3414 Lost & Found & Lost

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

Howard A. Brown, letter to US News & World Reports, 12/27/99, paraphrased:
It's easier to make a smart gun than a smart person.

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I just had a strange experience with coincidence.

I had briefly dated a guy 25 years ago, shortly before moving from Washington to New York. His birthday was the same day as mine, but he was a year or two older. Met him in Washington Mensa. Strong squared face, dark eyes, dark hair hanging over his forehead, bronze skin. Smoothly but well muscled. Half Cherokee, originally from North Carolina. Deep voice with a hint of southern soft. Pretty damn gorgeous.

The first time he invited me to his apartment, he said he'd cook me dinner, and then we could sit in front of the fire and sip wine.

Well, I had been to his apartment for a Mensa party or two. I said, "Fire? But you don't have a fireplace." He answered, "There's a corner of the dining room I'm not using."

Well, he uses an unusual shortened form of his first name, and I had forgotten his last name. It's also a little unusual, you don't hear it often. This morning I came across the last name in a book I'm reading and of course I immediately thought of him. He's the type who would be on Facebook, so I went looking for him.

I found seven men by that name. The first one on the list had a photo that looked about the right age, AND the right nickname and last name, AND his profile said he was retired from working for Montgomery County (that's the county we'd lived in, just north of DC!), AND it said he spoke English AND Cherokee! Hey! What're the chances? Name, age, location, and Cherokee? Gotta be him, right?

I looked more carefully at the photo, and thought, yeah, we've all aged, but time has not treated him well. Doesn't look like the mid-thirties him at all. Pretty sad, really. Life must have treated him badly the past few decades. I actually felt sorry for him.

Then I read a little further, and the "Montgomery County" he had worked for is in Ohio! Ohio? Not Maryland?

It's not him!

Wow. That's weird.

(Probably not a brother, not with the same first name. And if they are related somehow, it's still weird about the counties.)
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3413 Swimming to Australia

Monday, December 5, 2011

It's impossible to learn what you think you already know.

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I think I was depressed for the past month or two. It happens occasionally. I never recognize it until it's passing. Not a clinical depression, if you know what I mean - a situational depression. I didn't want to go anywhere or do anything. Even the grocery store. Didn't want to get dressed. When I ran out of stuff I'd stand at the pantry and wonder what I could eat instead. I haven't yet stowed away any of the latest load of clothing and trinkets I'd brought back from the old house.

I finally recognized it a day or two ago, when I noticed I'd been living almost exclusively in the internet. Reading long articles that don't really matter. Looking stuff up that has no meaning. Following Wikipedia links into the hinterlands. It really hit home when I realized my internet shopping was out of control. I do that when I'm unhappy - I buy myself gifts. They have to arrive in the mail, like a surprise, to be a gift.

The slide all started the first week in October, when Hercules was in Ireland, and Daughter's back went out, and I had to rush back from the old house to care for her. I took over the Nugget for a few days, and then when Daughter was able to lift Nugget again, my back went out from lifting Nugget, and being older, mine took longer to get happy again.

Then Daughter got that cold that was going around, the one with the sore throat and copious nasal and sinus congestion, and general raggedness. Nugget was sick, too. So for several days I had Nugget during the day so Daughter could nap, because Nugget was worse at night, so Daughter had been sleeping on the floor in Nugget's room and up and down with her all night.

Nugget and Daughter got better, but then I came down with the snots. It's bad only maybe two days, but my sinuses are scarred from an epic infection in the early '80s, and the sinus reaction goes on and on for weeks after a cold. No infection, just irritation that produces glop that requires horrendous snorts to clear when it thickens and catches on the soft palate, and it constantly sloughs down the back of my throat and makes me cough. And nobody can cough like I can. My coughs wrack my body. Every cough produces a mouthful of glop.

Naturally, my back went out from the coughing.

The Man has been working out of state, but would be in NJ during that time that Daughter was sick. He wanted to get together. When I mentioned the colds, he decided not, saying he catches everything that comes down the pike - which was just as well because the day he would have arrived, I was starting the sore throat and sniffling.

So, right now my back is still delicate. I can finally sit comfortably. No pain, but I feel that warning twinge every time I move. The coughing and snorting has lessened. And now I recognize how depressed I'd been.

