Warning! Mombies Walk Tonight!

Warning! Drivers beware and on the lookout for Mombies tonight. If you are not sure what they look like well, here is a brief description. They come in a variety of shapes and sizes but usually have dark circles under their eyes and will probably be watching out for you! They can often be found carrying and drinking coffee so if they seem a bit jittery remember they may be a bit over caffeinated by nightfall. This time of year they’re generally accompanied by a candy greedy gaggle of small goblins, witches, vampires, and zombie wannabes AKA trick or treaters. They can sometimes be found holding the hands of several small monsters at a time while simultaneously pushing a stroller or pulling a wagon and aiming a flashlight through the night chill. The good news is that Mombies, unlike Zombies, prefer to eat chocolate (trick or treat size is the best) rather than the brains of living humans. This is not a test or made up emergency preparedness drill, and yes I am a licensed (in the state of Georgia) Zombie hunter, but Mombies have nothing to fear because I will be home handing out treats while they are out and about. This warning expires whenever your local trick or time is over.

Happy Halloween!

When Stupid Things Happen to Smart Phones

Like when they decide to make a leap from your pocket into the toilet bowl? Or when they attach to a cellular tower in a foreign country and the charges really start piling up? Or when your grandkids change your ringtone and you don’t recognize that someone is calling you, even when it’s your own phone ringing in your pocket? You just look puzzled and wonder what is that noise and where is it coming from? Or when you can’t figure out how to take a selfie because you keep cutting off the top of your own head? Who wants to take their picture in the bathroom anyway? Maybe some of these things are really more about what happens when a smartphone is smarter than its user. We have a pet named Wazoo (a parrot) that used to say “Hello” when the old house phone rang. Now he still sometimes says it but usually when someone is eating garlic bread since the home phone has been retired. He’s about as good at saying hello before it goes to missed call or voicemail as I am.  

BYOD

Bring your own device, this already happens in my house and car and is extremely popular with my grandkids and their IPhone or Android (anything with the right Gs) carrying, social media using, pals and generation in general. I figure it happens at school to because with the latest greatest technologies you don’t need to be attached to your work or school wireless to get online, just BYOD. Cyber hackers like people who BYOD because their work data can be vulnerable and more easily compromised when other devices (from home) are used in the workplace. There are defenses against this like filters and internet use policies but I wonder how effective measures like these really are. No matter how clearly laid out these policies are and regardless of the fact that you check the accept box (and without reading what you are accepting) people have found ways to get around and surf, check email, or post how boring your day is on Face Book and they often do from the workplace and everywhere else.

This goes to another level when you think about the NSA and its data collection capabilities. We've all heard that nothing in cyberspace is really ever private or secure and that goes for what is said on cell phones too. Surprise! It’s true. There isn't much that is private in this world anymore and the best person to protect your own data or privacy and your employer’s data is you. Something to consider when you BYOD.

Microwave Mug Cake, the New Cupcake

After perusing a bunch of recipes for mug cakes, the new easy peezy lemon squeezy cup (literally) cake, we (my grandsons, Ethan and Jonas, and I) decided to give making some in the microwave a try. I got all the ingredients that I didn’t have on hand during my weekly trip to the commissary. The mug cakes required lots of measuring in tablespoons but many of the recipes are easy enough for kids to figure out and follow. Cooking them in the microwave made them pretty easy even though, be warned, the mug is hot coming out. Trial and error showed us that you don’t need the plastic dome over the cup because the cake needs space to rise, even when I followed the directions and had the mugs only half full. In our microwave the cake was springy to the touch (done) in just a minute, faster than it took to assemble and mix together the ingredients. The cake tasted good like cake should too and came out of the cup (and into my tummy) quickly and easily. We made chocolate (but there are recipes for all kinds out there-lemon included) and next time we’ll have some frosting or ice cream to go with it. Right now I am thinking about how much fun it would be to watch the grandkids make mug cakes during the Christmas holidays. 

SPDRs, ETFs, and a Pumpkin!

