1638 Mouse Dirt

Yuk. When I was a little girl our family moved to Forreston, IL into a house that was on the edge of town near the open farm country. It still had an outhouse, and there was no modern kitchen. This must have been quite a challenge for my mother who had grown up in a home that had all the modern conveniences long before the rest of the country became accustomed to electrified homes and indoor plumbing. There really wasn't a true housing shortage after World War II, despite what you read in the history books. It was government regulations and rent control that caused a shortage by removing less desirable homes from the housing market. After all, we had the same number of people and housing units in 1946 that we had in 1941. If a house should have been off the market, it was ours. Mother rolled up her sleeves and remodeled it and when Dad sold it in 1947, it had a nice kitchen and a bathroom. We drove past that house in 1999--still looks much the same and is well kept.



However, when the weather turned chilly in the fall, the little critters came in the house to get warm, and when you'd open the bottom drawer of the stove or a kitchen cabinet, there were the little trails of mouse droppings, and a furry gray thing would scamper across the floor and we children would all shriek and run out of the room. Except my brother. I don't think he shrieked, because little boys like to chase, grab and poke frightened little animals.

Yesterday my computer mouse was getting really balky. It wouldn't maneuver fine movements, like removing the glare from my glasses in photographs. So I unplugged it and took off the ball cap. With a toothpick I started carefully removing the "mouse dirt" and it was just all over the place. Now it is smooth rolling.

1637 They wouldn't listen to me

It was common knowledge 10 years ago that the professional schools at Ohio State (veterinary medicine, law, pharmacy, medicine) were becoming quite lopsided and feminized. At a veterinary faculty meeting I raised the question why we couldn't start recruiting men for some balance, since being a librarian I knew what happens when a profession becomes dominated by women--salaries and prestige and power go down. No one wanted to address the problem. Sadly, they knew they couldn't and keep their jobs, but after the meeting several male faculty told me they agreed with me.

Now today's USAToday has a story on the gender gap in higher education. I hate to say "I told you so," but I told you so.

1636 Adult children living at home

Recently I received an e-mail from Tina, one of my closest childhood friends. Her parents moved when we were 16, but the few times we've been together over the years, it's not hard to catch up. But she mentioned a 25 year old grand daughter. I about fell out of my chair. I remember her daughter (mother of the grand child) as a darling toddler, and she's engraved on my memory that way.

Say what you will about people marrying young, but it usually got them out of the house. Yesterday's WSJ had an article about the growing number of adult children returning to live with their parents after college, career mishapes, and marriage failures. I've been hearing that for 20 years, at least, but perhaps it is always a fresh story if you're not aware of "boomerang kids."

I visited my great aunt last week and met for the first time her youngest son (my first cousin once removed). She is a widow and he is single and about 50 years old, so this makes a wonderful housing arrangement for them both. He has a nice home, and she has someone to keep the yard and house in good repair and is able to stay in her own home without fear.

But it sounds like a bad idea for the 25-40 years olds. What do you tell the potential date about who might answer the phone? Or where you live? Do all their friends live this way so they think it is cool?

The author had some suggestions on how to deal with the returning descendants, and I've added my score for reality. 1) Talk about your own struggles as a young person. 4 whoops of laughter. How many kids want to hear about the "old days" when you didn't own a car, had only one black and white TV and a coin operated wringer washer in the basement of the apartment building? 2) Draw up a plan. 3 whoops. Been there done that. No one over 16 wants a parent to devise a plan or budget, no matter how much sense it makes. It always screams, "Here's what you need to do. . ." However, I do this anyway because I write such great plans. 3) Treat them like adults--charge rent, assign cleaning responsibilities, cooking, etc. 2 whoops. If you're charging her rent, she has a right to keep 3 week old pizza scraps and dirty undies all over her room, doesn't she? 4) Financial help-- arrange loans to wean them away from you. This one makes some sense. Pay the deposit on the apartment; make a car payment if necessary, but do something to get them standing on their own two feet and out from under yours.

Our children never returned home as adults--in fact, they left too young (18), in my opinion. But we have helped them financially over the years, with car payments, bills, etc. We've helped them both buy homes, and I think that is a good investment for them and for us. I plan to move in with them some day and leave pizza scraps and dirty laundry around the house.

Home for visit

1635 As we watch Wilma

One thing I noticed at the museum today when I read the explanation of the empty frame was that Hurricane Katrina was called "our nation's worst natural disaster." This is not true. Here's the information on the Galveston Hurricane of 1900 from the Sun Sentinel site:

"1900 -- More than 6,000 die after storm washes over Galveston
The nation's deadliest natural disaster, the storm struck with little warning late on Sept. 8. Storm tides of 8 to 15 feet inundated Galveston Island and portions of the nearby Texas coast. The tides were largely responsible for the 8,000 deaths, with some estimates ranging as high as 12,000."

Just because it happens within your frame of memory, doesn't mean nothing worse ever happened.

1634 JAMA, JAMA is its name

Ask me again, and I'll tell you the same.

Cover: Andrew L. von Wittkamp, Black Cat on a Chair

I just go crazy when USAToday and Wall Street Journal spell out Journal of the American Medical Association. It changed its name in 1959 to JAMA.

Anyway, the infamous "today's issue" (there's a phrase that drives librarians crazy) apparently revealed some unsavory information about gastric by-pass surgery for the morbidly obese--patients are dying at a much higher rate than first thought. However, because they are using Medicare figures, and these people were severely disabled by their weight to even qualify for Medicare, they don't have records for people using private insurance for this study. Nor do they have records to show that medical problems requiring non-hospitalization have decreased. Often this surgery needs to be followed by surgery to remove huge skin folds. There's a lot that can go wrong.

Still, does it make sense that one man's family sues Vioxx because he died of an irregular heart rate and that drug which helped millions live with the pain of arthritis is taken off the market; but many people die after by-pass surgery and 48% are readmitted to the hospital within 30 days and the procedure is still used and recommended for unhealthy, obese people who can't lose weight any other way. Somehow, these figures aren't making sense to me. Most public libraries carry JAMA, so go look at it and see what you think.

"Early Mortality Among Medicare Beneficiaries Undergoing Bariatric Surgical Procedures" David R. Flum, MD, MPH; Leon Salem, MD; Jo Ann Broeckel Elrod, PhD; E. Patchen Dellinger, MD; Allen Cheadle, PhD; Leighton Chan, MD, MPH. JAMA. 2005;294:1903-1908. Abstract:

"Results: A total of 16 155 patients underwent bariatric procedures (mean age, 47.7 years [SD, 11.3 years]; 75.8% women). The rates of 30-day, 90-day, and 1-year mortality were 2.0%, 2.8%, and 4.6%, respectively. Men had higher rates of early death than women (3.7% vs 1.5%, 4.8% vs 2.1%, and 7.5% vs 3.7% at 30 days, 90 days, and 1 year, respectively; P<.001). Mortality rates were greater for those aged 65 years or older compared with younger patients (4.8% vs 1.7% at 30 days, 6.9% vs 2.3% at 90 days, and 11.1% vs 3.9% at 1 year; P<.001). After adjustment for sex and comorbidity index, the odds of death within 90 days were 5-fold greater for older Medicare beneficiaries (aged 75 years; n = 136) than for those aged 65 to 74 years (n = 1381; odds ratio, 5.0; 95% confidence interval, 3.1-8.0). The odds of death at 90 days were 1.6 times higher (95% confidence interval, 1.3-2.0) for patients of surgeons with less than the median surgical volume of bariatric procedures (among Medicare beneficiaries during the study period) after adjusting for age, sex, and comorbidity index.

Conclusions: Among Medicare beneficiaries, the risk of early death after bariatric surgery is considerably higher than previously suggested and associated with advancing age, male sex, and lower surgeon volume of bariatric procedures. Patients aged 65 years or older had a substantially higher risk of death within the early postoperative period than younger patients."

1633 An afternoon with Renoir's Women

Five of us met for lunch at the Palette Restaurant in the Columbus Museum of Art this afternoon. Our husbands are all Columbus area watercolorists who meet for lunch and discussion once a month, so occasionally we get together too. Here we are enjoying the food and good company.



You are not supposed to take photos in a museum, but when the guard stepped out of the room I quickly snapped one of this interesting Renoir, on loan from the New Orleans Museum of Art. Because of Katrina, it didn't make the trip, and I'm not sure they really know what has happened to it. A tiny link in our connectedness. For a view of some of the lovely works on loan, go here.



The site for the show is http://www.renoirswomen.com.