I haven't been to the old house since early October. Winter is coming. There's so very much to do. Until I can get it on the market and actually sell it, it's costing me $1,500/month or more in taxes, utilities, and insurance. I can't go when I'm sick or when my back is out. It's so upsetting it has been causing nightmares and insomnia from a churning mind.

And I haven't seen The Man in ages.

I look at photos of me from just 12 months ago and compare them to now, and I have aged a lot. My weight is also creeping up.

Yesterday I sort of woke up a little. I actually did a few things around here.

We'll see....
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3412 Joke 2

Monday, December 5, 20011

He who votes does not have power. He who counts the votes has power.
-- Stalin ---

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How to Identify Where a Driver is From:

* One hand on wheel, one hand on horn: Chicago

* One hand on wheel, one finger out window: New York

* One hand on wheel, one hand on newspaper, foot solidly on accelerator: Boston

* One hand on wheel, cradling cell phone, brick on accelerator: California. With gun in lap: L.A.

* Both hands on wheel, eyes shut, both feet on brake, quivering in terror: Ohio, but driving in California.

* Both hands in air, gesturing, both feet on accelerator, head turned to talk to someone in back seat: Italy

* One hand on lap, one knee on wheel, cradling cell phone, foot on brake, mind on game: Seattle

* One hand on wheel, one hand on hunting rifle, alternating between both feet being on the accelerator and both on the brake, throwing a McDonalds bag out the window: Texas city male

* One hand on wheel, one hand hanging out the window, keeping speed steadily at 70mph, driving down the center of the road unless coming around a blind curve, in which case they are on the left side of the road: Texas country male

* One hand constantly refocusing the rear-view mirror to show different angles of the BIG hair, one hand going between mousse, brush, and rat-tail to keep the helmet hair going, both feet on the accelerator, poodle steering the car, chrome .38 revolver with mother-of-pearl inlaid handle in the glove compartment: Texas female

* Four wheel drive pickup truck, shotgun mounted in rear window, beer cans on floor, squirrel tails attached to antenna: West Virginia

* Two hands gripping wheel, blue hair barely visible above window level, driving 35 on the interstate in the left lane with the left blinker on: Florida

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Challenge to readers: Add one for your state in the comments.
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3411 Joke 1

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Don't worry about people stealing your idea. If it's original,
you'll have to ram it down their throats.
-- Howard Aiken --

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How many dogs does it take to change a light bulb? It depends on the breed.

• Golden Retriever: The sun is shining, the day is young, we've got our whole lives ahead of us, and you're inside worrying about a stupid burned-out light bulb?
• Lab: Oh, me, me!!! Pleeeeeeze let me change the light bulb! Can I? Can I? Huh? Huh? Can I?
• Border Collie: Just one. And I'll replace any wiring that's not up to code.
• Dachshund: I can't reach the stupid lamp!
• Toy Poodle: I'll just blow in the Border collie's ear and he'll do it.By the time he finishes rewiring the house, my nails will be dry.
• Rottweiler: Go Ahead! Make me!
• Shi-tzu: Puh-leeze, dah-ling. Let the servants. . . .
• Malamute: Let the Border collie do it. You can feed me while he's busy.
• Cocker Spaniel: Why change it? I can still pee on the carpet in the dark.
• Doberman Pinscher: While it's dark, I'm going to sleep on the couch.
• Mastiff: Mastiffs are NOT afraid of the dark.
• Hound Dog: ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZAP
• Keeshund: (Stands with furrowed brow for several minutes, then wanders off having forgotten what the problem was.)
  
• Chihuahua: Yo quiero Taco Bulb.
• Pointer: I see it, there it is, right there... there... there... see?
  
• Greyhound: It isn't moving. Who cares?
• Australian Kelpie: First I'll put all the light bulbs in a little circle...
• Old English Sheep Dog: Light bulb? Light bulb? That thing I just ate was a light bulb?
  

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3410 Frost

Friday, December 2, 2011

Never ever lie to your child or make promises you don't intend to keep.
It may be convenient at the moment,
but the child will never again trust or believe you.
-- Silk --

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The online weather reports say it's 37 F out there, but the extremely accurate darkroom thermometer I had tucked into the geranium pots says 0 C/32 F. Our first real frost.

