daughter lives near Boston, and the third daughter lives about 40 minutes south of me. So it's ironic that I, the daughter-in-law, despised wife of the deceased son, is actually, at five+ hours' drive, the closest.
I've been out of the loop for a long time. Looks like I'll be getting back in. But he always liked me (when he figured out who I was). Maybe I can do some good, finally.
.
I had another of those long lunches with Piper today. I took Clyde, the Pleo, so he could meet him, and during the course of the afternoon The Angel, Jim, and Vinnie stopped by, either at the office or at the restaurant, so they got to meet him, too.
I am amused at how different people have such different reactions to Clyde. It's almost always a different reaction than I would expect from that person.
This afternoon I got a call from Jay's eldest sister. Jay's father has had a series of strokes, and he isn't able to swallow. Today is his 91st birthday. They haven't yet decided what direction to go in treatment, but all agree he'd be a lot happier at home, no matter what else is decided.
He already has three live-in caregivers, so as soon as they can be trained in the new requirements of his care, he'll go home. We've agreed that the day after the transfer, I should go to visit.
Distance is our enemy here. The father lives in Rochester, NY, the eldest daughter is just south of Washington, DC, the next daughter lives near Boston, and the third daughter lives about 40 minutes south of me. So it's ironic that I, the daughter-in-law, despised wife of the deceased son, is actually, at five+ hours' drive, the closest.
I've been out of the loop for a long time. Looks like I'll be getting back in. But he always liked me (when he figured out who I was). Maybe I can do some good, finally.
.
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
1798 The Mensa "Type"
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
What I am about to say absolutely does not apply to all, and possibly not even most. I suspect that the "normal" folks in M3nsa are rarely seen. I suspect that there's a certain Type that is active, considers M3nsa to be their family (that phrase does turn up a lot), attends as many gatherings as they can, and that Type defaults to representing the group.
The Type:
It wasn't always like that. Back in the seventies, when I joined in Washington, DC, that type existed, but was definitely in the minority. They seem to be taking over. Perhaps it's just that the more sensible and better socialized types are not attending gatherings any more, because of the preponderance of the ... uh ... superiority slobs? I know I'm getting turned off. The last three gatherings I've attended have had me wondering why I was there. There are a few reasonable people, here and there, but they're getting scarce.
How do people get to be like that? They constantly reassure themselves and each other how superior they are. Hey! It was a test! Just a test! You did well on a test! It might be the only thing you've ever done well on. Just look at yourselves, take a good long look! You're not, N-O-T, superior! You have some abilities. But everybody has some abilities, talents, gifts. Yours aren't all that special.
How do people get to be like that?
Perhaps it's because they grew up when IQ tests and educational "tracking", gifted classes, were all the rage. Perhaps they'd been told since infancy that they were gifted, extraordinary, superior, and when they had problems it was just that "ordinary" people didn't understand how advanced, how wonderful, how gifted, they were.
I grew up before tests and tracking. My father made sure I and my siblings understood how stupid and worthless we all were. I'm not kidding. It was pretty bad. I changed schools every few months as a child, and so no teachers ever got to know me. By the seventh grade I was legally blind, at 20/350, but no one realized it, so despite my high score on standardized tests, I was so lost in classes that I was placed in the slow group in Ottawa, Canada, where they did do tracking. I have an unnamed learning disability, which causes difficulty in orientation. I have a terrible memory, and I tend to focus so intently on things that I miss a lot of what's going on around me. So, despite the fact that my scores are higher than 9/10 of the rest of M3nsa, I don't have that feeling of superiority. Mostly, I feel a little lost.
I am fully aware of all the things I don't know, and those things seem more important than the things I do know.
I do notice and do comment on the stupidity of things I find in the news and on the internet and TV, but I am fully aware that most people notice those things. There's nothing special in that. The only way I'm special in that regard is that it seems to bother me more.
(My latest bears are "site" when they mean "sight", and "peak" when they mean "peek". That kind of confusion causes a short circuit in my brain, because with the learning disability, I read very literally, and that's a hitch in my git-along, and hurts my head.)
-------------------------------------
June 9, 2011 - I changed the title of this post and edited it a bit because it was attracting more notice than was comfortable. Unfortunately, it's still out there in cache. Checking to see if it would still turn up in searches, I found this: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2557059/posts. The comments are especially funny, like "...smart people quit M3nsa very quickly when they realize paying a substantial annual fee gets them virtually nothing but the chance to stand around at informal gatherings with a lot of underemployed whiners who constantly complain that the world refuses to recognize their brilliance". Oh, yeah!
.
If you want to know where this all came from, what set me off, read the immediately previous post, where I document a few things that happened at a M3nsa gathering in Maryland.I mentioned in a prior post (well, many prior posts) how M3nsa folk in general tend to have little common sense, and how impatient I get with them.
What I am about to say absolutely does not apply to all, and possibly not even most. I suspect that the "normal" folks in M3nsa are rarely seen. I suspect that there's a certain Type that is active, considers M3nsa to be their family (that phrase does turn up a lot), attends as many gatherings as they can, and that Type defaults to representing the group.
The Type:
- Refuses to read instructions or labels (Like "Emergency Off" on the Jacuzzi button). If they can't just dive in and do what they figure should work, then the thingy is obviously no good, because if it were good, it would work they way they would have designed it.
- Refuses to listen to any opinion that disagrees with their own opinion.
- Interrupts lecturers, even though the speaker has repeatedly said there would be a Q&A period at the end, to the point where there's no time for the Q&A at the end.
- Attempts to "trap" speakers, if only to demonstrate that they know more about the speaker's topic than the speaker himself.
- Is of the opinion that appearance doesn't matter, so does not style his or her hair or wear makeup or deodorant, does not coordinate clothing, and tends to live in jeans and T-shirts with writing on them, usually esoteric scientific puns.
- Feels superior when people don't "get" their T-shirts.
- Feels superior in general.
- Believes that if one is not a member of M3nsa, then one "is not intelligent". I have actually heard this many times. They always look confused when I ask, "When did you join? And were you stupid before you joined?"
- Are morbidly obese, and don't seem to know it. They have serious ankle, knee, and breathing problems, and don't associate them with their weight. At the gatherings, they rent scooters to get around the hotel, and the baskets on the front of the scooters are full of candy and munchies, which they eat constantly, even crinkling packages and crunching loudly during the lectures. When they need surgery, because they came down wrong on an ankle simply walking, or need a knee replaced, other M3nsans are sympathetic. (I'm not.)
- Are living hand-to-mouth, some because they are so obese they are on disability, some because they make poor financial decisions, some because they can't hold a job - usually because they can't get along with their "inferior" coworkers - and some because they refuse to do work that's beneath them and can't find work "worthy of their talents", so they don't work at all.
- Makes loud squealing noises when anyone offers them chocolate. I'm serious. The gatherings always have a one-hour Chocolate Orgy on Saturday afternoon, offering a chocolate fountain and a multitude of chocolate concoctions, and it's a wildebeest migration when the doors open, complete with the grunting and bleating. You don't want to be walking down the hall in the opposite direction. I've seen people come out of the door balancing plates carefully stacked six inches high.
- Can't work in committees because they know they're always right. They go to all the gatherings they can, and they attend local events, but most don't contribute much to the workings in the group. And yet, they are always the first to complain when things aren't done the way they would have done it.
- My man (whom I met at a gathering, incidentally) complains that he can't engage them in conversation. You ask a question of The Type, and you'll get a long and exhaustive monologue in reply, and when he's finished, he'll turn around and walk away. Like he thinks you asked the question just to learn from him. (Actually, I have a bit of that, too. I'm not comfortable with social chitchat.)
It wasn't always like that. Back in the seventies, when I joined in Washington, DC, that type existed, but was definitely in the minority. They seem to be taking over. Perhaps it's just that the more sensible and better socialized types are not attending gatherings any more, because of the preponderance of the ... uh ... superiority slobs? I know I'm getting turned off. The last three gatherings I've attended have had me wondering why I was there. There are a few reasonable people, here and there, but they're getting scarce.
How do people get to be like that? They constantly reassure themselves and each other how superior they are. Hey! It was a test! Just a test! You did well on a test! It might be the only thing you've ever done well on. Just look at yourselves, take a good long look! You're not, N-O-T, superior! You have some abilities. But everybody has some abilities, talents, gifts. Yours aren't all that special.
How do people get to be like that?
Perhaps it's because they grew up when IQ tests and educational "tracking", gifted classes, were all the rage. Perhaps they'd been told since infancy that they were gifted, extraordinary, superior, and when they had problems it was just that "ordinary" people didn't understand how advanced, how wonderful, how gifted, they were.
I grew up before tests and tracking. My father made sure I and my siblings understood how stupid and worthless we all were. I'm not kidding. It was pretty bad. I changed schools every few months as a child, and so no teachers ever got to know me. By the seventh grade I was legally blind, at 20/350, but no one realized it, so despite my high score on standardized tests, I was so lost in classes that I was placed in the slow group in Ottawa, Canada, where they did do tracking. I have an unnamed learning disability, which causes difficulty in orientation. I have a terrible memory, and I tend to focus so intently on things that I miss a lot of what's going on around me. So, despite the fact that my scores are higher than 9/10 of the rest of M3nsa, I don't have that feeling of superiority. Mostly, I feel a little lost.
I am fully aware of all the things I don't know, and those things seem more important than the things I do know.
I do notice and do comment on the stupidity of things I find in the news and on the internet and TV, but I am fully aware that most people notice those things. There's nothing special in that. The only way I'm special in that regard is that it seems to bother me more.
(My latest bears are "site" when they mean "sight", and "peak" when they mean "peek". That kind of confusion causes a short circuit in my brain, because with the learning disability, I read very literally, and that's a hitch in my git-along, and hurts my head.)
-------------------------------------
June 9, 2011 - I changed the title of this post and edited it a bit because it was attracting more notice than was comfortable. Unfortunately, it's still out there in cache. Checking to see if it would still turn up in searches, I found this: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/2557059/posts. The comments are especially funny, like "...smart people quit M3nsa very quickly when they realize paying a substantial annual fee gets them virtually nothing but the chance to stand around at informal gatherings with a lot of underemployed whiners who constantly complain that the world refuses to recognize their brilliance". Oh, yeah!
.
Monday, May 05, 2008
1797 Home Again, and Leery of Raccoon Poop
Monday, May 5, 2008
I mapped out my own route home yesterday. Rather than take the GPS-recommended route through Pennsylvania, I dropped down to the DC beltway, swung up past Baltimore and across the Delaware Memorial Bridge (dedicated to war dead. Isn't it odd that the name doesn't say what it's a memorial to? I wondered if it was anticipating the demise of Delaware), and then up the NJ turnpike. It wasn't as direct, but it took an hour less than Friday's route.
Saturday in the hospitality room I was sitting next to a guy who was talking about how GPS devices work, and I mentioned that in lower Manhattan, downtown, the signals are purposely blocked. He snorted at me and said it was not on purpose, that the buildings simply cause the signals to bounce.
Now, I'll grant that there's a possibility he's correct. But there's also a possibility he's not. I tried to tell him that it worked just fine in the canyons of midtown, and in the area where it didn't work downtown we were not in canyons - the nearest buildings on the right were at least three hundred feet away, and on the left was the Hudson river, completely open - so bouncing didn't seem likely, especially a bounce that would put the car three blocks inland from where it actually was.
