News
May 2006
2006.05.28–Alfred, Ohio. Happy Birthday Katie!
This was a surprise 40th birthday for Jeanie’s little sister. We were surprised when Joe and Angie brought in Nick. Wow! This was the first time that my whole family has been together since Thanksgiving. There was quite a crowd.
2006.05.27–Alfred, Ohio. Steve and Mary Ellen arrived from Boston today for a visit. We showed them our pictures of the cruise and they showed us theirs from Hawaii. Wow! They got a couple of nice ones. Later, we all met up with Joe and Angie at Rio Bravo for dinner and then headed to their house for a bonfire and marshmallow roast. It would good to see everyone.
2006.05.26–Alfred, Ohio. Jeanie and I went to see Mission Impossible 3. It was OK. It wasn't so much that we wanted to see that particular movie, we just wanted to go out. I can not tell you how many times in the last several months we have talked about going to the movies and when we checked to see what was playing decided to stay home. Poor box office attendance I suspect is in direct proportion to the quality of the films that are made.
2006.05.25–Alfred, Ohio. Had dinner with Joe and Angie tonight and stopped by their house. The rock flower gardens they built really turned out nice.
2006.05.23–Alfred, Ohio. We had another frost today. Most unusual.
2006.05.22–Alfred, Ohio. A rogue frost caught me quite unaware this morning. This is way late for a frost in these parts. We normally figure May 10 as the last possible frost date. A Ti plant (from Hawaii) took a beating. The Plumeria (also tropical) looks like it will survive. ALL of our plants that can be brought in are already in tonight (it is supposed to frost again tonight). Our garden is the real question. We have potatoes, tomatoes, corn, beans, cucumbers, peppers, lettuce, and onions already up and looking good. I’m thinking warm thoughts tonight. Anyone up for an emergency bonfire? We could have the first cook out of the season. We have stale bag of marshmallows.
2006.05.15–Alfred, Ohio. President Bush addressed the nation tonight and suggested that we use National Guard Troops to defend our boarder with Mexico. He claims it would be a temporary measure until more boarder patrol people and technology can be put in place to do the job. That all sounds pretty good, except… it begs the question of how we all of a sudden need this. Article I (The Legislature) Section 8 (Powers of Congress) of the U.S. Constitution reads in part: “To establish an uniform Rule of Naturalization…”
Before the constitution was written, naturalization was left to the individual states. It was a mess. The framers of the constitution realized as much and made it a federal responsibility. Congress wrote the Naturalization act of 1790, another in 1795, and then in 1802 pretty well gave any “court of record” jurisdiction in such matters. A hundred years of nonsense followed and we ended up with over 5000 jurisdictions.
Congress stepped in several times after the Great War and again after World War II by creating the Immigration and Naturalization Service, which became part of Customs, and today the U.S. Boarder Patrol as part of Homeland Security. The more I looked into the history of this the more amused I became. By the way, the U.S. Coast Guard also mentions illegal immigrants as part of its mission. The bottom line goes all the way back the our Constitution. Naturalization is one of the powers of Congress. It has nothing to do with the Executive Branch. President Bush has no legal basis for calling out the guard to protect our borders that I can see. It is an extremely dangerous precedent.
2006.05.14–Morehead, Kentucky. We made a quick round trip to Morehead today and dropped of a few pieces of furniture for Nick. He seems to be doing well and I’m sure it is exciting to have his own place off campus. He had to go to work while we were shopping for a few essentials but were able to stop by and see him at work before heading home.
2006.05.13–Alfred, Ohio. Jeanie and I spent the day running errands and picking up a few items for Nick’s new place. When we got home there was a message on the answering machine. “Dave, this is your neighbor Dave. Call me when you get home.” We have known Dave for over 27 years and this was pretty out of character for him and we were not sure if he had a new number or not (he has just built a new home on the property) so I drove down the lane to see what was up. My mind was racing to all the wrong conclusions. He just wanted to invite us over. Whew! What a pleasant relief.
We had already eaten in town so we went over a little later just to visit. He had some homemade cherry schnapps and homemade basil pesto ready for us. Jeanie made some of her chocolate chip cookies (they were still hot from the oven when we walked down the lane) and I had the Chinese knots that I had picked up on one of the Islands just for this occasion. Sharon (not her real name but what we call Dave’s Chinese wife) seemed pleased with our gifts.
Dave gave us a tour of his new home. Wow! It turned out really nice. We just sat around and shot the breeze after that for a couple of hours. I asked Sharon if she had any pictures of Dave in China and she brought out a photo album. They were fascinating.I don’t recall ever drinking schnapps before so don't know what it is supposed to taste like. Dave’s was a little strong but otherwise OK. The pesto was really good. Afterwards, we walked home in the dark with a very slight drizzle of warm rain. In all, it was a very pleasant evening.
