3382 News Flash

Saturday, October 29, 2011

I guess I'm glad I didn't go upriver to the old house as I had tentatively planned before the tax crap hit the fan. This just in:

Dutchess County Executive William R. Steinhaus, in consultation with the Dutchess County Sheriff’s Office, New York State Police, Central Hudson and New York State Gas & Electric, has declared a countywide State of Emergency for the County of Dutchess effective 7pm this evening (Saturday, October 29th).

County Executive Steinhaus said, “Law enforcement, public works and utility crews are all reporting treacherous weather conditions with downed limbs and power lines. To ensure public safety and allow crews to address hazards and restore power, a State of Emergency will be in effect from 7pm this evening (Saturday, 10/29).”

The State of Emergency declaration states: “all roadways in Dutchess are closed and traffic is prohibited except for: medical and health facility personnel, law enforcement and public safety personnel, first responders, utility, maintenance and public works personnel, snow removal sanding, salting and clearing operations personnel, facility operations persons deemed necessary for plant operations by their employers and public and government personnel involved in the emergency operations.”

The state of emergency is issued pursuant to Section 24 of New York State Executive Law. It is enforceable by local, county and state law enforcement agencies.

Leaves are still on the trees. Unfortunately, the trees are no longer standing. The last time this happened was about 1995ish, snow while the trees still had leaves. Jay and I lost 23 !!!! trees on our property - the old house. I guess I'll hear tomorrow (or whenever the power comes back up) from the Hairless Hunk how many trees I've lost this time. And how much cleanup will cost.

I hope none hit the house.

.

3381 Then

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Death is an alternate existence.

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

Man, I write next to nothing here for months, and today you can't shut me up. Must be the snow....

Why is it that every time I connect with someone from the past on Classmates.com, they immediately put my email address on their broadcast list and start sending me those stupid cutsy-poo memes that everybody has been sending everybody else for years? Then I finally get annoyed and ask them to remove me from their forward lists, and they get pissed and I never hear from them again.

Well, today I got a forward of the "Remember Back When" genre. Then, coincidentally, Becs wrote about how different playtime is for kids today as compared to Back When. I started to write a comment on Becs' post, then decided it would be too long, so, Becs, here's my comment.

Yeah.

When I was in the 5th, 6th, and 7th grades, we lived in Ottawa, Ontario. We kids used to go everywhere in the city on the city buses and trolleys. A nickle got you on, and you'd get a transfer when you got off that was good for several hours, which you could use on any other bus or trolley, where you'd get another transfer, and so on. You could go anywhere, all day, on that one nickle.

No cell phones. We left the house in the morning with our nickle, and our parents didn't know where in the whole city we were, until we showed up again at supper time. We had another nickle in our sock for the pay telephone, in case we got sick or something.

Actually, we often left the city. We'd take the bus across the river to French-speaking Hull, basically the "other half" of Ottawa, to go to French movies. If we took the ticket stub to school, we'd get 5 points credit in French class.

We'd go for bike rides, straight out into the countryside, passing signposts that said "Ottawa 20 miles" (it was still "miles" then, pre-conversion) behind us.

Or we'd go to the Parliament buildings in the middle of the city, and watch the mounties and pet their horses. There was a hotel near Parliament with an indoor pool, and no one ever questioned our right to use the changing rooms and swim there. I guess they just assumed our parents were guests or members.

The Rideau Canal snaked through the city. It froze in the winter, and we would skate the length of it (maybe 4 miles?) and back. No adults herding us, just lots of kids on the ice.

We were 10, 11, 12 years old, but younger kids were doing it, too. Here, now, kids can't walk the 1/2 block to their home from the school bus until they're over 12. If a pre-approved adult isn't waiting at the bus stop, the driver is not allowed to let the kid off.

Kids are learning that the whole world is depraved. "Back When", we were pretty much set loose on the world. And, hey, we survived! Along the way we learned about weird people, and good people, and dangerous things and safe things. Getting lost and finding our way back again.

We learned about making independent choices, and dealing with the consequences.

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

Hallowe'en. I don't want to hand out sugar, the state won't allow fruit (unless very expensively individually wrapped) and last year's kids didn't seem too thrilled with bags of salty corn or potato carbs. This year I ordered small bottles of bubble stuff. The supplier called yesterday (the order was placed over a week ago) and has promised that they will arrive by 3 pm Monday. They're being shipped UPS from a warehouse in northern NJ, so, maybe.

I don't know what I'll do if they don't arrive on time.

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

Go to snopes.com and search for Halloween apples razor. There's only one documented nutcase. The rest seem to be hoaxes, or kids being "funny".

People overreact to everything, and I think it's because they've been "guilted" into feeling responsible if anything goes wrong.

That, plus the fear of lawsuits.

And the fear of not being politically correct. (Which, by the way, leads to a whole new topic: "Politically Correct" is gradually going from being a social thing to being a real political thing. People are being arrested for insulting the government or government employees. Death threats or real death are dealt for being "unpatriotic".)

Sheesh.

Really, truly, watch the video in the previous post.

...What if some stupid kid drinks the bubble stuff and gets diarrhea, and the parents sue me? See how it works, where it goes? In the current American climate, it could happen....
.

3380 Would you believe?

Saturday, October 29, 2011

The deepest despair is full of secret satisfactions.
-- Albert Speer, Spandau Diaries --

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

Remember the quote above when you read "train wreck" blogs. Partly as it applies to the writer, partly as it applies to the reader.

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

Would you believe it's 34 degrees F, and it's snowing, and it's sticking?

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

Would you believe there are actually women who never touch their own breasts, and who act disgusted when you suggest that they do, to, like, check for lumps and stuff? Like you've asked them to do something "dirty". Really. There are women who have never seen themselves naked in a mirror.

I cannot imagine being so disconnected from and disgusted by one's own body. But they really do exist, right here in River City.

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

Would you believe that I know a man (well, actually two men, although I haven't seen one of them in a decade or more) who is disgusted by everything his body produces. Even sweat. He's embarrassed to be seen with beads of sweat on his brow, let alone allowing anyone to actually touch his sweat. He showers at least twice a day, more often if he can manage it.

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

The following video is Terence McKenna. Mr. McKenna died in 2000 of a glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a particularly nasty type of brain tumor. During his life, he, like Timothy Leary, was a proponent of psychedelic drugs as a means of opening the mind to other dimensions.

I do happen to believe that there's a lot more going on than we can normally perceive, that there is another dimension to reality, and that if you are open to it, you can catch glimpses, but I don't agree that magic mushrooms is the key to that opening. Rather, I believe that psychedelics just turn one's mind around into itself. A fractal mobius strip mirror.

Be that as it may, I do agree with Mr. McKenna's take on relativism and political correctness:

[http://youtu.be/7OX77Qv66qw]
.

3379 Tax Shock

Saturday, October 29, 2011

One does not reject, dislike, or avoid pleasure itself because it is pleasure,
but because those who do not know how to pursue pleasure rationally encounter
consequences that are extremely painful.
-- Section 1.10.32 of "de Finibus Bonorum et Malorum", written by Cicero in 45 BC --

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

I don't pretend to understand the green quote above, but for some reason it intrigues me.

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

Latest hitch in my gitalong: The township has suddenly become aware that there's a house on my lot, and has raised the assessment. I get quarterly coupons to pay the real estate taxes, and I have dutifully paid them, to the tune of almost $3,000 so far for the first three quarters of 2001. That sounded about right to me, so it never occurred to me that there might be a problem.

My house upriver is technically larger than this house, walk-out basement, 2.5 car garage, deck and huge windows across the back, on 1.3 acres, on a ridge with a fantastic 20-mile view. This house is smaller, on a tiny lot (probably about 1/4 acre, over half of which I can't use because of a township easement), no basement, tiny 1 car garage. The taxes upriver are a bit over $5K per year, so a bit less than $4K here seemed a bit high, but reasonable enough.

Surprise! That was just for the land. Now that they've figured out there's a house (in addition to the mail box they'd been sending the coupons to, don't know what they thought the box was attached to), they've sent me a bill for the back taxes for 2011. By 11/10 I have to come up with an additional $5,198.75!

