This totally cracks me up. I got mail from the Handyman Club of America today inviting me to become an official member of their club. Of course it was addressed to "Mr." instead of "Ms.", but oh well.
But, why me? Well, according to their letter:
"It's no secret among your friends and family that you are an outstanding handyman. As someone who is passionately devoted to do-it-yourself home improvement and maybe even woodworking, you're exactly the kind of person our Club is always looking for."
Oh yes. I am soooo dedicated to DIY home improvement and maybe even woodworking. And I am outstanding. In fact, I changed the handle on my own toilet just yesterday! These people know me so well.
And reading further into their letter, I am pleased to see that I wasn't just picked out of a barrel to be nominated for this prestigious club. Oh no. They tell me that "It's not for lukewarm handymen! Nor is it for the kind of handymen who are content with doing things in the same old way. This Club is for do-it-yourselfers who constantly want to learn more. To improve their skills. To deepen their understanding. To express their creativity. To expand their knowledge."
And the best part? I don't even need to send money right now! The membership dues are so low that they'll just bill me later if I respond to this letter.
You know, the funny part is that it took me awhile to figure out how I got this thing in the first place. I mean, I'm used to getting all kinds of catalogs based on the online shopping that I do, and occasionally I get a catalog that just baffles me. But this is completely out of the ordinary. I think I probably got it from going to the Seattle Home Show and filling out the form to get the This Old House magazine for free for one year with my paid admission to the show.
Oh well. The executive director of this Club was kind enough to send some preliminary gifts for me with the letter including a drill bit guide, a notepad, a toolbox label, address labels (complete with the Handyman logo), and utility box labels (with stickers for up to 5 bedrooms and 3 bathrooms).
Oh well, it's the thought that counts. If I were actually someone used my tools for things more complicated than hanging a picture or a curtain rod, this might make sense. But alas, I am not. After having lived through the kitchen remodel with my ex-husband (most of which we completed ourselves), I can honestly say that some things are worth paying a little extra for to help save your sanity and relationship.
Wednesday, June 13, 2007
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Pacemaker
Well, my step dad got his pacemaker put in today. He was doing pretty well yesterday, although his heart did start spiking last night. He went in for surgery this morning shortly before 9:00 AM, and didn't get out until about 1:00 PM. The procedure lasted about 2 hours longer than the doctor originally estimated because they were having trouble stopping the bleeding. He rested for the remainder of the day, and will go home tomorrow. I know that he was really against getting the pacemaker originally, but I think that it was a really good thing that this happened. If my mom had left for the weekend as she had originally planned, I can't help but wonder what would have happened if he were home alone. I'm so thankful that things happened the way that they did, even though it was stressful and we weren't necessarily prepared for it to happen. Now, I just hope that he can get the prostate cancer under control again.
What a trip
This is like something out of a classic novel: After 19 years, man wakes to changed Poland.
Saturday, June 02, 2007
Hospital visits
My mom took my step dad into the hospital on Friday afternoon. I got the message a little after 4:00. He had come home from work early because he wasn't feeling well. My mom was home, getting ready for a quilting trip in Leavenworth with some of her friends. My step dad kept taking his pulse because it would go from beating really quickly to slowing down dramatically.
He's been dealing with some heart trouble for the last month and a half, but the doctors hadn't really been able to figure out what was going on with him until he went to the emergency room on Friday. It turns out that he has a condition where his heart will go from something like 40 beats to 150 beats and it keeps switching back and forth. They're going to put a pacemaker in on Monday, but they kept him in the hospital this whole weekend to monitor him. He can't even get out of bed unless he has assistance because they're worried that he'll tax his heart too much.
Understandably, he's not excited to be in the hospital, but my mom spent all evening with him on Friday, and again all day today. L. and I went to visit him today, and brought him and my mom some things. My mom is staying with me this weekend, since I live very close to the hospital where he's at. L. and I have been looking after their poodle, Diego. We went to the store tonight to get some stuff for dinner and some goodies for mom to take with her tomorrow. We'll bring her some lunch tomorrow, too, since the hospital food leaves a lot to be desired. Mom was exhausted when she got home tonight, so I made her some dinner, and then sent her to bed in my room after she started falling asleep on the couch.
All I know is that I hope that the surgery goes well on Monday, and I hope that this solves the problems that he's been having. Of course, after this he's got to deal with his prostate cancer coming back. He had surgery to remove it several years ago, but it's come back. So, he's got to do radiation after all of this is over. I sure hope that after all of this, he comes out better than ever. He deserves to be able to retire and have a nice life with my mom after all that they've worked for.