I was not arguing. I was simply presenting my personal experience, and what I'd been told by someone whom I believe. Input to consider. But he turned his back and refused to listen.
He really really pissed me off the way he simply dismissed me. He was so damn cocksure. Some Mensans do that. They are so sure they're right that they won't listen to or think about any other possibilities. He made no attempt to consider or integrate what I said.
I don't mind being corrected. I do mind being ignored.
Sometimes these folks have no sense.
Friday night at the Jacuzzi, there were about 8 people sitting on the edge with their legs in the water, and 5 fully in the water when I arrived. They didn't have the bubbles on, and I asked why, and they said that it wasn't working right, and it was too loud for conversation. Someone else said let's try it again anyway, for a few minutes. So one of the women went over and turned the dial, then hit the big red button on the wall next to the dial, "to turn it on". It didn't go on. She tried three or four times before someone pointed out that the red button was the emergency cutoff.
So she finally got the thing going, and there're no bubbles. The water level was too high, over the air intake holes, so air was not getting mixed in. Folks complained. The lifeguard came over and said that the max was six people in the water for it to work right. The Mensans counted - we've got six in the water, so duh?
I felt so sorry for the lifeguard when he realized what he'd said. The look on his face was priceless. I knew what he wanted to say, but couldn't. I wanted to say it, too, and couldn't. At least four of the six in the water were close to or well over 400 pounds each. They really didn't seem to notice what the problem was. They decided there was too much water in the pool, and turned it off.
Sigh.
Sometimes I wonder why I go to these things.
-------------------------------------
Actually, there was a presentation on Sunday morning that almost made it all worthwhile. It was a guy who works for the Smithsonian, and frequently works with the national zoo (which is run by the Smithsonian) on occupational safety. He talked about the dangers faced by the animal handlers.
He didn't have handouts because it was supposed to be a powerpoint presentation, and we could take notes. The organizers provided a laptop with a projector hookup. In typical Mensa fashion, no one thought to ask what software was needed on the laptop. It didn't have powerpoint. (This is usual, that Mensans seem to assume that "everyone has what I have" and "nobody needs what I don't have". Like when our local guy edited the ByLaws with a proprietary application, and didn't seem to understand what was wrong with that. He liked it, therefore everyone should have it.)
So anyhow, the Smithsonian guy did the presentation with no photos, foils, flipcharts, or handouts, and still managed to make it interesting.
Zoos are crawling with weird diseases. There's some breed of monkey (I forget) that carries a herpes virus that doesn't bother them much at all, but is 100% fatal to humans. They need to be penned in such a way that they can't escape, and can't spit, poop, or piddle on the public, because the virus can enter through the skin. When the handlers enter the compound, they have to wear hazardous materials suits. Having these monkeys costs a fortune in liability insurance. (No one asked why a zoo would want to have them, but the National Zoo is heavily involved in conservation and breeding programs, so I guess that's why.)
Elephants carry TB. Their skin is too thick for the tine test, so they teach the elephants to suck up water and slosh it up and down in their trunks and then squirt it into a beaker for testing. The elephants like to do it.
The zoo doesn't have raccoons (I don't think) but wild raccoons are always entering the compounds from Rock Creek Park. They know where the good food is. Now, this part scared me. It's shocking, and I don't know why we've never heard about it before.
80% of racoons carry a particular type of roundworm in their intestines. Their feces contain roundworm eggs, which become infectious after drying for 30 days. If a human ingests the eggs, the roundworms grow in the intestines, but unlike in the raccoon, they penetrate the intestines and migrate throughout the body, including the eyes and brain, causing irreparable damage.
Ok, I'm not likely to eat raccoon feces. But it gets scarier.
If you breathe in the eggs, he said, the eggs can lodge and hatch in the upper nasal passages, and the larvae migrate directly to the brain, where they form a mass that crowds and kills the brain. Nobody knew that could happen until a recent case of a man who ran over raccoon feces while mowing his lawn.
At this point the audience erupted. 80%? The raccoons in my back yard? Why have we never heard of this before?
Apparently infection is more rare than one would think. Raccoons don't normally poop out in the open. They tend to go next to or under downed and rotting logs in the woods, and in brush piles. So as long as you don't handle raccoons or kick or lick rotting logs, you're unlikely to contact the eggs.
Uh, the places where raccoons poop sound a lot like the places geocachers plant their caches. Could this be a problem for geocachers Daughter and Hercules?
And when a raccoon is run over on the road, um, thirty days later is the roadside full of ripe eggs ready to be breathed?
And if this is all true, why is infection so rare? Is it possible that it's just not diagnosed?
Ick.
The Smithsonian guy also talked about various diseases and dangers with other animals, from cats to reptiles. If you think toxoplasmosis in a housecat is a problem, consider the tiger. And the one company that made coral snake antivenom stopped making it, so you'd better not get bitten. And black-footed ferrets cannot be tamed. And you never look a male gorilla in the eye. And no matter how "tame" a wild animal can be, they have very strong instincts that can be triggered by the most innocent actions. And there's a breed of American squirrel that hates vipers, and has learned to increase the temperature in its tail, so that flicking the tail around allows it to confuse the snake long enough that the squirrel can bite the snake in the back of the neck and kill it, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi style.
So some of the weekend was interesting....
.
I mapped out my own route home yesterday. Rather than take the GPS-recommended route through Pennsylvania, I dropped down to the DC beltway, swung up past Baltimore and across the Delaware Memorial Bridge (dedicated to war dead. Isn't it odd that the name doesn't say what it's a memorial to? I wondered if it was anticipating the demise of Delaware), and then up the NJ turnpike. It wasn't as direct, but it took an hour less than Friday's route.
Saturday in the hospitality room I was sitting next to a guy who was talking about how GPS devices work, and I mentioned that in lower Manhattan, downtown, the signals are purposely blocked. He snorted at me and said it was not on purpose, that the buildings simply cause the signals to bounce.
Now, I'll grant that there's a possibility he's correct. But there's also a possibility he's not. I tried to tell him that it worked just fine in the canyons of midtown, and in the area where it didn't work downtown we were not in canyons - the nearest buildings on the right were at least three hundred feet away, and on the left was the Hudson river, completely open - so bouncing didn't seem likely, especially a bounce that would put the car three blocks inland from where it actually was.
I was not arguing. I was simply presenting my personal experience, and what I'd been told by someone whom I believe. Input to consider. But he turned his back and refused to listen.
He really really pissed me off the way he simply dismissed me. He was so damn cocksure. Some Mensans do that. They are so sure they're right that they won't listen to or think about any other possibilities. He made no attempt to consider or integrate what I said.
I don't mind being corrected. I do mind being ignored.
Sometimes these folks have no sense.
Friday night at the Jacuzzi, there were about 8 people sitting on the edge with their legs in the water, and 5 fully in the water when I arrived. They didn't have the bubbles on, and I asked why, and they said that it wasn't working right, and it was too loud for conversation. Someone else said let's try it again anyway, for a few minutes. So one of the women went over and turned the dial, then hit the big red button on the wall next to the dial, "to turn it on". It didn't go on. She tried three or four times before someone pointed out that the red button was the emergency cutoff.
So she finally got the thing going, and there're no bubbles. The water level was too high, over the air intake holes, so air was not getting mixed in. Folks complained. The lifeguard came over and said that the max was six people in the water for it to work right. The Mensans counted - we've got six in the water, so duh?
I felt so sorry for the lifeguard when he realized what he'd said. The look on his face was priceless. I knew what he wanted to say, but couldn't. I wanted to say it, too, and couldn't. At least four of the six in the water were close to or well over 400 pounds each. They really didn't seem to notice what the problem was. They decided there was too much water in the pool, and turned it off.
Sigh.
Sometimes I wonder why I go to these things.
-------------------------------------
Actually, there was a presentation on Sunday morning that almost made it all worthwhile. It was a guy who works for the Smithsonian, and frequently works with the national zoo (which is run by the Smithsonian) on occupational safety. He talked about the dangers faced by the animal handlers.
He didn't have handouts because it was supposed to be a powerpoint presentation, and we could take notes. The organizers provided a laptop with a projector hookup. In typical Mensa fashion, no one thought to ask what software was needed on the laptop. It didn't have powerpoint. (This is usual, that Mensans seem to assume that "everyone has what I have" and "nobody needs what I don't have". Like when our local guy edited the ByLaws with a proprietary application, and didn't seem to understand what was wrong with that. He liked it, therefore everyone should have it.)
So anyhow, the Smithsonian guy did the presentation with no photos, foils, flipcharts, or handouts, and still managed to make it interesting.
Zoos are crawling with weird diseases. There's some breed of monkey (I forget) that carries a herpes virus that doesn't bother them much at all, but is 100% fatal to humans. They need to be penned in such a way that they can't escape, and can't spit, poop, or piddle on the public, because the virus can enter through the skin. When the handlers enter the compound, they have to wear hazardous materials suits. Having these monkeys costs a fortune in liability insurance. (No one asked why a zoo would want to have them, but the National Zoo is heavily involved in conservation and breeding programs, so I guess that's why.)
Elephants carry TB. Their skin is too thick for the tine test, so they teach the elephants to suck up water and slosh it up and down in their trunks and then squirt it into a beaker for testing. The elephants like to do it.
The zoo doesn't have raccoons (I don't think) but wild raccoons are always entering the compounds from Rock Creek Park. They know where the good food is. Now, this part scared me. It's shocking, and I don't know why we've never heard about it before.
80% of racoons carry a particular type of roundworm in their intestines. Their feces contain roundworm eggs, which become infectious after drying for 30 days. If a human ingests the eggs, the roundworms grow in the intestines, but unlike in the raccoon, they penetrate the intestines and migrate throughout the body, including the eyes and brain, causing irreparable damage.
Ok, I'm not likely to eat raccoon feces. But it gets scarier.
If you breathe in the eggs, he said, the eggs can lodge and hatch in the upper nasal passages, and the larvae migrate directly to the brain, where they form a mass that crowds and kills the brain. Nobody knew that could happen until a recent case of a man who ran over raccoon feces while mowing his lawn.
At this point the audience erupted. 80%? The raccoons in my back yard? Why have we never heard of this before?
Apparently infection is more rare than one would think. Raccoons don't normally poop out in the open. They tend to go next to or under downed and rotting logs in the woods, and in brush piles. So as long as you don't handle raccoons or kick or lick rotting logs, you're unlikely to contact the eggs.
Uh, the places where raccoons poop sound a lot like the places geocachers plant their caches. Could this be a problem for geocachers Daughter and Hercules?
And when a raccoon is run over on the road, um, thirty days later is the roadside full of ripe eggs ready to be breathed?
And if this is all true, why is infection so rare? Is it possible that it's just not diagnosed?
Ick.
The Smithsonian guy also talked about various diseases and dangers with other animals, from cats to reptiles. If you think toxoplasmosis in a housecat is a problem, consider the tiger. And the one company that made coral snake antivenom stopped making it, so you'd better not get bitten. And black-footed ferrets cannot be tamed. And you never look a male gorilla in the eye. And no matter how "tame" a wild animal can be, they have very strong instincts that can be triggered by the most innocent actions. And there's a breed of American squirrel that hates vipers, and has learned to increase the temperature in its tail, so that flicking the tail around allows it to confuse the snake long enough that the squirrel can bite the snake in the back of the neck and kill it, Rikki-Tikki-Tavi style.
