2805 Cleaning gutters

Worst home maintenance job in the world. Glad I don't do it! When we sold our home of 34 years, my husband was happy to say good-bye to the giant oak tree that didn't finish dropping its huge leaves until February. But the worst job was cleaning gutters. He would sit on the roof (metal), brace his feet on the guttering, and scoot around with a pail and yard bag. Metal roofs are hot in the sun and cold in the shade. A few times we tried a gutter cleaning company, but all they did was scoop it, drop it, and drown it. So then we had muck on the side of the house as it splashed going down, and clogged down spouts. That's history now. We love those yard and roof crews at the condo.



But there's still the cottage at Lakeside. This is a photo, taken this morning, of the late summer gutter cleaning. There will be a late autumn (if he can beat the snow) and a late spring cleaning also. Last year he came up with our son-in-law in the late fall and there was an early snow. They worked terribly hard, but much of the debris had frozen, so the mess was waiting for him in the spring. Although this is a one story house, it has a high foundation and an extension ladder is required. The tree behind him is a magnolia, which is magnificent in bloom, the few years we've seen it.

Are you sure you want a second home?

Things are quiet this week

The final week of the season at Lakeside has no programming, so it's a good time to work on the first selection for book club, Team of Rivals, which has about 900 pages. But we're also having a brisk wind from the northeast and the waves are huge. Lake Erie being so shallow can really kick up a storm. The dock has been closed for three days. My husband tried the video feature on his digital camera and got some good wave action--I just don't know how to put it on the blog. Any suggestions for a non-techie blogger?

Today I took the book toOoh-la-la", a coffee shop/deli that just opened in Lakeside this season.

2803 Live from the Ladies' Room

It's a bit disconcerting to hear cell phone conversations from the next stall in the ladies' room--especially with toilets flushing and hand dryers humming. But imagine hearing the conversation over national television! Poor Kyra Phillips, CNN anchor. Her blather about her marriage and her bitchy sister-in-law went out over the President's speech in NOLA. Apparently, no one at CNN controls was paying attention to the speech and a colleague finally went to the rest room to stop her. Story here.

Kyra Phillips
CNN

2802 Trip Tale: Tsarskoe Selo

This was the Tsars' summer residence, having been originally built for Peter the Great's Lithuanian bride, Ekaterina Alexeevna (became Empress Catherine I) in the early 18th century on land formerly controlled by Sweden. The last Tsar, Nicholas II, was born and lived here 22 years. Some of this family's private rooms have been restored. After the Communist revolution it became a museum, and in 1937 the town around it was renamed Pushkin, in honor of Russia's famed poet. Each monarch who lived here remodeled and changed things so there is a long list of architects and decorators. Catherine the Great was particularly interested in the gardens and used German and English designers.

Tsarskoe Selo (Царское Село) was virtually destroyed by the Nazis in WWII, and horses were stabled in some of the buildings. It is only partially restored, but is so huge it can accomodate throngs of visitors--as our little G-6 tour discovered.

2801 Now is the time

to be sure of your core beliefs and values. The elections are about two months off. Unfortunately, the research says that our brains are more impressed by the volatile emotion of the moment and negative ads than our intellect and reasoning. Both parties are going for the niche voter--knowing that may be the key.

In Ohio, for instance, the ads for Strickland (D) contain all the buzz words for a Republican--family, lower taxes, and jobs for the middle class. But he is a Democrat. Then the Republicans are rhyming an ad with Brown's name, like "Brown has let us down," using typical buzz words, higher taxes, hurt the elderly. So you can't rely on just the words--know your own core beliefs and what a candidate believes. We're getting 3 or 4 ads every half hour.

So take a few minutes to clarify what you really believe, and refine it for the local campaigns. Then when the political ads start swamping the airwaves and cyberspace, you won't be hood winked. Don't vote just for a party. Vote for the candidate who will work the hardest for your beliefs, but if a party best respresents you, support it. Don't let gasoline prices or the latest bomb threat in Baghdad decide your vote. Bush bashing or Hilary hating is not a rational plan for getting through the election ads. Yes, I know it's not a presidential year, but many important state and federal seats are open.

