Bud's Journal

Feeling Pumped

2012-01-24T17:46:00.000-06:00

We have a VISA card through a major bank and tied to a majoroil company. For the many years we’ve had the card, there have been terrificrebates: 5% on gas from that oil company, 2% on meals or travel, and 1% on allelse (unless you buy gas from a competitor). Easy to understand and redeemableeach month with a check made out to us. So, it was no surprise when we receiveda mailing saying that the rebates (cash rewards) would be changed. Such is thecurrent market. What was interesting was how obtuse the brochure is regardingthe new rewards program. Some examples (with the name of the oil companyomitted and referred to as “XX”):

“At XX, 15¢ in cents per gallon rebates for every $100 youspend on XX purchases.”

“On eligible travel and dining, 10¢ in cents per gallonrebates for every $100 you spend on eligible travel and restaurant purchases.”

“Everywhere else, 5¢ in cents per gallon rebates for every$100 you spend on all other purchases.”

So, you get some particular cents “in cents per gallon.”Say, what? And how are there cents per gallon anyway when you charged your BigMac or hotel bill on their credit card? If this weren’t enough, it goes on:

“Enjoy two ways to redeem cents per gallon rebates:

Right at the pump – Just swipe your car at a participating station then select YES to redeem and watch your per-gallon price drop instantly. Rebates are good for a one time fill up on 20 gallons of fuel.
Right on your statement – Get $15 statement credit for every $1 in cents per gallon rebates.”

Don’t know about you, but all of this is a tad confusing.Now, let’s look at the fine print on the back of the brochure:

“You will earn Rebates at a rate of $0.0015 for each $1(which equates to 15¢ in rebates for each $100) of Net Purchases made atparticipating XX locations, $0.0010 for each $1 (which equates to 10¢ inrebates for each $100) of Net Purchases in … travel, restaurants, and $$0.0005for each $1 (which equates to 5¢ in rebates for each $100) of all other NetPurchases.”

Got it? So, seems that if I spend $200 a month at this oilcompany’s stations, I earn $0.30. And if I spend, say, $2000 on various otherstuff over the month, this would be$2.00 according to the fine print the way I read it.

But, go on the oil company’s website and put in the sameinformation, and you can get “$1.30/gal” for a purchase of 20 gallons – soundslike $26 back. (Oh, if you only buy 15 gallons, you’ve used your full creditanyway. And you pay full price per gallon on any over 20. And, I found out withtheir customer service people, the “one time fill up” refers to any one timeyou’re at the pump and have a credit to spend.)

Going back to the oil company’s website, let’s use the same$200 and $2000 figures but ask what the credit would be on my VISA statementinstead of using it for gas purchases at the pump. The answer is $15. This getscuriouser and curiouser, as Alice would say.

Frankly, I’m exhausted and looking for a replacement creditcard with some simple explanation of their rewards program.

No Intuition

2011-12-06T11:32:00.001-06:00

Another rant about companies where databases are separate sothe customer has to do extra work. I am business manager of a non-profit artsagency. We keep our book on QuickBooks. Every year they charge us an annual feefor their updated version coupled with their payroll function updates. Everyyear they ask us for proof of our tax-exempt status. Since we have already sentthem a state tax exempt certificate that covers several years, I always calland ask why they need another one. Well, they do. On some occasions, they canfind what we’ve already sent them. On most others, I have to send it again. So,I did this a couple of months ago with them.

This month, I ordered W-2 and 1099 forms online from Intuit.I checked on their order form that we were a tax-exempt organization. Ofcourse, I got an email from them telling me we had to provide proof. I calledthe 800 number and discussed this with an agent. Seems as if THIS division hada copy of our exemption letter from the state that expired in 2010. The factthat another division had the current letter meant nothing. You see, they keeptheir data separately.

They keep their dataseparately. Got that? Here’s a company that sells database accounting softwareto lots and lots of folks, does payroll, sells supplies for its products, etc.and they don’t have an integrated database. Causes one to wonder.

Do You Have a Modem of Decency?

2011-12-05T20:21:00.001-06:00

For several weeks, our Uverse modem for our Internet connection has been acting funny causing me to have to unplug it about every day and reboot it. The problem is on its wireless side where all of a sudden we cannot connect any wireless device to the Internet.

On 11/25, I went online to look for how to contact customer support. The wait time on their 800 number was way too long, so I did an online chat with an agent named “Peter” whose English made me believe it was not his first language. We had a good online chat wherein I explained the problem, he listened well (which is an exception to the rule, in my opinion). I told him I thought I had a defective modem. Upon testing the system from his end, he agreed. Pretty quickly he gave me a order number and told me I’d have the replacement modem in my hand in 2-3 business days. I wrote down Peter’s AT&T ID number from chat session.

I got a call from another Uverse agent/salesperson a couple of days later welcoming me to Uverse. I told him that I had been a customer for well over a year and had only contacted them to fix the problem with my modem. He thanked me and gave me an 866 number to call if there were any problems.
Time passed. Nothing arrived at our house from AT&T. On 12/1, I went online to my Uverse account, saw the order number I had been given, but it looked like it was either in limbo or had somehow been finished. So, I called the 866 number I had been given. I spent about 10 minutes talking to a customer service representative who looked up my account and said he could see the order number, but could not see any action being taken on it. He contacted Peter (since I had his ID number) and said he would check into all this and call me back the next day. I gave him my number to call. He didn’t call back.

On 12/5, I called the 866 number again. I went through the story with Andre (got his ID number). Again, he couldn’t find anything in their system that showed I was going to be sent a modem, even though there was an order number there. He said he would look into it and call me back. He did. He cancelled the old order since it seemed hung in their system and put me in touch with an agent named Nicole (I got her ATT ID number).

Nicole and I had a conversation that lasted almost 30 minutes including long times I was on hold listening to odd music. I asked her why it was taking so long. I mean all they needed to do was to mail me a replacement modem. Is that so tough? Guess so. Nicole told me it was all a matter of dealing with several different AT&T departments and it takes a long time. In fact, she said her next part of the process was going to take so long that she’d call me back. And about 30 minutes later, she did call me back with a new order number … and that the modem would be shipped on DECEMBER 19 to arrive 3-5 business days later.

So, to summarize, they placed an order for a replacement modem on 11/25. It was supposed to be here a few days later. I called the on 12/1 and they couldn’t find the order or what was happening. I called again on 12/5 and, after a lengthy set of telephone conversations, was told I would have a new modem by Christmas. Well, that’s only 30 days after my first call to them. For what we pay them a month for TV, land line, mobile phones, and Internet service, you’d think they’d be just a tad bit more prompt, wouldn’t you?

ADDENDUM 12/23/11: As reported earlier, I was to get a modemsent to me so that it would arrive about now. I looked online this morning andsaw that nothing had been shipped. So, again, I called customer service. Thenice woman I spoke with told me that hundreds of people were having the sameproblem since the warehouse was two months behind in back orders for modems. Iasked, innocently, why switching out a modem was such a problem since theirlocal technicians carry them on their trucks. Why had I had to have mineshipped UPS? She said it was the norm to ship them out since it was the normthat it only took 2-5 days to get the modem. That’s cheaper for them thansending a technician to the house on a free service call. However, she checkedwith her supervisor and, supposedly, a technician will be here between 12 and 4with a replacement modem. We shall see. Oh, I asked why there was nothing in thesystem that would send me an email to inform me that there was a problem (i.e.,two-month backlog). She really didn’t know. Again, I think it’s a matter of toomany departments, some of which are AT&T and some contractors, not reallybeing linked on databases or procedures.

ADDENDUM II 12/23/11: The technician came around 1:00. Itseems that swapping out the modem is tougher than just unplugging one andplugging in the replacement. The whole Uverse system needs to be powered down.The power source to the system needs to be turned off. The whole thing needs tobe rebooted in a particular order. Even the technician didn’t know how hard itwould be and how many times he’d have to try different things to get theInternet up and running again and the Wi-Fi working. And they were going to UPSme one to do myself? Right Hand, let me introduce you to Left Hand. It took thetrained technician over an hour to get things working right again. And he hadto call a senior technician several times for advice! Yikes.

Would You Like Pepper Spray with That?

2011-11-26T15:59:00.000-06:00

Been lots of media about the use of pepper spray by the campus police at U. C. Davis. I’ve seen videos taken by folks right there.

One shows that the protesters were warned by the police that they’d use force if they didn’t move. A quote heard is that if they didn’t move “you are going to be subject to the use of force.”

Another shows a police officer calmly dispersing pepper spray onto the faces of those sitting quietly on the ground.

And there are others. The question to me is whether the use of pepper spray was a proper use of force against these protesters. One clue could come from the New York City’s protocol for its police:

“Patrol Guide 212-95
The NYPD’s Patrol Guide Procedure Number 212-95 governs the circumstances in which pepper spray can be used and the proper procedure for using the spray.5 The purpose of Patrol Guide 212-95 is “to inform uniformed members of the service of circumstances under which pepper spray may be intentionally discharged and to record instances where pepper spray has been discharged, intentionally or accidentally.”
Patrol Guide 212-95 lists five situations in which an officer may use pepper spray. Pepper spray may be used when a police officer “reasonably believes” that it is necessary to: 1) protect himself, or another from unlawful use of force (e.g., assault); 2) effect an arrest, or establish physical control of a subject resisting arrest; 3) establish physical control of a subject attempting to flee from arrest or custody; 4) establish physical control of an emotionally disturbed person (EDP); and 5) control a dangerous animal by deterring an attack, to prevent injury to persons or animals present. The Patrol Guide states that officers should aim and discharge pepper spray into a subject’s eyes, nose, and/or mouth in two short one-second bursts at a minimum of three feet for maximum effectiveness.
The Patrol Guide prohibits the use of pepper spray against subjects who passively resist (e.g., going limp, offering no active physical resistance). It further cautions that if possible, pepper spray should not be used against persons who appear to be in frail health, young children, women believed to be pregnant, or persons with known respiratory conditions.”

For those who think the use of pepper spray at U. C. Davis is a proper use of force, please remember that the police of another era thought the use of German Shepherds was a proper use of force against non-violent, chanting people in the civil rights era. Looking back, most Americans believe that using vicious techniques against passive, non-violent people was unwarranted, cruel, and should be punished.

Then there are the candidates in the 2012 election sweepstakes who advocate the use of water boarding on the grounds that “we got useful intelligence” (even when the intelligence professionals say we didn’t). I guess it’s not torture if we get results from its use. I guess it’s not excessive use of force if we get those sitting demonstrators to move by spraying them with noxious chemicals. Well, they were locking their arms together, right? Sounds pretty threatening to me.

If we’re going down this road, I suspect water cannons and rubber bullets and buckshot can’t be far behind.

2011 Trip East - Part 2

2011-11-01T21:12:00.001-05:00

October 24 – NYC to North Wales, PA: It’s only a little over 100 miles from NYC to the Joseph Ambler Inn in North Wales, PA. We left NYC around 11:00 and had an easy drive. It’s always amazing to me both driving into and out of NYC how fast one gets into the countryside and out of the suburbs.

We’re in the Allman Suite for the first four nights we’re here and then change to a room in the building where all the others coming here for the wedding will be housed. The building where the Allman Suite is contains just the suite on the first floor and what has to be a very small room upstairs. You can read in another blog about the vagaries we experienced the first couple of days here. We had nice lunch at the inn – what can be bad about a lobster club sandwich?

In the afternoon, we drove the 20+ miles south into the heart of Philadelphia to visit Yon and his daughter, Amy, at Yon’s apartment on Chestnut. We had a very nice visit with them both. We ate at a deli downstairs, Famous Fourth Street Deli, where the portions were big enough to feed four (no kidding – see the pictures). Drove home around 8:00.

October 25 – North Wales, PA: They have a breakfast buffet here that is good. In mid morning, we went to the closest laundromat to wash our NYC clothes. We then met Carol at Pumpernick’s for lunch and a visit. Back at the inn, we sat around for a while, did a walk around the grounds (which doesn’t take long over its 12 acres). Around 5:30, we went into the bar to get two free drinks and an appetizer as “rewards” for the odd stuff in our room as explained in an earlier blog. We had the lobster mac and cheese. Lordy. If we had been smart, we would have just gone somewhere for gelato and headed for bed. But no. After a stop at Walgreens, we went to the Metropolitan Diner and Bar where the food was good, but we really had little appetite. So, it was back for some TV (yes, the TV was working sort of) and a hot tub (took an hour for the water to heat up) and a climb into our very high bed.

October 26 – North Wales, PA: I went over for breakfast while Marian slept in for a little while longer. We pretty much stayed in the room until it was tie to leave for Marian to meet up with some old friends. I drove her over to the William Penn Inn where she met up with Sue Braun and Joan Stern. They had a leisurely multi-hour lunch to catch up and visit. I returned to the inn where I had lunch and ended up sitting outside for an hour on a bench by our room. Marian returned around 4:00. We made a reservation at Normandy Farm’s The Farmer’s Daughter restaurant and drove over there late. Lovely hotel/resort and excellent restaurant. We had expected to come back to watch the World Series, but saw earlier in the day that it had been postponed. So, it was TV and bed.

October 27 – North Wales, PA: I went over for breakfast while Marian slept in for a little while longer. We left around 11:00 and drove over to where Marian’s uncle Sid lives (about 40 minutes from here), saw his studio apartment, and drove him to lunch at Dawson’s, a nice place nearby. Lovely visit, good conversation. Returning to the inn, we met up with Stephanie and Chris. Had fun with the soon-to-be-married folks and did a Skype conversation with Sylvia as well. Dinner was at the inn. Lovely meal. And then … and then … Game 6 of the World Series!!! Wowie!

October 28 – North Wales, PA: I went over for breakfast while Marian slept in for a little while longer. We packed up for our move to another room/building across the property. Around 11:00, we checked out of our current room and into the new one – also very spacious. The manager was nice enough to transport all our luggage and bags and other stuff over to the new room, which is on the third floor! After settling in, we drove to have lunch at an Indian fast food/bakery, Hot Breads. Very nice. Back here, Rachelle and Ken drove in as we did and then Donna and Jeff. Since DP and Jeff hadn’t had lunch, Marian accompanied them to Pumpernick’s. Tracy called to say they had landed and I went over to the North Wales SEPTA station and picked up Tracy and Robin about 5:00. Traffic was awful. The rehearsal dinner was in the John Roberts House at the inn. Nice buffet dinner. The Hirsch clan sat with the groom’s brother, John, and Leah, a cousin (who lives in Scotland and has done so for 17 years). Great conversations. Then it was GAME SEVEN in the bar.

October 29 – North Wales, PA: Ah, the day of THE snow storm. It snowed all day. It’s October. What is this? Every time I had to get the car, I had to scrape 3 or 4 inches of new, wet snow off the windows. And driving was tough all day and night. After breakfast, I drove Tracy, Janice, Donna, and Marian to Montgomery Mall where Donna had her nails done and others of us walked and shopped. When Donna was done, we dropped Marian off nearby for her hair and nails. The rest of us returned to the inn where I ate lunch with Robin, Tracy, and Jill. Marian called to say she was ready, but there was no power at the salon. I drove over and got her. We then started preparing for the evening wedding. Marian talked to Carol who told her there was no power at the country club where the wedding was to take place. The weight of the heavy, wet snow on trees still fully covered with leaves caused many limbs and trees to fall and to sever power lines.

At the appointed hour, we drove over to the country club. Dark. Some emergency lights. What could have been a disaster turned out to be a very fun evening. The wedding started an hour late. There had been an open bar, but no food, so people were in a very happy mood. They applauded as each bridesmaid came down the aisle and as Stephanie and her parents came down. The man who “officiated,” if that is even the word since anyone can in this state, was a good friend of Chris and Steph and was terrific, lighthearted, humorous, etc.

Bob had gone out earlier and bought a generator at Lowe’s, so there was enough power for the DJ and some minimal accent lights. There was cold food (salads, cheeses) and later, pizza. The DJ kept things going until 10:30. All danced and had a wonderful time. It was probably more special overall than if it had gone on as planned. Back at the inn, the power had been off there since we left, but came back on exactly as we all arrived.

We found out later how lucky we had been to just have the power out for just a few hours. Parts of the area all the way up into Maine were still out of power days later.

October 30 – Point Pleasant Beach and Jackson, NJ: Bob and Carol hosted a nice breakfast at the inn around 9:30. Afterward, Jeff and Donna headed home. I drove Tracy and Robin to the SEPTA station, returned, packed up the car, and we headed the 70 miles east to Point Pleasant Beach and the Tower Cottage. Our hosts, Tony and Maureen Haddad, are exceptional. Tony is an engineer who works on a project at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland and stays up there Monday-Thursday before returning to this wonderful B&B for the weekend. The house is beautifully restored by the Haddads from its old life as a rooming house owned by Tony’s dad. We were in the Tower Suite, the only room on the third floor. You’ll have to look at the pictures to get a real feel for the bedroom. All five rooms here are wonderful. This is a place for return visits. One of the best B&Bs we’ve been to and the hosts are out of this world. After getting settled, we went over to the boardwalk just a couple of blocks away and walked almost its length and back. Most things were shuttered, but a few places were open for trinkets or games … lots and lots of games … the claw games included one where you could try to win an iPad 2. Yeh. Bet a lot of those are awarded.

Late afternoon, we drove back westward to Carol and Bob’s for dinner with about all the kin who were still around. Carol did a terrific job with lots of good food. Fun visiting. Good people. Easy to be with. The whole crowd is very gentle. We drove back to our B&B to find baked treats awaiting us in the second floor dining area.

October 31 - Point Pleasant Beach, NJ: Got up for a 9:30 breakfast feast, and I mean feast. Maureen loves to cook and it shows. See the pix for the yummy stuff she served. Tony had to leave us to go to work for the week. We spent over an hour talking with Maureen about family, the area, etc. Then we drove out of town and north on route 71 ending up in Belmar and then Spring Lake to walk along the sea, look at the houses, etc. After a stop back at the B&B for coffee, we went to the nearby boardwalk again and walked its length – about a mile each way. This time we also walked on the beach itself. In the summer, you have to pay to get onto the beach - $8 a day a person. No “free” beaches around here. All pay.

Came back to the B&B. Later, we went to a restaurant on the inlet from the ocean that Maureen suggested, Wharfside, and had good lobster. Maureen had left in the morning to take their daughter to JFK for a flight back to her work at the Global Fund in Geneva. She didn’t get back until after we were already in our room and preparing for our second night in the two-person Jacuzzi. Maureen had picked up some pastries for us. Totally unnecessary. Totally thoughtful. We bathed, robed, and went downstairs to eat. She told us the next day that she normally would have baked us something had she been there!

November 1 - Point Pleasant Beach, NH to Belle Vernon, PA: We knew we wouldn’t be out of the B&B before noon, and that’s what happened. Breakfast was 9:30. Another feast. Way too much to even try to finish. Long conversation with Maureen. Big hugs at the door. And she gave us a bag that contained: (a) 8 scones from breakfast, (b) all the fruit she had in a basket in the dining room (pears, apples, bananas), (c) all the granola bars in that same basket, and (d) a box with two Godiva chocolates! Lordy. Well, fed and happy we headed west. We drove about 350 miles to near the PA and WV border to a Hampton Inn for the evening. We plan to drive to Indianapolis tomorrow and then to St. Louis the next day.

This has been a gentle, wonderful trip enhanced in many ways by all the people we were with in NYC, all those during the wedding week in PA, and our hosts at all the places we stayed – especially the last place in NJ.

2011 Trip East - Part 1

2011-10-26T13:20:00.003-05:00

This part covers our trip up to NYC and visit in NYC. I have put in links to many sites and restaurants. And here's the link to our pictures.

October 16 – St. Louis to Columbus: We planned the trip east with specific stops along the way and to get into NYC midday. The first night was in Columbus, Ohio at the Short-North B&B. The Short-North district is north of downtown (just north of the old Union Station) and south of Ohio State campus. The B&B is an old house. We were in the “rose” room (wallpaper of roses) on second floor front with bay window overlooking the street. Large room really for three people since besides the queen bed there is a twin bed in another … so it’s a suite. Charming manager who lives on premises.

We got there in mid-afternoon. So we walked along High Street (the main drag) and in and out of shops then back to our room. Lots of people smoking (outside only) and lots of people walking dogs. Fun murals on building walls (see our pix).

We had looked online at several places for dinner and had picked one that looked like it was local foods, vegetarian, etc. However, when we walked over there, it was unappealing: only counter service, menu basically sandwiches. So we walked along the street and went into Rossi, a lively bar and restaurant and had a wonderful meal. Back in the room, we watched the Cardinals win the National League pennant.

October 17 – Ohio to Hershey, PA: Shorter drive than the day before. Stayed on 32-acre horse farm and B&B: Westwynd Farm. The house had originally been built for the owners, but they expanded it to make it into a B&B. Beautiful house and grounds. We walked around and went through the big horse barn which dates back into the 1800s. Interesting to look at how barns and stalls were built back them. Lovely place. Most of the stalls were empty, but looked used with clean bedding, stuff hanging on stall doors, etc. Horses must be in fields or away at shows.

Late afternoon we drove into Hershey, about three miles away, with the idea of walking in town, looking at shops, etc. before our dinner reservation. There really is no area of Hershey we could find that would qualify as a shopping street. It’s pretty much big Hershey buildings/factories and houses. We drove by Hershey Park, a huge (and I mean huge) amusement park that includes some old-fashioned roller coasters (two of them side by side) and other rides that would make one barf. In town, we parked on the Hershey employee lot for me to take a couple of pictures … and inhale the wonderful smell of chocolate! We then drove up a hill to the Hotel Hershey, a large, old hotel overlooking the amusement park. We had tried to get dinner reservations there, but they were full for days. Then downhill and into an outlet mall for a brief sortie into Chico’s and some lovely pix of the amusement park at sunset.

We drove to our restaurant, What if … (yes, that’s its name), which is located in the basement of a Howard Johnson’s motel. Really odd place for a basement, but the food and service was good. Then back to the farm and into our very lovely and large room, “In Our Time.”

October 18 – Hershey to NYC: Nice breakfast (way too big) in a large, sunny dining room. NYC is only 3+ hours from Hershey, which is what we planned. So, we had a leisurely breakfast, walked around a bit, and left after 10:00 for our drive into the city. Our friends, Mary Beth and John loaned us their EZ Pass appliance, so we sailed through all the toll road booths. Love it! Easy trip into NYC and to the hotel (Hilton Garden Inn Times Square at 48th and 8th, where we’ve stayed before). We filled up a cart with all our stuff. Our room wasn’t ready, but they took our mobile phone number to call us when it was. And they would (and did) put all our belongings into the room.

We walked around the area and settled on getting lunch at Carmine’s. We’ve been there before. The portions are enough for two people and we each took half of our lunches back to the hotel where they lived in the room’s refrigerator until we left six days later … still untasted. We went back to our room (they called during lunch), sorted things out, and went for a walk in the theatre district – Times Square area as far east as 5th and south to 42nd. Before we left our corner room (431), we saw people finishing off a sukkah in a pocket park on 48th beside the hotel. On our way back to the hotel, we took 48th to look at it more closely, which we did. Coming back onto the street, a nice Orthodox Jewish man invited us to say the blessings over the lulav and esrog, which each of us did. Very good experience. Robin and I had walked through the Jewish Quarter in Paris this time of year in 2008 and no one had offered us to say the blessings. Hey, Hebrew is Hebrew even in France. Ah, well.