So some of the weekend was interesting....
.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
1796 A Linen Complaint
A quick complaint. I'm getting good at complaining. Is that a function of age?
I've been staying in hotels a lot lately. They all have a notice that to conserve water and energy, etc., towels will be replaced only if you leave them on the floor, bed linens will be changed only if you put the request card on the pillow. "If you wish to participate in this program, hang up your towels...".
I don't mind reusing towels or linens, so I hang the towels up, and I don't put the card on the pillow. In fact, if I'm staying more than one night, I make the bed before I leave for the day.
In every case, they replace my towels anyway! And they usually change the sheets.
I've never had the housekeeping staff leave my used towels for my reuse.
Why? Are they just pretending to conserve?
It's annoying.
.
I've been staying in hotels a lot lately. They all have a notice that to conserve water and energy, etc., towels will be replaced only if you leave them on the floor, bed linens will be changed only if you put the request card on the pillow. "If you wish to participate in this program, hang up your towels...".
I don't mind reusing towels or linens, so I hang the towels up, and I don't put the card on the pillow. In fact, if I'm staying more than one night, I make the bed before I leave for the day.
In every case, they replace my towels anyway! And they usually change the sheets.
I've never had the housekeeping staff leave my used towels for my reuse.
Why? Are they just pretending to conserve?
It's annoying.
.
1795 Gaithersburg 2
After midnight, Saturday night, Sunday morning, May 3-4, 2008
Is it today, tomorrow, or yesterday? I'm so confused. I'm also very tired.
I got to sleep at about 2:30 am on Friday night/Saturday morning, after the pool party, a stint in the hospitality room, futzing around on the laptop, and reading in bed. That would have been ok - the first session I wanted to attend was at 10:30 am - but I'm in one of those "adjoining rooms", you know, with the door in the wall connecting two rooms? The door is locked and barred, but it's not soundproof, and the people next door got up at 5 am. Repeat, 5 am. And they talked non-stop, at a higher than normal volume. I couldn't believe the talking. Long monologues. It was almost like they were rehearsing a presentation or something.
At one point I said, in a normal tone, from my bed, "Could you lower the volume, please?", and I guess they heard me, because they did get quieter for a few minutes, but then it went back up, and they kept it up until 9 am. I was very frustrated.
Even if the neighbors were quiet I'm not sure I would have slept very well. Something with sirens - police, ambulance, fire trucks, who knows what else - goes by about every hour. The hotel is on a major intersection, so they blast the sirens as they approach. I'm just not used to that. I used to love this area, but I don't think I could stand the noise and traffic it has acquired in the past 30 years.
So I was tired all day today. Dragging.
I did go visit my old house - the one in the planned community. I would never have found it without the GPS. What had been all farmland and winding 2-lane roads is now all built up, huge office parks and malls, and houses, and 4-6 lane roads. There were no landmarks left.
I wouldn't have recognized Churchill. Twenty-five years ago it was all new dirt, bare, twiggy young trees and a hole where the lake was supposed to be. Now it's actually beautiful. The trees have grown up, the houses are literally tucked into a forest, the lake glints through the trees. I remember the day I took a pick axe to the front yard and planted a young 8' dogwood, which I then had to nurse through a bout of some kind of nasty black beetle. That dogwood is now huge, and was blossoming today. I'm proud of her.
I didn't call my friends to set something up. I don't know why. I just felt pretty tired. I convinced myself that it was because if I called Danny I'd have to call Caroline W., and if I called Caroline W. I'd have to call Carolyn K., and there just wasn't time to see all of them, so I can't see any of them.
Actually, I'm just tired and bloated and uncomfortable. And a little depressed. At least I got to visit Gettysburg and the old house, and that's good enough for now.
The guy who flirted last night flirted some more today. It's flattering, but I never know what to do with stuff like that. He's really nice looking, and DRINKS TEA!, so I flirted back a little, but I didn't step over the barrier. I have me a man now that I'd like to keep, but I wish there were some way to put guys in a freezer for just in case, you know?
Oh, and I skipped the jacuzzi tonight. I seem to have picked up something yucky last night. Some other woman must have shared a little too much in too little chlorine. Bleck. I should have known better. Oh well, just a little something else to add to the depression.
.
Is it today, tomorrow, or yesterday? I'm so confused. I'm also very tired.
I got to sleep at about 2:30 am on Friday night/Saturday morning, after the pool party, a stint in the hospitality room, futzing around on the laptop, and reading in bed. That would have been ok - the first session I wanted to attend was at 10:30 am - but I'm in one of those "adjoining rooms", you know, with the door in the wall connecting two rooms? The door is locked and barred, but it's not soundproof, and the people next door got up at 5 am. Repeat, 5 am. And they talked non-stop, at a higher than normal volume. I couldn't believe the talking. Long monologues. It was almost like they were rehearsing a presentation or something.
At one point I said, in a normal tone, from my bed, "Could you lower the volume, please?", and I guess they heard me, because they did get quieter for a few minutes, but then it went back up, and they kept it up until 9 am. I was very frustrated.
Even if the neighbors were quiet I'm not sure I would have slept very well. Something with sirens - police, ambulance, fire trucks, who knows what else - goes by about every hour. The hotel is on a major intersection, so they blast the sirens as they approach. I'm just not used to that. I used to love this area, but I don't think I could stand the noise and traffic it has acquired in the past 30 years.
So I was tired all day today. Dragging.
I did go visit my old house - the one in the planned community. I would never have found it without the GPS. What had been all farmland and winding 2-lane roads is now all built up, huge office parks and malls, and houses, and 4-6 lane roads. There were no landmarks left.
I wouldn't have recognized Churchill. Twenty-five years ago it was all new dirt, bare, twiggy young trees and a hole where the lake was supposed to be. Now it's actually beautiful. The trees have grown up, the houses are literally tucked into a forest, the lake glints through the trees. I remember the day I took a pick axe to the front yard and planted a young 8' dogwood, which I then had to nurse through a bout of some kind of nasty black beetle. That dogwood is now huge, and was blossoming today. I'm proud of her.
I didn't call my friends to set something up. I don't know why. I just felt pretty tired. I convinced myself that it was because if I called Danny I'd have to call Caroline W., and if I called Caroline W. I'd have to call Carolyn K., and there just wasn't time to see all of them, so I can't see any of them.
Actually, I'm just tired and bloated and uncomfortable. And a little depressed. At least I got to visit Gettysburg and the old house, and that's good enough for now.
The guy who flirted last night flirted some more today. It's flattering, but I never know what to do with stuff like that. He's really nice looking, and DRINKS TEA!, so I flirted back a little, but I didn't step over the barrier. I have me a man now that I'd like to keep, but I wish there were some way to put guys in a freezer for just in case, you know?
Oh, and I skipped the jacuzzi tonight. I seem to have picked up something yucky last night. Some other woman must have shared a little too much in too little chlorine. Bleck. I should have known better. Oh well, just a little something else to add to the depression.
.
Saturday, May 03, 2008
1794 Gaithersburg
The wee hours of Saturday, May 3, 2008
I am in Gaithersburg, MD, at a gathering of Maryland and Washington Metropolitan Mensa, at the Holiday Inn.
The drive was a 6.5 hour misery. I decided to blindly follow the GPS, and it put me on route 15, a LOCAL road, heading out of Harrisburg, at 5 pm. This was not good. There is a way to tell it to avoid certain roads and conditions and times - I guess I'm going to have to read the book.
On the other hand, route 15 took me within a few miles of Gettysburg, PA. Back in the dim mid-60s I lived and taught high school math there, so I decided to detour and visit. I almost didn't recognize the place. It used to be a sleepy little village except on summer weekends when the tourists came. Well, the village grew. But it can't expand outward because it's confined by the battlefields, so it just packed more into the tiny space it has. And they forgot parking. There were so many cars! And the streets are still civil war era narrow. It was scary. I don't think I'll be tempted to visit again soon.
I also once lived within a few miles of this hotel. Daughter went to nursery school, Montessori school, and first grade here. Again, this area has changed so much I'm going to need the GPS to find my old house, even though the bank I used and the shopping center where I bought household stuff is right across the street from this hotel. Beyond this corner, I'm lost.
I have some old friends in the area. I didn't let them know I'd be here because the final decision to come wasn't made until Friday morning (like, 15 hours ago). I'll call tomorrow and see who's available for lunch, dinner, or a visit later today or Sunday. [Later - see the confusion. I wrote this after midnight but before I slept, so is today tomorrow or yesterday?]
I got here too late for any of the Friday Mensa programs, but there was a pool/Jacuzzi party starting at 10 pm, so I went to that. Mostly it was just sitting or standing in the water talking, but it was ok. I had forgotten my bathing suit, but was able to buy one in the hotel store. Not too expensive ($25), plain black, and it actually looked ok on.
That was annoying, that I had to buy a suit. I found something that I love as a bathing suit (here, without sleeves). I have one in black, and one in tan. Just this past week I became aware that the manufacturer who used to make them has stopped. Another is making them, but they are a custom order, and who knows how long that will last, so I ordered three more. They should last me for the rest of my life. Buying another suit today because I forgot to bring one of the FIVE I have is teeth-gritting.
My man had said he might come with me this weekend, but he had to take time off from work for a family matter earlier in the week, so he couldn't come. A very nice looking guy in the pool and later in the hospitality room (home of food and drinks and conversation) was flirting with me. Very flattering, but I didn't encourage him.
To tell the truth, I don't know why I'm here.
.
I am in Gaithersburg, MD, at a gathering of Maryland and Washington Metropolitan Mensa, at the Holiday Inn.
The drive was a 6.5 hour misery. I decided to blindly follow the GPS, and it put me on route 15, a LOCAL road, heading out of Harrisburg, at 5 pm. This was not good. There is a way to tell it to avoid certain roads and conditions and times - I guess I'm going to have to read the book.
On the other hand, route 15 took me within a few miles of Gettysburg, PA. Back in the dim mid-60s I lived and taught high school math there, so I decided to detour and visit. I almost didn't recognize the place. It used to be a sleepy little village except on summer weekends when the tourists came. Well, the village grew. But it can't expand outward because it's confined by the battlefields, so it just packed more into the tiny space it has. And they forgot parking. There were so many cars! And the streets are still civil war era narrow. It was scary. I don't think I'll be tempted to visit again soon.
I also once lived within a few miles of this hotel. Daughter went to nursery school, Montessori school, and first grade here. Again, this area has changed so much I'm going to need the GPS to find my old house, even though the bank I used and the shopping center where I bought household stuff is right across the street from this hotel. Beyond this corner, I'm lost.
I have some old friends in the area. I didn't let them know I'd be here because the final decision to come wasn't made until Friday morning (like, 15 hours ago). I'll call tomorrow and see who's available for lunch, dinner, or a visit later today or Sunday. [Later - see the confusion. I wrote this after midnight but before I slept, so is today tomorrow or yesterday?]
