Pawprints From Space

Concluding the week with good friends, great wine and wonderful jazz is always good. The Wine & Jazz Fridays at the City Club are great. Most of the time the dinners following are even better when the conversation gets silly, raunchy at times and even political... but always enjoyable. It was a long month this week for no apparent reason. It just was. Not much to be done about that but there you are and it is finally done so moving on. Like basketball (only sport I ever did well at in gym) but not really following the NCAA tournament. Shame that OSU lost tonight nonetheless. Hopeful that Lima Central Catholic will win at the state championship tomorrow. Was invited to attend but already over booked and somehow need to make the desert for the dinner with friends tomorrow night. These chocolate/vanilla cream cheese pie things with raspberry sauce do not make themselves you know. Do enjoy the company of a certain gentleman even if he did go home first (early?) tonight but then...

Fifteen (15) years ago on March 11, 1995 I was in Fort Worth Texas feeling very agitated and not knowing why. I needed to go home, I needed to go home right away I just knew it. But my flight wasn't until the following morning. I kept calling home and got no answer, over and over. Finally in the evening I called my in-laws thinking he might have gone there for dinner, they hadn't seem him all day nor heard from him either. The news came several hours later from his little sister (she was gone too a short time afterwards) when she called to tell me he was gone and that his dad had gone to find him and did find him in the bathroom. He had fallen in the tub and drowned. Ironic because one of the few fights we had (repeatedly) was over the need to use a bath mat in the tub so a person would not slip and fall. I was for it, he thought it unnecessary. You see, martial artists don't need bath mats. Especially those in their mid-thirties and in great shape. Clearly he was wrong...

There are eighteen (18) days until the First Day of Spring on March 20th. I saw a robin over the weekend in my crabapple tree (Rumba saw it first and went nuts, so I had to check it out). The piles of snow are growing shorter and there is a circle devoid of snow around the base of the oak tree. The grass isn't exactly "green" but it isn't totally brown either. Squirrels are frolicking about and stealing food from the bird feeders again. The seed catalogs have been arriving in the mail almost non-stop which makes me dream of seedlings and sunshine. How to start seeds in a house with a high-energy kitten? There are gardens sleeping under the snow. Garden plots that need to be cleaned and re-arranged - plants needs thinning out, some need to be removed altogether and moved to areas where they might do better, the veggie bed needs to be raised another level (it wasn't deep enough last year the roots didn't developed as they should have)... so much to do. So ...

All right I feel compelled to jump in here on behalf of Mother Earth and say a few words about Global Warming. There are record snowfalls in the eastern part of the U.S.; heavy rains out west and generally odd weather in between... heck they are calling for snow in Mobile Alabama!! So naturally folks are jumping up and down and yelling that this is further proof that Global Warming is a hoax. So here's a look at some of the science (thanks to the Union of Concerned Scientists): "Over the last 25 years, Earth’s global average temperature has been increasing at more than twice the rate of the last century. In fact, nine of the warmest years on record have occurred in just the last 10 years! Scientists from NASA and other research institutions routinely collect temperature data from around the world and have records of the Earth’s average temperature going back to the 1880s, when temperatures were first recorded. The data shows that, globally, the last decade has been the war...

Okay, in a country where we have the highest unemployment we've seen in a long time, folks who can't get loans for their small businesses let alone their homes and workers who are lucky to get any kind of raise this year ... we have a financial sector completely disconnected from reality. The massive banks dubbed "too big to fail" by the Bush Administration and the fools in Congress who followed them and giving raises and bonuses of head-shaking proportions. Bank of America is increasing salaries and bonuses by 31% for 2009 (over 2008 numbers) that's an average income for employees of $235,193. JP Morgan has increase salaries and bonuses by 22% for 2009 (over 2008 numbers) an average income of $378,600. Goldman Sachs takes the cake though with average income for 2009 after increases and bonuses of $498,246!! Oh we're supposed to not pay attention to Goldman's payouts because they also managed to give $500 million to charity in 2009. Smoke and mir...