It begins.

Yuck.

(It's 25 F at the old house upriver.)
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3409 Propaganda

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Insurance of whatever kind is supposed to be there in case something goes wrong.
It has been my experience that having insurance seems to prevent anything going wrong.
Let it lapse, and you'll find out....
-- Silk --

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Latest Nugget (yesterday):

We have one tooth breaking through on the bottom, and one on the top. And she's now crawling properly on hands and knees, and she's FAST! The cats are no longer safe.

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This article is short and interesting: http://health.yahoo.net/news/s/afp/healthpoliticsusbritain

To quote from the intro:

"Everyone knows that liberals and conservatives butt heads when it comes to world views, but scientists have now shown that their brains are actually built differently.

Liberals have more gray matter in a part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, while the conservative brain is bigger in the section related to processing fear, said the study on Thursday in Current Biology."

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At http://www.purewatergazette.net/propagandainamerica.htm, there's a good article entitled Propaganda: Nobody Does It Better Than America, by Paul Weber. It's a bit longer, but it's very good. I highly recommend a skim.

We all know that sex sells products. Fear and repetition sells ideas. Appeals to logic and fact sells nothing.

It's sometimes difficult to recognize propaganda - attempts to control your mind and how you think - especially when the propaganda is all you are given to consider, it's repeated over and over as if it's an accepted fact, and you are not given the real facts. Fear-based propaganda works especially well on the conservative brain.

Think about how our freedoms have been eroded over the past ten years, and how so many of us have been convinced that it's for our own good. And it's all based on fear.
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3408 Bah, humbug.

Monday, November 28, 2011

The ugliest furniture will be forgiven anything if it's comfortable and useful.
That goes for people, too.
-- Silk --

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Need another reason why I don't much care for the way Christmas is celebrated? Try this.

They stepped over him!
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3407 Be thankful for refrigerators!

Sunday, November 27, 2011

The fastest way to drop ten years in appearance is to smile, and make sure the smile lines near your eyes show. Those are the most attractive wrinkles.
Show them.
-- Silk --

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I am reading American Frugal Housewife, by Mrs. Child, "Dedicated to those who are not ashamed of economy." First published in 1833 by Carter, Hendee, and Co., Boston, now published by Applewood Books, Bedford, MA, publishers of America's Living Past.

Extensive passages on the preserving of meats and vegetables. When you read about how meats were packed in salt or brine, how long meats were kept (in a cool spot in the cellar), what a frugal housewife could do to freshen meat that was no longer "sweet", you wonder how they could EAT that stuff. And having eaten it, how they could live. And having eaten it and lived, how come their heads weren't blown off by their salt-induced blood pressure!

Most meats were cooked at a fast boil for hours and hours. I wondered how there could be any flavor left. Meat was then served slathered in butter - I guess because by the time it hit the table, it was dried out.

The other thing that struck me was how long vegetables were cooked. I don't see how anything was much more than unidentifiable mush.

We see the fireplaces in quaint colonial villages, and think about cooking over a fire as something like campfire cooking, but we don't have the faintest idea what was involved in getting the ingredients into the pot.

That part was seriously hairy.
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3406 I guess I'm not a nice person.

Sunday, November 27, 2011

If you have a dark cat, have light carpeting, and vice-versa.
The shed hair might show up more, but so will a sleeping cat.
-- Silk --

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I'm reading Dean Koontz's What the Night Knows (found it in a remainder bin). I'm about 2/3 through it, and already I'm hoping that the ending has the detective possessed and murdering his insufferable family and ending up raving mad in the state hospital he visited in the first chapter.
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3405 Stupid

Sunday, November 27, 2011

It always amazes me to think that every house on every street is full of so many stories, so many triumphs and tragedies, and all we see are yards and driveways.
-- Glenn Close --

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There are some Mensans who write compile and publish logical puzzle, brain teaser, and riddle books that are published with the Mensa logo and name on them. They're "approved and endorsed by" Mensa. I don't know what that means, whether anyone in authority ever read them, but I think many of them are an embarrassment to the organization.

When Jay was first diagnosed with the brain tumor, he was worried about losing logical function, so we bought some of those books to "test" him. We had planned to work through a bit every so often, and then maybe we'd be able to see or not see any loss of function, and it would be good mental exercise.