The total tax bill for this house is almost $8,000 per year! Holy Crap! I was not expecting this. Gonna have to have a talk with the assessor, I think.
.

3378 Bits

October 28, 2011

Next to great joy, no state of mind is so frolicsome as great distress.
-- Henry James, A Most Extraordinary Case --

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

From Criggo.com:

Sigh. I've seen this suggestion (left) many times before, elsewhere. I always wonder if the person is serious, if people are really this stupid, or if it's just a lame joke.

On the other hand, I've heard people say it, in all seriousness, regarding the deer crossing on route 199 west of Milan.

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

I hate my latest hair trim. It goes straight across the forehead and makes me look a lot like Linda Hunt, especially as my face gets thinner. Don't get me wrong - I adore her - but I'm used to a different me in the mirror .

What's worse is that she and I are about the same height. The first time someone asks me for an autograph....

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

The folks diagonally to the right across the street (the fire chief) have moved. I twice saw a large rental truck in the driveway, but I never saw them putting anything in it.

They also took the storage shed that used to be at the end of the driveway. I had suspected that the shed contained the source of that mechanical tree frog sound that had slowly been driving me crazy, either that or some kind of pump on the next street over. I haven't heard the sound since they moved, so I'm hoping that was it.

I am sleeping a bit better since they left.

Now I'm curious. What was making the sound? Maybe a freezer? Is it reasonable that a freezer would run at night in the winter when the temperature is well below freezing, but not during the day?

Now that the sound is gone, the curiosity is taking over the crazy-making duties.

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

I got a cute birthday card from the Nugget. She had addressed the envelope herself (but they had to take the pen away from her when she started eating it). The card (one corner had been chewed) wished me a happy fourth birthday. I wondered about that for a moment, but the inside said that Gramma was so wise and knew so much she must obviously be old.

To six months, four is old.
.

3377 A fashion education

Thursday, October 27, 2011

What bothers me about God is that he hates arrogance so much,
but doesn't seem to mind cruelty.
-- Paraphrased from Elaine May and Mike Nichols (actress and director) --

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

I've been coming across references to"hipsters"and "hipster fashion". In my own head, with no evidence to guide me, I decided it had to be kind of like a 30s-movie relaxed preppie sort of thing, where one could wear what one liked without regard to what's "in".

I googled some images. Man, was I wrong!

It's more like a cross between grunge and hippie, but hippie that has discovered polyester and lycra, and has no sense of flow or beauty.

Bleck.

(Yeah, they wear neck scarves in June, but they HAVE to because they have NO BODY FAT to keep them warm!)

Images: http://forums.thefashionspot.com/f89/hipster-street-style-45811.html
.

3376 An adult response

Thursday, October 27, 2011

One parent can support ten children, but ten children cannot support one parent.
-- Rabbi Pinchas of Koretz --

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

"After 10 hours of negotiation, Europe may be on the way to solving their debt crisis. So that’s another way Europe is nothing like us. The negotiating. And the solving." (From http://www.shoeboxblog.com/?p=28121.)

3375 Sleep, ribs, headache

Sunday, October 23, 2011

One who considers himself a victim of circumstance
is more often a prisoner of his own decisions.

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

This is a note for my own memory. Ignore.

Sleep - bad for several weeks. Disturbed by brain running in high gear. Fall asleep easily, but wake multiple times with cascading thoughts.

Headache - across lower back of head and neck. Often wake at very early hour and can't get back to sleep. One aspirin helps. Disappears when I'm upright. Neck creaks for a while when I move it after I get up. Headaches are very rare for me, so this is a worry.

Ribs - they hurt. Low, high, front, back, pain moves around. Definitely the ribs, not inside. About two or three weeks now. Also right hip, for about a month or more, moves around front, back, side, high, low.

Reasons? Heat blows on bed, on head, during night. Closed the vents completely last night, did sleep a little better. Still same bone pain, but headache less this morning. That mechanical tree frog sound from across the street disturbs me, causes tension in my neck. If things don't improve, try sleeping in a back bedroom. Can't hear it there. Bone pain - wondering if the kidney-protecting calcium reduction is causing it. I'm going to ignore doctor recommendations and add the magnesium back in. Maybe ribs hurt from leaning over the play yard sides?
.

3374 Reluctant Shopper

Saturday, October 22, 2011

I love my country, but I fear my government.
-- Bumper sticker --

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

Would you believe I have nothing to say?

Sigh.

Nothing happening.

Oh, something that did happen: In Thursday's mail I got a birthday gift coupon from Coldwater Creek. I don't need clothes! I haven't bought anything in ages, and had no plans to do any clothes shopping in the near future. Far future, either. But there was no minimum to use the coupon, and if I didn't use it soon it would expire, so I figured what the heck, I'll pick out something for the amount of the coupon and get it for free. Note that I've already bought so much from them that I'm a "onecreek elite shopper", which gets me an automatic 5% off all purchases, and free expedited shipping, so it wouldn't cost me anything. I'm too cheap to pass up free clothes.

Danger, Will Robinson! Danger!!!!!

So I went to the website, and clicked on the outlet, where stuff is 30-70% off.

Surprise. Thursday evening happened to be one of their big sales. 40% off everything, on top of the outlet discount! Holy crap!

So, outlet. 30-70% off list price. Then 40% plus my elite 5% off that reduced price, then the birthday gift amount off that total. And free shipping.

The order arrived today. I am now out of hangers.

It's official. I've hit the tipping point. I can never again lose or gain weight.

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

One of my purchases was this jacket, in a size 8 (I get size 6 for summer, 8 for winter). What they sent instead was this skirt, in a size 42. Repeat, size 42.

I called customer service, and they're going to send me the jacket. They include pre-paid postage labels for returns (for elites), but if you don't want to package it for shipping, you can take it to any store.

I hadn't been to the local store yet, but I'd heard it was in an upscale enclave, so I went there this evening to return the skirt and check out the mall.

Two interesting things happened:
1. They'd never heard of OneCreek Elite. A quick check with corporate surprised and educated them. Apparently I'm the only elite in the area.
2. They accepted the returned skirt, and handed me a coupon for 40% off anything in the store.

Sheesh! I don't know how they're making any money on me!

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

Coldwater has some very nice things. And if you can wait until an item hits the outlet, you can get some fabulous deals. But! They also have some pure crap. The kind of stuff that stretches out of shape by the third wearing, or is so thin it's chintzy, or so stiff it's like cardboard, or so badly made it sticks out in odd places and the buttons fall off. You have to get to know the inventory, the materials they use. I've made enough mistakes that I can look at the photo on the website and tell you whether it's quality or crap. I still get crap about 10% of the time, but they are very good about returns, and the other 90% is worth it.

But the main reason I buy from them is that once you've figured out your size, everything fits the same, which makes online (outlet!) shopping a breeze.
.

3373 Bits from around the web

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Blessed are the cracked, for they shall let in the light.

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

Mr. Diety and the Naughty Bits. God's committee designs humans.
http://youtu.be/G5wYT_IdYac

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

Dylan Ratigan, in a passionate plea, makes an excellent point, that the "Occupy Wall Street" type groups need to focus on one problem and propose one fix, and this is it:
http://youtu.be/CJKFw2Lk92g

I absolutely agree!

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

The Catholic Church just can't get a break these days. Read this:

300,000 babies stolen from their parents - and sold for adoption: Haunting BBC documentary exposes 50-year scandal of baby trafficking by the Catholic church in Spain

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2049647/BBC-documentary-exposes-50-year-scandal-baby-trafficking-Catholic-church-Spain.html#ixzz1bGxfoUwl

They were telling young "unsuitable" mothers that their babies had died at birth, and then they sold the babies to more "suitable" couples.

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

Just to be even-handed, there's the story of the (presumably Protestant) prison chaplain to whom a prisoner in Britain had (sort of) confessed his crime, and the chaplain turned right around and told the authorities. The chaplain felt no need to respect any confidentiality, because he felt that the prisoner "was not religious". As noted by the folks at http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/, apparently if the guy had gone to church regularly, he would have been allowed to get away with murder.