Before we left St. Louis, I had not only gotten theatre tickets for three shows, but also had also made dinner reservations for each night in NYC. Our first evening was at Ce Va Brasserie, a Todd English restaurant. As with all the places we ate, food and service was excellent. After dinner, we walked along Broadway taking in the crowds, the lights, the billboards, and the Naked Cowboy (see pix).

October 19 – NYC: It rained all day. We walked. We got wet. In mid-morning, we walked to MoMA. The line outside was around the block for people wanting to get tickets. Seems like it’s always a mob on rainy days. I have an out-of-town membership, so we were let in at the head of the line, got a guest tix for Marian, and went into the exhibits. Besides their usual collections, they had a de Kooning retrospective of hundreds of his works. Wonderful to see the evolution of his paintings and sculptures. It’s really too much to take in with just one visit.

We walked back to the hotel so I could get a fresh battery for a camera and then took a taxi to Lincoln Center for the afternoon performance of “War Horse.” This play is one of the best theatre experiences I’ve had. Besides the imagery and huge horse puppets that really mimicked horse actions and behavior, the play is a grim history of warfare and how things changed in WWI with advent of the machine gun, barbed wire, tanks, etc. Gruesome and beautiful all at the same time.

We were to get in a subway train and go downtown to meet my cousins Annie Parker and Carol Paasche right after the show, but Annie let us know they were still at their lawyer’s dealing with their mom’s (Jean Levine, my second cousin) estate. So we sat in a café in the Lincoln Center building that houses the NY Symphony until it was time to go.

We took a cab into the West Village to Barbuto (Jonathan Waxman’s restaurant) where we met Annie and Carole. They are both so dear and we had such a lovely time with them. After dinner, we walked over to their mom’s apartment. They are taking it all apart, shipping some stuff up to Carol’s farm in upstate NY, giving some things away, etc. Family has already been in there to take furniture and other meaningful items. Annie had moved in here when she was two and is now 70. Imagine what was going through her mind (and Carol’s as well) as they disassembled a lifetime. I wanted Marian to see the view from the rooftop garden. It was lovely, even in the misty rain. After lots of hugs and kisses, we took a taxi back to the hotel.

October 20 – NYC: They took down the sukkah today, carted off the corn stalks that made up the roof (lulavs were in short supply this year given the disruptions in Egypt, we were told). After breakfast at Starbucks, we walked over to 30 Rock and went up to Top of the Rock. It was beautiful and it was also fun to watch others up there on the various levels where you can look over the city. I don’t think either of us had been up there before.

Coming down, we stopped at a chocolate shop for hot chocolate and then watched people skating at Rockefeller Plaza before heading back to 7th Ave and meeting up with Caroline (our dear granddaughter) at her place of work, The Actors Fund. Caroline showed us all around the offices, introducing us to her coworkers and showed us some of the materials they were amassing for their next silent auction. We walked over to the Edison Hotel for lunch (cash only) and found out a one-degree of separation: Caroline knits. She pulled out two socks, each of a different color, to show us. Marian commented that the son of her cousin (who we are going to see later in the week) either does or used to work at Little Miss Match, who sells purposely mismatched socks. Caroline said a friend of hers from Joyful Heart, where she used to work, dated a guy from that company. When we told her his name was Jesse, she said that was the one. Her friend is Jess (Jessica) and she always loved the idea of Jess and Jesse. We confirmed all this with Jesse. All true. Cannot escape these things.

After leaving Caroline and a brief stop at the hotel, we walked north to the Museum of Art and Design and spent time there through their galleries. Even saw the same Eames stool Marian has had since the mid 60s. They’ve done a good job here renovating this museum.

Dinner was at 6:00 nearby at Saigon 48 right around the corner on 48th and then to the Marriott Marques Theatre for “Follies.” While both of us are very familiar with the music and have seen the concert version on TV, we had not ever seen it live. It was great. The story line was more pronounced. The individual performances were all knockout. Loved seeing Bernadette Peters, Jan Maxwell, and the rest of the cast. The audience was very responsive, knew the material, and cheered after almost every number.

October 21 – NYC: After breakfast, we walked over to MoMA again to look at one of their shops and I got some stuff for our kitchen that I shipped home. Then we walked up Madison Ave. looking at people and shops. Unplanned, we went into the Whitney Museum, had lunch at Danny Meyer’s Untitled restaurant, and went through the exhibits.

Then we continued uptown and over to 5th and the Metropolitan Museum. We were a bit foot weary, but kept on going. Saw the modern collection, saw a collection of works put together by Stieglitz that were donated to the museum by O’Keefe after his death. All the photographers and painters who he had encouraged and showed in galleries.

Then it was a walk over to the Goodman house on E 80th where we met Pru and Richard, George H. W. Bush’s brother, Jonathon (who is a financial advisor to the family), and got to spend some time with Pru’s mom, Georgine. And Marian got to see this wonderful four-story brownstone.

After some tea, we headed downtown on the subway to the 9/11 Memorial. We stood in a snaking line for over a half an hour, went through a very thorough metal detector, had to show our entry passes at least four times, and then got onto the grounds of the memorial. There are two pools, each the size and place of where the two towers stood. They are black granite with the names of those who perished here, the Pentagon, and in PA cut into the stone and lit from beneath. The pools have water cascading down each side and disappearing into a black square hole in the middle of the bottom. I think being there at night was the best time to see it. It’s very well done and impressive. Certainly a “must” for a visit to NYC. We spent around an hour there before winding our way around the neighborhood for our reservation at Brasserie Les Halles (Anthony Bourdain’s restaurant). After a lovely dinner, we each went on our separate subways home.

October 22 – NYC: After breakfast, we stayed in our room until mid morning. We then walked over to the theatre where “Billy Elliot” is playing and could buy two very nice seats for that day’s afternoon performance. So we went to Hurley’s on 48th for lunch and then back to the theatre. It’s a wonderful show. Marian hadn’t seen it, but I had. I enjoyed it almost as much as I did the first time – I cried a lot!

Back to the hotel to freshen up, Pru and Richard met us in the lobby and we walked over to Sophia on 46th for a nice Italian dinner and then to “Book of Mormon.” Another great show. Another great evening with Pru and Richard. Lots of hugs and kisses and goodbyes after the show.

October 23 – NYC: Last full day in NYC this trip. Didn’t do much all morning. Took subway down to SoHo to meet Arthur Albert at Balthazar for late brunch. It’s always such a delight to be with AA and catch up with what he’s doing. His wife, Rosalie, is in Brazil with her family – AA will be heading down there soon.

After lunch, we went into the MOMA store across the street and some other stores in the area before taking subway back to our hotel area. Toward evening, we took the subway downtown again to meet Jesse Goldstine at Co. (pronounced “Company”), a unique bread/pizza place. Again, a lovely visit with a wonderful man. Then back to the hotel.

Lots of relatives/friends on this trip: Caroline, Annie, Carol, Georgine, Pru, Richard, AA, Jesse. Then to PA for family wedding!

Travel Travails ... None Serious

2011-10-25T08:30:00.001-05:00

NYC: Nice corner room overlooking 48th. But something was strange about the bathroom lights. The switch was supposed to glow at night so you could find your way in there to pee and not run into things. However, in the middle of the night, the bathroom lights just went on. You could turn them off, but they came on again. Oh, and when you went into the bathroom while the light was on, it went off. It took two days of complaining for it to be fixed by installing a whole new switch that didn’t glow. But we got two free $20 breakfasts out of the “inconvenience.”

The last full day we were there, we arrived back in our room to find a crib had been placed by our bed. Guess the folks who really wanted a crib were a bit upset. Or Marian isn’t telling me something.

North Wales, PA: Very nice inn. And we’re in the best suite for a few nights … have to give it up for the couple for whom we’re here to see married this coming weekend. Well, here’s the deal the first night:

1. No toiletries in the bathroom and only one roll of toilet paper.
2. A bedside lamp had a burnt out light bulb
3. The phone was dead and no one could figure out how to make it live.
4. The cable TV wouldn’t work and no one could figure out how to make it work. We “watched” the World Series game on my laptop looking at a pitch-by-pitch ESPN link.
5. There is a spa hot tub in an adjoining room of the suite. Not a Jacuzzi thing, but a real hot tub like we used to have. I was told that it took about 30 minutes for the water to heat up when it was turned on. After over an hour with the water not even lukewarm, we again trotted over to the front desk for help. After about 2 ½ hours, it heated up enough. I soaked.
6. There is a Franklin Stove in the spa room. It doesn’t work.

Throughout all of this, we either had to go to the front desk area (not really that far, but we were trying to relax and undress) or call the inn on our mobile phone … since our phone was dead.

ADDENDUM: It's the next day. The phone is still dead ... all day long. And no one can figure out why. The TV is back working this morning. Must be magic. The Franklin Stove has been fixed so it works. They only put one wash cloth in the room this AM, so went over and got another one. And for our troubles, the manager gave us coupons for drinks and an appetizer here at the inn. Finally, we'll see later if the spa heats up!

Explanation of Benefits

2011-10-12T15:14:00.002-05:00

I’m on Medicare and have a supplemental insurance as well. I got an “Explanation of benefits” from the supplemental carrier on an appointment I had with an orthopedic specialist. I was in his office for no more than 20 minutes altogether. My complaint was with pain in my hip. I was given an X-ray. The doctor looked at it, told me there was no sign of arthritis or any bone or joint damage. His best guess was bursitis. He suggested he give me a cortisone shot. I agreed. He gave me the shot. I thanked him and left.

So, now back to the “Explanation of benefits.” It shows that the doctor billed the insurance carriers $775. This was broken down as:

Physician $200
X-Ray $160
Surgery $335
Injections $80

Of this, only $267 was covered by Medicare and the other insurance company. The balance was neither covered nor was I responsible for it since the doctor has agreed to collect only the amount approved by Medicare.

Two things, from my perspective. First, please tell me what surgery was performed. Yes, the other things did happen, but surgery? He got $280 for looking at the X-ray, visiting with me for a few minutes, and giving me a shot. Surgery?

Second, this seems a good illustration of some of the absurdity in our healthcare system where the services I received can be billed at $775 regardless if some of them are denied by insurance companies. Under- or uninsured people? Yikes.

Backup and You Won't Get Hurt

2011-08-28T17:09:00.001-05:00

I use QuickBooks for Windows on my Mac using a Windows emulator. Been doing this ever since Apple put out Macs with Intel processors. QB for Mac is a very inferior product, so I am forced to go the route I have.

We subscribe to an Intuit online backup service. I probably run a backup between once a week to two or three times a week depending on how much data I’ve entered since the last backup. Over the weekend, I have tried several times to backup our data only to be given a nondescript error message where even its “definition” online means about zero.

So, I called technical support. Got some guy in India or thereabouts. I explained the problem, the error message, and asked if there was any issue with their system. I was told there was not, that people were using the system as we spoke.

He asked if he could take remote control of my computer and I said he could. When I told him I was running a Windows emulator on a Mac, he told me he would try to help me, but they don’t support that application. He kept repeating this whenever I asked a question. He told me this so many times that I said to him to stop saying it again. That didn’t deter him. “I can try to help you, but we don’t support …” Argh!

I made it clear that I had been backing up the files to Intuit regularly using this setup and that only this weekend did I start getting an error message. Was there anything going on with the Intuit system now? Again, I was told there was not.

So I went into the Windows side and downloaded the file he needed to take control of my machine. After a few minutes, he asked if I minded being put on “hold” for a bit. I didn’t mind.

When he came back on the line, he told me that several people were having a problem logging onto their system, they were having lots of problems, and I should wait three or four days before trying again. So, the cloud is stormy today.

Thus, dear hearts, it was not Windows running on a Mac. It was Intuit all along. Would have been nice if he had checked that early on when I asked him if there was a problem on their end.

Ten Years Since My Prostate Cancer Surgery

2011-08-22T09:23:00.002-05:00

It’s been ten years. I’m uncomfortable with calling myself a cancer survivor. I had a cancerous part removed from my body. So far, that cancer has not come back. But I think it’s important to keep it all in perspective. Here’s what I wrote a year after the surgery.

Scar Redemption

The surgeon made a six-inch cut
from my navel downward, removed an organ
peppered with cancer. Before the surgery,

I took a picture of my abdomen—
this is what it looked like when I had
all my parts. Over weeks and months,
I found myself fingering the healing
incision, a tingling reminder of the gash
where hands entered.

I have wondered when the scar
and its sensation would go away.
It was red and stitched,
visibly and invisibly. Later
it felt like braided cord. Then
upper portions flattened, smoothed
out, while lower parts remain
raised and hard.

A year passed. I think it will not
change much more. Now I realize
I don’t want it to disappear.
I want to touch my scar,
be reminded of what’s gone,
have feelings wash over me.

Iowa Straw Poll

2011-08-14T11:47:00.000-05:00

Well, here are the results. So about 16,000 people in a non-binding popularity contest can kill a candidacy. Why and how is Iowa the bellwether for the entire United States of America? How much money was raised and used to court these few “voters?”

Okay, Bachmann and Paul floated to the top. I don’t think this means anything in the long run. Are they really the two most viable Republican candidates? And didn’t we already know the people at the bottom (e.g., Gingrich) were going to be at the bottom?

Winner of the straw poll and the caucus later in the past who never got the nomination include:
2007 Romney straw poll, Huckabee caucus – nominee McCain
1987 Robertson straw poll, Dole caucus – nominee Bush senior
1979 Bush senior straw poll, Bush senior caucus – nominee Reagan

Winners of the poll/caucus that did go on to be the nominee include:
1999 Bush junior (running for reelection)
1995 Dole

Lots of media coverage as if this were a real primary statewide in a string of primaries. Lots of talking head analysis and blather. Oh my, this is going to be a long and boring 15 months until the real thing.

Herrington Recants

2011-08-01T13:47:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend, I got an email from Herrington touting their latest sale, new products, etc. On the email, I saw I could unsubscribe to such emails and I could leave feedback. I did both. And in the feedback, I asked that no more print catalogs be sent to our address as well. On the feedback form, I also said that my decision was based on how I had been treated on a refund of defective shoes I had ordered from them where I had not received a credit for shipping or handling and I saw nowhere in their offerings that this was company policy on returns or exchanges.

As a result, I got an email saying they had received my comments and the writer was referring them to his/her supervisor. Here is the email I received today:

Dear Mr. Hirsch,

As promised, I forwarded your previous email to my supervisor. Upon reviewing this matter with my supervisor, we would be more than happy to credit you for the initial shipping and handling on your order. Please be advised that this credit is currently processing and will be on your next credit card statement.

Also, I have removed the provided name and address from our email and catalog mailing lists. Although we have flagged your address as “unsubscribed” you may receive an email that has already been scheduled for release. Should you continue to receive emails 14 days after unsubscribing please do not hesitate to contact us. Also, you may receive one or two more catalogs due to advanced mailings. We appreciate your time and patience on this matter.

Sincerely,

Tom
Herrington Catalog
Customer Service

If you read my earlier posting about the incident that led up to this, let me remind you that the customer service rep in those emails was also “Tom.” Guess that’s the only guy they have working there, huh? My reply to Herrington was as follows:

I appreciate your attention to this matter. Too bad it took this exchange of emails to have it happen. The original set of emails regarding this matter can be found at: http://hirschwrites.blogspot.com/. mlhjr

Herrington Harassment

2011-07-05T21:00:00.004-05:00

My email to Herrington Catalog Customer Service 7/4/11:

I ordered Trask Laredo loafers, dark brown suede, for which my credit card was charged $95.45 on June 8th. The shoes arrived scuffed and defective.

I put them back in the box, used your USPS shipping label, included the paperwork that came with the shoes and your return form and sent them back within about two days of receiving them and asked for a refund. I have not gotten the refund and it's almost a month later.

What's the story? I dropped the properly labeled box at our local post office. Have you received it? If not, what is my recourse since I did send the shoes back to you and asked for a refund? Thank you.

I don't know the order number, but believe you can look it up given the information below. mlhjr

Response 7/5/11:

Dear Mr. Hirsch,

Thank you for your email inquiry. Please be advised your return was processed by our Returns Department on Thursday, June 30th. A credit of $79.50 was issued to your credit card. Please watch for the credit on your next credit card statement. I hope this information is helpful. If I can be of further assistance please don't hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Tom
Herrington Catalog
Customer Service

My response to Tom:

So, just the cost of the product rather than shipping as well? Hmmmm. The shoes were defective and that's why I returned them. So, why not a full refund? Mlhjr

And his to me:

Dear Mr. Hirsch,

Thank you for your email. Herrington Catalog does not refund the initial shipping and handling charges on returned items. I apologize for any inconvenience or confusion this may have caused. If I may be of further assistance, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sincerely,
Tom

My last one to Tom:

I understand the policy. Seems to me, though, that when a defective item is sent that I should not be penalized. But I will take this into account when deciding whether to purchase from your catalog again. mlhjr

Received 7/6/11:

Dear Mr. Hirsch,

Thank you for your response. Should you receive defective merchandise from a future Herrington Catalog purchase, please contact us before sending back the merchandise for refund or exchange. We will be more than happy to work with you to return the defective article to our Returns Department at no additional cost to you. Should you opt for an exchange, please note that you would incur further shipping and handling charges. I hope this information is helpful.

Your Gas Company at Work

2011-06-17T10:44:00.002-05:00

A couple of days ago, I got a letter from Laclede Gas that told me that my “next bill for gas service will include a charge for usage while your meter was not registering.” The letter goes on to say they will send me an estimated bill based on the weather, my usual usage, my horoscope, and solar flair activity. And they end the letter with “Please be advised that you do not have to pay this bill in full at this time,” but give no details about what that means.

The next day, right on schedule, I got my gas bill. There was a “Charge for Unmetered Gas from 1-19-11 to 5-11-11” less what I had paid them already in that same time period plus actual charges since then. Four months with “unmetered gas.” Hmmmm. My meter, by the way, has a transmitter on it so there is no need to send a person around to read it.

This morning, I called customer service with two, well three, questions:

(1) Why did it take Laclede four months to figure out my meter wasn’t working and send someone out to fix it?
(2) What was the deal on “you do not have to pay this bill in full at this time?”

The answer to (1) was that they had no clue but the meter had been fixed in May. The answer to (2) was that I could spread my payments out over several months, but it was unclear if there would be a finance charge if I did that.

And I did ask whether my next bill would be “actual” with any adjustment of what I owed them or they owed me on it. Yes.

Intuit Again and Again

2011-05-09T18:23:00.002-05:00

In my last post, I wrote about the sales tax refund that never came and the promised call from a supervisor that never came. Today, a week after the supervisor, Amy, was supposed to call me, I called QuickBooks Payroll again. I explained that I wanted to talk to Amy and gave the refund reference number to Bianca. She looked up the account (never a mention of Amy) and said no refund had been noted.

She asked whether we had filed our non-profit paperwork with Intuit. I kept my cool and told her YES YES YES, DAMMIT … well, I didn’t do it that way. She said, “Let me process your credit now.” What? You kidding me?

So, I told her the credit for the sales tax would be what they charged me: $37.57. Even though that is what I was charged on my credit card, she could not come up with that amount … and she could look at my invoice and see the $37.57 on it for “sales tax.” After much rumination on her part, she told me the credit would be $40.55. Say what? Why? Well, she said it had something to do with tax on shipping (uh, there was no shipping unless its cost was part of the package price I pay).

I really didn’t want a refund of more than I was due, but I guess the extra $2.98 will compensate Chesterfield Arts for the five hours I’ve invested in trying to get this thing straightened out. Oh, and we shall see if the refund actually comes through. Any bets?

I was given a new case ID number, my fifth for just this set of exchanges.

Intuit Refund Redux

2011-05-05T18:48:00.000-05:00

Amy B., a supervisor at Intuit in their Payroll Department, told me that without fail she would call me on Monday to update me on the sales tax refund owed us. It’s Thursday and no call and no credit has appeared on my credit card through my download today. And Amy B. wasn’t in when I called the Payroll Department, but they took my number (around noon today) for her to call me back. It’s 7:00 PM and no call has come through.

Intuit Rage

2011-04-28T15:53:00.001-05:00

Over the years, I’ve used QuickBooks for both my farm and for a non-profit where I am business manager. The farm went out of business about five years ago. So, subsequently, I sent Intuit all the tax-exempt information they wanted for the non-profit. And that solved the problem – once.

It seems they keep misplacing or losing the documents. Over the years, I’ve had to resend the information. This crops up two times a year: (1) April when there is the annual payroll subscription that gets charged to a credit card, and (2) December when I order Federal payroll forms from them. Each time I have to call and go through them digging through their records to see if they can find the documents they already have and then not charge sales tax. That’s the big deal: the non-profit is tax-exempt.

Now we get to this year. I got an email from Intuit addressed to my old farm name and showing the payroll subscription and sales tax. I called QuickBooks. They determined that they had two accounts under my name, but that the tax exempt materials had been misfiled under the farm account and not under the non-profit. They said they would rectify that and combine the accounts into a single profile for the non-profit.

Time passed and I did not see a refund of the $37.57 in sales tax. I called again. Nice man told me it would be taken care of. By now, I’m collecting a new reference number each time I call and writing them down.

Two weeks passed since I was told it was going to be taken care of. I called again today. Unfortunately, I had an inept customer service representative who, even though I carefully laid out the entire story, kept asking me when I had sent in the required non-profit, tax-exempt information. We went round and round about this. Finally, I asked for her supervisor.

It was clear from what the supervisor asked me that the customer service person really hadn’t understood the issue even though I had given her the various reference numbers from my previous calls so she could look up the trail on all this. I went through the story all over again with the supervisor.

She told me (1) the customer service rep didn’t look at things carefully enough to see that Intuit did, indeed, have all the proper documentation and it was associated with the non-profit; (2) the refund should have already have been processed and I should have received it by now [I went online with my credit card company and the refund has not appeared in my account yet]; (3) and the two accounts would not be formally combined (even though they have all the documentation now associated with the non-profit) until I make a new order (uh, that’s be December).

She also told me to call my credit card company to see if the Intuit record of the refund was there and was just pending. And she’d call me back in two days once she looked again at her end. If things were not resolved, we’d do a conference call with my credit card company.

Oh, I called the credit card company and they have no record of a refund coming to my account from Intuit.

Now, all of this is to save the non-profit $37.57. It took over an hour of my time and lots of frustration regarding an inept Intuit employee. And lots of frustration that this is the third time I’ve had to deal with this for THIS transaction and countless times in the past. You’d think a company who sells software to keep track of data could/would do better.

Doggone, I'm a Lucky Pup

2011-04-02T11:41:00.002-05:00

Minnie, my wonderful pointer/Aussie mix, died last Monday. I have, for years, stopped by the local branch of the Humane Society to look at the purrs and woofs. Not to adopt, just to look and wonder. I guess there was a part of me that wanted to get a cat again and there were/are plenty that look wonderful. I don’t think I ever saw a dog that really caught my fancy.

