I whined, back at the beginning of 2007, about my frequent flyer miles. They expire at the end of this year, and I have a ton of them.
So I decided to use most of them up by flying to Texas to see my mom and my sister for the weekend. I even have enough to go first class, so that's what I'm doing.
This morning was Medical Assisting class, and I don't have to be back again until Tuesday, so I'm flying out tomorrow and flying back home on Monday. Naturally, our instructor assigned us more homework today than is good for us, and I had to do it all today, which took me all afternoon and most of the evening, but it's done and ready for Tuesday's class.
In the morning I'll drive over to the train station, park the car (parking is free), and leave a message for my daughter telling her where it is so she can pick it up after work and drive it home. Then I'll take the train to downtown San Diego, catch the bus to the airport, and be ready to go. Total cost by train & bus will be less than the gas it takes for somebody to drop me off.
I haven't heard back from the job interview I had Monday. They said I was their last interviewee and that they hoped to be close to a decision by the end of this week, with the winning person to start around the first of November. So the timing of this trip is right, considering my hope to be gainfully employed soon.
But just in case, I'm bringing my Spanish vocabulary along like a good girl ("Don't confuse ano with año..."), so I can feel guilty for ignoring it in favor of easier reading.
I can't wait to see my family again!
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
What I Want To Know
There are Great Mysteries in life, questions that linger, unanswered, over the years. They come to mind for a time and then again another time, when some event triggers them.
One such question for me was, Why do rainbows curve?
I would ask people that question, and most of the time they tried to tell me about prisms and light refraction--concepts I already understood and that had absolutely nothing to do with my question. One time I had seen a triple rainbow: One complete one; underneath it (and with the colors reversed) a second complete rainbow; and to the right, curving away from the first two, was half of a third rainbow. Whatever explanation I received would have to cover all three rainbows, plus one that a co-worker described: from an airplane, he had looked down at the clouds to see a U-shaped rainbow.
I finally got my explanation in two pieces. One person asked if there was a body of water near my triple rainbow that could have reflected light upward to form the second, reversed rainbow. There was: The Yellowstone River. The second answer was given to me by Ask.com, similar to this article, but with diagrams.
Another question came from my 8th grade General Science class and the limited mini-chemistry lesson we got. It was, How can there be carbon monoxide?
We had learned, in 8th grade, about filling the outer shell of electrons, so we calculated carbon and oxygen and got carbon dioxide. But I wondered, if it took two oxygens to fill up carbon, then how could a carbon/oxygen molecule get by with only one oxygen? I never asked my teacher.
I got my answer about ten years later, on the drive to go cross-country skiing with my husband and a friend of ours. I asked the question, since both of them had been science majors. Our friend had taken Chemistry, so he explained rough concepts of single bonds and double bonds and electron-sharing between atoms. I asked a lot of questions to get it clarified just enough that I could picture how carbon monoxide could exist.
Then I started wondering, How does carbon monoxide kill you? I guessed that it bound to the O2 in the blood, rendering it incapable of being used by the body.
A few years later, we were at the beach with my sister-in-law's family, and she was studying Physiology and happened to be reading about the chemistry of the blood. So I borrowed her textbook and looked up carbon monoxide. I had guessed wrong. It binds to the hemoglobin.
Normally, hemoglobin forms an incomplete bond with the O2, so it's easy to let go of the O2 at the right time. But if carbon monoxide gets in there, it forms a complete bond with the hemoglobin and won't let go. After enough exposure, there isn't enough un-monoxided hemoglobin available to transport the O2 around the body, and your tissues die for lack of oxygen when there's plenty of oxygen in your system. It's very sad. Carbon monoxide is chemically evil. (My apologies to Chemistry majors if I butchered this description. I learned it over 20 years ago.)
That brings me to some still-outstanding Great Mysteries:
Why can't Hollywood get the end credits on movie DVDs sharp enough that you can actually read them?
Why does toothpaste say, "For best results, squeeze from bottom of tube"? Do they put all the fluoride at the bottom, and if you squeeze in the middle, you don't get any fluoride or whiteners?
What's on the other side of the end of the universe?
If you have answers, please let me know.
Better yet, tell me what Great Mysteries have been plaguing you. What is it that you want to know?
One such question for me was, Why do rainbows curve?
I would ask people that question, and most of the time they tried to tell me about prisms and light refraction--concepts I already understood and that had absolutely nothing to do with my question. One time I had seen a triple rainbow: One complete one; underneath it (and with the colors reversed) a second complete rainbow; and to the right, curving away from the first two, was half of a third rainbow. Whatever explanation I received would have to cover all three rainbows, plus one that a co-worker described: from an airplane, he had looked down at the clouds to see a U-shaped rainbow.
I finally got my explanation in two pieces. One person asked if there was a body of water near my triple rainbow that could have reflected light upward to form the second, reversed rainbow. There was: The Yellowstone River. The second answer was given to me by Ask.com, similar to this article, but with diagrams.
Another question came from my 8th grade General Science class and the limited mini-chemistry lesson we got. It was, How can there be carbon monoxide?
We had learned, in 8th grade, about filling the outer shell of electrons, so we calculated carbon and oxygen and got carbon dioxide. But I wondered, if it took two oxygens to fill up carbon, then how could a carbon/oxygen molecule get by with only one oxygen? I never asked my teacher.
I got my answer about ten years later, on the drive to go cross-country skiing with my husband and a friend of ours. I asked the question, since both of them had been science majors. Our friend had taken Chemistry, so he explained rough concepts of single bonds and double bonds and electron-sharing between atoms. I asked a lot of questions to get it clarified just enough that I could picture how carbon monoxide could exist.
Then I started wondering, How does carbon monoxide kill you? I guessed that it bound to the O2 in the blood, rendering it incapable of being used by the body.
A few years later, we were at the beach with my sister-in-law's family, and she was studying Physiology and happened to be reading about the chemistry of the blood. So I borrowed her textbook and looked up carbon monoxide. I had guessed wrong. It binds to the hemoglobin.
Normally, hemoglobin forms an incomplete bond with the O2, so it's easy to let go of the O2 at the right time. But if carbon monoxide gets in there, it forms a complete bond with the hemoglobin and won't let go. After enough exposure, there isn't enough un-monoxided hemoglobin available to transport the O2 around the body, and your tissues die for lack of oxygen when there's plenty of oxygen in your system. It's very sad. Carbon monoxide is chemically evil. (My apologies to Chemistry majors if I butchered this description. I learned it over 20 years ago.)
That brings me to some still-outstanding Great Mysteries:
Why can't Hollywood get the end credits on movie DVDs sharp enough that you can actually read them?
Why does toothpaste say, "For best results, squeeze from bottom of tube"? Do they put all the fluoride at the bottom, and if you squeeze in the middle, you don't get any fluoride or whiteners?
What's on the other side of the end of the universe?
If you have answers, please let me know.
Better yet, tell me what Great Mysteries have been plaguing you. What is it that you want to know?
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Animal News
It's that time again. Time to update everyone on the latest events in the animal kingdom.
Squirrels:
Squirrels are back in the news, those cute little rodents that, in the past, have been leg biters, spies, archaeologists, and snake attackers. Now an anti-war lefty squirrel has roughed-up an Iraq War veteran. The State Journal-Register carried the story October 14, 2008.
Frank Garren is tough guy. The 6-foot, 4-inch former Army sergeant was awarded a Purple Heart after surviving a roadside bomb while deployed in Iraq in 2004. He knows about combat and quick reactions.
An angry squirrel is another matter, said Garren, who reported just such a run-in recently in Washington Park.
“You might expect a mugging in the park, but not to be attacked by a tree rodent,” the 34-year-old Springfield resident said Monday. “I never thought a squirrel could kick my (behind).”
He said the animal, which Garren estimated weighed 2 to 3 pounds, pounced on his head after he simulated a squirrel call to get its attention Sunday afternoon.
Garren walked away with several scratches on his face and head, and a newfound respect for a squirrel’s agility.
“I think next time I’ll keep my distance,” he said.
Good decision.
Birds:
The bird news is less violent.
An American bird made the British press. The Telegraph reported October 10, 2008, that an alder flycatcher (Empidonax altnorum) was photographed in Cornwall, the first time that species has ever been spotted in the UK. Here he is:
And the Telegraph reported October 11, 2008, that a rare black barn owl has also been spotted--in captivity.
This young barn owl is one in a million after being born with a rare genetic condition that has made her feathers jet black.
Sable, who is two years old, suffers from melanism, a 100,000-to-one gene mutation that makes her the exact opposite to an albino.
Baroness Sasa Vonbarth und Kippenruer, who runs the Hereford Owl Rescue, described Sable as "peculiar" but "very beautiful".
She said: "Sable is very peculiar or I suppose you could say a freak of nature because melanistic owls are usually killed at birth or chucked out of the nest by their mothers.
"The parents think that because a chick is not white they shouldn't feed it. However, she is captive bred as were her parents so she survived.
"Strangely Sable is much stronger than a normal barn owl whereas an albino is much weaker and has a very bad immune system.
"However, if she got out into the wild she'd be dead within 12 hours. You would think black would work at night but in reality she would be mobbed and killed by other owls."
This is Sable:
Mouse v. Viper:
The Telegraph reported October 9, 2008, about an intrepid mouse (most likely related to the attack squirrels). I won't post any pictures, because a very good friend of mine (who only rarely reads my blog but might choose now to do it again) once responded to a funny-story email I sent her, with a picture of a snake in a computer, by sending me flaming hate email in reply telling me to NEVER, EVER send her a picture of a snake. If you want to see the pictures, follow the link to the Telegraph article.
A mouse bit a venomous viper to death after it was thrown into the snake's cage as a lunchtime snack.
Firefighters in Taiwan who were looking after the snake - which had been found in a local resident's home - thought that the live mouse would make a perfect lunchtime treat.
But the furry creature had other ideas. Instead of cowering from the 12in snake's gaping jaws and long fangs, it went on the offensive.
"It attacked the snake continuously, biting and scratching it," one firefighter said.
Viper venom is poisonous for mice, but the snake proved unable to land a killer bite.
What a mouse!
Leopard v. Crocodile:
The Telegraph reported July 18, 2008, on yet another mouse-bites-snake style of story. See the article for the pictures.
A series of incredible pictures taken at a South African game reserve document the first known time that a leopard has taken on and defeated one of the fearsome reptiles.
The photographs were taken by Hal Brindley, an American wildlife photographer, who was supposed to be taking pictures of hippos from his car in the Kruger National Park.
The giant cat raced out of cover provided by scrub and bushes to surprise the crocodile, which was swimming nearby.
A terrible and bloody struggle ensued. Eventually, onlookers were amazed to see the leopard drag the crocodile from the water as the reptile fought back.
With the crocodile snapping its powerful jaws furiously, the two animals somersaulted and grappled. Despite the crocodile's huge weight and strength, the leopard had the upper hand catching its prey by the throat.
Eventually the big cat was able to sit on top of the reptile and suffocate it.
And that's the news from the animal world, until next time...
Squirrels:
Squirrels are back in the news, those cute little rodents that, in the past, have been leg biters, spies, archaeologists, and snake attackers. Now an anti-war lefty squirrel has roughed-up an Iraq War veteran. The State Journal-Register carried the story October 14, 2008.
Frank Garren is tough guy. The 6-foot, 4-inch former Army sergeant was awarded a Purple Heart after surviving a roadside bomb while deployed in Iraq in 2004. He knows about combat and quick reactions.
An angry squirrel is another matter, said Garren, who reported just such a run-in recently in Washington Park.
“You might expect a mugging in the park, but not to be attacked by a tree rodent,” the 34-year-old Springfield resident said Monday. “I never thought a squirrel could kick my (behind).”
He said the animal, which Garren estimated weighed 2 to 3 pounds, pounced on his head after he simulated a squirrel call to get its attention Sunday afternoon.
Garren walked away with several scratches on his face and head, and a newfound respect for a squirrel’s agility.
“I think next time I’ll keep my distance,” he said.
Good decision.
Birds:
The bird news is less violent.
An American bird made the British press. The Telegraph reported October 10, 2008, that an alder flycatcher (Empidonax altnorum) was photographed in Cornwall, the first time that species has ever been spotted in the UK. Here he is:
And the Telegraph reported October 11, 2008, that a rare black barn owl has also been spotted--in captivity.
This young barn owl is one in a million after being born with a rare genetic condition that has made her feathers jet black.
Sable, who is two years old, suffers from melanism, a 100,000-to-one gene mutation that makes her the exact opposite to an albino.
Baroness Sasa Vonbarth und Kippenruer, who runs the Hereford Owl Rescue, described Sable as "peculiar" but "very beautiful".
She said: "Sable is very peculiar or I suppose you could say a freak of nature because melanistic owls are usually killed at birth or chucked out of the nest by their mothers.
"The parents think that because a chick is not white they shouldn't feed it. However, she is captive bred as were her parents so she survived.
"Strangely Sable is much stronger than a normal barn owl whereas an albino is much weaker and has a very bad immune system.
"However, if she got out into the wild she'd be dead within 12 hours. You would think black would work at night but in reality she would be mobbed and killed by other owls."
