Finders Keepers

I was returning to my car from shopping at Goodwill and saw this ring laying on the pavement by my car.  I assumed it was a cheap piece of costume jewelry but picked it up.  Inside the band I saw 14K.

While I don't think the ring is particularly expensive it is probably enough someone is sorry they lost it.  I went back into Goodwill and spoke to a manager to leave my phone number in case someone came asking about it.  He was a young squirt and informed me if I found it in the store or on the parking lot I needed to leave it with him.  I told him that was unacceptable and I turned to leave the store.  At that point he decided to take my name and number.

Many years ago, when tennis bracelets were all the rage, I was in a nice department store in Texas, and found one on the floor of a dressing room.  I knew immediately I had found a very nice piece of jewelry.  I went to the office and they too insisted I leave the bracelet but I refused.  I left my name and phone number.

Later I did receive a phone call from a woman who said her husband had given her that bracelet on their thirtieth wedding anniversary when they were living in Germany.

I have not received a call about this ring and did not really expect to as there are a number of stores that use that parking lot.  I wish the person who lost it had it back.  It is doubtful I will ever wear it.

Fear In My Town

Today I read in The Oregonian the Crescent Islamic Montessori School's board of directors recently voted to remove a vinyl banner announcing the school was "now enrolling" and a six foot sign fixed to the front of the building.  Each contained a logo of a yellow crescent moon above a blue dome and a single word that sparked concern from parents: "Islamic."

This happened shortly after the shootings  in San Bernardino.  Parents began voicing concern for the safety of their children.  Would such a sign invite a backlash?

Frankly I was stunned.  How could that be?  This is a progressive thinking area of the country.

I understand that I would not be able to put up a sign advertising a Christian school in an Islamic controlled country.  I get that.  However, America is not controlled by religion.  America offers freedom of religion.

Next I wondered what I would do if I were younger and had a child I wanted to enroll in a Montessori school?  Would I enroll my child in this school where they would learn Arabic and time would be taken for Islamic prayers?  Likely not.

What if I were Baptist, would I enroll my child in a Catholic school to be exposed to Catholic instruction?  If I were Catholic would I enroll my child in a Baptist school knowing the child would be required to attend chapel services?  Likely not.

I'll take care of my child's faith instruction.  That's too important to leave to others.  I would prefer there be no religion affiliated schools for children in their formative years.  That should be done by parents.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. That doesn't mean I'm not sad these parents in my community felt it necessary to remove the sign bearing a religious symbol and the word Islamic from their school.

Constant Companion

Meet my constant companion.  I've never experienced an addiction quite like this one.  It's profound.

Oddly I seldom ever use it as a phone (I hate phones). If it rang I wouldn't know how to answer it. I use it occasionally to call home to check on Bob, and I have to think about it when I do that.

I have the iPhone 6 which has a bigger screen.  Absolutely love it.  Highly recommend it.

1)  The camera is great and easy to use.

2). I use the Blogger app to post to my blog.  The only thing I haven't found a way to do is attach a link.  If I need to use a link I write my post on my phone and use the desktop computer to add the link. 

3). Read books using the Kindle app.

4). Listen to books using the Audible app.

5).  Listen to library audible books using the OverDrive app.

6). Do banking through my bank's app.

7). Facebook.

8). Twitter.

9). Instagram.

10) Read blogs.

11) Variety of news apps.

12) Jigsaw Puzzle app.

13) WordSearch app.

14) Simplenote app where I keep all our medical information, medical history, list of surgeries, list of prescription and OTC drugs, and the names and phone numbers of all the doctors we see. Very handy for medical appointments.

15) Pages app that allows me to do word processing.  I wrote two letters just the other day.  Don't write a lot of letters anymore.

16) Pinterest 

17) Email 

18) YouTube app

19) Podcasts app

20) Text, I'm in love with texting.

21) NASA TV app

22) Calculator

23) Glucose Recorder app for tracking my glucose counts.

24) MyFitnessPal app for tracking calories and carbs.

25) Garden app for identifying flowers, plants and butterflies. I learned about this app from Kay at Musings.

26) Panda app for music

27) TuneIn app for radio

I do not use it for my calendar.  I'm hanging on to my paper calendar.