The morning I moved Minnie from the ER vet hospital to my own vet and knew her fate, I went by the Humane Society on my way home. Just to see, to get some nurturing for myself. To look at animals with time, with a future. And I saw two puppies that were rescue dogs, part Parsons Russell (Jack Russell) terriers. I didn’t linger long, but one of them caught my eye: she had markings very similar to Minnie.

The next day I was back there and played with the pup. I had some conversations with the staff about how she came to them (rescue from a hoarder, or a puppy mill, or some other situation), what age (little over two months), a foster home when very young, etc. Thursday morning I was back and wanted to put a reserve or deposit on the pup. No go. First come, first served. It’s cash-and-carry. Either you want to adopt, are qualified to adopt, and do it, or the animal is still open for adoption with whoever walks in the door. I didn’t want to chance another getting this pup.

Our good friends John and Mary Beth joined me at the shelter after lunch. I filled out all the paperwork, signed all the forms, bought a new dog crate, some chew toys, stopped at Petsmart for good puppy food, and went home.

She’s Sabrina, sort of a combination of the names of two other dogs that have been part of my life. There was Sabra, a pure-blood English pointer, who was born at our old farm in Steelville, MO and who came with us to Chesterfield when we sold the farm and moved the horses here. And there was Minnie, our alpha dog for the last 14 years here. With the pup having similar markings as these two other dog partners of mine, Sabrina seems appropriate. Robin came up with the name. She’s good at that.

It’s a challenge to have a pup after all these years, but one that I’m up for. So, within a week I lost a constant companion and gained a new friend. It’s been an interesting month with ups and downs and ups. The trip to Venice and the wonders there that I shared with our son, Jeff. News about a friend who is not doing well. The ongoing recovery of our niece in California. And always my being surrounded by a loving Marian, our wonderful children and grandchildren.

Every meal in Venice, Stewart Halperin, our leader would propose a toast: “Are we lucky, or what?” And I say it here: Am I lucky, or what?

I had an appointment with death this afternoon

2011-03-28T20:31:00.003-05:00

Yesterday, when I went out to the barn for afternoon feeding, I found Minnie unable to move. She had fallen from on top of the hay pile, but showed no signs of injury. When I took her from where she had been, she could do no more than lie on her side – not even lift her head. So, I picked her up, took her to the 24-hour emergency vet near us.

Minnie had 105+ temperature. And when her blood work finally came back around 11:30, it was off the charts. Her liver enzymes were around 1,000 where normal is around 100. And her white blood cell count was way up. I left her overnight, but there was no improvement. In the morning, her temperature was 106 even though they had given her antibiotics, fluids, and tried to cool her body.

I carried her to my car and took her to our regular vet, who is only about a mile away from where she had been.

Minnie is a German Short Hair Pointer/Australian Shepard mix conceived in a night of passion when her mother escaped from our boarding barn and mated with the neighbor’s dog, born 14 years ago. She looked like a pointer, but had instincts from both sides of her DNA. Minnie lived outside, loose in the day in a large pasture protected by Invisible Fence and in a kennel or in the barn at night. She and her half-brother, Simba, were always in the peak of health. They were active being able to run around all day at their pleasure, hole up in the barn in the hay at their leisure.

Minnie ate anything that wouldn’t eat her, but never got sick from it. Leather gloves, plastic, paper bags and boxes, including one box that was coated with weed killer powder. Nary a burp. I had to put everything either very high up beyond her ability to jump or in sheds or cabinets where she couldn’t go. I would always leave notes for the men who delivered grain to put empty bags out of reach and the sales receipt somewhere she couldn’t reach.

While I have written that it seemed Minnie had slowed down a bit in the past couple of weeks, was somewhat stiff with arthritis, her recent physical exam about 10 days ago was 100 percent normal. So it was a shock to see her unable to rise, to have the high temperature, and blood tests showing significant liver problems.

An X-ray this morning showed she had a huge mass either on her stomach or liver, almost certainly cancer and pushing on all her organs. Our vet told me that even if it were operable, it would only buy Minnie a few months. And, given her condition, she might not survive an operation in any case. So, it was clear what was in Minnie’s best interest and I made an appointment for that afternoon to, as they say, put her down. (Being an animal person, and knowing this phrase, has always made me sensitive to parents who say things like: “She’s tired. I need to put her down.” Gives me a chill every time.)

The appointed time arrived and they carried Minnie into an examining room where they had put a lovely quilt on the examining table. She had in IV line in a front leg. And they had given her some pain medication. Even so, she put her head over the side of the table and looked at the floor. I believe her mind told her she should be on the floor rather than up on a table, but she was unable to move to fulfill her wish.

I stroked her head, talked to her, got close to her so I could look into her eyes, put my ear to her nose to hear her breathing. I rubbed her and scratched her in all the places I knew she would have liked in her healthy days. I cradled her head in my hand. Calmed her when she startled from time to time. I kept one hand on her side to feel her breathing in and out.

Our daughter, Tracy, joined me. Our vet and her assistant came in. She attached a syringe filled with a pink liquid, an overdose of an anesthetic, to the IV line. When she pushed the plunger home, first saline filled the line and went into Minnie, then the pink liquid, then colors faded as saline was flushed in. Minnie stopped breathing almost as soon as the dose was in her system. While we kept our hands on her limp, still-warm body, we chatted among ourselves, a way to relieve the tension and sadness. I arranged for cremation and ashes in a simple box since they will be scattered on the pasture where she ran, nibbled on horse manure, dug for varmints, wrestled with her brother.

At home, I went out to feed, half expecting her to be there with her face in a grin, stub of tail going a mile-a-minute. In the barn, I hung her Invisible Fence collar away, cleaned out her dog dish and put it on a shelf. Then I fed the horses and her brother, who wonders, like I do, where she has gone. Her picture is from yesterday morning.

About Dogs and Age

2011-03-27T10:54:00.002-05:00

Minnie, my 14-year-old Pointer/Australian Shepard mix, suddenly turned old. I went to Venice for a week. When I came back, she was old. Stiff. Still willing, but lacking her usual energy. Even her appetite has changed from ravenous, wolfing down her food to slow, picky, wanting to be fed by hand.

All is normal in the health department when she had her usual six-month checkup this week (which, along with one for her brother and worming and flea meds cost $800). But she’s old now. She has outlived her mother, as has her 12-year-old half-brother, Simba.

As I contemplate her sliding downhill, it’s hard to not look inward, too. I’m 70. She’s a bit older, but not much. How much time is there? When she goes, I will be sad. And I will get another dog so Simba and I have company. Until then, I will look into Minnie’s eyes, stroke her, and slow down her decline any way I can. It’s what you do for a friend.

Venice - March 13, 2011

2011-03-15T22:18:00.003-05:00

Venice – March 13, 2011: Our last day in Venice (well, really it’s tomorrow, but that’s just to fly out). Some of our group went back to Burano, but others (Jeff and me included) went around to a neighborhood we hadn’t seen (not frequented much by tourists) (Canareggio) and then into the old Jewish ghetto. Iain joined us as well.

Stewart had asked each of us to pick a story to tell with our photos today (besides others we wanted to take). I chose shoes/boots/people walking, standing, getting around by foot. So, there is a collection on Flickr showing my story.

We got off the boat and walked along a canal and took pictures per usual plus those for our “story.” Then into the ghetto. This was a very moving experience. Just being there caused me to cry. But we did learn that that word “ghetto” originated in Venice … was a mispronunciation of the word for metal foundry. And we learned that the Jews were protected in Venice … that the people were first and foremost Venetians in their loyalty.

We took the tour of the ghetto and saw three different synagogues. The guide took us through the history of the area through WWII. Now, only a few Jews live there with the rest dispersed throughout Venice, Lido, etc. There are some bas-reliefs showing the Holocaust. They are hard to look at since they display torture and death.

Here is a link to the synagogues.

Next, we walked all the way back to near the Rialto bridge, where we got on a boat going the wrong direction. We were supposed to meet the rest of our group in St. Marks piazza at a certain time. Taking the boat the wrong direction meant going all the way around Venice, which takes about 45 minutes.

At St. Marks, we toured the Doge’s Palace (including walking through the Bridge of Sighs), into St. Marks itself where we saw the original four horses (since the ones on the outside are copies) and viewed the inside of the cathedral. Jeff and I went up onto the balcony over the square for views and pix.

The whole day had been overcast, but it didn’t start raining until about 3:00 or so. When we were finished with St. Marks, we took the vaporetto back to Lido, worked on some pix, packed, and met the gang around 7:00 to go to Gran Viale one more time. Nice dinner, per usual.

We actually got to bed a little after 10:00, which was about three hours earlier than usual. Up at 6:00 the next morning, water taxi to the airport, then nine-hour flight to JFK, five-hour layover, and two hours to St. Louis. Got to bed around 24 hours after I had gotten up.

A fabulous adventure with wonderful people, who now are my friends. What a treat!

Venice - March 12, 2011

2011-03-13T12:13:00.001-05:00

Venice – March 12, 2011: Normal breakfast, etc. and then to the boat, but this time to San Michele or Cemetario, the main cemetery island of Venice. No pictures allowed. It has the same visual effect on me as the big Paris cemetery, but it’s totally different since it’s an island and flat. All sorts of different areas. Flowers everywhere in little urns … some people come out and bring fresh flowers daily. Very moving, especially the grave of a 19-year-old who had been a ballet dancer with small ballerinas and toe shoes on top. Many of the graves have a photo of the deceased imprinted into a tile, which will fade over time.

Took the boat back to Venice, near the hospital, and walked over to the square outside St. Giovanni y Paulo, the church Jeff and I had been in a couple of days ago. Had an espresso break and then into the church. Afterwards we walked to Rialto and over the bridge, grabbed some lunch, ate standing up, and met Luisella near San Roco. She took us inside and we saw the many Tintoretto huge paintings and what this particular “guild” did … help victims of the black plague, and invest the society’s money in art and real estate. As usual, Luisella made it all come to life for us. She’s one of the best guides I’ve ever had.

She then took us on a walking tour of various parts of the city. When she had to leave us for another appointment, we all broke up to go our separate ways. Cathy, Jeff, and I headed back to St. Marks where Cathy bought a wonderful piece of glasswork by Seguro. He is mentioned in “City of Fallen Angels,” regarding the fire at La Fenici (the opera house). We walked along the waterfront, stopped in a shop, and then took the boat back to Lido.

Later, we all took the boat into Venice, got off at Rialto bridge, took some nigh shots, and then went to Al Paradiso for dinner … one of the best meals I’ve ever had! The rest of the evening until about 11:30 was spend doing night photography both around the Rialto area and at St. Marks.

Home to the computer until my face was dropping on the keyboard around 1:30 and to bed.

Venice - March 11, 2011

2011-03-12T00:42:00.001-06:00

Venice – March 11, 2011: Up at 7:00, worked on computer (of course), breakfast and then out the door around 9:00. There was a 24-hour strike today by the people who run the boats. So, what you can take and where is very limited. We got over to the city and walked back in the direction we had come from to Garibaldi street, which has a whole section that is wide, a sure sign it was a canal they filled in hundreds of years ago.

This is more of a residential neighborhood with local shops. Good pictures of laundry! The women who put it out make great art. As you move up the street past the entrance to the main park (Garden), there is a canal. One boat has a full open market. There are some stalls and stores for meat and for fish along the way. At some point we stopped for an espresso and bathroom break So, we walked and talked and took pictures until midday. Another wonderful restaurant, good pasta, good fish, wine.

After lunch, we walked the length of the Garden out to the end that faces Lido. Then back along the waterfront and Grand Canal into the center of the city. Stewart had given us an assignment to take pictures with bigger aspects, not close up ones. While both Jeff and I had been doing this as part of what we took every day, we did more of it today.

Back near St. Marks, our objective was to find a boat to take us over to San Georgio so we could see the main church and go up in its bell tower for views of the main city. After waiting and no vaporetto coming, Stewart hired a water taxi and we all piled aboard and went across the lagoon to San Georgio.

The church is stunning and the view from the bell tower is terrific. After many pictures, we came down, took some more in the church, and got a vaporetto to the city and another one to Lido. Then we took a gelato break! Our plans were to go into the city to do some night shooting, perhaps to eat in there. With the boat strike, that was not possible. So some of us went to a pizzeria where we had eaten a few nights ago. Then back to the room and the computer and iChats, and bed after 1:00.

Nearing the end of the trip. It’s been really fun and fascinating. I could not have asked for a better group to share this with. Of course, being with Jeff is the supreme treat.

Venice - March 10, 2011

2011-03-11T14:13:00.001-06:00

Venice – March 10, 2011: We got up around 7:00, worked on our computers, had breakfast, and took a water taxi over to Murano about 10:00. We went to the Marco Polo glass factory (which you can only get into with an appointment) and watched the men make parts for gorgeous chandeliers. The glass blowing techniques are the same as in the US, but these are masters of design and color.

After seeing the men at work, we went across the passageway to the gallery. I’ve seen Murano glass before, but this was more than I ever expected in scope and quality. I looked at several very pretty pieces, thought about them, and then went in a back room where they had works by Ermanno Nason, one of the great masters who is now retired in his 80s. Jeff and I looked over about three or four pieces we both loved, narrowed it down to two, and then I chose one (with great help from Jeff). As Jeff said, the pieces are so beautiful, they move you to tears. Prices are negotiable. The man working with me quoted what was list and what was the “factory price,” which was about half of list. When I decided on what piece I wanted, I made him an offer below the factory price which he accepted. Either I made a good deal or paid too much, but I’m thrilled.

We walked over to the main canal of the island and had lunch. As always, wonderful. Several courses for the fixed-price lunch, wine, water, some after-lunch strawberry wine and cookies. We’re eating this way every day, two meals a day. I excuse this by all the walking we’re doing!

One of the women, Jeff, and I took a vaporetto back to Venice while others waited until later to take the water taxi back. Jeff and I spent the next several hours wandering around the city, turning into alleys one way and then another. It’s very easy to find your way around even though you cannot see outside the alley or street you’re on to get a landmark. We had no problems. Went into a wonderful church with sculpture lining a whole wall, open private chapels, great marble flooring. Since we have crisscrossed the city several times following either Stewart of Louisella, we knew where we were most of the time.

We ended up crossing over the Academia bridge, finding the Peggy Guggenheim museum, and ending up at Santa Maria de la Salute, a huge white domed church. And a vaporetto back to Lido was right there!

Worked on our computers/pictures for a while. Met to walk to dinner … same place we’d eaten at the first night: Gran Viale. Jeff and I ordered a first course of spaghetti with lobster. It was a full half lobster that came with the noodles. Yum! And then I had sole, Jeff salmon.

We spent from 8:30-11:30 with Stewart going over a sampling of about 30-40 of each of our pictures. We had a digital projector and met in the breakfast room. Very nice. Very affirming. And you learn quite a bit seeing what others take and how their eyes see things. I was falling asleep during part of it, had to stand up. Got a second wind. And it was 1:00 before we went to bed.

So, amazing glass, really good food, about 4000 pictures today, great group, fun to see each person’s work.

Venice - March 9, 2011

2011-03-09T17:31:00.000-06:00

Venice – March 9, 2011: Got up about 6:30, breakfast 7:15, and off into Venice a bit after 8:00. Took boat to the city and walked over to Academia. Louisella met us there and we were mesmerized by her description of the art of Venice. In the hour-and-a-half we were with her, she took us through the history of painting in Venice up until the time of Titian. Huge canvases, all religious in nature. She’s fascinating and we’d follow her anywhere!

We walked from there over to the yard where they repair gondolas. Each is crafted for its owner since weight and height count when standing on the back and using a single oar. Then along the waterfront of the lagoon near where we saw cruise ships docked yesterday. Louisella left us for another engagement and we walked across the city to the place where we were going to catch a boat to Burano. Along the way, we stopped at a café for espresso (my fifth and sixth of the day). The onward to the boat.

It’s an hour out to Burano. And the island is as wonderful at the pictures we’d seen of it. There was a crowd there today, which Stewart did not expect. So, the restaurant was full and, even though they had expected us, it took over a half an hour to clear people out to set up a table for 10, we wandered and took pictures of the colorful houses, reflections in the canal, etc. Lunch was slow slow slow, but delicious. Excellent fish. It was about 3:30 when we were done, but that’s a good time as the light was changing from midday.

Jeff and I walked around the city and took scads of pictures. I took around 600 pictures today. My sampling will show this very photographic island. We all caught a boat back to Lido and arrived around 7:15. After an hour in our room downloading pictures, some of us went out for dinner a couple of blocks away. Nice tortellini soup followed by seafood risotto. Got back to our room a little after 9:30 and have been working on pictures until after midnight – better than last night when we didn’t get to bed until after 2:00 AM.

Another day jam-packed with sensory delights. Tomorrow it’s on to Murano to see the glass masters at work.

Venice - March 8, 2011

2011-03-08T16:56:00.002-06:00

Venice – March 8, 2011: Got up at 7, dressed, and downstairs for a really nice breakfast in a sunlit room. Rita joined us (she was the other one at the alternate hotel for one night). Meats, cheeses, eggs, bacon, yogurt, cereals … and the every present coffee/espresso/cappuccino machine. I had two double espressos.

We packed up, wheeled our luggage over to the hotel where all else were staying, put them in storage, and headed out with the group around 9:00. We got off the boat near St. Marks. Looked at the Bridge of Sighs again as we walked … really looks strange to me remembering how it’s supposed to look.

In St. Marks, we were all loose from one another for about a half an hour in which Jeff and I took lots of pix of costumed figures and the hordes of people taking pictures of costumed people. From here, we walked over to the Rialto Bridge, crossed the Grand Canal, and went to the open air market. While it is a bit reduced given Carnivale week, it still had wonderful stalls of veggies, fruit, and seafood. After about 45 minutes in the market, we made our way to a lunch restaurant. Stewart is good at almost finding things even when he’s been there several times before. After a few missteps down wrong alleys, we found it.

Lunch consisted of a huge buffet of salads, meats, hot and cold stuff, things with fish or chicken in them, etc. followed by pasta, dessert, and espresso. Glad we’re walking so much. Our next task was a mission of futility. We were going ot the Opera House, La Fenice, to see if we could get tickets for Boehm. Stewart had a map and asked directions several times, but we had to backtrack many times before, after around an hour of walking, we found it. No tickets for any performance except ones where you can hear the opera, but cannot see it. Really? Yep. Hey, but they only cost 10 euros. We declined.

We worked our way back to the St. Marks. The crowds were wall-to-wall thick. We had the idea of taking a boat over to another island where costumed people seem to gather late in the day. Since no one was over there, really, we stayed on the boat and went all the way around Venice, even past the cruise ship docks where I saw a ship so big (Magnifica) that is should be outlawed. The circumnavigation took about an hour. Now it was late and we were tired and cold. So back to Lido for downloading. Jeff and got into our room (208) and opened the waiting bottle of prosecco. After sticking cards into readers to download, Jeff took a nap while I wrote this.

We met downstairs at 8:00. We walked around the corner to a local pizza/pasta place. I had a farro soup which was wonderful and split a seafood pizza. Then we went next door for gelato. We had planned to go into Venice for a midnight flotilla with candles on the Grand Canal. But many of us (including us) opted out due to how cold it was. And Jeff and I worked on pictures until midnight. Then to bed.

So, crowds and crowds and costumes and food to see and food to eat and only 700 pictures today!

Venice - March 6th and 7th, 2011

2011-03-07T16:15:00.001-06:00

Venice – 2011 0306 & 07: Left St. Louis about on time around 10:30 and got into JFK near 1:00. All nine of us for the trip were on the same flights. JFK terminals are like a giant shopping mall with tons of stores and restaurants. We ate at a place we could sit down and talked for a while. The trek to the gate for the Venice flight was a long one. And we had hours to wait. The plane was supposed to leave around 6:40, but didn’t pull away from the gate until after 7:00.

The flight is about 8 hours. Even though the seats were roomy enough and the food fine and the fact that I took a sleeping pill, I didn’t sleep much at all. Fifteen minutes here and there. Coming across Europe, we crossed over the Alps and it was totally clear. Gorgious.

Stewart met us at the airport and took us to a water taxi. The airport is on the mainland. We were taken over the water, around Murano, around Venice, and over to Lido, where are our hotel is. We all went into Hotel Panorama for some coffee and to check in. Stewart had told Jeff and me and another person that we were going to spend one night at another hotel until our rooms opened up. So, we walked over to the Ausonia Palance Hotel, a recently renovated lovely place with lovely rooms.

Lido is one of the barrier islands around the lagoon that protects Venice and the other islands there. So, Jeff and I walked over to the side of Lido that is the beach and the Adriatic. Then back to a restaurant on Lido to meet the rest of the group. After lunch, we took the vaporetto over the Venice and got off around St. Marks Square.

It’s hard to relay the scene. Today and tomorrow are the last two days of Carnivale. There are over 150,000 people a day that come to Venice during Carinivale! And most of them are around the biggest public places like St. Marks Square. There are not only lots of people in costumes and there are a series of professional actors and others who are wearing gorgeous costumes and full face masks. I have never seen so many expensive digital cameras. People gather in huge clumps around the people in costumes to take pictures. The actors pose nicely for you. We were there around an hour and a half.

Then we met our guide, Louisella, and spent several hours with her getting the history of Venice and wandering far and wide through alleys, across bridges, through squares. Unless you get your bearings from where the Sun is, you’d be entirely lost. The alleys are so narrow, you have to walk single file through them.

We took the vaporetto back to Lido, downloaded pictures (I took over 500 today) and tried to stay awake. Met all for dinner at Gran Viale where I had carpaccio, spaghetti with clam sauce, and almond cake. Local wine. All good.

Sensory overload today. Really beautiful. Tomorrow we plan to dive into the crowd again, but also wander off and get good and lost. It’s THE way to see Venice.

Taking Time

2011-03-01T14:32:00.002-06:00

Jen’s better, she’s worse; she’s up, she’s down. We are victims of gravity as we watch, pray. A friend told me that it’s possible that, unconsciously, we want a quick resolution, for it be over one way or the other. That’s for us, to relieve us from the uncertainty, from the whiplash we are all experiencing. The message we want out there in the universe, my friend said, is that Jen needs to take whatever time she needs to pull through. It doesn’t matter how long it takes, just that we keep on telling her (and ourselves) that she should use time as her friend and travel along its string until it’s right for her to emerge back into her life with her family and friends.

The Nudity Police

2011-01-28T17:00:00.003-06:00

Over the past several months, I have been sending my 35mm slides to be scanned into digital files both to preserve the images and to be able to put my pictures up for friends and family to see. All the slides were in Kodak Carousels, which means they were shown to any and all who would endure looking at our travels. At first, I sent out a couple of hundred slides to see how the process worked and the quality of the scans, which is excellent. My last batch, the one that finished up all that I have, was over 3,000 images.

Today, I received the following message from the company in California who is doing my scans:

“Thank you for placing an order with …. Unfortunately, we are unable to scan 1, 126 format color slide because it contains some nudity. At …, we aim at providing high quality scanning services but our strict guidelines restricts us from scanning media which contains any sort of nudity in them. Although in some cases nudity is considered art, we have had to draw a rather conservative line to avoid any subjectivity in the decision process. We do list this limitation in our terms and conditions” and they give their website at this point. Finally, “Please feel free to contact us if you have any further questions or concerns.”