1632 Seventeen plus weeks to see a doctor

Health care is improving in Canada--it now takes only 17.7 weeks for treatment after your first visit instead of 17.9 weeks. The drop is because Saskatchewan has improved to 25.5 weeks. At the coffee shop this morning Jim sounded just awful. Bronchitis he said. His wife is a doctor and she told him he needed to see a doctor, so he called today and has an appointment this afternoon. Just be glad you aren't Canadian, I said, and read him the stats from this morning's paper. I am, he said, because then I'd have to live in Canada.

I know Mr. Cloud will respond and tell us that it isn't really 17.7 weeks if you are really sick, that it is only for elective surgery like by-pass or transplants or wrinkles, prolly. The only "new" idea the Democrats have for 2008 is nationalized health care. Or, as I like to call it, FEMAized health care. Call us when you have a disaster.

1631 Straight but sensitive

is the definition of a "metrosexual." Now before I ever had a chance to even use the word (except in this blog entry), it has been replaced by "ubersexual," according to Nathan Bierma's Tribune column On Language. He sites a new book, "The future of men" by the folks who gave us metrosexual. Examples are George Clooney, Bill Clinton and Bono--obvious heterosexuals who can feel your pain. Sweet. Anything to sell a book.

1630 Golf course bandages

Some golf courses get better care than people. Can't imagine why people go out and chase little white balls when they could be enjoying the scenery. But. . . today I took some photos of the golf course near by. It is really lovely, except it is being repaired, or renovated, or resculptured, whatever people do to these places. I don't know what this is called, but it looks like a giant bandage, or a huge mattress fastened to the dirt.



It's hard not to get an earthmover or truck in the photo, but there is some lovely color.

1629 The painting of Mr. Cloud

Those of you who were with me (bloggity speaking) during the summer, know I took a portrait class. Because I didn't know the class would be offered, I had no photos with me. So I looked around and settled on a lovely photo of Anvilcloud with some chickadees on his head and shoulder. He is a retired Canadian school teacher who writes a wonderful blog, and enjoys life with Mrs. Cloud, who also blogs at Brown Betty Brew. The portrait was never finished. I just can't paint chickadees.

But I have fresh batteries in the digital camera, so I decided to go to the art room and photograph Mr. Cloud. It's a bit messy, I obviously can close the door on that room, but you'll get the drift.

1628 On Memos and Surveys

This week I received a memo (RE: DEFINING THE CHOICE A Strategy for Going Outside and Reaching New Ground) from James Carville of Democracy Corps (I'm not sure why I'm on the mailing list) that suggested the Democrats recruit the supporters of Ross Perot, who they believe got Bill Clinton elected. I thought they sounded sort of dispirited and discouraged. Didn't see much of a program or plan, but maybe recruiting disgruntled libertarians is a plan?

In Carville's memo I saw the word "change" and "choice" but I never found any program or fresh ideas, other than universal health care, more money for education (hardly fresh ideas), and all was apparently to be funded by canceling tax cuts for incomes over $200,000. And it is the tax cuts that restored our economy after it started plunging in 2000. I saw nothing about saving social security or helping the poor. The twisted and biased wording used to describe various administration's programs in their questions would make even me say I was against it or looking for alternatives.

Considering the clarity with which Rush Limbaugh outlined conservative beliefs and values in yesterday's WSJ, I think the Democrats are going to have to find something a bit more focused than just bashing Bush, which this document definitely did.

Also, then I went to their webpage and looked at some of their polls. I read the poll taken last October right before the election. For the life of me, I can't figure out why they were so shocked they lost. The evidence in their own poll seemed clear in hindsight, although some numbers were terribly close. I had a little problem reading the figures, which seemed to be in percentages, although number of respondents was recorded (and it varied from question to question). The question on "feelings" struck me as really odd. Although the actual intention to vote may have put Kerry a little ahead of Bush, the "warm fuzzies" were in Bush's favor (question 11). And the NRA and pro-life questions favored (more warm) the Republicans. So when they stepped into the voting booth, did feelings win out over intention?

When it came to issues, in general only Bush was rated--Kerry's name was not there in "direction the country is headed." But on specifics, (Q. 37-49) I think Bush rated higher than Kerry--and way outpaced him in security and terrorism. This could have made a significant difference in the voting booth if there was a perceived gap between the poll and the results.

Also, I think this one (Q. 4) was interesting because it was so out of place--like it was intended to create doubt; but no one took the bait:

Q.4 Many people weren't able to vote in the 2000 election for President between George Bush, Al Gore, and Ralph Nader. How about you? Were you able to vote, or for some reason were you unable to vote?
Total
Voted ...........................................91
Not registered in 2000/Ineligible/too young.......2
Did not vote .....................................6
Can't remember/Don't know/Refused) ...............0
(ref:VOTE00)

According to their poll, no one had a problem voting in 2000. So, how accurate is their premise, "many people weren't able to vote in the 2000 election."

http://www.democracycorps.com/reports/surveys/dcor103104fq20public.pdf

1627 Talk to the Democrats about high gasoline prices

Elvis was still alive the last time the United States built a new oil refinery (1976), according to the Wall Street Journal ("Agony and Energy," on-line for subscribers). That was probably the last time the Democrats had something creative to offer. The energy bill that recently passed in the House did not have a single Democratic vote. So if you want to complain about high gasoline and heating costs this fall, please contact your anti-energy Congressperson, who is apparently a Democrat. Gasoline for America's Security Act of 2005 was a squeaker October 7 in a vote of 212-210.

"Don't go home and tell your constituents you did anything for them. In truth, you haven't," said Rep. James P. McGovern (D-Mass.) "When they ask you, `What did you do to lower the prices of gas and home hearting oil,' you can say, honestly, you did nothing."

Here’s what the bill will do.

1) gives the government the authority to use closed military bases as possible refinery sites.
2) lets governors request the Department of Energy coordinate the permitting process.
3) reduces the number of “boutique” fuels from 17 to 6.
4) allows more time to cities to petition to meet costly ozone standards (2010)

The Democrats, playing their one string guitar, say it doesn’t address the cost of natural gas and it gives too many benefits to the profit-rich oil barons and special favors to business interests. Same old, same old.

1626 Turning blogging into dollars in a big way

Write a blog, scramble for funding, do a good job, fill a need, and let AOL.com buy you! It worked for Jason Calacanis, who writes an entertainment, magazine, media type blog. Check back in a few months to see if the honeymoon is over. He wrote on Oct. 10:

"It’s pretty exciting to be part of a transformation like this and I’m going to put all my energy into it. For me this is more exciting than doing another startup to be honest. Look at it this way, I’ve done three or four startups since I worked for SONY back in 1994/95. It’s been over 10 years since I’ve been part of a big company doing big things. At SONY I was 23 years old and was sitting in the basement—I couldn’t get anything done. I fought my way to the CEO at SONY and told him to buy Lycos and Yahoo and he didn’t do it even though the price would have been less then the Last Action Hero!!!

At AOL I don’t have to fight to get to the CEO and senior management team—I can send them an IM or go to lunch with them any time I want! In fact, I’m part of the executive team and they’ve embraced me and my team with open arms. I’ve known members of the executive team at AOL for over 10 years in some cases, so there’s a lot of history and trust between us."

I remember a few mergers and acquisitions that felt that way too. . .

1625 You'll never catch me running

Actually you could catch me, because I almost never run. I entered the Raccoon Race at Lakeside about twenty years ago, and walked the route after the first block.

Raccoon Run (3 miles), Lakeside, Ohio

The women's breast cancer marathon was this past Sunday--usually its cold and rainy, but I wouldn't watch even if it were sunny and pleasant. But at Jane Galt's site this morning (another non-runner) I saw a link to the 10 best reasons for not running marathons. All the reasons are documented by research on heart, lungs, brain, etc., and are not anecdotal, but it is easy to read. I haven't researched this site, or the articles, but the text appeals to a non-runner, certainly. Still, read knowing I have not vetted the author or information.

Unless a very large animal is chasing me, or I'm late for dinner, you'll never catch me running.

1624 The Nose Knows

People born after 1970 probably have a sense of smell influenced by air fresheners and scented candles. But my nose can track a memory of home or people at a slight whiff. Yours too, if you think about it. Here's my list. What's yours?

My mother.
Fresh baked apple sour cream pie, and cinnamon bread hot from the oven on a Saturday evening
Coty Face powder.

My dad.
Fuel oil and gasoline being pumped.
After-shave--I think it might be Mennen.

High school days.
Any Prince Matchebelli cologne
New text book when opened the first time.

World War II.
Anything that smells like the San Francisco/Oakland Bay area in smog and fog.
Desert air in a Ford with the windows down.

Trail rides in the country.
Any barn with some fresh horse manure and leather smell from the tack room
Inside of a truck used to transport horses--old clothes, food wrappers, etc.