He's been dealing with some heart trouble for the last month and a half, but the doctors hadn't really been able to figure out what was going on with him until he went to the emergency room on Friday. It turns out that he has a condition where his heart will go from something like 40 beats to 150 beats and it keeps switching back and forth. They're going to put a pacemaker in on Monday, but they kept him in the hospital this whole weekend to monitor him. He can't even get out of bed unless he has assistance because they're worried that he'll tax his heart too much.
Understandably, he's not excited to be in the hospital, but my mom spent all evening with him on Friday, and again all day today. L. and I went to visit him today, and brought him and my mom some things. My mom is staying with me this weekend, since I live very close to the hospital where he's at. L. and I have been looking after their poodle, Diego. We went to the store tonight to get some stuff for dinner and some goodies for mom to take with her tomorrow. We'll bring her some lunch tomorrow, too, since the hospital food leaves a lot to be desired. Mom was exhausted when she got home tonight, so I made her some dinner, and then sent her to bed in my room after she started falling asleep on the couch.
All I know is that I hope that the surgery goes well on Monday, and I hope that this solves the problems that he's been having. Of course, after this he's got to deal with his prostate cancer coming back. He had surgery to remove it several years ago, but it's come back. So, he's got to do radiation after all of this is over. I sure hope that after all of this, he comes out better than ever. He deserves to be able to retire and have a nice life with my mom after all that they've worked for.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Looking for mad cows
This just floors me:
"The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease."
Quick summary...A Kansas beef producer, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Larger beef producers are worried that they'll have to start testing their herds as well. A judge ruled that these tests must be allowed, but the Agriculture Department is going to appeal that decision based on fears that more testing could lead to false positives, which in turn could harm the meat industry.
So, let's look at this. A company wants to test its cattle for BSE, which is linked to a human disease called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD). This company is not forcing its testing on any other companies, it just wants to ensure that its cattle are fit for human consumption and, ostensibly, somehow advertise that they perform this test when they market their beef. We could argue that this is capitalizing on a fear, but I don't know that it's necessarily true and even if true, whether that makes the company worse than any other company in America.
In any case, isn't this kind of what capitalism is all about? If this company finds success in marketing a product as being BSE-free, why is that any different than the milk at my local grocery store that advertises its milk as free of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) or eggs from cage-free, organically-fed hens, etc.? It's not. There are many companies out there who have found big business in selling products that are organic, or free of this and that. That may have caused a bit of a dent in what the traditional industries are taking home financially, but it hasn't caused them to all conform. In the end, it's the average consumer who decides what is important to them. So if beef tested for BSE is important to a consumer, they're likely willing to pay more for that peace of mind, which in turn pays for the additional testing (and then some, probably). I, for example, no longer eat hamburger, and I try to buy meat from places that have strict guidelines on such things as animal welfare, use of antibiotics and hormones, organic diets, etc. I'm not 100% compliant on this, but I try when possible, and do end up paying more for such goods.
I dunno. It just seems funny that our government is again stepping in somewhere where people should make the decision rather than the government. People can decide for themselves whether their health and personal welfare is more important than lining the pockets of lobbyists and government officials. I don't know why it surprises me that our government is the very agent against this company's goal. I guess it's because I'd hope that the fear of false positives would outweigh the possibility of catching actual BSE cases that wouldn't have otherwise been uncovered. As it is, less than 1% of US beef is tested for BSE, so that leaves a lot of room for a sick cow to get by.
It's pretty horrendous actually, and we could learn something from places that have struggled with this, such as the UK. Great Britain made a huge mistake early on in it's BSE crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s when it decided to only compensate farmers for 50% of a cow's worth if the cow was found to have BSE. As you might guess, this led to a huge drop in BSE cases being reported, since most farmers either couldn't or wouldn't take the financial cut. A couple of years later, in 1990, the UK passed legislation to compensate 100%, which not surprisingly led to an increase in reports that didn't peak until 1993.
Now that the US and Canada have had reports of BSE-infected cattle, I can't even fathom how irresponsible it is for our government to be pushing such policies of restricting testing of cattle. I hope that he Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other such agencies are up in arms over this kind of activity.
"The Bush administration said Tuesday it will fight to keep meatpackers from testing all their animals for mad cow disease."
Quick summary...A Kansas beef producer, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, wants to test all of its cattle for bovine spongiform encephalopathy (BSE), or mad cow disease. Larger beef producers are worried that they'll have to start testing their herds as well. A judge ruled that these tests must be allowed, but the Agriculture Department is going to appeal that decision based on fears that more testing could lead to false positives, which in turn could harm the meat industry.