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

What the hay, let's go for the shotgun effect. How 'bout the church in Winnipeg that shut down their food bank because it attracted poor people, which was "uncomfortable" and created "social unrest in the church". According to the minister, "A food bank is a social service, and that is not who we are." They are cancelling it to concentrate on "more church-specific activities". They say that clients of the food bank have not accepted personal responsibility for their need.

Um --- I don't know what to say. Maybe they're right. Not in their attitude, but in their need to concentrate on church-specific activities, like, oh, reading the Bible for starters.

Story at http://drreid3.newsvine.com/_news/2011/08/30/7532123-headline-church-closes-food-bank-because-it-attracts-poor-people. Pastor backpedals at http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2000/02/21/church.html.

Note: There's a discrepancy in the dates on those stories that I don't understand. Old story that's been picked up again? Same minister doing the same thing again at a different church? Coincidence? I don't understand.

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

Just to be clear, I am not anti-God or anti- whatever anyone's belief is. I *AM* anti-church, especially patriarchal churches, anti-organized and hierarchical religion, anti-human-defined "belief".

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

When I saw this, I thought of The Queen (inside joke, ignore). Venn Pie:


How 'bout spiced apple on one side and pork mince on the other?
.

3372 The future is arriving, duh?

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Fashion is a form of ugliness so intolerable that we have to alter it every six months.
-- Oscar Wilde --

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

Interesting.

http://chzsetphaserstolol.files.wordpress.com/2011/10/star-trek-is-just-around-the-corner.jpg

Click the link to see, then click the graphic to enlarge. (It's safe. I downloaded and scanned it.)
.

3371 Strange

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

There is nothing wrong with having nothing to say --- unless you insist on saying it.
-- Ralph Waldo Emerson --

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

On the porch this afternoon. A very long, deep, low horn sound that vibrated in my chest. Sounded like it was coming from the bay. Maybe a ship.

I had a very strange reaction.

Back when I was in my early 30s or so, when I was very unhappy and slightly, um, "disconnected", every so often I'd think about aliens, about spaceships, sort of like "War of the Worlds" or any of the dozen or so '50s invasion movies, but more personal. I spent a lot of time alone back then, and I'd imagine a flying saucer or something, something very strange, landing near me, and aliens getting out. I imagined what I'd do. Where I'd hide. What it would mean. It was very strong and very frightening.

I heard a deep sound this afternoon, and for some weird reason I was momentarily afraid, and even though I knew it was most likely a ship in the bay, I looked at the thick clouds above (it's been raining steadily) and I fully expected to see something unearthly there.

And I wondered what I'd do.
.

3370 Manifesto

Cards and poster available at www.holstee.com/manifesto.

3369 Read reports with a grain of salt, please!

Sunday, October 16, 2011

The author of The Starr Evidence, a compilation of Clinton/Lewinsky testimony,
is Wall Street Journal reporter Phil Kuntz.
I can't believe that name is real! Especially in that context.
--Silk --

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

Iraq and Afghanistan are slowing down, so now "they" are hot to attack Iran.

Interesting, eh?

Do we have any more influence over what our government does than the Iranian people have over what theirs does? What does that mean?

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

A long time ago I pointed out that the job market died at about the same time as the military needed volunteers. I predict that the job market will not recover until the military no longer needs large amounts of bodies.
.

3368 Two mysteries solved!

Saturday, October 15, 2011

A good thought provoking question: What painting would you like to step into?

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

I'm one of those people who doesn't take aspirin when I have a headache, not because I have anything against medication, but because when I have a headache, my head isn't working right! And so I never even think of aspirin. Same with colds and antihistamines, and so on. When I'm sick, I need a nurse. I'm an excellent nurse to others, but not myself.

So when I had the fibro attack Wednesday and Thursday, I was in so much pain everywhere it didn't occur to me to ask why until I realized on Thursday night that I hadn't been drinking my usual three quarts of water per day. In fact, since like Saturday I had been down to maybe one quart per day, if that, plus all the physical exertion.

I had been distracted by Daughter's back problems.

Thursday night between 8 and 11 pm I drank about two quarts, and almost immediately felt better.

Sometimes I'm a complete idiot.

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

I've been feeling a little rejected lately. I admit that being busy the past few weeks, and not taking the laptop with me when I go upriver, I haven't been commenting on others' blogs much. But what hurt a little was that often when I did comment, my comment never showed up. Like it had been rejected or blocked or something.

This morning I discovered something weird in Blogger. I'll type my comment and the verification word, and the ID part says "~~Silk", like usual, I hit "post", and then I get a small (new) popup screen that invites me to create a blog. I'd been just closing that screen.

This morning, I noticed that there was more text to the right in that popup, so I widened the screen, and POW!, there's a login section. I had assumed that since Blogger knew it was me, that I was logged in. I guess not. I guess my comments have been disappearing because Blogger considered me not logged in.

I don't understand.

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

This is cute. I hope you don't need a Facebook id to see it, but I can't figure out how to copy it over. If you do have a Facebook id, you'll probably have to log in. It's Nugget's first time in her highchair (5 months old), and an early taste of rice cereal. That's Daughter feeding her, but I seriously didn't recognize Daughter's voice. Do catch Nugget's comment at the end. I don't know where she learned that (Gramma is looking away, digging her toe into the dirt, and whistling).

http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=2287617148820

(No, I don't have an indoor pool. Just a bathtub. All they have is a shower.)
.

3367 Keeping Track

Thursday, October 13, 2011

Definition: Apophasis - mentioning something you won't mention, such as
"I won't even mention his arrogance!"

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

Just a note so I can keep track. I seem to be having a flareup of fibro. I hurt everywhere, badly. And a few minutes ago an ocular migraine started. I can barely see.

These things seem to happen when I'm physically stressed.
.

3366 HOTW redux

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

Ignorance is not knowing something you should. Nescience [ne-she-ence]
is not knowing something you should not be expected to know. [Adjective - nescient]
If someone calls you ignorant, correct them. You are nescient. Now who's ignorant?

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

In post #3359 I dubbed JR Martinez as HOTW. This video is further justification (as if I need any). Embedding has been disabled, so you have to follow the link to YouTube to see it, but do go. Listen to his message, enjoy the body.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=reIPWyLYvng

3365 A Long Week

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

An absence of evidence is not evidence of absence.

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

Back in February, March, April, when the revolution in Egypt was in full swing, I mentioned in several blog posts that it looked to me like the "friendly, supportive" Egyptian army was just using the populace to achieve their own ends. Mubarak had gained control via a military coup. I figured that as soon as Mubarak was gone, all the dirty work done by the revolutionaries, the army brass would take control, and delay anything resembling an election for, oh, a few decades.

Five points to me.

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

Daughter and I and the Nugget went upriver on Sunday, the third, and then Daughter and Nugget brought Suzy the Suzuki back down here on Monday. Suzy has four doors, easier to get the Nugget in and out than her two-door Honda, so I'm giving Suzy to Daughter.

We stayed Sunday night at a hotel in Kingston, NY, and on Monday morning, Nugget and I checked out the hotel pool. I copied these photos from Daughter's Facebook page, and I don't know why they came out different sizes.




This one cracks me up every time I look at it.

She absolutely loved the pool. "Look at me, Mommy! I'm swimming!"

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

We returned on Monday, and I intended to go back up on Wednesday, the 5th, with the minivan and return with a load on Friday. But Wednesday something I ate didn't agree with me, and a long drive was not advisable, so I drove up early Thursday, and then spent most of Thursday afternoon on some business in Kingston. On Friday I finally got to do some sorting and packing, and I was accomplishing so much and it felt so good, I decided to stay another night and return Saturday evening.

Luckily, I packed the van on Friday night, mainly to give me more sorting space in the house.

I say "luckily" because early Saturday morning I got a tearful call from Daughter. She had thrown her back out the evening before, could barely walk, and couldn't pick the Nugget up. A neighbor was helping her out, but couldn't stay (holiday weekend, you know). So I rushed back downriver.