I got here too late for any of the Friday Mensa programs, but there was a pool/Jacuzzi party starting at 10 pm, so I went to that. Mostly it was just sitting or standing in the water talking, but it was ok. I had forgotten my bathing suit, but was able to buy one in the hotel store. Not too expensive ($25), plain black, and it actually looked ok on.
That was annoying, that I had to buy a suit. I found something that I love as a bathing suit (here, without sleeves). I have one in black, and one in tan. Just this past week I became aware that the manufacturer who used to make them has stopped. Another is making them, but they are a custom order, and who knows how long that will last, so I ordered three more. They should last me for the rest of my life. Buying another suit today because I forgot to bring one of the FIVE I have is teeth-gritting.
My man had said he might come with me this weekend, but he had to take time off from work for a family matter earlier in the week, so he couldn't come. A very nice looking guy in the pool and later in the hospitality room (home of food and drinks and conversation) was flirting with me. Very flattering, but I didn't encourage him.
To tell the truth, I don't know why I'm here.
.
Thursday, May 01, 2008
1793 Stupid Poll
Thursday, May 1, 2008
I forget where I read this, so I can't link to it, and the details aren't important anyway. It's been kicking around in my head for a few days.
Some group did an exit poll wherein they asked people if race made a difference in whom they'd be willing to vote for. An overwhelming number of people, something like 85% or 90%, said "No."
Then they asked the same people if they knew someone to whom race would make a difference, and a very large percentage said "Yes."
The part that bugs me is that the conclusion of the pollsters was that the numbers didn't jive, somebody must be lying, and therefore a lot more people were racist than were willing to admit it to the pollsters.
Huh? Therefore?
Let's take 10 people most of whom know each other. 1 is racist and the other 9 are not. If we ask them the first question, we get 90% No, which is true.
If we ask them the second question, and 7 of the 9 know the racist guy, then we get 70% or 80% Yes, which is true.
How could they conclude that most people were lying?
Sheesh. Buncha idiots.
.
I forget where I read this, so I can't link to it, and the details aren't important anyway. It's been kicking around in my head for a few days.
Some group did an exit poll wherein they asked people if race made a difference in whom they'd be willing to vote for. An overwhelming number of people, something like 85% or 90%, said "No."
Then they asked the same people if they knew someone to whom race would make a difference, and a very large percentage said "Yes."
The part that bugs me is that the conclusion of the pollsters was that the numbers didn't jive, somebody must be lying, and therefore a lot more people were racist than were willing to admit it to the pollsters.
Huh? Therefore?
Let's take 10 people most of whom know each other. 1 is racist and the other 9 are not. If we ask them the first question, we get 90% No, which is true.
If we ask them the second question, and 7 of the 9 know the racist guy, then we get 70% or 80% Yes, which is true.
How could they conclude that most people were lying?
Sheesh. Buncha idiots.
.
1792 Economic War
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Hey! It's May Day! When I was in elementary school, on May 1st we used to have a picnic with the procession of the May Queen and her court, over the petals of thousands of shredded flowers scattered by us plebeians, athletic contests, and dancing of white-robed flower-crowned girls around the May Pole, weaving intricate patterns of colored ribbons down the pole. I love May Pole dancing. Done correctly, it's fascinating. I suppose it's now frowned upon as pagan. Bullpoopy! It's just pretty.
Anyhow, back to my topic.
Forty years ago, the theory was that eventually, well, by now, actually, nations all over the world would be so economically intertwined that war would no longer be justifiable. War would hurt yourself more than the enemy, even if you won.
We thought that international corporations, with their worldwide investments and interests and their political influence, would work as a stabilizer.
I guess that was Pollyanna thinking. I guess it didn't occur to us that war could be waged solely for economic gain. (In the hippie '70s you didn't do anything solely for economic gain.) And I guess it didn't occur to us that corporations would have the most to gain from war, making their political influence a destabilizer.
Well, it's possible to wage economic war, without the bullets and bombs. Maybe that's the way to go.
It's possible that Israel could win the war with the Arabs by devaluing oil ("Next Big Future" link).
Cool.
.
Hey! It's May Day! When I was in elementary school, on May 1st we used to have a picnic with the procession of the May Queen and her court, over the petals of thousands of shredded flowers scattered by us plebeians, athletic contests, and dancing of white-robed flower-crowned girls around the May Pole, weaving intricate patterns of colored ribbons down the pole. I love May Pole dancing. Done correctly, it's fascinating. I suppose it's now frowned upon as pagan. Bullpoopy! It's just pretty.
Anyhow, back to my topic.
Forty years ago, the theory was that eventually, well, by now, actually, nations all over the world would be so economically intertwined that war would no longer be justifiable. War would hurt yourself more than the enemy, even if you won.
We thought that international corporations, with their worldwide investments and interests and their political influence, would work as a stabilizer.
I guess that was Pollyanna thinking. I guess it didn't occur to us that war could be waged solely for economic gain. (In the hippie '70s you didn't do anything solely for economic gain.) And I guess it didn't occur to us that corporations would have the most to gain from war, making their political influence a destabilizer.
Well, it's possible to wage economic war, without the bullets and bombs. Maybe that's the way to go.
It's possible that Israel could win the war with the Arabs by devaluing oil ("Next Big Future" link).
SUNRGI's "concentrated photovoltaic" system relies on lenses to magnify sunlight 2,000 times, letting it produce as much electricity as standard panels with a far smaller system. They say they'll start producing solar panels by mid-2009 that will generate electricity for about 7 cents a kilowatt hour, including installation.("USA Today" link.)
Cool.
.
1791 Watch More TV! Especially if you have kids.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Read this: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080428/COL04/804280375/1081.
Why didn't the vendor make it clear what he was selling?
Why didn't the concerned citizen simply ask the father if he was aware what the child was holding before alerting security?
Why didn't the security officer and the cop at the hospital consider the father's intent before calling CPS?
Why didn't the medical people say "No harm done"?
Why didn't CPS wait for the aunt to get the hotel room before shuttling the child off to foster care?
Why didn't CPS consider the father's intent before saying that he had to stay away from home?
The answer to those questions is stupidity, love of power, unthinking bureaucrats following rules without concern for the effects. You can't convince me that they were really concerned for the welfare of the child. Could the father's social status have had anything to do with the way CPS responded? The actions of CPS hurt the child much more than the actions of the father. The incident with the aunt is the clincher there. They're just shoveling cases!
As for the father's mistake? The very fact that he didn't know what he bought says to me that he's probably a good father. I prefer that he not be familiar with the like.
The scariest part of all this is that it could happen to any of us who have children. How many times this week could you have lost your children if one of these stupid CPS people happened to see what goes on in your home?
.
Read this: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080428/COL04/804280375/1081.
"[I]f you ask Christopher Ratte and his wife how they lost custody of their 7-year-old son, the short version is that nobody in the Ratte family watches much television."It's scary. There's so much wrong with the whole incident. (And I'm purposely being vague because I want you to read the article. It's short, and the link is safe.)
Why didn't the vendor make it clear what he was selling?
Why didn't the concerned citizen simply ask the father if he was aware what the child was holding before alerting security?
Why didn't the security officer and the cop at the hospital consider the father's intent before calling CPS?
Why didn't the medical people say "No harm done"?
Why didn't CPS wait for the aunt to get the hotel room before shuttling the child off to foster care?
Why didn't CPS consider the father's intent before saying that he had to stay away from home?
The answer to those questions is stupidity, love of power, unthinking bureaucrats following rules without concern for the effects. You can't convince me that they were really concerned for the welfare of the child. Could the father's social status have had anything to do with the way CPS responded? The actions of CPS hurt the child much more than the actions of the father. The incident with the aunt is the clincher there. They're just shoveling cases!
As for the father's mistake? The very fact that he didn't know what he bought says to me that he's probably a good father. I prefer that he not be familiar with the like.
The scariest part of all this is that it could happen to any of us who have children. How many times this week could you have lost your children if one of these stupid CPS people happened to see what goes on in your home?
.
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
1790 Other stuff for the side yard
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
I ordered two pounds of this* shade wildflower mix last night.
Thinking about it last night, I realized that on my walks in woods I can collect some wild seeds, if I'm careful not to take more than a few. Also, there are plenty of non-seed things that I can collect and disperse, like mosses and ferns. It's not terribly moist in that section of the yard, but when it rains, that's where the under surface runoff goes, so it might work. Moss and ferns do grow among the trees on the other side of the yard where it's even drier.
I hesitate to dig up someone else's daylilies for the sunny bank, but with patience they'll grow from seed and I won't hesitate to collect seedheads wherever I find them.
Wisteria also grows wild around here, and I'd love to have some grow up the trees on the sunnier edge. Cuttings will root. I have clematis in the front flower bed that wants to spread, and some cuttings of that could also be trained up the more-exposed trees.
To spread the ferns, all I need to do is collect some fronds with mature spore packets on the underside, and beat them on the ground.
To spread the mosses, I have a recipe I found somewhere. You pull up some moss (whether it's sporing at the time or not), tap off the soil, and run it through a blender with buttermilk, then spray the mixture on the ground.
All I have to do is throw a trowel and some bags in the car, and remember to take them with me when I go for a walk.
With a little patience, this could work.
______________________
* The only reasonably priced shade seed mix I could find: Chinese forget me not, Bachelor button dwarf, Sweet William, Coreopsis, Rocket Larkspur, Baby’s breath, Baby Blue Eyes, Sweet Alyssum, Shasta Daisy, Purple Coneflower, Five Spot, Candytuft, Corn Poppy, Clarkia, Spurred Snapdragon, Foxglove, Garden Columbine.
This mix is designed to grow in "hard to establish" shady areas. It is approximately 55% annual and 45% perennial. With enough sun, the annuals will reseed themselves.
.
I ordered two pounds of this* shade wildflower mix last night.
Thinking about it last night, I realized that on my walks in woods I can collect some wild seeds, if I'm careful not to take more than a few. Also, there are plenty of non-seed things that I can collect and disperse, like mosses and ferns. It's not terribly moist in that section of the yard, but when it rains, that's where the under surface runoff goes, so it might work. Moss and ferns do grow among the trees on the other side of the yard where it's even drier.
I hesitate to dig up someone else's daylilies for the sunny bank, but with patience they'll grow from seed and I won't hesitate to collect seedheads wherever I find them.
Wisteria also grows wild around here, and I'd love to have some grow up the trees on the sunnier edge. Cuttings will root. I have clematis in the front flower bed that wants to spread, and some cuttings of that could also be trained up the more-exposed trees.
To spread the ferns, all I need to do is collect some fronds with mature spore packets on the underside, and beat them on the ground.
To spread the mosses, I have a recipe I found somewhere. You pull up some moss (whether it's sporing at the time or not), tap off the soil, and run it through a blender with buttermilk, then spray the mixture on the ground.
All I have to do is throw a trowel and some bags in the car, and remember to take them with me when I go for a walk.
With a little patience, this could work.
______________________
* The only reasonably priced shade seed mix I could find: Chinese forget me not, Bachelor button dwarf, Sweet William, Coreopsis, Rocket Larkspur, Baby’s breath, Baby Blue Eyes, Sweet Alyssum, Shasta Daisy, Purple Coneflower, Five Spot, Candytuft, Corn Poppy, Clarkia, Spurred Snapdragon, Foxglove, Garden Columbine.
