Thirteen things about appliances and equipment NORMA has learned over the years. Sure, you're going to say "Oh, that's just Murphy's Law in action," but actually, it's just the accumulated wisdom of someone who's been a homeowner since 1962. 1. The furnace will go out on the coldest day of the year, air conditioning on the hottest. 2. The hot water heater will give up when you have a houseful of overnight guests. 3. The freezer chooses to throw in the towel when it is full of expensive meat. 4. The garage door opener will stop in mid-lift and jam when the car is inside, not outside. 5. The built-in kitchen appliance that matches the cabinets will not be available in that style or color when it starts taking occasional naps. 6. The hair dryer starts to smell funny and smoke when your hair is wet and you’re getting ready for a formal event or a job interview. 7. The foot feed on the sewing machine starts to spark when you’re rushing to finish a small child’s school costume for a play that is today. 8. The lamp shade that scorches is no longer available in that size or color, and it’s part of a matched set. 9. The electricity is interrupted during a storm only if you’ve been working furiously for an hour in a rare fit of inspiration and have neglected to periodically save your document on the computer. 10. The only time the iron ever tips and falls on the carpeted floor is when it is set on the hottest temperature. 11. The cell phone only fades during a true emergency like a late appointment--but it always is in perfect working order when you’ve forgotten to turn it off before church. 12. The clothes washer (or dish washer) will only die when it is filled to capacity for “large load” with the maximum amount of water it will hold. 13. The garbage disposal begins to whine and stops when you’ve just scraped the plates from a dining room table full of guests. Links to other Thursday Thirteens! 1. Joan, 2. Matthew 3. Wendy, 4. Mar, 5. Better Safe, 6. Lisa, 7. Mary, 8. Nicole, 9. Transplanted Frog, 10. Chickadee, 11. Colleen, 12. Sleeping Mommy, 13. Busy Mom, 14. Uisce, 15. D., 16. Karen, 17. Stacie, 18. Shelli, 19. Jen, 20. Renee, 21. Courtney, 22. Janne, 23. Kelly, 24. Nancy, 25. Charity, 26. JK 27. Killired, 28. Autumn, 29. Jane, 30. Randy, 31. D. Challener Roe

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2081 The Westcott House in Springfield, OH

Let me be very clear, this restored Frank Lloyd Wright house is in Springfield, Ohio. Take a look at this link and several of the side bars and other links, and you'll see that the city and address aren't noted. If you work your way through the links all the way to the right to "Home," it will give you the address.

I see a lot of websites for libraries, churches, hospitals, museums and public buildings that make this mistake. The webmaster forgets that many people will come to the site from Google or Yahoo and will not land on the "home" page. This link will tell you the hours of the tours and when the gift shop is open--but it is mum about where the house is or how to get there. Before you start your bling bling slides, tell the reader where it is!

Anyway, back to the point. We are meeting friends for lunch in Springfield today and then will take a tour. There is also a restored Frank Lloyd Wright house in Springfield, Illinois, but you're on your own for that. If you google, "Frank Lloyd Wright Springfield" you can get a two-fer.

Westcott House
Frank Lloyd Wright
Springfield, Ohio

2080 Run it up the flag pole

As I mentioned yesterday, I put Stephen Harper, the new Canadian Prime Minister, in the prayer job jar (a clear glass jar on the kitchen table from which we take requests when we say grace). I showed my husband his photo on my blog, and explained who he was, what a tough job he was going to have, and why we should pray for him. But the name was new (to both of us), and twice during the prayer he stopped and asked me his name. "Stephen Harper," I whispered, as though God wouldn't notice how rusty we are on our Canadian politics.

In today's WSJ, Mark Steyn, a Canadian columnist, has an article "An Act of Political Hygiene" in which he gives a tepid endorsement of Harper and a red hot condemnation of the previous liberal government. One funny story (which I hope is an urban legend, but perhaps Mr. Cloud knows) he reported was that when the Canadian Liberal party was trying to win over the Quebecans, it was so burdened by scandals and incompetence that it outsourced a flag project to overseas companies which for $45 a flag, sent back "a gazillion flags that can't fly." No eyelets, no sleeve, no halyard line for a rope, no toggle.

Steyn says Harper won't be "George W. Bush's best friend," as his liberal opponents threatened, and there will be no military presence in Iraq. They don't even arm their border guards so they won't be much use for domestic threats in this hemisphere, either.

