Thursday Thirteen

Thirteen very easy, inexpensive or free things we can do this week to make the world a better place for a few moments. Pick just one. Two if you're feeling lucky and joyful.

1. Let someone into merging traffic--even if he's driving like an idiot and not waiting his turn.

2. Smile at him. The Bible says something about being nice is heaping hot coals on your enemy. Picture that when you arrive at the stoplight at the same time.

3. Pick up one or two pieces of trash--a plastic bag, candy wrapper, pop bottle, etc.--from the sidewalk or berm on your way to work or activity. What if millions of people did that?

4. Drop it in the nearest trash can. Create jobs for sanitation crews.

5. Put a quarter in the tip jar at the coffee shop.

6. Be classy instead of colloquial. Say "You‘re welcome," instead of "no problem" if someone thanks you.

7. Donate a jar of peanut butter to the local food pantry.

8. Or offer to volunteer on your day off.

9. Send a card to someone who is ill or shut-in or grieving.

10. If you don't know anyone like that, praise God and call a church or nursing home for a name and make a stranger happy.

11. If someone comes to visit, turn off the television and the music.

12. Hold open the door for someone whose hands are full.

13. If you pack someone’s lunch, put a happy note or cartoon inside.

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2765 Was your high school deactivated?

Illinois has a Glory Days website for deactivated high schools. It is an interesting site and they are looking for stories and photos and records for a lot of schools. Mine seems pretty complete, since it only submerged in the 1990s. I checked my mother's school, which deactivated in the 1950s and it seems a little sparse. I'll have to dig around in my old photos and see what I can come up with.

It's very sad when a town loses its school system. It's hard to make it as a community without that unifying effort of educating for the future. Mt. Morris lost its schools from greed, disaster and duplicity. There was a strike in its major industry, printing, about 30 years ago which spelled economic disaster for the formerly proud and prosperous town, then the bond issues didn't pass, then after they started bussing the high school kids to the next town, the grade school burned to the ground in 2004. Instead of rebuilding as the town wanted, the local rep on the school board back-stabbed his constituency and voted not to rebuild. He's since moved out of state, which was probably smart.

2764 How it all started

"On November 4, 1979, Iranian militants stormed the United States Embassy in Tehran and took approximately seventy Americans captive. This terrorist act triggered the most profound crisis of the Carter presidency and began a personal ordeal for Jimmy Carter and the American people that lasted 444 days." (Carter Library website)

And he wimped out. Disgraced himself and the USA. So now he runs around criticizing the only President we've had who is willing to stand up to terrorists. Way to go Jimmy. I've mentioned before that I liked Jimmy Carter in the 70s (I'm a recovering Democrat--but I don't dem anymore). I ignored a lot of his flaws. Inflation about about 14% or was that the mortgage rate? Unemployment was very high. Gasoline lines were long. He created FEMA. He had marketed himself as an "outsider," and thus he never really got "in," because his own party bigwigs didn't like him much. Really, they still don't.

Ex-presidents should mind their own business. Peanuts. Building houses. Stuff like that. They had their chance and they should stop acting like bitter former wives trying to make themselves look good by tearing down their successors. His approval rating was around 29% when he left office, and I wish he'd stop trying to get it up.

2763 The most popular Lakeside activity

When I was in the Association office the other day buying stamps, there was a line of people signing up for the Tram Tour, "Lakeside's History." We did this about 5 years ago with a neighbor, and I think we were the only 3 people on the ride. The tours are Monday and Tuesday mornings, 10:30-11:45, Monday afternoon 1:15-2:30, and Tuesday 3:30-4:45. Now, if you come here, you need to sign up first thing, or miss it. This week I saw 4 people on bicycles following along.



Carol, who leads the tour, grew up here attending local schools. The last tour date is August 29, and it costs $3 per person.

Lakeside, Ohio

2762 Snacks and chats on the dock

Last evening the Lakeside dock was closed to the public and donors to the Lakeside Fund were invited to an evening on the dock. Bright yellow tablecloths at tables for 8 and delicious treats were set out--of which I probably ate too many. There was a brisk warm breeze and a fabulous sunset. Then someone with a video cam stopped and interviewed us about why we come to Lakeside. I assume snippets will be used in some sort of montage for marketing. Nancy said Lakeside is where she got her first kiss--that should get in; Joe said 5 generations of his family (had his grandchildren this week) had come here; my husband said he knew within 30 minutes of first coming here in 1974 that he would be back.