Three ETFs to own until you die, is the headline I read on MSN and a couple of things came to my mind. First my mind’s eye saw ETF and read WTF (text talk for what the fiddlesticks!) and then I thought of the undead, you guessed it zombies when I saw the before you die part. It’s that time of year, I guess. I’ll get to the spider part eventually. So instead of reading beyond the headline I decided I needed to know WTF ETFs were. Go to Google (my usual go to) and lo and behold I saw SPDRs and found out that ETFs are Exchange Traded Funds. I don’t like anything about SPDRS and I had never heard of the kind without an I (most have a minimum of 8 eyes and legs too for that matter) so I figured that SPDRs would be my next Google search. SPDR stands for Standards & Poor Depository Receipts, a mini portfolio of stocks that are traded in the US. I fit the poor part so I figured maybe I should see WTF the ETFs are that I needed to own until I die (or turn into a Zombie). This took me back to the original headline and after looking further (I know, I could have done that in the first place) I found that the three ETFs are energy, consumer staples, and financial. Think BP or Mobil, toilet paper, and money, that’s how I put it together. Sometimes the last two in the list seem similar in value and I actually saw that a picture of money on the TP dispenser but that’s another story all together. For now I think I am going to ease up on the chocolate and caffeine combo and get busy carving a pumpkin! 

Cats Do the Darnedest Things!

This includes smuggling drugs, cell phones, and chargers into prisons. Yep, and I thought all they did all day was pose and act in cute cat internet videos or lay around licking themselves. But obviously cats do have secret talents like finding a way to crap in my houseplants when I am not looking. I haven’t been able to catch them in the act even though the smell should be a dead giveaway. So why not act as cat couriers carrying contraband inconspicuously into high security places? Maybe they weren't as inconspicuous as they’d hoped since a couple of them have been caught and their actions documented. And let me add this, after I repotted my houseplant I covered the surface of the fresh cat poo free soil with pinecones and balls of wrinkled up aluminum foil, and things appear so far so good. The cats at my house have returned to the fold, I mean litter box and that’s a good thing. Prison cats may be harder to deter. Nevertheless I will continue to remain on the lookout for suspicious cat characters; this is the time of year when you see a lot of them around!

Skip the Line

I saw the headline on MSN asking, Should we pay organ donors? I didn’t go on to read the rest but my answer is that if we do then the organ donors are no longer donors but instead sellers. There is a black market for organs where they can be bought and sold, I am sure, so where am I going with this? Well for enough money you can get an organ and not have to wait in line. Kind of like the head of line privilege scam at Disney where you could pay to hitch up with a disabled person and skip the lines for a fee. Then recently the mayor of Jacksonville managed with the help of Corrine Brown, to get his passport, skipping the process we with no privilege go through, so he could attend a Jaguars-49ers game in London, England this weekend. The first report said he misplaced his passport but later it appeared he was fast tracked through in Miami implying that maybe he hadn't misplaced his passport after all. Power hath its privilege also, so it seems. No mention of whether or not actual money changed hands in the mayor’s case. The Representative said she was just helping out one of her constituents. This may be why a line gets drawn in the sand so to speak, after all if you can’t scuff the line up and obliterate it, you might as well just skip it.

A Change in the Weather

Living in the south has led me to appreciate a change in the weather since it’s the closest thing we are going to get to a change in seasons. It’s nice in October when the weather shifts to chilly (or at least cooler) temperatures in the mornings. It’s comfy wearing socks around the house but there is no real reason to put away the flip flops because by afternoon the day will still be mild enough for them too. Dogs can sense the change, they get friskier and chickens are the opposite, they huddle under the rabbit hutch rather than squawking around, taking their usual dirt baths. Their combs are starting to fade too, a sure signal that egg production is going down. But that’s okay because mornings like these, when there’s a change in the weather, are just right for a steaming bowl of oatmeal drizzled with honey, a perfect companion to my morning coffee, a snuggly throw to wrap up in and a good book.

Bedrails, Time for Regulation

Bedrails are posing the same kind of hazards to the elderly that unsafe, unregulated cribs of the past caused for babies, suffocation and death. Lots of deaths and injuries to the elderly have been reported but regulation is slow in coming. The rails aren't just the portable types used in private residences where families are caring for their elderly parents or grandparents but also in rehab centers, adult care facilities, and hospitals. Since the rails for home use aren't considered medical devices FDA guidelines don’t apply to them. These rails can be improperly installed and give the family a false sense of security because there are worse things that can happen besides falling out of bed. Poorly fitting mattresses can leave gaps (between the mattress and rail) that the elderly can easily become wedged in and find themselves unable to get out of. For the frail, and sometimes confused by dementia, and actually any elderly person this seems like an awful way to die. It’s time for consumers and our government to push for closer scrutiny of adult bedrails and come up with a safety standard for them like the standards in place for infant cribs.

