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!