This is Sable:
Mouse v. Viper:
The Telegraph reported October 9, 2008, about an intrepid mouse (most likely related to the attack squirrels). I won't post any pictures, because a very good friend of mine (who only rarely reads my blog but might choose now to do it again) once responded to a funny-story email I sent her, with a picture of a snake in a computer, by sending me flaming hate email in reply telling me to NEVER, EVER send her a picture of a snake. If you want to see the pictures, follow the link to the Telegraph article.
A mouse bit a venomous viper to death after it was thrown into the snake's cage as a lunchtime snack.
Firefighters in Taiwan who were looking after the snake - which had been found in a local resident's home - thought that the live mouse would make a perfect lunchtime treat.
But the furry creature had other ideas. Instead of cowering from the 12in snake's gaping jaws and long fangs, it went on the offensive.
"It attacked the snake continuously, biting and scratching it," one firefighter said.
Viper venom is poisonous for mice, but the snake proved unable to land a killer bite.
What a mouse!
Leopard v. Crocodile:
The Telegraph reported July 18, 2008, on yet another mouse-bites-snake style of story. See the article for the pictures.
A series of incredible pictures taken at a South African game reserve document the first known time that a leopard has taken on and defeated one of the fearsome reptiles.
The photographs were taken by Hal Brindley, an American wildlife photographer, who was supposed to be taking pictures of hippos from his car in the Kruger National Park.
The giant cat raced out of cover provided by scrub and bushes to surprise the crocodile, which was swimming nearby.
A terrible and bloody struggle ensued. Eventually, onlookers were amazed to see the leopard drag the crocodile from the water as the reptile fought back.
With the crocodile snapping its powerful jaws furiously, the two animals somersaulted and grappled. Despite the crocodile's huge weight and strength, the leopard had the upper hand catching its prey by the throat.
Eventually the big cat was able to sit on top of the reptile and suffocate it.
And that's the news from the animal world, until next time...
Friday, October 17, 2008
Going to Class
I mentioned last month that I'm in a Medical Assisting class. That takes up my Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and then I have homework. Right now (not right this minute, but before class on Tuesday) we have to type up letters for referrals to and from other doctors and to terminate misbehaving patients, and we have to listen to a simulation of phone calls for a couple days at the office, log them in, and write up any message slips and appointment slips. And read the next chapter.
Wednesday night I started Spanish for Medical Professionals. Our instructor told us right off the bat that we're not going to learn to speak Spanish. We're going to be learning the basics of words that we'd hear in a medical setting. Things like prepositions, relationships (mother, husband, cousin), medical terminology, and how to pronounce the language.
I had to learn Spanish in sixth grade ("Hola, Paco. ¿Como estas?"). It was a requirement of San Diego schools. Being forced into learning it is part of what made me not like it. That and a traumatic visit to Tijuana for shopping with the family when I was about 10 or 12. It smelled bad there, a combination of sewer and the way grease smells in dumpsters behind fast-food restaurants. And at the shopping district, the vendors (male) kept hitting on me in an attempt to entice me into buying what they had for sale. It was creepy. I associated Spanish with the bad smells and emotions and wanted no part of it.
I learned a few phrases along the way out of necessity and living in Southern California, and after I learned how to pronounce Polish for a trip to Poland in 1997, I got better at rolling my R's in Spanish too. But I still didn't like it.
Until I went to the Just Give Me Jesus conference that Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham's daughter) held in San Diego. The musician for the conference was Fernando Ortega ("I am Fernando Ortega. You killed my father. Prepare to die."--Yes, he said that at the conference), and he sang a Spanish worship song that he said was a traditional song from way back when in Mexico. The song was, Con Que Pagaremos, and I understood almost none of it, but it was one of the most beautiful things I've heard in my life. At the moment I heard Ortega sing it, I decided that maybe I wouldn't mind learning Spanish after all.
I haven't done that yet, but that change of heart played into my decision to sign up for the medical Spanish class.
My purpose in taking these medical classes is to get qualified for a job, and maybe even with the Spanish to get a bit of an advantage over some of the other people who will be applying for the same jobs. Sure, the bilingual people will have the advantage over me, but I'll take whatever I can get.
Our instructor had a huge list of English and Spanish words on the board for us to copy and learn. Then she gave us a big handout with more terms. She went through everything, making sure we knew how to pronounce it and making us say things out loud so she could correct us. My pronunciation got "muy bien" every time.
Then she erased the vocabulary words (family relationships) and wrote medical terms until she ran out of space. We copied them and then pronounced them.
I already knew the word for heart: corazon. I learned that one when I watched Romancing the Stone back in the '80s. And the word for lung (pulmón) was easy to remember, because it's just like the medical terminology I learned last year.
So I'm on my way. But I stopped at the end of class to tell the instructor that I have a job interview on Monday afternoon (I passed the initial-screening phone interview with the HR person this past Monday), and if I get the job, I'll be dropping the Spanish class.
I told my Medical Assisting instructor the same thing at the end of class Thursday, and she suggested that I stick out the class and get my certificate so I won't waste all the work I've already done (the class is half-over). Unfortunately, the job would be a day job, so I wouldn't be able to continue the morning class. So she said she had a bit of pull and might be able to get me into the evening or online class. I might take her up on it, just in case I get the job but it goes south on me.
So that's the latest. Big interview scheduled to last about 2 hours Monday afternoon for an Admin job that pays really well for that kind of work. I'd appreciate your prayers.
Wednesday night I started Spanish for Medical Professionals. Our instructor told us right off the bat that we're not going to learn to speak Spanish. We're going to be learning the basics of words that we'd hear in a medical setting. Things like prepositions, relationships (mother, husband, cousin), medical terminology, and how to pronounce the language.
I had to learn Spanish in sixth grade ("Hola, Paco. ¿Como estas?"). It was a requirement of San Diego schools. Being forced into learning it is part of what made me not like it. That and a traumatic visit to Tijuana for shopping with the family when I was about 10 or 12. It smelled bad there, a combination of sewer and the way grease smells in dumpsters behind fast-food restaurants. And at the shopping district, the vendors (male) kept hitting on me in an attempt to entice me into buying what they had for sale. It was creepy. I associated Spanish with the bad smells and emotions and wanted no part of it.
I learned a few phrases along the way out of necessity and living in Southern California, and after I learned how to pronounce Polish for a trip to Poland in 1997, I got better at rolling my R's in Spanish too. But I still didn't like it.
Until I went to the Just Give Me Jesus conference that Anne Graham Lotz (Billy Graham's daughter) held in San Diego. The musician for the conference was Fernando Ortega ("I am Fernando Ortega. You killed my father. Prepare to die."--Yes, he said that at the conference), and he sang a Spanish worship song that he said was a traditional song from way back when in Mexico. The song was, Con Que Pagaremos, and I understood almost none of it, but it was one of the most beautiful things I've heard in my life. At the moment I heard Ortega sing it, I decided that maybe I wouldn't mind learning Spanish after all.
I haven't done that yet, but that change of heart played into my decision to sign up for the medical Spanish class.
My purpose in taking these medical classes is to get qualified for a job, and maybe even with the Spanish to get a bit of an advantage over some of the other people who will be applying for the same jobs. Sure, the bilingual people will have the advantage over me, but I'll take whatever I can get.
Our instructor had a huge list of English and Spanish words on the board for us to copy and learn. Then she gave us a big handout with more terms. She went through everything, making sure we knew how to pronounce it and making us say things out loud so she could correct us. My pronunciation got "muy bien" every time.
Then she erased the vocabulary words (family relationships) and wrote medical terms until she ran out of space. We copied them and then pronounced them.
I already knew the word for heart: corazon. I learned that one when I watched Romancing the Stone back in the '80s. And the word for lung (pulmón) was easy to remember, because it's just like the medical terminology I learned last year.
So I'm on my way. But I stopped at the end of class to tell the instructor that I have a job interview on Monday afternoon (I passed the initial-screening phone interview with the HR person this past Monday), and if I get the job, I'll be dropping the Spanish class.
I told my Medical Assisting instructor the same thing at the end of class Thursday, and she suggested that I stick out the class and get my certificate so I won't waste all the work I've already done (the class is half-over). Unfortunately, the job would be a day job, so I wouldn't be able to continue the morning class. So she said she had a bit of pull and might be able to get me into the evening or online class. I might take her up on it, just in case I get the job but it goes south on me.
So that's the latest. Big interview scheduled to last about 2 hours Monday afternoon for an Admin job that pays really well for that kind of work. I'd appreciate your prayers.
Oppose Obama, Get Investigated
I noticed the trend when the Lufkin Daily News reported October 6, 2008, on the mysterious case of Jessica Hughes.
A Lufkin woman received a surprise visit from the Secret Service last week because of a "death threat" comment she reportedly made about Sen. Barack Obama to a campaign volunteer asking for her support of the presidential candidate.
Two federal agents arrived at Jessica Hughes' home Thursday to ask her if she said, "I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."
Hughes said her words were deliberately twisted by a volunteer who was apparently unhappy Hughes was rude during a phone conversation the two had. The Lufkin mother, a Republican, said she received a call on her cell phone Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.
"She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, 'No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.' (And then) I hung up."
Hughes said she was surprised to see two Secret Service agents at her door, and upset to learn that the conversation she had with the volunteer apparently had not been recorded.
"I find it hard to believe that (campaign volunteers) don't tape these calls. They call people unsolicited and they aren't monitoring the calls or recording them? I think that is absolutely ridiculous," she said.
"I mean, how often must this happen — that someone is rude to a volunteer that they don't want to talk to?"
Hughes said she wants to file a countercomplaint against the volunteer.
"She has made a charge that will follow me the rest of my life," she said.
Joe the Plumber is another case in point. A better one, in fact.
To refresh your memory, here's the video of the full exchange (over 5 minutes) between Barack Obama and Joe the Plumber. It isn't the tidy little soundbites you might have heard on the radio, so I offer my warning that the Snooze Factor is about a 4 on a 1 - 5 scale when Obama starts talking details of how his tax plan would have helped Joe in the past.
Keep in mind that Obama ventured into Joe's neighborhood and talked to him, hoping to get Joe's vote. Joe wasn't some sort of "GOP plant" at an Obama event. So what's the reaction on the part of the Obama-promoting media?
They're trashing Joe's private life. The Toledo Blade reported yesterday that Joe Wurzelbacher is not really a plumber and has other dastardly personal issues that make him unqualified to talk to The One, let alone criticize him.
A check of state and local licensing agencies in Ohio and Michigan shows no plumbing licenses under Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher’s name, or even misspellings of his name.
Mr. Wurzelbacher told reporters Thursday morning that he worked for Newell Plumbing & Heating Co., a small local firm whose business addresses flow back to several residential homes, including one on Talmadge Road in Ottawa Hills.
According to Lucas County Building Inspection records, A. W. Newell Corp. does maintain a state plumbing license, and one with the City of Toledo, but would not be allowed to work in Lucas County outside of Toledo without a county license.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under Al Newell’s license, but according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work.
He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio, which means he’s not a plumber.
I love how certain the Blade is that Joe is definitely not a plumber. Which, by implication, invalidates the whole "spread the wealth" conversation with Obama.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said he was hired by Mr. Newell six years ago and that the possibility of him eventually buying the company was discussed during his job interview.
He said it’s his understanding he can work under Mr. Newell’s license as long as the licensed contractor works on the same site.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said he is working on taking the Ohio plumbing contractors’ license test.
It's not enough, of course, for the left to attack Joe for his lack of plumbing credentials. They had to go and get personal. They checked his voter registration, they discovered a lien on his house, and they even looked at his divorce records to learn how much he made at the time of the divorce. All because Obama decided to walk down Joe's street with a camera crew.
I'm telling you, as Sarah Palin learned when John McCain picked her for the VP slot, you don't oppose Obama in public (or even on the phone, right Jessica?) unless you're willing to have your dirty laundry aired nationwide. Make that worldwide.
Here's John McCain's response today to the investigation of Joe the Plumber.
Hope. Change. That's what Obama's all about...
A Lufkin woman received a surprise visit from the Secret Service last week because of a "death threat" comment she reportedly made about Sen. Barack Obama to a campaign volunteer asking for her support of the presidential candidate.
Two federal agents arrived at Jessica Hughes' home Thursday to ask her if she said, "I will never support Obama and he will wind up dead on a hospital floor."
Hughes said her words were deliberately twisted by a volunteer who was apparently unhappy Hughes was rude during a phone conversation the two had. The Lufkin mother, a Republican, said she received a call on her cell phone Wednesday from a woman with the Obama Volunteers of Texarkana.
"She asked if I was an Obama supporter, to which I replied, 'No, I don't support him. Your guy is a socialist who voted four times in the state Senate to let little babies die in hospital closets; I think you should find something better to do with your time.' (And then) I hung up."
Hughes said she was surprised to see two Secret Service agents at her door, and upset to learn that the conversation she had with the volunteer apparently had not been recorded.
"I find it hard to believe that (campaign volunteers) don't tape these calls. They call people unsolicited and they aren't monitoring the calls or recording them? I think that is absolutely ridiculous," she said.