Saturday and Sunday I camped at Daughter's house (across the street). She's more mobile now, and Nugget, believe it or not, has learned to stand up (with help with balance) when her Mommy wants her on the lap to feed her, which makes it easier. So I go over when I get a call that Nugget needs high lifting, like to the changing table, in or out of the crib, and especially out of her truck-walker or bouncy swing. I've also been taking Daughter to her chiropractor and acupuncturist.

The van is still loaded.

Sigh.
.

3364 Ice Moon

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Fundamentalists, whether Muslim, Christian, or Jew, hate to love and love to hate.

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

There's a full(ish?) moon tonight, and there's a circle of rainbow around it.

That means high ice.
.

3363 Ack!

Tuesday, October 11, 2011

Endless enemies are good for profits, propaganda and control.

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

I'm always moaning about how so many people today don't know about homonyms. Partly it's that they aren't discussed in school any more, having given way to "more important things", and partly it's that young folks don't read good writing these days, just stuff written by each other.

I found this example this morning, in a comment on an article about a woman overwintering in Antarctica who had a possible minor stroke, whose relatives insist that others must risk life and limb to get her out:

When you go to thoughs locations you know the risk.

I'm still having trouble believing someone actually wrote that. On purpose.
.

3362 Nuttin'

Wednesday, September 5, 2011

Love is blind, but the neighbors are not.

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

I've been eating a lot of pistachios lately, and I found a trick that really works. Know how there are always a few nuts that aren't opened, and the shells are so hard it's next to impossible to get them open? They almost always have a frustratingly tiny crack.

Simple method. Take a half-shell from an earlier nut, insert the edge of that half-shell into the tiny crack in the reluctant nut, and twist it, lifting toward the point of the nut. It'll pop the shell open. Works every time.

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

Daughter and I and the Nugget went north Sunday evening, stayed in a hotel in Kingston, NY, and then picked up Suzie the Suzuki Monday morning. Daughter drove Suzie back. Suzie has four doors where Daughter's Honda has two, which makes it much easier to get the Nugget in and out of the car seat, so I'm going to give Suzie to her. Sadness - I really enjoy driving Suzie. For a small car she has lots of room, a huge trunk, her high windows allow a marvelous view, and she has a smooth ride. But I don't really need her, and Daughter's life will be much easier with her.

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

I've been checking out car insurance. My NY insurance (Travelers) currently covers the three vehicles: 2011 BMW, 2000 Dodge minivan, and 2003 Suzuki, and costs about $1,800 per year. I called my agent to tell her I'd moved to NJ, and that I'd be dropping the Suzuki, so please rewrite the policy. She said "Oooo, it's a lot cheaper in NJ". I'm still waiting for the new quote, but in the meantime I've got quotes from other companies for the two vehicles, and I'm freaking out.

Geico, you know, the ones that are supposed to be pretty reasonable? Their quote was close to $1700 for six months! I had palpitations! Liberty Mutual says $1164 per year, so maybe there's an error somewhere in Geico's quote.

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

Heading north again this evening.
.

3361 Progression

Friday, September 30, 2011

The purchase of an unneeded item costs twice.
-- Silk --

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For decades now, three or four times a day I find myself in a room, or standing in front of a closet or drawer, with no idea why I'm there. I say aloud to myself, "What am I after?", and the answer eventually comes.

Lately I ask aloud, "What am I after?", and I answer myself, aloud, "I don't know."

Answer comes there none.
.

3360 Winnowing

Saturday, September 24, 2011

Man must be careful to never mistake human justice for divine justice.

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

Imagine a loving parent with 12 children, now imagine asking that parent to give away eight of them. Worse, make it not "give away", make it "get rid of".

That's how I feel about clearing out the old house.

I simply have too much stuff. But every bit of it was individually chosen. Every piece was acquired because I loved it. Every item is individual and special.

I don't have room for all of it here, but what do I get rid of?

It's hard.

I want to find loving homes for most of the stuff that I just can't keep, and one way to ensure that is to sell it. If people pay for stuff, they're more likely to actually want it. But nobody is buying stuff.

I have a collection of about 38 teapots. I figure I should pick ten and sell the rest. Go to ebay, search for teapots, and you get page after page of "0 bids". I have hundreds of vintage '60s and '70s dress patterns. Same thing - "0 bids". Quilt blocks are selling, but at $4 for 40 squares, it's not worth the time it would take to cut up my fabric stash. I'd donate the fabric, less emotional involvement there, but nobody wants it.

So I pick things up, hold them, look at them, think about where I would put it in the new house and if I don't have an answer, I think about what I can do with it to "get rid of it", and I feel like crying.
.

3359 HOTW - J.R. Martinez

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

A problem cannot be solved at the same level at which it was created.
-- Albert Einstein --

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It's been a long time since I picked a Honey of the Week. This guy has been on my radar a long time. I first saw him while channel surfing through "All My Children", and he stopped me. Instant reaction to him. Since then I occasionally check the soap to see if he's in the day's storyline.

He was badly burned in Afghanistan. Heavily scarred. But he still has the most gorgeous eyes, and he's smoothly sexy. His voice, body, the way he moves. Plus, he's 100% nice guy. He absolutely fits my qualifications for HOTW.


He was brought to mind by last night's Dancing With the Stars. I didn't watch the show, but I heard he'd done well, so I found the video on YouTube:


His scars barely show there. Must be heavily made up.

His story is at http://www.knowjr.com/about/jrs-story.
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3358 Past Flash

Sunday, September 18, 2011

For a true scientist, being wrong is just as interesting as being right.

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

I'd mentioned TD&H* 1 and 2, who ran the gas station/quick shop in the village at the old house, and that TD&H 2, the younger brother, flirted heavily with me last summer, just before I moved. (We'd taken a ride, and sat by the river one afternoon, and he wanted me to go out for dinner and drinks. I said thank you, I'm flattered, but no, but he kept trying right up until I moved.)

Well, I still subscribe to the online news feeds for the village. TD&H 2 (age 47) was arrested today in a sting operation. He sold a beer to an underage undercover agent.

Why am I amused? Shaking my head, but amused.
.

[* TD&H = tall, dark, and handsome.]

3357 Been a while....

Saturday, September 17, 2011

Intelligence does not automatically convey knowledge.

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

It's not like I've been especially busy, although I have managed to get a few things done. I now have a NJ driver's license, TV and internet cable, a house phone, got Hal's paws aligned, and have arranged for gutter cleaning and screening, and a few other things. I've got the pulleys, hooks, and cargo net for the attic, but since the hurricane, rope has been hard to find, so that's not finished yet.

One at a time:

NJ Driver's license

I'd been dreading going to the DMV, because I'd heard NJ DMVs are understaffed, have long lines and inefficient procedures, and everything takes a full day to accomplish. I went in one morning to find out what I'd need to get the license changed and the cars registered. There were no lines, and the people were very helpful. In and out with a list of "gets" and "to dos" in 15 minutes. Back the next day with the required documents for the driver's license.

And yes, there were some inefficiencies. Because I already have a valid NY license and no violations, I didn't have to take any tests. But I still had to fill out the forms and pay for a "temporary permit". When they took my picture, the woman asked if it was ok, "but this one is just for the temporary permit", so I said "yeah, it's ok, although I don't think of myself as having jowls". THEN she entered the data from the forms for the permanent license. I was under the impression I'd get a temp that day, and the permanent would be mailed, but then at the end she handed me the permanent, with the "temp" photo on it. Duh?

So I paid for a temp, AND for a perm, and she entered the data twice, once for the temp and then again for the perm, and I never got the temp. Uh, why not just skip the temp part entirely, and why make me pay for something you never had any intention of giving me?

I can't register the cars until I switch the insurance. I called my NY agent, and it was really simple. She said the insurance is even cheaper in NJ.

Daughter and I talked about Suzy Suzuki. Daughter has an 11-year-old Honda 2-door, and with the Nugget getting bigger, it's getting harder to get her in and out, so I'm going to give 4-door Suzy to Daughter.

Now I'm just waiting for the new insurance cards, and I can register Fred and Hal.