We got through maybe five pages in several books, and threw the damn things away. Puzzle after puzzle was poorly posed, so poorly posed that we came up with two or three possible answers that fit. For example, in one puzzle involving family relationships, the "answer" stated that blah blah blah, "because John was only 12 at the time and therefore cannot be the father." Duh? Many 12-year-olds are perfectly capable of fathering a child.

Others assumed without stating a 2-dimensional relationship, completely ignoring that fact that there were several other possible answers in 3-dimensions.

The books made us angry.

A few days ago, I found this: http://www.funny.com/cgi-bin/WebObjects/Funny.woa/wa/funny?fn=C2APC&Funny_Jokes=MENSA_IQ_Test. It bugged me, because it presents itself as a "Mensa test". It isn't. At best, it's a sampling of simple riddles from some of the books above, and repeats the sloppiness of those books. Yeah, it's a joke site, but ... really ....

I got so annoyed I tried to comment, but commenting required registering, and I don't register on any but commercial sites with good reputations (first step in avoiding spam and viruses).

And then today, a woman whom I know personally to be intelligent to the point of social disability posted some of the riddles on a Mensa social site.

My brain exploded.

Examples:

Captain Frank and some of the boys were exchanging old war stories. Art Bragg offered one about how his grandfather led a battalion against a German division during World War I. Through brilliant maneuvers, he defeated them and captured valuable territory. After the battle he was presented with a sword bearing the inscription "To Captain Bragg for Bravery, Daring and Leadership. World War I. From the Men of Battalion 8." Captain Frank looked at Art and said, "You really don't expect anyone to believe that yarn, do you?"
What's wrong with the story?

The official answer: It's a lie. The inscription wouldn't have been "World War I".
My answer: There's nothing wrong with the story. "After" is not defined. The sword could have been presented at the 40th reunion of the battle/battalion.

How many times can you subtract the number 5 from 25?

The Official answer: Once. Thereafter, you are subtracting 5 from 20, 15, 10, etc.
My answer: An infinite number of times, and I get 20 every time.

There were an electrician and a plumber waiting in line for admission to the International Home Show," One of them was the father of the other's son. How could this be possible?

The Official answer: They were husband and wife.
My answer: If this confused you at all, you are very naive. They could still both be men. In any other joke, one of them would be a milkman. (Or, these days, they could be a gay couple who have adopted.)

Yeah, I understand that these examples are poor choices because they're "Ha! Gotcha!" riddles, whereas the brain teasers in the published books are much more serious - but I don't happen to have any of the serious ones at my fingertips. My objections, however, are the same. They don't consider other views or out-of-the-box thinking.
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3404 Sadness

Friday, November 25, 2011

What happens in Vegas stays …
on the internet, forever.

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Daughter is sad today.

In, I believe, 1997, when she was working at a high-paid engineering job in Philadelphia, she bought a new silver 2-door Honda. It's still healthy, with 197,000+ miles on it.

Now the Honda's two doors make it difficult to get the 20-pound Nugget in and out of the infant seat in the back. So I gave her my 2003, 53,000 mile, 4-door Suzuki, a.k.a. Suzie.

Today, Daughter sold the Honda to George-the-neighbor's granddaughter. (I think she got $5,000 for it!)

Sadness.

We do tend to get attached to a car. We remember how dependable it was, how many wonderful places it took us, how sometimes it seemed like our best and only true friend. Selling a car is almost like finding a new home for kittens. You hope the new owners will love and care for it, and appreciate its unique qualities as much as we did.

(Yeah, I wish Suzie were a Hummer. Or a tank.)
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3403 Proportion

Friday, November 25, 2011

What is perceived is not always what had been seen.

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TV news this morning is full of shopping shopping shopping. Yeah, ok, maybe there are some deals, but at what cost? Are most of those people fighting over gifts, or (as I suspect in many cases) for stuff for themselves? If gifts, can't you give something you can ordinarily afford? If for yourself, aren't there other equivalent sales throughout the year?

I don't understand.

Maybe I'm just jaded by getting great deals in live auctions and online shopping. And I never feel that I absolutely have to have exactly what I want.