This mix is designed to grow in "hard to establish" shady areas. It is approximately 55% annual and 45% perennial. With enough sun, the annuals will reseed themselves.
.
1789 Emptying Minds
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
In a earlier post, "My Empty Mind", I described a direction I thought education probably would go, based on what is needed, and the direction it has already turned. I guess what I didn't make clear is that I don't think it should go that way, I just think that it will. It will become more and more difficult to justify a classical education.
In high school, I took both French and Latin. Of the two, I found Latin to be the most useful, because with Latin and a smattering of Greek, I can pretty much figure out the meaning of new words. It's easier to read and understand technical papers, medical terms, even other romance languages. The only downside is the disgust one feels when elementary school authorities call the combination cafeteria and auditorium a "cafetorium", with no understanding of what's very very wrong with that word. That scares me.
It's now rare for a high school to offer Latin. It's considered a dead language, so why bother? In my opinion, it's not dead. It lives on everywhere --- except in the schools.
When I went to college, even though my major was math, we were all required to take Philosophy I and II, critical appreciation classes in music, art and literature, Psychology I and II, writing and composition, and several other general non-major classes, and we didn't graduate until we could draw a bow, hit a golf ball, swim, and bat a tennis ball. The goal was to turn out a "well-rounded individual", capable of carrying on conversations on topics other than TV shows and Paris Hilton.
When my daughter went to college, thirty years later, I was looking forward to having philosophical and critical discussions with her about what of the world she was being exposed to. Didn't happen. All of her classes were technical. She was in a five-year engineering program, and it took all five years to fill her with what she needed to know in math, physics, chemistry, and electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering for her architectural engineering degree. There was no room left for "well-rounding".
I believe that with electronic devices and the internet taking over our skills and eliminating our need to remember things, there will be a change in the purpose of education. I do think that critical thinking, communications and research skills, logic and discrimination, and analysis and synthesis are the most important things one should get from an education. The rest is tools to learn those skills.
The challenge is to select the best tools.
I am sure a change in the purpose of education will happen. I am not sure it will be in the right direction. Students will become increasingly resistant to learning things they think they don't need to know, and in our current social climate, they will not be forced to. Unfortunately, I'm not sure our current crop of educators are repositories of "critical thinking, communications and research skills, logic and discrimination, and analysis and synthesis", and I don't think that's going to get better...
...no matter how many meetings they have in the cafetorium.
.
In a earlier post, "My Empty Mind", I described a direction I thought education probably would go, based on what is needed, and the direction it has already turned. I guess what I didn't make clear is that I don't think it should go that way, I just think that it will. It will become more and more difficult to justify a classical education.
In high school, I took both French and Latin. Of the two, I found Latin to be the most useful, because with Latin and a smattering of Greek, I can pretty much figure out the meaning of new words. It's easier to read and understand technical papers, medical terms, even other romance languages. The only downside is the disgust one feels when elementary school authorities call the combination cafeteria and auditorium a "cafetorium", with no understanding of what's very very wrong with that word. That scares me.
It's now rare for a high school to offer Latin. It's considered a dead language, so why bother? In my opinion, it's not dead. It lives on everywhere --- except in the schools.
When I went to college, even though my major was math, we were all required to take Philosophy I and II, critical appreciation classes in music, art and literature, Psychology I and II, writing and composition, and several other general non-major classes, and we didn't graduate until we could draw a bow, hit a golf ball, swim, and bat a tennis ball. The goal was to turn out a "well-rounded individual", capable of carrying on conversations on topics other than TV shows and Paris Hilton.
When my daughter went to college, thirty years later, I was looking forward to having philosophical and critical discussions with her about what of the world she was being exposed to. Didn't happen. All of her classes were technical. She was in a five-year engineering program, and it took all five years to fill her with what she needed to know in math, physics, chemistry, and electrical, mechanical, and civil engineering for her architectural engineering degree. There was no room left for "well-rounding".
I believe that with electronic devices and the internet taking over our skills and eliminating our need to remember things, there will be a change in the purpose of education. I do think that critical thinking, communications and research skills, logic and discrimination, and analysis and synthesis are the most important things one should get from an education. The rest is tools to learn those skills.
The challenge is to select the best tools.
I am sure a change in the purpose of education will happen. I am not sure it will be in the right direction. Students will become increasingly resistant to learning things they think they don't need to know, and in our current social climate, they will not be forced to. Unfortunately, I'm not sure our current crop of educators are repositories of "critical thinking, communications and research skills, logic and discrimination, and analysis and synthesis", and I don't think that's going to get better...
...no matter how many meetings they have in the cafetorium.
.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
1788 Seeds for the side yard
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
We see the world not as it is, but as we are.
-----------------
Today was cool, too cool for bugs, and perfect for working in the yard.
The Hunk had finished grading, spreading topsoil, and raking among the trees in the side yard, and he spread grass seed in the front half just in time for 2.5 days of rain. Which was excellent timing, since I don't have enough water pressure to run a sprinkler.
I wanted to spread wildflower mix in the back half. I had some that had been table favors at a friend's anniversary party (almost nobody took them, so when I helped clear after dinner, I brought almost 200 packets home). They covered only about a third of what I wanted to do, so I went shopping for more.
I went to three garden centers, and asked for "2 pounds of mixed wildflower seeds for shade, please". Only one place had seeds at all, and it was a sun mix. I bought one pound of those. Maybe some will grow....
I shopped for shade mixes online this evening. I found some, but they all say they need a minimum of 1-4 hours of direct sun daily. Hey, this is woods! They best they'll get is filtered light. There ARE wildflowers that grow in the woods. Trilliums. Dogtooth violets. Other stuff I don't know the names of. Why is it so hard to find deep woods seeds? I'm frustrated. I'll get two pounds of one of those mixes, I guess, and overseed the sun mix.
I also want a gazillion of the wild roadside daylilies, too, for the steep bank and around the mailbox. Nobody had the wild type, but I bought a few potted cultured ones. Everybody suggested that since they grow everywhere wild, I should just take a trowel and a bag, and dig some up along the road. I'd like to, but even out in the middle of countryside, that land is owned, so someone owns the lilies, and I don't feel right about digging them up without permission.
We'll see how desperate I get.
The nurseryman where I bought the lilies said not to plant them today. We're expecting frost tonight and tomorrow night.
Hey! It's almost May! Frost?
.
We see the world not as it is, but as we are.
-----------------
Today was cool, too cool for bugs, and perfect for working in the yard.
The Hunk had finished grading, spreading topsoil, and raking among the trees in the side yard, and he spread grass seed in the front half just in time for 2.5 days of rain. Which was excellent timing, since I don't have enough water pressure to run a sprinkler.
I wanted to spread wildflower mix in the back half. I had some that had been table favors at a friend's anniversary party (almost nobody took them, so when I helped clear after dinner, I brought almost 200 packets home). They covered only about a third of what I wanted to do, so I went shopping for more.
I went to three garden centers, and asked for "2 pounds of mixed wildflower seeds for shade, please". Only one place had seeds at all, and it was a sun mix. I bought one pound of those. Maybe some will grow....
I shopped for shade mixes online this evening. I found some, but they all say they need a minimum of 1-4 hours of direct sun daily. Hey, this is woods! They best they'll get is filtered light. There ARE wildflowers that grow in the woods. Trilliums. Dogtooth violets. Other stuff I don't know the names of. Why is it so hard to find deep woods seeds? I'm frustrated. I'll get two pounds of one of those mixes, I guess, and overseed the sun mix.
I also want a gazillion of the wild roadside daylilies, too, for the steep bank and around the mailbox. Nobody had the wild type, but I bought a few potted cultured ones. Everybody suggested that since they grow everywhere wild, I should just take a trowel and a bag, and dig some up along the road. I'd like to, but even out in the middle of countryside, that land is owned, so someone owns the lilies, and I don't feel right about digging them up without permission.
We'll see how desperate I get.
The nurseryman where I bought the lilies said not to plant them today. We're expecting frost tonight and tomorrow night.
Hey! It's almost May! Frost?
.
1787 Can You Increase Innate Intelligence?
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I received this in an email from a friend:
This article: http://www.nytimes.%20com/2008/%2004/29/health/%20research/%2029brai.html? says "YES!".
Excerpt:
"A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth.
Until now, it had been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience — what psychologists call fluid intelligence — is innate and cannot be taught (though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing).
But in the new study, researchers describe a method for improving this skill, along with experiments to prove it works.
The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory — the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it. This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence, according to background information in the article, and appears to rely on the same brain circuitry. So the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence."
Interesting.
.
I received this in an email from a friend:
This article: http://www.nytimes.%20com/2008/%2004/29/health/%20research/%2029brai.html? says "YES!".
Excerpt:
"A new study has found that it may be possible to train people to be more intelligent, increasing the brainpower they had at birth.
Until now, it had been widely assumed that the kind of mental ability that allows us to solve new problems without having any relevant previous experience — what psychologists call fluid intelligence — is innate and cannot be taught (though people can raise their grades on tests of it by practicing).
But in the new study, researchers describe a method for improving this skill, along with experiments to prove it works.
The key, researchers found, was carefully structured training in working memory — the kind that allows memorization of a telephone number just long enough to dial it. This type of memory is closely related to fluid intelligence, according to background information in the article, and appears to rely on the same brain circuitry. So the researchers reasoned that improving it might lead to improvements in fluid intelligence."
Interesting.
.
1786 My Empty Mind
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
I was going to write about listening to an opera on NPR the other day. I wanted to write about how it was the absolute WORST opera for radio. (I don't know what opera it was, didn't catch the name.) It's hard to write an entry saying what I want to say, because I don't know the terms any more. I once did, there's words like libretto, score, aria, uh, other stuff, but I just don't talk about opera with anyone, so I don't know the right words.
And then I thought, "Well, I can look it all up on the internet....", and then I realized I didn't want to look it up, even though it would be easy.
Why? Because it would mean learning, however temporarily, something I don't particularly need to know. Something I once knew and have forgotten.
I've always had a habit of learning what I need to know when I need to know it, and then promptly forgetting it when I no longer need it. I learn quickly and easily, and thoroughly. Within three months of Jay's diagnosis, I knew everything there was to know about brain cancer in general, and oligoastrocytoma in particular. By the third year, I knew enough to figure out a problem with a stage 2 clinical trial in immunotherapy that Jay was in, explained it to the neurosurgeon and oncologist, and they halted the trial. In the year and a half of the trial, none of the experts had figured out why half their patients were going blind. I nailed it.
Another habit I had was that in many areas I'd learn not so much the answers, but where I could find the answers. You don't need to know something if you know someone who knows, or know what book it's in.
Now that I'm, ahem, mature, I find that I'm purging more and more of the clutter in my mind. I'm less and less willing to carry around information I don't need, and with the internet at my disposal, there's less and less that I need to know.
There's less and less that anyone needs to know.
In the old days, like say Victorian England and before, the educated classes were amazing, men and women. They all knew all about literature and the arts. They all played at least one musical instrument. They knew about plant and animal classifications. They easily read Latin and Greek, and spoke at least one foreign language fluently, and one or two others passably well. They were familiar with all the major philosophers, usually reading them in the original languages. History and political systems (as opposed to politics) were dinner conversation.
