HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE !!!

TMI this week from Sean, the Just A Jeep Guy

TMI:  CALL ME

1. Do you still have a land line?

No, I got rid of it when I retired almost 7 years ago and no longer needed a fax machine.  I would have done it earlier because I hated all those annoying calls at dinnertime.

2. Which cell phone do you use and why?

I have had a Samsung Galaxy Note II for exactly one year now.  Being a smartphone, I cannot believe how much less I use my computer now. It is a wonderful gadget and I spend entirely too much time playing with it, especially playing Solitaire.

3. Which provider do you use? Is there really a difference?

AT&T, which I have been using for many years.  One reason is that they have a cell tower very close to my farm in rural NC and I get great service everywhere I go.

4. If you call someone and they don't pick up, do you leave a message? 

Most of the time.  But phone tag (voicemail) can become very frustrating.

5. When you have a missed call (with no message), do you call the person back?

Almost never, but yesterday my doctor’s office called without leaving a message, so I did call them back later.

6. Do you txt willingly or reluctantly? How are your skills? 

The only person that I text with is my older son, because he loves to text and does not like to talk on the phone.  I would rather talk than text.  I am pretty good at texting, because my phone completes words and makes suggestions, so I can be pretty quick.

7. Has your cell replaced your camera?

Pretty much as it has more pixels than my Nikon point and shoot, which is about 8 years old.  And I take more pictures now because it is always with me.  For the past two months, I have been undergoing wound (ulcer) treatment on my leg, which doesn't want to heal because of lymphedema and diabetes. Twice a week when I go to physical therapy to get my leg unna booted, I take pictures of the wound with a tape measure to document any improvement.  I now have a whole folder of those photos. 

measuring the ulcer

unna boot on my left leg

8. Selfies....

In my case they provide too much age related TMI, but since you asked . . .

9. How many apps do you have? Which is your favorite and why?

Wait, while I count . . . uh, 45.  Some are medically related such as keeping records of my blood glucose levels, my INI (blood thinner) levels, etc.  My favorites are reading emails, news articles, and of course, the aforementioned Solitaire.

10. What would life be like with no cell/smart phone for one month?

I would go stark raving mad, because I even read books on my phone or my Kindle.  Don’t need it much as a phone, but I surely do like all the other apps.

RETIREE'S MESSAGE. . . . . .

As I was lying in bed pondering the problems of the world, I rapidly realized that I don't really give a rat's ass. It's the tortoise life for me! And here is why. 1.. If walking is good for your health, the postman would be immortal. 2.. A whale swims all day, only eats fish, drinks water, and is fat. 3.. A rabbit runs and hops and only lives 15 years. 4.. A tortoise doesn't run and does nothing, yet it lives for 450 years. And you tell me to exercise?? I don't think so. I'm retired. Go around me. God grant me the senility to forget the people I never liked, the good fortune to run into the ones I do, and the eyesight to tell the difference. Now that I'm older and wiser, here's what I've discovered: 1. I started out with nothing, and I still have most of it. 2. My wild oats have turned into prunes and all-bran. 3. I finally got my head together, and now my body is falling apart. 4. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded. 5. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded. 6. If all is not lost, where is it? 7. It is easier to get older than it is to get wiser. 8. Some days, you're the dog; some days you're the hydrant. 9. I wish the buck stopped here; I sure could use a few. 10. Kids in the back seat cause accidents. 11. Accidents in the back seat cause kids. 12. It's hard to make a comeback when you haven't been anywhere. 13. The only time the world beats a path to your door is when you're in the bathroom. 14. If God wanted me to touch my toes, he'd have put them on my knees. 15. When I'm finally holding all the cards, why does everyone want to play chess? 16. Its not hard to meet expenses . . . they're everywhere. 17. The only difference between a rut and a grave is the depth. 18. These days, I spend a lot of time thinking about the hereafter. I go somewhere to get something, and then wonder what I'm hereafter. 19. Funny, I don't remember being absent-minded. 20. DID I SEND THESE TO YOU BEFORE..........??????                             (--------author unknown)

TMI QUESTIONS: KISS THE COOK!

KISS THE COOK!
1. How good of a cook are you?

I am an excellent cook and love to make gourmet meals making up something I’ve never tried before.  The only time I follow a recipe is for baking because those measurements can be critical.

2. Who taught you how to cook? 

I always watched everyone cook, especially my grandmother and my mother.  But I have gone way beyond that!  I do get some techniques from America’s Test Kitchen and Cook’s Corner.