Today my husband helped for 3.5 hours with Kids' Sail, where the S.O.S. guys take kids out on the sail boats for 10-15 minutes. Ninety-one children participated! This is the first year of this program, and I think we'll see many children signing up for lessons because they really love it.

Lakeside, Ohio

What have you bought on e-Bay?

When I first heard about e-Bay it was from a friend who actually became addicted to it. It's changed a lot from those early days when it was primarily just ordinary folk hawking wares. Now some businesses have closed their bricks and mortar stores and sell only this way. Anyway, my son bought his car on e-Bay, I think he bought it from someone in Atlanta, and then turned around and sold his truck to someone who flew from Salt Lake to Columbus to pick it up. All this seems very strange to me, but some people think having 8 blogs is strange. Imagine!

BMW
e-Bay auto

2760 Do you sic or spell?

I can't help it. Usually when I quote someone (block, chop, drop and link), I correct the spelling, typos and grammar errors of the original, because I'm not sure the reader of my blog will ever click over. What do you do? And do you go back and correct your own typos if you find them later--after they've already oozed into the various blog finders "as is," forever embedded in cyber-cement? I do, unless it's in the title, and then that would throw it off in the various finding links. Recently I quoted a published columnist and spiffed up the quote a bit. It's a librarian thing, I think.

2759 The greatest economic story ever told

"Exactly twenty-five years ago [Aug. 14], Ronald Reagan signed into law the first supply-side tax cuts since the JFK plan of the early 1960s. By reducing high marginal tax rates, Reagan transformed the American economy and opened the door to two-and-half decades of prosperity. Economic behavior responds significantly to the incentive power of low tax rates that raise the after-tax return on work, investment, and risk-taking." Larry Kudlow

Trip Tale: The Hermitage

It seems that everyone who visits St. Petersburg goes to the Hermitage. And it is fabulous. The crowds are incredible--I'm sure you could spend weeks there, and we only had about 1/2 day. However, if you are really interested in art and have limited time, I'd go for the Museum of Russian Art, Государственный Русский музей. The Hermitage is European art, but the other is Russian art, and much of it you've probably never seen, not even in art books or classes. There was a huge display of Soviet era art, both the public and the underground. That's where I spent most of my time. It was incredible. It's also the only place I lost my husband, so Gloria and I spent a lot of time wandering the halls looking for him. We were finally all reunited back at the hotel. We couldn't take photos in there, but here are some from the Hermitage.



I'm not sure how she did it, but our guide slipped us in with no wait, and then we started at the end and went the other direction to avoid the biggest crowds.

Me and two other ladies in the Hermitage



Hermitage
St. Petersburg
Russia

2757 Why do we tolerate leftist academics?

If we believe in the market, and they are tolerated by the people paying their salaries, what's so bad? Jane Galt answers:

"Firstly, academics are broadly ignored (ask any academic) so it does not matter what they say at all. Occasionally the marginal idea escapes the academy and has an impact, but by and large students just want to graduate, academics just want to be insulated from the real world, and the real world wants to be isolated from loonies who go on about how great Che Guevara was. In this light, the Academy is a very efficient mechanism, creating surplus for all.

Secondly, I don't know why people like to ascribe the ills of the world to left-wing ideology, right-wing ideology, or any kind of ideology at all. It's not like humans weren't making dumb and violent decisions long before "ideology" was invented, or that humans will not make dumb and violent decisions if ideology was magically erased. The issue here is that humans intrinsically do dumb and violent things, and the notion that this is somehow driven by ideas cooked up by some guys sitting in an Ivory Tower, writing papers that no one else reads, is bogus. Primitive tribes in the Amazon regularly slaughtered significant %s of neighboring tribes, and they didn't even have paper."

Read the whole article here.

I have withdrawn thousands of volumes from library shelves in a university over the years which have gone into dumpsters. I always looked at the check-out record. Many had never circulated. Blogs are read more often than some academics' books and articles.

Monday Memories: Our Lakeside bicycles

Although I don't have the first photo with me, this bicycle was a birthday gift for me in 1968 when our daughter was still a baby. It is a no gear, no speed (but me) old fashioned bike with coaster brakes and I love it more each year. Several years ago I replaced the original seat, and around 1979 we replaced the tires, which had been damaged when a friend had a spill riding it. The original tires weren't this wide, so we had to cut some of the fender back to get it to fit.