TV cable, WIFI cable internet, house phone

That all came as a FIOS package, for just about as much as I am currently paying for broadband internet alone. I had thought I could drop the broadband, but unfortunately there's no other way to get to the internet from the old house, so I'll have to keep it a bit longer.

The cable TV is annoying because there's just so much to choose from. I guess I'll find out what I like at some point, but in the meantime it's so overwhelming I find I don't watch at all. Which, actually, may be worth the cost.

I haven't handed out the house phone number at all, but the damn phone rings every half hour - people trying to sell me things (yeah, I got on the nat'l do-not-call list, but it'll take a while for that to take effect) and calls for the folks who used to have this number. Apparently they were deadbeats. Most of those calls are from collection companies. I recorded a message saying that "I do not answer this phone. I've had this number only since 9/2, so I'm probably not the person you're looking for, and I do not buy anything on the phone. I do check messages, so if you are certain you want to talk to me anyway, leave a message."

Nobody leaves messages, but the phone continues to ring about every half hour. There doesn't seem to be a way to turn the ringer off.

The internet connection is fantastic! I can actually watch YouTube videos right off, without waiting for them to load.

Hal's alignment

After the latest new tire application, the tire dealership told me that Hal needed alignment, but they preferred that BMW do it. It didn't seem too bad - no shimmy or pull, just a little less nimbleness in handling - and I don't drive him that much, so I didn't get around to it until this past week. The nearest BMW shop is a over a half-hour away down roads packed with shore traffic, so I waited until school started to take him in. The procedure took a half day and cost over $200, and now he's pulling to the right.

Crap.

Gutter cleaning and screening

Damn Gum tree balls. The gutters were so packed last winter that they filled with ice, and dumped ice and water down the driveway. Dangerous. In the past few rain storms, they've spilled water out about four feet before the downspouts. Annoying.

I was afraid it would cost a small fortune to get some kind of leaf and ball proof covers, but turns out it'll be less than $600 for both sides of the house roof and the porch roof. That's about half what I expected, given that two cleanings a year would come to $300/yr.

Installation is next Friday.

Attic pulleys

Attic access here is a drop-down ladder/stairs hatch in the upstairs hall. Those ladders are steep and because of the hinges they feel rickety, and I'm never comfortable on ladders anyway. So in every house I've lived in, I've installed pulleys so I don't have to carry anything up and down the ladder. One pulley in a rafter at the top and one that raises and lowers at the bottom halves the weight, too. At the bottom I use a fishnet arrangement to hold the stuff going up.

I have all the materials to do it except for the rope. I need 50 feet of clothesline-like rope, and it just doesn't exist anywhere right now. Every place sold out when the hurricane was coming. So I wait for restocking.

Family

The company SIL Hercules works for is, um, an Irish firm famous for crystal. They were bought out a while ago by a British company famous for china, especially featuring, um, a particular shade of blue. Anyway, they're consolidating and trimming, and Hercules' department is getting drastic cuts - except for Hercules. Last spring he and Daughter were invited to Ireland for a week. He thought it was to install a software system, but in actuality it was for the honchos to get a look at him, and after that trip he was offered a fantastic opportunity within the company. He recently spent a few weeks in Pa. in training, and is leaving today for five weeks in Ireland.

The two of them are pretty upset. The Nugget is about ready to get her belly off the floor and start crawling. He's afraid she'll change a lot before he gets back. Daughter bursts into tears at the drop of a "bon voyage". They're both so tense they argue about little things, like which GPS he should take. They've got a Skype-like computer arrangement, and a video camera, so it shouldn't be so very bad. After all, it's not like he's headed for Afghanistan or something.

I may be the one upset later. They don't know for sure where he'll be working after the building he's in now is closed. I just bought this freakin' house after Daughter assured me they wouldn't be moving for a very long time, if ever. I'll be very annoyed if they move away, leaving me here.

Sigh.
.

3356 Gotta let folks be themselves, I guess

Monday, September 12, 2011

Don Bender, letter in Mensa Bulletin: It is not statistically (or logically!) valid to examine facts,
create a hypothesis that fits those facts,
and then cite those same facts as proof that the hypothesis must be true.
(And yet, that’s what we do in court.)

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

"In 2002, following the passage of the federal No Child Left Behind Act, Arizona started to monitor state teachers to ensure that they used proper grammar and did not mispronounce words." (Story at http://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/09/12/arizona-grammar-police-stand-down-under-threat-of-litigation/)

But the federal government told them they couldn't do that, since it discriminates against those with accents.

Duh?

I think it should be easy enough to discriminate between an accent, and sloppy grammar and mispronunciation due to ignorance. Sheesh. Remember the PC arguments about Ebonics? Accepting Ebonics as "proper" led to a graduating class who couldn't get a job.

I really don't think it's too much to ask that teachers speak and write properly. In fact, I insist on it. They should set the example.

A few years ago I was reading the blog of a person who seemed to have no idea whatsoever what punctuation was for, who confused homonyms, and used capitalization randomly. Sentences were poorly constructed, and often confusing. I kept reading, though, because the blogger's ideas were good, once I waded through the slop.

I was shocked to discover that this blogger was not only a teacher in a public school, but was an English teacher!

I cringed. That person had no business in an English class, except maybe as a student. I can't imagine what that teacher's students could possibly learn from their teacher.

What do you think? Should teachers be required to be articulate?
.

3355 Mystery solved

Monday, September 12, 2011

Kneeling is not a position of strength, and begging is not an effective tactic.
-- Clarence Thomas --

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A while ago I mentioned a fog horn sound that goes off at random times during the day. I wondered if it had maybe something to do with a drawbridge, or a large boat arriving - this area is full of boatyards and marinas.

I found out that it's the EMS signal. The number of whoops tells the EMTs which ambulance company should report to where.

I hope they also use beepers, because inside the house it's inaudible.

Now I have to find out what the constant mechanical tree frog sound is. That one I can hear in the front half of the house, and it drives me crazy.

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

Has anyone else tried the new Blogger interface? I HATE it. It's another case of trying to give everything to everyone, all possible bells and whistles, with the result that for simple usage, it's unusable. To write a simple post entry, you have to wade through layers of crap the average blogger will never use. There's so much crammed on a screen you have to scroll and scroll and scroll.

Opinions?
.

3354 Exacerbated exasperation

Sunday, September 11, 2011

Ad for Norwegian Cruise Line:
Most of the Earth is covered by water. And most of the water is covered by Norwegians.

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I haven't had the TV or radio on all day, so I assume NYC is still standing. I don't see any smoke columns in the Northeast.

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

People whose livelihood depends on language don't seem to know the difference any more between "exacerbate" and "exasperate". More and more I am hearing the latter when they mean the former. Very tiresome.

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

I am also frustrated by polls that slant the questions. I saw one yesterday that's a prime example. The question was, "Do you agree with President Barack Obama’s plan to slash Social Security to 3.1 percent for workers? (Yes) (No)" Naturally, the response was overwhelmingly "No", and I suspect this will be reported as "The public overwhelmingly rejects...blah blah".

The pollsters know that the public are idiots, have zero reading comprehension skills, and will vote on the emotional impact of "slash Social Security to 3.1% for workers."

If the question had been "blah blah ... slash the Social Security tax paid by workers, thereby increasing their annual take home pay by an average of $1500 per year", which is the actual question, then I strongly suspect that the answer would have been different. Of course, that's slanting it the other way.

Idiots.

This is why I NEVER believe the results of polls.
----------------------------

I am currently reading Sisters, by Kathleen Thompson Norris, published sometime in the late '20s. It was one of the free book offers for the Kindle, and I selected it because it was one of the few I'd never heard of. (Reviews at http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6562314-sisters.)

You can read the reviews, folks love it or hate it. I'm not finished yet, so I have no opinion other than that I'm tired of the lavish descriptions of the beauty of Cherry, the youngest character. Ok, we get it! Also of the way absolutely everything comfortable is lovingly described as "shabby".

What no other reviewer has mentioned but which shocked me is the casual racism. Discussing the prospect of an excellent job in Mexico, the characters decide it's not a place Cherry would want to follow her husband, since no country where the native inhabitants are black, brown, or yellow is worth visiting, because if there were anything to recommend it, the inhabitants would be white.