Zombie Chase vs. Tag

I read in the newspaper that the child’s game tag is going the way of dodge ball, some schools are getting rid it. Pretty soon the only fun time left at school will be lunch and that already is one of the most popular subjects second often only to recess. Here is something I think contradicts the idea of getting rid of tag, Zombie Chases. They actually had an organized and a publicized Zombie Chase event in Jacksonville the other day and this is the time of year when these events are popping up all over. Zombies can chase kids for fitness and fun but tag on the playground at recess for fitness and fun is out. True the parents got to dress up as zombies to chase the kids and if they tagged the kids with a sticker it meant the kid had been bitten so there was an element of fitness and fun for the parents too. Still tagging someone you’re chasing while dressed as a zombie with a sticker sounds a lot like the outlawed game kids play at school, tag. Instead of tag, you’re it, just substitute tag, you’re bit. And then there are a lot of playground versions of the child’s game of tag, freeze tag and toilet tag, a variation on freeze tag, are some of my favorites. In freeze tag you get a rest when you’re tagged and frozen until another player unfreezes you by tagging you again. In toilet tag (yes, this really is a game-I am not just making it up) when you get tagged you squat into a seated pose and hold up one hand (the flush handle) and wait for a player to come sit on your lap (they really don’t actually sit because there isn't time for that) and flush so you can be unfrozen and run again. When Twilight was all the rage vampires were it and chased their classmates at recess so the zombies are probably playing a version of tag these days too. I’m thinking when it comes to childhood obesity the tag playing (and running) dead beat the walking dead every time. To me it seems unfair after all the teaching to the standardized test that goes on in the classrooms to stifle the creativity and imagination of the kids on the playground too. I say let them play.  

Why I’m Swearing off Dunch and Linner

Kind of a long story here but let me begin by defining dunch and, or linner. Simply put these are meals that are a combination of dinner and lunch or lunch and dinner eaten at an in between time (good if at a restaurant because it is an off peak time) sometime well after your traditional lunch time and really earlier than your usual dinner time. Maybe I shouldn't swear them off completely because on Saturday after completing Ms. Pat’s Race for Grace (I ate half a banana and a couple of oranges worth of orange quarters) and the pancake breakfast it was definitely shower and naptime for me, hence our next meal was dunch and it was good. It held me over far enough into the evening to along with a small snack allow me to skip dinner and get to bed at my regular time, no problem. Why am I swearing it off then? Well maybe I should just swear off doing it two days in a row. Yesterday (since it is after midnight and officially Monday as I type this) we got on the road south to St. Pete later than we usually would so we opted for dashboard lining, I mean dining or dunching and when we got here we did a little dog walking and shopping and general chilling while the A/C did its thing (cooled down the house) so we could unpack and settle in. My husband suggested stopping to pick up subs that we could bring home and eat some and save the bigger part of for our next day’s lunch but I was in the mood for salad and suggested we go to the Ale House. Besides I didn’t mention that the house in St. Pete has no TV and I knew my husband would at least be able to catch up on all the Sunday Night Football scores and watch a little football there too. So now we come to the real reason I am up typing this blog instead of sleeping, one large order of onion rings with garlicky ranch bar-b-que dipping sauce that we split and an Asian Chicken Salad for each of us complete with Teriyaki chicken and spicy peanut sauce. And I (because of dunch and or linner) consumed all this way too close to my regularly scheduled bedtime. Of course this didn’t prevent me from toddling off to bed at the usual time because I did only to awaken to my husband’s version of Katy Perry’s, Roar, or in his case, You’re Gonna Hear Me Snore, with unsleepable acid indigestion which is obviously just a case of being unable to digest my late dinner in the horizontal position. So, even though I would be posting this really early (if we had wifi here, but that’s another story) no matter how late I sleep in in the morning, I’ll probably have raisin bran for lunch and skip dunch or linner all together!