Stephen Harper

2078 If you are a certain age

click over to Bonita's site and answer some questions. It will help to be 60 or over. Don't know if people in their 50s would know these. Like

Before inline skates, how did you keep your roller skates attached to your shoes?

What did all the really savvy students do when mimeographed tests were handed out in school?

2077 660 dozen cookies

Yes, you read that right. Some of the men at our church participate in the KAIROS ministry in prisons around the state, and they take in homemade cookies. Lots of cookies. The next week-end is February 16, and they need the cookies by February 10. I'm trying to decide if I feel ambitious enough to make a few dozen cookies that I won't be tempted to eat. I have no problem at all leaving store-bought cookies alone, but at that art luncheon yesterday--someone brought home made chocolate chip cookies and I think I ate three.

Scheduled outage

Blogger's going to have a scheduled outage, so I'm thinking of launching my Thursday 13 early. I mean, what if it doesn't come back up and I've wasted 13 thoughts?

2075 Pro-Bono for the enemy

Apparently, our country is so great and so just, that there aren't enough poor and unfortunates on our soil to use up the pro- bono time of the fancy law firms. Amy Ridenour points to this article by Deroy Murdock.

"Why our best law firms would dedicate their pro-bono resources to suspected terrorists rather than, say, people rendered homeless by Katrina, is beyond me," marvels one former high-level federal attorney who previously was involved with these issues. "By definition, these representations only serve to expand the rights of alien enemy combatants during wartime."

You probably won't recognize the names of the law firms, but check out your investments and pensions which are in the companies they represent for the big bucks. You're subsidizing these lawyers' bizarre behavior.

Members of the Guantanamo Bay Bar Association:

"Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw, (1,300 lawyers; Am Law Global 100 rank: 11; Its clients include Bell South, Caterpillar, Dow Chemical, Whirlpool, and UAL Corp., the parent company of United Airlines, two of whose airliners al Qaeda agents smashed, respectively, into 2 World Trade Center and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001. This left United's 94 passengers and 16 crewmembers dead. Mayer leads John Does 1-570 v. George W. Bush, essentially, a class-action lawsuit involving every enemy combatant at Gitmo not already suing the president for release during wartime.

Manatt, Phelps & Phillips, Los Angeles (300 lawyers; Among its clients: Alaska Airlines, Anschutz Entertainment, Harley-Davidson, Mattel, Pfizer, and Transport for London, the British agency that runs the London Underground, which al Qaeda bombed July 7, killing 52 commuters. On October 24, Manatt attorneys sued President Bush in federal court on behalf of suspected Islamic extremist Adbulkadar Abdulkhalik Dad.

Shearman & Sterling (1,000 attorneys; Am Law No. 15; $775 million estimated 2005 gross). Clients include Deere & Co., Delphi, Ford, Morgan Stanley, and PG&E. Shearman partner Thomas Wilner, lead attorney for 12 Kuwaiti enemy combatants, wants Uncle Sam to compensate detainees for time at Guantanamo.

Allen & Overy (1,800 lawyers worldwide; Am Law ranks the British firm No. 6 with $1.22 billion in approximate 2005 revenues, and Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, and JPMorgan Chase among their clients.

Covington & Burling (520 lawyers; Am Law Global 100 rank: No. 76; $337.5 million in estimated 2005 earnings.). Clients: Coca-Cola, Deere & Co., Emory University, Goodyear, IBM, Merck, Microsoft, the NFL, UBS, and 13 Yemeni enemy combatants at Guantanamo.

Dorsey & Whitney, Minneapolis (640 lawyers; Am Law No. 78; 2005 gross: about $330 million). Clients: 3M, Cargill, ConocoPhillips, General Mills, Northwest Airlines, and six Bahrainians at Guantanamo.

Holland & Hart, Denver (300 attorneys in 12 offices). Clients: Safeway, Sears, the Williams Company, and five Algerian terror suspects, including Dr. Abu Muhammed, Abbar Sufian al Hawary, and Motai Saib.

Hunton & Williams, Richmond, Virginia ("850 attorneys. 16 offices. Since 1901.") Clients: Bank of America, Colonial Williamsburg Foundation, Eli Lilly, General Dynamics, General Electric, and six Yemeni suspected terrorists, including Issam Hamid Ali Bin Ali Al Jayfi.

Paul, Weiss (Am Law No. 38; approximately $504 million in 2005 revenues). Clients: Chubb, DirecTV Group, I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby, Philip Morris, Time Warner, Viacom, and 11 Saudi Guantanamites."