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I read something a few days ago that resonated with me, and explained part of my unhappiness with the new house: "A house could subtly abrade your nerves if the proportions of its rooms were wrong."

Yup.

The upstairs of this house is fine. It's pleasant and comfortable. The rooms feel "right".

The downstairs is wrong. It twists me inside. The hall and living room are ok, not perfectly comfortable, but ok. The kitchen, breakfast area, and dining room are "wrong". They are all connected, wrapping around a very shallow "U" (halfway between "U" and "[") , kitchen on the right, dining room on the left, and breakfast area between them. It feels wrong. Annoying. It's like one large oddly-shaped room with differing levels of formality.

I want to put a partial wall, columns, arch, whatever, something, between the breakfast area and the dining room to separate them.

Daughter doesn't like that idea. She says it will break up the sight lines and make the whole area seem smaller.

Uh, yeah, that's sort of the point.
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3402 Pork chops

Thursday, November 24, 2011

"Dry clean only" means it will make it through the washer and dryer,
or it won't,
and I'll soon find out which.
-- Silk --

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The kids decided not to make a big deal of Thanksgiving this year, which suits me just fine. Hercules gets a gift turkey from the office every year, and last year he and Daughter hosted a bunch of friends. This year, with the baby, it seemed like too much trouble, so the turkey went into the freezer, and they hosted me for a lunch of stuffed pork chops.

Finger food! Well, food they're letting me eat with my fingers...Makes good finger paint, too.

Here, Gramma, have some avacado:
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A few of the MeetUp groups I joined have more than 200 members. I haven't gone to anything with those groups (mostly singles' groups) because they have like 50-60 people at everything, and that's just too many people for me.

Well, I had hoped nobody would start it, but some idiot did, last night. I cringed when the first "Happy Thanksgiving!" email dropped into my inbox. Sure enough, in short order I'd received about 300 of the damn things.

I hope that someone has gratefully noticed that I am among the silent.

[Muttering, "...buncha grinning sheeple..." Bah, humbug.]
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3401 Parade?

Thursday, November 24, 2011

Can we all just agree to ignore Blue Ray? I don't want to have to restart my collection...again.

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I love me some marching bands, drums, high school kids strutting. I love me some floats (or in the case of Macy's, balloons).

I haven't watched the parade in years, so this is a serious question --- when did it turn into a series of ads for Broadway shows? Note I'm not talking about the TV commercials. I mean much of the "parade" is performances from musicals.

Has the definition of "parade" changed?
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3400 Turkeys (two kinds) and dust covers

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Bad decisions make good stories.

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Want to find stuff on eBay or other auction sites that no one else is likely to bid on? Misspell the search terms. Looking for tassels? Search for "tassles" or "tastels". The seller will be desperate because no one is bidding on their items. I found a beautiful "sweeter" with sparkly "sequence" on the front.

I'm serious.

Sequence.

Well, at least they tried spell-check, I guess.

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I got a notice of a new Meetup group, "...for whoever are annoyed by incorrect grammar, for whoever are annoyed by illogical arguments, for (etc.)...."

I sent a note to the organizer, that his "whoever" should be "whomever", and "whoever/whomever" is singular, so it should be "...for whomever is annoyed by incorrect grammar." (A better fix is "...for those who are annoyed by....")

I got a response from him. He argued with me. Sigh. I did not respond. But I don't think I'll be joining that group.

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The contemplative closer on Sunday Morning is usually some idyllic natural scene. This past Sunday it was wild turkeys strutting along the edge of the woods.

Now, Jasper never watches TV. He has never shown any interest whatsoever no matter what's on the screen. (Well there was that one time we were watching the "mare cam" on the laptop, a real-time camera trained on a horse in a stall. For some reason that did fascinate him. But nothing before or since, and never anything on TV.)

Anyway, a turkey on the TV gobbled, and Jasper's head shot up from a sound nap. Instant attention. He jumped off the chair and rapidly stalked the sixteen feet to the TV, belly to the ground, tail twitching, ears up, focused on the turkey on the screen.

The segment ended before he caught one.

