tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72989882006574197952024-03-13T09:31:04.782-04:00Teapot MusingsRandom ideas, musings and mutterings that seem to come from nowhere, as I sit drinking my tea. Must be something in my teapot.
Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger164125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-85632765914122346192021-02-10T18:05:00.002-05:002021-02-20T14:04:24.679-05:00A Puzzling Word<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-avqe5UTGWVI/YCRB17PHrTI/AAAAAAAACCY/Fsxhhf-uQVwiOBBAtAMB_kxzMSCcSwhWgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/jigsaw-puzzle-with-missing-piece-missing-puzzle-pieces.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1362" data-original-width="2048" height="133" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-avqe5UTGWVI/YCRB17PHrTI/AAAAAAAACCY/Fsxhhf-uQVwiOBBAtAMB_kxzMSCcSwhWgCLcBGAsYHQ/w200-h133/jigsaw-puzzle-with-missing-piece-missing-puzzle-pieces.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> <span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span><span> </span></span><span style="font-size: xx-small;">Designed by jcomp - <a href="http://www.freepik.com">www.freepik.com</a></span><p></p><p style="margin-left: 240px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></i></span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 240px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></i></span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 240px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></i></span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 240px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"></span></i></span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 240px; text-align: left;"><span style="background-color: #ff00fe;"><span style="font-size: large;"><i><span style="font-size: x-large;"><span style="font-family: trebuchet;"></span></span></i><span style="background-color: white;"><span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span></span></span><span style="background-color: black;"><span></span></span></span></span></p><p style="margin-left: 280px; text-align: left;"><span style="color: red;"><b><span style="font-size: x-large;"> BCD</span></b></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> When I was growing up, putting together jigsaw puzzles was a common activity for my family. We generally did 1000 piece puzzles, which were large enough that all 5 of us could gather around the table. Everyone could reach and we would each stake out our own 'section' and there was a general sense <span style="background-color: white;"><span></span></span>of cameraderie.<br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Over the years, we quit doing puzzles together as we were each busy with other activities. More years passed by and while one or another of us might do puzzles, it was a solo activity. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And then Covid hit. And suddenly, like many, we found ourselves drawn once again to jigsaw puzzles. Not only were we in different households, but we were in different states. Yet somehow, we felt like we were doing jigsaw puzzles together. And while it might have been cheaper for each of us to buy our own puzzles, we found ourselves dismantling completed puzzles so that we could ship them to other family members. While I might be sitting by myself as I found the edge pieces, and the corners, and then worked on the rest of the puzzle, knowing that other family members had done this same puzzle somehow carried a sense of cameraderie.</span></p><p style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;">What does this have to do with BCD?</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Well, it turns out that a person who puts together a jigsaw puzzle is called a Dissectologist. I know, you're shaking your head. This doesn't make sense. A jigsaw puzzler (that's <i>my</i> word for someone putting together a puzzle) isn't dissecting anything, he/she is putting something together. Yet... multiple sources insist that a person who enjoys putting together jigsaw puzzles is a dissectologist. A bit more digging shows that the phrase 'jigsaw puzzle' was first used in the early 1900s. Except that the first jigsaw puzzle was made around 1760. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">And here's where everything comes together. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">The first puzzle and early puzzles after that were made from maps glued to wood, and then cut apart. So originally, puzzles were called dissected maps, or dissected puzzles. </span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Aha! Now it makes sense why puzzlers are called dissectologists!</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">I can feel your impatience.. because I still haven't explained the reason for the title of this blogpost. So here's your explanation. BCD is the Benevolent Confraternity of Dissectologists. The Confraternity is an international club of sorts, based on England, for followers of jigsaw puzzles. The club was only established 35 years ago... and it's not a very large club .. just a few hundred people. But it seems like they're worthy of a bit of attention. After all, those of you who have been working on puzzles over the last eleven months certainly know the popularity of this activity... periodically, jigsaw puzzles can be nearly impossible to find, as everything is out of stock.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;">Having said all of that... I still consider myself a jigsaw puzzler. And in case you were wondering .. yes, I do drink tea while I work on my puzzles.</span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span></p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /><br /></span><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> <br /></span></span></p><p style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: small;"> </span><br /></span></p>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-206569821132729332020-05-11T19:59:00.000-04:002020-05-11T19:59:19.039-04:00Books, and Jigsaw Puzzles<br />
For a long, long time, I took great pride in the fact that I had always finished any book that I started... even those I didn't like. But then... perhaps ten years ago... I took a look at my "To be read" list, and realized that there were far more titles out there than I could ever hope to read. <br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUtNcVANv88/XrnmAUOzq8I/AAAAAAAAB9s/cwyrkkRMYIU-TH2rOMiAQqDJ71fK-UK5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/used-books-store-2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="440" data-original-width="900" height="97" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XUtNcVANv88/XrnmAUOzq8I/AAAAAAAAB9s/cwyrkkRMYIU-TH2rOMiAQqDJ71fK-UK5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/used-books-store-2.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Taking the approach that 'Life is Short, and the list of book I want to read is Long', I changed my ways. <br />
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If I find myself reaching for a book and then decide I need to do the dishes, if I choose to watch another rerun of Big Bang Theory instead of reading another chapter, if I find myself quite content to stop reading in mid-chapter... I put that book aside, and move on to the next.<br />
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To the authors of these books, I say "It's not you, it's me." And that's probably true, at least in many cases. There is no book that makes every reader happy; just because a specific title doesn't appeal to me doesn't mean it's a bad book, it just means that it doesn't appeal to me.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uvW1aRhcbFs/XrnllJTbp9I/AAAAAAAAB9k/wEBbJWiEHwUgMGHK-b5m__YliRP0dC7GQCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/jigsaw-puzzle-with-missing-piece-missing-puzzle-pieces_1150-16392.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="416" data-original-width="626" height="132" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-uvW1aRhcbFs/XrnllJTbp9I/AAAAAAAAB9k/wEBbJWiEHwUgMGHK-b5m__YliRP0dC7GQCLcBGAsYHQ/s200/jigsaw-puzzle-with-missing-piece-missing-puzzle-pieces_1150-16392.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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Which brings me to jigsaw puzzles. </div>
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When I was growing up, the entire family often did jigsaw puzzles. We liked them large, we liked them difficult. And it was a great family activity. But as the years went by, I moved on to other activities. With the recent Stay at Home orders due to the Covid-19 crisis, like many, I'm returning to jigsaw puzzles. Except that of course they're very difficult to find these days. Fortunately, deep in the back recesses of the top shelf of the closet, I found two puzzles. I pulled out the first one -- a wonderful nature scene with a babbling brook and trees. I had a wonderful time putting together that puzzle, it was very relaxing. Sometimes I'd sit there for 10 or 15 minutes at a time; other times I'd pause as I walked by to put together a piece or two, before moving on. And when I finished that puzzle I took it apart, boxed it up, and mailed it to a family member who had also rediscovered the pleasure of a good jigsaw puzzle.<br />
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I then turned to the remaining puzzle ... a reproduction of an Escher drawing. One of my favorite Escher drawings - Hand with Reflecting Sphere. And of course, like all Escher drawings, it was black, white and various shades of gray. Except that - unlike the previous puzzle - this one would sit untouched for a day or two at a time. Rather than being lured back every time I walked by, I found myself looking the other way. I found myself doing the dishes, or watching reruns of Big Bang Theory, instead of working on the puzzle. In the meantime, my sister had sent me a puzzle that she had recently completed; I kept opening the drawer where I'd put that puzzle until I finished the Escher, looking longingly at that colorful nighttime cityscape.<br />
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And I realized some basic facts. I had considered gluing the Escher when I finished it, even though I never glue puzzles together... just so that no one else would have to put this puzzle together. I decided that I would never send this puzzle to someone I liked, because that was just too mean. In fact, the Escher was so unpleasant to work on that I wouldn't even give it to someone I didn't like.<br />
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In other words, the Escher puzzle was like a book that didn't appeal.<br />
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So I took apart the small portion of the Escher that I'd put together, and set the box aside. I opened the new puzzle that was waiting. And once again, I found the joys of putting together a puzzle. Once again, I paused to put together two pieces that caught my eye as I walked by.<br />
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Life is short, time is limited. Make sure you use it well. And if you're drinking tea, make it a good cup of tea. Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-11219337621676372512020-05-05T16:13:00.000-04:002020-05-05T16:13:15.220-04:00Wear a Red S<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<img alt="Red letter s icon - Free red letter icons" src="data:image/png;base64,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" /></div>
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We've experienced a time when there were government orders in place throughout most of the country, mandating social distancing.. or at least strongly recommending social distancing. But apparently this was too difficult for some people to understand... and we found ourselves with mandates of social distancing, along with the wearing of face masks when out in public. And since people STILL couldn't understand this -- or at least they chose not to comply -- we ended up with Stay at Home orders.<br />
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So then we ended up with people protesting the Stay at Home orders, denouncing the wearing of face masks, and flagrantly flouting the social distancing rules. <br />
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Yeah, I get it, you don't like rules that infringe on what you see as your rights.<br />
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But I don't like it when you take action that might harm me.<br />
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There's a serious tug-of-war going on . <br />
On the one hand, there's your desire to go where you want, do what you want, and as for face masks... some of you are saying "I don't know. I don't see it for myself." <br />
But on the other hand, I want to be protected against being near someone who is a carrier of Covid 19.<br />
And based on the statistics, it looks like the more tests are done, the more we are discovering people who have mild - or no - symptoms, but are most definitely contagious with Covid 19.<br />
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Fortunately, I've come up with a solution.. a really good solution, I think.<br />