Also, Chinese household help abounds, and their employers speak to them in babytalk pidgin.

All very casual and accepted.

That was then. This is now. But I'm still surprised that no other reviewer noted it as one of the elements that dates the book. It's the casualness that dates it. Mark Twain, for example, was not casual.

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

I dislike people who chew with their mouths open. I despise those do it with crunchy things in movie theaters! I want to leap over seats and throttle them!

Close your damn mouth!
.

3353 Flood?

Thursday, September 8, 2011

“Some people make your life better by walking into it,
other people will make your life better by walking out of it.”

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I'm north, at the old house. I plan to head back south this evening, with a stop in Goshen, NY, in Orange County, only slightly out of the way, to attend a Mensa dinner. I haven't seen those people in six months. I keep trying to go to dinners and events, but the weather, health, and schedules haven't cooperated.

So I really thought I'd make it this evening.

But TV news reports flash flooding all over Ulster and Orange counties (west of the Throughway) , and the NYS Throughway southbound is CLOSED between exits 18 and 17. I'd be getting on at exit 19 and off at 16 to go to the dinner. The detour would be through local roads in Ulster county, which is not good, since there is a good chance of flooding, and a guarantee of being full of Throughway traffic.

I put out a call for information and route advice from locals on the Mensa Yahoo group, but have not had a response yet. I'm not sure what to do.

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

11:00 am - Just got a response to my group note for advice, from Roman (long-time readers, remember Roman?). He says the Throughway is now open except for the shoulders, and that 9W south to 84 is open and clear if I still want to detour, and that I can call 511 to get road condition info.

That's one good thing you can say about Roman. He always has good info about everything.

4:00 pm - Went to visit Piper and ran into The Angel, my CPA. He says I don't really want to go to Goshen. Even if the roads are open and the bridges are up, Goshen itself is flooded and they have no power, so the restaurant probably won't be open.

11:30 pm - I went anyway. I'd be headed south, which is where I want to eventually end up anyway, so I may as well try. All roads were open, there was no sign of flooding anywhere along the way, and Goshen was fine. I got to see several of the people I'd been missing, and it was a good evening.

You know, I think there's simply a lot of exaggeration in the reports of conditions. Kind of like when it's windy, and a roof blows off a building, and everybody yells "Tornado!", when it's really just strong wind. It's tiresome.
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3352 Statistics: "True" propositions, specious conclusions

Wednesday, September 7, 2011

“Homosexuality is found in 450+ species. Homophobia is found in only one. Which one seems unnatural now?”

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Disturbing facts about bread:

1. More than 98 percent of convicted felons are bread users.
2. Fully half of all children who grow up in bread-consuming households score below average on standardized tests.
3. In the 18th century, when virtually all bread was baked in the home, the average life expectancy was less than 50 years; infant mortality rates were unacceptably high; many women died in childbirth; and diseases such as typhoid, yellow fever, and influenza ravaged whole nations.
4. Every piece of bread you eat brings you nearer to death.
5. Bread is associated with all the major diseases of the body. For example, nearly all sick people have eaten bread. The effects are obviously cumulative:
• 99.9% of all people who die from cancer have eaten bread.
• 100% of all soldiers have eaten bread.
• 96.9% of all Communist sympathizers have eaten bread.
• 99.7% of the people involved in air and auto accidents ate bread within 6 months preceding the accident.
• 93.1% of juvenile delinquents came from homes where bread is served frequently.
6. Evidence points to the long-term effects of bread eating: Of all people born before 1839 who later dined on bread, there has been a 100% mortality rate.
7. Bread is made from a substance called "dough." It has been proven that as little as a teaspoon of dough can be used to suffocate a lab rat. The average American eats more bread than that in one day.
8. Primitive tribal societies that have no bread exhibit a low incidence of cancer, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease, and osteoporosis.
9. Bread has been proven to be addictive. Subjects deprived of bread and being fed only water begged for bread after as little as two days.
10. Bread is often a "gateway" food item, leading the user to "harder" items such as butter, jelly, peanut butter, and even cold cuts.
11. Bread has been proven to absorb water. Since the human body is more than 90 percent water, it follows that eating bread could lead to your body being taken over by this absorptive food product, turning you into a soggy, gooey bread-pudding person.
12. Newborn babies can choke on bread.
13. Bread is baked at temperatures as high as 400 degrees Fahrenheit. That kind of heat can kill an adult in less than one minute.
14. Most bread eaters are utterly unable to distinguish between significant scientific fact and meaningless statistical babbling!

In light of these frightening statistics, we propose the following bread restrictions:

• No sale of bread to minors.
• A nationwide "Just Say No To Toast" campaign, complete with celebrity TV spots, and bumper stickers.
• A 300 percent federal tax on all bread to pay for all the societal ills we might associate with bread.
• No animal or human images, nor any primary colors (which may appeal to children) may be used to promote bread usage.
• The establishment of "Bread-free" zones around schools.

.

3351 Mites

Monday, September 5, 2011

"Friendship is being there when someone's feeling low and not being afraid to kick them."
-- Randy K. Milholland --

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I had three beautiful huge rose-pink impatiens pots on the porch. They were attacked and devastated by spider mites.

When it came time to put the porch plants in the garage to protect them from Irene, I dumped those pots down the bank in the back, so they wouldn't infect the other plants.

I wondered where they got the mites. Those things are tiny. They don't exactly walk around looking for good plants. Usually they arrive on a new plant, infected in the crowded environment of a nursery and will spread to any plant within a few inches of the infected plant. The impatiens were clean all summer. Where did the sudden infestation of spider mites come from?

I have replaced the impatiens with mums, better for the fall anyway. Today I was sitting on the porch, and saw a bee land on a geranium blossom, and a light bulb went off.

I'll bet the mites hitchhiked in on bees!

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

I mowed the lawn today, and when I mowed past the bank, I saw a splash of rose-pink a few feet down the slope.

The impatiens.

They actually look healthier now than they did on the porch.

I wished them happiness.
.

3350 Enterprise

Saturday, September 3, 2011

Even a minor event in the life of a child is an event of that child's world and thus a world event.
-- Gaston Bachelard, scientist and philosopher --

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The Mid-Hudson Valley suffered more damage to electrical wires than New Jersey, I think. Probably because there are more trees there, and the mountains channeled and increased the force of the winds.

Central Hudson, the electric company up there, has been faced with a head-shaking problem. They arrive to repair downed wires and transformers, and the wires and transformers are gone!

People are stealing the dead wires!
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3349 Frustration

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

The two rules for success: 1) Figure out exactly what you want to do. 2) Do it.
-- Mario Cuomo's mother --

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

The mid-Hudson Valley seems to have had it worse than here from Irene. Lots of flooding, trees down, bridges out. The Hairless Hunk says my old house is fine, some branches down but no major tree loss, and so on, but --- he can see only the exterior. I'm anxious to get up there.

But things keep popping up, keeping me here! I can't even get the stuff I need to do here done. I'm getting very upset.

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

Two years ago I flunked the bone density test (mildly) and my GP told me to increase my calcium. Last February I had high blood calcium, so my GP told me increase vitamin D.

Two years ago my blood sugar was fluctuating wildly (and I wanted to lose weight), so the nutritionist taught me how to balance carbs and protein. Too much meat is not good, I hate beans, nuts are fine but too high in fat to use too much, so she told me to up my no-fat/low-fat dairy.

Saw the urologist yesterday. He says that my 24-hour (actually 48, but who's counting) urine collection shows I'm passing a lot of calcium, and since the stones are calcium oxalate, I should reduce dairy products in my diet, and reduce the vitamin D.

Hmmmm.

So, what do I do now?

Three years ago my THS (thyroid stimulating hormone) was high, so my GP put me on thyroid supplements. Last February the THS was fine, so they took the thyroid supplements away from me.

The parathyroid regulates calcium.

One of the results of parathyroid disfunction is --- I forget now what it's called --- but nodules form in the lungs, heart, other organs. The nodules in the lungs cause rales (the rattling/bubbling in the lungs like with pneumonia). Two weeks ago, my new GP heard rales. I've always had rales to some degree because of the structure of my lungs, but not enough that anyone worried about them. She was worried.