Well, I have no idea out of the 3,000 images in the order they reference what picture does not meet their standards. However, in the first batch of slides I sent, there was a picture from a nude beach in California that they scanned. Perhaps the fact that the naked folk were rather small in the picture made them miss it. However, in the second batch, there were many pictures from an African village where women of all ages were bare from the waist up. Several pictures. They were all scanned. They certainly contained “any sort of nudity.”

Gosh, I’m really interested what single slide out of the over 6,000 I have sent them caused their email.

Their Policy: “…does not control the Content of Members’ accounts and does not have any obligation to monitor such Content for any purpose. You acknowledge that although … is not required to monitor or remove any Content or other information submitted by You or produced on Your behalf by the Service, … has the absolute right (but not the obligation), in its sole discretion to refuse, return, delete, remove, and edit Content for any reason at any time without notice.

“You agree not to use or attempt to use the Service to have the following types of Content produced on Your behalf (“Prohibited Content”):

a. Content that is threatening, profane, abusive, deceptive, pornographic, obscene, defamatory, slanderous, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate.
b. Content that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable law.
c. Content that could infringe rights of privacy, publicity or copyright without the express permission of the owner of these rights.
d. Content that advocates illegal activity.
e. Content that harms minors in any way.

“The above list of Prohibited Content is merely an example and is not intended to be complete or exclusive.”

Shopping Thoughts

2011-01-14T16:50:00.001-06:00

Yesterday, I was in Trader Joe’s. While I was looking at prepackaged meats and cheeses, a woman took a packet of Swiss off a rack/hook that held several packages, looked at it, decided she wanted the one behind the first one, and took it from the rack/hook. She then spent less than 10 seconds trying to put the first package back on the hook and just dropped the package onto other meats and cheeses below it and wheeled away.

Next, while I was in the frozen food aisle, I noted a pound of fresh ground beef had been left on top of some frozen fish. I alerted a store employee so it wouldn’t freeze.

Today, in Walgreen’s, I went to buy some razor blades. They were all under lock and key. The woman who got a package of blades out for me told me that until they had locked them up, 10-20 packages would disappear a day. That’s at $22 per package retail. She told me of a nicely-dressed young man she observed putting handfuls of razor blade packages into his shorts pockets and walking around to steal elsewhere in the store. She didn’t want to approach him since “you never know who is carrying a gun.” And he walked out of the store with his stolen goods. She also said that they spend at least an hour each shift putting things back where they belong – the Walgreen’s equivalent of my lady with the cheese or the fresh beef item left on some frozen food.

This doesn’t even scratch the surface of things like drivers in shopping center parking lots. But that’s a whole different rant.

Intuit Shun - Part Two

2011-01-11T11:51:00.002-06:00

Over the last several days, I have received notice after notice about sending the underwriters information on our pending Intuit GoPayment account, some of which we’ve sent up to four times. This morning, I received a notice that asked: “Please provide copies of your last three months merchant PROCESSING statements from your current or previous processor.” Since I have zero idea what they are asking for now, I called their 800 number.

Fortunately, this time I got a wonderful representative. Reminded me of a caring grandmother. She looked through the piles of notices they’d sent me, notes they’d put on our pending account, the emails and attachments I’d sent them, etc.

In our conversation over the next several minutes, she told me that all this searching on their end was to protect them against fraudulent organizations, especially non-profits. If a scammer puts in a charge from someone (perhaps a card that has been compromised), the credit card processing company (where these underwriters work) would have to pay the charge back to the cardholder. Thus, they are trying to avoid losses on their part. And that’s why they need all the documentation to see if an applicant is on the up and up.

The good news for us is that she looked over all our paperwork, saw some errors the sales department had put in our application that raised some red flags on their part, told me to ignore the latest notice from them, said we are approved and that I should receive an email confirming this later today.

Nice to get someone who gets down to what needs to be done and does it. Now the next test is when it does get approved to see if our new handy-dandy Mophie scanner works on my iPhone. She also talks to her computer, but never yells at it since she wants it to be her friend.

Intuit Shun

2011-01-08T12:13:00.000-06:00

This rant really isn’t about Intuit, but, rather, the bank that they partner with for one of their services. We’re exploring using a credit card scanner connected to an iPhone. Finding the hardware from Mophie was easy. Setting up the account with Intuit was hard.

The nice customer service agent I spoke with who answered some questions I had about the service told me it was faster for him to take all the information they’d need on the telephone rather than my doing our registration online. Hmmmm. It took 20 minutes over the phone and there were several times I had to ask the young man to really slow down when he talked. While I can blame part of the problem on my hearing, he was talking REALLY fast. He’s obligated to tell me 100 percent of his script, so there was lots to listen about.

After this all was done, I received an email from the underwriters at the bank/processing house they use for credit card collection. Remember, all I am trying to do is to set up a link so that when the organization I work with scans a credit card for, say, a donation, it will be recorded and we will be paid into our own bank account. In this day and age, though, they want to make sure we aren’t some fly-by-night organization or a scammer. Okay. I can live with that.

First they asked for proof we are a non-profit organization. We called them and were told what email address to send such proof. We did that twice. Unfortunately, the email address we were told was not the correct one for the underwriters, so we kept getting emails from them that they still hadn’t seen our proof.

Then they wanted copies of several months of our bank statements. I downloaded same from our banks’ sites and sent them a PDF file of the downloads. I got an email saying that they could not accept what I had sent. I talked to someone in the underwriting department who told me they don’t accept copies of downloaded bank statements. They are worried that somehow they could be altered. Hmmmm again. Seems to me, as I told her, I could take a paper bank statement and alter it, scan it, and send it, and no one would be the wiser. If they didn’t want the actual paper statements sent to them, any electronic transmission could have faked stuff in it. So, we’re getting together scans of our bank statements over several months to send to them.

We’re not borrowing money from them. We only want to scan and deposit credit card receipts through them. They don’t even go into their bank, but ours. “I am not a crook.” Oh, perhaps I shouldn’t have said it that way.

What Does AT&T Mean By a “Brief” Outage?

2010-12-31T09:56:00.002-06:00

12/30/10: We have U-verse, the whole package of land line, Internet, and TV. Around 6:00 PM, the Internet connection slowed down to the pace of sap in January. Around 6:30 or so, the phone line and Internet connections were dead. Scary not to have a phone line. Glad we have a mobile phone for such an event. Oh, the TV feed was working fine.

After an hour of being out, I called AT&T U-verse using my AT&T mobile phone. The first three times I called, the computer voice on the line told me the circuits were busy and try later. Then I got through and waded into the swamp of a computer voice asking me questions and telling me it couldn’t hear me. After about 5 minutes of this, I was put in line for “the next available service representative.” Close to a half-hour later, a nice young man answered. When I told him my area code and number, he said there was total outage in that area, that they knew about it, had no idea what had happened, had no idea how long it would take to get fixed.

We live in west St. Louis County. Through text-messaging to other U-verse customers, I found out that friends who live farther out than us also had no telephone or Internet. Friends who live in the City of St. Louis (about 25 miles to our east) were also out. There were also spotty DSL outages here and there in the area, or greatly slowed service.

After over two hours of dead lines, it all came alive again. I emailed KSDK-TV, the local NBC affiliate about this. Their response to me was as follows:

“Here is what AT&T Says happened...

“Due to an equipment issue, some customers in the St. Louis area may have experienced a brief disruption to their Internet, wireless and/or landline phone service this evening. Almost all service has been restored, and customers do not have to do anything to have their service return. It will happen automatically.

“We apologize for any inconvenience this issue may have caused our customers.”

And there is almost no noise on the Internet or on the news services (local or national) about any outages at all. So, what is “brief?” Is over two hours brief? I guess brief is in the eyes of the giant corporation.

Texting for Seniors

2010-12-28T11:45:00.007-06:00

This is from a friend of mine who got it from who knows where.

May want to pass this on to your more senior friends...
Since more and more Seniors are texting and tweeting, there appears to be a need for a STC (Senior Texting Code)...

ATD: At The Doctor's
BFF: Best Friend Farted
BTW: Bring The Wheelchair
BYOT: Bring Your Own Teeth
CBM: Covered By Medicare
CUATSC: See You At The Senior Center
DWI: Driving While Incontinent
FWB: Friend With Beta Blockers
FWIW: Forgot Where I Was
FYI: Found Your Insulin
GGPBL: Gotta Go, Pacemaker Battery Low!
GHA: Got Heartburn Again
HGBM: Had Good Bowel Movement
IMHO: Is My Hearing-Aid On?
LMDO: Laughing My Dentures Out
LOL: Living On Lipitor
LWO: Lawrence Welk's On
OMMR: On My Massage Recliner
OMSG: Oh My! Sorry, Gas.
ROFL... CGU: Rolling On The Floor Laughing... And Can't Get Up
SGGP: Sorry, Gotta Go Poop
TTYL: Talk To You Louder
WAITT: Who Am I Talking To?
WTFA: Wet The Furniture Again
WTP: Where's The Prunes?
WWNO: Walker Wheels Need Oil

Apostrophe Apoplexy

2010-12-25T11:18:00.000-06:00

We’ve gotten several holiday cards addressed to The Hirsch’s. And some of them have the senders’ name in the same form. Where in the world have folks gotten to think that the possessive apostrophe somehow can be used to denote a plural form of a name? Hey, the plural of Hirsch is Hirsches. So, if you really mean The Hirsch’s, to what of the Hirsches are you referring? And, to be even more picky, if you have addressed this implied possessive to both of us, wouldn’t it be The Hirsches’ since there are two of us?

Your’s for holiday cheer.

Quicken 2011 R3 Hits a Brick Wall

2010-10-28T16:25:00.002-05:00

Imagine my surprise today when I tried to download transactions from my bank into Quicken 2011 and got an error message that said the bank did not support the version of software I was using. Hmm. It worked both uploading and downloading last week.

In talking to the Quicken department at the bank and then to a customer service rep at Quicken, I found out that over this past weekend the R3 update of Quicken had caused the link between Quicken and the bank to not work. So, there is no ability of any of this huge bank’s customers who have Quicken 2011 R3 to send or receive information over Quicken.

And when did they (Intuit) think they would have a patch or update for this? “We’re working on it and don’t know. Hope it will be soon.” Gotta be a whole bunch of us customers who are really angry at this software flub. Wonder how many calls they got on this (the bank and Quicken)?

Oh, and to get a person to talk with at Quicken, you are forced to go online, fill in a form, and they will call you back within an hour or so. Guess in which country the service reps reside. Yep.

Missouri Prop B

2010-10-21T16:28:00.000-05:00

I certainly agree that we should do something about "puppy mills," which, by definition, it seems, are places where dogs and puppies are kept in unsafe and unsanitary conditions. So, we have Prop B on the ballot this coming month. I encourage you to go to the state's website and read the full text of the proposal (rather than what people pro or con are saying it says). In reading the text, I have some questions.

"4. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no person may have custody of more than fifty covered dogs for the purpose of breeding those animals and selling any offspring for use as a pet."

QUESTION: What does this do to large-scale, responsible breeders, who are not “puppy mills” in the sense contemplated by this law?

"(4) ”Sufficient housing, including protection from the elements” means constant and unfettered access to an indoor enclosure that has a solid floor; is not stacked or otherwise placed on top of or below another animal’s enclosure; is cleaned of waste at least once a day while the dog is outside the enclosure; and does not fall below 45 degrees Fahrenheit, or rise above 85 degrees Fahrenheit."

QUESTION: The upper and lower degrees Fahrenheit seem arbitrary to me. I have had outside dogs for years. While they sleep in insulated dog houses, I believe the temperature limits shown in the proposed law are exceeded on both ends. Since my dogs are happy and healthy and long-lived, I wonder where these limits came from. Nice generalization, but not necessarily applicable in all situations.

"(5) ”Sufficient space to turn and stretch freely, lie down, and fully extend his or her limbs” means having (1) sufficient indoor space for each dog to turn in a complete circle without any impediment (including a tether); (2) enough indoor space for each dog to lie down and fully extend his or her limbs and stretch freely without touching the side of an enclosure or another dog; (3) at least one foot of headroom above the head of the tallest dog in the enclosure; and (4) at least 12 square feet of indoor floor space per each dog up to 25 inches long; at least 20 square feet of indoor floor space per each dog between 25 and 35 inches long; and at least 30 square feet of indoor floor space per each dog for dogs 35 inches and longer (with the length of the dog measured from the tip of the nose to the base of the tail)."

QUESTION: First, many dogs (especially pack dogs like hounds), tend to sleep in bunches rather than needing lots of space per dog. And why is all this related to indoor space? Why not outdoor enclosures or dog runs? This seems to imply that all dogs must have indoor space. Is this reasonable and useful all year round? Also, see my question above on temperature limits.

So, read the text of this (and all proposed propositions and amendments to the constitution). Also please look at what organizations are for or against this or other propositions before you make up your mind to vote "yes" or "no."

Canoe Bay - Chetek, WI - Oct. 2010

2010-10-03T22:05:00.000-05:00

Sept. 30: This is our second trip to Canoe Bay. It’s 10.75 hours (including lunch) and 600 miles from home, but worth it. We’re in the Lookout building, which has two accommodations. We’re in the same one as last year which is room 21.

We headed out from St. Louis at 7 AM and had lunch in a Fudrucker’s in Janesville, WI, same as last year. Got to Canoe Bay around 5:45, plenty of time to relax before our 7:00 dinner reservation here. We really love our room and would want it every time we come here. It’s at the end of the road of the cottages that dot the hillside and it’s the highest, so the view of the lake to the west is pretty much uninterrupted other than the oaks and birch between here and there. I won’t try to describe the room since we have pictures that do a better job.

A nice surprise awaited in the room – a Relais & Chateaus beautiful cookbook with pictures of all the properties around the world and of each recipe. It’s a birthday present from Canoe Bay to me!

We were here two weeks earlier last year. The differences are it gets dark earlier and the leafs are in full fall array of reds and yellows.

Dinner is at the old main lodge (there are only a couple of guest rooms in the building … it’s mostly the dining room and wine cellar). A few changes in dinner from last year. First, there is a single choice of entrée this year. Last year, there was an entrée of the day, but you could also choose steak as an alternate. Second, last year they served a sorbet between the first course and the entrée. This year they don’t seem to be. Last, and this is the best, the corkage fee has been reduced from $40 a bottle to $25. This is especially nice since we brought all our own wine … and some really good stuff! The food is always excellent and service outstanding. Again, look at our pictures (you know me and taking pictures of food) if you want to see what we ate.

We finished dinner around 8:40 and drove back to the room. And you can guess correctly about what time we fell asleep given we were in bed before 9:00 and didn’t watch TV.

Oct. 1: The breakfast tray arrived outside our door at 9:00. Some of us were up, others not. It’s a lovely continental breakfast with freshly baked muffins and other delights. While it looked like it could rain (and did later), we walked down to the lake and took the East Loop trail around the lake and up into the woods ending up back at our building. I filled a whole 8GB camera card with over 200 pictures. The reflections off the lake were wonderful showing the fall foliage. And it’s so quiet here, which is really nice. We took our time to look at things big and small … and take lots of pix!

After the walk, we went to the library building, a converted A-frame with a gorgeous interior. We browsed through the books and went outside and down to the lake. Then it started to drizzle, so we opened an umbrella and walked back to the room. I had brought some cold cuts, bread, and stuff for lunch. We had in-room massages from Jodi (same therapist as last year) in the afternoon, sat around in our robes, snacked on wine and cheese. Dinner again at 7:00. Finished about the same time. Came back and watched a DVD we brought with us (the last half of the last season of Slings and Arrows). I dabbled at reading a Lightroom book before my eyelids got too heavy.

Oct. 2: The breakfast tray arrived outside our door at 9:00. Some of us were up, others not. Only change from yesterday was the addition of some fresh fruit. It was cloudy most of the day and windy and chilly. So we stayed inside at our computers until around 11:00, when we drove into Chetek.

We cruised the two antique/gift shops and Marian bought some yarn at a fabric and fiber store. From there, it was down the block to Bob’s for lunch – same place as last year. Then we drove north to Rice Lake to go to Miller’s Cheese Shop to get some cheese curd and salami. We went back through town to Bargain Bill’s, which was too overwhelming even for Marian.

Before we had left Canoe Bay, I had plotted a route to the cheese shop in Rice Lake. It was a back roads route, but we took the highway up instead. However, we took the Google Maps route back and could watch our progress as the blue dot moved along the way. Don’t know how we would have found our way back without this. Then some down time, downloading time, game time before dinner.

Dinner at 7:00. The beef tenderloin was wonderful, but way too much. Lunch tomorrow! We watched the last two episodes of Slings and Arrows, which were terrific. Then to bed.

Oct. 3: The breakfast tray arrived outside our door at 9:00. Some of us were up, others not. Sat around fooling with computers and such until a bit after 11:00. We walked up past reception and the dining room building and off into the woods on well-marked trails. Many more leafs on the ground than our walk a couple of days ago. Guess it was the rain. We went back to Mallard Lake and around it and down to Lost Lake and back. It’s about a mile or more on the loops we made up and down the hills in the woods. It’s crisp outside, but it got a bit warmer as the day went on.

Back in our room, I fixed myself a beef tenderloin and Jarlsberg sandwich and downloaded pictures. We both sat at our computers and worked/played. Around 3:30, we went over to the lake by the library and sat in the sun knitting and reading for about an hour and a half. Then back to the room for some prosecco and cheese and watching the sun start to set over the lake.

Dinner at 7:00, of course. Yummy, perusual. Back to the room to put things together to leave all this beautiful scenery, colors, and silence. Oh, and computer games and uploading photos.

Oct. 4: Breakfast today is 8:00 and we’re up since we have to leave. Time to pack up and head south. It was wonderful and we’ll be back.

"Oh, someone didn't tell you that?"

2010-09-29T16:44:00.002-05:00

From previous entries, you know we now have AT&T’s U-verse. I’ve been an AT&T customer for years with a land line, DSL, and, more recently, wireless phones. And I’ve had a combined bill for all these services that’s paid automatically through a credit card each and every month.

So, it came as a surprise to me that I was no longer enrolled in automatic bill payment. The reason? “Well, you used to have an account through your land line and now it’s through U-verse.” So? Aren’t they all AT&T? “With U-verse, it’s treated like it’s a new account.” I have to enroll like a new customer? “Yes.” But, it was three different divisions all together before in a combined bill paid automatically and now it’s still one of those divisions (wireless) along with U-verse. What makes this different. “It just is.”

There are a couple of things about all this that are perplexing. First, when I was told that I would retain combined billing for my wireless and U-verse, no one said that I would have to enroll in automatic bill paying again since U-verse is treated like you’re a whole new customer. Second, the att.com website logins are very confusing. Should I log in as a wireless customer? Should I log in as a U-verse customer? Today I tried wireless since that login screen popped up first. The customer service rep was nice but had no clue regarding my question about automatic billing. So, I was given to a U-verse rep whose paraphrases are shown above. How about ONE place to login no matter what division of AT&T provides service … and then we can split off into different areas for help or FAQs or billing or whatever.

The Blinking Light

2010-09-23T12:43:00.001-05:00

Marian called me this morning to tell me that the U-verse battery pack in the basement had an alarm sounding and a red light flashing. When I returned home, I hit the button that says “silence the alarm,” and went online to see what the story was. From what I read, it meant the battery needed to be replaced. Interesting since it was installed “new” within the last several weeks.

I went to the AT&T “contact us” page and found there was no link in their three-tiered set of questions to deal with battery backup systems. Unless you can put an answer into each of the three tiers of questions, you cannot contact them. There is no “Other” choice. Just stuff that didn’t apply to me at all.

So, I started a chat with a technician, Prakesh. He had me do a self test on the battery, but the red light was still blinking. He then told me the battery needed to be replaced. Okay, I thought, let’s schedule an AT&T person to come here and do that.

Nope. I was told that’s not handled by their division and I was given an 866 number to call (the battery manufacturer) for a replacement. So, I have to call a third-party vendor instead of AT&T doing the servicing? Yes. That’s how it is.

To find out more, I called the AT&T U-verse 800 number and, thankfully, worked my way swiftly through the recorded Q&A session to get a live technician. I was told that AT&T (1) had probably installed an old battery that was sitting around too long and, therefore, didn’t hold its charge, and (2) AT&T doesn’t have any of these batteries in stock, so I would have to call the vendor.

I did. Vendor really nice. Looked up my account. Said I’d get a new battery within a couple of days and where to recycle the old one. And he confirmed that they were having lots of calls for replacement of these batteries due to AT&T having them sit on the shelf too long before using them. Oh, I have to do the replacement.

It’s mind boggling to me how AT&T has broken up stuff into different departments (a look at my phone bill shows different 800 numbers for the land line, wireless, did have one for DSL before U-verse, but now have one for U-verse). And even within a division, there is division. Read my earlier blogs about how the U-verse installer the first time couldn’t deal with anything outside the house since it was another division of the service department. Now I have to get service on my U-verse from someone who is not even AT&T.

Anyone there hear of the words “customer service?”

Some new pix

2010-09-19T11:17:00.002-05:00

Here's the link to my newest pix.

“Well, if it storms, the TV won’t go out”

2010-09-19T10:01:00.003-05:00

This was one of my reasons for switching from DirecTV to U-verse. Whenever there was a thunder storm or even just heavy rain, the signal would go out due to all that stuff between the satellite orbiting above and the tiny dish on my chimney. So, for this reason among others, we put in U-verse for everything.

Last night there was a huge storm with lots of lightening. In the middle of it, our TV went blank. So much for things not being affected by a storm. It was after midnight, so I just shut things down and went to sleep.

This morning, when I turned on the TV, it was clear I was not connected to the outside world. I checked all the TVs, and they were the same. And, of course, the broadband connection to the Internet was down as well.

I called the 800 number in my owner’s manual and, after saying “customer service” about 10 times, the computer voice asked: “You say you want to speak to a technical representative. Is that correct?” Damn right, dude.

Kevin, the tech, took me through all the steps of rebooting the whole system, getting the broadband reconnected, and then rebooting each TV one by one. The problem, it seems, is with the signal coming to the house through their wires. In a lightening storm, the amount of electrical charge in the air or with hits nearby can scramble the signal causing the breakdown.

So much for the idea that since our signal is coming from underground wires instead of from the sky that storms won’t interrupt it. But at least I have a clue how to reboot the entire system when it happens again.

Chocolate and Bacon Bars

2010-09-17T12:59:00.000-05:00

Two bars from the same company. Both are chocolate and bacon (yeh, bacon!). The only difference is that one is dark chocolate and one is milk chocolate. They are the same size and weight. The dark chocolate bar says it contains two servings while the milk chocolate bar says it contains two-and-a-half servings. Then there’s the math about calories, grams of fat, saturated fat, cholesterol, sodium, and carbs PER SERVING. And they are higher per serving for the dark chocolate bar.

It ends up that if you multiply the per-serving figures for the dark chocolate times 2 and the per-serving figures for the milk chocolate bar by 2.5, the total dark chocolate bar as a whole is still higher than the milk chocolate bar. So, why show it as 2 vs. 2.5 servings per bar? Inquiring chocoholics want to know.