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I'm going to continue staying home most of the time, wearing my mask when I'm in public, and practicing social distancing. <br />
You can go out and about, skip the mask, and ignore the 6' rule. <br />
<span style="color: red;"><b><br /></b></span>
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<span style="color: red;"><b>BUT.</b></span></div>
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You must wear a large scarlet <b><span style="color: red; font-size: large;">S</span></b>.</div>
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Why, you ask. Well, it's simple. You're getting what you want, and all the restrictions you're protesting will be lifted. In order for me to get what I want -- I need to know who you are, so that I can avoid you. <br />
So you need to wear the <span style="color: red; font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">S</span><span style="font-size: large; font-weight: bold;">. </span>A large S. A red S. <br />
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This way I can easily identify people who are spending lots of time in close proximity to non-household members. I can identify those who don't understand that 'flattening the curve' is important - not because it reduces the number of cases of Corona virus (hint - it does NOT reduce the total numbers over time), but because it spreads out the numbers of people who will become seriously sick, over a longer period of time. So instead of everyone being sick all at once, creating a situation that the hospitals and medical system can't accommodate, the same number of people are sick -- but spread out over a long period of time. This way I can identify people who can't see beyond their noses, who aren't willing to consider how to make this country great again, because they're too busy trying to figure out what works best for them.<br />
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As soon as you tell me you're willing to wear the S, I'm willing to agree it's okay for the rules and restrictions you're protesting against, to no longer apply to you.<br />
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And now, it's time for a cup of tea. No, the tea won't protect me from Covid 19, or the flu, or even the stupidity of others. It just makes me feel better.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-72289186564798022482020-04-28T18:17:00.002-04:002020-04-28T18:17:46.001-04:00Devil, or Hero?Covid-19. Yes, it's overwhelming.<br />
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For the past month, most of the country has been under some sort of stay at home Order. Nobody liked the idea, but by the end of March over 30 states had issued some sort of stay at home Order. Another 10 states issued a stay at home Order in the first week of April, and the rest (except for South Dakota) have issued similar restrictions, without explicitly calling it a stay at home order.<br />
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It should be noted that many states issued Recommendations, prior to issuing their stay at home Orders.... and if people had taken the recommendations seriously, and complied with the recommendations, arguably the Orders would not have been necessary.<br />
<br />But people didn't. They continued to flock to beaches, to parks, to campgrounds. They refused to wear face masks. They refused to engage in social distancing. And frankly, if someone isn't willing to do something as simple as wear a non-medical face mask, or stay 6 feet away from me.... I don't trust them to Wash Their Hands for 20 seconds, or bother to carry and use hand sanitizer.<br />
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So, since so many people acted like misbehaving children who insisted on testing the limits, on reaching their toe out to that line, or even blatantly stepping across it, we found ourselves in a nation of Stay at Home Orders.<br />
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Although some states took some restrictive actions as early as the second week in March, the earliest Order was issued by California on March 19th... less than 6 weeks ago. Over 40 states issued their Order 5 weeks ago or less. Doesn't seem like that's a very long period of time; I go 5 weeks between hair cuts, and I know a lot of people who go much longer. But apparently 5 or 6 weeks is an intolerable length of time for some. <br />
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So now we've got major pressure by many groups, to lift the restrictions. 'After all', some of them argue, 'it's turned out to be not as bad as we expected.' And the people making that argument can't seem to comprehend that perhaps it's BECAUSE of the restrictions, that the death toll is not as bad as we feared.<br />
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But I'm straying from the point I want to make.<br />
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In response to -- well, a number of factors -- several politicians have made the news in the past week, because they are lifting the restrictions. Not gradually, not phased in, but in a willy-nilly fashion. We've gone from "We recommend social distancing" to "Stay at Home (because you wouldn't follow the recommendation)" to "Let's all get tattoos and new haircuts".<br />
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Las Vegas Mayor Goodman offered up her city as a control group. No, I'm not paraphrasing, look up her interview with Anderson Cooper. She talked about control groups and placebos and argued that there have been viruses in Vegas for years, and concluded that the city of Las Vegas could be a contol group.<br />
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Governor Kemp of Georgia said "I think our citizens are ready for this. People know what social distancing is." This is notwithstanding the fact that Georgia has one of the highest tallies of confirmed cases in the region, even while the percentage of people being tested is one of the lowest in the country. Apparently, many Georgia citizens DO understand what social distancing is, and there are a large number of small businesses -- beauty salons, restaurants, theaters -- which are allowed to open, but have chosen not to.<br />
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So that brings me to Devil or Hero. <br />
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IF the Las Vegas control group, or the lifting of restrictions in Georgia results in a large increase of Covid-19 cases, and Covid-19 deaths... people will view Goodman, and Kemp, and others like them, as Devils.<br />
IF the Vegas control group, or the unrestricted citizens of Georgia do not show a large increase in cases and deaths, I'm quite certain there will be some ... perhaps many.. who will point to Goodman and Kemp and shower them with words such as 'brave', and 'courageous' and 'leaders'. And even Hero.<br />
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But, you see, in my opinion, to take risks with other people's lives, does not make you a Hero. It makes you a Devil. <br />
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I understand, they call them calculated risks. They don't see them as unnecessary and unreasonable risks. But when you listen to experts.. true experts... and you look at the data... I don't see how these risks could be considered necessary or reasonable. It's one thing to risk oneself, and another thing to risk others. <br />
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And for those who think I'm overreacting, let me share an interesting little tidbit with you.<br />
Notwithstanding the fact that the Governor of Georgia has decided it's safe to get a haircut, or a massage or tattoo, or attend the theater, as long as precautions are taken ... that same Governor continues to keep the Governor's mansion closed to tours. Earlier this week, phone calls to the tour office were met with the response that .. No, tours could NOT be scheduled... after all, there was a pandemic going on. At this point, phone calls are met with a recording, directing people to check out the virtual tour of the mansion online, as all public tours of the mansion have been cancelled until further notice.<br />
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No question in my mind. Regardless of the outcome, Goodman and Kemp should never be called Heroes.<br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-64826817262407863442020-01-02T13:52:00.002-05:002020-01-02T14:18:21.228-05:00The Other HolidaysI just hate it when I discover that I've missed some special holiday like National Eat a Hot Fudge Sundae Day, or Wear a Goofy Hat Day, or Go Fly a Kite Day. So when I came across a list of <a href="https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/610233/offbeat-holidays-to-celebrate-this-year" target="_blank">"100 Offbeat Holidays"</a> (thanks to Mental Floss), I thought 'Woo Hoo, I'm covered'. And I thought I'd cover you as well.<br />
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But the first holiday listed was National Hangover Day on January 1. Hmmm, not only don't I like the idea of creating a holiday for hangovers, but if someone is hung over, I highly doubt that they are celebrating.<br />
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<a href="https://matctimes360.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/national-trivia-day-640x514.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for trivia" border="0" height="160" src="https://matctimes360.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/09/national-trivia-day-640x514.jpg" width="200" /></a>But then comes January 4 - National Trivia Day. If you're a follower of Teapot Musings, you know that I'm all over this one. I actually considered waiting until January 4 to post this -- but I didn't want you to lose out. And by the way, <a href="https://authorjenniferquail.com/" target="_blank"><span style="color: #674ea7;">Jennifer Quail</span></a> (an author with short stories in two Read on the Run anthologies ---<span style="color: #674ea7;"> </span><span style="color: #8e7cc3;"><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kiss-Promise-Charley-Clarke-ebook/dp/B07HFK92BH" target="_blank"><span style="color: #8e7cc3;">A Kiss and a Promise</span></a>,</span> and <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Vampires-Zombies-Ghosts-Read-Run-ebook/dp/B07VPL8FFG" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; color: #8e7cc3;">Vampires, Zombies and Ghosts-volume 1</span></a>) recently won Jeopardy 8 times! I'm pretty sure she's a big fan of National Trivia Day, and binge watching her on Jeopardy would be a great way to celebrate.<br />
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But that's not all for January. I haven't peeked ahead (well, not very far), but it's pretty obvious that to get 100 holidays in 12 months you have to average 9 or 10 a month.<br />
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In two weeks, on January 14, is National Dress Up Your Pet Day. <b><span style="color: #cc0000;">NO. NO. NO</span>.</b> Do NOT do this. Do not fall for the hype. Everyone who does this insists on posting the pics all over the place. You annoy your pet, you annoy your followers, and most of all... you annoy your pet. Yes, I said that twice, because your pet is extremely annoyed. Even if you have a pet who tolerates this, trust me, your pet is annoyed. And unless they've done things like wake you up early because they want their food, or knocked over your tea in their excitement to get close to you ... no, never mind, no matter what they've done, no pet deserves to be dressed up.<br />
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January 18 is National Thesaurus Day. No, I don't know what you're supposed to do on that day. Buy a thesaurus? No thanks, I have one. Use a thesaurus? Of course, all the time. Sit on a thesaurus? That's silly, just adjust your chair. Look up alternative words for meaningless? Well, I suppose there's that.<br />
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January 20 is Penguin Awareness Day. As far as I am aware, there are no penguins in Massachusetts, other than those in zoos, but I will watch out for them.<br />
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Nearing the end of the month is January 24, which is National Compliment Day. Hey, here's an idea -- compliment people on January 23rd, and they will be confused about what day it is! Or perhaps they won't be confused, and you can wait until the next day and then compliment them on how smart they were the day before.<br />
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And finishing up the month, on January 27th you can choose between Thomas Crapper Day, and Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day. By the way, Thomas Crapper did NOT invent the toilet, but he was a plumber. I was hoping to find out that January 27th was his birthday, but in fact it is the date of his death. He was born on September 28th, so if you're going to celebrate his day, that's really when you should do it.<br />
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Which leaves Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.<br />