Hmmm. Maybe I should get my parathyroid checked.

Why has no doctor suggested that?

Probably for the same reason that my signs of raging kidney infection were ignored. Nobody really thinks any more.
.

3348 Serger!

Wednesday, August 31, 2011

Me: To define a career goal is to define your limits.

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I just bought this:

Singer Perfect Finish LCD Sewing Machine & Serger
(http://www.singerco.com/products/2162/perfect-finish-combo)
$349.99 + $5 Shipping (everything from Woot is $5 shipping, even anvils)
Condition: New

from Woot.com.

I have a New Home zig-zag sewing machine that I'd bought used 45 years ago, and it's still working fine. But I've wanted a serger for a long time now. I wear a lot of knits, and being so short I have to alter everything, and have to do the stretchy seams by hand, so a serger would be very handy. But sergers are horribly expensive and notoriously finicky, and I didn't want to spend so much for something I might want to throw out the window. I also don't need a zillion functions. So this seems ideal.

This opinion, from a commenter:

This package is not a mistake - it's a mistake to pass it up.

There's been a lot said about Singers in the comments above, and both opinions of the brand are true - Singers held absolute dominance in quality from the founding of the company in 1860, until the mid-1960's A good 100-year run. They designed and marketed arguably the best home machine ever, the 500A Slant-O-Matic Rocketeer, released in 1960, and then suddenly in the mid 60's made the curious decision to change from all-metal to mucho plastic in their moving parts fabrication. At the time, little was known about the long term wear on plastic parts, and after a few years' use, some of the machines started falling apart. Thus Singer suffered a deserved rap on its reputation, and most Singers made from 1968 through the mid 1980s are junk.

Enter new management for Singer, and a new era of pride in what they produce, and today's Singers are again at the top of their game and have been for the last decade.

This Singer package is an extremely good deal on a high-quality product. Gentlemen (unless you are Tim Gunn), the value of this Singer package is equivalent to a Vizio 42" TV for $99.95. Or an iPad for the same 100 smackeroos.

The "little sister" to this exact machine, the "Stylist" was a Consumer Digest Best Buy, at $400, and with only 100 decorative and utility stitches. This upgraded model of the Stylist has 400 stitches, and comes with a decent serger, to boot.

Is it a machine for beginners? More importantly, it is a machine easy enough for beginners to use, although it will keep a more experienced sewing enthusiast or tailor (Seamstress is a synonym for prostitute in 16 languages, so kindly don't call me or your mother that...) happy for years. The decorative stitches are also fun for scrapbooking, and, yes, it will sew and embroider beautifully on paper.

About the only thing I wouldn't use this machine for is repeated use on denim, upholstery or marine vinyl. The occasional hobby slipcover or pair of jeans, yes. But over and over with the heavyweight fabric - no. But then, if you sew a lot of marine vinyl, it's likely you know you need a commercial heavy-duty power machine for that work.

(This is such a good deal that I'm even getting a set, and I have a 20x20 studio full of sergers and sewing machines already!)

On to the serger: If you are completely new to sergers, think of the serger as the microwave to your conventional oven. It's very possible to live without a microwave in your kitchen, but it's damn nice to have. And most home tailors would never want to relinquish their serger once they have had one.

A serger can sew strong finished seams especially stretch seams, can finish seams on tailored garments, this serger can flatlock (activewear seams), and do rolled hems (those tiny hems on scarves and napkins.) You can also make interesting decorative ribbons for the serious crafter or scrapbooker.

This is an excellent home serger, that will sew a 2, 3, or 3/4 thread seam, but not a 2/4 seam. The 2/4 configuration is one of the heavier duty configurations you see in ready to wear and is not available on this serger. This machine will sew and finish seams on stretch fabrics, and will finish seams on woven fabrics, although I would still recommend reinforcement with a straight stitch from the sewing machine on stress areas when using a 3/4 as a seaming stitch on wovens (as opposed to a finishing stitch.)

This is a good serger for a beginner to an intermediate home sewing enthusiast. Again, it is not a professional weight, and not ideal to run in a 16-hour a day environment. But, if your shop is serging 16 hours a day, you know this.

All in all, this is an excellent gifting package for the home sewing fan in your life (and you will look like you spent $1000 at a dealer or $700 at HSN).

Yeah, I checked, HSN has it for about $700, without some of the optional stuff Woot includes.

(Damn! I was finally getting close to paying off the credit cards.)

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

Later: I got curious about my old sewing machine. I haven't seen the "New Home" brand in 50 years. Just how old is my machine? I bought it used in perhaps 1966.

Well, Janome bought the New Home brand in 1960. The few places I can find it online, my model SS 2015 is listed as "Janome New Home SS 2015", which would seem to indicate that Janome probably used the "New Home" name for product loyalty purposes and eventually dropped it. So my machine probably dates from soon before or after 1960.

It has been heavily used, and has never needed service (that I couldn't do myself). Janome is a very well regarded brand. I know when I bought my machine, New Home was near top-of-the-line.
.

3347 Becs and her feline family are fine...

Sunday, August 28, 2011

[T]he interaction between students and teachers has become one of "intellectual hide and seek." The students try to match what they think the teacher wants to hear. If you can do that, you can be "successful" in school.
-- Ron Beghetto, an education psychologist at the University of Oregon --

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Just talked with Becs by phone. She and her entire feline family are alive and coping. She's been getting requests for assurances, but can't respond to all of them, so she asked me to let y'all know. (It's nice so many are concerned. I'm impressed with you all.)

Her electricity is out, which means no sump pump, so the water in her basement is about 18 inches deep. She's afraid her furnace, washer and dryer are kaput, and she's sadly lost some things, like journals and yarns.

The fire department arrived while we were talking - they'll pump out her basement for her.

Estimate for return of her electricity is this evening, so by tomorrow she may be back in the blogosphere.
.

3346 Still standing

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Act now. Pray later.

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Daughter called a neighbor. He says flooding is minimal, just inadequate storm drain and overwhelmed sump pump kind of stuff, they still have electricity, and no trees in the immediate neighborhood are down. He's got 2 inches of water in his basement. He's not sure of conditions outside the neighborhood, and there's still wind, but so far so good.

(Actually, there's still a potential for flood. The little stream behind my house carries street runoff, and that can take time to build. But it's no longer a major worry.)
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3345 Which is worse?

Sunday, August 28, 2011

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able? Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing? Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing? Then whence cometh evil?
Is he neither able nor willing? Then why call him God?
-- Epicurus, 3rd century BC --

(Epicurus makes the mistake of attributing human qualities to God.
Perhaps God is simply watching his Great Experiment, tweaking occasionally to keep it interesting.)
-- Silk --

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I seem to have traded hurricane wind-blown projectiles for tornadoes. I've been looking out the hotel window at horizontal torrents, wind-whipped trees, swaying lamp posts, and hearing tornado tracking on the TV station out of Philadelphia. I forgot that tornadoes are spawned all around the edges of hurricanes.

I dunno which is worse. In a hurricane, you've got projectiles thrown at you. In a tornado, you ARE the projectile.
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3344 In hiding

Saturday, August 27, 2011

Sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the axe.
-- RockyCat --

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I'm now in a hotel in Reading, Pa. It's funny - the parking lot is full of cars with NJ plates. Huh? It's not like Reading is an obvious place to run to. Weird.

Irene is 500 miles wide, and I'm now about 180 miles from the projected eye, so I'm not completely beyond the effects, but at least they'll be less.

Before I left the house, I filled two bathtubs and a few gallon jugs with water, took up the downstairs rugs, put all the outside flower pots in the garage, gathered important papers and good jewelry, and parked Fred on the lawn across the front of the house. Maybe he'll protect the front windows a little. At least I'm sure my auto insurance will cover him, where I'm not sure how much the homeowner's insurance will cover. Turns out I don't have flood insurance. If a window is blown out, and the house fills with rain, is that "flood"? I hope I don't have to find out.

I tried to put Fred in the garage, but he didn't fit. His rear end hung out a good foot.