I also have a mini iPad that I use some but not a lot.

I'd like to know what you use on your phone that I have not listed.  I'm always looking for new apps.

Falling In Mud

I learn something new almost daily.  This week I learned if you are going to fall, do it in mud.  I have a large pot off my patio that I wanted to move.  I even made a plan for achieving this goal.

I have this pair of pink Crocs I keep for the purpose of walking in mud (I live in Oregon folks).  I unlocked the patio storage and slipped on my mud walkers.

While there I removed our handy-dandy fold up dolly and called Bob to the patio for instructions.  He was to stay on the patio in charge of the dolly.  I, in my mud walkers, would get the pot and bring it to Bob and the dolly.  Got that?

Good to go then, I squished out to where the pot was located and lifted it.  My brain, my body, and the pot turned to go back to the patio.  My feet did not make the turn, my mud walkers were suction stuck in the mud.  Not good.  Not in the plan.

I began falling and after doing that for a while I landed flat on my back in the mud, as flat as is possible to be.  I could have made mud angels rather than snow angels.  Fortunately the pot landed to my side but on its side.

Bob, watching this from the patio, panicked and came to me wearing his good shoes.  Not good.  Not in the plan.  By this time I am laughing because I knew I was not hurt, and I knew getting up was going to be a problem.  I asked Bob to stand by me and I used him like a tree to support myself getting up.

I had to walk in my sock feet back to the patio and remove my socks before I could go in the house.  It was watery mud.  The back of my clothes were soaked through and through.  I stripped, changed clothes,  and headed for the washer.  Bob managed to set the pot up right and rolled it back to its original place, got my shoes unstuck, and headed for the patio.  He assumed the role of shoe washer.

Sometimes plans just do not work out.  We will give that plan another try about July or August.

Phones Annoy Me

This thing sits on a table by my chair to annoy me.  It has no respect for my privacy. I am greatly annoyed by it.

At our house the phone ringing means everything comes to a halt, you climb over furniture, walk over people, or whatever, but you must answer that ringing phone.  Bob doesn't hear so well so I'm the primary one to answer the phone.  I don't agree that the world has to stop just because the phone is ringing.

If I'm listening to a book and I see the caller ID is unknown to me I do not answer it.  That means Bob will appear by my chair in a matter of seconds to say, "Who was that?"  I then have to remove my ear buds to explain why I did not answer.  He picks the phone up then to get the number and heads off to the computer to see if he can find who called and why they called.  That annoys me beyond belief. 

Our son and his wife give the phone no respect at all.  Call their number and it is highly unlikely they will answer.  The problem is they are very bad about not listening to voicemail.  That annoyed me until he finally got an iPhone.  Now I just text him and quickly get a response, problem solved.

Our daughter in Texas is a professional woman and very busy.  More times than not I call at a bad time.  Texting is the way to go with her also.  Usually on the week-end I get a phone call from her when she has some time to visit. 

A sister-in-law checks on all incoming calls and I don't mind that.  I do mind that she then reports to me who was calling, what they wanted, and what she is going to do about the situation.  By that time I have forgotten what we were talking about.

By the way, do not call me on my cell phone as I have never learned to answer it.  Text messages are always welcome.  Now I just have to wait until the world catches up.

Medical Contact Center

It seems the harder I try the behinder I get in keeping up with new developments in the world of medicine.  This morning I picked up a copy of The Hillsboro Tribune, a local paper I seldom stop to read.  This article jumped off the page, a 400-employee 'contact center' is coming to my town.

It seems Kaiser Permanente is responsible for this facility that will house all of the region's appointing and advice nurse services, as well as a physician-led virtual care team.  That's a lot of stuff.

They seem to think bringing all these services together in one facility will give their members a seamless experience whether they are calling for an appointment, need to talk to a nurse, or schedule a virtual visit with a physician.

I was most interested in how these virtual visits with a physician will take place.  It seems an ambulance service will dispatch paramedics for nonemergency visits to the patient's home where the paramedic will facilitate video consultation with the physician stationed at the contact center.

No in-person services will be provided through this center.  If you wish to speak face-to-face with someone you will still need to visit a medical facility.