Duck Collages

2010-09-13T16:51:00.000-05:00

In Honor of our 49th

2010-09-13T16:39:00.000-05:00

Are the Lights Flickring?

2010-09-12T16:35:00.002-05:00

I have commented before regarding Facebook changing how you can automatically update pictures from Flickr to your Facebook page. And I have done all that is required of me to use the new linking method which originates on Flickr. But to no avail.

I have written Flickr’s customer service and have been communicating back and forth via email with “Jake.” His main message seems to be to make sure all the pictures I post to Flickr that I want to be forwarded to Facebook are marked to be publicly searchable, safe, able to be viewed by anyone, and that the uploader I am using also be set in the same manner. Sounds like good advice.

However, 100 percent of the pictures I have sent to Flickr over the last six months or more have been tagged as safe, public/anyone, etc. and the uploaders I use (one from iPhoto and one from Lightroom) are appropriately set in the same way.

He keeps beating the drum on his major theme/message. I keep replying that I’ve checked on all this and all the pictures and uploader preferences are as they should be. I’ve even gone to my Flickr site and have looked at entire collections of pictures to confirm they are all safe, open to the public for viewing, etc. and have gone onto my Flickr account and checked the proper sharing is active. It is.

And yet, I have still to see any of my recent uploads appear on my Facebook profile page.

I hope his next message back to me has something new it. Too bad this isn’t a call where I can say: “May I please talk to your supervisor?”

Face It, Any Flickr of Privacy Has Gone Up in Smoke

2010-09-04T15:36:00.001-05:00

Facebook changes stuff, as it seems to do about every hour and a half, so it looked as if my automatic updates of my Blogger blogs (like this one) and my photos on Flickr were a thing of the past. I cruised through every setting I could find on Facebook and could not see any way to either see if the updates were still working or how to reestablish them. I did know that I had posted some recent pictures on Flickr that were not being shown as a link on FB. And any semblance of either FAQs or chat room or whatever to get some help was to no avail, not to mention there does not seem to be a place where you can email an inquiry to FB.

I asked in a comment on FB if anyone knew what was going on. I also posted a question on their Help site. In the first instance, I got nothing. In the second, nothing helpful came from anyone out there in the dark void of the Internet.

So, I decided to use brute force at this point and posted manual links on FB to my newest blog posts. Several hours after I did that, automatic links showed up on FB. There must be some hidden link either on Blogger or FB to allow these automatic updates to still flow. Now for Flickr.

I found the place in Flickr where one could ask it to link to Facebook. I clicked on it. I got another screen that asked if Yahoo! (which owns Flickr) could have access to all my data on Facebook (my profile, who my “friends” are, etc. – 100 percent of everything I have links to or have posted on FB). I could either “Allow” or “Don’t Allow.” I clicked on “Don’t Allow.” It then told me there was an error in connecting my Flickr account to FB and to try later. I did. It gave me the same error. I tried several times the next day. It gave me the same error.

In the midst of this, I wrote an email to Flickr Help (yes, they do respond quickly and it’s a real person with whom you can ask further questions). The Flickr person told me how to link with Facebook. I told him I had done this and kept getting the error message. I did let him know that I had been clicking on “Don’t Allow,” but this never was addressed in his responses.

He then told me how to go to Yahoo! and try it from there. I did. I clicked on “Don’t Allow.” I got the same error message that it couldn’t connect with my FB account and to try later.

Just as a test, I went through the same procedure but clicked on “Allow” for all the data that Yahoo! wanted. Yeh, you know what’s next – it connected effortlessly. Is there a message anywhere that says: “For those of you who only want your friends to see your personal data, you cannot connect your Flickr account with Facebook?” Of course not. Did the Flickr customer service man let me know this? Nope. Is my experience a fluke? Well, you can try it yourself and let me know.

Another Case of Right Hand, Left Hand Ignorance

2010-09-04T14:55:00.002-05:00

I have an American Express card. In fact, I’ve had one for 50 years. Like most consumers, I have switched from one form of the card to another as times have changed, my needs have changed, and different rewards are offered.

I get the AMEX bill in the mail. I pay it to arrive days before it’s due. This is where the “right hand doesn’t know what the left hand is doing” comes in.

When AMEX receives my payment, they send me an email acknowledging such and thanking me for it.

Four or five days later, I get another email from AMEX which says “Your next payment is almost due” and lists the amount of the statement for which they have already told me they have received my payment. The email also says: “If you have already sent or scheduled your payment, please disregard this reminder.” Well, it was sent, you told me you received it and thanked me for prompt payment several days ago.

So much for integrated databases, I guess.

Second U-Verse, Same as the First

2010-09-02T12:18:00.001-05:00

I received a telephone message from AT&T the day after the failed attempt to install U-verse saying all is well in the telephone world and I should call a particular 800 number to reschedule their coming to our house. I did as I was told.

What ensued was a half-hour of being shuttled from one person to another while, in between, listening to some lame music and a recording telling me periodically how important my call was to them and to keep on the line.

Upon dialing the 800 number, there is the usual set of choices given by a cheery digital voice including things like “Let me look up your account.” Sure. Right. So I hit the number button I thought nearest to what I wanted. The recording told me I had two outstanding service orders. The first one “it” read was the aborted installation from yesterday. The computer guy said it showed it had been completed. (Wrong.) I could respond with choices like “complete,” but nothing to reschedule other than “talk to a technician.” That’s what I said.

Person #1 was, indeed, a technician. I explained the background, the call today from AT&T saying it was all ready for installation, etc. He told me he was a technician and not in sales and he would switch me to sales who scheduled installations.

Person #2 was in sales. I went through my story again. He looked up my account. I asked for an appointment for installation. He told me that this was not his job (he just “sells” U-verse) and he would now shift me to a dispatcher who did the scheduling. He asked what state I was in and I gave him a geographical answer.

Person #3 was a dispatcher. She heard my story. Asked what state I was in. She then asked me what my U-verse account number was. I told her I didn’t have U-verse installed yet and wouldn’t my telephone number pull up what she needed? Nope. She needed my U-verse account number. Luckily, I had jotted it down on some scratch paper last week and could find it to read it to her. She put me on hold for five minutes while she looked up my account. She came back and said Missouri was not in her region for scheduling and she would have to forward me to a dispatcher who handled my state.

Person #4 now came on the line. He asked what state I was in (I resisted snarky answers, but told him I was getting really impatient with this whole process). Again, he put me on hold while he pulled up my records and read through them. He then asked whether a technician had called to say the outside wiring problem had been fixed. I told him (again) I had received a phone message saying I should reschedule my installation.

“When would you be available for us to come?” he asked. I told him to tell me when there were open times. “Well, when are you available?” I told him a date later in this week. Pause, pause, pause … as time passed. He said, “Well, we’re booked up all this week.” In a somewhat exasperated tone, I asked him when were they not booked up. He said I could make an appointment for the end of next week. I did.

Four people, half and hour, and all I wanted to do was to reschedule an installation appointment. Who knows what part three of this tale will bring?

Things in the U-verse Are Not What They Seem

2010-09-02T12:17:00.002-05:00

Today is the day AT&T is scheduled to install U-Verse. I have been skeptical about the whole installation since I have not seen any new AT&T boxes anywhere near our house, but they assured me they could do it.

The installer called me from the elementary school down the road. Seems as if this is where the whole shebang is located for the area. When he arrived here, I pointed out that had an alarm system tied into the phone line. There is the question whether the alarm system is set up for a digital dial tone since the phone line will now be VoIP instead of analog. He said they had been given some grief by supervisors since some folks had them rip out the whole U-Verse installation when they found out their alarm didn’t work with it.

I called my alarm company who had a non-committal response: “Well, before the guy leaves, call us and set off the alarm and we’ll see if it works.” I then assured the AT&T guy that if it didn’t, I would have the alarm company come out and put in the needed equipment and, regardless, wanted him to go ahead.

Next he tested my incoming phone lines. They need two pairs for U-Verse. One of the pairs into the house was live, the other dead. He drove over to the terminal box on the street, then back to the elementary school, and then returned here. That second pair he needed could be connected to the house just fine, but it was not “conditioned” for U-Verse. While he knew exactly what had to be done and could do it, that would be stepping on the toes of another division’s employees and he’d get in trouble.

So, he called it in. Hopefully they will fix the problem within days and we can reschedule the installation. Ah, but who knows what still lurks ahead?

I'm reading my stuff ...

2010-08-28T17:02:00.000-05:00

Catherine Rankovic, my friend and mentor, has posted a statement and question about going to "readings."

I agree with what she has to say. I see from personal experience the observations she makes about who comes to a "reading" and why. However, besides being at a reading to network and be seen, I also go because I like the author/poet(s) at the "reading." I learn from listening to others read their work.

But Catherine's main points are valid about who comes, who reads, and why ... and the difference between authors/poets who come and "fans." I also know that when I invite people (friends, colleagues, fellow non-profit board members) to come to hear authors/poets read, they smile, but their eyes turn glassy and they don't show up.

For me, and I suspect others, "readings" provide the best venue for selling our books. But that means more "fans" need to come and not just other writers. How do we do this? How can we get interest in the art we create in words?

Suggestions are appreciated.

A Word About Customer Service - Bread and Wine

2010-08-23T15:53:00.001-05:00

Over the weekend, four of us went to dinner at a local restaurant that is pan-Latin. It’s one we like and have eaten at frequently. The service was as slow as sap in January in Maine. But that’s not what this is all about. We ordered a bottle of a particular malbec, one that we’ve ordered many times here. After quite a delay (the poor service thing), the waiter told us the wine was no longer available. He tried to steer us to a wine that was $51 a bottle as compared to the $39 for the wine we wanted. We said we’d rather try other wines in the same price range as our original choice. The waiter said he’d bring us a taste of another malbec.

Time passed. The waiter returned with a malbec which none of us liked. He went away again. Time passed. He brought another malbec that none of us liked. And we’re not that picky about wines usually. All through this, he was trying to get us to buy the $51 bottle of malbec.

After all this, one of our party said to the waiter that we thought since the wine we wanted was not available and that none of the others in the same price range were acceptable to us, they should sell us the $51 bottle of wine at $39. Let me add at this point that on a particular night of the week, every week of the year, you can come in and buy any wine on the list at half price. We weren’t asking for this, but it’s part of the background on the transactions.

The waiter told us he couldn’t make such a decision and would get the manager. So the manager comes, we tell him the same thing we told the waiter. The bottom line in his response was that he wouldn’t sell us the $51 wine for $39, but had other wines he would sell us that were not on the wine list at about the same price or lower than the original wine. He brought one over. We tried it. By this time, our food was arriving and we were not happy to be negotiating on the wine and settled for what he brought. We didn’t finish the bottle, which is very rare for the four of us altogether.

Customer service opportunity #1 missed: “Oh, sure. No big deal. Glad to sell you the wine at a lower price since you’re loyal customers and we’re out of what you usually order.”

The next day, I wrote the manager an email recounting the entire story. His answer merely said he was sorry the service was so slow and sorry they were out of the wine we had wanted. See the customer service opportunity #2 that was missed?

That night, Marian and I went to a local Indian restaurant. When we ordered our entrees, I asked the waiter if naan came with them. He said, “No, but tell me what you want and I’ll bring it as an appetizer.” We did. He did. It wasn’t on the bill. Big customer service points for this guy. He understands.

Duck, NC - August 1-9, 2010

2010-08-11T16:46:00.000-05:00

Sunday it was just four of us. We did our laptop things in the morning. Some people drove up to the house and I went out to see who they were. It was Buzz Cupelli and his family. The Cupellis had just bought this house a week or so ago. They didn’t know our rental was for two weeks and had come to measure rugs, look at furnishings, etc. to see what they needed to buy. Very nice family and I learned quite a bit about the dunes, subdivisions, ownerships, etc. He is coming back on Monday with Charter Communications to change over the modem to him as the new owner.

Marian and I went out to Harris-Teeter to stock up for the next couple of days and to replenish basic supplies. Around 2:00, we all went on a five-mile walk on the beach – southward to the Corps of Engineers’ pier and back. Took two hours and it spit rain from time to time. Mark picked up lots of dead jelly fish for me to photograph. As we walked, we could see houses where the dunes were almost under them. And there were dunes with pretty bad erosion. The dunes in front of our subdivision are steady, have good vegetation, and look unharmed. Had late dinner at the house – nice grilled butterflied leg of lamb.

On Monday, we were all up around 9:00. It was the usual gathering around the laptops and eating breakfast time. Sandy and Sharon are arriving this afternoon, so we will finish making all the beds and putting fresh towels in two of the bedrooms. Lazy day around the beach and the house. We fixed dinner here and sat around our computers afterward.

Tuesday, Mark took a really long walk on the beach starting at dawn. Later, Marian, Sharon, and I went shopping in the AM at Tomee’s Gourmet Market in Duck to get dinner and other stuff. Sandy and Sharon went out to lunch. I had another lamb sandwich – just like I did Monday. Pru and Richard arrived about 3:00. Richard went right into the ocean to swim and boogie board. The other activity of the afternoon was bubbles on the deck. Marian, Mark, Pru, and Richard all joined in. It’s so windy that all you have to do is to hold your wand up and bubbles flow from it. Robin and Mark made guacamole for our afternoon snack.

Nice dinner including wine Pru and Richard brought. Lots of laughter and good company. Too bad Robin and Mark have to leave on Wednesday AM.

Well, Robin and Mark left around 8:00 Wednesday with lots of hugs all around. Now we’re down to six of us. Sandy and Sharon went south to see the Wright Brothers monument and onward to the Hatteras National Seashore and Bodie Island Lighthouse (which is swaddled in scaffolds). Late in the afternoon, Pru and Richard went to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, where there was no wait to climb it. Sandy and Sharon stopped at Harris-Teeter to pick up supplies, including a main ingredient for our evening meal: shrimp.

I made shrimp, andouille sausage, and cheese grits. Sandy did green beans. Yummy. After dinner, it was time for three rousing games of Apples to Apples.

Thursday AM, I took a walk on the beach. It had rained last night, so the sand was easy walking. Around 10:00, I made omelets for everyone. Sandy did a fruit salad. Marian and Sharon did a little beach time, then, at noon, Jill Keller, the massage therapist, came and worked on me, Sharon, Pru, and Marian, in that order. We all sat around reading. The sea calmed to almost “smooth as glass.” A couple of porpoises were spotted and we got good pix.

Before dinner, we took some “family portrait” pix with the setup like Jeff had used. Then off to The Left Bank at the Sanderling Inn. Elegant dinner, terrific food and wine, and the company wasn’t too bad either.

Friday is the last full day we’re all going to be together since the others are all leaving Saturday. Pru and Richard were off very early to go to the Wright Brothers monument. The coffee maker crapped out this AM, so I called Élan and they delivered another one, although half the capacity of what we had. Can’t do without coffee, can we? Richard was in the water, waves, surf almost everyday at least once. Friday night, Pru and Richard made a wonderful meal for us and we played Apples to Apples afterward.

Saturday was about the same pace and activities as all the other days. For lunch, we went into Duck to the Red Sky Café. Sandy and Sharon left from there to go to the airport in Norfolk. Pru and Richard came back to the house, packed up, and left for home. Marian and I started getting things put together, packed, and staged for car loading this evening. We ate dinner at Blue Point, our favorite restaurant in Duck. It has been expanded quite a bit since we were last here eight years ago, but the food was a great as ever. Went outside on their new patio to watch the fading sun over the sound.

Sunday we were up bright and early and left the house before 8:00. We returned the keys to Élan and headed north then west on I-64. Originally, I had planned to take an alternate route to avoid Norfolk and Newport News, but we got turned around and ended up taking the usual route over I-64. Traffic was tolerable except for the places where there were accidents or road work. Lunch was at a Waffle House in Lexington, VA. We slept at a Hampton Inn in Frankfort, KY, about 700 miles from Duck.

Monday we were home in time for lunch at Kaldi’s in the valley. It’s really hot here. You go outside and are dripping wet within 10 minutes. Let’s all go back to the ocean.

Duck, NC - July 23-31, 2010

2010-08-06T07:54:00.000-05:00

Marian and I left St. Louis around 7 AM on the 23rd and headed the southern route toward the Outer Banks. We had lunch east of Nashville in Lebanon, TN at an O’Charley’s. After 725 miles, we spend overnight at a Hampton Inn in Statesville, NC, just a bit north of Charlotte, where the Spellers and Hirsch/Parrone gang were staying for a couple of nights with relatives/friends. Had dinner at Outback. Yummy rack of lamb.

Next morning, we headed out about 8:00. At the end of I-40, we got on U.S. 64, which is much improved since the last time we were here. Lunch was in Williamston, NC at the Hitch ‘N Post. Then eastward some more until we crossed over onto Roanoke Island and the town of Manteo. We checked in at the Burris House Inn, where we had Room 1 – Amelia Delnoy. Beautiful suite overlooking the sound. We went into town and really suffered in the over 100-degree heat and not a breath of breeze. We did some casual shopping and headed back to the inn.

The innkeeper recommended Lone Cedar Café in Nags Head for dinner, and it was a good choice with lots of fresh, local seafood, even showing on the menu who caught it. Went outside to see the first really nice moonrise of the trip, with many more to follow.

Our breakfast the next morning was also at a place the innkeeper suggested: Sam & Omie’s. Lots of locals. We ate at the bar and had a good meal. From there, we headed north from Nags Head, through Kitty Hawk, and over the 158 bridge to the mainland to pick up our keys at the rental agency, Élan. We knew the house wouldn’t be ready, but we drove there anyway to see how soon it would be. We were told by a supervisor about an hour.

We drove north from Duck as far as the Currituck Beach Lighthouse and then back into Corolla to a Harris-Teeter grocery store to stock up. The rental agency had given us a bag with four rolls of toilet tissue, two rolls of paper towels, two packets for the dishwasher, and a small packet for the laundry. No soap. Thus, besides all the food staples and perishables we needed, there were basics to buy. By the time we got back, the cleaning service was all done and we moved in.

Our car was a sight. The truck area was jammed up to the level of the cover to screen it from prying eyes. The back seat was also full – floor and seats. So, adding the groceries to all this was a challenge. Taking it all into the house was a chore as well.

Very nice house: 142 Skimmer Way. Four bedrooms (2Q, 1T, 1 w/2 bunk beds), 3.5 baths. The bedrooms are on the second floor, the living area on the third. The deck off the third floor has a wide open view of the Atlantic.

Jeff and Donna got here first followed not too far behind by the Spellers. I fixed dinner that first night, but all pitched in from then on. Mark and Robin arrived on Tuesday, the 27th.

Over the next couple of days, there were walks on the beach, sitting on the deck, doing jigsaw puzzles, playing Apples to Apples, watching Jake on his Wii play golf, baseball, etc. And eating, of course. We ate in almost all meals with only a few exceptions.

There were magnificent sunrises many mornings where various people got up before 6:00 and watched or took pictures. Moonrises were also spectacular given the full moon. Most days it was comfortable and breezy. We had little rain or clouds overall.

On the 28th, we all drove north to the Currituck Beach Lighthouse, waited our turn in a long line, and climbed the hundreds of steps up to the top. It was hot below, but nice winds blew at the top. Lots of fun. Lunch was nearby at Fat Crabs Rib Company. Then back to the house.

There, Robin and Mark presented me with a box to open. It contained an ostrich egg weighing about 5 pounds, the equivalent of over two-dozen eggs. Earlier in the week, Mark had given me a hammer imprinted with “Duck NC 2010” and a large galvanized spike. Now I knew what they were for! What a super present and we all couldn’t wait until we would use it.

The next day, a massage therapist, Jill Keller, came and worked on Marian, Tracy, Jeff, and Donna. Otherwise, it was a normal day of sitting around, sunning, reading.

Friday it was ostrich omelet day. I used the supplied tools, punctured the egg, and drained its contents into a bowl. Jeff whipped it up while I made potatoes and onions on an electric grill. Then we all enjoyed the omelets Jeff made to order (contents of choice). The taste was quite delicate with no discernable difference from good chicken eggs. In later meals, we used the rest of the eggs in crab cakes and to do some final omelets.

After breakfast, we all went south to the Wright Brothers National Monument in Kill Devil Hills. We listened to the ranger talk in a room with full-size models of both their glider and first airplane. Then we walked around the park, saw the field where first flight happened, climbed the hill to the monument where they had launched their glider, etc. Nice day in the 70s with a breeze, so it was good to be outside walking around. Very nice family excursion.

Lunch was at Dirty Dick’s Crab House. Andy and the kids went to play miniature golf, we did some food shopping, Donna and Marian went to a knitting store, and all went home. Dinner was at the Ocean Blvd. Bistro in Kitty Hawk. Elegant dinner, although late for the kids.

Saturday was departure day for the Spellers and Donna/Jeff. Sad to see them go. It was such a wonderful week with the whole family here. Saturday night, Robin and Mark took us out for dinner at the Lifesaving Station at the Sanderling Inn. Very nice food and company.

It’s hard to describe our feelings with our children and grandchildren all here, around us, living with us, being with us for a week. Such joy. Such a treat to watch the small things. And the funny things when there were six iPhones and two Droids going at the same time or when eight of us were all on our laptops. There were all the meals, the group work on puzzles where the players changed as the puzzle came together, shared shopping, cooking, cleaning up, and Jake’s poll at dinner each evening of who was going to play Apples to Apples that night. It was all I wanted it to be and more to celebrate my birthday and our life as a family.

Now it’s time to strip the beds, wash all the towels and sheets, remake the beds, vacuum and sweep, and get ready for Week 2 guests.

Videos To Watch

2010-07-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

I don't usually post "political" stuff on my blog. Mostly it's just rants. But I've seen two videos recently that I would like others to watch.

The first one regards the "flotilla" that came from Turkey and, what I think, is some biased press about what happened there and what it was all about. Sure, Israel made some mistakes, but see what you think about this video about the flotilla itself.

Then there's the whole idea of Israel and its defense against those who wish the Jews pushed into the sea and destroyed. Here's an original song and video to watch.

Please let me know what you think.

New York - June 7, 2010

2010-06-08T15:44:00.000-05:00

Up at 7:00 to meet Jesse Goldstine at 7:45 in the lobby. Before I was finished dressing, Pru called to say her uncle, Walter Goodman, had just docked this morning on the Queen Mary. She was going to see if we could visit him.

Jesse and I went out for breakfast at the Edison Hotel, which has an old-fashioned coffee shop – cash only, food comes out fast. We spent about 45 minutes talking and eating. He talked about socks. I talked about my weekend. We parted with me heading back to the hotel, him to work.

I finished up all my labeling of pictures from the reunion (hoping I got names right) and posted them on Flickr. About the time I was going to leave and go over to MOMA again, Pru called and said Walter was up to see us in half an hour. So I checked out, left my baggage, took my camera and walked across town to 340 E. 52nd where Walter and his companion, Bob, live on a very nice ground-floor apartment. Nice walk along the way – took pictures, of course.

A couple of observations. First, food prices are not as outrageous as I thought they’d be. At the places we’ve eaten lunches and dinners, prices haven’t been really different than what we pay in St. Louis. Now, we didn’t go to extremely fancy places nor did we order expensive wine, but still. Second, one of the things I really like about new camera is that it’s really always “on.” So, I can shoot at will as I’m wandering around the city.