About 15 years ago we bought a 10 speed Raleigh from a neighbor for about $20 and brought it to the lake. This year the tires gave out so my husband took it to the local bike shop for repairs. The two tires, new rims, new tubes, gear repair, new carrying rack and all-round tune-up cost us $100! I was in shock.
Everyone in Lakeside parks their cars and rides bikes. Our expensive refurbished used Raleigh bike is in here somewhere.

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Lakeside, Ohio

2755 The 29th Annual Lakeside Regatta

Last night we attended the S.O.S. (Society of Old Salts) Sailing Appreciation Picnic. I think that may be the only hot dog I've had all summer--also coleslaw, potato salad and brownies. The other old salts urged my husband to enter the regatta today--so they wouldn't be last. But he declined. The day was spectacular and there were many people down at the dock to cheer on the guys. There were junior and senior sunfish, doubles, and laser class races.







Lakeside, Ohio

2754 The Waitress test

I don't think I included some of these points in my "How not to marry a jerk" blog and "How not to marry a high maintenance woman" that I wrote a few months back.

Here's one. The waitress test. "If you find yourself dating a man who treats you like a queen and other females like dirt - hit the road."

There's a long list of signs you're dating a loser over at Coffee Talk, who's recently been dumped and feeling really blue. She got them from Joe Carver's website. He's currently working with juvenile offenders. I think there's probably a link between losers and offenders. He also has an article "Love and the Stockholm syndrome."

Then she writes some advice from bitter experience for women about being dumb and living with the boyfriend:

"Marriage verses living together: Many couples today live together for years and never get married; this is fine if you don't want to marry this person, but if you do don't sell yourself short. If you want marriage from this man then stick to your guns and don't settle for less, move the wedding date up if it is so imporant for you two to live under one roof, if you're sure that he is the one for you. But don't fall for these lines from him: I want to see how we work together before we tie the knot. Or, I don't want to get married till I can buy you a proper ring, or have a nice wedding, or save money to buy a nicer home or car, or I want to pay off some bills before I get married. Accept it, he's not looking for a wife...He's looking for a Room-mate, THAT COOKS AND CLEANS AND GIVES HIM FREE SEX, and pays half of the bills so he has more money. He's still looking for MRS. RIGHT, and you just allowed him to say, "You're not her" and went along with it. You're worth more then what he is willing to offer, be smart run fast!"

Couldn't have said it better myself. I would have even told her that two years ago when I first came across her blog, but she wouldn't have believed me then.

2753 Ka Boom, Bang Thud Crash

When I stepped outside the coffee shop this morning at Lakeside, I heard a very loud "worship" band practicing at the Pavilion. Inwardly I groaned for the folks trying to sleep-in at the hotel, and for those of us planning to attend a peaceful morning worship service with communion at 8:30 by the lake. I walked back to the cottage and told my husband I just refused to go and have my ears assaulted and my heart rate changed by the thud-thud-crash of a loud contemporary worship band. It is always a contemporary service, but usually just with happy Gwen playing simple little songs at the electric synthesizer. No drums. No electric guitars or ampilification.

Part of my distaste was recovering from last night's concert by CeCe Winans. She is a fabulous singer, a terrific preacher, and a great performer, but the lights were blinding and the amplification painful. Just as distracting were her backup singers, all overweight and looking like they were dressed to chop cotton on a cool day--faded boot cut jeans two sizes too small and black jeans jackets over t-shirts. What ever happened to glamor--usually African American women can sweep us out the door with their fashion flare! This is a summer vacation spot and the audience in capri pants and shorts was dressed better than the performers!

When she performed for the President it was much quieter and more glamorous.

CeCe Winans
contemporary worship

2752 Blueberries and Cancer

I blogged about the benefits of blueberries last summer, but because they are in season, here's a reminder from this week's US Farm Report.

"WHEN IT COMES TO PREVENTING CANCER AND ALZHEIMER’S, USDA RESEARCHERS SAY YOU SHOULD ADD MORE BLUEBERRIES AND OTHER DARK COLORED FRUIT TO YOUR DIET. RESEARCHERS SAY ANTHOCYANINS, THE CHEMICAL THAT MAKES BLUEBERRIES BLUE, HELPS CONTROL FREE RADICALS WHICH PLAY A ROLE IN CANCER AND OTHER HEALTH PROBLEMS. THEY SAY THE ANTHOCYANINS ARE ANTIOXIDANTS WHICH HELP SHUT OFF THE SIGNALS WHICH LEAD TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE DISEASES. RESEARCHERS SAY IF FRESH BERRIES ARE TOO EXPENSIVE OR NOT AVAILABLE, FROZEN BERRIES ARE JUST AS GOOD."