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You know how hardcover books (except textbooks, reference books, and professional tomes) come with dust covers? The original purpose was to protect the hard covers from dust, dirt, and oily handprints. Then they became a vehicle for lurid eye-attracting graphics. (Are you old enough to remember when the dust cover and the hard cover underneath had exactly the same pictures and/or imprinting? When did the hard covers become so plain and cheap-looking?)

Eventually, in the used book market, a book with an intact dust jacket became worth more than another of the same condition without the jacket.

Then something weird started happening. People took the dust covers off to protect them! They'd put the dust cover back on, over the fingerprints and coffee stains, when they finished reading the book. And that book became worth more than a pristine book with a slightly worn dust cover.

I don't understand.

Of course soon and for a while this may be moot. Books are going out of fashion. The resale market is shrinking. But mark my words - just like vinyl records are coming back as collectors' items, in twenty or thirty years books will become eagerly sought-after treasures. I doubt that the condition of the dust jacket will matter.
.

Confess. Do you do protect the dust cover at the expense of the book cover?
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3399 What is this?

Saturday, November 19, 2011

Newspaper obituaries are a lot more interesting
when they tell you how the person died.

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When I went to bed Wednesday night, my finger and wrist were fine. When I woke up Thursday morning, the entire tip of my right index finger, from the last joint forward, was "dead". Numb, but tingly. I had fallen asleep doing logic puzzles and at first I thought I had slept on it funny and it was asleep, but ... it didn't wake up.

It stayed completely numb all day. I figured I must have damaged a nerve somehow. About midday I noticed this lump:I figure it's a bursa. Bursae are fluid-filled sacs between joints, that cushion the joint. Sometimes they slip and bulge, and when they bulge they can put pressure on nearby nerves. (It's not bursitis - there's no pain whatsoever anywhere near the lump, I have full range of motion in the wrist and the finger, and no pain when I move them. Just that very annoying numbness and "buzzing" in the fingertip.)

The lump feels very hard, but it isn't "bone hard", it dents when pressed with a fingernail.

The outer side of my finger tip regained sensitivity yesterday, but the inside edge, halfway around the finger tip, is still numb.

Anyone else ever have this? Will it go down by itself? Any guidelines as to how long to let it go before I see a doctor? Should I be taping it or something? Google isn't a lot of help on this....

Oh, that reminds me - Google "tilt", and let me know if your screen tilts!

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Later - a commenter has suggested it might be a ganglion cyst. I think she may be right. And if you haven't Googled "tilt" yet, do it! It might be gone tomorrow. (Use Google, not some other search engine.)
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3398 Getting better, I hope

Friday, November 18, 2011

Nothing sucks more than that moment during an argument when
you realize you're wrong.

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My throat, which was hot and nasty yesterday, is all better today. But my sinuses and nose are bad. I've used up a box of Kleenex so far today, and poor Jasper is finally getting used to my huge loud sneezes.

Oddly enough, (TMI) my phlegm is clear. No color. No green, no yellow. I think that's a good sign, right?

I didn't bother getting dressed today because (more TMI) every time I sneezed I wet my pants. So I gave up on pants.
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3397 Around the web

Thursday, November 17, 2011

Perfect is the enemy of good.
-- Old French Proverb --

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I woke up this morning with a hot throat, and major sinus activity. I'm not surprised.

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If I ever participate in a protest, I want to find someone who's good with face painting, and do this:

I like their signs, too.


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This clip is incredible, the best I've seen. Go to full screen if you can.

Earth | Time Lapse View from Space, Fly Over | NASA, ISS from Michael König on Vimeo.
[http://vimeo.com/32001208 - full description and credits are there.]

Shooting locations in order of appearance:

1. Aurora Borealis Pass over the United States at Night
2. Aurora Borealis and eastern United States at Night
3. Aurora Australis from Madagascar to southwest of Australia
4. Aurora Australis south of Australia
5. Northwest coast of United States to Central South America at Night
6. Aurora Australis from the Southern to the Northern Pacific Ocean
7. Halfway around the World
8. Night Pass over Central Africa and the Middle East
9. Evening Pass over the Sahara Desert and the Middle East
10. Pass over Canada and Central United States at Night
11. Pass over Southern California to Hudson Bay
12. Islands in the Philippine Sea at Night
13. Pass over Eastern Asia to Philippine Sea and Guam
14. Views of the Mideast at Night
15. Night Pass over Mediterranean Sea
16. Aurora Borealis and the United States at Night
17. Aurora Australis over Indian Ocean
18. Eastern Europe to Southeastern Asia at Night