I met Pru over at her uncle’s. By the way, I could recognize her walk a long block away. Guess that runs in the family, too. So we visited Walter Goodman, Pru’s dad’s younger brother. I think he’s 88. He and his companion, Bob, have been together for over 30 years. It was really touching for both Walter and me. He knew my grandfather, Jack, a bit. So that was fun. He described Jack as “acerbic,” which I told him was the nicest description of Jack I’d heard. We dissected lots of family history, talked about the Sarah/Clara split and theories about that. A very lovely apartment. Books. Art. He raises dogs and competes in the Westminster show. They had been on a Holland America cruise that ended in the UK and had taken the QM home from there.

When we left, I meandered back across town. I had about an hour before my date with our friend, Arthur Albert. So I walked and took pictures and walked and took pictures all the way back to 43rd and Broadway. I met Arthur at the Brooklyn Diner where everyone knows him. He’s buddies with them all. Some have visited him in Fire Island. Had a lovely lunch talking about what’s going on in both of our lives.

After lunch, I shouldered my way north on Broadway for a couple of blocks. It was cheek-to-jowl crowded. So I headed east as soon as I could and went over to MOMA. I finished my visit at the Cartier-Bresson exhibit and then went floor to floor looking at the interactions of people with the collection. Loved the pictures I took.

Tired from all this, I walked very slowly back to the hotel and downloaded my pictures from the day onto my laptop. Right when the van was to arrive, it was there. Ended up there were only two of us going to LGA then. Had a nice conversation with a woman from Montreal who had then lived in Vancouver, then Hawaii, and now Ft. Lauderdale. Got to LGA, was screened, ate some reasonable food, and waited for boarding.

To say this was a full weekend would be a gross understatement. I loved having time to visit with Chick and Dorothy. Usually, it’s theatre and dinner and that’s it. So it was lovely being with them. And while there are lots of connections to members of my newly-discovered relatives, certainly the closest and dearest are with Pru and Annie. Both are now part of my heart.

New York - June 6, 2010

2010-06-06T23:28:00.002-05:00

Another wonderful and jam-packed day. I got up at 8:00 hoping Caroline and Ben would come in for breakfast at 9:30. We had some crossed communication so that by the time Caroline called me, it was too late for them to get from there to here (an hour’s journey). So, I had one of my free breakfasts at Pigalle at the hotel. I gathered up my stuff and walked up 8th and then westward across town to MOMA.

I could only spend about an hour there, so went to the Cartier-Bresson exhibit to try to at least see part of it today and come back tomorrow. I was glad I had purchased a membership since I could bypass the hordes standing in line. As I had been told, these are photographs that make you weep with their beauty and composition and subjects. But, I only had time to see part today. More tomorrow.

I continued walking across town to Park Ave. and took a taxi uptown to 80th between Lexington and 3rd to Georgine Goodman’s house (Pru’s mom). It’s a four-story brownstone, about 18 feet wide. Exquisite. I had a lovely time with Georgine. Her husband, Maurice Goodman, Jr., was my second cousin. She was delighted to have another Maurice and her husband was also called Bud. She is an accomplished watercolor artist and photographer (double-lens reflex). She showed me several pictures of her family and we talked for an hour. It was really lovely.

Pru and I then left at went to 3rd Ave. to Eli’s (part of Zabar empire) for lunch and then took a cab up to 121st and Broadway for the family reunion.

There were about 40 or more there. Except for Chick/Dorothy, Pru, and me, all were related through my great aunt, Sarah Hirsch Firuski. Annie Parker had sent me pictures of all who were coming and how everyone was related, so I had a head start. I met about everyone there and they were excited that there was still a Hirsch around. Many had thought the name had stopped at my grandfather’s generation, not knowing we ever existed. I did find out the cause of the schism between my great aunts Clara and Sarah – it was a man – supposedly, it was Louis Firuski, Sarah’s first husband.

No words can really describe all the feelings about meeting a whole section of my family at this time in my life. There is this connection as if we’ve known each other for a long time and it was incidental that this was the first time we met.

Chick and Dorothy drove Pru and me back to my hotel where we talked in my room for a bit. Around 6:00, we headed over to Sofia’s on 46th for a nice dinner and wine. Pru and I went from there to the Imperial Theatre on the next block over to see Billy Elliot. Wowie zowie. One of the best musicals I’ve ever seen. Can’t wait to see it again.

Pru and I parted with hugs and knowing we’ll see each other soon. Back to the hotel for writing and working on pictures and preparing for my last day here.

New York - June 5, 2010

2010-06-05T22:07:00.000-05:00

Got up this AM about 7:00 and met Annie Parker in the lobby at 8:00. This is our first ever seeing one another in person. Lots of hugging! Again, someone I had never met in person where we are instant friends and intimates. Such a joy.

We went to Pigalle, the hotel’s restaurant, since I had free coupons. Ye dogs, what a breakfast you can have. Juice, main course, two sides, coffee. I was conservative with OJ, oatmeal, toast, huge fruit plate, and coffee. Annie shared my bounty not wanting a full breakfast.

We headed over to 7th Ave. for the subway. Went to the end of the line at South Ferry and into the Staten Island Ferry terminal, a beautiful new building. The ferry is free. How about that? So, we took it over, disembarked, got back on, took it back. Beautiful views of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island as well as lower Manhattan. And a lovely ride over the water.

From there, we walked toward Ground Zero, asking along the way if we were headed in the right direction. Well, while the monument alongside a fire house to the fallen is impressive, there was really no way to see the site since it’s all fenced in and they are furiously building there. We walked around a bit and then headed to a subway so we could go up to 14th near Annie’s mom’s apartment.

The subway station at 14th Street has lots of small sculptures depicting things like: the streets are paved with gold; there are alligators in the sewers. Fun stuff. All through the underground platform.

We walked to Jean’s apartment, first checking if it was alright to come. Carol, Annie’s sister, was there along with their mother. It’s a beautiful apartment in the Greenwich Village area. The living room is lined top to bottom with book shelves. There’s an old grand piano. It was so wonderful to meet Carol and Jean. Jean and I have talked on the phone, but never really met. This is the first time I have met Carol altogether. All very special. We chatted about 20 minutes, the limit we’d given ourselves to not tire Jean too much.

Then we went up on the apartment’s roof to a stunning view from a beautiful rooftop garden. Uptown is the Empire State Building and Chrysler Building. Downtown we could see toward where the ferry docked.

From there, we walked to Chelsea Market, a redeveloped old Nabisco factory with lots of stores and flower shops, bake shops, food, etc. in its bottom floor. We ate a nice lunch of sandwiches and walked out toward The High Line park. Wonderful way to take an old elevated freight line and make a garden with views toward the Statue of Liberty one way and Empire State Building the other way. Some remnants of old tracks are among the flowers and shrubs.

I took the subway home and did pictures, cooled down, and changed clothes for tonight. At six, I met Chick, Dorothy, and Michael Bisberg and Pru Meyer. At Ruby Foo’s on Broadway. We had a lovely dinner and chatted about the day. It’s such fun being together. I rarely get to see Chick and Dorothy, so this was an added treat.

From dinner, I walked up Broadway to 54th and to Studio 54 theatre to see Sondheim on Sondheim with Barbara Cook, Vanessa Williams, Tom Wopat, and five other excellent actors. Wow! Terrific in concept and execution. I had first row mezzanine ticket and sat next to nice couple who visited with me. Theatre over, I walked to 8th Avenue and wended my way back to the hotel. A full day, I think.

New York - June 4, 2010

2010-06-04T21:39:00.002-05:00

It’s been an interesting day. The flight from STL to NYC was fine. Oh, they don’t turn on the AC in the airplane until they start the engines, which is after everyone is aboard and they’re ready to taxi. So they keep all the window shades down and the lights out! Then there is the announcement that a packet of an inflatable pillow and a blanket can be purchased for $8, potato chips for $3.59, a cookie for some other large amount, etc. and credit card only, no cash.

I was in a middle seat, but my companions were nice and read or slept. A child two rows up uttered screams every so often, especially all through the last half hour. In La Guardia, I went to the ground transportation desk and waited for my share-a-ride van from Go Airlink NYC. Nine of us were in the van with six different destinations. We went into the city on a strange route, but the driver kept us moving. We crossed over the Queensboro Bridge and headed uptown on 1st to the upper 60s for the first drop off. Then it was back south on 2nd into the 40s for the second person. Then we wended westward with me being the fourth out at the Hilton Garden Inn Times Square (48th and 8th). Took about an hour and a quarter.

I checked in and was sent to room 818. Upon entering, I saw housekeeping had forgotten about it and it was in the shape the last occupants left it. Most apologetic at the front desk, they then gave me 1431, a corner room looking down on 48th toward Broadway. And a free bottle of water. And free breakfasts at Pigalle, their restaurant, for al three days. Not bad.

I unpacked, talked to Annie Parker about tomorrow, and went to Saigon 48, which is less than a half a block away on 48th. Carolyn and Howard had recommended it and it was good. I had basil duck and a beer.

After dinner, I continued down 48th to Broadway taking pictures. Then up Broadway for a couple of blocks and back to the hotel across 49th. Chatted with Carolyn on iChat. Talked to Pru about Sunday. Then a brief iChat with Marian.

Statement of Accounting Standards No. 116

2010-06-01T16:59:00.002-05:00

No. Don’t get turned off by the title of this rant. I want to tell you how accounting rules force organizations to do something stupid. Note: all statements herein are my opinions. I have no one but myself to blame for them.

Here’s the deal: let’s say a non-profit organization gets a grant from a state agency or a private foundation. Let’s also say it’s for $10,000, but the grantor tells you in its grant letter that you will get $10,000 this year and another $10,000 next year if you do what you said you would in your grant. Got it so far?

Well, here’s the crazy part. You have to show $20,000 as revenue this year and zero (for that grant) next year. That’s the rule. So, everything else being equal, you have an unfair upward jump in income this year and an unfair downward fall next year. Think of it as $20,000, $0, $20,000, $0 if this keeps going.

Tell me how anyone reading the organization’s financial statements would understand these upward and downward gyrations which are caused solely by how the organization is required to record stuff by the Financial Accounting Standards Board. It has nothing to do with cash, which, I think, is the most important thing so see.

Lemme see. How about a note that says:

“Please disregard our $10,000 deficit next year. We’re fine. We just had to do it this way due to stupid accounting rules so our organization could be audited. Makes no logical sense, but, hey, that’s financial accounting anyway.”

Sparta, Illinois - 1963

2010-05-29T12:39:00.008-05:00

The following appeared on riehlife.com on April 19, 2010

We have Maurice Hirsch’s mentor and friend, Catherine Rankovic, to thank for today’s Poem-of-the-Day. Welcome! He joins us from Chesterfield, Missouri. Here’s some background he’s shared on his poem “Sparta, Illinois–1963″

We lived and worked in Sparta from 1962-1964. It was a tipping point in the transition of this town/area from segregation toward integration in jobs and where you could live. While the printing plant put out magazines and comic books for urban center consumption, the town was Southern-Illinois rural.

In an “art imitates life imitates art” moment, the movie In the Heat of the Night was filmed there in 1966 and had a real impact on the community. Originally set in Mississippi, the IMDB database says: “Mississippi was eventually ruled out as a location due to the existing political conditions. Sparta, Illinois, was selected as the location, and the town’s name in the story was changed to Sparta so that local signs would not need to be changed.”

This led to African-American mid-level managers. One of their sons became the first African-American physician in town (and was taken as a partner by a while physician). It took until 1971 for there to be an African-American hero in a comic book.

Sparta, Illinois
1963

Like half the town
I work at “The Comic Book,”
where white men adjust
printing presses and bindery machines
that spew white heroes
Superman,
Archie,
Casper the Friendly Ghost,
while blacks wield brooms, load freight cars.

Six months pregnant
with our first child,
Marian walks to the plant,
our tiny black poodle,
Voodoo, on a leash.
As we stroll home for lunch,
she tells me the dog bit her hard.
We chat about baby names.

Later, I go to Rotary.
The minister sitting next to me says:
You’re the first Jew I’ve ever talked to.

Longevity

2010-05-28T16:26:00.001-05:00

Over my academic career, I was the author or co-author of books in my field. One where I was sole author is Advanced Management Accounting. The second edition came out in 1994. Somewhere around 1999, the US publisher no longer supported the title and the copyright was released to me. Later the same year, the UK arm of the same publisher contacted me and wanted me to sign a contract with them (assign the copyright to them) to print a soft-cover edition of the book. No changes. Just soft-cover. This came out in 2000.

Over the past 10 years, the book has sold in Europe, mostly in The Netherlands. It’s been pretty steady and I’ve gotten royalties (what I call “money falling from the sky”) every year.

Now, there seems to be a new interest in the US for the book. Mind you, it has an original copyright date of 1994. I have just received word from one accounting professor that he is adopting the book for a fall class of 15 graduate students. I have another inquiry just this past week from another professor for a graduate class. The book is available through Amazon:

Given the book is not tied at all to financial accounting, auditing, or tax (whose rules and regulations change more often than the Sex in the City women’s garments), the only way it would be out of date is if practice and theory in the field of management accounting has gone beyond what I posited and wrote about over 16 years ago. Guess my work has been durable. My son says I was ahead of the curve and they’re just catching up with me. Whatever is happening, it makes me happy. Is there a poem in all this?

Form 990 Revulsion

2010-05-24T17:22:00.001-05:00

In case you haven’t noticed, the federal government has instituted a whole new Form 990, the IRS form that a non-profit has to fill out annually. It used to be pretty straightforward. Now it’s Byzantine.

The organization where I’m business manager (volunteer) received a questionnaire from its accountants. This questionnaire (an Excel file) has over 40 different pages to be filled out, questions answered, data schedules filled in, etc. Frankly, it’s a nightmare.

I can only posit that the reason we are subjected to this horrendous requirement is malfeasance and misfeasance by some big non-profits where funds were not used in the manner they were supposed to be and executives were paid outlandish salaries, etc. So the rest of us who have been honest and make sure our funds are used for the purposes we outlined in our 501(c)(3) application are penalized by bad behavior from other agencies. It’s the old “one rotten apple spoils the barrel,” I guess.

Well, it makes work for the CPAs since no mere mortal could fill all this out and make sense of what the government requires. And it makes people like me who have to fill out these 40 pages of questions and figures crazy and angry.

"Tropic of Cancer"

2010-05-18T08:27:00.004-05:00

My poem, “Tropic of Cancer,” was a runner-up in this year’s St. Louis Poetry Center’s Nash Contest.

Several years ago, I got the news I had prostate cancer. I had a radical prostatectomy. The pathology report said there were cancer cells at the margin of what they removed, a sign some might have escaped.

I get tested every six months. So far, I’m okay. I used to call the doctor’s office immediately for results. Now, I often forget to call at all.

This poem is about my journey from my biopsy results until now. I question a fading intimacy, immediacy, and wonder whether I’ve become too blasé.

The contest judge wrote the following about the poem:

“The central metaphor of this poem – the poet compares the onset of illness to a typhoon – is rendered with precision and fine dramatic control, in lines like ‘…there’s a nascent smell of rain / and flying fish move in an arc away.’ In the hands of a lesser poet, this conceit might have exhausted itself, but here, it is continually made fresh through the candor of the poet’s voice, and through the inventive use of language. Bravo!”

Rain Barrels and My Pool

2010-05-16T18:07:00.000-05:00

I got the idea from the young man who cleans my pool. He backflushes the pool to clean the filter. Water from the pool gushes out onto the ground to go wherever it wants. He suggested we get rain barrels to collect the water and then we could use it when needed to water plants and our berry vines.

I contacted some local people I had met at Chesterfield’s Earth Day celebration, Robinson’s Rain Barrels. The nice young couple who have this fledgling business came out and I contracted with them to furnish me with what I needed and install it. It works!

The chlorine from the pool water quickly evaporates so the water is safe to put on my raspberry and blackberry vines nearby using a soaker hose. This will be wonderful in the heat of the summer when rain is scarce. Good idea!

Misinformation Lives On

2010-04-28T16:06:00.000-05:00

I was listening to the national news on NPR today. They were reporting on the President’s trip to the Midwest, and especially to a small Missouri town with its new ethanol plant. Seems as if about 100 folks had gathered there the day before the event to protest the current administration’s policies. A man from Columbia, MO said he had driven there because (this is a paraphrase, but close): “Obama’s trampling on the Constitution.”

I can only assume that this same person saw no problems with the last administration’s actions on any front. If he believes in our Constitution, I think there were lots of times in W’s eight years where even Constitutional scholars could argue some really bad stuff occurred.

And the other day, I got a copy of an email (forwarded from a friend who got it by mistake) from a conservative group asking people to logon for a survey (which was in the classical form of “When did you stop beating your wife?” regarding the Democrats and the President). If they did, they would be rewarded by an “Impeach Obama” bumper sticker. What’s happening here?

Please someone tell me what impeachable offense has been committed. Again, I can only assume that this same group saw zero impeachable offenses in the last administration. And where does the Constitution say that if you disagree with a leader that you should impeach him/her? I must have missed that in my civics class.

I am no knee-jerk political citizen. Sure, I’m a bit left of center. But I read and evaluate positions on all sides and agree with some conservatives at times. I worry about folks who believe the party line (whatever party) is sacrosanct and almost God-given. There’s no discussion possible with these people. They own the truth, as they see it.

I worry about good people being driven out of politics because they’re not extreme enough. If we end up with our two main political parties dominated even more by their extreme elements, there’s no middle ground. It’s all about bashing the other side, following ideologues.

And I’m really getting fed up with blatant lies (e.g., “death panels”) and the level of viciousness we now see displayed. Where are the citizens in the middle (right or left) and why aren’t they decrying the lies, misinformation, and extremism?

You think what Arizona has done with their immigration law is rotten? Imagine the extension of all these lines of thinking, especially on the right, and it will scare the &%$# out of you.

POD to the Nth Degree

2010-04-24T16:11:00.001-05:00

Have you heard about the Espresso Book Machine? If not, click here and watch the video. While print of demand (POD) has been around for a while, this takes things to a whole new level.

You can create library quality paperbound books almost instantly. You want one or more copies of a family history, no big deal. You just send the file to where a machine is. You can even have the vendor (e.g., Harvard Book Store, University of Missouri) design a cover for you.

What this means could encompass the following:

· Professors can create course-specific texts using material either they’ve written or have copyright permission to use and produce books that are cheaper than texts from traditional publishers. This also will mean that the traditional publishers might amend their business model to sell selected chapters from one or more books to be combined on site at the university for a targeted text.

· Bookstores would not have to carry heavy inventory. This could help the independents. With a regional machine or even one bought by the bookstore, a buyer could come in or buy something online and have it produced instantly. As the market for this expands, almost all books could be downloaded locally to be printed with payment for each printing to the publisher.

· This means there will be no such thing as an out-of-print book. As long as one copy of a book exists, it can be scanned and reproduced. Harvard is already seeing this from their vast publishing endeavors over the years.

· People who want to self publish can have much more direct control over their product.

It’s possible that this idea and the machines that come along afterward will be what saves books in print.

Archie and Veronica

2010-04-23T16:18:00.002-05:00

The following poem of mine was published on riehlife.com:

Sparta, Illinois
1963

Like half the town
I work at “The Comic Book,”
where white men adjust
printing presses and bindery machines
that spew white heroes
Superman,
Archie,
Casper the Friendly Ghost,
while blacks wield brooms, load freight cars.

Six months pregnant
with our first child,
Marian walks to the plant,
our tiny black poodle,
Voodoo, on a leash.
As we stroll home for lunch,
she tells me the dog bit her hard.
We chat about baby names.

Later, I go to Rotary.
The minister sitting next to me says:
You’re the first Jew I’ve ever talked to.

I prefaced the poem on the site with the following:

We lived and worked in Sparta from 1962-1964. It was a tipping point in the transition of this town/area from segregation toward integration in jobs and where you could live. While the printing plant put out magazines and comic books for urban center consumption, the town was southern-Illinois rural.

In an “art imitates life imitates art” moment, the movie In the Heat of the Night was filmed there in 1966 and had a real impact on the community. Originally set in Mississippi, the IMDB database states: “Mississippi was eventually ruled out as a location due to the existing political conditions. Sparta, Illinois, was selected as the location, and the town's name in the story was changed to Sparta so that local signs would not need to be changed.”

This led to African-American mid-level managers. One of their sons became the first African-American physician in town (and was taken as a partner by a while physician). It was not until 1971 for there to be an African-American hero in a comic book.

Today, our son sent me this link about Archie and Veronica. So it took from the dawn of comic books until 1971 to have an African-American hero and, I guess, until 2010 to have a gay regular character.

Class Action Settlement - Lawn Mowers

2010-04-08T18:32:00.002-05:00

I got a postcard today asking if I had purchased a lawn mower with a gas engine up to 30 horsepower sometime between 1994 and 2010. If I had, I “could receive benefits from class action settlements.” I am given until the end of August to file my claim.

I looked online at the claim form. Before being able to enter any data, there is the following:

“Please be sure you have the following information for each lawnmower you wish to claim:
1. Lawnmower Brand
2. Lawnmower Id Number
3. Lawnmower Engine Brand
4. Lawnmower Engine Model Number”

Well, who among us has NOT purchased one or more lawn mowers over the last SIXTEEN years? Using me as a possible model consumer, I can think of at least four I have purchased, three of which have made it to land fills or junk yards. So, at best, I can enter information for one lawn mower.

The question I want to ask: Is it worth my while to trek out to the barn and try to accumulate the required information? What are my potential benefits for getting on my knees and wiping away three years’ worth of grease, grime, and petrified grass from my mower? I am told I can receive the following:

1. Cash payment of “up to $35 for a walk-behind mower,”
2. “an agreement by certain Defendants to extend warranty benefits, and/or”
3. “to use a new ‘Certified Power Rating’ standard.”

In addition, I am told “If claims exceed the amount available for cash payments, payments will be reduced.”

Bring tears to your eyes, doesn’t it. Let’s see. I can get “up to” thirty-five whole dollars. I can possibly get a warranty extension and/or a new “Certified Power Rating” (whatever that is) on a three-or-four-year-old mower that, so far, runs just fine and does a good job doing what it’s supposed to.

Really, I would like to be in court at the hearing on June 22, 2010 where they “consider whether to approve the Settlements and a request for attorneys’ fees.” Bet those dudes get more than “up to $35.”

The Vet(s)

2010-04-04T11:43:00.004-05:00

I have two dogs and four (well, five) horses. Let’s stick with two and four for now. My dogs are aging (13 and 11). The small animal vet says they are at an age where they are older than me. So, the vet wants to do a checkup twice a year instead of only once. This means blood work and analysis twice year besides the annual shots. I think they get the same tests I do (liver, thyroid, cholesterol, etc.) Oh, and then there’s the annual teeth cleaning to avoid gum disease, diabetes, and who knows what else. Teeth cleaning involves anesthesia since the dogs would squirm too much if awake. Then there are the flea protection and heart worm medicines you can only buy from the vet. (The makers of these products don’t stand behind them if you buy them on the Internet or any place except a vet.) Finally and obviously, with dogs, I take them to the vet.