<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iGPL-6vXmAQ/Xg43ohztCvI/AAAAAAAAB7M/IM7SVYu1fiARics2hgwREwsTL7RwShhKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/bubble.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="95" data-original-width="95" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-iGPL-6vXmAQ/Xg43ohztCvI/AAAAAAAAB7M/IM7SVYu1fiARics2hgwREwsTL7RwShhKgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1600/bubble.jpg" /></a>It's not always on the 27th, but it's always on the last Monday in January. I'm not sure why. I mean, we all have lots of bubble wrap around at the end of the year... between presents we've ordered, presents we've shipped, and presents we've received. So if you ask me, Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day should be January 1. But I guess that would interfere with the people celebrating National Hangover Day.<br />
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Fortunately, in my calendar, every day is Have a Good Cup of Tea Day, so I shall.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-79549973381189708342019-12-12T13:59:00.003-05:002019-12-12T13:59:56.269-05:002020 and a New Decade (or not)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I was watching one of the news programs this morning, and as you probably know, the 'hardest' news is first thing, and as the program continues -- especially if it has multiple hours -- each segment becomes 'softer' than the one before. A soft segment caught my attention, as the anchors first debated how we're going to pronounce 2020, and then moved on to the question of whether it was a new decade or not.<div>
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You might be looking at 2020, and trying to figure out what the dispute was. I suspect most of you saw those four digits and thought of them as "twenty-twenty". After all, aren't we nearing the end of twenty-nineteen? Didn't the roaring twenties take place in nineteen-twenty? And that is certainly the camp that I would fall into. But it turns out there are some who are calling next year "two thousand twenty".</div>
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My first thought was "Really?" My next thought was "Hmmm". On the one hand, I would never say One Thousand Nine Hundred Fifty-Seven. The year would be half over before I finished. But that's not a problem with, say, 2019, or 2020, or 2021. Sure, the 'long' way has one extra word, but it somehow sounds more formal, more scientific. And when I give someone my office phone number, I finish with "five-six-zero-six", rather than "five-six-oh-six"... even though zero is a longer word than oh. Of course, I don't say "five thousand six hundred six", but that's different.</div>
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So I think I'll have to say the jury is still out on how to pronounce 2020. I've been saying twenty-nineteen for the past year, but I might try the 'long' way of saying 2020 for a month or so, and see what I think.</div>
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But then the next question was 'Does the next decade begin at the beginning of 2021, or the end of 2020'. And surprisingly, the answer is No. The next decade begins January 1, 2021. While I was ready to argue with this answer, the explanation has me stepping back for a moment. </div>
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While I'm still somewhat suspicious about how experts determined these things **, it's been pointed out that the people living at that time, would not have called a year "0", as that idea would have been regarded as nonsense. And I can understand that. Which means that the first year AD was called 1 AD, and the year before that was called 1 BC. Yes, I know, that raises all sorts of questions, and you're not going to find those answers here, but you WILL find an explanation about the new decade.</div>
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So.. if the first year was year 1 (rather than year 0), that means that the first decade ran from January 1, 0001, through December 31, 0010. And that makes sense to me. Which means that the most recent decade began January 1, 2011, and will end on December 31, 2020.</div>
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Unless.... you're looking at Julian calendars, Jewish calendars, Chinese calendars, or some other calendar... in which case I have no idea what to tell you. Except that if someone invites you to a party to celebrate the new decade... whether the party is the end of 2019, the beginning of 2020, or the beginning of 2021, you should say yes!</div>
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And of course if someone offers you a good cup of tea (which for me, is typhoo tea), you should always say yes, no matter what the date is!</div>
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**People living in the years BC certainly didn't call those years BC. And people living at the time that we changed from BC to AD didn't know they should suddenly start counting the years over again. And of course how did they know when to start, so that the BC years ended and the AD years began? So when did someone draw the artificial line between BC and AD? Because it certainly wasn't the people who were living in both years. But that's a topic for another Teapot Musing.. or perhaps not!</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-42256052932299880542019-06-06T18:16:00.000-04:002019-08-06T14:45:34.561-04:00What's in a Name?<a href="about:invalid#zClosurez" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Image result for rose" border="0" height="200" 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width="200" /></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According to William Shakespeare "</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">That which we call a rose. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">By any other<b> </b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">name</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"> would smell as sweet". </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">(Said by Romeo, to Juliet)</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">In other words, the specific name doesn't matter.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">But I think perhaps Will missed the boat on this one. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(Before you start lambasting me in the comments, I realize that Shakespeare was just trying to make a point.... and now, so am I!) </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">At first blush, it feels like most people don't have a choice in their name. Parents choose a name when a child is born, it goes on the birth certificate, and there you go. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">But that's not really quite accurate.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">I know someone who, as a child, decided she didn't like her first name (which was a perfectly fine name), and insisted that everyone call her by her middle name. And she was amazingly adept at refusing to respond - or even react - if someone called her by her first name. At some point, she reverted back to her first name. I'm not sure about the reasoning behind her initial decision to change, or the decision to change back. But the point is, she changed her name.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Beyond that, most of us are able to choose whether to use our formal name, or a shortened/modified nickname. When we introduce ourselves to someone, we're choosing which name we want them to use. When I meet somebody who tells me their name is John, or Johnny, or Jack, I make some immediate assumptions about what sort of person they are. Those assumptions might be wrong, they might be right... but I make those assumptions nonetheless, based on the name they give me.</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Yet all of these are examples of first names. What about last names?</span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Here's where I think it's interesting how people react. For centuries, when a couple married, the woman 'lost' her last name and took on her new husband's last name. Back in the 1970's and '80's, there was something of a trend was for the woman to put a hyphen after her last name, and add her husband's name. A nice compromise, you might think, particularly where some husbands would change their last name to the new hybrid version. But it still meant that the woman (and man, if he joined in) 'lost' her last name. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">And then there were the variations of shifting your last name to your middle name, and taking on your husband's last name. Or even just adding on the husband's last name so that now the woman had 4 names. Except that the actual last name... was still her husband's last name.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">And these variations were far from the norm. In a 2009 study of government data, only 6% of women who married did something "unconventional", which included keeping their own name, hyphenating, and tacking on his last name at the end. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">94% of women who married got rid of their own last name, and took their husband's last name.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Big deal, you say. She still has her first name. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">And that's precisely what a friend told me the other day. A male friend. A male friend who married, and kept his own last name.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">And that's when I realized that Shakespeare's Romeo didn't get it, and generally speaking, many men don't get it. </span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Your name is your identity. Men might mentally divide their lives into 'before I got married' and 'after I got married'. And of course women make this same division. But for women - or at least women who change their names... they also think of themselves as "when I <u>was</u> {maiden name}", and "when I <u>was</u> {married name}". When we meet someone we knew long ago, we don't say "oh, you knew me when I was <u>known as</u> {maiden name}"... rather, we say "oh, you knew me when <u>I was</u> {maiden name}."</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Your name isn't just what others call you, your name is your identity. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;">Not your first name, but your entire name. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"> Change that name, and you change your identity.</span><br />
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;"><br /></span></span><span style="color: #222222; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">Romeo was right that a rose would smell as sweet if we called it something different. But my name - my full name - is who I am. And of course I'd be drinking typhoo tea, no matter what they called it.</span></span><br />
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-50543570125779585322019-05-03T18:27:00.004-04:002019-05-03T18:28:29.144-04:00Why I hate insurance companiesBe forewarned: This is not a typical Teapot Musing. This is a major rant about health insurance companies, specifically Blue Cross Blue Shield.<br />
<br />
For a couple of decades, I have been using a drug to manage my asthma. My asthma is mild, but it's in need of control. With the assistance and supervision of my primary care physician, I've gone from having bronchitis several times a year and frequently wheezing, to (knock on wood) going several years between bronchitis episodes, and rarely wheezing. This is a good thing, a very good thing.<br />
<br />
Recently, a generic became available for the drug I've been using (Advair). And I considered that to also be a good thing. Unfortunately, we recently changed insurance to Blue Cross Blue Shield. And apparently, that was a bad thing.<br />
<br />
You see, according to Blue Cross Blue Shield's policy on asthma medications, they will not approve Advair OR the new generic for Advair, until/unless the patient has first tried two other asthma medications. EVEN IF the patient has been on Advair for some time, with good results. EVEN THOUGH the other medications warn that it may take a bit of time for a patient to begin to feel the full benefit of the other medications.<br />
<br />
So I began using the first of the other options. And this was not a good thing.<br />
<br />
I filed an appeal with Blue Cross Blue Shield (see letter at the bottom of this post), and this evening my primary care physician called me to say she'd been notified by Blue Cross Blue Shield that 'they needed a more complete history' for me. Mind you... the doctor's office had already submitted a complete history when they requested the authorization for the generic of Advair. And they've done this many times before, for other patients and other drugs. So it's not as if they don't know what they're doing. Whatever the end result of this might be, I find it ridiculous that the group practice my doctor belongs to has to have a staff person whose job is to research and review patient histories and write up requests for authorization. I find it ridiculous that Blue Cross Blue Shield's actions result in my doctor calling me at 5:30 on a Friday night, to report what she's doing to try to make this work... I know she works long days and she should have better things to do than jump through Blue Cross Blue Shield's hoops.<br />