Believe There is Good in the World

This is the message that was printed on the T shirts for Ms. Pat’s Race for Grace, today’s 5K to benefit Camden County’s CASA. CASA, court appointed special advocates (they consist of 28 volunteers), for children, and they serve 58 foster kids in Camden. This was a cause near and dear to Pat’s heart and the 5K honored her spirit of volunteerism and hopefully raised some funding for a cause that makes a positive difference in the lives of children. I really liked the message (Be the Good) within the message (Believe There is Good in the World) on the T shirts and I know Pat would have approved. That’s why I am including a photo of the T shirt and for no particular reason another of the winner of first place in his age category, Jude, the youngest participant in the 5K (and our youngest grandson).

 

Gun Show Sales

They are had one in New York and former U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords attended. This was her first visit since she was shot in an assassination attempt in 2011, and yes she and her husband made this part of their national campaign for expanded background checks for gun sales. New York has enacted a state law that expands the ban on military-style weapons, requires mental health professionals to report threats, limits magazines to seven bullets, taxes bullets, and creates a gun registry to keep guns out of the wrong hands. They have a system. At gun shows all firearms are tagged at the entrance to the show. Local police are notified so they can patrol and watch out for illegal sales outside. Computer stations are set up for sellers to do national background checks. No buyers can leave the gun show with a firearm without documentation of a proper sale. This state’s plan is an effort to keep guns out of the hands of criminals and the dangerously mentally ill without infringing on Second Amendment rights. There is no requirement for gun show background checks at the federal level but New York’s plan could good be a national model. Just sayin'.

The C Word

The c word is crazy and I am ready for it to go the way of the n word (no need to spell it out) and the r word (retard) and I mean gone. Here I will add the quote that brings me to this rant, I mean these thoughts. “As an attorney, I have some level of understanding of why we have to go through this charade, but it is difficult to forget we are here because of the actions of a crazy person who killed her kids,” said attorney Thomas Foley, who represents the father of the two slain boys. The mother in this quote called a crazy person, also killed her daughter by slashing her throat before drowning her and the two boys and was found not guilty because of mental disease or defect in their deaths. This mother has also survived two suicide attempts, jumping from a second story window and swallowing home cleaning fluids. Now there is a possibility that because she was not convicted (found not guilty by reason of mental disease) she could claim a share of her dead children’s estate and people are justifiably upset by this. I don’t think she should get the money either but I am also incensed that an attorney, presumably an educated man with a juris doctorate and who has passed a bar exam, used the c word to describe a person suffering from mental illness. The c word just gets to me. I think it has its place when used to signify other meanings just as I don’t have a problem with flame retardant pajamas. I can’t think of an acceptable use for the n word but that’s just me. I looked at Leatrice Brewer’s photo and I couldn't see anything that gives an obvious clue to her mental illness but her actions and a jury of her peers assure me that it exists. The problem I do see is that the c word demeans people who are successfully coping with and/or are suffering with the stress of mental illness every day, people whose actions have not gone the way of Leatrice Brewer. The thing is I also am guilty of misuse of the c word (shades of Paula Deen, perhaps?) but I am cleaning up my act and I hope others, in particular Thomas Foley, will too.  

A Role for Unathletic Parents (or in my case-Grandparents)

Always the last one picked for the team on the playground or in the school gymnasium? And now you are being asked by your own kids to teach and coach them on a recreational sports team? Guess what, it’s more important to give unconditional support (that’s right, be a fan) than it is to offer even the most useful criticism. The thing that keeps kids in sports and makes the experience positive is not whether or not they are good at it, but instead whether or not they perceive that their parents think they’re good. So let me repeat…That’s right, be a fan! In reality there are lots more fans than professional athletes but for your kids it is important to be a  positive one. Be sure your kids know that you love the effort they made regardless of the score, because that’s what makes the difference. 

Pop Up

Here we are experiencing a nice fall chill brought on by day two of a South Georgia nor'easter and my thoughts travel to these mom and kid surf clinics they have going on in Cocoa Beach. First off my kids have kids so I am not considering myself a candidate but it does seem like a fun way to be active and bond with your child. The lessons aren't terribly expensive either. For groups of 10 or more the cost for kids is $45 and parents $35 and board rentals are included in the price. Private 2 hour lessons cost more. The place to eat when you've worked up your appetite is Grills Seafood Deck and Tiki Bar on the waterfront at the port. This is a place I have personal experience with and along with the food being fresh and scrumptious, the view is great too.