"I mean, how often must this happen — that someone is rude to a volunteer that they don't want to talk to?"
Hughes said she wants to file a countercomplaint against the volunteer.
"She has made a charge that will follow me the rest of my life," she said.
Joe the Plumber is another case in point. A better one, in fact.
To refresh your memory, here's the video of the full exchange (over 5 minutes) between Barack Obama and Joe the Plumber. It isn't the tidy little soundbites you might have heard on the radio, so I offer my warning that the Snooze Factor is about a 4 on a 1 - 5 scale when Obama starts talking details of how his tax plan would have helped Joe in the past.
Keep in mind that Obama ventured into Joe's neighborhood and talked to him, hoping to get Joe's vote. Joe wasn't some sort of "GOP plant" at an Obama event. So what's the reaction on the part of the Obama-promoting media?
They're trashing Joe's private life. The Toledo Blade reported yesterday that Joe Wurzelbacher is not really a plumber and has other dastardly personal issues that make him unqualified to talk to The One, let alone criticize him.
A check of state and local licensing agencies in Ohio and Michigan shows no plumbing licenses under Samuel Joseph Wurzelbacher’s name, or even misspellings of his name.
Mr. Wurzelbacher told reporters Thursday morning that he worked for Newell Plumbing & Heating Co., a small local firm whose business addresses flow back to several residential homes, including one on Talmadge Road in Ottawa Hills.
According to Lucas County Building Inspection records, A. W. Newell Corp. does maintain a state plumbing license, and one with the City of Toledo, but would not be allowed to work in Lucas County outside of Toledo without a county license.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said he works under Al Newell’s license, but according to Ohio building regulations, he must maintain his own license to do plumbing work.
He is also not registered to operate as a plumber in Ohio, which means he’s not a plumber.
I love how certain the Blade is that Joe is definitely not a plumber. Which, by implication, invalidates the whole "spread the wealth" conversation with Obama.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said he was hired by Mr. Newell six years ago and that the possibility of him eventually buying the company was discussed during his job interview.
He said it’s his understanding he can work under Mr. Newell’s license as long as the licensed contractor works on the same site.
Mr. Wurzelbacher said he is working on taking the Ohio plumbing contractors’ license test.
It's not enough, of course, for the left to attack Joe for his lack of plumbing credentials. They had to go and get personal. They checked his voter registration, they discovered a lien on his house, and they even looked at his divorce records to learn how much he made at the time of the divorce. All because Obama decided to walk down Joe's street with a camera crew.
I'm telling you, as Sarah Palin learned when John McCain picked her for the VP slot, you don't oppose Obama in public (or even on the phone, right Jessica?) unless you're willing to have your dirty laundry aired nationwide. Make that worldwide.
Here's John McCain's response today to the investigation of Joe the Plumber.
Hope. Change. That's what Obama's all about...
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Fire Update with Pictures
Here's an article about the fire from the local paper.
Most Oceanside residents can return to the homes they were forced to flee from Monday after a fire of unknown origin erupted and tore through dry brush along the southeastern portion of this giant military base.
Although no word was available as of 6 a.m. as to how much of the 3,000-acre fire had been suppressed, Oceanside police Sgt. David Larson said most residents of Camp Pendleton's "back gate" area could return home. The exception, he said, was for residents of the Pilgrim Creek mobile home park, which is not yet open for the people to return.
The fire is back on base now, and our skies are blue again.
Yesterday evening the neighborhood came out into the street to watch the hills. My camera seemed to be unsure what to make of the smoke when it came time to focus, so I apologize for the less-than-ideal focus on these pictures (click on the pictures to enlarge).
This hill is on Camp Pendleton, about a mile and a half away. That little white thing on top of the hill on the right is an MP vehicle, and it stayed there for quite a while. We didn't worry as long as it stayed parked there, because the fire would have to burn its way down the front of that hill and through other neighborhoods before it got to us.
We watched the water-dropping planes fly in to make their drops. Much of the sky was blue, including right over us, because the smoke was being blown to the west by the Santa Ana winds, and the fire was to the north of us.
I think this is one of the Super-Soaker planes. The local news broadcast said that we were luckier than the people in last year's fires down in San Diego, because the Super-Soakers were able to drop their water, fly over to Oceanside Harbor to scoop up more water, and get back to the fire in just a three-minute round trip.
After a while, the MP car drove away and we saw flames on the ridgeline of the nearest hills. That's when I started packing up the important things into my car.
By the time it got dark, the planes had to stop flying, and the front of these hills were in flames, the smoke glowing orange well into the sky. I went to my friend's house, armed with my daughter's promise to call me if the evacuation order came.
It didn't, and when I drove up the street to come home, the sky was the black of a normal night. I unpacked my car and put things back where I got them and watched the news coverage for a while before going to bed for an uneventful sleep.
Most Oceanside residents can return to the homes they were forced to flee from Monday after a fire of unknown origin erupted and tore through dry brush along the southeastern portion of this giant military base.
Although no word was available as of 6 a.m. as to how much of the 3,000-acre fire had been suppressed, Oceanside police Sgt. David Larson said most residents of Camp Pendleton's "back gate" area could return home. The exception, he said, was for residents of the Pilgrim Creek mobile home park, which is not yet open for the people to return.
The fire is back on base now, and our skies are blue again.
Yesterday evening the neighborhood came out into the street to watch the hills. My camera seemed to be unsure what to make of the smoke when it came time to focus, so I apologize for the less-than-ideal focus on these pictures (click on the pictures to enlarge).
This hill is on Camp Pendleton, about a mile and a half away. That little white thing on top of the hill on the right is an MP vehicle, and it stayed there for quite a while. We didn't worry as long as it stayed parked there, because the fire would have to burn its way down the front of that hill and through other neighborhoods before it got to us.
We watched the water-dropping planes fly in to make their drops. Much of the sky was blue, including right over us, because the smoke was being blown to the west by the Santa Ana winds, and the fire was to the north of us.
I think this is one of the Super-Soaker planes. The local news broadcast said that we were luckier than the people in last year's fires down in San Diego, because the Super-Soakers were able to drop their water, fly over to Oceanside Harbor to scoop up more water, and get back to the fire in just a three-minute round trip.
After a while, the MP car drove away and we saw flames on the ridgeline of the nearest hills. That's when I started packing up the important things into my car.
By the time it got dark, the planes had to stop flying, and the front of these hills were in flames, the smoke glowing orange well into the sky. I went to my friend's house, armed with my daughter's promise to call me if the evacuation order came.
It didn't, and when I drove up the street to come home, the sky was the black of a normal night. I unpacked my car and put things back where I got them and watched the news coverage for a while before going to bed for an uneventful sleep.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Flames
We haven't been evacuated yet, but we can see the flames on the hills about a mile away in Camp Pendleton. So, I'm shutting down the computer and packing it away in case of an evacuatoin order.
We're not too worried. Actually, my next-door neighbor and I are kinda hoping we'll be able to collect fire insurance money. But in truth, I think I'd rather nothing burns but the grass on base.
Update (9:45 pm):
I went to a friend's house for a couple hours, and the wind shifted while I was gone. It had been keeping the smoke away, but as I drove home, ash swirled on the street like a light dusting of powdery snow.
My house is in the clear, but more homes to the east are in danger. So far only two homes in our area got minor damage, and nobody has been hurt.
We're not too worried. Actually, my next-door neighbor and I are kinda hoping we'll be able to collect fire insurance money. But in truth, I think I'd rather nothing burns but the grass on base.
Update (9:45 pm):
I went to a friend's house for a couple hours, and the wind shifted while I was gone. It had been keeping the smoke away, but as I drove home, ash swirled on the street like a light dusting of powdery snow.
My house is in the clear, but more homes to the east are in danger. So far only two homes in our area got minor damage, and nobody has been hurt.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
Two Sides of Troopergate
The "Troopergate" report on Alaska Governor Sarah Palin was released yesterday. The AP had this unbiased report this morning.
The politically charged investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is over, and its conclusions are stinging. But the fallout, if any, might not come until Election Day.
A legislative investigator found that Palin violated state ethics laws and abused her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.
The next move may be at the ballot box. The legislative committee that released the report Friday recommends no criminal investigation and has no authority to sanction the governor, the Republican vice presidential nominee.
If voters believe the report's finding and it tarnishes Palin's reputation as a reformer and a champion for good government, that could hurt Republican presidential nominee John McCain in the final weeks of the race.
They wish.
Attorney Bill Dyer, blogging at Hugh Hewitt's blog, posted his assessment of the Troopergate report yesterday. He had a slightly different take on the report (emphasis in the original):
Please understand this, if you take nothing else away from reading this post: The Branchflower Report is a series of guess and insupportable conclusions drawn by exactly one guy, and it hasn't been approved or adopted or endorsed by so much as a single sub-committee of the Alaska Legislature, much less any kind of commission, court, jury, or other proper adjudicatory body. It contains no new bombshells in terms of factual revelations. Rather, it's just Steve Branchflower's opinion — after being hired and directed by one of Gov. Palin's most vocal opponents and one of Alaska's staunchest Obama supporters — that he thinks Gov. Palin had, at worst, mixed motives for an action that even Branchflower admits she unquestionably had both (a) the complete right to perform and (b) other very good reasons to perform.
Here are the two key "findings," however (from page 8 of the .pdf file; boldface mine [Dyer's]):
Here's a note to Mr. Branchflower, who clearly is verbose, but obviously none too keen a scholar of logic: Gov. Palin's so-called "firing" of Monegan (it wasn't a firing, it was a re-assignment to other government duties that he resigned rather than accept) can't simultaneously be a violation of the Ethics Act and "a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority." This, gentle readers, is a 263-page piece of political circus that actually explicitly refutes itself on its single most key page!
When you see or hear Obama supporters crowing about Palin's "abuse of power" and calling for her to withdraw from the race, now you know what to say.
I wonder if Obama's "Stop the Smears" website will try to stop this smear...
The politically charged investigation into Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is over, and its conclusions are stinging. But the fallout, if any, might not come until Election Day.
A legislative investigator found that Palin violated state ethics laws and abused her power by trying to have her former brother-in-law fired as a state trooper.
The next move may be at the ballot box. The legislative committee that released the report Friday recommends no criminal investigation and has no authority to sanction the governor, the Republican vice presidential nominee.
If voters believe the report's finding and it tarnishes Palin's reputation as a reformer and a champion for good government, that could hurt Republican presidential nominee John McCain in the final weeks of the race.
They wish.
Attorney Bill Dyer, blogging at Hugh Hewitt's blog, posted his assessment of the Troopergate report yesterday. He had a slightly different take on the report (emphasis in the original):
Please understand this, if you take nothing else away from reading this post: The Branchflower Report is a series of guess and insupportable conclusions drawn by exactly one guy, and it hasn't been approved or adopted or endorsed by so much as a single sub-committee of the Alaska Legislature, much less any kind of commission, court, jury, or other proper adjudicatory body. It contains no new bombshells in terms of factual revelations. Rather, it's just Steve Branchflower's opinion — after being hired and directed by one of Gov. Palin's most vocal opponents and one of Alaska's staunchest Obama supporters — that he thinks Gov. Palin had, at worst, mixed motives for an action that even Branchflower admits she unquestionably had both (a) the complete right to perform and (b) other very good reasons to perform.
Here are the two key "findings," however (from page 8 of the .pdf file; boldface mine [Dyer's]):
Finding Number One
For the reasons explained in section IV of this report, I find that Governor Sarah Palin abused her power by violating Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) of the Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act. Alaska Statute 39.52.110(a) providesThe legislature reaffirms that each public officer holds office as a public trust, and any effort to benefit a personal or financial interest through official action is a violation of that trust."
Finding Number Two
I find that, although Walt Monegan's refusal to fire Trooper Michael Wooten was not the sole reason he was fired by Governor Sarah Palin, it was likely a contributing factor to his termination as Commissioner of Public Safety. In spite of that, Governor Palin's firing of Commissioner Monegan was a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority to hire and fire executive branch department heads.
Here's a note to Mr. Branchflower, who clearly is verbose, but obviously none too keen a scholar of logic: Gov. Palin's so-called "firing" of Monegan (it wasn't a firing, it was a re-assignment to other government duties that he resigned rather than accept) can't simultaneously be a violation of the Ethics Act and "a proper and lawful exercise of her constitutional and statutory authority." This, gentle readers, is a 263-page piece of political circus that actually explicitly refutes itself on its single most key page!
When you see or hear Obama supporters crowing about Palin's "abuse of power" and calling for her to withdraw from the race, now you know what to say.
I wonder if Obama's "Stop the Smears" website will try to stop this smear...
Friday, October 10, 2008
McCain's New Campaign Ad
It looks like John McCain is finally listening to his base and going after Obama for being tied to ACORN. Here's McCain's latest ad (HT: Michelle Malkin):
As one of Michelle Malkin's readers, Blind Mule, put it, ACORN should more correctly stand for "Association of Corrupted Organizations for Registration of Non-eligible voters."
I'm glad McCain is finally starting to fight. Here's hoping it's not too late.