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Yes, I realize some drugs can be outrageously expensive. Yes, I understand that Big-Pharma is partly to blame. If Big-Pharma is the problem, then Blue Cross Blue Shield should focus their efforts in that direction. Yes, I'm sure there are doctors out there who will prescribe anything, willy-nilly, without regard to whether there are other options. If irresponsible doctors are the problem, then Blue Cross Blue Shield should require explanations of why a patient is on a specific drug... Oh wait, they do. But this just feels too much like the blind application of a policy, without regard or thought to a specific situation. Which makes Blue Cross Blue Shield an irresponsible party to all of this.<br />
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I feel very fortunate to have a doctor willing to put in the time and effort to see this through.<br />
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In the meantime, this is why I hate insurance companies.<br />
Sometimes, tea is not enough, you have to take other action.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-10770263123975798102018-12-19T14:26:00.001-05:002018-12-19T14:26:03.082-05:00On RecommendationsYou have to give some thought and considerations, before recommending a book to someone. No matter how wonderful or amazing you might consider a book to be, there will still be some people who read it and think "Meh".. and there will be others who might start it, but not finish it.. or might not even pick the book up at all. It's not just about the book, it's about the reader.<br />
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I read a lot of books, and I have a friend - essentially the same age, and the same profession - who also reads a lot of books. We've tried to recommend books to each other.. and it nearly always fails. It took us awhile - and a lot of discarded books - to figure this out, but we've now come to terms with the fact that the Venn diagram of the books he likes, and the books I like, would have a very small overlap. That overlap does indeed exist, but it's quite small. So while we continue to tell each "I just finished a really good book", it's most often followed by "but you wouldn't like it."<br />
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On the other hand, I know someone else who reads a lot of books and we frequently recommend titles to each other, and 99% of the time those recommendations are spot on. Maybe even 99.5%. On a couple of occasions, we've actually recommended the same title to each other at the same time. We're not too far apart in age, but our professions and our lifestyles are very different from each other... yet our reading tastes are very closely aligned.<br />
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I have a young niece, and over the years, I've given her quite a number of books as gifts. I received a phone call from her a few months ago.... "Aunt Laurie, I'm at the library, and they don't have the book I was going to get, so I thought I'd see if you had any recommendations."<br />
Wow.<br />
I was delighted, of course... but there was also a lot of pressure. We'd shifted from - "Here's a present for you,... Oh, thank you," to .. what do you recommend? I began by telling her that I could only recommend something, if I knew what she liked.. and I asked her about the last few books I'd given her. She was rather shy about admitting that she hadn't liked some of them... but I assured her that this was okay and it wouldn't hurt my feelings, and that knowing both her likes and dislikes would help me recommend something new.<br />
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And this, of course, is the important thing. There are a gazillion lists out there... with titles such as "25 Books to Read Before You Die", "The Top 50 Greatest Fiction Books of All Time", "The 10 Best New Books of 2018"... and many, many more. But unless you created the list, odds are high that you will disagree with at least one title on that list.<br />
And this is okay.<br />
It doesn't mean you're wrong or that the list is wrong, it just means that someone other than you prepared the list.<br />
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Having said that -- I thought I'd share some book titles with you. I'm not suggesting you have to read these before you die, or that they're the greatest of all time, or even the greatest of this year.... and I'm not even suggesting that you will like them. I'm merely saying that I liked them. If you haven't already read them, or looked at them and concluded you wouldn't like them... you might want to consider them -- or not.<br />
<b>"Sleeping Beauties"</b>, by Stephen King and Jonathan Hill. I'm generally leery of collaborations; usually you can figure out who wrote which section, which means you start looking for those dividing lines. But I like Stephen King, and I know Jonathan Hill is one of his sons, and I was curious to see how this collaboration would work. There's no question that the very beginning of the book doesn't 'feel' like a King.. but nonetheless it made me want to read more. And it wasn't very long before I forgot to try to discern who wrote what, because it was pretty darned seamless. And it was a great story. And if you want to find it, there is a lot of social commentary on our times and the book really makes you think.. but I think you could also ignore that and just enjoy the story if you wanted. A successful collaboration, a great read.<br />
<b>"An Easy Death"</b>, by Charlaine Harris. I was familiar with Charlaine Harris' Sookie Stackhouse series. Sookie is a cocktail waitress in Louisiana. She can read minds, and many of her friends are vampires and were-animals. Yes, it's brain-candy.. it's pretty mindless stuff, but it's entertaining. So when I saw a title by Harris that I hadn't read, I decided I was in the mood for fluff and I grabbed it without reading the back jacket. "An Easy Death" is not part of the Stackhouse series. Instead, it's kind of a combination of Old West (think 'gunslingers and wagon trains') and wizards, with a nod to some czarist Russian history. And it's good, it's really good. I found myself thinking about the characters, days after I'd finished reading the book. I was delighted to see that it appears this is a new series, with at least one more book planned.<br />
<b>"The Old Man"</b>, by Thomas Perry. Thomas Perry has written a lot of books.. including the Jane Whitefield series and the Butcher Boy series, and he's also written a lot of stand-alone titles. This one is a stand-alone. The title character is not really that old ... well, he's my age. And he doesn't think of himself as an old man, although he notes that his daughter does. But don't mistake this book as a soft, warm, cuddly, character-study. It's an adventure/spy/suspense book with lots of intense moments.. and a lot of the other characters underestimate the main character, partly because of his age. Very well-written, my favorite Thomas Perry book by far. As I said, this is a stand-alone... but I wish Perry would follow up with another story with this character.<br />
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Are these my favorite books of all time? No, although they're pretty good. Are they my favorites from this year? Hmmm, not sure, but they are the three that popped into my head first. Am I recommending them? Of course not, I don't know your reading likes/dislikes. But you might want to take a look at them. Am I drinking my favorite tea as I write this? Of course I am. But then, you already knew that.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-17676720520121808652018-08-03T17:32:00.000-04:002018-08-03T17:32:34.491-04:00PSA I just came across an email in my inbox with the subject line 10 Potato Recipes Everyone Should Know. And frankly, this has me looking over my shoulder to see if someone is watching me, if perhaps Alexa or Siri are listening in and tattling on me. It's either a huge coincidence, or I'm being spied upon. And I'm certain that it must be the latter.<br />
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Since I'm clearly being spied on anyway, let me share a confession with you, a bit of a PSA. No, I don't mean Public Service Announcement... although perhaps that would apply as well. I mean Potato Spoilage Advice.<br />
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In my kitchen, I have a drawer where I keep onions (red and yellow) and potatoes (sweet and Yukon Gold). It's a cool, dark, dry place. And it's convenient. And it's never been a problem before, although I have recently read that you should keep your onions and potatoes separated, because the onions will make the potatoes sprout. And while I often digress in my Teapot Musings... this time it's not a digression.<br />
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A couple weeks ago, I decided to throw some sliced red onions on the grill. I opened my onion-potato drawer, and peered inside. All seemed well. I had 2 red onions, 1 sweet potato, and a bag of Yukon Gold potatoes. The potatoes on the top of the bag were clearly firm, and without sprouts. To better reach the red onions, I picked up the bag of potatoes, which is when my whole world exploded.<br />
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Hmmm, I guess that's a bit of an exaggeration. But it is accurate to say that the potatoes that had been on the bottom exploded, and I found myself holding a dripping bag of potato soup... with a couple of Very Sneaky normal-looking potatoes sitting on the top to fool me into thinking all was well with the world.<br />
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And of course the smell. There had been no odor at all when I opened the drawer, with the exception of a very slight aroma from the red onions. But now that the potatoes had exploded... everything reeked.<br />
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But I'm not just posting to tell you my sad story, I'm here to tell you how the reek issue was finally resolved. I suppose that would make this a PSA PSA.<br />
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First, everything needs to be washed. That's not going to take care of the odor... it doesn't even come close... but it's a critical first step. In my case, this included the drawer, the drawer above it and its contents, as well as the cabinet the drawer slid into.<br />
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Next, I wiped down both drawers and the cabinet with vinegar. Then I sprinkled baking soda everywhere and let it sit overnight. Then I cleaned up the baking soda -- which smelled, of course, but that was a good sign. Gave the sniff taste, and wiped everything down again with vinegar. And then baking soda. And then vinegar. and then baking soda. <br />
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And after the fourth or fifth time, I deemed the cabinet and the drawer above the potato drawer, to be usable once again. It took another week, with many more rounds of vinegar and baking soda, but I have finally declared the potato drawer to be odor free, and have returned it to its place in the cabinet.<br />
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Which brings me back to the post with potato recipes, and the serious underlying message. If you have potatoes, you need to cook potatoes. And since tea is my answer to everything, I've manage to locate a recipe for <a href="https://www.splendidtable.org/recipes/tea-infused-potatoes" target="_blank">tea-infused potatoes</a>.<br />
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Hmmm... sounds interesting. I'll give it some thought as I drink another cup of tea.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-16899729142988101362018-06-05T18:43:00.000-04:002018-06-05T18:43:36.232-04:00..but I LIKE carrots!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I eat carrots. I eat a LOT of carrots... I mean REALLY a LOT of carrots. Not the cooked ones, mind you.. but the raw ones. <br />
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When I first started eating carrots, it was largely because I was trying to lose weight. Carrots make a great snack. They're crunchy... they have a slightly sweet flavor...and they have very few calories. But over time, I realized that there were even more positive attributes to this orange vegetable.... they don't get smashed in the bottom of your lunch bag, they last a long time before they go bad, they're inexpensive... and most importantly, I really like the taste of carrots. And if you buy the pre-washed baby carrots, they're really easy... you don't peel, you don't cut, you don't wash... you just open the bag and reach in.<br />
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My husband doesn't eat carrots - at least not raw carrots. It's not so much that he doesn't like them, it's more that he prefers fruit - almost any fruit - to vegetables. <br />
But I digress... let's get back to carrots.<br />