First I have heard of such a thing.  Makes my brain spin.  What are the people up the chain of command at Kaiser Permanente up to with such a service? No doubt they expect it to bring down medical costs.

Now about that virtual visit with a physician, what do you think that will cost?  Doesn't sound cheap to me.  Is that cheaper than an ER visit?  Better than an ER visit?

We don't have coverage with Kaiser Permanente but I think it is kind of everything in one package.  This will no doubt work for them.  Would it work for us with our insurance coverage, I do not know. I question if it would pay for a virtual visit with a physician but maybe so.

Keep your eyes open, change is happening all around us.  What do you think of this kind of center?

Smelly Socks

How often do you wash your socks?  An article on FiveThirtyEight caught my eye.

The article makes the case for washing your socks each time you wear them.  I would agree if you're wearing cotton socks.  I disagree if they are wool. I knit a lot of wool socks, and trust me, they do not need to be washed after a single wearing.

Recommendations for other clothing mentioned were; pajamas (3-4 wears); bras (2-3 wears); jeans (3 wears).  I can live with that.  Americans probably wash their clothes more often than necessary anyway because of the convenience of doing laundry.

As a child I remember tales of an old lady who wore her dress right side out for a week, then turned it wrong side out and wore it another week.  I have known people who turned their sheets after a week and put the foot part of the sheets at the head.  I do not do that.

Astronauts on the International Space Station have no means to wash their clothes.  They wear socks, underwear, and exercise clothing a week and toss them.  They wear shirts about two weeks and pants a month before tossing them.  In weightlessness clothing doesn't cling to the body.

I think I pass the smell test so I'll just keep doing what I've been doing. How about you?

Obamacare Meetings

A few months ago I received a phone call asking me to meet with a group of medical providers, hospital staff, and patients to discuss the Affordable Care Act's requirements and how they were being implemented by our community hospital.

As you can imagine I found that exciting and it was more fun than I could ever have imagined.  We meet every three months to discuss different issues and hear a report on the progress made on prior issues we've discussed.

This is education in the fast lane for me.  It gives me a chance to see the Affordable Care Act through the eyes of the hospital and what they're doing to meet the requirements.  Very interesting.

I get to see through the eyes of clinic and hospital staff the issues they're dealing with every day.  Many of those issues have nothing to do with the Affordable Care Act but the discussion then turns to anything in the Affordable Care Act that might help in managing those issues.

And, I get to hear other patients experiences, some good and some bad.

In March we will discuss patient medications.  Oh my, what a nightmare.  I can promise you no solutions will come from that meeting but we'll gnaw around on the topic for a while.

The Affordable Care Act is an enormous piece of legislation with so many pieces it would be impossible to put the puzzle together to see the whole picture.  I know of no one who thought this legislation was all that it needed to be at the time it became law.  It's a working piece that will hopefully become better with time.

It's in everyone's best interest if we work together to make healthcare work in this country.  When I see congress voting as many as fifty times to repeal this legislation I get angry.  The reason I get angry is these people know when they call these votes that their vote will be vetoed by the president and they don't have the votes to override his veto.  Wouldn't it be smarter to spend their time looking for ways to make the current legislation work better?  Healthcare should not carry a political party label.

PaceMaker Time

Bob had needed an engine tune-up for some time but was resistant.  The time came that even he was ready to do something so in August a pacemaker was installed.

It was a day surgery procedure which still amazes me.

He came home with this transmitter that sits on his bedside table.  Sometime during the night it wakes up and silently 'talks' to his pacemaker.  If all is normal it goes back to sleep.  If it detects any unusual activity has occurred it sends a report to the cardiologist and we get a phone call.

It has sent a report only one time and we did get a phone call.  For some unknown reason he had eight heart beats that were too fast.

For years Bob's cardiologist did the pacemaker procedure himself when it was needed.  But times have changed and this group of cardiologists now refer their patients to a heart rhythm speciality group of doctors.  Bob wasn't happy because he likes one doctor to do everything.  I thought it was a smart move for everyone involved.  I was pleased.