So, let's look at this. A company wants to test its cattle for BSE, which is linked to a human disease called new variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (nvCJD). This company is not forcing its testing on any other companies, it just wants to ensure that its cattle are fit for human consumption and, ostensibly, somehow advertise that they perform this test when they market their beef. We could argue that this is capitalizing on a fear, but I don't know that it's necessarily true and even if true, whether that makes the company worse than any other company in America.
In any case, isn't this kind of what capitalism is all about? If this company finds success in marketing a product as being BSE-free, why is that any different than the milk at my local grocery store that advertises its milk as free of recombinant bovine growth hormone (rBGH) or eggs from cage-free, organically-fed hens, etc.? It's not. There are many companies out there who have found big business in selling products that are organic, or free of this and that. That may have caused a bit of a dent in what the traditional industries are taking home financially, but it hasn't caused them to all conform. In the end, it's the average consumer who decides what is important to them. So if beef tested for BSE is important to a consumer, they're likely willing to pay more for that peace of mind, which in turn pays for the additional testing (and then some, probably). I, for example, no longer eat hamburger, and I try to buy meat from places that have strict guidelines on such things as animal welfare, use of antibiotics and hormones, organic diets, etc. I'm not 100% compliant on this, but I try when possible, and do end up paying more for such goods.
I dunno. It just seems funny that our government is again stepping in somewhere where people should make the decision rather than the government. People can decide for themselves whether their health and personal welfare is more important than lining the pockets of lobbyists and government officials. I don't know why it surprises me that our government is the very agent against this company's goal. I guess it's because I'd hope that the fear of false positives would outweigh the possibility of catching actual BSE cases that wouldn't have otherwise been uncovered. As it is, less than 1% of US beef is tested for BSE, so that leaves a lot of room for a sick cow to get by.
It's pretty horrendous actually, and we could learn something from places that have struggled with this, such as the UK. Great Britain made a huge mistake early on in it's BSE crisis in the late 1980s and early 1990s when it decided to only compensate farmers for 50% of a cow's worth if the cow was found to have BSE. As you might guess, this led to a huge drop in BSE cases being reported, since most farmers either couldn't or wouldn't take the financial cut. A couple of years later, in 1990, the UK passed legislation to compensate 100%, which not surprisingly led to an increase in reports that didn't peak until 1993.
Now that the US and Canada have had reports of BSE-infected cattle, I can't even fathom how irresponsible it is for our government to be pushing such policies of restricting testing of cattle. I hope that he Centers for Disease Control (CDC), National Institutes of Health (NIH), and other such agencies are up in arms over this kind of activity.
Monday, May 28, 2007
Memorial Day
Thank you to all who have fought for our country. It is sobering to think of how many people have lost their lives serving in the military. No matter what my feelings are about the current war, I am still thankful that there are people who are willing to serve and protect.
Thursday, May 24, 2007
And the award goes to...
...my mom! She won a merit award at the community college where she works. I went to the award ceremony and reception this afternoon to see her accept the award and spend some time with her. I'm so proud of her. This was a really big achievement, and she has dedicated her life to the students and faculty that she supports.
I used to work at this community college, as well, so I met up with a bunch of teachers and staff who I worked with in the past. It was really neat to catch up with everyone and see what they're doing now. I spent 6 years of my life working there, and learned so many of my skills from people there. After the reception, my old manager took me to one of the computer labs that I helped to start when I was a senior in high school. It's a lab for adults who are learning English and basic skills, such as math, reading, grammar, etc. I was amazed to see that all of the books I recorded onto tapes are still there, along with books that we pieced together from pictures brought in by students or cut out from magazines. They still use the same schedule format that I setup years ago, and have disks with templates I developed for various things in the lab. It's nice to know that you've done some things so well that they stick around for a long time.
My manager showed me the new computers, and equipment that they have. It's grown so much from when we first started it. Looking around, I was proud to have been part of that whole endeavor.I thought back to all of the wonderful students that I worked with and who taught me so much. It sort of reminded me that what I'm doing now is important, too. I may not teach anymore, but I do write and try to help people learn how to use technology. And a big part of my job is to improve the content that we write so that it's more easily translated and understood by people for whom English is a second language.
I used to work at this community college, as well, so I met up with a bunch of teachers and staff who I worked with in the past. It was really neat to catch up with everyone and see what they're doing now. I spent 6 years of my life working there, and learned so many of my skills from people there. After the reception, my old manager took me to one of the computer labs that I helped to start when I was a senior in high school. It's a lab for adults who are learning English and basic skills, such as math, reading, grammar, etc. I was amazed to see that all of the books I recorded onto tapes are still there, along with books that we pieced together from pictures brought in by students or cut out from magazines. They still use the same schedule format that I setup years ago, and have disks with templates I developed for various things in the lab. It's nice to know that you've done some things so well that they stick around for a long time.