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As I was saying... I eat a lot of carrots. In a typical week, I probably go through two big bags of carrots. And as my items are moving along on the conveyor belt in the grocery store... I sometimes wonder what the cashier is thinking about my order. ("Hmmm, two bags of carrots, a large jar of pickles, and a jar of yeast. That's an odd recipe.") But then I realize that the cashier probably doesn't care about my grocery order, and instead is thinking about the movie they're going to see that weekend, or whether they have to stop and fill up their gas tank before they go home.<br />
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Except that I just came across an article about grocery store customers in the UK and Australia. Apparently, the self-serve kiosks are far more plentiful there than they are here. At least in the grocery stores that I frequent, there are only a few self-serve registers ... and it always seems a bit silly as there is nearly always at least one employee hovering around to help out and keep an eye on things.<br />
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A recent study of self-checkout machines in Australia and Great Britain revealed that -- according to the register receipts -- people are buying pounds and Pounds and POUNDS ..... of carrots! In fact, people are buying more carrots than the stores have!!! <br />
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Well obviously people aren't buying more carrots than the store has in stock. But it turns out that they're buying expensive things like avocados, and berries, and exotic or out-of-season fruits and vegetables... and ringing them up as carrots. <br />
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Frankly, it never occurred to me to do that -- although, as I said, there always seems to be an employee hovering about the self-serve registers. And besides that, you wouldn't think it would really make that much of a difference in the whole scheme of things. <br />
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But I guess it does. <br />
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The report noted that this tactic resulted in a loss to British grocery stores to the tune of 1 million dollars per year. My, that IS a lot of carrots. And don't think that the British are taking this matter lying down. Some fellow was charged with stealing almost $600 worth of groceries over a three month period of time, by ringing up expensive produce as "loose onions". Clearly, he should have used "carrots"... one reason why he was caught was that the particular grocery store he was frequenting didn't even sell loose onions.<br />
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Just in case anyone out there has been taking note of my grocery store receipts, and they've noticed the larger-than-typical amount of carrots in my purchases... please know that I like carrots, I really do. And when my receipt says carrots, you can be sure I bought carrots.<br />
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I also like tea. And although my favorite tea (Typhoo) comes from the UK, I would NEVER ring up my tea, as carrots.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-22622224603709123012017-08-19T08:27:00.000-04:002017-08-19T08:27:08.129-04:00Perhaps it's best to ignore themCharlottesville was horrible... truly horrible. And there were more white supremacist rallies planned for this weekend, across the country. Fortunately, most of them were cancelled. Sadly, Boston has decided to allow the scheduled rally to go forward.. as well as the counterprotest rally.<br />
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People! These Nazi/KKK/white supremacists events are rallies. And the likelihood of them drawing people to their cause - people who aren't already on their side, are slim. That likelihood gets slimmer if no one knows about the rally, and it stays just a rally.<br />
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The Charlottesville got a lot of media attention, including social media attention. I'm sure David Duke was absolutely delighted to see his tweets plastered all over the national news.<br />
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Like you, I am outraged ... absolutely outraged ... at what these groups are doing. I find it absolutely inconceivable that someone could align themselves with these groups. But I have to acknowledge that -- if the Charlottesville counterprotesters had stayed home... I don't think we'd be seeing Duke's hateful words on our television screens.<br />
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No, I'm absolutely NOT blaming this on the counterprotesters... not at all. But...<br />
I think it's time to change strategies.<br />
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Remember when you were a child, and your sibling was annoying you... not with what they were doing, but with what they were saying? And your mother would say "Just ignore them." I'm not talking about the pushing and shoving and other potentially harmful action... I'm talking about things like repeating everything you said, or disputing everything you said, or saying things they knew would make you mad. Free speech sorts of things.<br />
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And... if you could force yourself to quit responding... pretty soon your sibling would get bored and move on.<br />
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Yes, it was a childish game... but these white supremacists are acting in a childish manner.<br />
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Perhaps... just maybe... if we ignored them... if we didn't show up at their rallies, we didn't counterprotest, we didn't put it on the news... maybe they'd get bored.<br />
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I'm not suggesting we turn a blind eye to their actions, I'm not suggesting we turn our backs on them, and I am not suggesting we let them do anything other than talk.<br />
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But while they're only talking, and until/unless they do more than talking.. perhaps it's best to ignore them. <br />
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Yes, I know it will be difficult.. but we can all take a lesson from Tina Fey and eat cake.<br />
And drink tea.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-50617798146339378432017-08-03T18:09:00.001-04:002017-08-03T18:09:11.450-04:00The Thing About Birthday CakesI came across something interesting this afternoon, and thought it worth sharing.<br />
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Remember how - when you were little, and you had a birthday, somebody would make/buy a birthday cake? And there would be candles on top of the birthday cake -- one for each year, of course.<br />
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And those candles would be lit... and then you'd try to blow all the candles out in one breath.<br />
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And you'd succeed, of course .. even if you had to cheat just a little... and everyone would clap. Then the cake would be cut into pieces, and the pieces would be passed around, and everybody would eat birthday cake.<br />
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And then everyone would get deathly ill.<br />
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Oh wait --- that's NOT how your birthdays went? Gee, that's not how my birthdays went, either.<br />
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Well, maybe we were just lucky. <br />
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I mean, really... think about it. We no longer cover our noses and mouths with our hands when we sneeze or cough, because it's been determined that it's more sanitary to sneeze/cough into our own elbow, or arm. So why on earth would we put food in front of someone and say to them.. "Ok, now, I want you to blow on this food, as hard as you can...for several seconds. And if the candles aren't all blown out, then either you can sneak a little breath and blow some more, or else... I know!! We'll ALL blow on this food. And THEN.. we'll all eat it.<br />
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Well now you can quit worry about this unhealthy practice, because there's a guy who filed a patent for a "Sanitary birthday cake cover and candle system". It's a thing that goes over the cake.. and the cover has these indentations for the candles.. so you can put the candles in the indentations without them ever touching the cake, and then you can blow out the candles and remove the cover and Voila! you've got a germ-free cake. <br />
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Wow. What a concept. <br />
Yet, try as I might, I can't seem to find a place to purchase a sanitary birthday cake cover and candle system. And it's not just because this is a new idea.. the patent was filed in 2008. There have even been six more patent applications by different people for slight variations on the original patent.. the most recent being just six months ago.<br />
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And yet somehow, this idea hasn't caught on. <br />
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Hmmm.. I detect a note of skepticism in your eye.. a bit of a raised eyebrow at this silly discussion. Don't be quite so quick to dismiss the concern. In 2013, Australia's National Health and Medical Research Council declared that children should no longer be allowed to blow out candles on a birthday cake, and suggested that if parents wish to give their child the traditional experience, they should provide a separate cupcake with a candle. <br />
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Well... after some pondering, I've decided that I'm willing to take my chances on birthday cake germs. For all we know, frosting is some magical antibacterial that no one knows about... because - think about it... Have you ever heard of a bunch of people - children or adults - getting sick after eating birthday cake? Of course not. <br />
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So I'm going to continue eating birthday cake - whether or not it's had candles, and whether or not those candles have been lit, and then blown out. And of course with my cake, I'll have some tea.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-28095162306792476382017-06-26T15:54:00.000-04:002017-06-26T15:54:12.603-04:00Summer is here!Haven't blogged a lot, lately. I discovered that too many ideas for my blog posts, and too many of my actual posts, were political. That's not what I want this blog to be... so I took a break.<br />
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BUT! Summer is here... a time for new beginnings .. a time to start over.<br />
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How do I know summer is here? Well, I suppose I could check with the local group of druids (except that they died off, years ago).. or I could take a peek at Stonehenge (no.. wouldn't have to go to England for that, there are two dozen stonehenges in the US).. or I could check any one of a large number of sources, which would indicate that summer began last week. But I prefer a more naturalistic approach.<br />
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Last week, I came home, pulled into my usual spot alongside the driveway, and shut off the engine. Suddenly, a bunny hopped out from the shrubs and ran in front of my car, and into the woods. A bunny! Some years we see bunnies, some years we do not.. but this was the first bunny of the year. I'd post a picture except -- come on, bunnies are fast! So you'll have to take my word for it... but you know what a bunny looks like.<br />
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The very next morning, as I stood at the bathroom sink brushing my teeth, I looked out the window and saw a small deer eating grass. A deer! I raced downstairs to get to my phone and a door without a screen.. and snapped some photos... including a picture of the deer eating the lower branches of my cherry tree. Sigh. Yes, I had seen the damage to the branches and leaves.. and now I knew the cause for certain. The deer spent quite some time browsing the backyard greenery. And I spent quite some time watching the deer.<br />
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Watching the deer made me a bit late.. but a block from the house I had to stop...to let a wild turkey and about half a dozen turkey chicks cross the road! I would have taken the time to snap a picture, but I was running late. As I drove by... I realized that the turkey and chicks were crossing the road -- not just to get to the other side, but to join <u>another</u> wild turkey, with perhaps a dozen chicks! Truly, there was a yard full of little baby turkey chicks! Sadly, I did not get a picture. I realize you might not know what turkey chicks look like.. they're similar to chicken chicks.. but different. So I've hunted high and low (well, not really, I just typed a few search terms) to find the following pic .. which is pretty close to what I saw.. if you double this.<br />
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LerYpu0VimE/WVFkKVDI2BI/AAAAAAAABss/2qOuN397dmUL4nXibq59COXH-85WWYoCgCLcBGAs/s1600/maxresdefault.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="1600" height="180" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LerYpu0VimE/WVFkKVDI2BI/AAAAAAAABss/2qOuN397dmUL4nXibq59COXH-85WWYoCgCLcBGAs/s320/maxresdefault.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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So -- If signs from Mother Nature come in 3s... there you have it. Three animal sightings in less than 24 hours.</div>