Update:
I don't know who removed the video from YouTube, whether it was the McCain campaign deciding to play nice, or YouTube removing it because somebody flagged it as offensive. Either way, Michelle Malkin has the transcript for the ad.
As one of Michelle Malkin's readers, Blind Mule, put it, ACORN should more correctly stand for "Association of Corrupted Organizations for Registration of Non-eligible voters."
I'm glad McCain is finally starting to fight. Here's hoping it's not too late.
Update:
I don't know who removed the video from YouTube, whether it was the McCain campaign deciding to play nice, or YouTube removing it because somebody flagged it as offensive. Either way, Michelle Malkin has the transcript for the ad.
Wednesday, October 08, 2008
Stove Shoots Woman in Leg
It seems like so long since I've seen any strange news. The media has been full of the presidential campaign. Barack Obama is way ahead in the polls. No, they're practically tied. The debate was a bore. The debate was about Brokaw and his colored lights.
And on the financial bailout, the conservative blogs have been at loggerheads. Hugh Hewitt favored it for the sake of the economy. Michelle Malkin called it a "crap sandwich." It's hard to know which side to come down on, let alone be eloquent about that side.
So I've mostly been ignoring those topics on my blog, waiting for something interesting I can get my mind around. And now I've found it.
The [Olympic] Peninsula Daily News reported today that a woman was shot while she was inside her own home.
Cory Davis, 56, had just finished stoking her cast-iron stove to heat her home when something inside it exploded.
With a loud bang, she was struck on the inside of her left calf.
"I kept thinking, 'geeze that was one fast hot coal flying at me,'" she said, with a laugh.
"But it wasn't a coal."
It was part of a 22-gauge shotgun shell that had been accidentally placed in the stove along with some newspaper.
Davis said a case of the ammo had spilled in her home, located at Hoko-Ozette Road, about a month ago.
Davis said she removed the metal fragment from her wound early Sunday morning, then visited Forks Community Hospital on Monday.
A doctor cleaned the wound and gave her a tetanus shot.
Now, that's news I can understand. Spilled ammo. A wood stove. A woman's leg. Put them all together in an explosive blend and top it off with a tetanus shot.
And on the financial bailout, the conservative blogs have been at loggerheads. Hugh Hewitt favored it for the sake of the economy. Michelle Malkin called it a "crap sandwich." It's hard to know which side to come down on, let alone be eloquent about that side.
So I've mostly been ignoring those topics on my blog, waiting for something interesting I can get my mind around. And now I've found it.
The [Olympic] Peninsula Daily News reported today that a woman was shot while she was inside her own home.
Cory Davis, 56, had just finished stoking her cast-iron stove to heat her home when something inside it exploded.
With a loud bang, she was struck on the inside of her left calf.
"I kept thinking, 'geeze that was one fast hot coal flying at me,'" she said, with a laugh.
"But it wasn't a coal."
It was part of a 22-gauge shotgun shell that had been accidentally placed in the stove along with some newspaper.
Davis said a case of the ammo had spilled in her home, located at Hoko-Ozette Road, about a month ago.
Davis said she removed the metal fragment from her wound early Sunday morning, then visited Forks Community Hospital on Monday.
A doctor cleaned the wound and gave her a tetanus shot.
Now, that's news I can understand. Spilled ammo. A wood stove. A woman's leg. Put them all together in an explosive blend and top it off with a tetanus shot.
SIDS Research Duh Moment
The AP reported Monday on the latest US research on SIDS.
Using a fan to circulate air seemed to lower the risk of sudden infant death syndrome in a study of nearly 500 babies, researchers reported Monday. Placing babies on their backs to sleep is the best advice for preventing SIDS, a still mysterious cause of death.
Experts also recommend a firm mattress, removing toys and pillows from cribs, and keeping infants from getting too warm.
Such practices helped slash U.S. SIDS deaths by more than half over a decade to about 2,100 in 2003. But SIDS remains the leading cause of death in infants ages 1 month to 1 year.
"The baby's sleeping environment really matters," said study senior author Dr. De-Kun Li of the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research in Oakland, Calif. "This seems to suggest that by improving room ventilation we can further reduce risk."
"... a still mysterious cause of death. " This really ticks me off. It's no mystery. Of course a fan would help, and I'll tell you why.
I used to volunteer at a crisis pregnancy center, from 2001 to the end of 2005, and an article describing some SIDS research in New Zealand came to the center. Here is an undated article describing the New Zealand findings and the results (the most recent article referenced is from 2003).
Ongoing SIDS research occasionally leads to discoveries of risk factors associated with these deaths, but after almost 50 years, researchers say they still do not know how or why it happens. The prevailing official viewpoint on SIDS is that the cause is unknown (SIDS Alliance 2001).
It may seem inconceivable that over a million babies have died of this "syndrome", and after almost half a century and many millions of dollars spent, no one in this age of science and technology can tell us why. But what parents are virtually oblivious to (through no fault of their own) is that a highly convincing explanation for this tragedy has been found, along with a simple means of eliminating it.
Dr. Jim Sprott, OBE, a New Zealand scientist and chemist, states with certainty that crib death is caused by toxic gases, which can be generated from a baby's mattress. Chemical compounds containing phosphorus, arsenic and antimony have been added to mattresses as fire retardants and for other purposes since the early 1950's. A fungus that commonly grows in bedding can interact with these chemicals to create poisonous gases (Richardson 1994). These heavier-than-air gases are concentrated in a thin layer on the baby's mattress or are diffused away and dissipated into the surrounding atmosphere. If a baby breathes or absorbs a lethal dose of the gases, the central nervous system shuts down, stopping breathing and then heart function. These gases can fatally poison a baby, without waking the sleeping baby and without any struggle by the baby. A normal autopsy would not reveal any sign that the baby was poisoned (Sprott 1996).
Here's the kicker (emphasis in the original):
A 100% successful crib death prevention campaign has been going on in New Zealand for the past 11 years. Midwives and other healthcare professionals throughout New Zealand have been actively advising parents to wrap mattresses. During this time, there has not been a single SIDS death reported among the over 100,000 New Zealand babies who have slept on mattresses wrapped in a specially formulated polyethylene cover. The number of crib deaths in New Zealand that have occurred since mattress-wrapping began in 1994 is about 810. The number of crib deaths that have occurred in New Zealand on a properly wrapped mattress is zero.
In New Zealand they have a solution. In America they keep saying they're not sure what works.
If you have a baby, or if you plan to have another one, look to New Zealand for the answer to keep your baby sleeping and breathing.
You can go here to order a BabeSafe mattress cover, manufactured in New Zealand, or go here to order a non-toxic crib mattress. I have no financial interest in either company.
Tuesday, October 07, 2008
Oliver Stone's W
I just saw the trailer for Oliver Stone's latest movie, "W." It showed President Bush having lunch while his advisor was briefing him on the situation in Kosovo or someplace in trouble like that. Then Bush replied, "I don't understand why you're bringing this up during lunch."
It's revolting that Bush would be so uncaring about events in the world.
Not like Barack "Just Let Me Eat My Waffle" Obama.
It's revolting that Bush would be so uncaring about events in the world.
Not like Barack "Just Let Me Eat My Waffle" Obama.
Tagged!
OK, I begged Bekah to tag me so I could play along.
Here are the rules:
Each player answers the question themselves.At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.
10 years ago (1998):
1. I took my kids on a road trip to visit my sister and her family in Texas, stopping in Tombstone, AZ, Roswell and White Sands, NM, and Carlsbad Caverns along the way.
2. I learned how to swing dance.
3. I dated a really nice guy for several months, before he dumped me. He turned out to be a serial heart-breaker (I was the first).
4. I worked in IT at the corporate headquarters of a fast-food chain.
5. I had just moved into the first home I bought by myself.
5 things on today’s “to do” list:
1. Get my watch battery replaced. It died yesterday.
2. Go to class.
3. Do homework.
4. Look for a job.
5. Figure out a dessert to bring to Saturday's lunch at church for a missions board meeting.
5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Grapes.
2. Strawberries.
3. Peanuts.
4. Yogurt.
5. Raisinets at the movies.
5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Go on a cruise and stay in this stateroom.
2. Buy a 2-story farmhouse with a wrap-around porch and a full basement.
3. Take my family on a fully catered canal cruise in France.
4. Visit my World Vision child in Malawi.
5. Hire a house cleaning service and a gardener and maybe a cook.
5 places I have lived:
1. Norfolk, Virginia, when I was 4 and 5 years old.
2. San Diego, California, from kindergarten through 9th grade.
3. Missoula, Montana, for high school and a year of college.
4. Spokane, Washington, early in my marriage. Loved it! They have basements.
5. Newport Beach, California. Before kids. We had an apartment an alley away from the beach, for the winter before we went on our big bicycle trip to Europe.
5 jobs I have had:
1. Vending Help at Yellowstone National Park.
2. Temp job for two days passing out free samples of cigarettes in downtown Los Angeles.
3. I worked in the IT department for an airline. Loved the job, especially the flight benefits!
4. Local tour director gigs.
5. Temp job at Christmastime working at the customer service desk at a mall.
5 people to tag:
I'll take a page from Bekah and not tag anybody in particular. If you want to play, consider yourself tagged.
Here are the rules:
Each player answers the question themselves.At the end of the post, the player then tags 5 people and posts their names, then goes to their blog and leaves them a comment letting them know that they’ve been tagged and asking them to read your blog. Let the person who tagged you know when you’ve answered the questions on your blog.
10 years ago (1998):
1. I took my kids on a road trip to visit my sister and her family in Texas, stopping in Tombstone, AZ, Roswell and White Sands, NM, and Carlsbad Caverns along the way.
2. I learned how to swing dance.
3. I dated a really nice guy for several months, before he dumped me. He turned out to be a serial heart-breaker (I was the first).
4. I worked in IT at the corporate headquarters of a fast-food chain.
5. I had just moved into the first home I bought by myself.
5 things on today’s “to do” list:
1. Get my watch battery replaced. It died yesterday.
2. Go to class.
3. Do homework.
4. Look for a job.
5. Figure out a dessert to bring to Saturday's lunch at church for a missions board meeting.
5 snacks I enjoy:
1. Grapes.
2. Strawberries.
3. Peanuts.
4. Yogurt.
5. Raisinets at the movies.
5 things I would do if I were a millionaire:
1. Go on a cruise and stay in this stateroom.
2. Buy a 2-story farmhouse with a wrap-around porch and a full basement.
3. Take my family on a fully catered canal cruise in France.
4. Visit my World Vision child in Malawi.
5. Hire a house cleaning service and a gardener and maybe a cook.
5 places I have lived:
1. Norfolk, Virginia, when I was 4 and 5 years old.
2. San Diego, California, from kindergarten through 9th grade.
3. Missoula, Montana, for high school and a year of college.
4. Spokane, Washington, early in my marriage. Loved it! They have basements.
5. Newport Beach, California. Before kids. We had an apartment an alley away from the beach, for the winter before we went on our big bicycle trip to Europe.
5 jobs I have had:
1. Vending Help at Yellowstone National Park.
2. Temp job for two days passing out free samples of cigarettes in downtown Los Angeles.
3. I worked in the IT department for an airline. Loved the job, especially the flight benefits!
4. Local tour director gigs.
5. Temp job at Christmastime working at the customer service desk at a mall.
5 people to tag:
I'll take a page from Bekah and not tag anybody in particular. If you want to play, consider yourself tagged.
Monday, October 06, 2008
McCain Finally Takes the Gloves Off
The guy in this video is not John McCain...
... but he should be the opening act for McCain on the campaign trail.
Michelle Malkin reported today on her blog that at long last McCain has come out swinging.
Last week, the McCain campaign said it would be too complicated and politically incorrect to blast Obama for his Fannie/Freddie complicity.
Looks like common sense mugged the Maverick.
Better late, than never — via Ed Morrissey, here’s McCain’s prepared text for an event later today:
It's good to see the fight coming back to McCain. He's been way too nice, giving Obama a pass for far too long.
Power Line has the video of part of McCain's campaign speech in Albuquerque. They also have this post on the latest CBS News poll showing that the race may be tightening.
... but he should be the opening act for McCain on the campaign trail.
Michelle Malkin reported today on her blog that at long last McCain has come out swinging.
Last week, the McCain campaign said it would be too complicated and politically incorrect to blast Obama for his Fannie/Freddie complicity.
Looks like common sense mugged the Maverick.
Better late, than never — via Ed Morrissey, here’s McCain’s prepared text for an event later today:
Our current economic crisis is a good case in point. What was his actual record in the years before the great economic crisis of our lifetimes?
This crisis started in our housing market in the form of subprime loans that were pushed on people who could not afford them. Bad mortgages were being backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and it was only a matter of time before a contagion of unsustainable debt began to spread. This corruption was encouraged by Democrats in Congress, and abetted by Senator Obama.
Senator Obama has accused me of opposing regulation to avert this crisis. I guess he believes if a lie is big enough and repeated often enough it will be believed. But the truth is I was the one who called at the time for tighter restrictions on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac that could have helped prevent this crisis from happening in the first place.