My manager showed me the new computers, and equipment that they have. It's grown so much from when we first started it. Looking around, I was proud to have been part of that whole endeavor.I thought back to all of the wonderful students that I worked with and who taught me so much. It sort of reminded me that what I'm doing now is important, too. I may not teach anymore, but I do write and try to help people learn how to use technology. And a big part of my job is to improve the content that we write so that it's more easily translated and understood by people for whom English is a second language.
Monday, May 21, 2007
Weekend recap
Good weekend. It was L.'s 33rd birthday, so I showered him with fun gifts and treated him to a nice dinner at Ruth's Chris Steakhouse for a delicious steak and cake.
Today we slept in, and then went to have lunch and saw a movie with one of our friends, F. We saw Blades of Glory with Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. It was really funny, as you'd expect from those two.
Then tonight we sat down and figured out our itinerary for our trip to Chicago this summer. We're going to visit my grandma for a few days, then drive to Michigan to visit L.'s grandparents for a couple of days, and then head back to downtown Chicago for a couple of nights before we fly back out. It will be a packed trip, but I think we'll find some time to wind down a bit, too. It should be a good time.
It's always really hot and humid in Illinois that time of year, so I've already explained to L. that we'll be taking a cab everywhere downtown. Things look close enough to walk to on a map, but once you get out in that pressing heat and humidity, it zaps literally every bit of energy out of you. I remember one year my step mom and I were walking around a lake near my grandma's house. We used to walk a good 3-5 miles at any one time at home, so we figured it was no big deal. About a mile into it, we both felt like we were dying. I'm thankful that Seattle only experiences heat coupled with humidity like that for a couple of days a year. And even then, the humidity isn't even close to those days in Chicago.
I read awhile back that Seattle was one of the most healthy cities in the US, and I kind of scoffed at it when I read it. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. We do have a very temperate climate here, and even in the dead of summer you can usually be outdoors hiking, walking, etc. without feeling like you're melting away. Not so in Chicago. I don't know how people live in climate like that. And my grandma is at the age now where she uses the air conditioner pretty sparingly because she's very old, thin, and fragile and chills easily. So, it will be interesting to see how hot the house gets when we're there.
Luckily, L. and I are staying in a hotel nearby so as not to offend my grandma, since she is a very staunch fundamentalist Christian, and wouldn't hear of L. and I staying together in her house. Which is fine, since it's her house, but it always makes me chuckle a little bit. I mean, I've been married before, so no longer a virgin. And L. and I have been together now for a year and a half. The jig is up. Oh well.
Today we slept in, and then went to have lunch and saw a movie with one of our friends, F. We saw Blades of Glory with Will Ferrell and Jon Heder. It was really funny, as you'd expect from those two.
Then tonight we sat down and figured out our itinerary for our trip to Chicago this summer. We're going to visit my grandma for a few days, then drive to Michigan to visit L.'s grandparents for a couple of days, and then head back to downtown Chicago for a couple of nights before we fly back out. It will be a packed trip, but I think we'll find some time to wind down a bit, too. It should be a good time.
It's always really hot and humid in Illinois that time of year, so I've already explained to L. that we'll be taking a cab everywhere downtown. Things look close enough to walk to on a map, but once you get out in that pressing heat and humidity, it zaps literally every bit of energy out of you. I remember one year my step mom and I were walking around a lake near my grandma's house. We used to walk a good 3-5 miles at any one time at home, so we figured it was no big deal. About a mile into it, we both felt like we were dying. I'm thankful that Seattle only experiences heat coupled with humidity like that for a couple of days a year. And even then, the humidity isn't even close to those days in Chicago.
I read awhile back that Seattle was one of the most healthy cities in the US, and I kind of scoffed at it when I read it. But the more I think about it, the more it makes sense. We do have a very temperate climate here, and even in the dead of summer you can usually be outdoors hiking, walking, etc. without feeling like you're melting away. Not so in Chicago. I don't know how people live in climate like that. And my grandma is at the age now where she uses the air conditioner pretty sparingly because she's very old, thin, and fragile and chills easily. So, it will be interesting to see how hot the house gets when we're there.
Luckily, L. and I are staying in a hotel nearby so as not to offend my grandma, since she is a very staunch fundamentalist Christian, and wouldn't hear of L. and I staying together in her house. Which is fine, since it's her house, but it always makes me chuckle a little bit. I mean, I've been married before, so no longer a virgin. And L. and I have been together now for a year and a half. The jig is up. Oh well.
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