With the horses, there is an annual blood test to rule out a particular equine disease and annual shots. Teeth need to be looked at perhaps once every three or four years and filed (called floating the teeth). It’s done with the horse quite awake and just standing there. Worming medicine can be purchased online or at any feed store. And the vet comes to you.

In all this, we’re talking about wellness medicine. No injuries and illnesses are included in the above. With all of this, I spend over twice as much a year on the two dogs combined as compared to four horses combined.

When I grow up, I want to be a small animal vet.

Servicing the Customer

2010-03-31T16:26:00.008-05:00

I have a Canon camera. It came with nice software including one that stitches shots together into a panoramic picture. Since my Canon camera has a pano setting, I like to take a series of pictures that result in a panoramic digital file.

I have installed Mac’s new OS, Snow Leopard, which has been out several months now. Lo and behold, Canon’s PhotoStitch software does not work in Snow Leopard. Naturally, I went to the Canon website to find an update that did. Nope. Not there. And not even something telling me that they just don’t have it yet … or ever.

I sent an email to their customer service department. I got the following response:

“Thank you for writing to us. We value you as a Canon customer and appreciate the opportunity to assist you. Unfortunately, the latest version, PhotoStitch 3.2.1 Updater for Mac, is only compatible with OS X 10.3-10.5.

“We regret any inconvenience this causes. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.”

I responded that indeed they could be of further assistance by letting me know when such an update would be available. I received the following reply:

“We appreciate your continued correspondence regarding PhotoStitch.

“At this time we do not have additional information regarding a newer version of PhotoStitch. Canon has yet to release information pertaining to a new version of this software. We are happy to put in a suggestion to Canon USA though through our Customer Feedback process. This process allows us to capture important feedback from our valued customers. As we constantly strive to improve our products and services, your comments are vital to our continued success.

“For important product updates, including available drivers and product notifications, please visit Canon's Web site at www.powershot.com.

“We hope this information is helpful to you. Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance with PhotoStitch.”

So, as a customer, I have been serviced.

P.S., I received the following response after complaining that they had really not given me any useful information so far:

“We appreciate your continued correspondence regarding Photostitch. We are aware that Apple customers typically do wait a little longer for update patches and new versions. For this we very much apologize. I can assure you that engineers in Japan are hard at work developing current and new versions of our software for various platforms. Our only regret is that we don't at the current time have software that meets your specifications.”

To which, I replied: Yes, but ... Snow Leopard was introduced publicly in August 2009. Certainly there were specification out there for software designers before then. It's now the end of March, some seven months after it was introduced. And, no, Mac users don't typically wait longer in any material amount for updates that work when Mac puts out a newer version of its OS.

Eighteen Dollars and Seventy-Two Cents

2010-03-30T16:15:00.000-05:00

That’s what I just received from a distribution from the WorldCom settlement fund. You remember Worldcom, right? Great investment if you can just look beyond what ended up in fraud, jail, and nothing back on what you put in. Well, almost nothing. Guess less than a tenth of one percent is something.

Wonder what the lawyers got …

2010 Florida 6

2010-03-09T21:47:00.002-06:00

March 7, 2010: Just hung around the condo all AM. Went out for lunch at The Dock in Old Naples. It’s an annual event for us – especially the shrimp nachos. Afterward, we drove over to the Conservancy of Southwest Florida and took an hour-long guided boat tour of the Gordon River and Golden Gate Canal with a terrific captain, Tom Marvel (you may remember him from the comics), who gave us the history of the area and pointed out the plants and trees and birds. Quite lovely.

We thought we’d spend an hour on the beach, but when we got out of the car, it was too cold to do so – stiff wind blowing in from the gulf. So, back to the condo.

Dinner at the Shears was a wonderful homemade tomato soup followed by stone crab claws. The soup, terrific. The crab claws, only okay. They were mediums (and I’m spoiled by usually having the largest size) and the meat stuck to the shells (as we had been warned by a guy at the farmers market who said that happens when it’s as cold as it has been). But it was fun and a treat anyway.

The rest of the evening was taken up with watching the Oscars. Then to bed.

March 8, 2010: Jeff went to play 18 holes and Toby had a meeting to attend. So we spent the morning getting ready to leave tomorrow. There is the last load of clothes to wash, things to gather into bags, etc. And it’s always nice to look at what you brought to wear that you never had on your body. I can’t speak for the woman who has over a dozen pairs of shoes with her and some more she got here, but for me, I was only in khakis twice here (not even once in Sarasota). Other than the time I was in khakis, I never used any of my polo shirts, short-sleeved or long. With the cold weather, I really lived in the two sweatshirts I had with me.

My cold is better, although still lingering. Need some heat, some sun. Guess I’ll have to go home to get it. Went out for lunch. Then to the beach. A very cold wind enveloped us and we left.

2010 Florida 5

2010-03-08T08:44:00.000-06:00

March 5, 2010: Another nice, sunny day that was chilly whenever the wind blew, which was often. Jeff was out early to play 18 holes. Toby, Marian, and I left about 10:30 and didn’t return until around 3:30. First stop was a shoe store where, finally, I found a place that carries Trask shoes and bought a pair. My transaction took about 5 minutes; the girls poked and lifted and tried on stuff (not buying anything) for another 20.

Our main destination was Venetian Village, an upscale shopping area with some good restaurants. We wandered into and out of stores there. We lunched in the sun overlooking the water. I will mention one particular food item, since I have left all food to be viewed rather than described. They had a lobster, shrimp, and calamari pizza which was one of the best pizzas I’ve had. Big pieces of lobster, very large shrimp (our favorite oxymoron), and lots of squiggly calamari. Tasty!

We returned to our usual pursuits back at the condo. I’m making significant headway with my Cormac McCarthy novel.

Around 6:30, we headed out south for ribs and BBQ at Michelbob’s. Good stuff. Then, as if we hadn’t gorged enough, stopped by for ice cream at a “chain” we had never heard of before: Emack & Bolio’s. Very nice flavors, some unique.

So, another lazy day. The four of us fit well, I think. We fall into familiar habits and conversations easily. And it’s so nice just not being in St. Louis, regardless of the cold weather here.

March 6, 2010: Today is the day to go to Costco to see about getting stone crabs as our Oscars night dinner tomorrow. Well, no stone crabs at Costco. After wandering around and getting other stuff, we headed over to Total Wine, a usual stop for us down here. Got a mixed case of wines, mostly stuff we like but cannot find at home. Publix became our source of stone crab claws. They’re only mediums. Seems like the cold weather has really hit the stone crab business with finding them few and far between. Back home to unload and eat lunch from supplies hunted and gathered this AM.

It got a bit warmer, high 60s. We drove down to Barefoot Beach (mind you, dressed in long pants and with jackets and big towels). It was really nice for about an hour. Then a steady cold wind came in from the gulf. Even covered with an extra bath towel, wearing a windbreaker, I was chilled.

We went to Buffalo Chips for some wings. Liquor license there had been suspended since they raided it a few nights ago and arrested some kitchen staff that were dealing drugs. But the wings were really good and we called our children to tell them they could see us on the webcam there.

Back home, I finished “The Orchard Keeper.” An interesting slice of east Tennessee life in the mountains prior to WWII. Fascinating to read McCarthy’s first novel and to know where his later ones led him. If you’re a McCarthy fan, it’s fun to start at the beginning.

Went over to the house of some transplanted St. Louis folks, Susie and Rick Sokolik, had wine and some goodies, and then the six of us went to Sea Salt downtown for dinner. Very nice restaurant, although a bit loud for us older guys and gals. Very nice evening.

2010 Florida 4

2010-03-04T21:27:00.001-06:00

March 3, 2010: I have a cold in the nose! Bummer. Came over me night before last. Taking all sorts of things for it, but really would like a warm, sunny day to bake it out of me. Not today. High in the low 60s, cloudy. Supposed to get better later in the week. Let’s hope. My only excitement today has been a trip to CVS to get cold supplies. Woo hoo!

Lazy day. Went to farmers market to get fruits, veggies, and shrimp. Then went to a nice place for lunch, Teri’s Café. Next stop was a new costume jewelry store, Ooh La La. Afterwards, we drove downtown and walked/shopped along 5th Ave. Sometimes it was sunny and warm, other times it was windy and chilly. Of course, given how cold it was, we stopped for ice cream at Kilwin’s. Brief stop on way home to get milk and wine.

We fixed a wonderful dinner of grilled shrimp and roasted Brussels sprouts and carrots. Key lime pie for dessert. Yum. Didn’t really do much, but we’re all tired.

March 4, 2010: Everyone, except me, slept in late. It’s in the mid 50s so far today and our plan is to go to Sanibel and walk on the beach. Hmmm. Well, we did leave for Sanibel around 10:30 taking with use sweaters and coats. Took the beach route north through Naples, Ft. Meyers Beach, and then to Sanibel over the new bridge. Brings back lots and lots of memories, especially since this week is the 10th anniversary of Carla’s death.

We inched along the main drag (and I mean inched along) until the Captiva turnoff. Then is was smooth sailing all the way out to the Mucky Duck … and a 45-minute wait for lunch. Windy and chilly on the beach, but we took some pictures and then retreated inside. Very nice lunch. Nice staff there. We’ve been blessed with some wonderful staff at almost all the restaurants we’ve eaten in down here. Did some brief shopping along street where MD is, got into the car, drove by the Bubble Room, one of our favorites, and then out to the end of Captiva to the beach we’d all go to for the sunset. Next, all the way to the other end of the island (with a brief shopping stop) to the Lighthouse beach and by the condo where we all stayed so many years. Lots and lots of memories. Lots and lots and lots.

We left Sanibel and crawled through traffic into Ft. Meyers near the airport to a stellar chocolate place, Norman Love. Besides artistic and scrumptious chocolate candy, they had dark black chocolate up to 74%. I had a 74% dark hot sipping chocolate (skim milk!) and was immediately in a chocolate high, coma, and crash later.

Drove back to our neighborhood and stopped at Fresh Market for some food to eat at home tonight. Long day. Fun. Long drive. Fun. Chocolate. Yikes!

2010 Florida 3

2010-03-02T22:05:00.004-06:00

March 1, 2010: Up early, but both of our hosts had already left for golf and meetings. I had my normal breakfast (no, there are not pictures posted). Fooled around with pix on the computer until Marian got up. We both went out onto the lanai and read. I am into Cormac McCarthy’s first novel, “The Orchard Keeper.” It’s strange and violent (duh), has a Byzantine plot line setting things up (duh again), and has such beautiful language that I read shaking my head in wonderment about how he constructs each sentence. This is a 1968 book, well before his most popular ones (“All the Pretty Little Horses,” “No Country for Old Men”), but you can see the same roots and passion in this early work.

When T&J returned we all went to the Fish House for lunch. Sat outside in lovely weather, high 60s, sunny. Then we went to Target to get some craft supplies for something Toby is doing for the country club here. Onward to Coconut Point for a walk around “shopping,” although nobody bought anything. Then home for some snacks and wine and computer time.

Dinner around 7:00.We tried to get into Buffalo Chips for wings, but the line was around the block and there was nowhere to park either. Went to the Dixie Moon Diner and had larger portions of reasonably good food and our fourth bread pudding of the trip. Back for the usual stuff before sleep.

March 2, 2010: It rained all morning. Early on, some men came in to fix the Shears’ bed. Lots of commotion. Compressors running. Up and down the stairs. Marian slept through it all. That’s a talent to be admired. About 10:30, a cleaning crew came and all by Toby vacated. We drove to Waterside, a really upscale shopping area. Cartier, Van Cleef and Arpel, Tiffany, etc. We wandered in and out of various stores, not buying anything. It was sunny this part of the day, but got cloudy later.

We then all met at Sushi-Thai for lunch. Toby and Marian went off to shop. Jeff and I returned home and took a long walk. Relaxed the rest of the afternoon. Snacked around 5:00. Tickets tonight (reserved seats!) for “Crazy Heart” and then out for dinner. Movie was wonderful. Theatre was neat with huge, cushy leather chairs. We ate at Bravo, Brio’s other restaurant. Was good and waitress was a hoot.

2010 Florida 2

2010-03-01T09:30:00.002-06:00

February 27, 2010: Cold and rainy. Had strange short dreams last night. Took sleeping pill about 2 AM and slept until around 8:00. Breakfast in the dining room with Howard, Carolyn, and the NYT.

I have somehow misplaced the tube of 45 sunscreen that I brought in from the car yesterday. It’s not a matter of wanting to use it today. It’s a matter of where I put it since I hope I’ll need it soon. Which brings me to the stories of the earrings and the socks. On the way down here, Marian searched her car high and low for a pair of earrings that she swore were somewhere in it. She finally found them in the back of the console compartment only when she looked from the passenger’s seat. She then put them somewhere. Yes, somewhere. It took another search to find where she had stuck them this time. Finally, she placed them in her purse and told me to remind her where they were. And the socks. At the motel in Macon, Marian swore she had brought in socks to wear the next day. We scoured the room, shook out the sheets, looked inside pillow cases to no avail. No socks. When we were loading the car, we saw them sitting nicely on the ground in front of the car. Ah, another mystery solved. Losing things and then finding them should be an Olympic sport and Marian would get a gold medal. Oh, Howard spotted my sunscreen sitting on Carolyn’s desk where I must have placed it.

Spent the morning inside wed to our computers. Columbia for lunch – hadn’t had my fix of black bean soup yet. Drove to Columbia given how cold, rainy it was. We had black bean soup and 1905 salads. Carolyn gets in right away, and you can guess how. Then the sun came out, so Marian and walked around the Circle and in and out of stores not buying much.

Walked back to the house, downloaded pix, of course, and got them onto the web. Marian took a walk to the beach and I worked with Carolyn on apps and other things for her iPhone. Unfortunately, the sun went away and the sky is gray. I had hoped to go and see sunset, but don’t think that’s going to happen.

Dinner was at Ceviche, a tapas restaurant. You’ll have to look at the pictures to see the eight different things we ate along with a huge pitcher of sangria. Very lovely food. Nice new tastes. And and and we had bread pudding for the third night in a row!

February 28, 2010: Breakfast with Carolyn and Howard in the dining room. Still too cold to eat it outside. Loaded up the car, hugs and kisses goodbye from a terrific visit, and into the car.

We drove down to the marina (bet we’re one of the few who know who “Jack” is from “Marina Jack” and how he was related to our old company, World Color Press) to see the sculptures on loan that are arranged all along the waterfront (I think it’s called “Seasons of Sculpture”). We had seen the “Unconditional Surrender” huge sculpture down here for a few years, but it just dawned on us (given the Chesterfield Arts exhibit of all the Seward Johnson pieces this past year) that it must be a Johnson work of art. Sure enough, it is. And they are buying one to keep here permanently. As we walked along the trail looking at different pieces, we saw that all were on loan from The Sculpture Foundation (Johnson’s foundation) and that we’d seen some of them at the foundation’s Grounds for Sculpture a couple of years ago.

Around 10:30 we headed south on I-75 to Bonita Springs and arrived at Toby and Jeff’s about Noon. As always, we’re so glad to see them and be with them. We miss not being able to see them on a regular basis. We lunched at Pincher’s, one of our favorites. Love them fried oysters! Went back to their condo and took a nice walk with them. Maybe burned off one oyster.

Spent the afternoon on iPhones, knitting, talking. About 5:30, we left for Ft. Meyers. We saw “Jersey Boys” at a nice theatre on the campus of Edison College there. Early show. 6:30 PM. We guessed the median age of the audience was about 68 and that no one under 40 was there at all. It was a wonderful show and the audience was excellent as well. Loved it altogether. Had dinner at Big Al’s (a converted Smoky Bones). It was one of the few places open after 9:00 on a Sunday night. Stopped at a CVS so I could get some orange juice and cereal. Then back home to collapse into bed. Great to be here!

Xerox That

2010-02-27T16:39:00.001-06:00

At my grandson’s school the other day, the teacher said she was sorry but had “not Xeroxed enough copies for everyone.” A fifth-grader asked what that meant. I got to thinking about terms we use that have or will fall by the wayside as those of us who use them disappear. Or they will take on new meanings not related to their original definitions.

Some generics we speak of include: the fridge, Xerox, Kleenex

Things that the young don’t know include: cc and bcc

So, what others can you add to these lists?

2010 Florida 1

2010-02-26T22:18:00.002-06:00

February 24-26: Left St. Louis about 7:15 on Wednesday. Glad to get out of the really cold weather even though it’s not warm down here … but it’s warmer. I drove all the way through Nashville. We stopped south of town for lunch at an IHOP. Had mediocre senior omelets. We headed south with Marian at the wheel. Somewhere north of Monteagle, traffic came to a standstill. We crept along for two hours. Finally, at the base of the mountain leading to Monteagle, there was a sign saying “accident ahead.” It was an 18-wheeler that had flipped and dumped its load. After that, it was smooth sailing.

We wanted to dine at JL BBQ in Macon and had already made motel reservations at a Hampton Inn there. We also knew (and checked to make sure) that the restaurant closes at 9:00. Onward and southward through Chattanooga and Atlanta we drove. We kept asking ourselves if we wanted to try to make it to JL or just have something before them along the highway. Ribs and smoked chicken won out at we made it in the front door of the restaurant at 8:50 EST, some 650 miles from St. Louis, and about 12.5 hours altogether. Good dinner, per usual. We eat here every time we head to Florida, I think. Nice room at Hampton Inn and good breakfast the next AM.

Thursday we headed out about 8:00, had lunch at a Denny’s in Wildwood, FL (we’ve been there before, too). Then got into Sarasota and my sister’s house around 4:00, after a stop at a CVS along the way (and we always do that, too). Dinner at Columbia. See the pictures for the food. I won’t describe here. Howard and I walked while the women drove. It was chilly, but good to get outside. Came home and watched women’s figure skating at the Olympics. Cried when the Canadian woman who had just lost her mother won a bronze. To bed about midnight.

Friday we slept until about 9:00. It was about 38 this AM, so no need to get outside right away! Had breakfast in the dining room, watched a replay of the skating (since Carolyn had fallen asleep before the final bunch skated). Marian headed into St. Armands Circle to shop. I took my normal walk and picture-taking route all the way out Lido to the South Lido Park and back along Lido Beach past my parents’ house and into the circle. Stiff wind, still chilly, but finally got up to about 60, I think.

Marian continued to shop and I got picked up by Howard and Carolyn. We drove onto Longboat Key and had a lovely lunch at the Dry Dock Grill. Nice grouper sandwich – see the picture. Back to the house for fooling around with the computer the rest of the afternoon. Dinner tonight at Patty George’s on Longboat, one of our favorites. Saw end of sunset as we went out there. Great food and wine. Back for some TV, computing, a brief time when the electricity went out, and to bed.

"What do you do?"

2010-02-19T16:34:00.002-06:00

It’s a common question others ask. There are the matter-of-fact answers regarding your job (if you have one) or some other description like “homemaker” (pardon the expression) or “retired.” However, if you get beyond what might be filled in on a questionnaire that relates to occupation and you still wanted to keep it short and sweet, what would you say?

I asked this on Facebook and have the following responses through today:

I work at the university
I'm a semi-retired supernatural entity living in Boca on a fixed income...
I am a professional hockey player. (from my rabbi)
making poetry with pottery! (from a ceramic artist)
I drive as many people crazy as I can!
Answering other people who ask "What do you do?"
I do the best I can with what I have.

I’ve only identified the “profession” of a couple of the above. For me, I can say, so far:

I pick brambles from my horses’ tails.
I watch sunsets over the pasture.
I stand and eat cereal watching “Today.”
I fart and snore.
I read the NYT in bed.
I fall asleep with my glasses on.
I say the obvious.
I scratch my dogs’ ears.
I eat lunch with my sister.
I pick fresh raspberries all summer and fall.
I cry easily.
I cause people to either laugh or wince.
I attend meetings.
I spread manure.
I roast asparagus.
I harbor venal thoughts.
I play with numbers.
I take pictures of food.

And what will you add to this list?

Banks of America

2010-01-29T15:28:00.004-06:00

I have an accounting book that is published in the UK and I get a royalty check from them at least once a year. This last one has been a curious exchange.

First, the publisher notified me they had sent me a check many months before and they assumed I had never gotten it (I hadn’t) since it was never cashed. So, they sent me a replacement check. After about a month, I told them I had not gotten that check either. They next sent the check via FedEx or the like. It got here.

Second. the check was from the Royal Bank of Scotland and was in US dollars. Given when the original check was supposed to be issued (months ago) and when I got the check, the value of the dollar had fallen. Thus there were fewer dollars in the current check given the royalties are actually owed in pounds.

Third, when I took the check to Bank of America to deposit it, I was told that the routing number on the check was not for a US bank. Thus, the BofA cashier would have to fill out a form and send it for collection. I was used to this since the last few royalty checks I had received. This happened in mid December. Time passed. No deposit appeared in my account.

Fourth, a day ago (six weeks after giving the check to BofA) when I downloaded my latest transactions, I saw the royalty check had been deposited. However, it was for $56.42 less than the check I had given BofA. In talking to the cashier who had helped me with the collection, she looked online and told me that the Royal Bank of Scotland had charged me $16.42 to cash their own check and put it into my account and BofA had charged me another $40.00 as well.

Remember that the check was in USD. There was no currency exchange. The Royal Bank of Scotland has a New York office even if they don’t have a US bank routing number on checks sent from the UK. We won’t count the loss of dollars given the errant first checks that were sent since that wasn’t a fault of the banking system.

Fifth, BofA has centralized its “preferred” customer service at an office in Nevada. For the past 15 years or more, I’ve had a banker in Chesterfield where I was one of her accounts and could call her with questions and to straighten out problems. No more. People like my previous contact are now only dealing with financial services clients. Now I have an 888 number to call and unknown people to talk with. And I got this information not in a return phone call from my ex-personal banker, but from someone in the centralized services. So, movement from personal to impersonal via an impersonal message bearer. We had visited over the years. I saw pictures of her children as they were born, were growing up. She knows my children. And she didn’t call.

So I dialed the 888 number. After a nice conversation with a service representative who looked at my account and the transactions, she told me she could see the charge from BofA, but had no idea what it was for. She then transferred me to another department that deals with foreign transactions. The man I talked to there had the personality of a cardboard box, and that might be insulting the box. He told me the story of a man who had been depositing checks from a foreign bank for 15 years and then incurred a charge. Seemed as if the man had overdrafted his account one time and, therefore, the bank assessed fees on his next transaction. I explained I had never had an overdraft on my account (which is true). “Only an example,” I was told. How does that apply to me? What about my transaction? Seems that even though I have never been charged in all the years I’ve been getting these royalty checks, it was “always” the rule to put in a fee and he wondered why I’d never gotten one in the past. Hadn’t I been told of the $40 fee when I submitted my check to my local branch? No, and I was dealing with the same cashier who had helped me last year when I deposited a similar check. Well, he said he has no authority to waive the charge unless it was his department’s fault. I was told to call my local branch and talk to the manager there.

Dutifully, I called the branch, talked to the cashier who had handled the transaction, who talked to her manager, who authorized a refund of the $40. It’s taken several days and perseverance, but at least I got some of the money back.

Oh. I have switched how I get my royalties. They are to be wire transferred. I have been told the BofA fee will be $15. We shall see.