Well there goes the "super majority" for the Democrats in the Senate. Let this be a lesson to those seeking election or re-election in November. How to lose an election when you shouldn't have... 1. Be over-confident 2. Be extremely negative in your ads (there's a fine line on how to make this work) 3. Pay absolutely no attention to the techniques and tactics that allowed your predecessor to hold on to the seat for 40 years-ish 4. Get out there and talk to the people!! 5. If it is a state-wide election, you have to campaign state-wide and IN PERSON 6. Don't expect your party's leader to "fix it" for you at the last minute 7. Don't assume that since the seat has been in your party's hands for 40 odd years it'll stay that way "just because" 8. Do NOT insult your constituency's favorite sports team and/or anyone who plays for that team just because he/she is supporting your opponent - you are not campaigning a...

This week our town lost a great, classy eatery to fire. The cause remains unknown and possibly suspicious, persons of interest are being sought, no one knows what to do next. The neighborhood hung out there on Fridays - I didn't go very often but it was enjoyable to go. To hang out with what a co-worker calls "the beautiful people", eat some really great food and enjoy some wonderful wine. The Bistro was a symbol. A symbol of investment in the downtown of an old, tired city. It showed what one could do with an old building and some loving care. The exposed brick, the old glass, the 100+ year old bar... this was a place with character to spare. It was a gathering place, a place you brought out-of-town guests to, where you wined and dined prospective clients, where you stopped for some dessert and coffee after a show at the Civic Center or dinner before the symphony. It added class to Main Street. The people were warm and wonderful too, chatting with the folks beh...

Too much negative energy is exhausting. And Tuesday night it was all negativity all the time. I'm still tired. Holding grudges, being spiteful, engaging in the whole us vs. them game... and this is among a group of people who all belong to the same organization. Local political stupidity. The old you're with us or against us mentality and if you haven't been one of them your entire life woe be unto you! Idiots. If we fight among ourselves we accomplish nothing. There is a new chairperson (okay it has been a year-ish but new enough) who wants to introduce change slowly, carefully and thus there is ridicule from those who want things fixed right now. The reason given is they have spent years "kissing ass" and are fed up and the new guy is supposed to be able to fix everything immediately. There are parallels to the way people are reacting to Obama's lack of widespread, immediate sweeping change in less than a year although this isn't a national situation her...

Okay, I am concerned. Not about the "public option", that seems dead for now at least so we won't go on and on about that (although I could so don't get me started). I am concerned about this concept of a "Cadillac plan". As if the sheer cost of one's insurance coverage determines whether or not it is full of "bells and whistles". And who defines "Cadillac" anyway? Apparently the US Senate. The cost of an insurance plan is in part determined by the size and makeup of the group you're in. In the case of my employer we are a small group (less than 50) with several high-risk personnel on the plan. This drives up the cost of the plan. We have a decent plan but it is an HSA plan meaning it has a very high deductible. Example the individual deductible is $5,000.00. The plan's cost (so far as I know) puts it above the amount threshold that qualifies for "Cadillac" status. Trust me, this is NOT a Cadillac plan. It is pretty ...

Okay, I'm a little confused and slightly annoyed. All this brouhaha over Mr. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab and his underwear bomb (there are plenty of jokes in this situation but at least for now I am not going there)... let's step back a bit here and look at some details at least as I understand them: 1. The TSA was created after September 11th - during the Bush Administration; 2. The Terrorist Database, Watch List and No Fly List were all part of the September 11th response - during the Bush Administration; 3. The boy boarded the plane in Amsterdam (NOT at an American airport where we have control over the security process), was screened and went through security in Amsterdam - they didn't use a full body scanner and the normal scans showed nothing; no dogs were used to sniff out anything odd because this was not part of the normal procedure - body scans over there are possible but were on that day voluntary (they are now going to be mandatory it appears at least for flights ...