Senator Obama was silent on the regulation of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, and his Democratic allies in Congress opposed every effort to rein them in. As recently as September of last year he said that subprime loans had been, quote, “a good idea.” Well, Senator Obama, that “good idea” has now plunged this country into the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.
To hear him talk now, you’d think he’d always opposed the dangerous practices at these institutions. But there is absolutely nothing in his record to suggest he did. He was surely familiar with the people who were creating this problem. The executives of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac have advised him, and he has taken their money for his campaign. He has received more money from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac than any other senator in history, with the exception of the chairman of the committee overseeing them.
Did he ever talk to the executives at Fannie and Freddie about these reckless loans? Did he ever discuss with them the stronger oversight I proposed? If Senator Obama is such a champion of financial regulation, why didn’t he support these regulations that could have prevented this crisis in the first place? He won’t tell you, but you deserve an answer.
It's good to see the fight coming back to McCain. He's been way too nice, giving Obama a pass for far too long.
Power Line has the video of part of McCain's campaign speech in Albuquerque. They also have this post on the latest CBS News poll showing that the race may be tightening.
Wednesday, October 01, 2008
Personality Testing
Before I get to the personality test, a little background...
I bought these plastic cups at Disneyland many years ago. Mickey and Minnie are fine, but I normally drink from the Donald Duck cup unless he's not available.
OK. On to the story.
My daughter's friend, the one with boyfriend trouble (they broke up recently), came over with a personality test she took at a workshop. It's available online, if you're interested in taking it.
I'm more familiar with the Meyers-Briggs personality types of NT, NF, SP, and SJ, but I've also heard of the types that our friend brought over: Expressive, Analytical, Amiable, and Driver.
I took the test, which plots you on two scales: Ask v. Tell, and Task v. Relationship. I came out as Tell (just barely: 4 to 3) and Relationship (just barely: 4 to 3), which puts me in the Expressive personality type (just barely). The overview describes me as:
- The life of the party
- Turn disaster into humor
- Prevent dull moments
- Generous people*
- Eternal optimists
I'm not really the life of the party, but the rest of it describes me, although they forgot the part that says, "Talks with hands." I don't know what the asterisk is for about being generous.
Toward the end of the document, they list famous people from each of the personality types. The expressives are:
- Ronald Reagan
- Lucille Ball
- Donald Duck
- Robin Williams
This is freaky. Are they trying to tell me something? Were they watching me drink from the Donald Duck cup?
I'm not sure I like what Donald Duck says about me.
Monday, September 29, 2008
Justice in Indianapolis
The AP reported yesterday about the death of a sex offender.
A convicted sex offender died Sunday during a struggle with a father who found the naked man in or near his 17-year-old daughter’s bedroom, police said.
Police responding to a call from the city’s northwest side about 3:20 a.m. found 64-year-old Robert McNally on the hallway floor with his arm around the neck of 52-year-old David T. Meyers, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Mount said Meyers had a heart condition and may have had a heart attack. An autopsy was planned.
Police said Meyers was naked except for a mask and latex gloves and had entered the home through a window near the girl’s bedroom with rope, condoms and a knife. He was familiar with the home’s layout because it belonged to a relative, police said.
The girl awoke and screamed when she saw the man in her room, police said. The father responded and struggled with the intruder while the girl’s mother phoned 911.
Police did not anticipate any charges against McNally.
This is good news for Indianapolis. There is one less scumbag rapist on the streets there, thanks to Mr. McNally.
Add this to the news back in January, and Indianapolis is looking like the kind of place that criminals might want to avoid.
A convicted sex offender died Sunday during a struggle with a father who found the naked man in or near his 17-year-old daughter’s bedroom, police said.
Police responding to a call from the city’s northwest side about 3:20 a.m. found 64-year-old Robert McNally on the hallway floor with his arm around the neck of 52-year-old David T. Meyers, who was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police spokesman Sgt. Matthew Mount said Meyers had a heart condition and may have had a heart attack. An autopsy was planned.
Police said Meyers was naked except for a mask and latex gloves and had entered the home through a window near the girl’s bedroom with rope, condoms and a knife. He was familiar with the home’s layout because it belonged to a relative, police said.
The girl awoke and screamed when she saw the man in her room, police said. The father responded and struggled with the intruder while the girl’s mother phoned 911.
Police did not anticipate any charges against McNally.
This is good news for Indianapolis. There is one less scumbag rapist on the streets there, thanks to Mr. McNally.
Add this to the news back in January, and Indianapolis is looking like the kind of place that criminals might want to avoid.
"Paris Hilton Bill" Vetoed
The Sacramento Bee reported yesterday that Gov. Schwarzenegger vetoed a bill nicknamed for Paris Hilton.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation Saturday that would have banned motorists from holding a live animal in their laps or arms.
The Republican governor gave no specific explanation other than to blame his veto of Assembly Bill 2233 on the recent budget dispute.
As he has with six dozen other bills this signing period, Schwarzenegger attached a uniform four-sentence message explaining he is signing bills only of the "highest priority" during the condensed signing period caused by the 85-day budget delay.
Talk show host Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives ridiculed the lap-dog measure as excessive government and dubbed it the "Paris Hilton Bill" in honor of the celebrity dog lover. Violators would have faced a base fine of $35, which could have risen to $150 with state and county fees.
Assemblyman Bill Maze, the bill's author, said he proposed AB 2233 after seeing a Tulare County woman driving with three dogs on her lap.
"One had its feet on the steering wheel and the other two were leaning over her left arm," said Maze, R-Visalia.
"You've got a live animal that has a mind of its own," Maze said. "It can get tangled in the steering wheel or pinned between your knees. It can create a real hazard for yourself and everyone else."
Yes, it can. Which is why I never let my little dog Abby ride in my lap when I was driving. And my mom's little dog Scooter always rides shotgun, too.
Stupid is as stupid does, and people who drive with their dogs on their laps are being stupid. But so is Assemblyman Maze for introducing this bill. Micromanaging drivers is going too far. Next, they'll be telling us we have to drive with our hands in the 2:00 and 10:00 positions or risk a ticket.
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger vetoed legislation Saturday that would have banned motorists from holding a live animal in their laps or arms.
The Republican governor gave no specific explanation other than to blame his veto of Assembly Bill 2233 on the recent budget dispute.
As he has with six dozen other bills this signing period, Schwarzenegger attached a uniform four-sentence message explaining he is signing bills only of the "highest priority" during the condensed signing period caused by the 85-day budget delay.
Talk show host Rush Limbaugh and other conservatives ridiculed the lap-dog measure as excessive government and dubbed it the "Paris Hilton Bill" in honor of the celebrity dog lover. Violators would have faced a base fine of $35, which could have risen to $150 with state and county fees.
Assemblyman Bill Maze, the bill's author, said he proposed AB 2233 after seeing a Tulare County woman driving with three dogs on her lap.
"One had its feet on the steering wheel and the other two were leaning over her left arm," said Maze, R-Visalia.
"You've got a live animal that has a mind of its own," Maze said. "It can get tangled in the steering wheel or pinned between your knees. It can create a real hazard for yourself and everyone else."
Yes, it can. Which is why I never let my little dog Abby ride in my lap when I was driving. And my mom's little dog Scooter always rides shotgun, too.
Stupid is as stupid does, and people who drive with their dogs on their laps are being stupid. But so is Assemblyman Maze for introducing this bill. Micromanaging drivers is going too far. Next, they'll be telling us we have to drive with our hands in the 2:00 and 10:00 positions or risk a ticket.
Evicting the U.N.
Congressman Tom Tancredo (R-CO) issued a press release September 23, 2008, about a bill he has introduced to Congress.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) introduced legislation today that would effectively move the United Nations headquarters out of the United States. The legislation is being introduced amid incessant anti-American and anti-Jewish political grandstanding from the podium of the General Assembly.
“The U.N. has coddled brutal dictators, anti-Semites, state sponsors of terrorism, and nuclear proliferators – while excluding democratic countries from membership and turning a blind eye to humanitarian tragedies and gross violations of human rights around the globe,” Tancredo said. “The U.N.’s continued presence in the United States is an embarrassment to our nation, and the time has come for this ineffective organization to pack its bags and hit the road.”
Tancredo’s bill, dubbed the U.N. Eviction Act, would direct Attorney General Michael Mukasey to initiate condemnation proceedings against all United Nations properties within the United States, and sell the property to the highest bidder on the open market. The proceeds will be given to the Treasury Department to pay down the national debt. The bill would also bar the future purchase of property in the United States or U.S. territories by the U.N. or any of its agencies, and revokes the diplomatic privileges and immunities that U.N. officials and representatives currently enjoy.
“I refuse to sit idly by while Americans are forced to host Islamofascist dictators, like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, so they can spew anti-American rhetoric just blocks from Ground Zero,” Tancredo continued.
Tancredo is my kind of Congressman. Be sure to call your congressman and tell him or her to support the U.N. Eviction Act.
U.S. Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-Littleton) introduced legislation today that would effectively move the United Nations headquarters out of the United States. The legislation is being introduced amid incessant anti-American and anti-Jewish political grandstanding from the podium of the General Assembly.
“The U.N. has coddled brutal dictators, anti-Semites, state sponsors of terrorism, and nuclear proliferators – while excluding democratic countries from membership and turning a blind eye to humanitarian tragedies and gross violations of human rights around the globe,” Tancredo said. “The U.N.’s continued presence in the United States is an embarrassment to our nation, and the time has come for this ineffective organization to pack its bags and hit the road.”
Tancredo’s bill, dubbed the U.N. Eviction Act, would direct Attorney General Michael Mukasey to initiate condemnation proceedings against all United Nations properties within the United States, and sell the property to the highest bidder on the open market. The proceeds will be given to the Treasury Department to pay down the national debt. The bill would also bar the future purchase of property in the United States or U.S. territories by the U.N. or any of its agencies, and revokes the diplomatic privileges and immunities that U.N. officials and representatives currently enjoy.
“I refuse to sit idly by while Americans are forced to host Islamofascist dictators, like Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, so they can spew anti-American rhetoric just blocks from Ground Zero,” Tancredo continued.
Tancredo is my kind of Congressman. Be sure to call your congressman and tell him or her to support the U.N. Eviction Act.
Bailout Bombs, Stocks Tumble
Fox News reported today that the House of Representatives voted down the bailout bill. Now the fallout hits.
Stocks spiraled downward as much as 685 points on Monday as a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street ended in defeat in the House of Representatives.
House leaders held open the vote as they tried to sway reluctant lawmakers to support the plan, which failed 205-228. Arm-twisting continued even after the vote clock expired. One member, retiring Republican Rep. Jerry Weller, did not vote.
The bill aimed to open up clogged credit lines for financial markets that had come to a near collapse. Sellers continued to shed stocks as the market teetered down more than 450 points after the vote ended.
Representatives worked throughout the weekend to make a bill palatable. Republicans had insisted on a mortgage securities insurance paid by firms who had invested in bad housing loans.
But supporters — even Republicans — said they didn't like the bailout but didn't want to play with history or risk an economic collapse.
"I'm not willing to put that bullet in the revolver and spin it. I will take the political risk," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.
Dennis Prager had a guest, I think it was Dick Morris, who said the Republicans wanted to to have insurance added to the bailout bill (it would reduce or eliminate the risk to taxpayers), and they got it, but the bill gives complete discretion to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on how to allocate the funds. The fact that Paulson is dead-set against insurance as an option makes the addition of insurance to the bill moot.
In spite of this, both Prager and (I think) Morris, as well as Hugh Hewitt from last week, are in favor of the bill for the same reason as Rep. Bachus, above: They want to prevent economic collapse.
I want to prevent economic collapse, too. I'm just not sure of the best way to do it. And now Congress needs to go back to the drawing board, because Wall Street is starting to tank. I hope this time, though, they come up with a bill that doesn't make Paulson the Economic Emperor of America.
For some good background (unreported by the left-leaning press) on what helped cause the mortgage-banking collapse, see this post at Bryan Alexander's Right Thinking.
Stocks spiraled downward as much as 685 points on Monday as a $700 billion bailout of Wall Street ended in defeat in the House of Representatives.
House leaders held open the vote as they tried to sway reluctant lawmakers to support the plan, which failed 205-228. Arm-twisting continued even after the vote clock expired. One member, retiring Republican Rep. Jerry Weller, did not vote.
The bill aimed to open up clogged credit lines for financial markets that had come to a near collapse. Sellers continued to shed stocks as the market teetered down more than 450 points after the vote ended.
Representatives worked throughout the weekend to make a bill palatable. Republicans had insisted on a mortgage securities insurance paid by firms who had invested in bad housing loans.
But supporters — even Republicans — said they didn't like the bailout but didn't want to play with history or risk an economic collapse.
"I'm not willing to put that bullet in the revolver and spin it. I will take the political risk," said Rep. Spencer Bachus, R-Ala., the ranking member of the House Financial Services Committee.
Dennis Prager had a guest, I think it was Dick Morris, who said the Republicans wanted to to have insurance added to the bailout bill (it would reduce or eliminate the risk to taxpayers), and they got it, but the bill gives complete discretion to Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson on how to allocate the funds. The fact that Paulson is dead-set against insurance as an option makes the addition of insurance to the bill moot.