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What did I tell you? Summer is here!</div>
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And so am I. Happy to be back in my blog</div>
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Just in case you wondered... I always drink tea, whether I'm blogging or not.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-63250185821836314662017-04-17T10:53:00.002-04:002017-04-17T10:53:51.471-04:00Patriot(s) and apostrophes<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sih4LulYsLo/WPTUhw1k68I/AAAAAAAABrg/puwVqa29VWI9DyzgYJFKLWS4p2pItQt0QCLcB/s1600/print-signs-apostrophe.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sih4LulYsLo/WPTUhw1k68I/AAAAAAAABrg/puwVqa29VWI9DyzgYJFKLWS4p2pItQt0QCLcB/s200/print-signs-apostrophe.png" width="200" /></a><a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wuMjEk4IO9o/WPTU5pzxdaI/AAAAAAAABrk/oGVT8GEJj7wEVu69mo0QCiTulp6YBJn3ACLcB/s1600/download.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="111" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wuMjEk4IO9o/WPTU5pzxdaI/AAAAAAAABrk/oGVT8GEJj7wEVu69mo0QCiTulp6YBJn3ACLcB/s200/download.jpg" width="200" /></a>I live in Massachusetts... which means that today - the third Monday in April - is Patriot's Day. <br />
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Or - wait... is it Patriots Day, Patriot's Day, or Patriots' Day? <br />
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Those of you who know me, know that a misplaced apostrophe is one of my biggest pet peeves. I was recently on a website where one of the tabs was labeled Birthday's... and if I could, I would have hacked into their website and removed the offensive and inappropriate apostrophe. So as this quasi-holiday approached, I found myself wondering what the correct name was. Yes, I've lived in Massachusetts for many years, but I rarely write the name of the day.. and when you say the day out loud, it doesn't really matter where the apostrophe is. But now that the question had occurred to me, I really <strike>wanted</strike> needed to know if there was an apostrophe, and if so, where it belonged.<br />
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So of course I took to my friends Google and Wikipedia. I found some really interesting information, and discovered the cause of my confusion.<br />
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As I already knew, Patriots' Day celebrates the Battles of Lexington and Concord... which were the first battles of the revolutionary war. There's a re-enactment of the battle every year (actually two.. one in Lexington, and one in Concord), and it includes the ride of Paul Revere. And I also knew that the holiday is technically on April 19th.. but like so many other holidays, it was shifted to a Monday (another one of my peeves, although a minor one). And of course I know that the Boston Marathon is run on Patriots' Day. And I knew that the Boston Marathon had been run on that day, for over a hundred years.<br />
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But that still left the question of the apostrophe.<br />
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Here's the answer ---<br />
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Patriot Day is the anniversary of 9/11/2001<br />
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Patriots Day is the name of the movie about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing<br />
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Patriot's Day is the name of the Maine holiday celebrating the Lexington Concord battles, and is also the name of the holiday in Tennessee.<br />
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Patriots' Day is the name of the holiday celebrating the battles, in Massachusetts and Wisconsin. <br />
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The Florida state legislature has recognized Patriots' Day (April 19) as "one of great historical significance" and encourages people to 'commemorate' the day, although it's not an official holiday. <br />
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And not to leave out my Canadian friends (even the coffee-drinking ones!), Canada celebrates National Patriots' Day on the Monday preceding May 25.<br />
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What does all of this mean? Well among other things, it means that this is one situation where I'm going to give you a pass, whether you leave off the S, use the S but no apostrophe, or use the apostrophe in one of two different places.<br />
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Yes, this is a great day of celebration.... because it's not often that I give people a pass on apostrophes.<br />
And -- like any celebration -- it deserves a good cup of tea. So I'm off to enjoy my typhoo tea, and I hope you enjoy this day as well.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-43872950303108235212017-02-03T15:38:00.003-05:002017-02-03T15:38:34.961-05:00Quit apologizingThere's a lot in the news lately about the 'right' way to say you're sorry, including a recent article in the New York Times. The reports talk about making the apology without disclaimers or conditions, and keeping in mind that the purpose of the apology is to make the other person feel better.. except that you have to be careful you don't mention that you want them to forgive you....<br />
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But there's a problem with these reports.<br />
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You see, the reports use apologizing and saying you're sorry, interchangeably. But apologizing is quite different from saying you're sorry. Really, it is. I looked it up. To apologize is to admit failings or fault... it's an admission of wrongdoing. 'I'm sorry' expresses regret... but it's regret about the situation.. not a personal admission of fault.<br />
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And while maybe it's always okay to say "I'm sorry", there are many instances when "I apologize" is wrong.<br />
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A few months ago, I found myself saying --<br />
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Quit Apologizing. You're Just Making Me Angry.</div>
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Yes, I truly did use those words. No, I wasn't shouting... but I was being quite firm. (which is why I've capitalized each word.)<br />
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To be honest, even I was surprised to hear myself say "Quit apologizing, you're just making me angry". But that gives you an idea of how angry I was.<br />
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Let me give you some background, and I think perhaps you'll understand.<br />
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I was on the phone with Bank of America. (and already, I see many of you nodding your heads in understanding.) I was following up on a phone call I'd made two days earlier. The purpose of that earlier phone call had been to find out why Bank of America had not produced the paperwork they were supposed to have sent, two months earlier. Well, actually, two and a half months earlier, but who's counting. And that earlier phone call concluded with the promise that the paperwork would be faxed to me right away.<br />
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Except that, two days later, it wasn't. So I was on the phone again.<br />
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Now, I understand that B of A has some 'image' issues. And I can see that they might instruct their employees in the customer service department to be ultra-nice and ultra-cheerful and ultra-friendly. And apparently customer service translated all those ultras into a directive to apologize to the customer. And I understand that customer service person #2 .. and even customer service person #1... was not responsible for B of A's failure to do what they should have done, two months earlier. And #2 was not responsible for the fact that the remedy that #1 had promised... hadn't happened. It's even quite possible that #1 was not responsible for the fact that the promised remedy hadn't happened. But it was absolutely clear that neither person #1 nor person #2 was admitting that they'd done anything wrong.<br />
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In all fairness to me, I didn't snap at customer service person #1.. and I didn't snap at customer service person #2 the first three times she said I apologize. But apparently, for this camel, the fourth time is the final straw. As you might imagine, customer service person #2 intially was a little taken aback at my outburst. But habits are habits, so a few moments later, once again she said "I apologize".<br />
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Sigh. So I let that one go. And the next time she said it, I let that one go, as well. The phone conversation was nearly over, and it was apparent that I wasn't going to change customer service person #2. And, for what it's worth, the action that should have occurred more than two months before the phone call, did indeed finally happen.<br />
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Apologies are okay. Saying you're sorry is okay. But use the one you mean, and mean the one you use.<br />
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The recent New York Times article said, "An apology actually affects the bodily funtions of the person receiving it - blood pressure decreases, heart rate slows and breathing becomes steadier."<br />
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Hmmm.<br />
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Frankly, I'm better off having a cup of tea.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-55689236378247752852017-01-31T13:55:00.004-05:002017-01-31T13:55:32.449-05:00Don't take it personally....<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Sally Yates has been fired. It shouldn't have been a surprise to her, and I don't think it was. She was a short-timer... someone from the Obama administration who was merely a placeholder, while Trump's appointee is confirmed (or not). Even had she kept her mouth shut, and even if Sessions is not confirmed, no person in their right mind would expect her to retain her position once someone new is confirmed. This is nothing new or unusual. It is common for a new President to clean house. Ms. Yates took the opportunity to go out with some fanfare, rather than quietly step down. And there's nothing wrong with that. In fact, there's nothing new about an attorney general refusing to support certain action. The ban on gay marriage is an instance that immediately comes to mind, but it's far from the only example. As an attorney, I'm not required to follow my client's instructions if I feel they are unethical... and that rule goes all the way up to the top.<br />
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But there's a problem with how the firing was done. Let's ignore the timing, let's ignore the jokes about 'You're Fired', let's ignore some of the angry and inaccurate comments that people are making about Ms. Yates. <br />
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Instead, let's look at the official White House Statement:<br />
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Wow.<br />
Had I been consulted, I would have suggested something like.. "The acting Attorney General, Sally Yates, has been relieved of her duties. Dana Boente, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia has been named to serve as acting Attorney General to serve in her place." That statement would have been accurate, and professional.. and would have given Trump critics very little to criticize. When Ms. Yates announced her position on the immigration Executive Order, she had to have known that she would be removed; it would be foolish for anyone to expect anything different.<br />
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But instead of something clean and professional, we have this childish, tantrum-sounding, name-calling statement. <br />
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<i>Betrayed</i>? Gee, Trump administration... don't you think that's just a teeny tiny bit overreaching? <br />
<i>Weak on borders and illegal immigration</i>? Yeah, right... as if that's why you removed her.. and where's your foundation for that statement? Sounds like slander, to me.<br />
<i>Wrongfully held up confirmation? For strictly political reasons</i>? Oh come on, quit being a baby. Where were you for the past 8 years? Or for that matter, where have you been on numerous occasions when there's been a change in the President, and Congress hasn't been onboard?<br />
And, I'm sorry, Mr. Boente, but somehow your kowtowing statement doesn't make me feel protected.. it looks to me like the main thing being protected is your job.<br />
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And then it hit me. THIS is the problem...Trump, the experienced businessman, is taking all of this PERSONALLY. <br />