Now to the pop up part, I've been intrigued with paddle boarding, watching people do it anyway. I know it isn't surfing but it does happen with a board on the water so stay with me. I mentioned the sport in first person (suggesting that it would be a sport I could participate in) and my oldest pretty much laughed the idea off mumbling something about the size of the board I’d need, probably the size of a cruise ship, I figure. Not to be deterred I decided I needed to work on balance and over the course of a couple of exercise videos I have realized that I cannot get up from my knees without something to hold on to and a surfboard (even one the size of a cruise ship) doesn't have grab bars. But when I was reading about the mom and kid surf clinics I spotted a section on how to just pop up on the board. No knees are required with it. You go from prone (on your belly) to standing by popping up. It helps if you have good balance and less weight, another thing I’m working on, but maybe paddle boarding really isn't outside my reach. When you think you can’t do something or there is an obstacle in your way, you might just skip getting on your knees or whatever step is holding you back and just pop up and give it a go. I may find paddle boarding isn't for me but I am certainly going to give it a try. 

No Comments

Popular Science is shutting off online comments because comments can be bad for science. Ignorant comments can pollute otherwise intelligent online discussions (this also happens during conversations at our dinner table, occasionally-oh all right, a lot) and can undermine public understanding of science itself. In teacher’s editions (the books with all the answers-and sometimes these are incorrect answers) these might be called common misconceptions. The thing about science is that there are some rather extreme subjective opinions about some topics that really go against the objective nature of science in general, like those held on the topics of evolution and climate change. Some comments can definitely undermine public understanding and appreciation of science and take these discussions away from the science side of the house. Comments also have the power to shape public opinion and eventually public opinion holds sway over public decisions on research funding. Often nonscientific views on things like evolution are shouted down by other viewers, but not always because Popular Science and some other publications don’t have the resources to moderate all comments. Hence the decision to shut off online comments. It seems like a lot of people do believe everything they read, including the comments so maybe in this instance ‘no comments’ is for the best.

Talk to Me Baby, Thirty Million Words

The research is in, kids aren't born smart. They are made smart by their parents talking to them. A study in 1990 found that a child born into poverty hears 30 million fewer words than a child born to well off parents and this creates a literacy gap with negative implications that can last a lifetime. Thus the inspiration for the program called the Thirty Million Words Project happening in Chicago with a bunch of project staff members and student research assistants developing strategies to get parents involved in engaging their kids in rich, meaningful conversation from the moment they are born. One part of the project has the staff visiting the homes of low income mothers and training them with a parent talk curriculum developed by the Thirty Million Words Project team. The child wears a small electronic device, like a pedometer for counting steps, but instead of steps this device counts words heard and spoken and the number of turns, or back and forth in a conversation with a parent. TV talk doesn't count. Another smart thing the project coordinators are working on is a way to partner with existing well established home visit programs and other outreach ideas for working with young fathers and pediatricians offices. So this means that along with reading to our infants and children every day we need to include meaningful discussion about what’s going on in the story and let conversation intrude in all the other things we do too, with naptime maybe as one of the only daytime exceptions. So talk to me baby! 

Ignore the Debt Ceiling

The other day I read a suggestion that the President ignore the debt limit and honor spending and tax legislation. Doing this might end the ability of minorities in Congress to start crises in order to accomplish goals for which they lacked the votes. Although the debt ceiling isn't fictional like the fiscal cliff in reality it doesn't match what our Congress has legally allocated for spending anyway. To ignore the debt ceiling might be against the law but may be the only way to keep our economy from tanking, a bold move. As things stand now irresponsible congressional minorities have shut down the government and are holding it hostage in attempt to defund the Affordable Care Act, and next may try to use the same strategy to get their way with the government budget. What else will they go after? The way I see it, Congress isn't working anyway. In a previous post, I mentioned how futile it is to wait for the government to solve problems and how some people were finding other ways to do just that. The private sector has come to the rescue of the Headstart program in Jacksonville, FL and nationally to the aid of families whose loved ones in the military were killed in action. So I am beginning to agree that if the government remains shutdown maybe the President should just ignore the debt ceiling, or maybe Congress will stop the nonsense and get back to doing the job they were sent to do, end the shutdown and get the government working for us again. 

Aging in Place

I wondered if this was anything like running in place, only slower. Slower I hope, since I’m already getting older and I probably should have been thinking of ways to make aging in place easier a while back. Actually aging in place is a choice that most folks that are getting older are making. It means that they choose to age in their own places, their own homes. In order to do it more easily they have some things to consider before they reach an age when they find it harder because of income or physical restrictions to make accommodations and changes to a home that might have been perfect when they were younger to a home comfortable enough to age in place in later in life. If your home has stairs you may want to make sure you have a ground floor laundry, bathroom, and bedroom to make aging in place easier and safer. Helping take care of my father-in-law well into his nineties helped give me some perspective on this. In the bathroom grab bars were a necessity and a shower with a low or no threshold was important too. I added a shower seat and hand held shower head and that really made things easier. When making the choice to age in place it is also important to consider wide doorways (in case you ever need to get a walker or wheelchair through) and good lighting throughout your home. Then there are other conveniences to consider like a dishwasher drawer and counter tops and cabinets at convenient heights so you can minimize bending and climbing, which I have long disliked, the climbing especially, as a vertically challenged individual. Even though I’m not quite ready to age in place, I'll admit at least I’m beginning to think about it.  

Is Anyone Profiting from the Shutdown?

Reading more and more shutdown stories, the latest about how a private charity has stepped in to provide for families of military members who die on active duty. The shutdown has prevented the disbursement of funds that help these families grieving the loss of their loved one meet the flag draped coffin and those funds, that don’t seem like much when you consider the sacrifice of a life for our country’s freedom and ideals, shouldn't be withheld. The private group providing the coverage will be reimbursed by the government when it reopens. And there are others who will receive their pay retroactively when the government reopens as they have after shutdowns in the past. In the meantime though, is the government profiting from this shutdown? Perhaps gathering up interest on unpaid monies that they are sitting on? Maybe not since there is a looming budget ceiling battle on the horizon that all this shutdown business has just supposedly been a lead in for. I was just wondering. Or maybe Congress could throw any interest accrued during the shutdown at the national debt. Nah, they’ll probably just vote themselves another raise. 

Stinkfish

This kind of stinkfish is part of a game I used to play with my twin growing up in Chicago. I saw a stinkfish the other day (and took a photo) in St. Pete on my walk with Fred to what I like to call the 12^th Street pooping place and seeing that stinkfish took me right back to that game. Of course I got a better look at the stinkfish on the way back from the pooping place since we were no longer under pressure, Fred’s business being completed and my business of bagging and proper disposal also completed. Somehow it seems preferable to me to see Fred do his business in the big grassy median (the pooping place) complete with a bagged poop receptacle (trash can) than in any of the neighbor’s yards.

But back to the game, it went like this…If you stepped in a section, we called the boxes, of sidewalk that had a concrete company stamp or what we called a stinkfish in it you were the stinkfish! Having no vehicle when we were kids living in the city meant we did a lot of walking, like to the A&P, Laundromat, school, and places like that. Playing stinkfish kept us entertained and moving along.

The stinkfish I spotted in St. Pete are trickier because they are in the center of the sidewalk box rather than near the perimeter like they are in Chicago. Fred won the game this time, probably because he was busy reading the p-mail in the grassy areas adjacent to the sidewalk and I was hurrying him along to the pooping place. But I’ll be on the lookout for the stinkfish next time!

Super Glue Can Keep Dirt Out from Under Fingernails

Super glue really can do this and having a coating of it on your fingertips makes keyboarding feel a little funky too. How do I know this you may wonder? Well I was rehanging four pretty cool jade and coral shadowbox art pieces from Marbo’s, a defunct Chinese restaurant that used to be on Fourth Street in St. Pete when I discovered the head and beak of one peacock was disconnected and in need of repair. Hence I proceeded to open the super glue and fortunately I got my fingers apart before they became permanently fused together. The peacock has regained his head too. I had no idea super glue came out so fast…from the tube that is, and I have a feeling I am going to have it on my fingers for quite a while.

Trip’s to St. Pete-Another Pleasant Surprise

Trip’s Diner had a big breakfast crowd on Saturday after my grand’s fun first T-Ball game and it is just one of the many things I find so pleasantly appealing about St. Pete. Happy places pop up all over and Trip’s Diner, located on 9^th Street near 22^nd Ave. N. (used to be Dave’s Diner) is one of them. A couple of things I should mention right off, they serve big strips of thick bacon cooked to perfection (for me that’s done well), and you can eat outside with the kids and/or your pet pooch. My husband’s father would have loved to have been able to bring his four legged friend, Lowdown, out for breakfast. There is extra parking across the side street at a closed garage and they needed it. The service was pleasant and fast. The prices and portions were reasonable. The wait staff use tablets of the electronic variety to take, send, and keep up with the orders and I liked that. I am also partial to the triangle shaped French toast especially with a dusting of powdered sugar and syrup. My over easy egg was perfectly fried and presented and the home fries were real potatoes sliced with the skins still on and onions cooked right in there with them. Okay I will admit to being a bit overly food focused but since I have been waiting to get the gas tank filled at the house this visit (and consequently making due with sandwiches and cereal) good hot food seemed even more appealing. They are open Monday through Friday 6 am to 9 pm and on Saturday 7 am to 9 pm and Sunday 7 am to 3 pm. 

Oh yeah, I’ll be going back. 

Friday and Saturday Night Lights - Football

So I was reading about how some Ole Miss (University of Mississippi) football players, about 20 of them, interrupted “The Laramie Project” a play about a town in Wyoming and its reaction to the murder of gay college student Matthew Shepard, who was tortured, pistol-whipped, tied to a fence and left to die 15 years ago with heckling, laughing, and homophobic slurs. Matthew’s mother had some words about how just when you hope there change for the good bullies, and that is what these football players are, spoil things. Theirs is the kind hatred and group mentality mix that leads to violence and requires a strong response from all of us, and especially the team’s leadership to end it. Where is that other coach that I read about, Matt Labrum when we need him (or more like him) to a stand for tolerance? This Utah coach found information indicating that multiple football players were using social media site ask.fm to bully another student. Unable to find out which specific players were involved led to him suspending all 80 and requiring them each to earn back their jerseys by completing a community service project. Their suspension lasted only a day but made a positive impact. Matt Labrum proved that there is more than just football at stake in a situation like this. Character counts and the players at the University of Mississippi could use some. Shame on them and the coaches if they leave this matter unanswered. Ole Miss, are you listening?  

Putting in Putin for a Nobel Peace Prize

Once again SKYPE comes to the rescue with a bloggable moment. Here’s a snippet of my conversation with my husband from the other evening about a group that wants to see Vladimir Putin nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

[9:02 PM] A Mount: I read in the Moscow Times that his supporters have put him in for the Nobel Peace prize for his actions in Syria.

[9:02 PM] Jo Mount: Now that might be a bloggable topic.

[9:04 PM] A Mount: Yep. It also said it was time to stop U.S. and European aggression. Every time something happens, the U.S. and Europe always answer with military action instead of seeking a peaceful process and that those powers don't recognize the right of independent states to decide their own destiny without interference from those who have some kind of political or economic interest.

[9:05 PM] Jo Mount: Good point…..unless their destiny includes annihilation of fellow humans, children included with chemical weapons or worse.

[9:05 PM] A Mount: Truly a propaganda article but one that I'm sure could easily alter the perception of people who don't think or believe everything that they read.

Ok, enough on Putin, Syria, and the Nobel Peace Prize. Here is where things really get interesting…

[9:06 PM] Jo Mount: Do you think people believe everything they read in my blog??

[9:07 PM] A Mount: I think your blog is thought provoking. That's what makes it so interesting.

[9:08 PM] Jo Mount: I was thinking about IF you had said YES I would cut and paste that into tomorrow’s blog! I haven't had any of our SKYPE conversations in there in a while.

[9:08 PM] A Mount: Ahhh. I think your blog provides enough cranial impetus to make someone consider the potential of its veracity.

[9:09 PM] Jo Mount: That’s as close to a yes as I’m getting??

I’m thinking this is as close as I’m getting to my husband agreeing that I’m always right also, even in a roundabout way. He always goes for the big vocabulary when he thinks he might be quoted. This strategy gives him a rebuttable position if necessary. He definitely doesn't believe everything he reads in my blog or anywhere else. Neither should the Nobel Peace Prize election committee!  

What is it about bad things coming in threes?

If bad things do come in threes Jacksonville, FL needs to watch out. They have already had the first two things. First the Matthews Bridge was taken out of commission due to a collision with a ship taking out a major structural support causing major long term roadway traffic complications and delays. Second the Jacksonville International Airport had to be evacuated due to what ended up being a false alarm suspicious package, a purported bomb, and all air traffic ground to a halt. I have no idea what the third thing might be but I think the folks in Jacksonville have had enough so I hope instead of the third thing being charmed, it bypasses them all together. I am very happy the bridge is fixable and no one was harmed in the collision. From what the engineers said the city was very lucky because the Matthews could have gone the way of London Bridge and gone tumbling down. The airport evacuation was a major headache for travelers but at best we now have a better handle on the logistics of completing an evacuation in the future. It may have been an unhappy ‘drill’ but I was really glad that the ‘device’ wasn't a viable bomb even if the parts were there. Jacksonville got lucky and dodged a bullet with both of these transportation calamities because in both cases things could have been a lot worse.

As I write this blog post I am in St. Petersburg, FL listening to the radio keeping an ear out for how the Rays are doing in their quest for a wild card spot. So far they are up by three (there’s that number again) in the sixth inning.

Maybe the Jacksonville Jaguars will turn their losing streak around. It’s time because the way things are going for them, well, it can’t get much worse!

It’s Dog and Buds, Dude

This is not a post about dogs and their best friends (us), well not exactly. It’s more about how the legalization of medical marijuana in the Pacific Northwest has an added side effect, a problem vets are seeing more of these days, dogs on drugs. Apparently dogs are ingesting discarded joints, blunts, or buds during their walks in local parks and ending up lethargic, shaky, and disoriented and sometimes close to death. The result is often an expensive emergency visit to the veterinarian. An emergency vet tech at an Eagle Rock, California clinic claims to have been treating two or three stoner dogs a night as a result of these sorts of incidents. Cat owners get a pass here because cats appear to be more discerning and consequently less often poisoned by ingesting marijuana. It would seem that pet owners and other humans are the ones that should really be more discerning… about where they stash their stash (or trash). That or teach the pooches to just say no.  

Ear Wax

Maybe it seems like our Congressmen have an ear wax overload. They sure don’t seem to be listening to anyone, the people they were elected to represent or each other. But the ear wax I’m waxing on about comes from whales. The plugs of wax found in the ears of whales formed in layers tell the story of the whale’s life like the rings inside the trunks of trees. Ear wax plugs found in blue whales’ ears can weigh up to 250 grams and be 25 centimeters long. During the six-month feeding season, wax is light-colored, filled with fat from the whale’s rich diet. As it fasts during migration, a darker layer forms. Studying these layers help researchers determine how old whales were during necropsies.

One ear wax plug from a whale studied also helped researchers with recording ocean contaminants because traces of these contaminants, like DDT, flame retardants, and mercury were all there embedded in the layers. The plug studied by Sascha Usenko and Stephen Trumble of Baylor University, Waco, Texas, came from a 12-year-old male blue whale killed in a 2007 boating accident off the coast of California. The ear wax also contained a record of fluctuations in stress hormones throughout the animal's life. And that, in combination with the chemical pollution data, may in the future provide better insight into the potential impacts of these chemicals on whales. Usenko and his team identified the whale as a male aged about 12 years. During his brief life he came into contact with 16 persistent organic pollutants, including pesticides and flame retardants. Exposure to the most persistent chemicals was greatest in the first year, and accounted for one-fifth of his total lifetime contact, suggesting a transfer of contaminants from his mother in the womb and during nursing.

Maternal transfer of pollutants is known to happen in other mammals, such as seals and humans. Once these compounds enter the food chain, they are passed on and accumulate. Some of these chemicals are no longer in use, such as flame retardants that were outlawed in 2005, but they can stick around for 50 or 60 years. Other toxins uncovered from the earwax were probably picked up along the way. Mercury, which can cause brain damage, spiked twice in the sample, at around five and ten years.

I wonder if mercury might be found in the ear wax of some of our politicians in Washington. Brain damage might be a better excuse than plain stubborn mule headedness.