Update: Here's another buzz word/phrase to look out for: "Interestingly, Andrew Cuomo has a political ad on TV how he took on the NRA to keep guns out of the hands of criminals, but never mentions that his program was so ineffective and stupid that Congress passed a national law to prohibit it." Budd Schroeder at American Daughter

2800 And if a Republican had said this--with pride?

Chris Wallace to Joe Biden: “What kind of a chance would a Northeastern liberal like Joe Biden stand in the South if you were running in Democratic primaries against southerners like Mark Warner and John Edwards.”

Joe Biden: “Better than anybody else. You don’t know my state. My state was a slave state. My state is a border state. My state has the eighth-largest black population in the country. My state is anything from a Northeast liberal state.”

So is he saying Delaware is a southern state because of slavery? That slavery is what defines the South even in 2006? That Delaware borders the South and therefore isn't in the northeast? That Delaware is a conservative state? Delaware was the first state to sign the Constitution; its state colors are colonial blue and buff. Sounds a bit northeastern to me.

2799 Gasoline prices in Ohio

Yesterday we filled up at $2.59 in Columbus, and today passed a station in Dublin on our way out where it was $2.54. Last year, the WSJ reports, it was averaging $2.53 in the midwest in August. This is still higher than two years ago, however, I think it makes the Democrats very angry. It was an easy issue--took no thought or planning. They know that for some reason, nothing makes a voter madder than high gasoline prices and when the media mentions it every evening on the news, the President's poll numbers dip. People who bought huge SUVs and Hummers and power boats knowing what gas guzzlers they are, will actually vote for a party based on gasoline prices. Amazing. Americans are a very spoiled bunch.

Monday Memories

Memories of School

I saw this meme at Cathy Knits, and it is supposed to be for Friday, but I’m moving it to my Monday Memories. Cathy is a teacher and her school started August 4!

1. What is your earliest memory of school?

I attended kindergarten in Alameda, California, and I remember a lot about it. It was a one floor plan with canopies outside joining the buildings. We were given milk in small bottles which tasted wretched--why I don’t know, because I like milk. There were African American and Filipino children in my class and I’d never seen either being from rural Illinois.

2. Who was a favorite teacher in your early education?

Miss DeWall was my third grade teacher in Forreston, Il and my favorite. None of my classmates remembered her so I finally contacted her cousin (my age and also a teacher) to confirm it wasn’t just my imagination that she was so wonderful, kind and funny.

3. What do you remember about school “back then” that is different from what you know about schools now?

My first grade teacher would yank on my braids if I got my face too close to my work, and would tie a towel around my head if I talked out of turn. I don’t think that would be allowed today, nor was it appropriate then--other teachers didn’t behave that way. Special needs children were in the classrooms, but often didn’t stay in school because there was no work at their level and they weren't treated well. However, I remember a 16 year old in a 7th grade class. The female teachers all wore suits or dresses and high heels. Classrooms were much quieter. The music teacher served many schools in the district and we'd do a fabulous production once a year; there were no art classes except what the classroom teacher provided in any school I attended, K-12.

4. Did you have to memorize in school? If so, share a poem or song you learned.

We did some memorization, but not a lot. It’s one of the lacks that makes me wonder when the "golden age" of education was. I was always impressed that my mother, who went to school in the 1920s, could recite "Hiawatha" while we were doing dishes. I do remember some songs we learned, like Yankee Doodle, Waltzing Matilda and Home on the Range.

5. Did you ever get in trouble at school? Were there any embarrassing moments you can share?

See above. I was always talking out of turn. Still do. I was a real mess in first grade. I’m living proof you can have a bad start, and still love school. We’d moved in mid-year, and in my new school I stood up to look at someone else’s paper because we were “spelling,” and I was clueless. Although we were reading at the first school, we hadn’t started writing down words as the teacher spoke them aloud. I also had to stay after school one time until I could tell my teacher what a paragraph was. In 2001 my Dad drove me through a cemetery where her gravestone was--but she hadn’t died yet! I think she was over 100 years old when she died a year or two ago.