2074 We can't have it both ways

Nothing has infuriated conservatives more than liberals saying, "I'm against the war, but I support the troops." It just didn't make sense, and you could hear the Vietnam guilt over the treatment of our returning troops just dripping as they tied their yellow ribbons around the old oak tree. So over at Sister Toldjah yesterday I read about Joel Stein's article, Warriors and Wusses in the LA Times. I thought he made perfect sense; an honest disagreement on the war issues, but hey, at least he wasn't playing games. Then I heard Glenn Beck read the entire article on the radio this morning, and it sounded even better. You go, Joel.

Now why are conservatives so mad when a liberal admits they sound ridiculous? What does it take into today's political climate for people to have an honest difference of opinion and not attack each other?

Then I went back and read some of his other stuff, and for a liberal, he's darn funny. I like the guy. Refreshing after all the teeth gnashing conservatives whose faces crack when the jokes do.

2073 Stephen Harper, the new Canadian PM

Welcome. It was time.

"Monday's vote showed that Canadians are weary of the Liberal Party's broken promises and corruption scandals. They were willing to give Harper a chance to govern despite concerns that some of his social views are extreme." USAToday here.



"He pledged an immediate 1% cut in national sales tax, a new vigour in fighting crime and gang violence, and a re-evaluation of relations with Washington, which have become strained in recent years." BBC story here.

I will drop him in my prayer job jar today.

2072 Nanny goat

There's a family in Bexley Ohio (well-heeled, old money suburb of Columbus) that is advertising in today's paper for a nanny for their one year old triplets. (Pause here: get your mind around the chaos of 3 toddlers all the same age, still in diapers, that is driving a woman out of her lovely suburban home to the peace and quiet of the office.) 50 hours a week, 4 day week. "Should have child care experience." Well, duh!

2071 It’s a great book and the art is more important than the truth.

No, that's not Oprah talking about James Frey's "A million little pieces," which has been revealed to be a complete fraud. It was the response to a warning that Alexie Sherman gave the editor of Nasdijj, whose book The Blood was about to be released.

In a article full of intrigue, gay sex, phony adoption stories, autism, KKK and the growing cadre of whites posing as Native Americans in order to be published writers, Matthew Fleisher attempts to shed some light on why and how readers, talk show hosts, critics, editors and film producers want to continue supporting made-up memoirs. The difference between Nasdijj and the other Indian imitators, says his critics, is that he doesn't try to appropriate and promote Indian spirituality and culture, but primarily uses it as a backdrop--he prefers young boys. Even when he was a "leather lit" writer, Nasdijj (then known as Timothy Barrus), was claiming service in Vietnam, also a lie.

After reading "Navahox" I imagined that before we know it, Oprah will be revealed as part Native American with a closet life in the KKK, Ward Churchill as her cousin, and James Frey as her autistic adopted son. Hey, it's art that matters, not truth, right?

HT to Galley Cat who was writing about fake authors coming in threes.

2070 Going out of business blog

The Blog of Daniel is a blog set up to discuss both the issues brought up in the TV show "The Book of Daniel" and the show itself. Now it reports that the show has been cancelled, so what should it do with no reason to exist? Send them your ideas.

The show mocked Christianity and even basic values of non-Christians, but it apparently died of poor numbers, not poor taste. Or maybe that's one and the same for once.

2069 Two art shows in one afternoon

Today we went to an artist friend's home for lunch. She'd invited other artists and friends interested in art, so in addition to good fellowship, we had a time of sharing as those who wanted to, displayed and discussed some of their recent work. The core group was from the Central Ohio Watercolor Society, but much to our surprise, a number of them had started working in oils and some had gone from tightly representational work, to very strange (to my eye) abstracts. Our hostess also no longer works in watercolor, and we saw a display in the living room of her lovely oils, particularly trees (she has a degree in agriculture) and some smaller versions of horse paintings she'd done on commission.

One of the artists mentioned that she was in the current city of Upper Arlington show in the Concourse Gallery, called "Landscape." This show comes down tomorrow, so on our way home we stopped to see that show. If you live in the area and have time, it is really a lovely show. "The painters of Landscape are Rick Akers, Debra Dawson, Rachel Stern, Michael Hoza, Stacy Leeman, Edwin Shuttleworth III, Malcolm Baroway, and Betsy Arvidson. Uniquely reflecting the landscape of nature, the artists’ deep appreciation for the Ohio scenery and beyond is seen in every brushstroke and wash of color. All painters of Landscape are represented by Sharon Weiss Gallery."

A lovely afternoon.

