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.