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2797 Get back to work

If you're reading this at work, I hope you don't work for the IRS. WSJ via the Treasury Inspector General reported that 74% of IRS employees had "inappropriate" e-mail messages when their mailboxes were reviewed--chain letters, jokes, offensive content and sexual content.

2796 Forreston, Illinois Veterans' Memorial

On September 11, 2006 the final list of names for the Forreston Veterans' Memorial will be released to the engraver. Over 600 names will appear representing wars from the Civil War through the current Iraq conflict. My father, a veteran of WWII, is on the list, but I was surprised as I looked through the site, how many names I recognized, WWI, WWII, and 1950s and Vietnam era (some of whom were my contemporaries). I saw neighbors, fathers of classmates and friends, local business men and community leaders--people I hadn't thought of in many years. Which is why memorials matter. Many people have contributed to our freedom; many disagreed at the time that it was a worthwhile sacrifice.

If you have someone to add or a name to correct, you can go to the online site for an e-mail. A Forreston address, (past or present) is required for eligibility. National Guard and Reserves need to have been on active duty and have veteran status to be included.

First Christian Church, Columbus, Indiana

Columbus, IN is the fifth most important site in the United States for architecture, and it all started with this congregation hiring Eliel Saarinen to design the first truly modern church building in the U.S.



Those of us on this architectural tour were very disappointed to see banners hanging in the sanctuary, and the altar removed to make room for a drum set and speakers. Stickers were on the windows. Why do worship committees and musicians think interior visual spaces don't matter?

First Christian Church, Columbus, Indiana
Columbus, Indiana
Church architecture

2795 FLW Tour: Dayton Medical Clinic

After Springfield and Sidney on our Frank Lloyd Wright July tour, it was on to Dayton, Oh to visit a FLW medical bulding, which although nearly 50 years old, still works surprisingly well.







In the guide book this is called the Meyers Medical Clinic, but is now the home office of James Apesos, MD, a plastic surgeon.

After Dayton it was a beautiful drive through lush Indiana farmland to Columbus, Indiana. The previous Friday we had been at the Finland summer home of Eliel and Eero Saarinen, and now we were in Columbus, IN where Eliel designed perhaps the first modern American church.

We checked in at our B & B (the former city hall, converted in the mid-1980s) designed by another well-known architect, Charles F. Sparrel, who did many Columbus buildings in the 1800s, and walked to our restaurant. It was a very busy day!

Other entries about this tour here, here, here, and here.

Frank Lloyd Wright
Dayton, Ohio
Columbus, Indiana

The Lakeside Antique Sale

is usually held the first day (Saturday) of the final week. There won't be any programming after tonight, and even the coffee shop will be closed Monday-Wednesday next week. Sigh. Here's some more photos of the antique sale, which began as a flea market 45 years ago.

This isn't for sale, but is across the street from the sale, and I think it is pretty.

Here I am looking in a mirror.

The Greatest Generation--sailors finishing their training in 1942 at the Great Lakes Naval Center in Chicago. How many didn't come home?

These young entrepreneurs set up shop across the street selling their homemade wares.

2793 Hull Pottery

At an antique show, I always look for Hull Pottery. Hull was made in Crooksville, Ohio in the first half of the 20th century, sort of a cheaper version of Roseville and Weller. But there were many potteries in Ohio--in 1850 there were over 40 just in that area. I bought my first piece at a yard sale in Upper Arlington around 1972 for $3.00 and my last piece maybe 10 or 15 years ago for about $45. I only like the pre-1950, matt finish artware. I finally found one small piece at the last booth I went to at the Lakeside Antique Sale today--$75.00. So I put it back gently. There is now an association of people who collect Hull and they just had their convention, so maybe that's where all the Hull went. And why the prices are so high.






The antique vendors who set up in South Auditorium probably pay more, but they are protected if it rains--and it is cloudy today.