I've long thought medicine needed to get out of the contest of every hospital and clinic having the most expensive equipment and stop trying to top each other.  It's much cheaper to do it this way.  Our referral was to a group of heart rhythm consultants at a hospital in Portland.  Oddly enough we live about the same distance between our hospital in Hillsboro and the one in Portland.  It also troubled Bob to have to use a different hospital.  So be it, we were off to see what these new docs had to say.  I thought it was a much preferred way to do things.  These doctors deal exclusively with heart rhythm issues and the procedures involved.  Lots more education and practice.

Like many patients Bob has conflicting ailments.  He has a hematology problem that conflicts with his heart problems.  He always has a low platelet count and he also needs to take aspirin and Coumadin/Warfarin. I was anxious to see what we would need to do about these medications.  Imagine my surprise when the surgeon said to do nothing, they do not take patients off blood thinners to put in a pacemaker and his low platelet count was still high enough he didn't need medical intervention before surgery.  Can you believe that?  Wow.

We were released after the procedure and told to see our regular cardiologist in a week.  We'll probably never see those doctors again unless he develops a pacemaker problem.

I wish I could say all this process has been without anxiety but that would not be true.

But at last we're back to something we can live with.  At last we can say he's feeling better than before he received the pacemaker.

He's driving some again; able to go to the grocery store alone; walks up to get the mail; and in general has more energy.

Marijuana/Cannabis

Is marijuana legal in your state?  If not you can be sure it is going to be, the ball is rolling and picking up speed.

It is now legal in Oregon.  I seldom spend as much time thinking about my vote as I did on this issue.  I went back and forth several times.  In the end I voted no.  I suppose I could not get past my life long opinions.  I also felt the country had not handled alcohol well so why legalize another drug for people to abuse.  Perhaps I was wrong.  

Our teenage grandson was opposed but I suspect our son voted for it.

With grandson in Japan for the month of January our son decided it was a safe time that he could check out the marijuana/cannabis scene without Caleb being any the wiser.

When he began talking openly to me about this I was taken aback.  My first thought was "You don't talk to your mother about things like this."  I also thought "What happened, I raised you different than this."

Then my thoughts went back to his teenage years and the times he had been my accomplice doing things my conservative religion thought was sinful but I wanted to see for myself.  The chickens had come home to roost.

He visited a store near their neighborhood that he found to be very clean and pleasant.  Entry was into an open space with no furniture.  A window, like a ticket window, was on one wall.  You provided the needed documentation there and then waited your turn to be served.  Only three customers were served at a time, an employee always present.  Customers were taken through a door into a room that contained all the products available.

He had the 'Leafly' app on his phone to assist him in deciding what to purchase.  These tubes each contained a cigarette, a very stinky one at that.  They were $12 a piece.

The state of Oregon does not have a sales tax but there's a 25% state tax on recreational marijuana/cannabis, with no tax on medical.

This operation is up on wobbly legs at the moment.  The state doesn't quite know what to do about all that's involved and is scrambling to tie up all the loose ends.  Medical  marijuana has been around a long time but legal recreational marijuana is a new beast to be tamed.

Marijuana/Cannabis grows very well in this part of the country.  Before now it's been done pretty much undercover and out of sight.

Now growers are going to be coming out in the open and it won't be without pain for either side of the issue.  Just this morning I read this article Pot-growing neighbors newest addition to farm community.

This is going to be a troublesome issue at the state and local level for years to come.

Big Box Stores

Anyone who knows me knows I hate big box stores.  I'm very vocal on this issue and can get loud and ugly if pushed on the subject.  I've nursed this prejudice since the day I became a military spouse in 1962.

In those long ago days we did our grocery shopping at the military facility's commissary.  I hated every minute I spent there.  They were big cavernous buildings, enormous warehouses, and nothing had been done to enhance your shopping experience.  They stocked food with large families in mind.  

Finally the day came when Bob retired and I could leave commissary shopping behind, I thought.  After 20 years military blood flowed in Bob's veins.  He never recovered.  We had many a battle over whether to shop in the neighborhood or travel to a military facility to shop at the commissary.  That's when Bob became the family grocery shopper.  I refused to endure commissary shopping anymore.