The thunderstorms and Aroras are amazing, but when I see how lit-up the cities are, all I can think is "Burning hydrocarbons, how long can we do that? Do we really need all that?"
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3396 We's gots the miserys

Wednesday, November 16, 2011

To be ignorant of one's ignorance is the malady of the ignorant.
-- Amos B. Alcott --

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Daughter and the Nugget are both sick. Head cold, sore throat. Nugget occasionally bats at her right ear, so there may be something going on there, too. Occasional slight fever, not enough to worry about until she gets fussy tired, and that makes the congestion worse. She hates having her nose touched. Daughter is wrung out, but Nugget is nowhere near lethargic - she's still happy and active.

Daughter called early yesterday morning and asked if I could take the Nugget for two hours so Daughter could get some sleep. I ended up having the Nugget all day, until Hercules got home from work.

I have the Nugget right now while Daughter gets some sleep.

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As I wrote the above sentence, a little before noon, the napping Nugget woke up. It is now 6 1/2 hours later. She stayed with me today until about 4 pm.

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Flash: The idiot who shot up the White House abandoned his car a few blocks away - with his driver's license in it. Duh.

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The Nugget is 6.5 months old. For about three months now, she has been standing up to be picked up. You put your hands under her arms and with just balance help, not lift, she gets her feet under herself and stands up. She weighs 20 pounds now, so her standing to be picked up is a lot easier on adult backs.

Today I was shocked to discover that standing, she already comes up to the top of my thigh. That's amazing! She's a BABY!

In Mommy's papoose pack:
Napping today in Mommy's lap:
Oops, the click of the camera woke her:.

3395 Get the anger out, have some ice cream

Monday, November 14, 2011

To know what you don't know is the legacy of progress.
-- Howard Streicher --

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Pulled from comments here: http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2011/11/11/jon-stewart-makes-a-point/

According to the grand jury, then, here is how McQueary’s eyewitness account became watered down at each stage:

McQueary: anal rape.
Paterno: something of a sexual nature.
Schultz: inappropriately grabbing of the young boy’s genitals.
Curley: inappropriate conduct or horsing around.
Spanier: conduct that made someone uncomfortable.
Raykovitz: a ban on bringing kids to the locker room.

Yeah, things get watered down. And

Nice article over at Scientific American talking about why the Penn State students behaved the way they did…mind you not a justification…just a good description of group membership.
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=penn-state-students-rioted-defied-joe-paterno

The link is a good explanation of what I was talking about, where people will sacrifice individuals for the good of the group.

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I'm not sure, but it appears that in some parts of the country (here, for example) "60 Minutes" was only 30 minutes long last night. The missing chunk was a report on how members of Congress are allowed to trade on insider information - something that can get ordinary people 20 years in prison! Do you think it's ok that congressmen working on regulations that will affect a particular industry should be able to buy or sell stock in that industry just before the regulations go into effect? Or that they can buy up land around a to-be-announced government project? Ever wonder why politicians enter office sorta wealthy, and leave office multimillionaires? The pay isn't all that great, you know.

I wonder why 60 minutes skipped that story on the east coast, but played it in later time zones. Nah, it wasn't a late-running game. "60 Minutes" always runs late here when there's a game. "The Amazing Race" is often late because of that.

There's an excellent article on the issue at http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-18560_162-57323527/congress-trading-stock-on-inside-information/?tag=pop;stories. This one you REALLY have to read. Remember when the market crashed? Heh. Didn't affect them....

This was an "exception" I hadn't known about; I'd always assumed that members of Congress had to keep investments in blind trusts, and were not allowed to influence the trustees.

Not so.

It really pisses me off. It isn't just insider trading. They make laws that affect all of us, but they exempt themselves from those laws.

I WANT TERM LIMITS! I want congress to have the same medical insurance options the rest of us have. I want them to have to travel the same way we have to. I want them to have retirement plans comparable to the rest of us. I WANT THE RULES TO APPLY TO THEM, TOO! ALL the rules! Every damn one of them with no special privileges or exceptions!
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