2006.05.12–Alfred, Ohio. Jeanie and I met with a couple of people who represent the State of Ohio. They want to buy some of our property in Coolville to build a road. They were both very friendly and sociable. They have a tough job that I wouldn’t want. At first glance, it appeared that they had everything pretty well covered. We were examining the map they provided us and noticed a couple of things that were quite different from what we were told when we originally purchased the land. Saying that we were mislead would be an understatement. But, that is a story for another day.
The state needs the property where the old mill building stood. Pity they didn't need it a couple of years ago. It would have saved us a lot of expense and grief when we had the Coolville Mill demolished. That is the only part of the property that is worth anything and the only place that I could conceivably build on. In effect, they need everything except the river banks. Jeanie noticed that if they take all of that it would leave us without access to our remaining land.
Oops! The state people realized that as well and the discussion quickly changed. They are going back to discuss it with Columbus. I mentioned that if they would simply abandon the old bridge everything would be fine. I really doubt that will happen. They seem intent on its destruction. I also doubt they can build the road without taking the land they had plotted out on the map. It is difficult to imagine them granting me a right of way over their property so I don’t think that will happen either. It seems to me that the only equitable way out for the state is to buy it all. It will be curious to see what they do.
GMail users. Find a note that I’ve sent you and mouse over my name. If you have me on your contact list, you can mouse over my name there as well. UPDATE: Steve tells me this has been available for a couple of weeks. Guess I’m out of the loop.
2006.05.11–Alfred, Ohio. Results from my stress test are in: normal. Do you suppose they grade on a curve? It is difficult to imagine that I passed on my first attempt without any preparation on a subject I had no prior knowledge of.
It came out in the news today that the NSA is collecting the telephone calls made by tens of millions of Americans. They say with a straight face that they aren’t spying on Americans and that everything they have done is legal. Such people scare me. Rather than running things and making the rules, they are the very people whose actions should be highly scrutinized. IMHO.
2006.05.10–Alfred, Ohio. I had a stress test today. This was a first for me. The results should be available to my doctor tomorrow. I don’t expect anything unusual. Why a stress test? I had a routine physical last week and the doctor asked if I was having any problems. A couple of months back, I WAS having an irregular heartbeat and I mentioned it to him. It has since gone away but, it is a pretty weird feeling when it happens. Weird enough that at my age, I felt it prudent to mention it to him. He figured it was nothing but ordered the test to be on the safe side.
What do they do when you have a stress test? Good question. I received the letter in the mail today AFTER I got home describing it. Here is how it went down for me. First, you are not permitted any caffeine for a full 24 hours before the test. That was the most miserable part of the whole deal for me. Second, nothing by mouth for four hours before the test. The food was easy, but the liquids was another question. I got thirsty. I’m nearly always sipping on a coffee, tea, or water when working.
Once there, they give you a shot of something that “causes no harm”. I recall the syringe was in a metal tube that they kept inside a large metal container until just before it went into my arm. Next, you sit and wait for a half hour or so for the stuff to circulate. Then they put you on a machine that takes pictures of your heart while you are resting. This takes quite a while. I may have fallen asleep in the machine. They told me not to move so I just closed my eyes for a second. :)
The lady who had me sign the papers came back and shaved two spots on my chest–dry. She said I agreed to let her do it in the fine print I had signed earlier. I called her a fibber. Next they place electrodes all over your chest and attach wires to each. You also get an automatic blood pressure cuff attached to you. I felt like a Frankenstein. Where is the camera when you need it?
You get to sit for a few minutes until they adjust the machine and get a good reading of your heart at rest. Next you stand. More readings. Now you get up on the treadmill until you reach or exceed your target heart rate. Your target heart rate is 85% of 220 minus your age. Every three minutes the elevation gets higher and the machine speeds up a notch. I only lasted for 12 minutes but had the record for the day. They give you another shot of the stuff that “causes no harm” and make you stay on the treadmill for another minute to get it to circulate. I told them to give me the shot at 11 minutes (so I could stop at 12) because I wasn’t sure if I could do the next level that would come up at 12 minutes. Well, I could do it I’m sure but I would have had to break into a trot and break a sweat. I wasn’t sure what the expectation was of me. Mind you, there are three ladies in the room the whole time you are on the treadmill. I suppose a person could have a heart attack on it so they monitor you pretty closely. Still, it is weird to have these people in the room, you with your shirt off, and walking for all you are worth. In any event, I got my old ticker up to 170 and they were only looking for 140 so everyone was happy.