Artists, Ohio

2068 The judges who don't believe in punishment

Judge Edward Cashman doesn't believe that punishment works for men who rape children, so he gave Mark Hullet, 34, 60 days for sexually abusing a child for three years. Story here. He's right, it doesn't work in the sense of changing or reforming sex offenders, so let's keep them away from children and warehoused in prison for the rest of their days. Expensive? You bet. What is your daughter's life worth? Safety of the general population should also be a factor in sentencing. Just a guess, but I'm betting Judge Cashman thinks registration of sex offenders is an invasion of his privacy and a violation of his civil rights.

Here in Columbus, Ohio we've had a similar case bubbling on the back burner, but all the neglect and screwy sentences happened before the most recent crime. The man was sent to prison in 1997 for rape of a child and released in 2004. Since his 2004 release he:

1. was returned to prison for 100 days for leaving the state

2. failed to register as a sex offender

3. was arrested for driving under suspension

4. was jailed on parole violation

5. was picked up for stealing a car

6. was charged with felony theft and sent to jail for 3 days

7. was sent from jail to a hospital because he was "acting strangely'

8. was released from the hospital and then kidnapped and raped a 15 year old in a vacant apartment complex

9. which was in violation of city code so it had been shut down; it had six security guards on duty to keep out vagrants, drug dealers and the criminal element; the previous firm the owner hired had quit due to lack of payment from the owner

10. and he [the rapist] had been living in one of vacant apartments where he'd taken the child.

This is a very large net of incompetency. You'd need more than two index fingers to point and blame. Let's hope the rapist gets a judge who understands that our citizens need some protection, and that short of a miracle from God, this man is not going to change through the criminal justice system.

Judge Edward Cashman
sex offenders

2067 Young People in Debt

This morning I read a book review of Tamara Draut's "Strapped." Draut says that today's young adult children of the baby boomer generation can't get ahead financially because of astronomical student debts, depressed wages, rising health care costs and soaring property values. The solutions offered by some young adults are silly and counterproductive--"the government should do something."
If I've heard it once, I've heard it a hundred times, "things aren't like they were in your day." I agree. We had it much harder, thank goodness. We started married life with an 8 year old car and eventually went on foot and bicycle when the car died. But our parents, who had been teens during the Depression, thought we had it easy--and frankly, so did I.

I believe there are a few basics that still apply, so I'll just jump right in on Ms. Draut's coat tails. So if your mama was a baby boomer and went into debt or worked two jobs to give you everything you asked for rather than what you actually needed, you may just have to go back to grandma's methods if you want to turn this around in your generation.

1. Postpone your wants and take care of your needs.

2. Tithe your gross income to your church or synagogue.

3. If you have two incomes, save one and live on the other for month to month expenses. Use the "other" account for new tires, a leaky roof or a health emergency, but if you're using it to buy groceries and movie tickets, you'll never get ahead.

4. Borrow money only for a home mortgage or car loan.

5. Pay off all credit cards in 30 days to avoid charges and interest.

6. Never put groceries on your credit card. If it won't last until the bill comes, don't put it on the card.

7. Buy less house than the bank says you can manage. Instead, go for the best, safest and most convenient neighborhood you can afford. Same for renting if you are still in that stage.

8. Children get very little from fancy vacations that they can't get from something closer to home. It's your time they want. Take them to a state park, family farm or the local amusement park and save the tours or cruises for "couple time."

9. NEVER let the children see or hear you obsessing over brand names, styles and models, whether it's clothes, cars or appliances. Don't take them to the mall as an event.

10. Meals will cost you either time or money. If you can contribute your own labor you'll save a lot of money, fat and sodium. Save eating out for "date night."

Here's two tips about the English language: SALE is a four letter word that means SPEND, and CREDIT is a six letter word for DEBT.

Ms. Draut's testimony in 2004 for Demos (a liberal think tank) before the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit.

Strapped
personal debt

2066 A new study on Body Mass Index at MidLife

Yes, now that the early boomers have turned 60, we'll be seeing a lot more of this. There are a few things I was surprised to find in JAMA's January 11 article "Midlife Body Mass Index and Hospitalization and Mortality in Older Age."

Even if you started out fit and trim with no risk factors for coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease or diabetes, if you packed it on in mid-life, you were in trouble by age 65, with more hospitalizations and/or early death. The study was done in the Chicago area with 17,643 men and women with a baseline for 1967-1973 with review of hospitalization and mortality beginning at 65.