Ogle County Illinois fair.
Cotton candy
root beer.

My oldest son.
Avon baby oil

Pine or fir trees.
Any Christmas before 1993 when we got an artificial tree
White Pines State Park

Summers at my mother's farm.
Fresh produce from the garden
Laundry from a clothes line

Manchester College, Indiana
Stinky drinking water with iron(?) deposits
Instant coffee made with hot tap water

My daughter.
Safari cologne
Doctor's office

My son.
Stale cigarettes
Large Dogs

My son-in-law.
Tommy cologne for men

Storm video

Here's a link to the storm surge in Gulfport, Mississippi noticed at St. Casserole, a pastor in hurricane ravaged Mississippi. I don't know who the guys are who film this stuff, but they must love living on the edge. Watching a sedan blow through the front door of your hotel must be a bit scary.

1623 19.6 million blogs

At coffee this morning Adrienne gave me an article from the Dispatch (via WaPo) that said there were 15 million blogs. "Oh probably not," said I. "A lot of them are dead, or only have a few entries, or are just advertising." But I just checked Technorati, and it is tracking 19.6 million. Still, an awful lot are just listing of products. For the life of me, I can't imagine who reads them. Also there aren't many people my age blogging.

"Technorati is now tracking 19.6 Million weblogs, and the total number of weblogs tracked continues to double about every 5 months. This trend has been consistent for at least the last 36 months. In other words, the blogosphere has doubled at least 5 times in the last 3 years. Another way of looking at it is that the blogosphere is now over 30 times as big as it was 3 years ago. . . "

No matter what you think of blogging, that is just an awful lot of people writing, editing, reading, thinking and pixelating. My blogs are backed up on paper. Adrienne asked me what would happen to them when I was gone, and I said my daughter would probably throw them out.

1622 If you want tenure and promotion, don't blog

Ok, don't believe me, but read the whole article of which this is a part.

"Gina J. Hiatt, who works as a “tenure coach” for academics, said that she advises caution when non-tenured professors want to blog. Even assuming someone doesn’t spend all day on his or her blog, there may be an impression that the blogger is doing so, she said.

Attitudes may well change, she said, but it’s important to remember who has influence in tenure decisions. “Perhaps in 10-15 years, people will be looked up to for the scholarly dialogue on their blogs. But when you think about who is going to be on a tenure committee, they are going to be older and may not understand or respect it,” she said.

As for anonymous blogging, Hiatt said junior professors who think they can be frank about their departments and stay secret are fooling themselves. “I don’t think there’s any such thing as anonymous blogging,” she said. “It’s not that difficult to think about who this is. If you do any amount of blogging at all, you are going to give yourself away.” "

I've mentioned this at LISNews.com, but there are still people who talk about their supervisors and co-workers, without a thought for tomorrow's raise or job security. Also applies to salespeople, automotive managers, and fast food workers. Ah, the pleasures of being retired.

1621 A walk in the park

Recently I've been walking in a park I hadn't used probably since my children played soccer in grade school. It has 3 fitness routes, and by stopping about every 1/4 mile and stretching, I think I can avoid the leg pain that always plagues me when I exercise. I've been so inspired by the beautiful fall photos so many bloggers are posting, I decided to take along my digital camera.

I have to re-read the instructions each time I use it (about once a year), and this time I couldn't figure out how to turn it on. The batteries were dead, of course. But after a few attempts, here we go. Our fall color hasn't peaked, and this park may not have the right mix of hard woods to get the brilliant reds. But at least today I got in 2.30 miles of walking.

I'm thinking these young mothers might be twins, or at least sisters

Nobody wanted to visit; too busy

Not quite there yet; maybe next week more color

1620 Where were the headlines?

The biggest story this fall is not Katrina or Rita, or even Harriet, but the peaceful outcome of the constitutional vote in Iraq. So where were the headlines? The biggest story in inches in the USAToday this morning was that Americans are losing the "Battle of the bulge." Yes, news that you need to start back on your diet when you've put on 5 lbs., got more space than the fact (presented very negatively) that the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds all went to the polls and voted. What liberal media? They really wanted this to fail. If it bleeds, it leads; if it succeeds, no need.

Right in the middle of the election "success" story (presented negatively) on p. 7 was an outlined box listing American military deaths. The assumption would be at first glance these Americans died so the Iraqis could go to the polls. Nope. One died of wounds received in July, and 5 of the 7 died in accidents. What liberal media?

The main front page stories were 1) sports (always a good filler if you only have good news to report) and 2) a rumor that some critically ill patients may have been euthanized in New Orleans during the flooding and evacuation. Usually, the media supports euthanasia of the elderly, but in this case, if it reflects negatively on something FEMA didn't do, euthanasia is a bad thing.

Go back and read your 18th century US history. The Iraqis are doing better than we did when it comes to getting a constitution put together.

1619 Finally a better mouse trap

I gave up carrying a wallet or coin purse years ago. I like small purses with just enough room to slip in my check book, small calendar, small toiletries bag (comb, eyeglass cleaner, lipstick, etc.), business card holder, kleenex, a few pencils and a note pad. But the vinyl wallet inserts that I transferred from a wallet purse to my check book are in tatters. I think they must be 10 years old and each window is ripped. Each time I was in a sundries store I'd wonder why no one produced these. Surely I'm not the only consumer who has wallets still in good shape with ratty, torn inserts. And today I saw them--so I bought two--they are only .99 cents. The package came with a little ruler on the side so you bought the right size, and it will hold 12 cards or photos, unless you're like me and you stuff a few extras in. I went on-line to see how common they are and still didn't find any (after a 20 second thorough search) that were 3" x 5 3/4" and will fit a clutch or checkbook. If you need this, I got it at K-Mart in the purse section.

1618 Sits on natural waist

Thank God! The fashion Nazis have relented, and realized that only 15 year olds wearing size 2 jeans look good in hip-huggers with bare bellies, butt cracks and thong underwear. I'm seeing this "sits on natural waist" description in a number of catalogs and ads for slacks and jeans this fall. No matter what I weigh, I have a small waist. I saw an ad the other day for models for Abercrombie and Fidgett, the largest of which was a size 8, and 29" was listed as the waist size. I'm the heaviest I've ever been and haven't bought an 8 in two years, but have never had a 29" waist--well, maybe when pregnant, but that doesn't count. Low rise jeans and slacks make it impossible to tuck in a shirt or wear a normal length t-shirt or sweater because when you sit down, whoosh, everything scoots down to cover your thighs that have just expanded 2 inches by sitting. Maybe I can finally buy some new slacks.

And that's my public service announcement for today.

Oops Update: Measured. 28 7/8". Whew.

1617 Why is this happening to me?

Rebekah asked God this question (Gen.25:22). So in modern Bible studies you are asked this too, "When did you last wonder something similar?" So I thought and thought, and realized, I hadn't asked this in a long, long time. I think it is age. You realize if you're not going to ask "why" about the blessings, you ought to shut up about the rest. Anyway, faced with a blank place in the notebook, I wrote:

Shoulda
Coulda
Woulda
at my age would be odd.

There's no
reason
now for me
to second guess my God.

1616 So how's that working for you?

is a favorite expression of Dr. Phil after a guest has just spilled her guts about how badly she messed up her life and that of 37 other people. I've been wondering that about FEMA. For all of you who want more federal interference in our health care system, have you been watching the response? Let's skip New Orleans. I don't care how good FEMA might have been, it couldn't have overcome the Blanco-Nagin disaster response team.

Let's look instead at Mississippi. From the census data I saw, there were more homes in the path of Katrina in Mississippi than in Louisiana. The media just couldn't get 10,000 black people in one place to make it an anti-Bush story, so they skipped all the others whose homes were blown away or flooded in non-flood zone areas. But they've got a horrible mess there too. And an economy built on off-shore gambling? Whew! Talk about an economy below sea level! Just go check out St. Casserole who is ministering to her people in that state.

Here's the story of how we got FEMA. It was Jimmy Carter's idea to consolidate multiple agencies into one, and Joe Lieberman's committee to then fold that humongous agency into an even larger federal agency, Homeland Security. From FEMA's webpage:

"President Carter's 1979 executive order merged many of the separate disaster-related responsibilities into a new Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). Among other agencies, FEMA absorbed: the Federal Insurance Administration, the National Fire Prevention and Control Administration, the National Weather Service Community Preparedness Program, the Federal Preparedness Agency of the General Services Administration and the Federal Disaster Assistance Administration activities from HUD. Civil defense responsibilities were also transferred to the new agency from the Defense Department's Defense Civil Preparedness Agency."