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I can disagree with my mother (sorry mom!) and argue with my siblings, and when I'm in court I take a position contrary to that taken by the other side's attorney.. but at the end of the day, I love mom, I love my siblings, and I share pleasantries.. and even lunch.. with opposing counsel when court is over.<br />
We're getting knee-jerk reactions (and tweets, of course) from President Trump.. because we're hurting his feelings.<br />
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President Trump -- debate, and discussion and opposing views... this is all a part of how this country is run. We are not your employees. We are allowed to disagree with you. And if you would quit taking things personally... if you would quit reacting because somebody hurt your feelings... who knows -- maybe you could be a decent President.<br />
No, I didn't vote for you. But there have been many elected officials over the years who did not get my vote. I can move on. And you need to, as well. <br />
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And hey.... have a cup of tea.. it might make you feel better.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-12002055940749388462017-01-27T14:52:00.004-05:002017-01-27T14:52:35.103-05:00Bottle caps, Wisdom, and Incorrect FactsI imagine everyone has seen the television commercials for Snapple beverages, proclaiming "made from the best stuff on earth". I like Snapple, I find their beverages very refreshing. But I have to admit that part of what attracts me to Snapple is their bottle caps. Yes, they do make a cute little 'pop' when you open them for the first time. And after that, they close very tight. (Yes, I'm sitting at my computer. Yes, I'm prone to spills.) And frankly, they're easier to open than the eco-conscious thin plastic caps on water bottles. <br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E6aH62VOfUo/WIui8ux_2PI/AAAAAAAABq8/eXWCEg7OR98Bi9X-MOAJpaTTrXz9WoyWwCLcB/s1600/download.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-E6aH62VOfUo/WIui8ux_2PI/AAAAAAAABq8/eXWCEg7OR98Bi9X-MOAJpaTTrXz9WoyWwCLcB/s1600/download.png" /></a>But what I really like is the "Real Fact" that appears inside each bottle cap. I often save the caps, and on more than one occasion, a Snapple Fact has led to a blog post. Sitting on my desk right now are caps informing me that the planet Saturn would float if placed in water, at one time brandy was used inside thermometers, and penguins have an extra organ above their eyes that converts saltwater to freshwater.<br />
Today, my bottle cap said "Three out of every six Americans....." And that was as far as I got. <br />
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Three out of every six? Isn't that the same as one-half? or seven out of fourteen? <br />
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What on earth would make you say three out of every six? Previously, when I'd written a blog post on an idea that was triggered by a bottle cap, I had never come across anything contrary to what was on the cap. And while 'three out of every six' isn't <i>wrong</i>, per se, it's not quite right. <br />
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So I googled Snapple, and worked my way over to the Wikipedia site.Where I discovered that there's actually a list of Incorrect Facts (not to be confused with alternative facts... oh wait..maybe they ARE the same.... but that's another post for another day). The Wiki section labeled Incorrect Facts goes on to say <span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><i>Several of the facts on Snapple caps have been found to be outdated, incorrect or exaggerated.</i></span><br />
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<span style="color: #252525;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Hmmm. </span><span style="font-family: sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Outdated? Well I don't really have a problem with that... the world is changing so fast, and I certainly don't expect the Snapple people to keep track of which bottles have which factoid so they can do a recall if something changes. </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #252525;">The Wiki post lists twenty-five things that Snapple didn't get quite right. Some of these, you really can't blame Snapple for. For instance, fact #975 says that the letter J is the only letter missing from the periodic table of elements. In 2012, the only element with a Q in its name was renamed to something without a Q. So now, both J and Q are missing. So outdated, I understand. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">But exaggerated facts cause me a bit of concern, and incorrect facts cause a lot of concern. After all, I've been relying on these bottle caps, I've been assuming that they're correct. Now, of course, I have never spouted cap facts willy nilly, without doing additional research, but still.....</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">On the other hand, when I've done additional research, I've never had an issue with any of the facts on the Snapple bottle caps. And even this time... it wasn't that I was challenging the information on my cap as being wrong... it was that I didn't know why the cap said 'three out of six', when the standard way to express this would have been 'one-half'.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">By the way, in case you're curious, the rest of the factoid on the bottle cap was "...live within fifty miles of where they were born". So I decided to check this out.. to see if this was one of the accurate, outdated, exaggerated, or incorrect facts. According to a New York Times article dated December 15, 2015, the majority of Americans live within 18 miles of their mother. Hmmmm, that's not quite the same as the place they were born... and the article says 18 miles, not 50 miles.. but all in all, I'm going to let this one go. Except I still don't understand the '3 out of every 6'.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">I guess all of this goes to show you that you can't really rely on anything, can you? It's up to you to check the accuracy, and consider any discrepancies. And while some 'facts' may be subject to interpretation, others are not. So if I said that there are so many facts on Snapple caps that you never see the same one twice, that's probably an exaggeration. And if I said there are only 257 different facts, that's outdated information. But if I said that in January, 2017, there are 4,159 different 'Real Facts' on the Snapple bottle caps, that is absolutely wrong. It's not an alternate fact, it's an incorrect fact -- which isn't a fact at all.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #252525; font-family: inherit;">In case you wondered, the Snapple flavor that I like best, is the diet lemon tea... but you probably already guessed that. And now, I'll go make a cup of typhoo tea, as all this tea talk has me thirsty.</span><br />
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I was born on July 26th -- or at least that's what they tell me. Which means that I've been a Leo my entire life. <br />
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I like lions... and I've been fine with being a Leo. As a Leo, I'm supposed to have high confidence, high motivation, determination, and loyalty. Leos don't take criticism well, and they're very stubborn, and often impatient. And oh yeah, I'm a fire element.<br />
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We didn't focus on our astrological signs, when I was growing up, so I truly don't think my personality was affected by my sign. But I do think that my friends and family would agree that the attributes of Leo fit me fairly well.<br />
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Today, I find out that I've never been a Leo after all. No, it's not that I was born on a different date, it's that the Babylonians were somewhat lazy. (as a side note, I have to chuckle when I hear people say "ancient Babylonians". To my knowledge, that's the only kind we have.) <br />
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The Babylonian calendar had 12 months, each with roughly the same number of days. So - while they <b>saw</b> that there were 13 signs of the zodiac, they decided to ignore one, and make it an even dozen. Similarly, while some zodiac signs were visible more days than others, the Babylonians decided to make the signs all equal in length, and call it a day, as it were.<br />
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NASA, in its infinite wisdom, has decided that it's time we all learned the truth.<br />
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And apparently the truth is that I'm not a Leo, I'm a Cancer. Which means that I'm compassionate, adaptable, and I have a motherly approach to those in need. (Excuse me, while I clean up the spewed tea from my keyboard and monitor.) And oh yeah, I'm no longer a fire element, I'm a water element. I suppose that part's true, as long as you put a teabag in it.<br />
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I heard that not everyone is changed, so I thought I'd check some people I know. The first thing I noticed is that the last date for each sign, is also the first date for the next... which means that my mother - once a Virgo - is now both a Virgo and a Leo. So she's both a fire element and an earth element. Hmmm... I guess that explains why she like campfires so much. As a Virgo, she's very bossy, and as a Leo she's very stubborn. Well I guess that works. But as a Virgo she's very modest, yet as a Leo she's somewhat arrogant. Not sure how she accomplishes that, unless she's also got a split personality.<br />
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So let's move on.<br />
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I was married to a Cancer... but he's now become a Gemini. And that's ok, because Geminis are compatible with Leos... oh wait, I'm not a Leo anymore.<br />
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My business partner was a Scorpio, but now she's a Libra. So her best day of the week was Tuesday, but now it's Friday. And we meet on Mondays.. so I don't know what any of that means.<br />
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And then it hit me. I know how to tell if this zodiac stuff works! I looked up the list of which zodiac signs were coffee drinkers, and which were tea drinkers. Leos are both, and Cancers are coffee drinkers. Well that makes no sense at all. But I'm trying to be open-minded about this... so I found a different website that took coffee out of the equation entirely, and told you which zodiac sign drinks what kind of tea. Turns out Cancers drink chamomile tea.<br />
Chamomile tea???<br />
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Well, that clinches it. There's only one possible explanation for all of this.<br />
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My parents clearly LIED to me, when they told me my birthday was July 26. Don't get me wrong. I like July 26... I feel a certain connection with July 26... but how can you argue with all of the things I've discovered? My birthday must be between August 10, and September 16. Not sure which day... and perhaps I'll continue to celebrate on July 26, just for old time's sake. But as I sit here drinking my tea - which is most assuredly NOT chamomile - there's no question that my birthday is between August 10 and September 16.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-32162417794656267112016-09-19T18:48:00.001-04:002016-09-19T18:48:04.894-04:00Stuffing Ballot BoxesWhat an odd phrase this is. We've all heard this phrase ...it originated at a time when most voting was done by people literally putting their vote on a piece of paper, and putting the folded paper into a ballot box. And stuffing the ballot box meant one person putting in more than one piece of paper. <br />
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Doesn't really apply much, today. Many communities have electronic voting, or some sort of mechanical voting. And in most states and most communities, there are procedures in place to ensure that each person only gets to submit one vote.<br />
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But stuffing ballot boxes has also come to mean persuading people who would otherwise not vote.. to vote. Except -- there's really nothing wrong with that, is there?<br />
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Now, you might think that it's the upcoming election that has me thinking of this, but that's not the case. <br />
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There is a website called <a href="http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/">authorshout.com</a>. The website offers a number of marketing packages and plans for authors, but I'm guessing that's of little interest to most of you. However, the website also runs what they call <b>Cover Wars</b>. Authors submit their covers and authorshout.com schedules the covers for a 'war'. Each week, authorshout.com puts 10 different covers on their 'war' page. Anybody can vote... there's no charge to vote, you're not put on a mailing list, there's no spam. You do have to 'like' the website on your facebook, twitter, or googleplus account .. and you only have to do that once .. but once you've done that, you can vote for your favorite cover. Not only that, but for the entire week of each 'war', you can vote as often as you want, as long as it's been at least 24 hours since your last vote. <b><a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01HH82BC2"><span style="color: red;">The Weatherman</span></a> </b>, by yours truly, is up for this week's Cover War. It's nothing like Teapot Musings, it's a sci-fi/mystery/adventure story. And while that might - or might not - interest you... for purposes of the Cover War, it really doesn't matter. All you're doing is voting for your favorite cover, out of 10. <br />