When we moved to Oregon I was delighted to find there were no military facilities in the state large enough to have a commissary.  Life was good for a few years & then someone blinked & Costco appeared.  My goose was cooked.

Costco is the closest thing Bob's found in Oregon to shopping on a military facility.  He will no longer buy gas anywhere but Costco.  Again the battle was on over grocery shopping.  Keep in mind there are now only two in this household, and we're getting older by the day.  There's also the matter of freezer space.  We're apartment dwellers these days & have only the freezer space in our refrigerator.

Only one person in our household eats waffles and it's not me.

Where do you store 72 waffles?

But "that's the only size box they had" he says.

Laundry detergent is another item.  

This container is good for 126 loads of laundry and there are only two of us.

He buys paper towels and toilet tissue in bundles the size of a Volkswagon bus.

How long do you think it will take us to use 500 sandwich bags?

When his time comes to go I'm cremating the Costco card with him.

Finding A New Doctor

When our Doctor changed his practice to concierge medicine we were left to find a new family practice/internal medicine physician.  I cannot begin to tell you how much I dislike the process of finding a new doctor.

I had had read doctors in private practice can refuse to see Medicare patients but hospitals cannot.  I was pretty burned by our experience and decided it would not be wise to choose another doctor in private practice.

The hospital in our community owns several clinics in the area.  I decided our safest bet would be to choose a doctor in one of those clinics. I don't know how these doctors are paid but I'm guessing they are paid a salary by the hospital.

Choosing a doctor in a hospital owned clinic meant we would likely be getting a different doctor from time to time as doctors entered and left hospital employment. 

It also meant chances were greater we would see a doctor of a different ethnicity than our own.  That's sometimes problematic for Bob.  He doesn't hear well and accents can be difficult.  The other thing we have to consider is humor.  Bob is a tease and humor doesn't always translate well.

Bob's hematologist is married to a doctor working in one of the hospital owned clinics.  I figured she was not likely to move as his speciality practice is well established.  She is Vietnamese.

She works great for me but was not as good a fit for Bob.  Eventually we switched him to a doctor with a geriatrics speciality.  She is from Slovenia. That situation seems to be working well.

Our community hospital also has some urgent care clinics.  One is located near us and I've used it a few times.  It's very nice to walk in and all your information already be in the computer.  All you need to do is have a seat and wait your turn.

I feel good about our decision to choose a hospital owned clinic.

Concierge Medicine

I noticed our family practice doctor had become frustrated and angry with the financial side of medicine in this country.  At the time I didn't think too much about that but I should have stopped right there and changed physicians.

We liked this young man, or at least we had at one time.  It became apparent once he went into private practice he was not capable of managing an office.  He began to blame others for his problems.  He felt he had been misled into family practice medicine when specialists were making a lot more money than he was seeing in his practice.  He was angry about Medicare, and insurance companies in general.

In time I received a phone call from his office inquiring if we would be interested in retainer fee/membership medicine.  Next came the letter informing us our doctor was changing his practice to this kind of medicine.

The thing that quickly grabbed my attention was he would no longer accept any forms of insurance.  Medicare/Medicaid claims cannot be filed by the patient so even if we'd been inclined to stay with his practice that alone would have been a deal breaker.

For a retainer fee he would be offering some services each year but anything above that the patient would pay up front and file their own insurance.

Knowing this young doctor I knew he was all about a more lucrative practice for himself but I also knew he preferred to practice preventive medicine.  He did not enjoy treating chronic conditions.

While I have no doubt the frustration level among doctors is high over insurance and Medicare I did not see the masses rushing to concierge medicine.  Doctors in our medical community were puzzled over our doctor's decision.

At this point I lost respect for our doctor.  I also felt bad for him because I felt his choices were going to disappoint him and lead to more anger and frustration.

If his choice worked he would have set up the following things:

1) Set in motion a two-tiered system that favored the wealthy.
2) He would no longer see the elderly or the poor as he would not accept Medicare/Medicaid.
3) His practice would be smaller allowing the time needed to care for his retainer patients.
4) He would not see patients with chronic illnesses as they must rely on insurance.  Why go to him and have to file your own when doctors' offices all over town file insurance for you?