3. Who does the cooking in your home?

I do ALL the cooking in my Wilmington home and at my farm.

4. Do you cook more or eat out more?

Rarely eat out, because the food is cheaper and better when I prepare it.  Also, I got my fill of eating out when I was traveling on the road as a consultant.

5. Are you more of a cook or dessert maker?

Main dishes, primarily.  For example, tonight, I prepared black beans and rice with Italian chicken sausages laced with okra, onions, and stewed tomatoes.  

Since I am diabetic, I no longer make desserts.

6. What was your worst/funniest cooking moment? 

I can’t remember a personal one.  However, my mother once blew up a pressure cooker, and our dinner of corned beef and cabbage was on the ceiling.

 

That rivals my ex-wife too quickly grabbing a cake pedestal with a chocolate cake on it to present to our guests when it slid off onto the floor!

7. What's your best dish?

My version of Paella with chicken, seafood, and yellow rice.

8. Is revenge a dish best served cold? 

No probably needs a lot of capsaicin from the hottest peppers that exist.

9. Is the best way to a man's heart truly through his stomach?  

I know a few men, including myself, that this would apply to.

The Blogger MEME

Dr. Spo of Spo-Reflections has made a MEME about blogging.  These questions are a conglomerate of questions bloggers and non-bloggers have asked him over the years. Here are my answers:

What you like most about being a blogger?

I first started blogging in 2009 with a genealogical blog. That led to personal blogs and a blog for my local homeowners association.  I have always blogged about things of interest to myself.  There are three genealogists which regularly contribute to my Stephen Moore of Mt. Tirzah blog, which is great for adding content.  My Lady Slipper Cove blog represents my rather liberal feelings on topics, and has a great deal of information about my professional life from which I am now retired.  Also has information about my farm and my city life as well as a great deal of traveling.

How many bloggers have you met?

Since the March 2013 Blogger Palooza in Lewes, DE, I have met approximately 24 bloggers, including some bloggers who are actually cousins.

Do you ever go back and read your old entries?

Rarely, unless I want to check on what I had to say earlier about a topic, so as not to be too redundant.  I never change old entries.  On very rare occasions, I have deleted a post that just didn't seem relevant anymore.

Do you share your job skills?

Yes, I have mentioned sleep disorders and neuro-diagnosis a number of times.  I often also do this in comments to other bloggers' posts.

Have you changed your views about anything thanks to blogging?

I think I have become more progressive and liberal minded from reading others' blogs.

Do your coworkers know about your blog?

A couple of former coworkers have found my blog searching on the internet, but I am retired now, so really don't have any coworkers. A lot of relatives know about my genealogical blog, and some also know about my personal one. 

What advice would you give for successful blogging?

In general, check out your references for the truth and mostly depend on original sources; this is especially true for genealogical blogging.  Use good editing skills for brevity when possible so that the content will be interesting and/or educational.  No diatribes.

What is your opinion of aardvarks?

No opinion and just what is the relevance of that question?

Do you publish everything you write ?

Most everything. My problem is that I cannot find enough time to write all the posts that are floating around in my mind.

If you could make ‘three rules’ for blogging, what would they be?

1# "Readers should leave a comment to tell the blogger they were there and this acts as a thank you for your work." says Dr. Spo and I do agree.  Very few people comment on my posts which is a real disappointment.

2# Bloggers are not required to post on any particular schedule.  Some like to post daily, but that is not my style, especially since I have more than one blog.

3# Bloggers should provide a post at a minimum of six months just to keep me from worrying about them.

Do people help you write your blog?

As I said above, some genealogists do contribute posts, which I really appreciate.  Sometimes, I get ideas for posts from other bloggers, such as this example.

Who are your blogger super-heroes?

I shall refrain from this question for fear of insulting quite good bloggers for not naming them. However, Dr. Spo must be on the list considering that he encouraged me to do this! I will mention Joe of "The Closet Professor" because we started blogs about the same time; he and I consulted with each a lot in the beginning.  Though rarely NSFW, I have learned so much from this excellent history professor.

Final question (if you dare!):

Have you slept with any bloggers? 

No.

North Carolina Districts 1 and 12 are racially gerrymandered

BY ANNE BLYTHE

ablythe@newsobserver.com  

November 15, 2013  News & Observer.

Note the FOUR different colored districts in Durham County (outlined in the red box). See all the slivers of districts here, there, and yon!