I feel bad that Jasper is alone to ride out the storm. He'll hide under the bed, I think. I had to leave him because even a big storm at home would be a lot less trauma for him than a long car ride, or boarding. Jasper's the one who has seizures in the car. It really freaks him out, even with sedation.

I was careful to ensure that no matter what happens, he won't be closed out of "his" rooms. In case you ever have to do it, the way to ensure a door stays open is not to jam something under the door. If the door is worked back and forth, a doorstop can eventually be dislodged. Instead, a surer method is to squeeze a paperback book upright between the edge of the door and the door jamb on the hinge side, below the bottom hinge, resting on the floor. It isn't going to move, and in filling that space, will prevent the door from closing. In fact, if the door is "worked", the book just gets tighter.

I have this room until Monday morning. Daughter, Hercules, and the Nugget are at Hercules' father's house, just down the road. The plan is to return Monday, but there's no guarantee we'd be able to get home Monday. Depends on whether roads are open and so on. Daughter has people she can call to find out.
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3343 Missiles

Friday, August 26, 2011

When someone shows you who they are, believe them.
-- RockyCat --

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I just realized that the old house is going to get hit by Irene, too, and I have had no opportunity to batten down the hatches there. That worries me a bit.

At first I wasn't too worried about wind damage here, but walking around the neighborhood, I am now worried.

What makes people think that turning a patio table upside down is going to save it from 100 mph winds? Then there's the guy two houses down who has taken his enormous rowboat off the trailer, and turned it upside down on the front lawn. It's curved, so upside down makes it MORE likely to catch the wind.

And then there's the immediate neighbors, right over the fence to the north. Their back yard is so full of stuff, toys, benches, awnings, that when I first saw it, I thought they were running a daycare center. It's all still there. I'm afraid all their crap is going to end up in my dining room.

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Post #3341 has been updated with current status. We are evacuating.
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3342 I think, therefore I say

Friday, August 26, 2011

Humility is not thinking less of yourself, it's thinking of yourself less.

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I was just reading a book review, some guy's book (James Pennybaker, The Secret Life of Pronouns), about how one's use of pronouns and sentence structure reveals what one is actually thinking.

Yeah, ok.

The comments kicked off some memories.

When I first started working for The Company, in 1968, I was a rare female in a male-dominated area.

I noticed that I often seemed to turn the guys off, offend them, when it came to technical discussions. No matter how much sense I was making, they would turn away and stop listening, until I was talking to a wall. I finally asked a friend what I was doing wrong.

He explained that I make definite statements, and that's not allowed for females. Males can say "This is blah blah." Women, especially small women like me, must say "I think this may be blah blah", or "It seems to me that..." or "Do you think that..." For a female to make a definite statement is seen by males as challenging their authority. A woman should appeal to that authority, not challenge it.

He was serious. This was 1968. Before women's liberation was in full swing.

His analysis infuriated me. "If I say it, it's obvious I think it, that it seems so to me, so why should I have to say I think it or it seems so to me? And especially if I know that it IS, if this is my area of expertise, why should I say it may be? That's stupid!" Especially when the guys don't have to weaken statements of fact.

Infuriating. Even worse was when guys would later take my analysis, when they rejected it coming from me, and present it as their own conclusion.

Young women don't know what it used to be like. The subtleties. How difficult is was to get past that. I'm afraid that young women now are backsliding, wagging their tails to appease men, not knowing the dangers and what it can lead to.
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3341 Hurricane, Omnipotence

Thursday, August 25, 2011

"Isn't it interesting that the same people who laugh at science fiction
listen to weather forecasts and economists?"
-- Kevin Throop III --

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

Hurricane.

According to the latest TV maps, Irene's eye is going to pass directly over us. Sunday promises to be interesting. They are predicting a 12-15 foot storm surge, on top of an astrologically high tide. I'm a half block from the bay. Neighbor George says we are 30 feet above sea level. I can't decide whether to stay here, or get Hal, Daughter, and the Nugget to someplace safer. I don't mind wind damage, as long as the house doesn't collapse wind damage is manageable, but I absolutely don't want to be stuck in a floating garbage cesspool for days, with flooded cars and no way out.

I don't know where that safer place might be.

Daughter, Nugget, and I had planned to head upriver for the weekend, she to a commitment in Poughkeepsie on Saturday, and dropping me off at the garage where Suzie the Susuki has been vacationing for the past six weeks, thence to a Mensa dinner on Saturday in New Paltz, and then I'd bring Suzie down here. Daughter and I would be driving back separately on Saturday night or Sunday morning.

Yeah, sure.

According to the maps, the eye will be tracking right up the highways to the mid-Hudson valley, right over Poughkeepsie and New Paltz, and I absolutely don't want us on the roads in that mess.

Governor Crispy-Creme is urging people to leave the shore areas, but has not yet ordered evacuations. Note the "yet".

Are they kidding? The roads around here on ordinary summer weekends are impassable. The Garden State Parkway is a creeping parking lot, full of people headed to or returning from the shore. The locals speak of "shore traffic", and they're not kidding about how bad it is. And that's just people headed for the beaches. The governor is on TV assuring everyone that they can get half a million residents out on short notice, via "marked routes". Uh huh. Sure.

Sigh.

Maybe I should buy an inflatable life raft.

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Back in the mid-70s, Dr. K. said that one of my problems involved feelings of omnipotence, that I felt I was personally responsible for everything bad that happened. No wonder, given that my father blamed me for everything.

Anyhow, it's awfully hard not to fall back into that.

I mean, there's a lot of circumstantial evidence. People have been convicted of murder on less.

Let's examine:
I bought the house last fall.
This past winter was the coldest and snowiest here in decades.
This summer had the worst heat wave in decades.
Last week we felt seismic activity for the first time ever here.
Now we're to get a hurricane, and the last time an eye passed directly over this area was in the 19th century!

I rest my case.

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

I'll be updating this post as conditions change.

Thursday 8/25 5 PM - NJ has declared mandatory evacuation of the most southern parts of the state, Cape May area.

Friday 8/26 10:45 AM - Heading north is no good. Irene will just follow us. West (inland) is best, so I went to Google maps to find out what's the best route west and what's a good place to head for. Reading, Pa., is directly west, and by marvelous coincidence, Hercules' father, brother, and grandmother live in Reading. There's a fair chance I can talk Daughter and Hercules to go to Reading. Hercules is currently in a training class just northwest of Philadelphia, planning to come home tonight. It would make more sense for him to go directly to Reading. Daughter talked to him on the phone last night, and in typical young proud homeowner / new father fashion he wants her and the baby to go to Reading, while he comes home and HAND PUMPS the basement to keep it from flooding. We have to convince him that's not feasible. His father had already invited him to ride out the storm in Reading, so maybe....

Friday 8/26 5:55 PM - I have reservations at a hotel in Reading, Pa., for Saturday and Sunday night. Daughter will be leaving this evening, joining Hercules at his father's home in Reading.
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3340 Earthquake!

Tuesday, August 23, 2011

Education does not produce intelligence; knowledge does not convey the means to use it intelligently.

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I just felt my first earthquake. I've been in places where the news folks said we'd had earthquakes, but they must have been small because I never noticed. This time, my house moved a good half inch, and creaked a lot. Luckily I was leaning against the kitchen counter or I might have fallen.

It felt like a tractor trailer had hit the house, but there was no sound other than the creaking. I went outside, thinking there was something wrong with the house, like the roof fell off? Or a very big bird had hit it? Neighbors were outside up and down the street saying "Did you feel that?" and that's when I figured it out.

There must have been some very small movement or something for several minutes because even standing on the porch I felt a little dizzy.

Jasper is totally freaked. His fur is bushed, eyes are wild, and he won't let me anywhere near him.

Which reminds me, aren't dogs supposed to howl and stuff? Or is that just near the epicenter (which was between Charlotte and Richmond, Va., 5.8). If Jasper were a dog, I bet he'd be howling.

Whoa. It's a lot later now (about 25 minutes from quake) and I just felt another wave of nausea. Didn't feel any movement, though. Just a wave of dizzy.
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