Be Patient

2010-01-27T09:57:00.000-06:00

I got a letter from my urologist’s office that says, in part: “In order to expedite and shorten your office stay, please visit our office website and download the patient information forms. Please complete and bring all forms with you on the day of your appointment; this will avoid the need for forms to be completed at your appointment.” It’s about time for my annual post-cancer checkup, so I need to fill out their form.

Dutifully, I went to their website and saw an option to do the whole thing online. Besides the normal stuff of name, address, insurance information, and to whom they can disclose my medical information, there were pages and pages of other stuff including:

· Listing of surgeries (and there was room for me to put in up to eight!)

· Listing of diseases (e.g., asthma, high blood pressure, diabetes)

· Listing of symptoms (a full page of them)

· Listing of family history of illnesses including details on cancer

· Listing of all medicines and supplements and their dosage. Well, good thing I am doing this at home. I had to go into my bathroom and get over a dozen bottles of the stuff I take each day (all but one are supplements/vitamins). If I had done this at their office, I wouldn’t have been able to complete the form.

Even doing this online took me over 20 minutes. So, I’m glad I did this before my appointment, glad I did this at home, and glad they had the online form instead of my having to fill all this out by hand.

Testing, Testing ... 1, 2, 3 ... Testing

2010-01-15T16:51:00.001-06:00

At Walgreens today to pick up some prescriptions, as I was waiting, I noticed a set of home tests on the top shelf next to the pharmacy window. There was one for marijuana use, one for cocaine, each about $15. For $30, you could get one to test for amphetamines, methamphetamines, ecstasy, marijuana, cocaine, and opiates. Of course, there was the $80 test for steroids of any type plus things like testosterone enhancement.

Then there was the DNA paternity test collection kit for $30 with a note that there would be another $120 in lab fees when submitted.

Worried about your children? You can find out about drug abuse and who’s their daddy.

Would You Like Cream with Your Coffee?

2010-01-11T15:52:00.000-06:00

At one of my usual restaurants, the waitperson (we shall call her Shirley) asked what I wanted to drink.

Bud: “Coffee.”

Shirley: “Would you like cream with that?”

Bud: No, may I please have some skim milk or two-percent to put in it?”

Shirley: “All we have is whole milk. Will that do?”

Bud: “No, thank you. I’ll drink it black.”

Shirley: “I could bring you some half-and-half.”

Bud: “Wait a minute. That’s part cream, has higher butter fat than whole milk. I was looking for low or no fat.”

Shirley: “Well, some people like half-and-half with their coffee. And I’m a trained food professional and know about butter fat.”

I present this as a somewhat typical conversation with wait staff regarding my request for skim milk or two-percent, if they don’t have skim. Most don’t profess to be trained food professionals, though. Let’s see, my Google search shows half-and-half to be 10.5-18% fat as compared to 3.25% for whole milk. And if I ask for skim milk (zero fat), why would you ask me if I want half-and-half? Well, it is lower than 18-30% fat in light coffee cream.

For Believers of 1/1/2000 Starting the 21st Century

2010-01-01T15:30:00.000-06:00

From Wikipedia: "Anno Domini (abbreviated as AD or A.D., sometimes found in the irregular form Anno Domine) and Before Christ (abbreviated as BC or B.C.) are designations used to number years in the Julian and Gregorian calendars. The calendar era to which they refer is based on the traditionally reckoned year of the conception or birth of Jesus, with AD denoting years after the start of this epoch, and BC denoting years before the start of this epoch. There is no year zero in this scheme, so the year AD 1 immediately follows the year 1 BC."

Hey, what starts with one, ends with 100 for a full century. 101 is first year of next century. Are you listening? Can you follow this through the END of the 20th century, which happened on 12/31/2000? Still batting my head against a masonry partition?

Today is NOT the End of the Decade

2009-12-31T16:27:00.002-06:00

Here we go again. Television sportscasters and news readers are saying that today is the end of the decade. They were wrong at the end of 1999 proclaiming 2000 to be the start of the 21th century and they’re wrong again.

Let’s think about a child born on 12/31/2000. So, on 12/31/2001, the child would be one. And, going along that same line of reasoning, the child would be ten on 12/31/2010. His second decade would begin on 1/1/2011. The end of his first decade would be at the end of 2010. Get it?

Aw, phooey. I know I’m knocking my noggin against a brick outdoor lavatory.

Cousins

2009-12-26T10:07:00.003-06:00

Our daughter-in-law, Donna, has been working on finding family links from before her marriage to our son, Jeff. The vehicle for recording all this is ancestry.com. She’s been successful in discovering people we didn’t know existed and, because of the searches others do, we have had long-lost relatives contact us. Many of these new-found relatives are from a maternal line dating to my paternal grandfather. So, without current searches or curiosity among us all, we never would have connected since the name “Hirsch” disappeared in my grandfather’s generation except for my father’s direct line (and I am his only son).

I now have a whole new set of second cousins and second cousins, once removed on both my maternal and paternal side. Most of these people we really did not know they existed. So, it’s been a blessing to find each other, share stories, talk on the phone.

Just today I have been corresponding with the great granddaughter of a sister to my paternal grandfather (so, she’s a second cousin, once removed). Her father was a Maurice Jr. as I am. I’m guessing that her grandfather was also Maurice like my father was. And there are other men named Maurice sprinkled around the family, directly related or married to those directly related. There also seems to be a thread of writers/poets.

Right now, Jeff and Donna are in NYC where they will meet with my second cousin and her daughter from another sister to my paternal grandfather. And we’ve had the grandson on my great aunt, Tillie, contact us through his searches. Tillie was a sister to my dad’s mother.

It’s important to me to not only make these connections and tie together a far-flung family, but also to hear the stories. To compare ones we know together. To find out new stories. Who were the good people and who the rascals? How did we lose track of one another starting with my dad’s parents’ generation?

I am looking for you and want to hear your stories, fables, tales.

This Is What $$$ Looks Like

2009-12-14T14:00:00.001-06:00

Saturday evening, before we went out, Marian noticed I had a dent on my car and paint chipped away. It looks like someone with a 4WD truck smacked a door into my left-rear wheel well. I had not seen it when I got into my car after it must have happened on one of the three parking lots that I visited on Friday or when we were at a gymnastics meet earlier on Saturday. There was no note left on my windshield by the perpetrator taking responsibility.

Well, I thought, it’s just a small dent that can be suctioned out. Sure, a few hundred dollars, but no biggie. Wrong! It’s not the dent that’s the problem. It’s the chipped paint. The repair shop has to:

• Remove the rear quarter panel window
• Take out the tail light
• Drop the bumper
• Fix the dent
• Paint/blend the left passenger seat door and the entire panel (which extends up and over the windows on both doors)

Cost? $930 plus a car rental for six days all out-of-pocket.

Happy holidays. And a big thanks for the jerk(s) who didn’t take accountability for his/her deed.

An Open Letter to "The St. Louis Jewish Light"

2009-12-06T17:58:00.000-06:00

Dear editors and development staff:

Today I made our annual contribution online to your wonderful paper. It was easy to navigate through your web pages. However, when I got your confirmation both online and in an email, I noticed something interesting at the bottom under the heading Gift Information as follows:

“This donation will be made in memory of Bud Hirsch. Acknowledgement of your donation will be sent to …” and here it lists my home address.

Since I am the Bud Hirsch at the address shown and since I did not fill out any part of the donation form regarding memorials, I am concerned. Certainly if you were to publish a gift given in my memory, it would cause consternation among friends and family I have not seen in a while. “When did it happen?” “Who knew?” “Wonder what got him?”

So I hope this was just an error by whoever does your web page coding. I’d be glad to stop by the office to attest to my still being alive, but who knows between now and then?

Cordially, Maurice L. (Bud) Hirsch, Jr.

Interesting - Chasing Our Tale

2009-11-29T15:36:00.001-06:00

We paid a credit card bill one day late at the end of September. A day late. They had our entire balance paid off a day late. Hold that thought.

When the next statement came, due the end of October, there was a finance charge and a late fee. A call to the credit card company yielded something that translated into “Tough luck, buddy. Late is late is late.” Okay, we can live with that. We paid that bill with its finance and late charges a few days early. At that time, we also asked for our due date to be changed to the middle of the month instead of the end of the month. We were told that was no problem. We would then get a bill that was due in the middle of November (basically 15 days after this current bill was due). All okay with us.

The next bill arrived with a due date in the middle of November as promised. It also had a finance charge listed even though the entire amount, including finance and late charges, had already been paid at the end of October before it was due. We called to get a clarification. We were told something like: “Well, there is always a second finance charge; it’s divided into two parts.” Didn’t make sense to us, but we could get no further explanation nor relief. And that bill, including the finance charge was paid a few days before it was due.

This week we received the statement due in the middle of December which accurately reflected the payments we had made the end of October and the middle of November. But there was a finance charge added to the bill again, the third bill in a row with a finance charge. Mind you, this was all caused by paying a day late back at the end of September and all subsequent bills had been paid in full before due and had included the finance charges.

We called. We ended up getting a Ms. Dias in India. Nice person. When asked about all the finance charges, she kept telling us the mantra about daily interest accumulating. After about the third time she said this, I told her that I have a PhD in accounting and understood the concept of daily interest. What I didn’t understand was how they could keep charging us interest when, except for one bill back at the end of September, we had been paying our balance in full including finance charges from that fateful one-day-late payment back then.

Somehow, it seems, when you change the due date on your account and there is an outstanding balance, this sets the stupid fee machine into motion and you keep getting charged. Discussion about what occurred and why it defies logic was fruitless. Ms. Dias had her script. And as nice as she was, she had no leeway to let reason and common sense enter the equation.

I explained two things at this point. First, we have two credit cards with their company and have significant charges each month which we pay off on time (with that one exception). Therefore, their bank makes nice fees from our accounts, which we can close and take elsewhere. Second, no one ever told us that we would incur yet more finance charges with the simple act of changing the due date on our statement. What’s even more odd about this is we ended up shortening the time when the next bill would be due by half a month, not extending it. Thus, they got their money earlier that month.

“We certainly don’t want to lose your business. Please wait a moment while I talk to a manager.” After a couple of minutes, she came back on the line and told us the finance charge on the current bill would be waived “since you were never told that changing your due date would result in an additional finance charge.” Glad they could find an pretext to do what good customer service would do without an excuse.

We don’t have any credit card debt. We pay our bills on time (well, 99.9% of the time). We got hit with a total of about $80 in late and finance charges over these three bills. I can only imagine the grief of those folks who keep an outstanding credit card balance and are paying on top of paying on top of paying.

In case you’re wondering who the credit card company is, it’s J. P. Morgan-Chase through a BP VISA card. Hope you have better luck with this idiocy than we did overall.

Hope

2009-11-19T20:49:00.003-06:00

Tonight I went to a reception honoring people who are instrumental in Gateway to Hope, an organization that “arranges comprehensive medical and surgical care for uninsured and underinsured individuals in Missouri with a confirmed diagnosis of breast cancer. Individuals genetically at high risk for breast cancer will be considered for genetic testing and treatment through Gateway to Hope. Services and equipment are donated, as is care by experienced breast care specialists, to treat patients in critical need of assistance.”

I had been asked by an old friend, Diane Gallant, to write a poem to be put into a wonderful book they were putting together to tell the stories of many of their patients and how Gateway to Hope helped them. Here is my poem:

Hope

There’s a lump in my breast.
If it’s cancer,
there’s nothing I can do—
can’t afford treatment,
don’t really know where to go.
Miserable, alone,
I ignore it as long as I can.
At the bottom of a well
in the dark, cold, hemmed in,
I can’t look up
to see if there’s a glimmer of light.

I hear your voice.
You tell me there’s a way out:
counseling, treatment, top doctors,
no cost. Yanked
into the sunlight, I can see to the horizon
and beyond. I wrap my arms around you,
gulp fresh air, begin
to feel whole again.

Santana's La Silueta

2009-11-15T11:52:00.001-06:00

I have been thinking about getting another horse for some time. Unfortunately, one of my horses is no longer reliably sound since she has some navicular disease, which causes her to be lame for a while if ridden for more than a few minutes. She’s lovely and gentle and of no real use to me at this point. I am looking for a nice home for her.

About a week ago or so, I had gotten an email from an old friend, Paula Wolff, in the Kansas City area. Paula is disbanding her wonderful Paso Fino operation and herd. This is what I did over ten years ago. I certainly understand wanting to keep a few horses but not wanting to be in the horse business, especially in these times.

It happened that the weekend she was going to have an open house to show her horses was the same weekend we were going to Columbia for a gymnastics meet where our granddaughter was competing. So, I dragged a horse trailer along and, after the meet, headed for KC. Meeting me there was a friend, the daughter of a friend/colleague, who rides with me and sometimes takes care of my horses. Luckily, her dad was going to be in KC that weekend to practice with his band. So, she went with him and we arranged a place where he’d drop her off and she was then to return to St. Louis with me.

I knew which two horses I was interested in looking at and riding and had told Paula of my choices after we had spoken about her horses over the phone. When we got to her ranch, her trainer took out the first of the horses, Santana’s La Silueta, a dark bay, six-year-old Paso Fino mare. Neither of the horses we wanted to see had been ridden in about two years. It’s always good to see how much training sticks with a horse like that.

First one of the trainers, Alex, rode Silueta. I stood in the indoor arena and watched in the same way I had when I was a Paso Fino judge looking at how the horse tracked front and rear, hock action, whether there was any hitching when in gait, collection, tail movement, etc. She was wonderful. Next I rode to see how she responded and felt while aboard. Finally, my friend rode. This was important since, while she is a very good rider, she is a real novice on a Paso Fino and horse with this much spunk and action. I wanted to see how the horse reacted and she did well. And the rider did well, too!

Next, we took out the second mare, Santana’s Mignon, a gray, seven-year-old Paso Fino mare. We went through the same process we had with Silueta. Mignon is a nice mare, strong gaited, but it was clear to my friend and me that Silueta was the horse to get. Paula and I made a deal, signed the papers, etc.

We loaded the mare into our trailer. Oh, like everyone who sees us, they were amazed I was pulling a horse trailer with a Porsche. Four-and-a-half hours later we were back in Chesterfield and Silueta’s new home.

There was one oddity about the trip. On the way out to KC with an empty horse trailer, I averaged exactly 10.0 mpg. On the way back, with a 900 pound horse in the trailer, I averaged 10.3 mpg. Anyone have an explanation for this?

Food Blog

2009-11-08T10:01:00.002-06:00

A good friend of ours suggests that I write a food blog. I do post pictures of food I prepare at home and what we have at restaurants. So, my question today is what should be included in a food blog? If you were to subscribe, what would you want to see besides links to my pictures? And, of course, what would be the name of such a blog?

Just Because This is Running Thru My Mind

2009-10-13T11:41:00.001-05:00

The Tattooed Lady (Kingston Trio Lyrics)

We came to town to see that old tattooed lady.
She was a sight to see, tattooed from head to knee.
My uncle Ned was there. He came to gape and stare.
"I've never!" he declared, "Seen such a freak so fair."
And on her jaw was the Royal Flying Corp  
and on her back was the Union Jack, now could you ask for more?
All up and down her spine marched the Queen's own guards in line
and all around her hips sailed a fleet of battleships.
And over her left kidney was a bird's eye view of Sidney,
but what we liked best was upon her chest 
my little home in Waikiki! (What did you say?)

Lyrics to "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" sung by Groucho Marx in the Marx Brothers movie "At the Circus"
[Interestingly, "Lydia the Tattooed Lady" was the favorite song of Jim Henson and was sung on the very first episode of "The Muppet Show." In addition, it was sung by muppet performers at his funeral.]

My life was wrapped around the circus. 
Her name was Lydia. 
I met her at the world's fair in 1900, marked down from 1940.

Ah, Lydia. 
She was the most glorious creature 
Under the su-un.
 Guiess. DuBarry. Garbo.
 Rolled into one.

Oooooooh 
Lydia oh Lydia, say have you met Lydia,
 Lydia, the Tattooed Lady. 
She has eyes that folks adore so, 
And a torso even more so.

Lydia oh Lydia, that encyclopidia,
 Oh Lydia the Queen of Tattoo. 
On her back is the Battle of Waterloo. 
Beside it the wreck of the Hesperus, too. 
And proudly above waves the Red, White, and Blue, 
You can learn a lot from Lydia.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

When her robe is unfurled, she will show you the world,
 If you step up and tell her where.
 For a dime you can see Kankakee or Paris,
 Or Washington crossing the Delaware.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Oh Lydia oh Lydia, say have you met Lydia, 
Oh Lydia the Tattooed Lady 
When her muscles start relaxin', 
Up the hill comes Andrew Jackson

Lydia oh Lydia, that encyclopidia, 
oh Lydia the queen of them all! 
For two bits she will do a mazurka in jazz, 
With a view of Niagara that nobody has. 
And on a clear day you can see Alcatraz.
 You can learn a lot from Lydia.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Come along and see Buff'lo Bill with his lasso. 
Just a little classic by Mendel Picasso. 
Here is Captain Spaulding exploring the Amazon. 
Here's Godiva but with her pajamas on.

La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Here is Grover Whalen unveilin' the Trilon. 
Over on the West Coast we have Treasure Island. 
Here's Najinsky a-doin' the rhumba. 
Here's her social security numba.

{whistles}La la la, la la la, la la la, la la la

Oh Lydia, oh Lydia that encyclopidia, 
Oh Lydia the champ of them all. 
She once swept an Admiral clear off his feet.
 The ships on her hips made his heart skip a beat. 
And now the old boy's in command of the fleet, 
For he went and married Lydia.

I said Lydia 
{He said Lydia} 
They said Lydia 
{We said Lydia} 
La La!

Oh, Please Go to This Site

2009-09-19T20:09:00.003-05:00

If you haven't followed this site, Margaret and Helen, you should. They are on the mark all the time in my book.

A turkey, a squirrel, and a coot ...

2009-09-01T15:23:00.001-05:00

all in one person today.

I took my mare, Rosie, to Queeny Park today to ride in the shade, under the trees, on its nice chat paths. It’s a social place with walkers, runners, folks with dogs all cheerful and cordial as we pass one another going in opposite directions or if we overtake one another in the same direction.

Rosie was walking on a downhill part of the trail. We were ambling right down its middle. Up ahead, I saw two walkers coming toward me, so I moved Rosie to the right. As I was doing this, a man about my age zipped past us between the horse and a thick stand of trees and brush. Neither the horse nor I heard anything until there was the buzz of his wheels right next to us.

Lucky for him that Rosie when startled jumps a bit in place or away from the source. I yelled at him: “Hey, say something like ‘On the right.’ This is 1,000 pounds of horse and rider that could have been in your lap. Idiot!”

He never paused, never looked back, never uttered a sound as he pedaled out of sight up the next hill. Is there such a thing as trail rage?

It's All in the Fine Print

2009-08-31T14:36:00.001-05:00

Okay. I admit it. I take sleeping pills. Generics. Tiny doses. Not every night. I am about out and the bottle from Walgreens says I have two more refills available before the end of the year. Yesterday, August 30, I called their automated prescription number and ordered a refill for pickup today.

This morning, I got a recorded message from them that they needed a “preauthorization” for the drug before they could fill the prescription. I called as asked what that was all about and was told that Medco wanted it “preauthorized” even though it was a standing prescription that had been dispensed and paid for twice in the past. She also told me it usually took five to seven days to have the form processed before I would be able to get my refill. I asked who I could call in the middle of the night when I was out of pills and couldn’t get back to sleep. She didn’t blink and told me to call Medco.

Getting through the Medco automated “How may I help you?” voice at the beginning of the call took me about four times repeating “customer service” before I was referred to an “agent.” I went through the history with this person. She looked up my file and said that the sleeping pill was only authorized (regular use) for no more than 60 pills in 90 days. If I needed to take them daily and have them pay, I would have to have a “preauthorization form” filled out by my physician and faxed back to them. I asked for the history of my filling the prescription for this drug.

“Well, you ordered one 30-day supply on June 1 and another in July.” I countered with this was now August 31 and that 90 days had transpired since June 1. I was told that since the order had been placed when it was (i.e., yesterday) it was under 90 days insofar as they were concerned and the form was required. I asked her who I could call in the middle of the night when I was out of pills and couldn’t get back to sleep. Long pause at the other end of the line.

Over Your Credit Limit

2009-08-16T14:00:00.000-05:00

I just got a notice from American Express that they are: (1) “raising your Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on purchases and cash advances,” (2) “raising the Annual Percentage Rate (APR) on any balances that have a penalty rate because of a late payment,” and (3) “increasing the late fee.”

However, they also say: “We are pleased to let you know that we will not charge you a fee if you go over your credit limit.”

Now, the whole idea of going over one’s credit limit seems like a strange thing. The credit card industry seems to have been treating such limits like the police do with speed limits: you can exceed them as long as it’s not by whopping amounts. Now, like the police who don’t ticket you for going, say, 64 mph in a 60 mph zone, the credit card companies are letting you off.

I’m a bit old fashioned when it comes to credit card limits (not speed limits, though). If you have a $2,500 limit, I guess I think any charges over that should be declined by the credit card company. And how high can you go? We know 70 mph in a 60 zone will get you a ticket if a cop clocks you. But how many hundreds of dollars can one go over a limit? Or is it a percentage of the limit so that someone with a $10,000 limit can violate it to a greater extent than the person with a $2,500 limit?

American Express ends their notice by saying: “Don’t forget, it’s still important to keep your balance under your credit limit.”

Oh, in case you didn’t know: “Please remember you can avoid late fees by paying on time.” Well, who woulda thunk?

What About This Don't You Understand?

2009-08-11T15:45:00.002-05:00

I bring a canvas boat bag to the grocery store. In the store, I make a conscious decision about what to put in a plastic or paper bag and what not (e.g., onions-no, asparagus-yes).

When I get to the checkout line, if there is a bagger, I always say: "If I didn't put something in a bag, I don't want you to." And, assuming I know what'll fit into my huge boat bag, I then say: "Put it all in this bag. It'll fit. I don't care how heavy it is."

Today was fairly typical. I made both statements and the gentleman who was bagging acknowledged what I said. Than, as he was bagging, he started to put some veggies that I had not put into a bag into one. So, I repeated my first request. Then, as he was finishing, he started to put the last three items into a new shopping bag instead of my boat bag. Again, I told him those items would easily fit into my bag. He put them in and told me: "But it'll be heavy."

Can You See Straight?

2009-08-11T15:39:00.003-05:00

I went to the eye doctor for my annual checkup today. Over the past year and longer, I have noticed that even though my contact lenses are both meant for distance, my right eye has changed so much that, using the old prescription for it, I can do without reading glasses for the computer, the iPhone, menus, etc. A couple of years ago, recognizing how my eyesight had changed, the doctor gave me a new prescription for the glasses I wear when my contacts are out.

So, fast forward to today. Again we looked at the distance vision in my left eye and close-up vision in the right with the contacts in. However, when the doctor looked at my eyes with my lenses on (and then confirmed when he took the lenses out), I had somehow switched lenses so the left lens was in the right eye and vice versa.

Now, you'd think that he'd tell me to reverse them again. Nope. They fit fine where they are. My vision is good. No need to change anything except their records to switch what lens is for what eye.