New congressional districts have resulted in six U.S. House members representing the Triangle (Raleigh, Durham & Chapel Hill). Durham County (one of the smallest counties in the state) alone has four representatives.

Three North Carolina voters have mounted new accusations of racial gerrymandering in a federal lawsuit challenging the shapes of Congressional Districts 1 and 12.

Republicans at the helm of both N.C. General Assembly chambers led the redrawing of legislative and congressional districts in 2011. Voter rights organizations challenged the new maps in state court, and a three-judge panel upheld the new boundaries in July, though the case remains on appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court.

In October, David Harris, a registered voter in Durham County, filed a federal lawsuit with Christine Bowser and Samuel Love, both registered voters from Mecklenburg County, seeking an invalidation of the two districts, which are represented by Democrats – G.K. Butterfield in District 1 and Mel Watt in District 12.

Their challenge came after a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June opened a new legal front for challenging the maps.

The 1st Congressional District, according to the lawsuit, is “akin to a Rorschach inkblot” that weaves through 24 counties, containing only five whole counties. The district is mostly in the northeastern part of the state and includes Durham, Elizabeth City, Roanoke Rapids, Rocky Mount, Goldsboro and New Bern.

The length of the district’s perimeter, according to the lawsuit, is 1,319 miles – “almost precisely the distance from Chapel Hill to Austin, Texas.”

The architects of the 2011 redistricting, the three voters contend, “ignored the common rural and agricultural interests” of Coastal Plain residents that federal courts have previously recognized. Durham, the newly added urban center, constitutes 25 percent of the district’s population.

The 12th Congressional District is 120 miles long but only 20 miles wide at its widest part. The district includes large portions of Charlotte and Greensboro connected by a thin strip – “averaging only a few miles wide” – that follows Interstate 85.

“A person traveling on Interstate 85 between the two cities would exit the district multiple times, as the district’s boundaries zig and zag to encircle African-American communities,” the federal lawsuit contends.

Comment by blog editor:

I own business property on Broad Street in Durham.  Walk across Broad Street to the houses on the other side, and you will be in a different district!

I live in Wilmington, NC about three miles from downtown, but downtown is in a different district.  In fact, I only have to walk about four blocks from my house to enter that district.

TMI: Does Size Matter?

1. How big is your TV Screen?  42 inches.
2. How big is your hard drive?  500GB on desktop with 1 Terrabyte back-up hard drive.
3. How big is your home?  About 1700 square feet.  Is it too big or too small.  It was too big when I first bought it some 20 years ago, but now with all my junk, it is too small!

4. How big is your waistline?  We are not going to go there because we all know that it is much too big.
5. How big are your pets?  MoJo being a Pembroke Welsh Corgi is a normal sized dog with very short legs.  He weighs between 35 and 40 pounds.

6. How big is your car? A full size Mitsubishi Endeavor SUV.

7. How big are your biceps?   They droop below my arm, so  should I measure them there?  All my proximal muscles are wasting away with my limb-girdle muscular dystrophy.
8. How big is your ego?  Career wise, it was pretty big and I enjoyed being known as a leader in my sleep disorders and neurotechnology field.  Now I am just an everyday Joe.
9. Who's currently the biggest ass?  Ted Cruz!
10. Who's currently the biggest loser?  John Boehner!
11.  How big is your bank account?  Shhhh, that's a secret, and it will be an even bigger secret if and when I win the lottery.

Which Do You Prefer? Affordable Care Act (ACA) OR Obamacare?

Sean's (Just A Jeep Guy) Weekly TMI

HOW DO YOU LIKE_____?

1. Your coffee? Freshly brewed at home Starbucks -- black to enjoy and wake me up.  Later in the day, I might add Splenda and half and half.

2. Your sandwich cut? In half, square or diagonal? Crust or no crust?  Recently, my sandwiches have been made on Naan bread which I then folded in half.

3. Your tea?  I drink Lipton's diet Green Tea over crushed ice all day long. 

4. Your alcoholic beverages? Corona with pizza. Occasionally Bacardi Rum.

5. Your ice-cream served: cup, cone, soft or hard? Peach ice cream any way you want to serve it.

6. Your hair–long or short? Up or down? Straight or curly? Permed or natural? Very short only long enough to comb. But I hate going to get it cut.

7. Your cell phone? Love my smartphone -- Samsung Galaxy Note II.

8. Your computer? Dell Desktop with XP, Gateway laptop with Vista, Gateway notebook with Win7. Desktop is 6 years old and NOT looking forward to Win8.