Keep in mind, those functions are still needed during disaster--insurance, fire control, preparedness, civil defense, etc., but after 1979, it just became more unwieldy, and after 2001, almost ground to a molassess-in-January pace.

"In March 2003, FEMA joined 22 other federal agencies, programs and offices in becoming the Department of Homeland Security. The new department, headed by Secretary Tom Ridge, brought a coordinated approach to national security from emergencies and disasters - both natural and man-made. Today, FEMA is one of four major branches of DHS. About 2,500 full-time employees in the Emergency Preparedness and Response Directorate are supplemented by more than 5,000 stand-by disaster reservists."

So why do you want this with our health care? Or for that matter, our educational system and our pensions, but that's so ingrained we'll never get out of that hole. There's still hope for our health.

1615 Schedule of Services

Looking for a Lutheran church? At my other blog, Church of the Acronym, I list the eleven worship services for Upper Arlington Lutheran Church (UALC). You'll be able to tell from the description that I am somewhat a traditionalist myself. But I have friends over 70 who really like that rock-n-roll service.

1614 The birth of an urban legend

and we are in the delivery room--The Washington Post online edition. Captain Ed at Captain's Quarters says even a blogger wouldn't leave up an inaccurate post like Dan Froomkin's, in which Bush's polling numbers among blacks is listed as 2%. Then buried at the bottom Froomkin does acknowledge at the end of his breathless excitement that only 807 people were polled, "This latest poll included 807 people nationwide, and only 89 blacks. As a result, there is a considerable margin or error -- and the findings should not be considered definitive until or unless they are validated by other polls."

Then, probably after Ed pointed it out in his #1 blog, Froomkin provides an update with the correct information, which shows no change at all among black voters, (because this falls within the margin of error, says Ed).

"[Late Update: The Pew Research Center is just out with its latest poll, which has a larger sample, and it finds Bush's approval rating among blacks at 12 percent, down only slightly from 14 in July. Here are those results .]" But in the meantime, others who read Froomkin's article before his correction are going with the 2% figure. Pull it Mr. Froomkin. Otherwise you look like a reporter for the MSM who makes up stories where there is none.

1613 Who links to me

Don't trust those guys! I just went in and checked. Oh, they lie! Some of those blogs haven't had an entry in 18 months; Lutheran in a Tipi folded her tent months ago; Paula dumped me. But they are all still listed, and many others who do link here are not. Leave it to a computer to screw it up. I don't know what happened to Melissa Zogby(?), the Libertarian Librarian, or was that Rabid Librarian, but she hasn't posted at either one of her blogs for many months. I sort of worry when people just up and disappear. Was it a job change? A romance gone bad? Blogger-fatigue? Spam?

I'm heading out for Bible study this morning. We're doing Beth Moore's Patriarchs. She is so fantastic. I think it is offered at 5 or 6 different times during the week, but I like our Saturday group. They've been giving me a hard time because I've been gone so much this fall--missed 3 out of 5 sessions so far.

1612 It's not going to go away

We still need social security reform. I wish the President would get back to business. He's frittering away his "mandate." He won the election; he needs to stand up and do the job he said he'd do. City Journal continues the discussion in the Summer 2005 issue.

"For Social Security purposes, politicians already define high earners as those who make just $45,400 a year. So all middle-income earners underwrite a delayed income-transfer system to the poorest earners. In other words, this is already a tightly compressed welfare system. Though middle-income folks don’t pay much attention to how much money they will eventually lose in retirement income to lower-income retirees, conservative leaders shouldn’t be shy about reminding them that Social Security, despite the myths surrounding it, is by no means a fair retirement program."

So, did you realize you're a "high earner?" Here's examples from the article on low and high end ("high" as we understand it, not as the gov't defines it):

"A nurse’s aide who earns about $16,500 a year, or slightly less than half of the average American wage, over, say, a 44-year career, contributes about $106,900 to Social Security under today’s system (in today’s dollars, but adjusted for 1 percent real wage growth). In return, if she retires at 65, in 40 years or so, she can expect to receive an $11,900 annual benefit during her golden years. If she lives for 12 more years, it comes out to about $142,800. In today’s dollars, she’ll get back 34 percent more than what she put in (though without reform, the Social Security Administration estimates the government will only have the money to pay her 74 percent of that). This isn’t terrible, but she’d earn as much or more investing her money in government bonds, without needing an income transfer from richer earners.

But then look at the senior manager who earns today’s equivalent of six figures straight out of college and then every year thereafter during his 44-year career. He pays about $583,300 in today’s dollars into Social Security over his lifetime under the $90,000 cap. But he can expect to receive only about $31,700 a year from Social Security—or $380,400 in total, if, like the nurse’s aide, he lives for 12 years after he retires. How relevant is Social Security to him, when he’ll get back just two-thirds of what he put in?"

And no matter what you put in to Social Security, your heirs get nothing when you die. With private accounts bolstering the base, everyone will be better off. And again, I remind all you teachers that you don't get both a teacher's pension and Social Security, even if you've had two careers and paid into both. NEA statement.

Entire article here.

1611 Irritating faxes

Spam, although annoying, doesn't wake you up, but faxes do. This librarian is going after the sender in small claims court. Great story.

"So Monday I took my paperwork and a check for $800 to the sheriff and asked that they execute the judgment against the company. I asked that they seize a Cessna 340, a Lexus, and cash assets of the defendant. So the sheriff stamped and stapled and filed and collated the paperwork. Today I found out that they have seized the aircraft the corporation owns and will sell it at public auction next month."

Sounds like illegal faxers make a lot more money than librarians.

1610 Gas prices

We filled up Wednesday evening in Oregon, Il at $2.79/gal and by the time we got to Columbus, it was $2.59. Also we got 27 mpg in my mini-van due to the better roads we have now. One of the Chicago radio stations was telling us to get better gas mileage by reducing our speed to 55 mph, but the limit for cars in Illinois and Indiana interstates is 70 (65 in Ohio), and I really doubt that we'd do better than 27. I don't know what you're driving, but I'm pretty sure a 1965 sedan got about 10-12 mpg.

1609 The Ah-ha moment!

Why it took me so long to figure this out, I don't know. Occasionally I mail (U.S. Post Office) a few pages of my blog after printing. But there's usually one or two items that are just fillers or are the wrong political slant for the addressee. Sometimes I block, copy and drop into word processing, but that is tedious and I have to resize the photos. Today I realized if I just go back and click on "draft" for those items I don't want to print, I can just print the ones I'm interested in. Draft-saved items don't show and won't print. So I was able to send my aunt the family photos and skip the ones she wouldn't care about. Sometimes I climb to the genius level, but I'm sort of slow getting there.

1608 Cruisin' down the Rock River

If you are in Northern Illinois this fall you might consider a dinner cruise on the Rock River. The paddle boat docks at Oregon near Maxon's Manor. My sister treated for our anniversary and my brother-in-law's birthday. Our brother was in town (lives in Florida), so we had a great time. It was a "partly cloudy" day, but the sun broke through between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., just the time we were on board. The fall color hasn't peaked yet, but by next week it should be fabulous. We had a great view of the statue of Blackhawk against the blue sky with a frame of white clouds. The meal was delicious and the staff was terrific. A wonderful day.

We passed near the little island where Margaret Fuller , a transcendentalist and friend of Emerson, had her studio.

1607 Fifteen protestors

It's not often I watch CBS Evening News, but last night I caught the Road Tour by Sharon Alfonsi--she's trying to find war stories, as near as I can tell. She covered a war protest--15 people in Birmingham--a city of over a million. Wow. What a story. Really scraping the bottom of the barrel.

Captain's Quarters found a hint of good news in the NYT and has a message for the Gray Lady (and the other MSM who can find nothing good going on in Iraq):

"Cheer up! We liberated 25 million people from a genocidal dictator, helped them create a National Assembly, watched as over 8 million of them voted freely last January, and now see them peacefully negotiating the laws under which they will govern themselves. Perhaps the Gray Lady finds democracy too distasteful for her scrubbed hands, but the rest of us find these developments very pleasing and reason for hope of eventual unity and peace."

1606 Shall we gather in the kitchen

There's nothing like sitting around the kitchen table for a little chat. Here we are with my brother and sister.

The last thing I'd consider

is going back to school for a PhD, but if I were so inclined, here's what I might do, according to this quiz.