We're now some two years out from all this.  His practice has gone bankrupt and my understanding is he's left the area.

My next post will be about choosing a new doctor.

Javi

I'd like to introduce you to Javi ("Ha vee").  I'm not sure how she came to my attention but I've been following her progress on Facebook and Instagram.

Birds in stressful or neglected situations sometimes 'over preen' by pulling out their feathers.  She is now living at the Tallgrass Parrot Sanctuary.

It's a little cool to be featherless so some thoughtful soul came up with a sweater for her.  I think it's likely she will never have full plumage again.  Only time will tell.

Every girl needs a Christmas sweater.  The ring on her leg indicates she hatched in 1996.

I've taken these photos from Facebook and Instagram.  You will find her story interesting.

Aging Eyes

When I was about six years old both my parents came home wearing new glasses.  I was impressed and made wearing glasses one of my life goals.

By the time I reached forty wearing glasses was no longer one of my goals in life but they began printing paper items in smaller fonts and I was forced to take a look at non-prescription reading glasses. I loved them.  I had them in many colors and in every room in the house.  I could push them up into my hair when not in use.

Then things got serious, no more reading glasses, it was trifocals time.  For the next thirty or so years I wore those, and they were not nearly as fun as wearing reading glasses.

Eventually aging eyes caught up with me and it was time for cataract surgery.  I learned if I paid the $1,000 Medicare would not pay on a lens to correct my astigmatism I could almost certainly go back to non-prescription reading glasses.  I was excited.

I had myself a good time at the $1 store in those early days after surgery.

Then I became more selective.  I like the very narrow ones. I was no longer shopping at the $1 store.

Then it was on to some online shopping.

The difference these days is I can no longer remember where I laid my glasses and my hair's now too thin to hold them if I push them on top my head.  I lost a pair I'd stuck in a vest pocket.  I've now ordered this item to wear when I leave the house that will hopefully keep my glasses safe when not on my face.

I've also realized it's too much effort to keep up with multiple pairs of glasses.  Most of these are now relaxing in a drawer waiting for the opportunity to be passed on to someone else having cataract surgery.
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A fun article: Jon Favreau, Speechwriter

Daily Living

Life is pretty slow these days for the Hillins.  Oddly enough I'm finding that the more free time I have the more protective I am of it.

Both of us are morning people. For years the routine was coffee & the morning paper but these days the paper is only delivered about four days a week.  Bob still enjoys the puzzles.  I've taken a pass on the paper and seldom look at it anymore.

My first stop of the morning is Twitter.  I don't tweet but do find it a good way to learn about interesting articles without having to subscribe to a variety of newspapers and magazines.  This morning I saw it was time for a David Brooks column, The Brutalism of Ted Cruz.

Also used a link on Twitter to listen to Jon Favreau describe what it takes to write a SOTU address.  Jon is a former speech writer to President Obama and wrote five of these addresses.  That was a fun tidbit.

Another link was to Huffington Post to read How Obama Came To Hate The State Of The Union Address

Then it was on to Facebook to read a National Review article Listening to Four Republican Candidates.

From there it was on to Instagram and checking my email.

I text both our children every morning so they know we're up and moving.

I made a phone call to Bob's half sister in Texas who lost her husband about two weeks ago.  Figured it was easier for me to take care of that than it would be to nag Bob into making that call.

Received a phone call from another sister-in-law in Texas.  That took some time, she's grieving the loss of Bob's twin brother and she wanted to discuss health issues.

That took most of my morning.  I'm much sharper in the mornings so I jealously guard that time.  I turn to mush by 6:00 p.m.  

Bargain Pencils

I do not like to shop in stores as I'm easily distracted and prone to making spur of the moment purchases I later regret.

Recently in an office supply store there was a small flurry of excited activity in a check out line.  Always curious I soon discovered they were selling boxes of 144 pencils  for $1.57.  Wow, what a bargain.

I personally like using a #2 wood pencil and assumed the rest of the world did as well.  I could share this great bargain with friends and family I thought.

Back at home reality began to set in, what on earth was an old woman going to do with 144 unsharpened pencils? I soon discovered friends and family were not excited about #2 pencils.  They were even less excited about unsharpened pencils.