Funny thing about sinus trouble... there are times when it isn't pain that makes you feel odd it is a pressure that makes you feel a bit drunk, the difficulty breathing that adds a light-headedness. And to think people probably pay great sums of money to achieve this floating strangeness. Add that sensation to the year coming to a close AND toss in the fact that New Year's Eve offers up a blue moon this year and you've got a tendency to ramble, wax philosophical and wonder where the "funny" brownies went. The year in review... it began with excitement, a new president and a sense of hope and change. Eventually the economy did begin to turn somewhat and the stock market seems intent on ending the year on a positive note (of course I have just now jinxed it). Throughout the year there were friends who dealt with awful health problems, the fun of a high school reunion, the joy of taking in a wonderful abandoned kitten, great book club reads, not nearly enough time to...

We are now a mere week away from the new year. Lower case so as not to be confused with the "holiday" of New Year's Day. Strikes me funny at times that we celebrate the end of the year when the calendar itself was created by human beings, revised a number of times over the centuries and different cultures actually follow different calendars... so which is the REAL day the new year begins? Should it matter? I say no it shouldn't because why should we limit ourselves to resolutions, new beginnings, promises and hope for the future to one arbitrary point in time? Couldn't we be hopeful and determined to make our lives (and ourselves) better for more than one day? Or maybe two? Be honest how often do your resolutions last longer than that? How about we attempt to do this, to have an attitude of hope all year long? Yes! Let's endeavor to do that.... let's decide to be positive and hopeful and determined to be better people every single day. Adopt the ancient cu...

For some odd reason I was up at 5:00 a.m. for those who know me even only slightly you know this is beyond rare... we had a guy in college who touched off odd happenings and disasters when he got up too early (e.g. one day when he got up before 8 a.m. the Pope was shot) hopefully nothing like that will happen today. It wasn't kitty craziness that got me out of bed today, just a general sense of "eh" and the need for more cold medicine. Hitting the paper I saw where the State Legislature has decided (at least in the Senate) not to enact the latest round of scheduled income tax cuts for 2010. Meaning that the taxes in 2010 stay the same as 2009. Status quo. No change. The same. But when you listen to the Republicans and our local loony paper they are screaming that this is a tax increase, OMG your taxes are going up! Four words: No. They. Are. Not. Not going down is not the same as going up. And this is not a matter of perspective, this is fact. Q: Are taxes increasing? A: ...

Here were are about a week from Christmas and yours truly - Ms. Ultra-Organized - has not finished shopping, has not put up the tree and has barely decorated. What decorations I did put up were torn up by the high winds of a week ago. Hopefully tomorrow I can repair the damage. Despite the insanity, I have had time to ponder. Thanks to a conversation at book club last night, I have been pondering religion, faith and spirituality. These are not all synonyms you know. Religion is an organized belief system, it has traditions and structure. Faith is highly personal and hard to define - something you have or you don't. Something you can find and lose several times in the course of your life. Spirituality is more of a sense of being, a connection to something greater than the self, those rare moments of awe... this is where the soul lives. A person could be highly spiritual and yet not participate in an organized religion. Could be a profound and "deep" person of great compass...

Okay, I need $200,000. Not to pay medical bills or pay off loans or credit cards... okay I could use it for that too but that's not the urgent need of the moment. I need $200,000 to go into space. Yup... space. Okay near Earth orbit, the edge of space but you get the idea: SPACE!!! ME!!!! The NASA junkie, the kid who loves all things to do with space, astronomy, etc. For a mere $200,000 Virgin Galactic will take you into space. Around 300 people have already plunked down the cost of the ticket to reserve their seats. Now this would make a fabulous birthday present people... that big one is coming up in 2011. HINT HINT HINT But seriously, think about it. For those of us who were wide-eyed kids in the late 1960s when Apollo 11 touched down on the lunar surface, those who believed that by the 1990s there would be a lunar colony, flying cars and other technological wonders thanks to the space program... this space tourism thing is a dream come true. What stinks is that the dream is onl...