After the treadmill, they put you back in the machine to take more pictures of your heart with three of the electrodes hooked up this time. Once they get those pictures, you are done and free to leave. Now… concerning the “stuff that causes no harm” it is an isotope. The letter I received AFTER I got home mentioned that there is a $100 charge if you cancel your appointment within 24 hours because of the wasted isotopes. That would have been a good thing to know BEFORE making the appointment. I can’t wait to see the bill for this adventure. I’m also looking forward to going to bed tonight and turning off the lights and seeing if anything glows.
2006.05.09–Alfred, Ohio. We had dinner with Joe and Angie at Rio Bravo tonight. It was good to see them again. We had a hilarious talk about going back to Morehead to help Nick move on Mother’s Day. We thought by being out of town it would make it a little easier on them so they wouldn’t feel obligated to come over. Angie picked right up on it and said that this was their pity dinner. That conversation ran its course and then we mentioned that we were beginning to plan a trip to visit Steve and Mary Ellen. We had actually picked the third weekend of June (after Labor Day and before the 4th of July was our thinking) if we could get a decent airfare then. Angie jumped on that one in a hurry. “Oh, I see. Visiting your other favorite son on Father’s Day. Do we get another pity dinner?” Jeanie pulled out a calendar and sure enough, that weekend would be Father’s Day. Maybe you had to be there, but I thought it was pretty funny.
2006.05.08–Alfred, Ohio. Politics is really troubling me these days. A dozen times I’ve wanted to write something but each time I find that I am just to riled up to keep a coherent thought.
2006.05.07–Morehead, Kentucky. We had lunch with Nick and then headed home. It was another beautiful day so the drive was easy.
2006.05.06–Morehead, Kentucky. Jeanie and I got to see the apartment that Nick is going to rent this year. Sweet!
We had dinner with Kate and Nick. Afterwards, Nick stopped by our hotel room and we played some cut throat 500. Nick won a game. Jeanie won a game. They decided to call it a night after that. I’m still smarting from that. :(
2006.05.05–Alfred, Ohio. Happy Cinco de Mayo to my friends from Mexico!
2006.05.04–Alfred, Ohio. Received an E-mail at work today that I thought worth sharing. It is titled “Like a Bank Account”.
2006.05.02–Alfred, Ohio. I voted today!
The automatic update of Windows notified me tonight that it had a download ready to be installed. I had read about this the other day in the press so was kind of expecting it. Rather than just clicking OK on the End User License Agreement (EULA), I decided to read it. For the first time I can ever recall, I DECLINED to accept the EULA. Here is my reasoning:
I bought this machine new from Dell. To the best of my knowledge, it is completely legal. I don’t feel compelled to prove that to anyone no more than I would desire to invite Maytag into my house and show them the sales slips for our washer and dryer. It is difficult for me to imagine any company even asking to come into my house and poke around to see if my Rolex is genuine or not. It troubles me greatly that most people will blindly install this software, in effect saying to anyone who comes knocking “come on in, look around…”. It isn’t a matter of trying to hide anything, it is simply poor manners and rude of a company to make the assumption that I may have something illegal in my possession. I’m thinking the founders of this country would find little joy in our passive attitudes towards anyone who would even suggest such an idea.
It is actually a little more nefarious than that. The EULA clears states that it is TEST software. Production software from Microsoft is sloppy. If they want testers, they can pay for my time and resources. Once installed, the software can NOT be removed. If the software determines that your machine is not legal, there appears to be no way to appeal its decision. You are cut off from Microsoft updates except for critical patches. NOTE: I expect they will soon require your machine to be validated by their own software so this will likely become a moot point if you run Windows. They will simply force it on you.
The real issue with me was item 3.
a. Consent for Internet-Based Services. The software feature described below connects to Microsoft or service provider computer systems over the Internet. In some cases, you will not receive a separate notice when they connect. You may switch off this feature or not use it. For more information about this feature, see http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=56310. By using this feature, you consent to the transmission of this information. Microsoft does not use the information to identify or contact you.
i. Computer Information. The software uses Internet protocols, which sends to Microsoft computer information, such as your Windows XP product key, PC manufacturer, operating system version, Windows XP product ID, PC BIOS information, user locale setting, and language version of Windows XP.
ii. Use of Information. We may use the computer information to improve our software and services. We may also share it with others, such as hardware and software vendors. They may use the information to improve how their products run with Microsoft software.
In my opinion, there are far to many opportunities for mischief as it is. I’ve begun watching somewhat closely when software on this machine decides it is time to call home. More often than not anymore, I turn those “features” off.