I did buy a small book of poetry, Catawba Stories by William N. Troy from a woman I call "the book lady." She is almost always in the same spot, and I bought an Elsie Dinsmore from her about 20 years ago. I think she has been doing this sale for over 40 years. I keep books in my cottage that are specific to this area. It's not the best poetry I've ever read, but it is local--there's one about the Catawba Ferry and another about the graves on Johnson Island (Civil War POW prison).

2792 CFC, HFC and DDT--an alphabet soup of good intentions gone bad

“When more than two dozen countries undertook in 1989 to fix the ozone hole over Antarctica, they began replacing chloroflourocarbons in refrigerators, air conditioners and hair spray.

But they had little idea that using other gases that contain chlorine or fluorine instead also would contribute greatly to global warming.” AP Report

This reminds me of the malaria problem--environmentalists in the 1970s demanded that the USA stop producing DDT based on faulty research by a non-scientist (Rachel Carson) that some birds might die (people were never in danger), so environmental hysteria ended up killing more Africans than the 17th century slave trade by allowing the resurgence of malaria which was all but conquered by 1967. Recently I read a current solution to malaria that included draining swamps and hanging bed netting! What? Aren't wetlands critical to the earth's survival and fresh water supply? Who's in charge here?

“The chemicals that replaced CFCs are better for the ozone layer, but do little to help global warming. These chemicals, too, act as a reflective layer in the atmosphere that traps heat like a greenhouse.

That effect is at odds with the intent of a second treaty, drawn up in Kyoto, Japan, in 1997 by the same countries behind the Montreal pact. In fact, the volume of greenhouse gases created as a result of the Montreal agreement's phaseout of CFCs is two times to three times the amount of global-warming carbon dioxide the Kyoto agreement is supposed to eliminate.

This unintended consequence now haunts the nations that signed both U.N. treaties.” USAToday article

Of course, there are some countries that didn’t sign both. Like the United States. Thank you President Clinton.

Do you suppose we should stop tinkering and assuming we are in charge? Should Al Gore sit out a few innings? Hot air seems to be contributing to the problem.

2791 Social Capital in Librarianship, pt. 2

One of my big accomplishments in my career was the creation of a luncheon group to meet for social purposes. No rules, no dues, no business, just fun away from meetings, budgets and staff problems. Yes, me, who was not a joiner, created something for other people to join. Isn't that a hoot? The engineering librarian and I were talking one day at lunch about feeling left out, so we decided to create something.

The luncheon group we formed was called "Ladies of the Sciences," or LOTS, and it included all the female science departmental librarians who worked outside the Main Library. I think we also included a representative from the Health Sciences Library, which technically is a separate system on the campus and has its own funding stream. So it was the lady librarians in Agriculture, Vet Med, Engineering, Pharmacy, Geology and a Health Sciences person (this may have rotated).

Within the year, however, we'd started discussing business and had developed a listserv. It was also the era of the rising tide of PC--political correctness. It was rude to be exclusive, even for fun. So it was decided that LOTS would become, "Librarians of the Sciences" so we could include Bernie from Physics and Bruce from Biology and a couple of bibliographers from related but non-hard science fields.

I don't know if you've ever been in a SSSG (sex segregated social group), but it totally changed the dynamics of the group when we added men. Believe it or not, even middle aged librarians giggle, squeal, tell jokes and talk about fashion and babies when there are no guys around. But add a man (both Bruce and Bern are straight and Bern didn't eat lunch) and the camaraderie is gone. Soon it was all about cancelling subscriptions, realigning staff, changing priorities, paradigms and segueing. We started having "guests" like the ILL person, or our boss, or another assistant director. We may have even had Bill Studer, the director, lunch with us--can't remember.

The group is still going--I think they still use the format I set up--rotate hosting alphabetically and meet once a month at an off campus restaurant chosen by the host. Did I hear somewhere that they were going to have a retreat?

When your baby grows up, you don't have a lot of say in the direction she goes.

Friday Family Photo

This is my husband, about age 4 or 5, his sister Jean, and cousin Norma Lou with their grandfather, whom they all called "Biggie." He was much adored, and my husband still talks about him 60+ years later. Norma lived with her grandparents and my husband and siblings stayed with them almost every week-end.