You Should Get a PhD in Liberal Arts (like political science, literature, or philosophy)

You're a great thinker and a true philosopher. You'd make a talented professor or writer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

1605 Enjoying the trip

A rainy fall week-end in Lakeside for the Fall Festival, but on our way Sunday we drove into sunshine as we got into Indiana. After stopping to see Carlos and Michelle on the way, we rolled into Oregon, IL about 3:30. My sister had gathered together the relatives for a family dinner Sunday evening. I met with friends on Monday for coffee and chit chat, and then visited my 90 year old great aunt for some help with genealogy. Today I met with the former wife of a first cousin once removed to catch up on her children and grandchildren, and then stopped by my aunt's to look through some clippings and old photographs. We've also made a trip to Franklin Grove and visited with my brother and stopped at a new park in that area that has a rebuilt mill. Now our lovely fall sunshine is gone. We walked in Oregon's nice city park system, visited the train station that is being restored and looked at a new sculture at the entrance of another park on the river where people fish. Tomorrow we're taking a little boat ride on the Rock River with lunch. Should be home Thursday evening after a stop in Indianapolis to visit with my husband's sister.

1604 Heading out again

We'll be visiting family in Illinois soon, so we'll be on the road again. Our cat is getting very confused about where she lives. When we got back from Arkansas and Oklahoma she refused to enter the bedroom for weeks. When we got back from Germany and Austria she decided she liked to sleep on my pillow, since the cool reproof didn't change our behavior. Hard telling what's next.

Hoping to see my two siblings, niece and family, my aunt, my cousins, my great-aunt, and a few high school friends at the local greasy spoon. We practically go past Carlos and Michelle's place (Germany tour), so we hope to pop in and say hello.

Lots of these in my home town

1603 Banking Boo Boos

Mess up. Blame someone else. That's what Felipe and Racheli Vidal do. The USAToday did a story on overdraft fees by banks and picked sort of a bad example. This couple had been charged $926 overdraft fees for spending $1,248 more than they had in their accounts. Slow learners.

I had a $20 overdraft charge once back in the 80s--when I had two checking accounts and had absent mindedly put my paycheck into the wrong account and then went on vacation, thinking I had plenty of resources. I think I was more embarrassed than mad at the bank with which we had a squeaky clean 20 year record. So I linked the checking account to the savings account and closed the second checking account. See how those fees can change behavior--for some of us? Yes, and I had a speeding ticket once, too.

My advice to Felipe and Racheli would be to go cash only for a couple of months and learn to live on what they earn. It will clean up that messy habit of blaming others and give them a closer relationship with their resources.

You are Ephesians.


Which book of the Bible are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

1602 One of the newest things

going around the internet, sort of self-centered and narcissistic, is to type your name into Google followed by the word "is" and see what sort of a list you come up with. "Norma is" will bring up 1) the opera, 2) Norma Desmond (Sunset Boulevard), and 3) a hurricane, and apparently some really, really boring people, because here's what I got.

Norma is an opera in two acts

Norma is a distorted reflection of Swanson

Norma is a constellation of the southern sky.

Norma is winning her war with meningitis

Norma is sincerely concerned about people

Norma is the person I would want working with me on a project

Norma is a sweet and patient person

Norma is moving to the northwest at 7 mph with maximum sustained winds of 50 mph.

Norma is the wife, and in certain episodes, she isn't much

Norma is working hard to be the best person she can be

Norma is a great author, and writes about realistic, but exciting subjects

NORMA is an old brand name

Norma is so stunned by what he's just said, she feels out of focus

Norma is detailed, organized, and tense

Norma is snoring softly

Norma is going to be a “globe-trotter” from May 25 –June 12

Norma is fabulous! I only recently discovered her

Norma is a flower that continues to blossom, one that gets more beautiful

Norma is there and she is dressed in a black jumpsuit

Norma is sputtering, speechless

Norma is the last person you expect to be standing at the end.

I've been told my father named me. After a movie star.

1601 Who's the victim

A.C. Cargill is a columnist who blogs and recently has asked why we continue to encourage people to live in dangerous places with government bailouts. I wondered about this as I watched the fires in California in areas that should have had more dead wood cleared, and listened to state officials plead for people to return home after the devastation of the hurricanes in August and September. Return to an area that is unsafe, and unable to provide them with good jobs and good schools, incidentally.

"Thanks in large part to FEMA, founded in 1979 by Jimmy “I’m a Peanut Farmer” Carter, almost 50% of the U.S. population lives on our coasts, per a report on CNBC Monday 26 September 2005. People can now live in harm’s way because FEMA will be there to

“lead America to prepare for, prevent, respond to and recover from disasters with a vision of ‘A Nation Prepared.’” (from http://www.fema.gov/about/history.shtm)

Feed Me FEMA

1600 The Nose have it

Samantha is taking a very significant poll. Let her know how you blow your nose.

1599 Clothes hanger fertility crisis

In the old days I could open a closet and find 5-10 empty hangers. They multiplied like rabbits. My theory was that after laundry day, the missing socks morphed into hangers. They were everywhere. Not anymore. Now I go into the closets and drag out the rejects--the ones that are rusty, or the fragile plastic ones that break under the weight of a synthetic blouse.

About four or five years ago my favorite dry cleaner, the one that made my clothes look better than new, was sold and the stores that now use that name don't do a good job. Plus the clothes reek. My first experience with the new folks required leaving four winter coats in the garage for three months to "gas out." The blazers that I put in the coat closet so my other clothes wouldn't stink ended up making the whole ground level smell funny.

And I think that's probably the source of the hanger shortage. I've started washing all those "dry clean only" items (except my husband's suits which are rarely worn anyway). I took a bunch of sweaters and blazers to a different dry cleaner last spring, and although the odor wasn't awful, it was strong. Then I tried a new "old" dry cleaner and there was no odor, but the spots were still there and the pressing was a whole new wrinkle.

I guess I'll just have to break down and buy some matching, non-rusting hangers. It's time.

1598 How often do you change your towels

That was the poll on the RR front page yesterday. So I clicked "twice a week" and it turns out I was in the majority, but only by one percentage point, and I doubt if the poll has closed. Actually, it's a bit more often than that because I have two matching* towels hanging by the shower, and I use one for 2 days, then switch to the other. My husband uses two towels, but uses both each time. It's a good idea to buy 2 washcloths for each towel when giving a gift (someone told me that years ago).

Pillow cases I use only 2 days. About five years ago my "decor" changed and the pillow cases now show above the coverlet, so I bought a bunch all in the same color, and just keep changing them. I've had fewer colds--but my husband has had more. I suspect there is no relationship. But it gives you that fresh sheet smell without all the work.

*Our home was formerly owned by two guys--very successful decorators who liked heavy, dark fabrics and dark walls and ceilings. After getting over the shock of and repainting orange ceilings and 7 layers of brown and gold, I decided I sort of liked the bathroom wall paper and didn't change it. It looks like massive swirls of beige and cream satin with bright fuschia tassels near the ceiling. So the towels and floor rugs are fuschia, and sometimes deep green. Sort of wakes you up of a morning.

1597 Listen to the Bennett segment in context

suggests LaShawn Barber. She thinks it might change your thinking. I doubt it. He says what he says (based on research by liberals that increased abortions by black women would reduce crime), but only after showing his skepticism of some other economic and political theories about abortion, some promoted by conservatives.)

"If you haven’t heard it, please do so now. Here’s is a link to the edited segment in question. Are your impressions the same? Does actually hearing it in context change your opinion one way or another?"

She's expecting conservative bashers to act responsibly and sensibly. Although Democrats can have former KKK members as their Senators, and liberals and feminists can do the "abortion can serve a good end by eliminating poverty, disabilities and crime" research, a Republican can't refute ANY race based research without coming off as a jerk and a racist. Don't confuse us with facts and context, please. It's the rules of politics. Just don't call him a "water buffalo" because we know that's not proper use of free speech.

1596 Dancing on the Danube

Carlos e-mailed me these photos today taken on our Danube Cruise. He is the Director of the Office of Publications at Northern Illinois University and took over 1800 pictures. What a guy!

1595 The Worriers' Guild

This poem appeared in the latest issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases. I thought it a bit odd for Bush to bring up an avian flu pandemic so soon after Katrina and Rita--like we need another reason to panic? The poem looks better over there, since I can't reformat it.

The Worriers' Guild
Philip F. Deaver

Today there is a meeting of the
Worriers' Guild,
and I'll be there.
The problems of Earth are
to be discussed
at length
end to end
for five days
end to end
with 1100 countries represented
all with an equal voice
some wearing turbans and smocks
and all the men will speak
and the women
with or without notes
in 38 languages
and nine different species of logic.
Outside in the autumn
the squirrels will be
chattering and scampering
directionless throughout the town
because
they aren't organized yet.

From How Men Pray, copyright 2005 by Philip F. Deaver.

1594 Blogs redistribute power?

That's what this librarian thinks. Here's a paraphrase of a presentation by Danah Boyd (I have no idea who this is) at LITA (Library and Information Technology Association) on October 1. And Michael Gorman is still out to lunch at lunch and doesn't like Google. I saw this item at www.LisNews.com.

