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.