I've been contemplating a way to get rid of these pencils.  I thought about handing out a few of them to the homeless I see asking for help at different intersections.  I decided they would have no appreciation for such a donation, especially if they were unsharpened.  I have no desire to sharpen 144 pencils. Besides, they prefer cash to pencils.

Next I considered whittling them into toothpicks.  That seems drastic and as boring as shelling pecans.  At least you have a little reward for your effort when you shell pecans.  There's no reward to whittling pencils.  Besides, who wants a toothpick with yellow paint on it?

So far I've found no one interested in a game of pick-up-sticks using #2 pencils.

I think I'm stuck with this bargain.  Come summer I'll look for a store collecting school supplies and see if perhaps I can drop this box of pencils into their collection container.  Do schools even use #2 pencils anymore?

Shopping online is much better for me.

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Finished knitting a pair of socks using Opal sock yarn.

Misinformed or Uninformed

Is it better to be misinformed or uninformed, that is the question? I'd never given this any thought until recently when I begin to read statements about Mr. Trump's supporters being misinformed, not uninformed.  Think about that for a minute.

I read an interesting article on FiveThirtyEight that gave me pause for thought.  "Uninformed citizens don't have any information at all, while those who are misinformed have information that conflicts with the best evidence and expert opinion.  In the U.S., the most misinformed citizens tend to be the most confident in their views and are also the strongest partisans.  These folks fill the gaps in their knowledge base by using their existing belief systems.  Once these inferences are stored into memory, they become ""indistinguishable from hard data.""

It seems to me the misinformed mistakenly believe speaking louder makes their argument more credible. 

Does this mean there are times when "ignorance is bliss?"

The Occupation

I refuse to use pictures and names that would give further publicity to the militants' occupation of the federal Malheur National Wildlife Refuge building near Burns, OR.  I only know what I've read in our local paper, 'The Oregonian,' which I think I can condense into three paragraphs.

There was an incident that triggered a protest march, a peaceful, positive, American thing to do in such a situation. That march was made up of local citizens and some militants from around the country.

The outside militants of course were not satisfied with only a march and went on to occupy the federal building.  They have refused to leave until ranchers, farmers and other private land owners have gotten full control of the tens of thousands of acres of federally protected lands.

It appears the militants failed to do their homework before leaving their homes in other states.  This land cannot be given 'back' because it was never owned by the state of Oregon.  These lands were part of the agreement the United States offered Oregan when it became a state in 1859.  You can't give 'back' something you never owned.

Of course none of this matters to the militants, they're seeking trouble not truth.

Too Much

It's Christmas Eve morning and the coffee pot quits.  While those around me move into a state of emergency I'm remembering an earlier time when I warned Mr. Fixer-Upper we should get a new one as ours was, like us, perking awfully slow.  I was ignored.

Daughter is visiting so she's quick to begin a search on her iPad to find the nearest source of a new one.  Quickly she learns KEURIG coffee makers are apparently a popular gift this season.  The model we normally buy is sold out in stores all around us.  Only the more expensive models are available.  Soon she and Mr. Fixer-Upper are out the door to purchase a new one.

Soon I receive a phone call telling me black is sold out and would I prefer red or pearl.  This is an impressive piece of equipment but do we need all those bells and whistles?  I think not.

I'm thinking we could have avoided the extra expense, and a lot of effort, if Mr. Fixer-Upper-Upper had listened to me that day in November when I mentioned it was time to buy a new coffee maker.

Guns & Anger

We don't get a lot of snow so this little bit was welcome.  Our son took this photo in downtown Portland over the week-end.

This morning President Obama announced some executive actions he is taking to hopefully reduce gun violence in this country given Congress lack of action.  I support any effort to try to bring common sense to this issue.  I hope his efforts help.

I'm appalled by how vile this issue became once politics arrived on the scene.

I also know there's only one thing that will make a significant difference, personal responsibility.  To see real progress each person much stop and think before they speak words of anger  or enter such language on social media.  A person hanging onto the edge of the world by their fingernails may hear or read that angry language and be prompted to commit unspeakable acts.

We must encourage personal responsibility.