In spite of this, both Prager and (I think) Morris, as well as Hugh Hewitt from last week, are in favor of the bill for the same reason as Rep. Bachus, above: They want to prevent economic collapse.
I want to prevent economic collapse, too. I'm just not sure of the best way to do it. And now Congress needs to go back to the drawing board, because Wall Street is starting to tank. I hope this time, though, they come up with a bill that doesn't make Paulson the Economic Emperor of America.
For some good background (unreported by the left-leaning press) on what helped cause the mortgage-banking collapse, see this post at Bryan Alexander's Right Thinking.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Car Trouble
My daughter called me last night on her way home from work to tell me that her car was shaking whenever she was at a stop and the "Check Engine" light had come on. I told her to go to the mechanic, tell them all about it, and I'd meet her there.
She had finished describing her car woes to the shop guys when I got there, and on the way home, she said she thought she had smelled oil. It sounded expensive. Very expensive. I imagined leaking head gaskets, and the hope that they'd call my ex (like last time) when it was time for a payment flashed through my mind (he started taking the Honda to that mechanic for my daughter while I was on my trip with my mom, so he's their usual contact).
We left it for overnight, and this morning I dropped my daughter off at her class. Then I picked her up when class was over. She had a couple hours before she had to get to work, so we stopped for a bite to eat to kill time.
The shop called my daughter's cell phone, and I tried to get a feel for how expensive it was going to be by her half of the conversation.
"It's dry? You mean there's no oil?" Oh darn! That could be a whole new engine! Or a new transmission if that's what's dry.
After she hung up, she told me they hadn't found anything wrong. We had just enough time to pick up the car from the shop so she could drive herself to work.
At the shop, the guy explained. The Check Engine light came on, and the code told them there had been a random missed firing in one of the pistons. Not a problem. They checked all the settings, and the rough idle wasn't rough enough to require any adjustments.
The engine was dry. On the outside. He said that, for a vehicle with 111,000 miles, it was amazingly free of any leaks. It's in fine shape, and if the idle gets noticeably worse, then maybe she should bring the car back in.
No charge.
There is a God in heaven, and He's very good to me!
She had finished describing her car woes to the shop guys when I got there, and on the way home, she said she thought she had smelled oil. It sounded expensive. Very expensive. I imagined leaking head gaskets, and the hope that they'd call my ex (like last time) when it was time for a payment flashed through my mind (he started taking the Honda to that mechanic for my daughter while I was on my trip with my mom, so he's their usual contact).
We left it for overnight, and this morning I dropped my daughter off at her class. Then I picked her up when class was over. She had a couple hours before she had to get to work, so we stopped for a bite to eat to kill time.
The shop called my daughter's cell phone, and I tried to get a feel for how expensive it was going to be by her half of the conversation.
"It's dry? You mean there's no oil?" Oh darn! That could be a whole new engine! Or a new transmission if that's what's dry.
After she hung up, she told me they hadn't found anything wrong. We had just enough time to pick up the car from the shop so she could drive herself to work.
At the shop, the guy explained. The Check Engine light came on, and the code told them there had been a random missed firing in one of the pistons. Not a problem. They checked all the settings, and the rough idle wasn't rough enough to require any adjustments.
The engine was dry. On the outside. He said that, for a vehicle with 111,000 miles, it was amazingly free of any leaks. It's in fine shape, and if the idle gets noticeably worse, then maybe she should bring the car back in.
No charge.
There is a God in heaven, and He's very good to me!
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Helpful Hints
In a moment of procrastination, I started cleaning my emails.
Let me back up. I'm still unemployed. A couple weeks ago I had an interview for a job with the city. I ranked #2 on the test, but after the interview, I got a nice letter telling me that somebody else better suited for the job was hired. I've been running into that quite a bit, because I'm overqualified (mainframe computer programmer, Bachelor's degree in Psychology) and underqualified (no experience as an admin, receptionist, in fast food, or working with a cash drawer) for most of the jobs in my area.
On one of my visits to the local office of the state career center, they told me about some ROP classes (state-funded vocational training) in the medical field. I went to Orientation and got special dispensation to skip the required Medical Essentials class, due to my having already aced Anatomy & Physiology and Medical Terminology. So now I'm in a 3-month class that will give me a certificate of proficiency as a "Medical Assistant (Front Office)." With that certificate, I should be able to say I'm perfectly qualified for the jobs I'm looking for (provided I look in medical clinics).
Anyway, I'm supposed to be reading the exciting chapter about how to answer the phone and take messages. It's so thrilling, I decided to clean up my email inbox, where I ran across an email my mom forwarded to me called, "DID YOU KNOW?"
There were a couple hints that referred to dryer sheets. One said to keep one in your pocket to repel mosquitoes. Next time I'm somewhere near stagnant fresh water, I might try it.
The last helpful hint had this to say about dryer sheets:
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the fil- ter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well .... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!
Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!
Love those exclamation marks on almost every sentence!
But an even better piece of advice is to save the dryer sheets for the mosquitoes. At least, don't use them on your towels. That lovely residue that builds up on your lint screen also coats your towels and makes them less absorbent.
So there you go. Helpful dryer sheet advice. If you want to know the other hints (how to deal with squirrels, fruit flies, and ants, and much more!), send me an email and I'll forward my mom's email to you.
Now back to learning how to schedule appointments...
Let me back up. I'm still unemployed. A couple weeks ago I had an interview for a job with the city. I ranked #2 on the test, but after the interview, I got a nice letter telling me that somebody else better suited for the job was hired. I've been running into that quite a bit, because I'm overqualified (mainframe computer programmer, Bachelor's degree in Psychology) and underqualified (no experience as an admin, receptionist, in fast food, or working with a cash drawer) for most of the jobs in my area.
On one of my visits to the local office of the state career center, they told me about some ROP classes (state-funded vocational training) in the medical field. I went to Orientation and got special dispensation to skip the required Medical Essentials class, due to my having already aced Anatomy & Physiology and Medical Terminology. So now I'm in a 3-month class that will give me a certificate of proficiency as a "Medical Assistant (Front Office)." With that certificate, I should be able to say I'm perfectly qualified for the jobs I'm looking for (provided I look in medical clinics).
Anyway, I'm supposed to be reading the exciting chapter about how to answer the phone and take messages. It's so thrilling, I decided to clean up my email inbox, where I ran across an email my mom forwarded to me called, "DID YOU KNOW?"
There were a couple hints that referred to dryer sheets. One said to keep one in your pocket to repel mosquitoes. Next time I'm somewhere near stagnant fresh water, I might try it.
The last helpful hint had this to say about dryer sheets:
The heating unit went out on my dryer! The gentleman that fixes things around the house for us told us that he wanted to show us something and he went over to the dryer and pulled out the lint filter. It was clean. (I always clean the lint from the fil- ter after every load clothes.) He told us that he wanted to show us something; he took the filter over to the sink and ran hot water over it. The lint filter is made of a mesh material ... I'm sure you know what your dryer's lint filter looks like. Well .... the hot water just sat on top of the mesh! It didn't go through it at all! He told us that dryer sheets cause a film over that mesh that's what burns out the heating unit. You can't SEE the film, but it's there. It's what is in the dryer sheets to make your clothes soft and static free ... that nice fragrance too. You know how they can feel waxy when you take them out of the box ... well this stuff builds up on your clothes and on your lint screen. This is also what causes dryer units to potentially burn your house down with it! He said the best way to keep your dryer working for a very long time (and to keep your electric bill lower) is to take that filter out and wash it with hot soapy water and an old toothbrush (or other brush) at least every six months. He said that makes the life of the dryer at least twice as long! How about that!?! Learn something new everyday! I certainly didn't know dryer sheets would do that. So, I thought I'd share!
Note: I went to my dryer and tested my screen by running water on it. The water ran through a little bit but mostly collected all the water in the mesh screen. I washed it with warm soapy water and a nylon brush and I had it done in 30 seconds. Then when I rinsed it ... the water ran right thru the screen! There wasn't any puddling at all! That repairman knew what he was talking about!
Love those exclamation marks on almost every sentence!
But an even better piece of advice is to save the dryer sheets for the mosquitoes. At least, don't use them on your towels. That lovely residue that builds up on your lint screen also coats your towels and makes them less absorbent.
So there you go. Helpful dryer sheet advice. If you want to know the other hints (how to deal with squirrels, fruit flies, and ants, and much more!), send me an email and I'll forward my mom's email to you.
Now back to learning how to schedule appointments...
Al Gore Encourages Law-Breaking
Reuters reported yesterday on a speech given by Al Gore.
Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.
"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.
This is a man who at one point in his life swore to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States. Now he's encouraging America's young people to violate the law, risk arrest, and hurt their chances of getting jobs in the future. What a guy.
"I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact," he said. "I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that."
He's gone off the deep end. Let him lobby the state attorneys general and leave our kids alone.
The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.
Carbon capture and storage could give coal power an extended lease on life by keeping power plants' greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and easing climate change.
But no commercial-scale project exists anywhere to demonstrate the technology, partly because it is expected to increase up-front capital costs by an additional 50 percent.
So-called geo-sequestration of carbon sees carbon dioxide liquefied and pumped into underground rock layers for long term storage.
So Gore wants to send our youths to jail to stop all coal plant construction unless the plants install unproven technology. That would add a huge price tag to energy at a time when energy costs are already high. Let him start saving the planet by keeping his hot air to himself and by turning off the lights in his own house.
Nobel Peace Prize winner and environmental crusader Al Gore urged young people on Wednesday to engage in civil disobedience to stop the construction of coal plants without the ability to store carbon.
"If you're a young person looking at the future of this planet and looking at what is being done right now, and not done, I believe we have reached the stage where it is time for civil disobedience to prevent the construction of new coal plants that do not have carbon capture and sequestration," Gore told the Clinton Global Initiative gathering to loud applause.
This is a man who at one point in his life swore to preserve, protect, and defend the constitution of the United States. Now he's encouraging America's young people to violate the law, risk arrest, and hurt their chances of getting jobs in the future. What a guy.
"I believe for a carbon company to spend money convincing the stock-buying public that the risk from the global climate crisis is not that great represents a form of stock fraud because they are misrepresenting a material fact," he said. "I hope these state attorney generals around the country will take some action on that."
He's gone off the deep end. Let him lobby the state attorneys general and leave our kids alone.
The government says about 28 coal plants are under construction in the United States. Another 20 projects have permits or are near the start of construction.
Carbon capture and storage could give coal power an extended lease on life by keeping power plants' greenhouse gas emissions out of the atmosphere and easing climate change.
But no commercial-scale project exists anywhere to demonstrate the technology, partly because it is expected to increase up-front capital costs by an additional 50 percent.
So-called geo-sequestration of carbon sees carbon dioxide liquefied and pumped into underground rock layers for long term storage.
So Gore wants to send our youths to jail to stop all coal plant construction unless the plants install unproven technology. That would add a huge price tag to energy at a time when energy costs are already high. Let him start saving the planet by keeping his hot air to himself and by turning off the lights in his own house.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Green Activists Contribute Greenhouse Gases
What's the opposite of green? On the color wheel, it's red, so I'll go with that.
It seems that Green idealists are also the reddest. The Guardian (UK) reported today on a British study into the lifestyle habits of Greens.
People who believe they have the greenest lifestyles can be seen as some of the main culprits behind global warming, says a team of researchers, who claim that many ideas about sustainable living are a myth.
According to the researchers, people who regularly recycle rubbish and save energy at home are also the most likely to take frequent long-haul flights abroad. The carbon emissions from such flights can swamp the green savings made at home, the researchers claim.
Stewart Barr, of Exeter University, who led the research, said: "Green living is largely something of a myth. There is this middle class environmentalism where being green is part of the desired image. But another part of the desired image is to fly off skiing twice a year. And the carbon savings they make by not driving their kids to school will be obliterated by the pollution from their flights."
Some people even said they deserved such flights as a reward for their green efforts, he added.
It's like people who go to the movies and order Milk Duds and a Diet Coke. It would be worse if they got a regular Coke, I suppose, but really what's the point of saving calories?
They found the longest and the most frequent flights were taken by those who were most aware of environmental issues, including the threat posed by climate change.
Greenies, don't let your ideals get in the way of ruining the planet!
It seems that Green idealists are also the reddest. The Guardian (UK) reported today on a British study into the lifestyle habits of Greens.
People who believe they have the greenest lifestyles can be seen as some of the main culprits behind global warming, says a team of researchers, who claim that many ideas about sustainable living are a myth.
According to the researchers, people who regularly recycle rubbish and save energy at home are also the most likely to take frequent long-haul flights abroad. The carbon emissions from such flights can swamp the green savings made at home, the researchers claim.
Stewart Barr, of Exeter University, who led the research, said: "Green living is largely something of a myth. There is this middle class environmentalism where being green is part of the desired image. But another part of the desired image is to fly off skiing twice a year. And the carbon savings they make by not driving their kids to school will be obliterated by the pollution from their flights."