I'm a blogger. I don't feel terribly powerful. Do you?

1593 Oh, that Mr. White

For some reason I didn't know that the White in "Strunk and White" was the writer of Charlotte's Webb.

"E.B. White, the author of the children's books "Charlotte's Web" and "Stuart Little," published "Elements of Style" in 1959 as an edited and expanded version of the handbook written by his English professor, William Strunk. With its classic commandments such as "Omit needless words" and "Keep related words together," "Elements" (now in its fourth edition) has been praised by the New York Times as "as timeless as a book can be in our age of volubility." " Nathan Bierma, in this week's Chicago Tribune's On Language, in which he reviews the latest edition.

1592 Alexander Hamilton's Oct. 5 love letter

October 5, 1780

"I have told you, and I told you truly that I love you too much. You engross my thoughts too intirely to allow me to think of any thing else. You not only employ my mind all day; but you intrude upon my sleep. I meet you in every dream-and when I wake I cannot close my eyes again for ruminating on your sweetnesses. 'Tis a pretty story indeed that I am to be thus monopolized, by a little nut-brown maid like you-and from a statesman and a soldier metamorphosed into a puny lover. I believe in my soul you are an inchantress."

Alexander Hamilton to Elizabeth Schuyler, October 5, 1780, two months before their wedding

Not sure why she was "nut-brown."

Hamilton and the Supreme Court
Alexander Hamilton was killed by Aaron Burr at age 49, and so we will never know what other great things he might have done. However, Chief Justice John Marshall probably extended his influence for almost another 35 years, which is why what is going on right now with Roberts and Miers is so critical.

Ron Chernow writes [p. 648] : "He now rivaled [after Adams nominated him in 1801] perhaps even superseded, Hamilton as the leading Federalist and had contempt for his distant cousin, Jefferson. . .[He] revered Hamilton, having once observed that next to the former treasury secretary he felt like a mere candle "beside the sun at noonday." After reading through George Washington's papers, Marshall pronounced Hamilton "the greatest man (or one of the greatest men) that had ever appeared in the United States. Marshall considered Hamilton and Washington the two indispensable founders, and it therefore came as no surprise that Jefferson looked askance at the chief justice as "the Federalist serpent in the democratic Eden of our administration."

During 34 years on the court, John Marshall, more than anyone else, perpetuated Hamilton's vision of both vibrant markets and affirmative government.. . Many of the great Supreme Court decisions he handed down were based on concepts articulated by Hamilton."

So it is possible that Roberts, who is only 50, could extend George W. Bush's ideas another 35 years. Blog that!

1591 Happy Birthday

Two years ago for my sixth blog entry, I wrote about my oldest son on his birthday. So this is a reprint.

A perfect October day.

The sky is an October color--a blue you see in Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio this time of year, bordered in my side and lower vision with brilliant hues and just enough green left over from the wet summer to make a lump in my throat. But the lump is already there. Today is his birthday and I'm probably the only person who remembers.

As we drive past small towns and corn fields on a familiar route, I say to my husband, "Stanley would be 42 today." It takes a few seconds for him to pull up a memory of that plump, blonde toddler and reconstruct him as an adult old enough to be a grandfather.

"I wonder what he would look like," he says. I can't see his eyes behind his sun glasses.

"Probably just like you. Your baby pictures look so similar, except your hair was more red."

"Maybe he'd be bald by now--mine really started going after 45," he recalled.

I have little memory of what he actually looked like. I've browsed the photo album so many times that all I see when I try to recall his face are black and white and fading color snapshots and a color portrait taken at the department store in Champaign, Illinois. I do remember the way he looked when they placed him on my abdomen in the delivery room with that "what's happening" expression and the way he looked in that little casket in a new blue suit. No photos at the beginning and the end to blur history.

"We wouldn't have the kids now," he says, mentioning they'd be stopping by later to see the DVD of our trip west.

We are quiet. The harvest ready fields roll by and I think again of my favorite Old Testament verse, "Then I will make up to you for the years that the swarming locust has eaten. . ." Joel 2:25

1590 Downshifting: inefficient fun

The only reason to downshift to slow down your car is that it is fun, writes Jonathon Welsh in today's car column in the WSJ. So the little woman was right all along! It's a lot cheaper to replace your brakes than your clutch and transmission.

In high school I dated a guy from another town--Woosung*. He wore cowboy boots, silver jewelry, a fringed leather jacket and tight jeans and didn't have a burr haircut--which made him about as noticeable as the kids wearing Black Goth and tattoos today. And what a car! I could stand in our front yard on a Sunday afternoon and hear him coming down Lowell Park Road when he was at least two miles outside of town (I think that's the name of the secondary blacktop road to Dixon, but I'm not sure). He had a great set of dual pipes on his dark blue Plymouth (I think it was either a 1953 or 1954), and he'd let up on the gas, downshift going around a curve, and I'm sure everyone between Polo and Oregon could hear him. I have yet to hear a car that sounded sweeter than that. Fun, but not good for the brakes or gas mileage. Don't you hate it when your mother was right?

Along Lowell Park Road at Stratford, but my title for this painting is "Ogle County Mall"

*Yes, it's a Chinese name. Samuel Brimblecom constructed the first house in Woosung in 1855. The community's name means "haven of rest," and Woosung was named after a town on the Yangtzse River in China.

1589 Dinner party conversation

Dr. Sanity comments on dinner party conversation, one you could hear in any university town, I suppose, even this one.

"At a dinner party this weekend I listened to a German professor who was talking about the arrogant United States and how they were "failing" in Afghanistan and Iraq. Almost all of the people at the party nodded sagely, agreeing with his assessment of their country (this is Ann Arbor, after all).

"Yes, yes it is a complete disaster," said an American professor. "Look at all the Iraqis dying because we are there.

"Bush is a moron," said another, as they all tripped over each other to agree that their country was arrogant; stupid; and evil.

One woman's statement also betrayed the underlying attitude that America was consistently in the wrong. She said to the German Professor and said, "Just remember that 49% of Americans agree with 99% of the rest of the world."

I'm sure she would agree that Bali brought these horrible murders upon themselves. That their foreign policy decisions in supporting Israel and America in Iraq and Afghanistan....oh wait. They didn't, did they? They are a predominantly Muslim country, aren't they?

Well, I'm almost certain that the policies of George Bush are behind the senseless and horrific murders of those innocent people in Bali. Aren't you?"

1588 Mommy study making bloggers mad

The only thing that surprised me about this study is that 1) they ever got funding to do it, and 2) they were allowed to publish it. Really, the pressure is that strong to assure us that children don't need parents--just government programs. And if the program doesn't work, it just needs more money.

"One of the longest and most detailed studies of UK childcare has concluded that young children who are looked after by their mothers do significantly better in developmental tests than those cared for in nurseries, by childminders or relatives."

Among other things in the article, I noticed this:

"Underpinning much of the problem revealed in the study was the discovery that most mothers leave organising childcare to the last minute before returning to work. This can have worrying consequences, concluded Leach.

She described the numbers of mothers not taking up references for child carers as 'staggering' and added 'there were mothers happy to leave a baby with an au pair, after one phone call conducted through an interpreter'."

It happens here in Columbus, Ohio too. I drove past a house on a busy street yesterday that had a handpainted sign in the yard "babysitting + phone #" and I was left to wonder if the resident was advertising for a sitter, or if she was offering to babysit. Either way, it's scary to think someone might chose a drive by babysitter that way.

1587 The pay isn't bad for going to jail

Now we know why Ms. Miller went to jail over a source that she already had permission to talk about. $1.2 million for 3 months in jail. Not bad.

1586 SUVs and fuel economy

Sort of sounds strange in the same sentence, doesn't it? Actually, we have a Ford Explorer, manual shift, 2 door. It's probably more fuel efficient than most sedans--maybe 25 mpg on the highway.

Of course, my back feels like it's just been massaged by a friendly chocolate lab who hasn't learned her manners after I've ridden 3 blocks in it. In fact, unless my van is in for service, I won't ride in our SUV. But your mileage may vary. SUVs are trucks with bad shocks, in my opinion. Mini-vans are cars for adults who want to see over the sedans. Adults over 30 should ride in mini-vans if they don't want their kidneys and teeth rattled.

1585 Honeycrisp apples

When I bite into an apple, I want to hear a crack so loud that my husband hollers from the living room, "Is someone at the door?" I want it to be so sweet my teeth are set on edge. I want it to be so juicy that I need to keep a towel close by. So I'm eating a huge Honeycrisp apple, and it's the second one I had today. Yummy.