"Whether excess weight has an impact on cardiovascular outcomes beyond its effects on established risk factors is controversial. Using data from a prospective cohort study of individuals who were free of cardiovascular disease, diabetes, or major electrocardiographic abnormalities at baseline, Yan and colleagues assessed the relationship of midlife body mass index with morbidity and mortality outcomes in older age. The authors found that compared with persons who were normal weight at midlife, overweight or obese persons with similar cardiovascular risk factors had higher risks of hospitalization and mortality from coronary heart disease, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes when aged 65 or older." JAMA This week

Since I've been within 15 lbs of 130 (ranging from 115 after my first pregnancy to 145 after age 64), I'm trying to figure out where I fall in this range. I'm not "normal weight" now, but I was at mid-life and baseline. Well, maybe there will be another study for us late bloomers.

Another thing I found interesting was the education level of the participants. I didn't see any mention of this in the text (just the charts), but only among the low risk people (there were 5 risk categories each with normal, overweight and obese groups) did the normal weight participants have the highest mean of education. In all the other categories the overweight (but not obese) had slightly higher levels of education than the normal or the obese.

Body Mass Index
Obesity

2065 How to warm a Canadian

Instructions here.

2064 Asking questions in heaven

This morning in the car I was listening to Bill Pierce on 760 am (Detroit WJR) and heard an interview with Bill Hancock, an NCAA director, who took a 2,700 mile bike ride across the US to work out his pain and grief over losing his son Will, an Oklahoma State basketball player in a plane crash. The title of the book is "Riding with the Blue Moth," and that is the name he gives grief, because sometimes it is flying constantly in your face, like at the anniversary of a death, and other times it leaves you alone. "The Moth becomes an almost welcome companion, allowing Bill to mourn when he needs to. “Now I do not try to escape it when it arrives. I simply listen to what it has to say, and wait quietly for it to fly away.” " Curled up with a good book.

I was interested to hear what he was going to ask in heaven, because I'd just blogged about it here.

"But Andie [his granddaughter], seventy-two days old when the tragedy occurred, would have to grow up without her father. Bill talks to her as he travels, trying to establish a link, through his insights, to her lost parent. He writes, “Andie, we’ll learn the reason when the time is right…the first day when I get to Heaven, I’ll be sitting in the front row with my hand in the air…my question for God will be, Why have you been so good to me?” "

I almost had to stop the car. What a wonderful question to ask.

2063 In case you didn't understand

why some of us didn't want Terri's life taken from her by her care givers, it's because some of us knew such a person in a similar condition. Here's an excerpt from the obituary of a friend, age 52, who had a stroke at 17 when she was a freshman in college, and has been totally dependent on others all these years. I used to be one of her volunteers and still stopped in at the nursing home to say hello occasionally. She died Friday.

"[survived by parents and sisters and an extended family] and a large number of volunteers who have enriched her life since she suffered a debilitating stroke at the age of 17. [She] loved classical music, good books, languages, friends and family, and orange sherbet. Thanks to her loving family, her volunteer family, and the caring staff at [the] Care Center she continued to laugh, cry, and enjoy life through those who were willing to share their lives with her."

And oh, she loved her sherbet, and would cry if you pronounced it "sherbert."

Talking points from the NYT, Michael Moore, and the Democrats

Chris Matthews suggested on Hardball that bin Laden had taken his talking points from Michael Moore. But others have gone further.

"MSNBC's Joe Scarborough weighed in on the subject [of the bin Laden tape], going beyond Moore to claim that bin Laden was also borrowing language or ideas from the likes of Howard Dean, Sen. Kerry and Sen. Ted Kennedy. His guest, Tucker Carlson, who has his own MSNBC show, then spread the net further, to include opinion columnists at The New York Times.

The exchange from the transcript follows.
*

SCARBOROUGH: Now, of course, Tucker, I'm not comparing these Democrats to Osama bin Laden, but look.

First thing, Osama talks about how our troops are terrorizing women and children in Iraq. John Kerry said the same thing in front of Bob Schieffer on "Face the Nation."

Osama's saying that George Bush knows he can't win this war, something that Howard Dean said, and, also, that this was launched for political reasons, which of course Ted Kennedy said last year, that this was all dreamed up in Texas for political benefit.

CARLSON: By the merchants of war who financed Bush's presidential campaign, in the words of Osama bin Laden and many on the left. In other words, Halliburton is responsible for this war, every single talking point.

I hate to think of Osama bin Laden reclining in his cave in Waziristan, reading the op-ed page of "The New York Times."

But, clearly, he is. He's got every talking point. It's uncanny."