Some people even said they deserved such flights as a reward for their green efforts, he added.
It's like people who go to the movies and order Milk Duds and a Diet Coke. It would be worse if they got a regular Coke, I suppose, but really what's the point of saving calories?
They found the longest and the most frequent flights were taken by those who were most aware of environmental issues, including the threat posed by climate change.
Greenies, don't let your ideals get in the way of ruining the planet!
Friday, September 19, 2008
Going into Stealth Mode (Updated)
Not much internet activity out of me for now. I'm fighting another virus and going away for the weekend, so things will be quiet here at Skye Puppy.
Update:
When I spotted the virus (it looked like adware), I told McAfee Anti-Virus to update itself, then I put the computer in Lockdown mode (no access to the internet coming or going) and ran a full scan. It found nothing out of the ordinary.
Later Friday night, I unlocked the internet just to check my email before bed, and McAfee popped up to tell me it found something potentially harmful, so I suggested very strongly that McAfee remove the darn thing. Then I put the computer back into Lockdown for the weekend.
This morning I unlocked my computer again, and I've been hesitantly leaving it unlocked, hoping that McAfee does a better job protecting my computer than when I'm bossing him around and nagging him to scan. So far nothing unwanted has appeared. By tomorrow, I might just start breathing again...
Update:
When I spotted the virus (it looked like adware), I told McAfee Anti-Virus to update itself, then I put the computer in Lockdown mode (no access to the internet coming or going) and ran a full scan. It found nothing out of the ordinary.
Later Friday night, I unlocked the internet just to check my email before bed, and McAfee popped up to tell me it found something potentially harmful, so I suggested very strongly that McAfee remove the darn thing. Then I put the computer back into Lockdown for the weekend.
This morning I unlocked my computer again, and I've been hesitantly leaving it unlocked, hoping that McAfee does a better job protecting my computer than when I'm bossing him around and nagging him to scan. So far nothing unwanted has appeared. By tomorrow, I might just start breathing again...
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Global Cooling
Alan Caruba's column in American Daily Sunday discussed the global climate.
There’s a wonderful irony in the fact that, back in the 1970s, the Greens were issuing warnings and even writing books about the coming Ice Age. They would abandon this issue, based in well-known and accepted solar science, in favor of a vast international hoax alleging man-made global warming.
As the global warming hoax begins to lose its power to influence public opinion and policy, the Greens are not likely to be heeded for a long time to come because they were right about an Ice Age and lying through their teeth about global warming.
Scientists and laymen who follow the Ice Age cycles have been warning that, if not a full-fledged Ice Age, at the very least a Little Ice Age comparable to one that lasted from 1300 to around 1850 is on its way
Amidst all the media coverage of Hurricane Gustav and the Republican Convention, a report in DailyTech.com was not likely to get much attention, but it forecast a very cold world in the years to come. The Earth has already started to cool and scientists date the change from 1998.
Headlined, “Drop in solar activity has potential effect for climate on Earth”, the news is that, for the first time in 100 years, “an entire month has passed without a single visible sunspot being noted.” The author, Michael Asher, noted that “The event is significant as many climatologists now believe solar magnetic activity—which determines the number of sunspots—is an influencing factor for climate on Earth.
As the DailyTech report notes, “In the past 1000 years, three previous such events, the Dalton, Maunder, and Sporer Minimums,” of reduced sunspot activity, “have all led to rapid cooling,” adding that, “For a society dependent on agriculture, cold is more damaging than heat. The growing season shortens, yields drop, and the occurrence of crop-destroying frosts increases.”
”
Global warming is the popular story in the press, but it doesn't explain how mankind's puny little effects can outweigh the influences of natural forces and the impact of solar changes--especially when the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere just DOES NOT CORRELATE to the global temperature.
But solar cycles DO correlate to global climate over time, so I put my faith in the scientists tracking the effects of the sun. And they're saying it's going to be getting cold.
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Book Recommendation
My Journey into Alzheimers Disease, by Robert Davis.
This was an assigned book in my Adulthood and Aging class when I was getting my Bachelor's in Psychology. I loved it (I cried), and later when my next door neighbor told me her father-in-law had been diagnosed with Alzheimer's, I lent it to her for her husband and mother-in-law to read.
She brought it back and thanked me. Then a few months later, she borrowed it again, because her friend's mother had been diagnosed. It had helped my neighbor's family enough for her to want to share it.
More recently, I was at a meeting, and the speaker said his stepdad had just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's and had become lost for an afternoon. When the speaker sat down, he was right in front of me, so I wrote down the name and author of the book and handed it to him.
The book is Robert Davis's story of his life. He became a pastor and was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease in the early stages, because it was interfering with his job. Davis, with the help of his wife talks about what it's like to have the disease. He describes what drives him to wander, why he couldn't handle too much stimulation, and the frustration of seeing himself losing his faculties. His journey goes through the early and mid-stages of Alzheimer's, and long after his death he still offers understanding for the family and friends of similarly afflicted patients.
If someone you love has Alzheimer's Disease, please read this book.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Nightmare for Vegetarian Driver
Photo credit: AP
Der Spiegel reported Thursday on a traffic accident in Germany.
A vegetarian woman driving down a motorway in Germany was so traumatized at the sight of a truck loaded with pigs that she lost control of her vehicle and careered into another truck, which was also filled with pigs, police said.
"The woman found herself driving next to a large pig transport truck and the sight of the pitiful animals made her feel so sick that she jerked her steering wheel and started swerving," police in the western town of Gütersloh said in a statement released on Thursday.
"The result of her swerving was that the woman's van struck the side of another truck … which was also loaded with live pigs. The woman suffered little more than a fright but we were unable to ascertain anything about the state of the pig's health," police said.
Those vegetarians have such delicate constitutions that they should be protected from the world. There are harsh realities out there, one of which is that other people eat meat. Vegetarians who can't handle that shouldn't be out there driving.
I pity this woman and others like her for the trauma they'll face when moose-hunting Sarah Palin is sworn in as Vice President.
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Never Forget
(HT: Tsofah)
Ann Coulter brings us a reminder in her column this week: Bush 7, Terrorists 0.
There is no media coverage when another 9/11 doesn't happen. We can thank God that President George Bush didn't care about doing the safe thing for himself; he cared about keeping Americans safe. And he has, for seven years.
A year after the 9/11 attack, the New York Times' Frank Rich was carping about Bush's national security plans, saying we could judge Bush's war on terror by whether there was a major al-Qaida attack in 2003, which – according to Rich – would have been on al-Qaida's normal schedule.
Rich wrote: "Since major al-Qaida attacks are planned well in advance and have historically been separated by intervals of 12 to 24 months, we will find out how much we've been distracted soon enough." ("Never Forget What?" New York Times, Sept. 14, 2002.)
There wasn't a major al-Qaida attack in 2003. Nor in 2004, 2005, 2006 or 2007. Manifestly, liberals thought there would be: They announced a standard of success that they expected Bush to fail.
As Bush has said, we have to be right 100 percent of the time; the terrorists only have to be right one time. Bush has been right 100 percent of the time for seven years – so much so that Americans have completely forgotten about the threat of Islamic terrorism.
Let us not forget. The price of freedom is eternal vigilance.
Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Pigs, Plagiarism, and Pollsters
The media and the internet are in an uproar over Barack Obama's "lipstick on a pig" statement yesterday:
The Right says it's a slam on Sarah Palin, after her Hockey Mom joke mentioned lipstick (about 3:30 into this video):
(HT: Flopping Aces, via Sparks from the Anvil for both videos)
The Left says, no, Obama was talking about McCain's policies. I kinda think they're both right. It's a campaign, for Pete's sake! Both sides are going to slam the other, and the slammee will cry, "Foul!" and the slammers will say, "We didn't mean it that way," ad novemberum.
But there's an interesting side note, over at Confederate Yankee, that Obama may have plagiarized an editorial cartoon in his remarks right before "lipstick on a pig."
Obama has already been accused of stealing lines from Deval Patrick, Mario Coumo, and Cesar Chavez, and chose a Vice Presidential candidate with his own history of oratory theft. If Barack Obama once again appropriated someone else's words, he is going to have some trouble finding credible people to explain it away this time.
Plagiarism is bad, but I'm willing to cut him some slack on this one, because it could possibly be a serious case of Group Think in the Left-wing bubble. Of course, that doesn't excuse Biden's past plagiarism and doesn't speak well of Obama's judgment in choosing a serial plagiarist to be his running mate.
But the real point in the election is not the slams and the offended howls. It's the issues. And that was brought home to me last night by a phone call I got.
A man called me and said he was polling for some non-partisan group that I didn't think to write down. He focused on the state (California) and spent about 15 minutes asking me various questions. Did I think Arnold was doing a good job as Governor? No. Did I think the legislature was doing a good job? WAY No. What did I think was the most important issue for the state? Getting more energy, like allowing drilling and building more nuclear power plants. (He had to go find that one to mark it off for me.)
Then the talk turned to the national stage.
Did I approve or disapprove of the job the following people are doing (he didn't allow me to select "mildly approve" or "strongly approve," just "approve"):
President Bush? Approve (mildly).
Congress? Disapprove.
Nancy Pelosi? Disapprove.
Dianne Feinstein? Disapprove.
Barbara Boxer? Disapprove (strongly).
My Representative (Darrell Issa)? Approve.
Who did I think will do a better job of handling these issues, McCain or Obama:
The economy? McCain.
The War in Iraq (I can't remember the exact words he used for this)? McCain.
Education? McCain.
Health care? McCain.
Immigration? Umm... McCain is slightly less bad than Obama, so I pick McCain.
Abortion? McCain.
Foreign policy? McCain.
There were more issues than I can remember right now, and for each one my answer was, "McCain." At the end, the pollster asked if I'd be willing to be interviewed by a reporter about my answers. I gulped and said yes. We'll see if anything happens...
When it comes down to it--pigs with lips and hens with teeth aside--McCain may not be great for our country, but he's far, far better than Obama would be, and that's the only question that needs answering.
The Right says it's a slam on Sarah Palin, after her Hockey Mom joke mentioned lipstick (about 3:30 into this video):
(HT: Flopping Aces, via Sparks from the Anvil for both videos)
The Left says, no, Obama was talking about McCain's policies. I kinda think they're both right. It's a campaign, for Pete's sake! Both sides are going to slam the other, and the slammee will cry, "Foul!" and the slammers will say, "We didn't mean it that way," ad novemberum.
But there's an interesting side note, over at Confederate Yankee, that Obama may have plagiarized an editorial cartoon in his remarks right before "lipstick on a pig."
Obama has already been accused of stealing lines from Deval Patrick, Mario Coumo, and Cesar Chavez, and chose a Vice Presidential candidate with his own history of oratory theft. If Barack Obama once again appropriated someone else's words, he is going to have some trouble finding credible people to explain it away this time.
Plagiarism is bad, but I'm willing to cut him some slack on this one, because it could possibly be a serious case of Group Think in the Left-wing bubble. Of course, that doesn't excuse Biden's past plagiarism and doesn't speak well of Obama's judgment in choosing a serial plagiarist to be his running mate.
But the real point in the election is not the slams and the offended howls. It's the issues. And that was brought home to me last night by a phone call I got.
A man called me and said he was polling for some non-partisan group that I didn't think to write down. He focused on the state (California) and spent about 15 minutes asking me various questions. Did I think Arnold was doing a good job as Governor? No. Did I think the legislature was doing a good job? WAY No. What did I think was the most important issue for the state? Getting more energy, like allowing drilling and building more nuclear power plants. (He had to go find that one to mark it off for me.)
Then the talk turned to the national stage.
Did I approve or disapprove of the job the following people are doing (he didn't allow me to select "mildly approve" or "strongly approve," just "approve"):
President Bush? Approve (mildly).
Congress? Disapprove.
Nancy Pelosi? Disapprove.
Dianne Feinstein? Disapprove.
Barbara Boxer? Disapprove (strongly).
My Representative (Darrell Issa)? Approve.
Who did I think will do a better job of handling these issues, McCain or Obama:
The economy? McCain.
The War in Iraq (I can't remember the exact words he used for this)? McCain.
Education? McCain.
Health care? McCain.
Immigration? Umm... McCain is slightly less bad than Obama, so I pick McCain.
Abortion? McCain.
Foreign policy? McCain.
There were more issues than I can remember right now, and for each one my answer was, "McCain." At the end, the pollster asked if I'd be willing to be interviewed by a reporter about my answers. I gulped and said yes. We'll see if anything happens...
When it comes down to it--pigs with lips and hens with teeth aside--McCain may not be great for our country, but he's far, far better than Obama would be, and that's the only question that needs answering.
Tuesday, September 09, 2008
Another Palin (Non) Scandal
The Washington Post reported today on what they appear to hope will become a scandal. The title is, "Palin Billed State for Nights Spent at Home."
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.
Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official "duty station" is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.
The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.
Wow! That's pretty damning. What a sleaze-bucket Sarah Palin is! What a hypocrite she is, claiming to go after corruption but lining her own pockets from state coffers! All you right-winger Palin worshipers ought to cast her aside like the lipstick-painted swine she is and vote for Obama.