9. Your web browser? Google Chrome, which networks beautifully with all three.

10. Your car? Mitsubishi 2007 Endeavor (SUV).

Why ALL States Need Obamacare - NOW!

_______________________________

My State Needs Obamacare. Now.

By STEVE BESHEAR (GOVERNOR OF KENTUCKY) – OP-ED – NY TIMES.

Published: September 26, 2013 

FRANKFORT, Ky. — SUNDAY morning news programs identify Kentucky as the red state with two high-profile Republican senators who claim their rhetoric represents an electorate that gave President Obama only about a third of its presidential vote in 2012.

So why then is Kentucky — more quickly than almost any other state — moving to implement the Affordable Care Act?

Because there’s a huge disconnect between the rank partisanship of national politics and the outlook of governors whose job it is to help beleaguered families, strengthen work forces, attract companies and create a balanced budget.

It’s no coincidence that numerous governors — not just Democrats like me but also Republicans like Jan Brewer of Arizona, John Kasich of Ohio and Rick Snyder of Michigan — see the Affordable Care Act not as a referendum on President Obama but as a tool for historic change.

That is especially true in Kentucky, a state where residents’ collective health has long been horrendous. The state ranks among the worst, if not the worst, in almost every major health category, including smoking, cancer deaths, preventable hospitalizations, premature death, heart disease and diabetes.

We’re making progress, but incremental improvements are not enough. We need big solutions with the potential for transformational change.

The Affordable Care Act is one of those solutions.

For the first time, we will make affordable health insurance available to every single citizen in the state. Right now, 640,000 people in Kentucky are uninsured. That’s almost one in six Kentuckians.

Lack of health coverage puts their health and financial security at risk.

They roll the dice and pray they don’t get sick. They choose between food and medicine. They ignore checkups that would catch serious conditions early. They put off doctor’s appointments, hoping a condition turns out to be nothing. And they live knowing that bankruptcy is just one bad diagnosis away.

Furthermore, their children go long periods without checkups that focus on immunizations, preventive care and vision and hearing tests. If they have diabetes, asthma or infected gums, their conditions remain untreated and unchecked.

For Kentucky as a whole, the negative impact is similar but larger — jacked-up costs, decreased worker productivity, lower quality of life, depressed school attendance and a poor image.

The Affordable Care Act will address these weaknesses.

Some 308,000 of Kentucky’s uninsured — mostly the working poor — will be covered when we increase Medicaid eligibility guidelines to 138 percent of the federal poverty level.

PricewaterhouseCoopers and the Urban Studies Institute at the University of Louisville concluded that expanding Medicaid would inject $15.6 billion into Kentucky’s economy over the next eight years, create almost 17,000 new jobs, have an $802.4 million positive budget impact (by transferring certain expenditures from the state to the federal government, among other things), protect hospitals from cuts in indigent care funding and shield businesses from up to $48 million in annual penalties.

In short, we couldn’t afford not to do it.

The other 332,000 uninsured Kentuckians will be able to access affordable coverage — most with a discount — through the Health Benefit Exchange, the online insurance marketplace we named Kynect: Kentucky’s Healthcare Connection.

Kentucky is the only Southern state both expanding Medicaid and operating a state-based exchange, and we remain on target to meet the Oct. 1 deadline to open Kynect with the support of a call center that is providing some 100 jobs. Having been the first state-based exchange to complete the readiness review with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, we hope to become the first one to be certified.

Frankly, we can’t implement the Affordable Care Act fast enough.

As for naysayers, I’m offended by their partisan gamesmanship, as they continue to pour time, money and energy into overturning or defunding the Affordable Care Act. It’s shameful that these critics haven’t invested that same level of energy into trying to improve the health of our citizens.

They insist that the Affordable Care Act will never work — when in fact a similar approach put into effect in Massachusetts by Mitt Romney, then the governor, is working.

So, to those more worried about political power than Kentucky’s families, I say, “Get over it.”

The Affordable Care Act was approved by Congress and sanctioned by the Supreme Court. It is the law of the land.

Get over it ... and get out of the way so I can help my people. Here in Kentucky, we cannot afford to waste another day or another life.

Steve Beshear, a Democrat, is the governor of Kentucky.

A version of this op-ed appears in print on September 27, 2013, on page A23 of the New York edition with the headline: My State Needs Obamacare. Now..