Their grandparents were a part of their lives in ways I couldn't even imagine, because these little ones all had divorced and remarried parents. I had six grandparents and thought they were just nice relatives whom we visited every Sunday so I could see my cousins. I really grew to appreciate my grandparents when I became an adult and understood the difficulties and joys of their lives better. And I was fortunate to have them many years--I was 43 when my paternal grandparents died, and 21 when my great-grandmother died.

2789 Social Capital in Librarianship, pt. 1

On "Take your daughter to Work Day" I was surprised to see how many middle school students thought librarianship would be an interesting career path. Although I'd worked in public and academic libraries as a teenager, I didn't really think about a career in that field. At these presentations, I'd tell the wannabees what I'd missed--it had gone right over my head for years: that social capital will end up being more important than human capital no matter what career you choose. If I'd known in high school and college that committee work and networking were critical in life, perhaps I would have joined more organizations, committees and "teams" early on just to watch and observe the folks for whom it comes naturally.

According to people who study things like organizations and employment, "human capital" is your education, work experience, on the job training, and all the knowledge and skills you've developed over your lifetime. For instance, I have a B.S., and an M.L.S. and numerous post-grad courses and workshops, but I've also clerked in a drug store, detasseled corn, babysat, owned a horse and I've always liked to write and draw. All that prepared me for my library career, but it is quantifiable, and not dissimilar to that of many librarians. I can put it on paper (or a computer document) and you'd figure it out.

Social capital, according to the experts, is an intangible, unquantifiable asset that includes your contacts, networks and work relationships, and it is different for everyone. But eventually, it's your social capital that moves you ahead. Social capital requires collaboration, volunteering, team work, treating others with respect (especially clients and customers) and at least occasionally attending social functions and meetings you don't care about and pretending you do. At review or promotion time, someone has to know who you are! Someone other than your immediate supervisor and your employees. Every time you send an e-mail, volunteer to write up a task force report, gossip, chip in for a gift, or go to lunch or play golf with a colleague, you are putting something into your social capital account.

If possibilities to grow your account are slim to none where you work, there are always local, state or national professional organizations. Fortunately for me, there was a large professional organization other than the American Library Association--the Medical Library Association--and it had a small sub-section (under 100 people) for veterinary medicine librarians. They were the nicest, most helpful group of people I met in my career. We had a camaraderie I never had in my day-to-day position. They made it easy to be a joiner and a participant. As long as I focused my energy on things that would directly benefit my small group, I was happy. I was able to put a little social capital in my bank of life with their help. So when it was promotion time in my own institution, there was a little input from around the country, and from other countries.

Thursday Thirteen

13 things our cat does to say "Welcome Home"

A few weeks ago I did a Thursday 13 on all the places we'd travelled in July. Traveling is a problem when you have a pet, so we relied on friends and family to keep our calico happy. But she also moved around a lot. When we finally walked in the door after being gone for two weeks, our usually aloof kitty did:



1) She was watching out the kitchen window when she heard the garage door go up,
2) Ran to the door,
3) Played coy at first like she didn't know us,
4) Then fell down and showed her belly,
5) And rolled and twisted
6) Then rubbed all over the hall corner.
7) She followed me everywhere,
8) Looking at me with weepy eyes,
9) She sat in my lap every chance she got, especially when I wore black,
10) And purred (unusual for her),
11) And made little noises like Meow-akak, so quietly,
12) And curled up close with me when I took a nap,
13) Wiping her wet nose all over me.

She's almost back to normal, sleeping in secret places and showing up only when she hears cheese, but she's still following me around more.

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2787 Dear OIT at OSU

You wouldn't have to send me 40 messages that my storage is full in my OSU e-mail box if you would filter spam. 1 out of 100 e-mails to that address is not about sex, or "mortagge" or a phony account number at a bank where I don't bank, or preapproved cash or Vegas Big Buck$. That one message is something I signed up for years ago but can't find in the mess you've made of my dot edu address. Hire a computer student and fix this.