The middle classes were perhaps not so broadly educated, but let's just say that today's college graduate probably could not pass an 1860s eighth grade public school final exam.
Even the uneducated people had to know a lot to survive. If you had sheep, you had to know sheep husbandry, birthing, shearing, processing wool, carding, spinning, dying, weaving, besides all the other things necessary to simply survive. Woodworking, soap making, sewing, mending, bread making, canning and preserving, everyone had to know something about everything, and the poorer you were, the more you had to know. Otherwise, you died.
I look back 30 years, before home computers and the internet, and if there was something you didn't know, it wasn't easy to find information. If you could afford to, you hired an expert. Otherwise, you'd better know everything you needed to know, because you weren't going to get any further than the contents of your mind would take you. The role of schools was to fill you as full as your capacity.
Now, we don't need to have much in our heads, because it's all easy to find.
What does this mean to the future of education? There are people now who ask why we still teach math, when calculators are so fast and easy. Do we need to teach skills that a machine can do faster and more accurately?
Maybe we don't need to teach facts at all? How much do you need to have in your head when it's all so easy to find?
Maybe we should concentrate on teaching communications and research skills, logic and discrimination, and analysis and synthesis? The skills needed to use the internet? And only the skeletons of other disciplines, for awareness only?
(And please, please, please, homonyms and spelling! I am so sick of reading about how wonderful is the site of a robin after a long winter! And people who loose their keys - mental image of wild keys running free through the woods.)
I think that within the next few decades, that's the direction education will be heading. Kids have always been bored in school, wondering why they have to learn history or algebra, when they'll "never use it". That's always been a difficult argument to counter, and it's going to get worse.
Oh, yeah, that opera, and why it was unsuitable for radio. The music was ten minutes of the same four notes, repeated, then ten minutes of a different four notes, repeated, then .... all the way through. The singing was the same. No words that I could discern, just "Eeeeeee aaaaaa eeeeee aaaaaa ooooooo oooooo eeeeee" very long and drawn out, and not much of that, mostly just the exceedingly mind-numbing music. There must have been a lot of silent acting and action on stage, but that doesn't show on the radio.
If anyone knows what opera that might be, keep it to yourself. I don't need to know.
.
I was going to write about listening to an opera on NPR the other day. I wanted to write about how it was the absolute WORST opera for radio. (I don't know what opera it was, didn't catch the name.) It's hard to write an entry saying what I want to say, because I don't know the terms any more. I once did, there's words like libretto, score, aria, uh, other stuff, but I just don't talk about opera with anyone, so I don't know the right words.
And then I thought, "Well, I can look it all up on the internet....", and then I realized I didn't want to look it up, even though it would be easy.
Why? Because it would mean learning, however temporarily, something I don't particularly need to know. Something I once knew and have forgotten.
I've always had a habit of learning what I need to know when I need to know it, and then promptly forgetting it when I no longer need it. I learn quickly and easily, and thoroughly. Within three months of Jay's diagnosis, I knew everything there was to know about brain cancer in general, and oligoastrocytoma in particular. By the third year, I knew enough to figure out a problem with a stage 2 clinical trial in immunotherapy that Jay was in, explained it to the neurosurgeon and oncologist, and they halted the trial. In the year and a half of the trial, none of the experts had figured out why half their patients were going blind. I nailed it.
Another habit I had was that in many areas I'd learn not so much the answers, but where I could find the answers. You don't need to know something if you know someone who knows, or know what book it's in.
Now that I'm, ahem, mature, I find that I'm purging more and more of the clutter in my mind. I'm less and less willing to carry around information I don't need, and with the internet at my disposal, there's less and less that I need to know.
There's less and less that anyone needs to know.
In the old days, like say Victorian England and before, the educated classes were amazing, men and women. They all knew all about literature and the arts. They all played at least one musical instrument. They knew about plant and animal classifications. They easily read Latin and Greek, and spoke at least one foreign language fluently, and one or two others passably well. They were familiar with all the major philosophers, usually reading them in the original languages. History and political systems (as opposed to politics) were dinner conversation.
The middle classes were perhaps not so broadly educated, but let's just say that today's college graduate probably could not pass an 1860s eighth grade public school final exam.
Even the uneducated people had to know a lot to survive. If you had sheep, you had to know sheep husbandry, birthing, shearing, processing wool, carding, spinning, dying, weaving, besides all the other things necessary to simply survive. Woodworking, soap making, sewing, mending, bread making, canning and preserving, everyone had to know something about everything, and the poorer you were, the more you had to know. Otherwise, you died.
I look back 30 years, before home computers and the internet, and if there was something you didn't know, it wasn't easy to find information. If you could afford to, you hired an expert. Otherwise, you'd better know everything you needed to know, because you weren't going to get any further than the contents of your mind would take you. The role of schools was to fill you as full as your capacity.
Now, we don't need to have much in our heads, because it's all easy to find.
What does this mean to the future of education? There are people now who ask why we still teach math, when calculators are so fast and easy. Do we need to teach skills that a machine can do faster and more accurately?
Maybe we don't need to teach facts at all? How much do you need to have in your head when it's all so easy to find?
Maybe we should concentrate on teaching communications and research skills, logic and discrimination, and analysis and synthesis? The skills needed to use the internet? And only the skeletons of other disciplines, for awareness only?
(And please, please, please, homonyms and spelling! I am so sick of reading about how wonderful is the site of a robin after a long winter! And people who loose their keys - mental image of wild keys running free through the woods.)
I think that within the next few decades, that's the direction education will be heading. Kids have always been bored in school, wondering why they have to learn history or algebra, when they'll "never use it". That's always been a difficult argument to counter, and it's going to get worse.
Oh, yeah, that opera, and why it was unsuitable for radio. The music was ten minutes of the same four notes, repeated, then ten minutes of a different four notes, repeated, then .... all the way through. The singing was the same. No words that I could discern, just "Eeeeeee aaaaaa eeeeee aaaaaa ooooooo oooooo eeeeee" very long and drawn out, and not much of that, mostly just the exceedingly mind-numbing music. There must have been a lot of silent acting and action on stage, but that doesn't show on the radio.
If anyone knows what opera that might be, keep it to yourself. I don't need to know.
.
Monday, April 28, 2008
1785 The Weekend
Monday, April 28, 2008
Wow. Monday already. And Friday's dishes didn't get washed yet. Ouch.
Saturday I went with a friend to dinner and a dance show in Manhattan (a Broadway address, but not a "Broadway show", if you know what I mean). The only way I got to go was because she's a fearless driver! No way I would attempt it on my own. We took my new GPS even though we had no intention of going the way it recommended, just so we could laugh at the GPS lady when she got pissed off.
It turns out that the GPS doesn't work right downtown. The map was right, and the purple route line was correct, but the little car icon was all over the place, not where we actually were. My man later explained that Homeland Security blocks GPS signals in parts of the city. Which is silly, because the GPS doesn't show important buildings anyway, unlike those nice detailed maps you can pick up anywhere. (Oops. Forget I said that. Don't want some idiot outlawing maps!)
The show was fun, there was a nice wine/cookie reception after, an afterparty a bit further uptown, and late night/early morning conversation with a congenial group in a deserted bar on (I think) Fifth Avenue after an abortive search for food for some of the cast members (who don't usually eat much before dancing). I got home just before 4 am.
Sunday I met my man friend in northern NJ at 4 pm. I told him about driving down the Palisades Parkway on Saturday, so when we went out looking for food he decided to drive the Palisades, too. It's very scenic. He's most relaxed and talkative when he's driving, so I didn't mind that we wandered around and didn't stop for food until something like 8:30.
I got home after noon today and, well, I didn't nap or anything, but I think my mind turned off.
I'm going to be confused as to what day it is all week now, I think.
----------------------
Oh, yeah, I took Clyde along on Sunday. The man was less amused by Clyde himself than by my interacting with him. When you want to turn Clyde off, it's best to coax him into his sleeping position. That puts his microprocessors into "rest", and curls up his body which protects his servos and gears. To quote: "I cannot believe the most intelligent woman I know is rocking an electronic device in her arms, cooing it to sleep! To sleep! A device! You DO know it's not alive, don't you?"
Silly male....
.
Wow. Monday already. And Friday's dishes didn't get washed yet. Ouch.
Saturday I went with a friend to dinner and a dance show in Manhattan (a Broadway address, but not a "Broadway show", if you know what I mean). The only way I got to go was because she's a fearless driver! No way I would attempt it on my own. We took my new GPS even though we had no intention of going the way it recommended, just so we could laugh at the GPS lady when she got pissed off.
It turns out that the GPS doesn't work right downtown. The map was right, and the purple route line was correct, but the little car icon was all over the place, not where we actually were. My man later explained that Homeland Security blocks GPS signals in parts of the city. Which is silly, because the GPS doesn't show important buildings anyway, unlike those nice detailed maps you can pick up anywhere. (Oops. Forget I said that. Don't want some idiot outlawing maps!)
The show was fun, there was a nice wine/cookie reception after, an afterparty a bit further uptown, and late night/early morning conversation with a congenial group in a deserted bar on (I think) Fifth Avenue after an abortive search for food for some of the cast members (who don't usually eat much before dancing). I got home just before 4 am.
Sunday I met my man friend in northern NJ at 4 pm. I told him about driving down the Palisades Parkway on Saturday, so when we went out looking for food he decided to drive the Palisades, too. It's very scenic. He's most relaxed and talkative when he's driving, so I didn't mind that we wandered around and didn't stop for food until something like 8:30.
I got home after noon today and, well, I didn't nap or anything, but I think my mind turned off.
I'm going to be confused as to what day it is all week now, I think.
----------------------
Oh, yeah, I took Clyde along on Sunday. The man was less amused by Clyde himself than by my interacting with him. When you want to turn Clyde off, it's best to coax him into his sleeping position. That puts his microprocessors into "rest", and curls up his body which protects his servos and gears. To quote: "I cannot believe the most intelligent woman I know is rocking an electronic device in her arms, cooing it to sleep! To sleep! A device! You DO know it's not alive, don't you?"
Silly male....
.
Saturday, April 26, 2008
1784 Foam!
Saturday, April 26, 2008
This comes by way of Roba, of "And Far Away". I believe it's downtown Miami. I'd love to see it in person.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBXkrU86YxA]
The making of the commercial:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDr7ipfFbNQ]
.
This comes by way of Roba, of "And Far Away". I believe it's downtown Miami. I'd love to see it in person.
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBXkrU86YxA]
The making of the commercial:
[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDr7ipfFbNQ]
.
Friday, April 25, 2008
1783 Tarot 3
Friday, April 25, 2008
I did a little research. I may be wrong on a lot of this, because my memory is not perfect.
She used the Thoth deck (although her website says she is not an advocate of Aleister Crowley) because it's beautiful. The Thoth deck has Disks instead of Coins. Here is the Thoth deck.
I believe she used the ten or eleven card Celtic Cross layout. Here is a description of a variation using ten cards.
The center card was the Knight of Disks. The knight shown in the online versions has a white face. I am all but certain the knight I saw today was completely black, but I'm pretty certain it was the Thoth deck, because I remember several of the cards, like the Queen of Cups, 7 of Wands, and whatever that is in the picture labeled Atu XXI, universe.