2751 Vehicle accidents in rural areas

Virtually all the people I know who have died in traffic accidents have been from "home"--i.e., rural, northern Illinois--even though I haven't lived there since 1957. I think I've blogged about this before. My nephew narrowly escaped death from a motorcycle accident last Thursday on Chana Road near Illinois Rt.64. He will be a long time recovering, and we're calling him a prayer chain miracle. But these statistics published in Farm Journal are just stunning. Many more miles are traveled in urban areas than rural, but the rural areas have the highest number of crashes and fatalities.

26.4: In trillions, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the U.S. from 1994 to 2003

39: Percent of VMT in rural areas

61: Percent of VMT in urban areas

42: Percent more crashes in rural settings than urban settings

49: Percent more fatalities in rural crashes compared with urban crashes

2.1: The fatal crash rate in rural areas per 100 million VMT

1: The fatal crash rate in urban areas

24: Percent of fatal crashes in rural areas involving vehicle rollovers

10: Percent of fatal crashes in urban areas involving vehicle rollovers

2750 Katrina medical tragedy

Be sure to read Michael Hebert's account of the doctor and 2 nurses accused of murder in the Katrina aftermath at Methodist Hospital in New Orleans. Murder at Memorial. He looks at this case from all the angles, the specialty and skill of the doctor, the conditions, the poor prognosis of the patients, and concludes:

"The sad part about this case is that, whether Pou, Budo, and Landry are convicted or not, the unmistakable message is that all three would have been smarter if they had run away. No one is being prosecuted for abandonment. Why didn’t they run? Obviously, because they felt a sense of responsibility to the patients, a sense that no one else seems to have had. Charles Foti wasn’t on a helicopter evacuating patients that week. Neither was Mayor Ray Nagin, or Governor Blanco, or FEMA Director Michael Brown, or Secretary of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff, or President Bush. It is the great travesty of this situation that the people who are really responsible for the conditions at Methodist are still AWOL, just as they were a year ago."

I disagree with him that GWB should be looked at first, because I don't believe the federal gov't was ever intended to be the first responder, but except for that, he doesn't let politics get in the way--just tells the sad options.

2749 Like little kids

the left wing bloggers are covering their eyes and shouting so they can't hear or see anything. Pathetic.

"British police have arrested 24 people suspected of involvement in the plot. At least one was reportedly a woman with a small child; two others were converts to Islam. One of the suspects reportedly worked at Heathrow Airport.

The identities of 19 were disclosed by the Bank of England as it announced it had frozen their accounts. They ranged in age from 17 to 35 and had Muslim names, many of them common in Pakistan. Pakistani officials said they were British-born.

Pakistani officials said they had arrested five Pakistanis and two Britons in the case, including British national Rashid Rauf, arrested about a week ago and described as a "key person" with ties to al-Qaida." (AP story)

Trip Tale: St. Petersburg, The Peter and Paul Fortress

When Peter the Great of Russia decided he needed a city on the Gulf of Finland he built a fort to fight off the Swedes, the enemy of the day. Later when Sweden lost The Finnish War to Russia, Finland became a Grand Duchy of Russia, gaining its independence in 1917. This fortress (Петропавловская крепость) was begun in 1703 but served also as a prison. In the middle of the fortress stands the impressive Peter and Paul Cathedral, the burial place of all the Russian Emperors and Empresses from Peter the Great to Alexander III and recently the remains of the last tsar, Nicholas II and his family and entourage, who were murdered by the Bolsheviks were also interred there. Other buildings in the fortress include the City History Museum and the Mint, one of only two places in Russia where coins and medals are minted. It is located on an island, Zayachii Ostrov.

The cathedral



Tsar Nicholas II family

FLW Tour: Sidney, OH Sullivan Bank

Tiny Sidney in Shelby County, Ohio is home to at least two famous buildings and many other lovely sites, Peoples Federal Savings and Loan (est. 1886) and The Spot Restaurant. At the Spot the regulars have name plates on the booths. President Bush ate there during the 2004 campaign. We visited both landmarks on our July architectural tour. Louis Sullivan influenced many 20th century architects, particularly Frank Lloyd Wright and he designed this beautiful bank. Our group loved it. Also, driving through these little Ohio towns, I was very impressed with the diversity of the economy. It was my first visit to Sidney, and it looks like a great town in which to live and put down roots (although, having grown up in a small town, I know that it helps to be born there).