1584 She used to be a full service blogger

but now that St. Casserole has returned home to Mississippi, only Katrina is on her mind.

"Katrina is a marker event and not just for me.

Believe me when I tell you that I am stunned at the number of people who went through hours of pitch black darkness with little children, old people and pets who held onto this life by sitting in a Boston Whaler they swam to in rising water then held onto the gutters of a neighbor's two storey home to wait out the storm. Jean, my young bankteller, swam out the second floor window of her apartment with her seven year old son. She broke the window and swam with her child to the safety of the roof. She climbed out the window into cold rising water with her child to try to stay alive. Rachel got into her attic with her two young children, husband, mother and dog to try to stay alive. People I know and strangers I meet did dramatic things to stay alive in all the water. We don't even live in a flood area. The water came up so high that Catfish let out his lines on his shrimp boat in the Back Bay 40 feet by swimming to the lines in the hurricane winds to save his boat. Strangers tell me remarkable stories of swimming to a neighbor's home for safety. I am stunned. These aren't young athletic kids. These are regular people who wanted to stay alive in a situation no one could predict. It is extraordinary that more people didn't drown."

St. Casserole's blog.

1583 Google's new blog finder

Google has a new feature whereby you can find blogs by the blogger's name, or topic. I tried it with my name and then my name + a topic and found it very easy to use. http://blogsearch.google.com. However, it also makes it easier for the blog spammers to be target specific. These are the "Hi, great blog. Come and visit mine on [your topic]. So I'll have to add the stronger filters to the comments. My topical blogs are all getting hit, Coffee Spills, Hugging and Chalking, Church of the Acronym. In the Beginning does not get comments. What are they going to say? It's my hobby and I'll blog about journals if I want to!

Not all bloggers use their own name, so that's where the topic helps. The results when I entered "Norma library" were pretty good. Also found a few librarian blogs I hadn't seen before that I'll check out. It also picks up "normal" and I certainly am that, right?

1582 Rescuing pets in disasters

There's been a lot of talk about the problem of getting people to evacuate without their pets. Before you work to get them included in the rescure efforts, ask yourself if you want your cat or small dog on the same helicopter as these pets.

They love their pets too and their pets might want to take yours to lunch

1581 Gertrude Bell, the Desert Queen

The selection for Book Club tonight is Desert Queen by Janet Wallach. This biography of Gertrude Bell, an English woman born in the 1860s is very interesting on several levels--her personal struggles as a multi-talented women who longed to be a wife and mother but was instead an advisor to Kings, her need for excitement and adventure to hold back depression and desire which took her on breath taking trips and explorations, and the feeling of today's front page news since she literally designed modern day Iraq after the end of WWI.



Unfortunately, I didn't find Wallach a particularly fascinating writer--certainly she didn't have the skill of Ron Chernow who wrote last month's selection, Alexander Hamilton. I did come across an erie quote by Winston Churchill (as Colonial Secretary one of the British drawing the boundaries of modern Iraq) in my side reading (may also be in the book).

June 14, 1921: it was Britain's intention to ". . . reduce our commitments and extricate ourselves from our burdens while at the same time discharging our obligations and building up an effective Arab Government which would always be a friend of Britain." Sort of has a familiar ring to it, doesn't it?

I have the 11th, 12th and 13th editions of Encyclopaedia Britanica, the last of which was published in 1926. So I looked up the Iraq article to see if Gertrude Bell was mentioned, but she wasn't. It was current through Spring 1926. Then I noticed the initials of the author of the article--and she had written it! Because she committeed suicide in July 1926, the article for Britannica must of been one of the last of her many publications.

1580 White Guilt

Blogger Oh Snap apologizes for a heavy post, but I think she’s needed on the team to rebuild New Orleans’ schools. She really, really wants to be a teacher but is finding the program a bit, um, harmful for children and teachers. She’s student teaching and for some odd reason, seems to be (in my opinion) a lot smarter than her co-workers and professors. She sees students setting the agenda, and progressive ideas holding students back with low expectations. I hope she makes it to the end of the term without bailing. The negative effects of white guilt have been known a long time, and I'm surprised no one but student teachers notice how damaging it is to the people they want to help.

“Someone with white guilt decides that she will go out and, in some small way, correct the wrongs done by her forefathers, and thus be able to live with herself. It is a daunting and burdensome task. And it is incredibly destructive for all those people she intends to help. This is why: everyone with whom she interacts, particularly African-Americans, becomes a living embodiment of the tragic past. This student standing in front of her represents "the African-American person" and she, "the white person." She is constantly anxious not to oppress this young man, this race of people. She walks on eggshells, always on edge. She goes out of her way to be friendly, ingratiating. She doesn't want to do anything to upset him, to repeat past wrongs. Consequently, she can ask nothing of the student. She makes excuses when he breaks the rules, when he forgets to do his homework, when he arrives an hour late, when he swears, when he acts immaturely, meanly, or inappropriately. She doesn't ascribe these negative behaviors as those of a child who needs guidance, but those of an oppressed minority who needs power. So she gives him more, and, being a child, he wastes it. She makes excuses, blames herself, gives him more, and round and round we go."

1579 Remembering Nancy Walker

This morning while cleaning the kitchen sink I thought about Nancy Walker who played "Rosie" in the Bounty commercials in the 1970s. According to Wikipedia, the 4'11" actress died in 1992. You occasionally see her in old films, but mainly she's known for pushing the paper towel that would hold up under a lot of abuse and as the mother of Rhoda on the Mary Tyler Moore show and its spin-off.

I was scrubbing the double ceramic sink with a single folded section of Bounty and a sprinkle of Bon Ami when her face and message came to mind. Then I rinsed it out, and wiped down all the cook-top and the tea kettle. I rinsed it again, then wiped all the counter tops. Rinsed again, then wiped the cabinets and the oven fronts and handles. That little piece of paper still looked pretty strong, so I rinsed it again, and wiped up the spots on the floor before I threw it out.

I never used paper towels in the 70s--much too extravagant for our budget. I doubt that I started using it because of the commercial, but through trial and error discovered it was a good buy. A paper towel that holds up that well and then can be tossed so you're not keeping the yucky rag around until you accumulate enough to wash a load, deserves a blog.

At the Bounty website, you can create your own Honey-do list.

1578 Substitute Blogger

St. Casserole is a member of the clergy who's been through Katrina and is just now returning home to Mississippi. She let one of her cats, Dibley D'Wayne, "guest blog" and it is really sweet. She has some amazing photos of the damage, too.

St. Casserole and her family got out of harm's way and stayed at a friend's home in NC.

1577 It's my Blogiversary

Two years ago I took the plunge and started blogging. I started on October 2, 2003 with this entry.

You'll see that I've since added some Oct. 1 entries, collecting some common threads, just to fill out the month, but I really did start on the second.

1576 Alvin and the Chipmunks

It's nice to know that classy stuff pays off, isn't it? Ross (Jr.) and Janice Bagdasarian are selling their Meditaerrian style mansion in Montecito, CA, for $24.9 million. It has 13,000 sq. ft., a 2,000 sq. ft. master suite, and sits on 4 acres. They create children's programming based on the ground breaking work of his father. His father Ross, created Alvin and the Chipmunks in 1958. Now there's a tune, Badaunt, you really don't want to hear over and over and over at Christmas (See comments at 1575). He also wrote those timeless classics, Come on a my house and Witch Doctor.

So it's a bit pricey. But these two really do sound like bargains. Near Tehachapi, CA in the Southern Sierras, you can buy 20 acres for only $159,900. Ad was in both WSJ and LA Times. "Clean, crisp mountain air with calendar cover views. Majestic oaks, streams, ideal for horses, Country getaway." Because its FSBO, I couldn't find a photo, but other houses in the area look nice and don't look even as expensive as homes in this area. Call the owner, 1-888-914-5253. This one sounds like it might have a view. Noticed in WSJ. 140 acres in New Mexico for $90,000. Call 1-877-670-7964.

1575 Buy it, burn it, return it

Some of you seem to think you need a thousand tunes on your iPods, or that you need to burn those CDs on your shelves to your computer. This is a phenom that has really passed me by. Who would want all that noise all the time, she wonders. I've noticed in the last 5 years it is increasingly difficult to understand what someone is saying if music, TV, or yard crew are in the background. Head phones, which I use occasionally while walking, are really irritating. My theory is your brain only can process so much sound in your lifetime and continue to make sense of it, so all that extra noise ends up growing nose and chin hairs. I think people now in their teens and twenties will probably be experiencing this by the time they are 35. So look out, kids. Anyway. . . Wall Street Journal featured a story on some music store owners who decided they'd have to join the downloaders or lose their business. Sort of like our church adding yet another X-Alt service to our already crowded worship schedule to satisfy worshipers who want damaged ear drums and racing heart rates along with their Bible.