Now it gets weird. Remember that the reading at the renn faire turned out not to be for me, but for my daughter? When the woman read the cards today, she naturally assumed it was for me. In the Celtic Cross layout, the first card drawn, the bottom center card, "denotes the querent (the person for whom the cards are being read) and their situation."
I don't think this reading was for me. I think it was for him. She wouldn't have made that connection.
That changes things a bit. It seems to fit better. I am also aware that there is a situation developing, clouds on the horizon, that is likely to put heavy emotional and spiritual demands on him.
But I knew that without Tarot.
What is my role in this? Perhaps to remind him, when the task is difficult, of the strength at his command, the mind and will to get through it, and of prosperity maintained. It will be hard, but the overall result is consistently positive.
But nobody needs to tell me to do that.
.
I did a little research. I may be wrong on a lot of this, because my memory is not perfect.
She used the Thoth deck (although her website says she is not an advocate of Aleister Crowley) because it's beautiful. The Thoth deck has Disks instead of Coins. Here is the Thoth deck.
I believe she used the ten or eleven card Celtic Cross layout. Here is a description of a variation using ten cards.
The center card was the Knight of Disks. The knight shown in the online versions has a white face. I am all but certain the knight I saw today was completely black, but I'm pretty certain it was the Thoth deck, because I remember several of the cards, like the Queen of Cups, 7 of Wands, and whatever that is in the picture labeled Atu XXI, universe.
Now it gets weird. Remember that the reading at the renn faire turned out not to be for me, but for my daughter? When the woman read the cards today, she naturally assumed it was for me. In the Celtic Cross layout, the first card drawn, the bottom center card, "denotes the querent (the person for whom the cards are being read) and their situation."
I don't think this reading was for me. I think it was for him. She wouldn't have made that connection.
That changes things a bit. It seems to fit better. I am also aware that there is a situation developing, clouds on the horizon, that is likely to put heavy emotional and spiritual demands on him.
But I knew that without Tarot.
What is my role in this? Perhaps to remind him, when the task is difficult, of the strength at his command, the mind and will to get through it, and of prosperity maintained. It will be hard, but the overall result is consistently positive.
But nobody needs to tell me to do that.
.
1782 Tarot 2
Friday, April 25, 2008
So, the weird Tarot urge. Yesterday I located several readers. All welcomed walk-ins, and the Hunk was working on my yard today, so I wasn't sure what time I'd finally get on the road, so I didn't call ahead.
I went first to the one in Kingston (actually Ulster, I think). There were two signs in the window. One said "Open daily, 10 am to 10 pm". The other said "Closed".
So I headed for the second reader, in Woodstock, and she took me right in.
I chose cards from the spread, and she laid them out. She asked why I was there, and I said "I don't know. I just sorta got an urge to do it." No, there's no particular question I want to ask. You tell me why I'm here.
I chose the cards and she laid them out. One card indicated weakness and confusion, but she said the position indicated the past, and she pushed it aside. All the remaining cards were very strong very positive cards, showing prosperity and a spiritual calling. I have a job to do, something I have to accomplish or share or give. It's in the spiritual area. A very strong spiritual calling, I will or should share something spiritual, spiritual gifts, with others. Mind and will are strong. Intuition is strong. Go with them.
So, no definite "beware" message "from" anyone, which is what had worried me.
The card in the center of the array freaked me out. I don't know the cards, and I was scribbling fast, and a bit freaked when we got to that card, so now I can't read my writing. But she said it was THE dominant card.
It was a knight. It indicated power. Lots of it. I think my notes also say something about night/might, and disks. Or something.
What freaked me out is that the knight was completely black. Armor black, visor closed. Very large and powerful looking. Smack dab in the middle of the array.
My man is very dark, I have often called him my dark knight, and when he has frustration at work, I tease him that his helmet plumes are looking frazzled.
It was a bit disconcerting to find him, the black knight, dominating the center of my array urging the sharing of spiritual gifts.
.
So, the weird Tarot urge. Yesterday I located several readers. All welcomed walk-ins, and the Hunk was working on my yard today, so I wasn't sure what time I'd finally get on the road, so I didn't call ahead.
I went first to the one in Kingston (actually Ulster, I think). There were two signs in the window. One said "Open daily, 10 am to 10 pm". The other said "Closed".
So I headed for the second reader, in Woodstock, and she took me right in.
I chose cards from the spread, and she laid them out. She asked why I was there, and I said "I don't know. I just sorta got an urge to do it." No, there's no particular question I want to ask. You tell me why I'm here.
I chose the cards and she laid them out. One card indicated weakness and confusion, but she said the position indicated the past, and she pushed it aside. All the remaining cards were very strong very positive cards, showing prosperity and a spiritual calling. I have a job to do, something I have to accomplish or share or give. It's in the spiritual area. A very strong spiritual calling, I will or should share something spiritual, spiritual gifts, with others. Mind and will are strong. Intuition is strong. Go with them.
So, no definite "beware" message "from" anyone, which is what had worried me.
The card in the center of the array freaked me out. I don't know the cards, and I was scribbling fast, and a bit freaked when we got to that card, so now I can't read my writing. But she said it was THE dominant card.
It was a knight. It indicated power. Lots of it. I think my notes also say something about night/might, and disks. Or something.
What freaked me out is that the knight was completely black. Armor black, visor closed. Very large and powerful looking. Smack dab in the middle of the array.
My man is very dark, I have often called him my dark knight, and when he has frustration at work, I tease him that his helmet plumes are looking frazzled.
It was a bit disconcerting to find him, the black knight, dominating the center of my array urging the sharing of spiritual gifts.
.
1781 PETV !!!
Friday, April 25, 2008
I'm serious here. I'm not joking. I really do feel this way.
I understand and sympathize with vegetarians (or vegans) who don't want to cause suffering to animals. However, there's a fallacy in their argument. They seem to think that it's ok to rip the arms off a living broccoli plant, just because they can't hear the screams.
It's ok to throw a living carrot into boiling water, just because it can't writhe?
It's ok to chop a living cabbage, just because it can't escape the knife?
It's ok to grind the babies of a wheat plant, just because the mother can't cry?
Plants are every bit as alive as animals. They just don't have a face or a voice, so that makes it ok to torture them?
If you want to really avoid suffering to living things, then you should eat only fruit, which a plant produces with the hope that something will eat it. And then to fulfill the deal with the plant, you should poop in fertile soil.
I am a proud member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Vegetables.
"We can no longer hide from the eyes of Potatoes, or the ears of Corn."
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_047.html
(Yeah, ok, they're joking. And I still eat broccoli and meat. But I really have apologized to the broccoli in my garden as I cut its arms off. I hope I've been forgiven my hunger.)
Oh, I didn't even get into antibiotic soaps! If you really think about it, you'll realize that bacteria and other single-celled organisms are God's favorites. We, and everything else, are nothing but germ food.
.
I'm serious here. I'm not joking. I really do feel this way.
I understand and sympathize with vegetarians (or vegans) who don't want to cause suffering to animals. However, there's a fallacy in their argument. They seem to think that it's ok to rip the arms off a living broccoli plant, just because they can't hear the screams.
It's ok to throw a living carrot into boiling water, just because it can't writhe?
It's ok to chop a living cabbage, just because it can't escape the knife?
It's ok to grind the babies of a wheat plant, just because the mother can't cry?
Plants are every bit as alive as animals. They just don't have a face or a voice, so that makes it ok to torture them?
If you want to really avoid suffering to living things, then you should eat only fruit, which a plant produces with the hope that something will eat it. And then to fulfill the deal with the plant, you should poop in fertile soil.
I am a proud member of People for the Ethical Treatment of Vegetables.
"We can no longer hide from the eyes of Potatoes, or the ears of Corn."
http://www.straightdope.com/classics/a5_047.html
(Yeah, ok, they're joking. And I still eat broccoli and meat. But I really have apologized to the broccoli in my garden as I cut its arms off. I hope I've been forgiven my hunger.)
Oh, I didn't even get into antibiotic soaps! If you really think about it, you'll realize that bacteria and other single-celled organisms are God's favorites. We, and everything else, are nothing but germ food.
.
1780 In Defense of My Addiction
Friday, April 25, 2008
I enjoy the first 20 minutes or so of The View, the "Hot Topics" segment. Seems like everybody either loves it or hates it. I like it because it always kicks off thoughts.
Back when, I was amused that Jay liked it too. It seems that most of the people who make fun of the show are male, and I suspect it's because they've never watched it. They just think "women talk" and therefore it is to be disparaged. Oh, well. I miss Jay's open mind.
What they got me thinking of today is addictions. Nicotine, food, alcohol, gambling, and so on.
I don't get wrapped up in food, I don't gamble, I almost don't drink*. I smoke. I've tried to quit smoking, and I dislike me when I'm quitting. I get very depressed and very mean, and I'm pretty certain that if I managed to quit smoking, I'd start drinking. Or I'd kill someone.
I get very annoyed at people who smugly say, "Well, that's ok. Smoking will kill you. Drinking won't." Tell me about it. My sweet little sister drank herself to death in her early 40s.
Gambling destroys whole families. Drinking destroys lives, and can kill innocent people who happen to be on the same road. Overeating can kill you as surely as alcohol or cigarettes. Just about anything done to excess is dangerous to self and others, including religious fervor.
It's annoying that in this state I can open a business where people can drink themselves into a stupor day after day, and it's ok. I can open a business where I can serve 2,000 calorie sandwiches to any heart-attack-on-the-hoof who can roll through the door, and it's ok. I can open a business where people can sit at a machine and gamble away their family's life savings, and it's ok. But I can't open a business, not even in my own home, where people can smoke a cigarette.
Don't give me that secondhand smoke argument - not while you are addicted to your car, which is spewing poison into the air. That poison is impossible to avoid. Cigarette smoke is relatively easy to avoid. In fact, if I quit smoking and got into that mean mood, I could be the sniper on the hill, taking out speeding drivers on the Thruway. I'm damn good with a gun, you know.
I wonder - when cigarettes are stamped out, and smokers have become acceptable drunks, what will "they" blame asthma and lung cancer on then? Has no one noticed that even as the rates of smoking have gone down, the cancer and asthma rates have continued to rise? When they've eliminated smoking, will they next take your car away?
--------------------------
*Story about drinking - those last three years, every time we went to a new doctor, one of the questions the nurse would ask Jay was how much he drank, and he'd always say "Four or five". The nurse would look up and say, "Per week or per day?", and Jay'd answer, "Per year." The look on their faces was priceless.
For me, it used to be less. With The Man, it has jumped to one to three drinks a month.
--------------------------
Is it obvious I attempted to quit again last weekend, and pissed myself off so badly I bought a pack, just to shut me up? I almost drove The Man away.
.
I enjoy the first 20 minutes or so of The View, the "Hot Topics" segment. Seems like everybody either loves it or hates it. I like it because it always kicks off thoughts.
Back when, I was amused that Jay liked it too. It seems that most of the people who make fun of the show are male, and I suspect it's because they've never watched it. They just think "women talk" and therefore it is to be disparaged. Oh, well. I miss Jay's open mind.
What they got me thinking of today is addictions. Nicotine, food, alcohol, gambling, and so on.