That's the implication the Washington Post wants us to take away from their "exposé." But farther down in the article, the Post offers the other perspective.
Gubernatorial spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Monday that Palin's expenses are not unusual and that, under state policy, the first family could have claimed per diem expenses for each child taken on official business but has not done so.
"As a matter of protocol, the governor and the first family are expected to attend community events across the state," she said. "It's absolutely reasonable that the first family participates in community events."
The state finance director, Kim Garnero, said Alaska law exempts the governor's office from elaborate travel regulations. Said Leighow: "The governor is entitled to a per diem, and she claims it."
Gov. Palin has spent far less on her personal travel than her predecessor: $93,000 on airfare in 2007, compared with $463,000 spent the year before by her predecessor, Frank Murkowski. He traveled often in an executive jet that Palin called an extravagance during her campaign. She sold it after she was sworn into office.
Oh, uh.... Never mind.
But don't be surprised to see this charge being slung around the pro-Palin blogs as the left's latest "So there!"
Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin has billed taxpayers for 312 nights spent in her own home during her first 19 months in office, charging a "per diem" allowance intended to cover meals and incidental expenses while traveling on state business.
The governor also has charged the state for travel expenses to take her children on official out-of-town missions. And her husband, Todd, has billed the state for expenses and a daily allowance for trips he makes on official business for his wife.
Palin, who earns $125,000 a year, claimed and received $16,951 as her allowance, which officials say was permitted because her official "duty station" is Juneau, according to an analysis of her travel documents by The Washington Post.
The governor's daughters and husband charged the state $43,490 to travel, and many of the trips were between their house in Wasilla and Juneau, the capital city 600 miles away, the documents show.
Wow! That's pretty damning. What a sleaze-bucket Sarah Palin is! What a hypocrite she is, claiming to go after corruption but lining her own pockets from state coffers! All you right-winger Palin worshipers ought to cast her aside like the lipstick-painted swine she is and vote for Obama.
That's the implication the Washington Post wants us to take away from their "exposé." But farther down in the article, the Post offers the other perspective.
Gubernatorial spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said Monday that Palin's expenses are not unusual and that, under state policy, the first family could have claimed per diem expenses for each child taken on official business but has not done so.
"As a matter of protocol, the governor and the first family are expected to attend community events across the state," she said. "It's absolutely reasonable that the first family participates in community events."
The state finance director, Kim Garnero, said Alaska law exempts the governor's office from elaborate travel regulations. Said Leighow: "The governor is entitled to a per diem, and she claims it."
Gov. Palin has spent far less on her personal travel than her predecessor: $93,000 on airfare in 2007, compared with $463,000 spent the year before by her predecessor, Frank Murkowski. He traveled often in an executive jet that Palin called an extravagance during her campaign. She sold it after she was sworn into office.
Oh, uh.... Never mind.
But don't be surprised to see this charge being slung around the pro-Palin blogs as the left's latest "So there!"
Changing Spelling
The Times Online (UK) reported yesterday on a proposal to loosen English speling rools.
John Wells, Emeritus Professor of Phonetics at University College London and president of the Spelling Society, will use the society’s centenary dinner this week to call for a “freeing up” of English spelling.
“The teaching of literacy in schools is a major worry. It seems highly likely that one of the reasons Britain and other English-speaking countries have problems with literacy is because of our spelling and the burden it places on children.
“It seems to be a great pity that English-speaking countries are holding back children in this way. There are lots of other things that are neglected in class because so much time is spent on spelling,” he said.
He also complained about the apostrophe, suggesting we either leave it out or leave a space instead.
Wells has a point about all the class time spent on spelling. When I was in third grade, Miss Grimm counted a word as being spelled wrong if we didn't dot the "i" or cross the "t." She'd say, "That could be a "u" or two "i"s. How am I supposed to know if the dot is missing?" So I'm still careful to dot and cross what needs dotting and crossing. It's such a pain!
If we give up worrying about spelling, then the Miss Grimms of the world can spend more time teaching our kids about safe sex and Heather's two mommies and self-esteem. What an unburdened world that would be!
John Wells, Emeritus Professor of Phonetics at University College London and president of the Spelling Society, will use the society’s centenary dinner this week to call for a “freeing up” of English spelling.
“The teaching of literacy in schools is a major worry. It seems highly likely that one of the reasons Britain and other English-speaking countries have problems with literacy is because of our spelling and the burden it places on children.
“It seems to be a great pity that English-speaking countries are holding back children in this way. There are lots of other things that are neglected in class because so much time is spent on spelling,” he said.
He also complained about the apostrophe, suggesting we either leave it out or leave a space instead.
Wells has a point about all the class time spent on spelling. When I was in third grade, Miss Grimm counted a word as being spelled wrong if we didn't dot the "i" or cross the "t." She'd say, "That could be a "u" or two "i"s. How am I supposed to know if the dot is missing?" So I'm still careful to dot and cross what needs dotting and crossing. It's such a pain!
If we give up worrying about spelling, then the Miss Grimms of the world can spend more time teaching our kids about safe sex and Heather's two mommies and self-esteem. What an unburdened world that would be!
Sunday, September 07, 2008
Growing Avocados
In about 1980, when I lived in Spokane, I grew an avocado tree from a seed. Actually, it was probably my husband who grew it. I vaguely remember him teaching me the proper way to poke toothpicks into the seed so it can sit half-submerged in water. Like this:
That seed sprouted, and we planted it in a pot. Unfortunately, our cats liked the avocado tree. Every time it set out leaf buds, the cats nibbled them off. The tree kept growing, and the cats kept nibbling, until we had a stick about ten inches tall. Then Wickersham, the black-and-white cat, curled his big self in the avocado pot and snapped the stick at dirt level. I've tried dozens of times, but I haven't been able to get anything more than a slimy avocado seed since.
Until now.
My daughter did the toothpick-poking this time. We have a taproot, and some smaller roots are starting to grow.
And the slightest nub of a sprout has begun to poke out the top.
When the seedling gets bigger, we'll put it in a pot for a while and keep it inside by a window, so I can take care of it. I stink at yard work, so I'm hesitant to plant it outside.
Good thing I don't have cats.
That seed sprouted, and we planted it in a pot. Unfortunately, our cats liked the avocado tree. Every time it set out leaf buds, the cats nibbled them off. The tree kept growing, and the cats kept nibbling, until we had a stick about ten inches tall. Then Wickersham, the black-and-white cat, curled his big self in the avocado pot and snapped the stick at dirt level. I've tried dozens of times, but I haven't been able to get anything more than a slimy avocado seed since.
Until now.
My daughter did the toothpick-poking this time. We have a taproot, and some smaller roots are starting to grow.
And the slightest nub of a sprout has begun to poke out the top.
When the seedling gets bigger, we'll put it in a pot for a while and keep it inside by a window, so I can take care of it. I stink at yard work, so I'm hesitant to plant it outside.
Good thing I don't have cats.
Wednesday, September 03, 2008
Us Magazine Smears Palin
Michelle Malkin has the scoop on Us magazine's political leanings. Their covers tell the story very clearly. Here's the latest issue:
Us is in the bag for Democrats. Need proof? Here's their similarly hard-hitting cover of Obama:
Michelle Malkin points out this tip:
Steve Hayes notes that Us publisher Jann Wenner is a prominent Obama donor.
If you want your hard-earned money to go into the pocket of Wenner and from there into the Obama campaign coffers, then by all means buy Us magazine.
In the meantime, Michelle Malkin's reader Dave L. sent in this Us magazine cover that did NOT make it to print:
But of course, the mainstream media isn't biased. No, not at all.
Us is in the bag for Democrats. Need proof? Here's their similarly hard-hitting cover of Obama:
Michelle Malkin points out this tip:
Steve Hayes notes that Us publisher Jann Wenner is a prominent Obama donor.
If you want your hard-earned money to go into the pocket of Wenner and from there into the Obama campaign coffers, then by all means buy Us magazine.
In the meantime, Michelle Malkin's reader Dave L. sent in this Us magazine cover that did NOT make it to print:
But of course, the mainstream media isn't biased. No, not at all.
Tuesday, September 02, 2008
Children to be Taught How to Play
News:Lite (UK) reported yesterday that some British children will be getting lessons in playing.
As millions of children go back to school, councils are been given a list of 10 traditional playground games for teachers to suggest they play at breaks and lunchtime.
It is hoped the list, which includes Hopscotch, British Bulldog and Tag, will help combat child obesity and remind teachers and parents the importance of children being physically active.
[Councillor] Les Lawrence from the [Local Government Association] said: "Playground habits are bound to change with time, but it would be a shame if more active games were to die out to be replaced by children playing on computers or huddled together in front of a screen."
He added that parents and teachers should stop worrying about getting sued and defy the compensation culture by encouraging children play.
"Children benefit from physical activity and even some rough and tumble.
"It's time to take a stand against many aspects of the compensation culture and accept there are going to be a few scratches and grazed knees because that’s part of growing up.
It took me a while to figure out the translation for "the compensation culture." It means the UK is just as lawsuit-happy as the US. But now that I know what they're talking about, I have to agree that running and playing is more important than protecting schools from lawsuits.
They have a list of recommended games:
British Bulldog
Tag
Stuck in the Mud
Oranges and Lemons
What’s the Time, Mr Wolf?
Hopscotch
Skipping
French elastic
Marbles
Hide and Seek
Marbles is exercise? Maybe the kids get a workout from beating each other up over cheating.
I don't recognize some of those games. Is French Elastic the same game as Chinese Jumprope? And what on earth is Stuck in the Mud? Or Oranges and Lemons? Or What's the Time, Mr Wolf?
Anybody? Any Brits out there who can help? I may need to know what these games are so that someday, when I have grandchildren, I can teach them about Mr Wolf.
As millions of children go back to school, councils are been given a list of 10 traditional playground games for teachers to suggest they play at breaks and lunchtime.
It is hoped the list, which includes Hopscotch, British Bulldog and Tag, will help combat child obesity and remind teachers and parents the importance of children being physically active.
[Councillor] Les Lawrence from the [Local Government Association] said: "Playground habits are bound to change with time, but it would be a shame if more active games were to die out to be replaced by children playing on computers or huddled together in front of a screen."
He added that parents and teachers should stop worrying about getting sued and defy the compensation culture by encouraging children play.
"Children benefit from physical activity and even some rough and tumble.
"It's time to take a stand against many aspects of the compensation culture and accept there are going to be a few scratches and grazed knees because that’s part of growing up.
It took me a while to figure out the translation for "the compensation culture." It means the UK is just as lawsuit-happy as the US. But now that I know what they're talking about, I have to agree that running and playing is more important than protecting schools from lawsuits.
They have a list of recommended games:
British Bulldog
Tag
Stuck in the Mud
Oranges and Lemons
What’s the Time, Mr Wolf?
Hopscotch
Skipping
French elastic
Marbles
Hide and Seek
Marbles is exercise? Maybe the kids get a workout from beating each other up over cheating.
I don't recognize some of those games. Is French Elastic the same game as Chinese Jumprope? And what on earth is Stuck in the Mud? Or Oranges and Lemons? Or What's the Time, Mr Wolf?
Anybody? Any Brits out there who can help? I may need to know what these games are so that someday, when I have grandchildren, I can teach them about Mr Wolf.
Barbie Catches Record Catfish
The AP reported August 22, 2008, about a little girl's Barbie fishing rod.
ELKIN, N.C. — David Hayes' granddaughter just asked him to hold her Barbie rod and reel while she went to the bathroom. He did. And seconds later he landed the state record channel catfish at 21 pounds, 1 ounce.
Alyssa's father had bought the pink Barbie fishing rod for Christmas and she had caught a few bluegill before her grandfather hauled in the catfish.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported the catch Aug. 5 in eastern Wilkes County has been certified as a record by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Hayes and his granddaughter have been fishing in the pond behind his house since she was big enough to hold a pole.
Hayes said his granddaughter worried he would break her rod. He landed the 21-pound fish on a 6-pound test line. It was 32 inches long, 2 inches longer than the rod.
With Sarah Palin's moose hunting and now Barbie catching a gigantic catfish, we can see that women are getting stronger and stronger. I haven't been this inspired in a very long time.
ELKIN, N.C. — David Hayes' granddaughter just asked him to hold her Barbie rod and reel while she went to the bathroom. He did. And seconds later he landed the state record channel catfish at 21 pounds, 1 ounce.
Alyssa's father had bought the pink Barbie fishing rod for Christmas and she had caught a few bluegill before her grandfather hauled in the catfish.
The Winston-Salem Journal reported the catch Aug. 5 in eastern Wilkes County has been certified as a record by the North Carolina Wildlife Resources Commission.
Hayes and his granddaughter have been fishing in the pond behind his house since she was big enough to hold a pole.
Hayes said his granddaughter worried he would break her rod. He landed the 21-pound fish on a 6-pound test line. It was 32 inches long, 2 inches longer than the rod.
With Sarah Palin's moose hunting and now Barbie catching a gigantic catfish, we can see that women are getting stronger and stronger. I haven't been this inspired in a very long time.
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