"earlier this year, the four-store chain [Scotti's Record Shops] announced its new "Buy It, Burn It, Return It" policy. Customers can buy a used or new CD, take it home, listen and, if they want, burn a copy to a computer. Within 10 days, they can return the CD for 70% store credit."

They're running into legal problems, but maintain they need to remain creative or go out of business. Story here.

1574 Fashion Fugs won't worry about me

Go Fug Yourself is a fashion blog that tracks celebs. So I guess my entries about fashion and my photos of what to wear on a river cruise are safe. I'm not only not a fashionista, I'm not even a disaster. I see them at the coffee shop but I don't want to be one--especially not one of the over-50's in the short skimpy tops showing waistlines with love handles, or the strolling spandex follies. But Go Fug Yourself written by 30-somethings is a must read for some, even for the celebs it criticizes.

An aside. I was flipping channels and came across a Dukes of Hazzard rerun the other day and thought I'd look up Daisy Dukes and see what she looks like today--after all she's 51 and a lot of women in their 50s look smashing. EEEEEEEK. Don't do it. She's gained a tremendous amount of weight, but wears clothes that definitely don't flatter a larger woman.

Back on track: But blogging about fashion isn't easy, according the the site's webmistresses:

"Like a lot of people who have succumbed to the blogging craze, Ms. Cocks and Ms. Morgan are discovering that the medium has huge challenges. The money is minimal. So far, Go Fug Yourself is generating just $3,500 a month through advertising. Getty Images, the big digital photo supplier, threatened a copyright infringement lawsuit and temporarily shut them down. They sometimes wake up in the morning to profane, raving emails from readers.

Most of all, the blog treadmill is exhausting. Blogs require constant updates to recruit new fans and keep existing ones coming back. So the two women scramble to answer hundreds of emails from readers on their lunch breaks and spend hours scouring the Internet for photos to post. "Some days I start looking in the morning and there's just nobody who looks bad enough," says Ms. Cocks. "If I haven't found anything by midafternoon, I start panicking." "

I know just how they feel. Here it is 5:30 a.m. and I'm writing about people and clothes about which I have absolutely no interest.

1573 Happy Birthday

I had my birthday while on the Danube Cruise. At dinner they turned out the lights and brought out a fabulous chocolate cake/mousse spouting a huge sparkler, which is good, 'cause that many candles would have set the ship on fire. Our table of 6 was able to eat half the cake and then shared the other half with another table.



I took this quiz on what age I act, and first got a 24, so I went back and redid it trying to select more mature answers like Creme brulee instead of banana split, and I got it up to 29. Some questions, like TV shows I just had to take a stab since I didn't recognize them.

You Are 29 Years Old

Under 12: You are a kid at heart. You still have an optimistic life view - and you look at the world with awe. 13-19: You are a teenager at heart. You question authority and are still trying to find your place in this world. 20-29: You are a twentysomething at heart. You feel excited about what's to come... love, work, and new experiences. 30-39: You are a thirtysomething at heart. You've had a taste of success and true love, but you want more! 40+: You are a mature adult. You've been through most of the ups and downs of life already. Now you get to sit back and relax.

What Age Do You Act?

1572 Hugh Hewitt and James Lileks on the Media

Hugh Hewitt interviewed James Lileks, one of my favorite essayists/journalists who is on line and in Minnesota. It was recorded at Radioblogger.com on Thursday September 29.

"HH: Now let me talk about the media and New Orleans. I just did this...oh, it was so classic PBS, sitting around the table talking with three people about something that nobody's going to watch. But it was fun. And they're defending the media down there, and you know, the slashed baby throats, and the forty people in the freezer, et cetera, as, you know, they were the captives of Ray Nagin. What do you make of this?

JL: I think, I'm going to defend the media here, because I think that if somebody runs screaming out of the dome, shouting that a giant octopus is eating people in the upper deck, I think it's the duty of the media to report that. Because if the media went inside, they might be eaten by the giant octopus. So I'm on their side in this one.

HH: But couldn't they have spared a couple of cub reporters to snap a picture of the octopus before they got eaten?

JL: Cub reporters? No. Because generally, you know, there's a lot of investment with these people, because there's a whols rigmarole you got to go through with social security. I say send in some interns. And if they don't like it, you know, catapult them in. You know, use some sort of giant bungee cord to actually shoot them in, gather their impressions, and they'll spring right out, and you can run with that. No, Hugh, I think you're absolutely right. And it's fascinating to me to see how the pride and the chest thumping that went on after Katrina, the media had finally grown their kumquats back, and they were going to stick it to the administration. Now it seems to have been replaced by sort of a muttered coughing and a looking away, and saying oh my."

1571 How MoveOn.org will fix New Orleans

They don't seem to have a plan for the white Texans hurt by Hurricane Rita, but here is the plan for NOLA.

"Liberal Group Lays Out Its Agenda"

Step 1. Throw in the kitchen sink. Repeat as often as necessary, but have no rebuilding plan.

The group is demanding "a responsible exit strategy from Iraq with a timeline that starts now."

How would an exit strategy have gotten drowned busses to the convention center; caused a levee secure for category 3 to withstand a category 4 hurricane; and correct all the past greedy politicians of both parties, local and state, who have kept New Orleans poor all these years through graft and corruption?

That means increasing the minimum wage, the group said.

2.7 % of working Americans make minimum wage or less. What does this have to do with damaged levees or terrible schools? Teachers and construction workers are protected by unions and make big bucks.

"We'll also work to prevent Republicans from privatizing Social Security and offering more tax cuts for millionaires -- policies which benefit the very rich and leave most of us behind," the press release said.

Adding a private plan to an overburdened government benefit program that gets borrowed to fund other programs won’t stop levees from failing, but won’t build them either; it won’t graduate students from poor schools, nor building new schools. Focus, people. Keep with the program, please.

And under the heading of "sustainability," MoveOn.org mentions global warming - which "almost certainly increased the force of Hurricane Katrina."

So will you also be telling China what to do with their industry? Their use of natural resources, particularly oil, will soon surpass ours. There’s not a shred of evidence that global warming caused this hurricane, unless it was a problem in the 1940s when there were more.

It also mentions out-of-control gas prices and says it will fight for "energy independence."

Don’t suppose that independence includes drilling in Alaska, or more refineries in the lower 48?

MoveOn.org also said its members want electoral reform - and Supreme Court justices that "serve the public, not just their friends."

Liberals have controlled the Supreme Court for years, so just what are you saying? Be careful what you wish for. Cronyism has served you well.

MoveOn.org has one goal only--to get us out of Iraq and allow millions of Iraqi people to die in the chaos that will follow--just like we did in VietNam, and to keep the Middle East destabilized so Israel can be destroyed.

1570 Bush is spending money like a Democrat

I'm not the only Bruce unhappy with the way Bush throws money at problems when government programs consistently have been proven to be a huge part of those same problems. Tammy Bruce agrees with me. He will never win the admiration or votes of Democrats for imitating them, and he most certainly alienates Republicans and Libertarians, who unlike Dems, have a reputation for NOT standing by their man.

1569 Good Samaritans and Katrina

A "Good Samaritan" is a term for someone who helps someone else without thought of pay back. It's based on Jesus' story in the New Testament. In veterinary medicine there are donor dogs and cats called "good Sams." We saw many Good Samaritans on the scene after Katrina. As I noted early in September, I sent my donation to the Southern Baptists after seeing the Central Ohio Chain Saw team get ready to go south before the flooding to clear trees. The rest of the country thought the hurricane had by-passed NOLA at that time and had gone back to business as usual.

There are also Good Samaritan laws intended to protect people, organizations or corporations that may be performing a service that places them in harm's way (i.e., in the cross hairs of lawyers). The American Institute of Architects has a whole package of proposals, one of which the passage of federal and state "Good Samaritan" legislation that protects architects and other design professionals from tort liability during the voluntary provision of free services to governmental authorities in times of disaster and catastrophic events.

I have only one problem with AIA's package. The AIA v.p. of Government Advocacy is a former Louisiana legislator. I have no idea if he is a Democrat or Republican, if he was good or bad in that position of responsibility. I do know this package comes with a huge price tag, and Louisiana has a really poor track record for abusing government funding, whether it's for pulling people out of poverty, educating children for employment and college, or building levees.

I do believe that professionals working in a volunteer capacity in their field should be shielded from law suits, however. Now that law firms are increasingly outsourcing legal work to India, it will be cheaper and cheaper for them to litigate, but more and more expensive for the rest of us.