I don't get wrapped up in food, I don't gamble, I almost don't drink*. I smoke. I've tried to quit smoking, and I dislike me when I'm quitting. I get very depressed and very mean, and I'm pretty certain that if I managed to quit smoking, I'd start drinking. Or I'd kill someone.
I get very annoyed at people who smugly say, "Well, that's ok. Smoking will kill you. Drinking won't." Tell me about it. My sweet little sister drank herself to death in her early 40s.
Gambling destroys whole families. Drinking destroys lives, and can kill innocent people who happen to be on the same road. Overeating can kill you as surely as alcohol or cigarettes. Just about anything done to excess is dangerous to self and others, including religious fervor.
It's annoying that in this state I can open a business where people can drink themselves into a stupor day after day, and it's ok. I can open a business where I can serve 2,000 calorie sandwiches to any heart-attack-on-the-hoof who can roll through the door, and it's ok. I can open a business where people can sit at a machine and gamble away their family's life savings, and it's ok. But I can't open a business, not even in my own home, where people can smoke a cigarette.
Don't give me that secondhand smoke argument - not while you are addicted to your car, which is spewing poison into the air. That poison is impossible to avoid. Cigarette smoke is relatively easy to avoid. In fact, if I quit smoking and got into that mean mood, I could be the sniper on the hill, taking out speeding drivers on the Thruway. I'm damn good with a gun, you know.
I wonder - when cigarettes are stamped out, and smokers have become acceptable drunks, what will "they" blame asthma and lung cancer on then? Has no one noticed that even as the rates of smoking have gone down, the cancer and asthma rates have continued to rise? When they've eliminated smoking, will they next take your car away?
--------------------------
*Story about drinking - those last three years, every time we went to a new doctor, one of the questions the nurse would ask Jay was how much he drank, and he'd always say "Four or five". The nurse would look up and say, "Per week or per day?", and Jay'd answer, "Per year." The look on their faces was priceless.
For me, it used to be less. With The Man, it has jumped to one to three drinks a month.
--------------------------
Is it obvious I attempted to quit again last weekend, and pissed myself off so badly I bought a pack, just to shut me up? I almost drove The Man away.
.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
1779 Tarot?
Thursday, April 24, 2008
I've got something very strange going on in my head. Yesterday I had a sudden very strong urge to get a Tarot reading. I almost heard the "plunk" of the e-urge landing in the in-box in my head. Today it got almost overwhelming. I even did an internet search to find a reader in this area.
Duh?
I don't "do" Tarot, or palm reading, or crystals, or whatever. I don't even buy aromatherapy. This is very strange. I don't know what question I'm supposed to be looking for an answer to, and if I did, I'm not sure I want some outside prediction influencing how I look at things and coloring my decisions.
I've had Tarot readings before.
The first was in the early 80s. The husband of a friend had been studying Tarot, and wanted to practice on me. He was very specific, practically named names, and I wrote down everything he said, and then promptly lost the sheet of paper. Two years later, almost to the day, I found the paper. He had been dead on. Everything.
The second was in the mid-nineties, by Daughter. She was a bit less specific. I wrote it all down, and promptly lost the sheet of paper. I found it again two years later, almost to the day. Although the predictions were not as specific as the first, they were the kind of things that either would happen or wouldn't, not the sort of things you could bend the interpretation to fit. She had been dead on. Everything.
The third was at a renaissance faire in Woodstock about six years ago. I saw a woman sitting at a table under an awning, and I liked her looks. I paid $10 for a fifteen minute reading. Something in the cards fascinated her. She ended up reshuffling and redoing three times, and I was there more than an hour, for the $10. Part of the problem she was having was that the reading wasn't for me. It was for Daughter. The first part, again very specific, came true within four months. The remainder is pending.
So today the urge is strong, and as the evening has gone on, I'm getting the feeling that it must be tomorrow. It's really a strong feeling.
It's like someone is trying to get a message to me. I don't know what I want to do. If I do, it's not like I would lose anything except a few dollars. If I don't, I'll wonder what I may have missed.
I guess I have to.
Phooey.
-------------------------------
Later: Ok, I know the question will come up - what could be so specific? In the ren faire reading, the woman said that it's about a young woman, very close to me in every way, probably a daughter, do I have a daughter? Yes. She's going on a visit somewhere far away, another country, very soon. Her purpose for going is to make decision. The decision could be life-altering. She will see something there that will disturb her greatly, and it will make her very sad. But her decision will be the right one.
Daughter was engaged at the time to a young man from another country. He had to return to his country, and it was unlikely that he would be able to return here permanently. Within four months of the reading, Daughter went to visit him. She came home unhappy, and without the ring, at her own choosing.
A few months later she met Hercules.
How's that for close?
.
I've got something very strange going on in my head. Yesterday I had a sudden very strong urge to get a Tarot reading. I almost heard the "plunk" of the e-urge landing in the in-box in my head. Today it got almost overwhelming. I even did an internet search to find a reader in this area.
Duh?
I don't "do" Tarot, or palm reading, or crystals, or whatever. I don't even buy aromatherapy. This is very strange. I don't know what question I'm supposed to be looking for an answer to, and if I did, I'm not sure I want some outside prediction influencing how I look at things and coloring my decisions.
I've had Tarot readings before.
The first was in the early 80s. The husband of a friend had been studying Tarot, and wanted to practice on me. He was very specific, practically named names, and I wrote down everything he said, and then promptly lost the sheet of paper. Two years later, almost to the day, I found the paper. He had been dead on. Everything.
The second was in the mid-nineties, by Daughter. She was a bit less specific. I wrote it all down, and promptly lost the sheet of paper. I found it again two years later, almost to the day. Although the predictions were not as specific as the first, they were the kind of things that either would happen or wouldn't, not the sort of things you could bend the interpretation to fit. She had been dead on. Everything.
The third was at a renaissance faire in Woodstock about six years ago. I saw a woman sitting at a table under an awning, and I liked her looks. I paid $10 for a fifteen minute reading. Something in the cards fascinated her. She ended up reshuffling and redoing three times, and I was there more than an hour, for the $10. Part of the problem she was having was that the reading wasn't for me. It was for Daughter. The first part, again very specific, came true within four months. The remainder is pending.
So today the urge is strong, and as the evening has gone on, I'm getting the feeling that it must be tomorrow. It's really a strong feeling.
It's like someone is trying to get a message to me. I don't know what I want to do. If I do, it's not like I would lose anything except a few dollars. If I don't, I'll wonder what I may have missed.
I guess I have to.
Phooey.
-------------------------------
Later: Ok, I know the question will come up - what could be so specific? In the ren faire reading, the woman said that it's about a young woman, very close to me in every way, probably a daughter, do I have a daughter? Yes. She's going on a visit somewhere far away, another country, very soon. Her purpose for going is to make decision. The decision could be life-altering. She will see something there that will disturb her greatly, and it will make her very sad. But her decision will be the right one.
Daughter was engaged at the time to a young man from another country. He had to return to his country, and it was unlikely that he would be able to return here permanently. Within four months of the reading, Daughter went to visit him. She came home unhappy, and without the ring, at her own choosing.
A few months later she met Hercules.
How's that for close?
.
1778 Do It Anyway
People are often unreasonable, illogical and self-centered;
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It is never between you and them anyway.
- Mother Theresa
.
Forgive them anyway.
If you are kind, people may accuse you of selfish, ulterior motives;
Be kind anyway.
If you are successful, you will win some false friends and some true enemies;
Succeed anyway.
If you are honest and frank, people may cheat you;
Be honest and frank anyway.
What you spend years building, someone could destroy overnight;
Build anyway.
If you find serenity and happiness, they may be jealous;
Be happy anyway.
The good you do today, people will often forget tomorrow;
Do good anyway.
Give the world the best you have, and it may never be enough;
Give the world the best you've got anyway.
You see, in the final analysis, it is between you and God;
It is never between you and them anyway.
- Mother Theresa
.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
1777 Anxious and Depressed
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Daughter and Hercules flew south today to visit Hercules' mother. They were going to call me this evening, after the initial visiting, after they were back in the hotel room. They're all the early-to-bed type, so I'm a little worried that it's after 11:30 pm, and I haven't heard from them.
After last night's call, I doubt that Daughter simply forgot. I thought she'd be anxious to tell me how it went. If they did forget, then it's too late for me to call them. They'd be tired from travelling and probably asleep.
Sigh.
Usually my several thousand daffodils bloom over a few weeks - as some die off, others burst forth. Last Spring and this Spring, it's like they all bloomed at once - BAM! Five days later it's a sea of brown shriveled flower heads.
That's a little depressing, too.
Nothing else going on.
.
Daughter and Hercules flew south today to visit Hercules' mother. They were going to call me this evening, after the initial visiting, after they were back in the hotel room. They're all the early-to-bed type, so I'm a little worried that it's after 11:30 pm, and I haven't heard from them.
After last night's call, I doubt that Daughter simply forgot. I thought she'd be anxious to tell me how it went. If they did forget, then it's too late for me to call them. They'd be tired from travelling and probably asleep.
Sigh.
Usually my several thousand daffodils bloom over a few weeks - as some die off, others burst forth. Last Spring and this Spring, it's like they all bloomed at once - BAM! Five days later it's a sea of brown shriveled flower heads.
That's a little depressing, too.
Nothing else going on.
.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
1776 Bomb Plot
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Driving home from dinner, I heard on NPR about the 18-year-old high school student in S.C. who bought 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate on eBay, and had obtained bomb-building plans and materials, planning to blow up his high school (and himself). He had taped an audio message to be played after his death. According to the report, he was a straight A student, and didn't appear to have any problems. His parents discovered what he was up to, and called the police.
He is now facing multiple federal charges including intent to use WMD, and if convicted of all charges could get a life sentence (according to the NPR report) or 2 to 15 years (according to the online report).
Now, here's where my sometimes liberal leanings show.
The kid is sick. He needs psychiatric help, and not just a bottle of pills. If you throw him in jail with no or minimal counselling, he will never have a chance at all, and he'll eventually be turned loose bitter. If he goes to prison at all, it may as well be for life, because any prison sentence will be a life sentence, which doesn't seem fair because he's obviously sick.
Shouldn't we find out first if it's going to be a lifelong illness? Or if it's curable?
.
Driving home from dinner, I heard on NPR about the 18-year-old high school student in S.C. who bought 10 pounds of ammonium nitrate on eBay, and had obtained bomb-building plans and materials, planning to blow up his high school (and himself). He had taped an audio message to be played after his death. According to the report, he was a straight A student, and didn't appear to have any problems. His parents discovered what he was up to, and called the police.
He is now facing multiple federal charges including intent to use WMD, and if convicted of all charges could get a life sentence (according to the NPR report) or 2 to 15 years (according to the online report).
Now, here's where my sometimes liberal leanings show.
The kid is sick. He needs psychiatric help, and not just a bottle of pills. If you throw him in jail with no or minimal counselling, he will never have a chance at all, and he'll eventually be turned loose bitter. If he goes to prison at all, it may as well be for life, because any prison sentence will be a life sentence, which doesn't seem fair because he's obviously sick.
Shouldn't we find out first if it's going to be a lifelong illness? Or if it's curable?
.
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