So I'm curled up with the ill kitty last night watching TV and this commercial comes on... It is a weight loss ad (surprise!) for a local "medical" practice that claims to be able to design a plan that can help anyone whether they want to lose 20 pounds or 200. The kicker? Both of the practitioners in the ad are quite overweight themselves. In fact, in one vignette you can't tell which is the patient and which the practitioner, both look to need to lose at least 75 pounds (or more) in order to prevent heart attacks, etc. So I'm shaking my head and rolling my eyes and it got me thinking.... Years ago we had a family doctor who kept after my mother to stop smoking. All the while puffing away on cigarette and cigarette in his office. And he was not the thinnest person around either. Go to any hospital, any floor and a good number of the medical professionals are not just overweight, many are actual candidates for that Biggest Loser program. Why is this? Weird shifts,...

I was reading postings on Facebook this morning from friends far and wide and some of the content got me thinking. We've just crossed the Thanksgiving threshold into the holiday season, "Black Friday" has expanded to a weekend madhouse of shopping (pushing, shoving trying to get the 'door buster' specials) and we will soon be bombarded with holiday "cheer" every which way we turn. There will be those insisting that there is a campaign out there to kill Christmas - how DARE you say "Happy Holidays" after all, it's "Merry Christmas" damn it. Personally I find that rather amusing since Christmas isn't the only holiday that occurs this time of year. There's the celebration/observance of (in no particular order) Guru Tegh Bahadur Martyrdom, Samhain, Eid-al-Adha, the Ascension of Abdu'l-Baha, Hanukkah, the sacred month of Muharram begins mid-December, there's Kwanzaa, Boxing Day (okay not religious but it is a holiday), ...

Every day we are bombarded with information, advertising and out-and-out "spin” on the issues. It seems as though every organization out there is yelling for our attention. One of the greatest strengths our nation can bring to bear is an informed electorate but how does one become an informed voter and citizen? Thanks to the Internet there are a lot of options, perhaps too many. The following list compiles a few of those web sites that attempt at least to provide an unbiased look at the issues: The U.S. Senate: www.senate.gov The U.S. House of Representatives: www.house.gov The Library of Congress: http://thomas.loc.gov (track legislation as it moves through Congress) Congress in general: www.congress.org (these guys have a great email newsletter you can sign up for too) To research the issues: www.factcheck.org (they beat up folks on both sides of the aisle) Now most of you have figured out I tend to run a bit left of center politically and otherwise, so for t...

So... late last night after our local paper went to bed the US House voted to pass their version of health care reform. No one should celebrate just yet. The Senate has not yet brought its bill(s) to the floor yet - for some reason I thought they had but that must have been all the hype over the Baucus bill. In any case, the Senate needs to pass something before any reconciliation of the bills can happen. And reconciliation is usually a LONG process. Things can change a lot during this process, compromise can rewrite all sorts of things. So the battle is far from over and both sides are going to gear up and flood the airwaves with all sorts of spin and insanity. There will be polls, and commentary and all sorts of silliness on the various talk shows. The funny thing is that prior to this vote the majority of the polls were reported as indicating that the public did in fact want a public option and yet the opponents of health care reform kept (and still keep) saying that "the Ameri...

Okay I think we need a tiny bit of perspective here. When I graduated from college in early May 1983 the unemployment rate for that month wasn't out yet but in April that rate was (brace yourself) 10.8%. Today it is 10.2% Okay so a 0.6% difference may not seem like much but translated into jobs that's a lot of people. Yes! That's right! 10.8% in 1983. And even then the numbers did not include those whose unemployment had expired, those who were no longer actively looking, just the way the numbers don't include them now. Now think a minute folks... which president was called upon as a beacon throughout the entire campaign last year? Ronald Reagan. Who was president in 1983? Ronald Reagan! He was half-way through his first term then (or nearly so) and we had unemployment that high. Inflation was at 6.68% in May 1983. Today that rate is - 1.29%. Can you see the difference? When I was first entering the "real" work force in 1983 unemployment was higher, the rate o...