TMI: ROAD TRIP suggested by Sean

ROAD TRIP!
1. Pilot or navigator?  I can do either, but I have always preferred to drive.  However, I am content to be navigator or just passenger when my sons drive, because I feel safe and secure with them.  These days, I rely on "Tom" as my navigator.  He does quite well unless I forget to update his information with the computer.

2. Were you ever able to read a map?  I love maps and keep them handy by all of my favorite chairs and my desk.  I find a reason to consult them almost daily.  Now I often consult Google Earth for even more information.

3. Can you sleep or read in a car?  I can sleep if I am really tired and can trust the driver (see #1 above).  No way can I read though because I easily get car sick.  When I was a kid, I could not even ride in the back seat without getting car sick.  Oddly enough, I can read without a problem when flying.

4. Driving in the snow is_________? Was fun years ago if there were no other cars near by.  Now I am too old to have fun in the snow.  Driving on ice, however, was always terrifying.

5. Music, talk or audio books? NO radio talk programs, but I do like having conversations with my passengers.  If I am alone, I like to listen to music, often CDs when I can't get a decent radio station.  Never have listened to audio books, but I've never  spent enough time commuting to listen to them.

6. Pack a snack or road kill?  Never do I pack a snack, although I make sure I have something to drink even if it is only water.  By road kill, I assume you mean drive-throughs and fast food and yes, I am ready, especially at a Subway.

7. Direct or scenic route?  On long trips, I take the direct route to get there in a reasonable time frame.  However, I love to take scenic trips of the back country of my home state, North Carolina.  And (#6) I might even stop at an unknown "Mom and Pop" restaurant if the parking lot is full.

8. Car games? Only when I was a child.  Counted many kinds of animals and had to bury them every time we passed a graveyard, and thus start over.

9. Can you fix a flat?  Well, I have "changed" many a flat tire, but not "fixed" them.  I would take them to be "fixed" while using the spare.  The last time I changed a flat was on my Volvo on my farm road. Forgetting what my mission was for that trip, I drove straight to the tire store, and bought a set of new Michelins, because I had already changed too many of the original "roadie" tires that came on the vehicle.

10. Have you ever been or picked up a hitchhiker? Never have I done either.  My mother preached and preached that lesson into my head when I was a teenager.

Keeping Up Appearances

I love many of the Brit Sitcoms, and certainly Keeping Up Appearances is one of my favorites.

After watching the British comedy a million times, I have made the following conclusions, mainly about the sisters:

ROSE:  The most beautiful of flowers and thus the most beautiful sister.  She is a red rose attracting a lot of suitors; however, her thorns cause her to lose them almost immediately.  Her flirting embarrasses the "proper" Hyacinth.

~~~~~~~~~~

DAISY:  Just a common country flower, but she thinks she is attractive and beautiful constantly wooing her husband, Onslow.   But because Onslow is so indifferent, she pulls off the petals one at a time, saying "he loves me, he loves me not, he loves me, he loves me not, . . ."  

Hyacinth is embarrassed by Daisy, because she did not marry well, and is poor.

~~~~~~~~~~

VIOLET: Never ever appears on the show, thus she is a "shrinking violet." She communicates only by phone mainly about her cross-dressing husband, who wears her clothes.  Violets are purple, but her husband is more purple than she is.  She has married well and is wealthy and has a swimming pool, Mercedes and room for a pony.  Hyacinth is impressed with Violet.

~~~~~~~~~~

HYACINTH:  A very stately proper flower of many colors and fragrances.  Her stalk is very straight, and her beautiful trumpet like flowers are all arranged in neat vertical rows.  She knows that she is the BEST flower, and will not be outdone by other flowers, and rather looks down on them.  When the wind blows her little trumpets, she makes a horrible sound, though thinks she sings beautifully.  She is very disappointed that her species is not a climbing flower, because she thinks climbers are too haughty and disapproves of them, but not so secretly envies them.  She thinks that living in a country manor attic and road testing a Rolls Royce for others to see will impress them.  Thus, she invites them to her very proper "candlelight suppers."  Though she scatters grain for her hen-pecked husband, she describes him as "executive." 

~~~~~~~~~~

Then there is ELIZABETH, Hyacinth's next door neighbor, who comes for coffee.  Now Elizabeth is a "Royal" name, but not where Hyacinth is concerned.  She is afraid that Elizabeth will break her Royal Doulton china, so she gives her a beaker instead.  Even though it is just a coffee, Hyacinth treats it as if it were "high tea" serving biscuits on a doily.  

~~~~~~~~~~

Here is one of the episodes that highlights most of my observations: