4404

Our first snowfall of the season

We don't get a lot of snow in central Ohio, so those of you from Chicago or Cleveland will laugh at this. It started snowing around 3 a.m. and these photos were about 7:30 a.m. The bus driver told me she is from California and is having a little trouble.

Scottish handwriting website

I expect to see my DH on this site any day.

The primary purpose of this site is to provide online tuition in palaeography (reading old handwriting) in the context of early modern Scottish historical documents. It is aimed mainly at those whose research involves reading Scottish historical records written in the period 1500-1750,although some assistance is given with 19th century writing too.

Take a Bite Out of Road Rage

While enjoying my morning paper and coffee at a Lane Avenue shop, I observed the long term effects of driver rudeness and bad manners, or as it is known, “road rage.”

A young man driving a forest green, late-model car slowed down to make the sharp turn into the coffee shop parking lot. Behind him, the driver of a white, older-model automobile honked, probably because the young man thought turn signals were just for sissies. The rudeness of the second driver (white car) prompted the first driver (green car) to come to a full stop while negotiating his turn just to teach the other guy a lesson. He then made a well-known gesture with his finger for emphasis. As these two immature whiners glared and made threatening motions, they were oblivious to the cars accelerating behind them from the near-by traffic light. Two other cars driven by young people, probably on their way to classes at Ohio State, collided.

Tough-guy (white car) appeared as though he was going to pull into the parking lot from the side street and pummel macho-boy (green car), but when he saw the accident, he drove off. The first driver disappeared quickly into the coffee shop absolving himself of blame to all within earshot.

I haven’t read any physical profiles of rage-roadies, but I know that dog bites are usually a guy thing, and I suspect road rage is also. A thumbnail sketch of a dog bite is: young male adult owns young male dog which bites male child. It’s not that female dogs never bite or that girls are never victims, but statistically, you need to protect your male children from guys who own male dogs. Well, little boys can mature, dogs can be neutered and children in your care can be kept away from Pit Bulls, Rottweilers or German Shepherds, the breeds that cause the most fatalities in children.**

But is there a solution for road rage? Yes. You can’t leave the testosterone at home, but men (and women) can practice good manners, empathy and common sense while driving. The next time someone cuts in front of you, instead of swearing and making obscene gestures, say “dog bite” and smile.

Fortunately, those two young adults were not injured, but they needlessly will have the burden of the rudeness of two older drivers on their driving record and check-book for a long time to come.

**JAVMA 210, no.8 (April 15, 1997):1148-1150; JAMA 279 no.1 (January 7, 1998):51-53; Pediatrics 96 no.5 (November 1995):947-950 and 97 no.6 (June 1996):891-895.

Written in 2002

Library Principles for Students, from the Old Testament

This was written by Jim Farrington, music librarian at Wesleyan (source: posted on MLA-L by the author) based on "Lamentations of the Father" by Ian Frazier. I found it today in my computer files while making a file transfer. Ah, such happy memories.

Of the beasts of the field, and of the fishes of the sea, and of all foods that are acceptable in my sight you may eat, but not in the Library.

Of the hoofed animals, broiled or ground into burgers, you may eat, but not in the Library.

Of the cloven-hoofed animal, plain or with cheese, you may eat, but not in the Library.

Of the cereal grains, of the corn and of the wheat and of the oats, and of all the cereals that are of bright color and unknown provenance you may eat, but not in the Library.

Of the round pies of baked dough, topped variously and wondrously with goodness of the Earth, especially with extra garlic and double cheese, you may eat, but not in the Library, neither may you carry such therein.

Of quiescently frozen dessert and of all frozen after-meal treats you may eat, but not in the Library.

Of the juices and other beverages, you may drink, but not in the Library, unless it is that drink of two parts hydrogen and one of oxygen and only then should the mixture be held in a container of the prescribed shape and nature that miraculously do not spill even when
up righted.

Indeed, when you reach the place where the Library carpet begins, of any food or beverage there you may not eat, neither may you drink.

Laws When at Table, in Carrel, or in Wingback And if you are seated in your comfy chair, keep your legs and feet below you as they were. Neither raise up your knees, nor place your feet upon the table, for that is an abomination to me. Yes, even though this might be something you would do in confines of your own domicile, your feet upon the table are an abomination, and worthy of rebuke.

Draw not with your pens or pencils or other implements of writing upon the table or the books before you, even in pretend, for we do not do that; that is why. Yours shall not be the last eyes to gaze understandably upon the words so written, and they should be as fresh for your followers as for you and your antecedents.

On Vocal Discourse

Do not speak loudly with thy neighbor or study mate within the Library; for it is as if you scream all the time. If you find a troubling idea foisted upon your eyes between the bindings of a book, your voice rises up even to the ceiling, while you point to the offense with the finger of your right hand; but I say to you, scream not; only remonstrate gently with a knowing nod, that you may correct the fault of the author in your own essay.

Likewise, if you find your mind wandering from the soulfulness of your studies, again I say, refrain from conversing with whoever be at hand so that others might not be so distracted.

Play not the electronic gadgets fitted to your ears at such a volume as to cause others to march to your drum machine.

Though the need will eventually arise that you must give in to your ignorance of a matter bibliographic and throw yourself prostrate to the all knowing ones behind the Great Oaken Desk in the Reference Center, wail not despairingly nor gnash the teeth loudly, for the sound carries great and far in that part of the Library, and then many of your peers will know of your misfortune; behold, I whisper myself, yet do not die.

Various Other Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances

Attempt not to repair broken word carriers with your own tape, for these are matters better left to our specialists.

Forget not that to steal is one of the original sins, and you will be punished woefully, if not now then in the fullness of time.

4400

Using a pedometer to improve your health

The other day I walked 5 miles. I know that because I was wearing a step pedometer (similar to the photo), and only one mile was "exercise" done outside. The rest was my activities at home, and going out twice to shop. Recently I read, "Using pedometers to increase physical activity and improve health" (a review article) in the Nov 21, 2007 issue of JAMA, pp 2296-2304 (many public libraries have a subscription). The researchers had reviewed 26 published studies that reported on pedometers among outpatients, 8 randomized controlled trials, and 18 observational. The conclusion was that use of a pedometer is associated with significant increases in physical activity and significant decreases in body mass index and blood pressure. This was across all ages, races, gender, and state of health.

Some guidelines specifically recommend 10,000 steps a day, although I don't know that this goal would change the outcome. So, if you're like me and exercise isn't your thing, clip on that pedometer. I'm not sure why it works, but people, me included, seem to increase their activity level when using a pedometer. When I'm wearing it, I'm more likely to walk upstairs to the bathroom rather than use the one 2 ft. from my desk; I might take the laundry from the basement to the bedroom in three trips instead of one; I'll walk into a room on a different floor to ask my husband something, rather than holler; I'll pace while reheating my coffee rather than stand and stare at the microwave. It's not brain surgery. Here's some other ideas from the Walking Site.

Take a walk with your spouse, child, or friend
Walk the dog
Use the stairs instead of the elevator
Park farther from the store
Better yet, walk to the store
Get up to change the channel
Window shop
Plan a walking meeting
Walk over to visit a neighbor
Get outside to walk around

So during this high calorie Christmas season when it is cold and drippy outside, I'm setting a goal of 5,000 steps a day through January 5, 2008. If I can do more, I will, but if I set it too high, I'll get discouraged. One good walking place is the Giant Eagle store. I can never find anything I want in that store and spend a lot of time walking around.

Bone health in older men

Age, weight and COPD are the predictors of bone health in men writes Jacob Goldstein in the WSJ yesterday. One in four men over 50 will have osteoporosis related fractures. Staying fit is important because strong muscles mean better coordination, and weight bearing exercise helps bone density. Of course, being a non-smoker will help the lungs and the bones. Another predictor is weight below 175--thin men are more likely to have weaker bones, just like women.

"[Angela] Shepherd's system, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, uses three variables: age, weight (lighter men are at higher risk) and a history of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which mainly affects smokers. Smoking and excessive drinking both increase the risk of osteoporosis."

It also helps to stay off ladders and roofs and hire someone to clean the gutters while you rake, even if you were a good athlete in high school, drank a lot of milk, and currently lead an exercise class for women that includes weights. Last week a local architect in his late 60s fell off a ladder and died from his injuries.

[Public service announcement for the other resident of this household]

4398 Ohio has dirty cars

In Ohio we're used to dirty cars. I may run my van through a car wash 4 or 5 times a year, especially if we need rain. The van is gray, the asphalt is gray, the sky is gray--you hardly even notice the dirt. In California and Florida where the weather is 50-90% better, the cars are spotless. Maybe dirt shows up more on sunny days.

On the left coast where cars are king, they're starting to notice that you can get from point A to point B in a dirty car just like we do in fly-over country. The WSJ reported that 30-40 million gallons of urban run off in Santa Monica Bay is from car washing. Now it's the eco-mites vs. the clean-car buffs. Following the carbon footprint steps, city governments and non-profits are now selling coupons to allow the owner to use a commercial carwash.

Will the car owner emit more carbon when he puts on weight from the lack of exercise he got hand washing and polishing his car?

Fabulous 50s photo from www.godblessamericana.com/2004-01-15/

Chocolate and peanut butter

Yesterday I helped in the kitchen at Advent Lutheran making "Buckeye Candy" for a Christmas fund raiser. We don't do fund raisers at our Lutheran church (UALC); each ministry applies for a portion of the budget, which is raised through tithes and offerings of the congregation. But these projects are useful also for fellowship and bonding. When we're in Lakeside in the winter, the little churches in the area are running so many fund raisers you wonder when they have time to do anything else. You could eat an ethnic style dinner at a different church all winter long. Anyway, back to the candy.

Yesterday we rolled dozens and dozens of little peanut butter/confectioner sugar/butter balls, to be refrigerated over night. Then today they will be dipped in chocolate (with paraffin to harden), placed in little candy papers, and boxed. They take orders, but don't actually have a bazaar. I'd planned to go back today and buy maybe 2 or 3 dozen to set out at a party we're having on the 30th. Here's my dilemma. I can resist chocolate; I can resist peanut butter. Together--it's a huge problem. I have a refrigerator in the garage and I could store them there. However, I do walk past that frig several times a day.

I wonder if my neighbor has room for a box of candy.

One of the ladies told me about another fabulous recipe, too. Called "Rolo Pretzels." Google it. Sort of like bite size "turtle" candy. Sounds really easy and very yummy--assuming you have great resistance and fortitude around the holidays.

And where should our confidence be?

Exactly when are we the people, the president and the congress supposed to believe the National Intelligence Estimate. Is it the 2005 report which tried to take all eyes off Iraq, or the 2007 report which appears when interest in the mideast is flagging as an election approaches? Pardon me if I find the media salivation and hysteria about this a bit transparent.

In 2005, the authors of the report "assess[ed] with high confidence that Iran currently is determined to develop nuclear weapons despite its international obligations and international pressure, but we do not assess that Iran is immovable."

In 2007, they "judge with high confidence that in fall 2003, Tehran halted its nuclear weapons program. Judge with high confidence that the halt lasted at least several years. . . . Assess with moderate confidence Tehran had not restarted its nuclear weapons program as of mid-2007, but we do not know whether it currently intends to develop nuclear weapons." Excerpt from Taranto

Does anyone have confidence that the WMD intelligence reports we heard about all during the Clinton years (including the inspections), or the Iran threat we've been hearing about and seeing results of in Iraq are in any way accurate? Well, if you are a Democrat, you discount all WMD reports even if your own Senators (Clinton, Edwards, Kerry, Kennedy, et al) preached and warned about it; if you are a Republican, you seem to hang an awful lot of our security and freedoms on agencies with very little accountability when it suits your purpose and ignore them when they don't. Hmmm. Two peas in a pod, innit?

Update: "The Wall Street Journal http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110010946 reports in an editorial that "the NIE's main authors include three former State Department officials with previous reputations as 'hyper-partisan anti-Bush officials,' according to an intelligence source." So it could be that when the media and Democratic politicians treat the NIE as a political document, that is exactly what its authors intended. " Best of the Web, Dec. 5, 2007

We've finished the Christmas cards!

This year my computer failed the day after the night I printed out a draft of the letter and a list of the labels. So we had to hand write the cards, and run the letter through the photocopier looking a bit squiqqly, but they are done earlier than most years. Is that the unintended consequences of technology--you tend to leave it all to the last moment because you've saved a bit of time on the front end? My husband wrote some and I wrote some, and I think some of you who were supposed to get personal notes didn't if your card was addressed by him. He paints; I write.

I suppose the day will come when no one sends cards--sort of like calling cards in days of the early 20th century. My daughter and nieces still send cards, but now most of them are 40 or over and they aren't the young generation anymore, except in my mind. Do 25 year olds send Christmas cards? But I love getting the cards and photocopied letters--all the trips, the theater, the opera, the hikes and picnics, the photographs of oodles of grandbabies, and now great-grands. And of course, at my age, many of the letters contain news of terrible losses and illnesses, or sadly come with only one name when for years there were two.

As I addressed a card to a first cousin once removed (daughter of an Illinois first cousin) who lives here in Columbus on the far east side I was reminded again that I've only seen her once, in 1993 at a family reunion. I last saw her parents at my mother's funeral in 2000. I've watched her kids grow up on Christmas cards, and learn about her brothers and sisters and their children through her once a year notes. Some years I hear from her parents, some I don't.

Almost 60 years ago

Harry Reid's tirade against Rush Limbaugh on the floor of the Senate was addressed by Margaret Chase Smith almost 60 years ago.

It is ironical that we Senators can in debate in the Senate directly or indirectly, by any form of words, impute to any American who is not a Senator any conduct or motive unworthy or unbecoming an American—and without that non-Senator American having any legal redress against us—yet if we say the same thing in the Senate about our colleagues we can be stopped on the grounds of being out of order.

It is strange that we can verbally attack anyone else without restraint and with full protection and yet we hold ourselves above the same type of criticism here on the Senate Floor. Surely the United States Senate is big enough to take self-criticism and self-appraisal. Surely we should be able to take the same kind of character attacks that we “dish out” to outsiders.

Read the whole 1950 speech. Back biting, freedom stomping senators are not just a product of our age.

One less candle

A few days ago Christians and non-religious consumers were being told to get rid of all their incandescent Christmas tree lights and buy new, low energy LED bulbs (if any at all)--you know, those same energy saving China-made-in-coal-fired plants where we can't see the smoke. Now Jews are supposed to light one less candle. This carbon footprint thing is the biggest "cry wolf" fiasco in my life time. Pretty soon, you won't be able to get people to consider picking up their own trash or giving up smoking because they won't believe it's a problem compared to their so called carbon foot print.

However, you can offset this carbon footprint made by your outside Christmas tree lights by staying married.

"A married household actually uses resources more efficiently than a divorced household," said Jianguo Liu, an ecologist at Michigan State University whose analysis of the environmental impact of divorce appears in this week's online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Mlive.com

Malaria is a leading cause of death and illness worldwide.

(CDC)--742,000 child malaria deaths in Africa alone were estimated for the year 2000. The U.S. has contributed to this death toll by caving in to environmentalists' hysteria about DDT. Now we hand out nets soaked with pesticide.

In the U.S., about 6,000 teen-agers die in automobile accidents each year, 4 times the adult rate, and a lot of these could be prevented just by raising the legal driving age to 18. About 7,000 people a year die in hospitals from medication errors. It appears that more people in the U.S. now die from the mostly hospital-acquired staph infection MRSA than from AIDS, according to a new report from the CDC. Simple hand washing by staff could have prevented many of these. More people die in a given year in the U.S. as a result of medical errors (estimated at between than from motor vehicle accidents (43,458), breast cancer (42,297), or AIDS (16,516). (To err is human).

Drug intervention is saving the lives of many obese Americans from cardiovascular disease, allowing them to live longer with debilitating conditions--arthritis, diabetes, stroke, cancer--because it doesn't solve the obesity problem. (JAMA, Nov. 7, 2007). But it's still most dangerous of all to be an unborn child of a mother with a choice in America--at least since the beginning of the women's movement in the late 60s. The late 70s through the early 80s were particularly dangerous for the unborn. Johnson Archive

Taxpayer bailout for subprime borrowers?

Why not? The government bails out both agribusiness and the small farmer, the corporations and the mom and pop stores, the railroads and the airlines, the state and local government officials who botch up their congressional earmarks, the auto industry, the poor public schools and the floundering charter schools, the state highways and the interstates alike, the student loan recepients and the university administrations that talked them into it, the medicaid nursing homes and the welfare moms. The USA bails out former enemies and future enemies both. We have been conditioned to think that there will be a safety net no matter what because the good times will always roll.

By the end of 2006, 61% of the subprime loans were going to people who had credit scores good enough for a conventional loan. Whether it was greed, thinking they would flip the property, or emotion, they fell for it. And all sorts of industries benefitted in spending frenzies.

We don't have a subprime loan on any of our properties, but we will certainly be affected if our neighbors in UA or Lakeside or Canal go into foreclosure. We have many friends who work in unrelated industries such as retail, or banking, or construction or service trades, or the university, or travel and leisure, to say nothing of the ones who are living on savings and pensions. Those people struggling to meet $1500-$2000 a month mortgage payments certainly won't be buying new baggy jeans for junior, or buying plane tickets to visit Grandma at Christmas, or meeting their college loans for their daughters.

I wasn't around in the 1920s--but the signs of the coming Great Depression were all around as loans were being called in on the people who bought land to support the war effort. Hoover can't be blamed for the depression and FDR didn't do anything to get us out of it that was effective in the long run.

If giving people a few more months on their mortgage, however badly they planned, will save the whole nation from a collapsing economy, how could that hurt?

The definition of rich

According to a new survey, the Republicans get it right.

Rich" to a Republican isn't quite the same thing as it is to a Democrat or independent. Only 28% of Republicans associate "rich" with having money, material goods and power, compared with 41.5% of Democrats and 51% of independents. Republicans were much more inclined to define "rich" as having family, friends, freedom, faith and peace of mind.

Click on the thumb nail to read the entire survey.

Must, may and might

When I learned grammar these were called auxiliary verbs. Used with a verb they become a verb phrase helping with an action or condition. There are twenty-three auxiliary verbs: is, am, are, was, were, be, being, been, has, have, had, do, does, did, shall, will, should, would, may, might, must, can, could. I can't imagine how confusing it must be for non-English speakers to make their way through this list of auxiliaries, and how to use them. Some speakers of English go overboard with these little crutches.

I recently read a draft report called Draft Report of the Working Group on the Future of Bibliographic Control . Control is a favorite word of librarians. But what I noticed in this draft report (they are requesting comments) is the overworked auxiliary verbs. The first part of the document is loaded with "must." In case you hadn't noticed from my blog, librarians are fond of dogmatic, strongly worded statements, and are very opinionated. So, in this draft were "must"

continue
step forward
look beyond
realize
begin
do their work
continue
be used
be a part of
analyze
work
devise
be taken
purchase
be derived
be openly arrived at (wordy too)
be created
be pursued
be considered
be usable
be able
be seen
come
achieve

Then after that powerful mandate, the writers soften up a bit and move on to "might"

take on
be shared
have participated
include
be to develop
be to engage
lend
be made
exist
be facilitated

and then finally wimp out altogether with "may"

still conclude
be operated
be forbidden
also lead
be opportunities
also be possible
change
be openly available
not be compatible
change
not provide
prove
be required
potentially be
of most interest
result
benefit
require
be unfamiliar
vary
have changing and expanding needs
be considered
arise
not be optimally applied

If you are a school teacher or a social worker or anyone working in a government agency, you probably use these helping verbs throughout your documents too. I think they mainly contribute to the time it takes to accomplish anything in publically funded agencies. These little verbs might be the reason Google, a start up 9 years ago by two grad students, is stomping out the need for librarians. Now that the Google founders are rich and going all greeny on us, we can expect them to act more like librarians, which will give my profession a chance to catch up.

Deadly winter storm

From the Dakotas to the northeast--and I'm betting it will be blamed on global warming.

Drivers in much of the Northeast navigated a treacherous mix of rain, sleet and snow Monday as a storm blamed for at least 14 deaths slid through the region after pounding the Upper Midwest.AP story

How to update your Christmas card list

I saw this at Shirley Hornbeck's Genealogy Tips, #2:

FINDING LIVING RELATIVES:

To contact a living person whom you have lost, write a letter to the person, be sure to include your address and telephone number in the letter. Send the letter in an unsealed stamped envelope, along with a cover letter to the Social Security Administration, Letter Forwarding Unit, 6401 Security Blvd., Baltimore, MD 21235. Include in your cover letter as much as you know about the person: Name, Social Security number, birthplace, birth date, name of the person's parents. You do not have to know all of the information, but the process will be quicker if you give more identifying information. If the person you are seeking is listed in the SSA files, the letter will be forwarded to them and it's up to that person to contact you.

If they owe you money, don't hold your breath.

We deserve better than Rudy

Nice guy. Did a lot for New York. Funny. Charming. But Americans can do better. His personal life is a mess--now they're dragging up the details of public funds being used to escort and protect his mistress (now his wife) during the 9/11 period. We're-so-above-being-judgemental writers and commenters really aggrevate me. Then if public money is used, then maybe they'll take a second look. The personal is political. Just ask the Clintons. If his wife and kids can't trust him, why should we?

4385 Kennedy to get 8 million for his book

How much would you pay to own it? How much would you have to be paid to read it? How many copies will Upper Arlington Public Library buy? Great cartoon, Nov. 29