And trust me, the cover for The Weatherman is truly amazing. <br />
Or don't trust me.. see for yourself... <br />
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See? Isn't that an amazing cover? <br />
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Still not convinced? Then go to the <b><a href="http://authorshout.com/cover-wars/">Cover Wars</a> </b>and look at the other 9 contenders. After you do, I'm hoping you'll <span style="color: #38761d;"><b>'vote early and vote often'</b></span>. <br />
Well, it doesn't really matter how early you vote. And you can only vote once every 24 hours, and only through Saturday, September 24. And while this might constitute ballot box stuffing in the sense that I'm trying to persuade you to vote for something you might have ignored, it's not really ballot box stuffing because anyone is allowed to vote, once a day, for the rest of the week.<br />
So --- Vote.<br />
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It's really easy, you do it from your computer, and you can even do it while drinking tea... that's how I do it.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-5510563574529379872016-09-02T12:59:00.002-04:002016-09-02T12:59:49.685-04:00Quality versus QuantityI read. A lot. And I don't mean for work, or to find out about current events... I mean fiction.<br />
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At the moment, I'm in the middle of a recorded book on CD in the car, I've got a paperback book in the boatbag that I'm partway through, I have a print book that I've been reading in the evening and right before going to bed, and I have an ebook that I'm reading on my iPad. (I have the kindle, nook, kobo, iBook, and GooglePlay reading apps on my iPad.)<br />
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Lest you think that this is the "quantity" that is part of the title of this post... hold on.. I haven't gotten there yet.<br />
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And as some of you know, I've also started writing fiction, and have formed an indie publishing company with a partner. This means that at various times, I write, I edit, I format, and I promote. And when everything goes well and falls into place, I (or, rather, the publishing company) actually sell some fiction.<br />
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So, as you can see, I'm interested - and involved - , in nearly all aspects of writing.... creating, publishing, consuming.<br />
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One of the distributors that the publishing company uses sends out weekly notices that tell us how trending books that are similar to the ones we've published, are doing. And while this is interesting to me when I wear my publisher hat, it's also interesting to me when I switch to my reader hat.. because I'm always on the lookout for another book to add to my to-read list. (Not sure why this is true, I already have enough books on my to-read list to last me well into my 130th year of life.)<br />
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This morning's email listed three titles in the email labeled 'Trending Books like The Weatherman'. And one of the titles caught my attention and piqued my curiosity. For this blog post, I'll call this title Q. Wearing my publisher hat, I see that Q's Amazon ranking is 22% higher than it was last week, and that it's currently #3 in the Amazon category of Science Fiction>Adventure... and I know that Amazon's rankings are based on some sort of algorithm that includes a combination of reviews and sales. <br />
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Wow! That constitutes a lot of reviews, and more importantly, a lot of sales. (THIS is the quantity part of this post.)<br />
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But as I said, I'm also a reader. So I took off my publisher hat and put on my reader hat, and clicked the link on the book to take me to Amazon.<br />
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The description of the book was ... interesting. Not fascinating, but interesting. So I moved down to the reviews. There were 7 'top reviews' listed. All 7 reviews were only 1 star. But that was not the worst part. In all seven reviews, the reviewer expressed tremendous regret that they'd started the book, and not a single one of them had finished the book. I just re-read the reviews, because I decided I must have been mistaken... but I'm not. 7 reviews. 1 star each. Not one of those reviewers had finished the book.<br />
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Wow. Clearly, THIS is the quality part of the post. <br />
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I'd like to think that if there was that sort of response to something I'd written, or something I'd published, that I'd remove it from being on sale.<br />
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The author of Q must be doing something right.. or at least doing something. Perhaps the author is buying his own books, or paying people to post positive reviews. I did notice that Q was on sale, so maybe the author just makes the book so inexpensive, or does a better job at marketing, because it certainly looks like the author of Q is making more money from the book, than I or my publishing company are, from our titles.<br />
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BUT. I choose quality (of book) over quantity (of sales). That applies to what I read. That applies to what I publish.<br />
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I've not told you the real title of Q, nor have I told you the name of the author. Because the point of this is not to slam the book or the author. The point is integrity. And if you have integrity, then you value Quality, over Quantity. In fact, you value Quality, even at the expense of Quantity.<br />
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And of course, you always value tea. <br />
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P.S. Teapot Musings is not a 'writer's blog', where I share tips and reviews, and it's not an 'author's blog' where I ask you to buy my book. And I will not be changing that. But for those who are interested, you can find my author page <a href="http://www.lauriegienapp.com/" target="_blank"><b>here</b></a>, and the website for the publishing company,<a href="http://smokingpenpress.com/" target="_blank"> <b>here</b></a>.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-21173343396970920372016-08-25T17:39:00.000-04:002016-08-25T17:39:01.862-04:00What Have You Got to Lose?Over the years, there have been many, many presidential campaign slogans. Some of them memorable, some not so memorable. Personally, I find the current slogan "What have you got to lose?" to be particularly offensive and insulting, on many levels. But it did make me wonder if it's truly any worse than what we've had in the past. <br />
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So.. I did a search.<br />
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I've always thought that one of the catchiest slogans was William Henry Harrison's "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too". Harrison won the battle of Tippecanoe, and Tyler was his running mate. Turns out this was the first presidential campaign slogan, ever. <span style="font-size: x-small;">(source: The Miller Center - a nonpartisan affiliate of the U. of Virginia, specializing in presidential scholarship and political history.) </span><br />
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In 1952, there was the slogan "I like Ike", for Dwight Eisenhower. Another catchy slogan. Although I've often wondered... how on earth is Ike a nickname for Dwight? Turns out that it's not a nickname for Dwight, it's a nickname for Eisenhower, and Dwight and his four brothers were all called Ike at one time or another. Nope, I don't understand how Ike is a nickname for Eisenhower, either. Nonetheless, the slogan is rather catchy.<br />
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Perhaps one of my favorite slogans came out during the 1896 election. William McKinley's slogan of "Patriotism, Protection, and Prosperity" is rather inspirational, and has me feeling like I should stand up and face the flag. Interestingly enough, part of the idea behind this slogan was that the US should stay out of world politics, and protect our interests at home. And while McKinley won with this slogan, there was a complete reversal of this policy with the subsequent president, Theodore Roosevelt. And, for better or worse, we've never looked back.<br />
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But of course not all slogans are inspirational or catchy. I always found John Kerry's 2004 slogan "Let American be America Again", to be rather confusing. Turns out that's actually the title of a 1935 poem that talks about the poor and downtrodden Americans who have never experienced the American dream. Hmmm. That's a whole different topic that I'll leave for another time. 8 years later, Kerry tweaked the phrase a bit, and said "It took President Obama to lead America like America again." To me, that's a bit less confusing, but not much.<br />
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Some of the slogans over the years have been amusing. In 1844, the Whig candidate, Henry Clay, chose "Who is James K. Polk?", in reference to the fact that his opponent was such an unknown. Ironically enough, Polk won. Eight years later, the Democrats nominated Franklin Pierce to run against the Whig candidate, and chose the slogan "We Polked you in 1844 and We Shall Pierce you in 1852!".<br />
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During the 1928 campaign, prohibition was a major issue. Those in favor, were called 'drys', while opponents were called 'wets'. This led to Al Smith's campaign slogan....<br />
Let's all keep our comments to ourselves, on that one.<br />
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And then there are the slogans that are more blatantly negative statements about the opponent. In 1884, the candidates were Grover Cleveland, and James Blaine. Cleveland's slogan was "Blaine, Blaine, James G. Blaine, The Continental Liar from the State of Maine." Hmm.. not only negative, but long. In that same year, when the news came out that Cleveland had fathered an illegitimate child, the chant at Blaine rallies was "Ma, Ma, Where's my Pa?". And when Cleveland won, his supporters added the line "Gone to the White House, Ha, Ha, Ha". Sounds a little bit like 3rd grade, to me.<br />
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But that wasn't the only year for negative slogans. In response to Goldwater's 1964 slogan of "In your heart you know he's right," the Johnson campaign came back with "In your guts you know he's nuts." Oops.. 80 years later and we're still in 3rd grade.<br />
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As I look down the list of presidential campaign slogans over the last 175 years, I realize I'm seeing positive slogans about a candidate, positive slogans about a policy, and of course negative things about the opponent. There was the Reagan slogan of "Are you better off than you were four years ago?".. but that's just a boiled down version of what we see every time an incumbent is running for re-election and opponents are trying to suggest that the incumbent wasn't any good.<br />
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But this year is different. This year, we have a candidate with the slogan "What have you got to lose?" <br />
Ouch.<br />
That makes it sound like we've hit rock bottom. That feels like it's aimed at the voters on a personal level, rather than being aimed at an opposing candidate. When the candidate pulls out this slogan, he typically adds - "you're living in poverty, your schools are no good." Now it's definitely personal. And of course we all know that when the candidate asks what we have to lose, he is suggesting that since we currently have a Democrat for a president right now, we should switch to a Republican president.<br />
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But there's a huge piece missing here. You see, the United States is a democracy, not a dictatorship. That means that the President -- whoever it is -- is restricted and constrained by Congress. In 2010, for the first time in ten years, we had a split Congress. Instead of both the Senate and House having the same party holding the majority of the seats, the Senate majority and the House majority were different parties. In 2015, Congress reverted back to the more-common situation of having both parts of Congress controlled by the same party. But that party was NOT the same as the President's party. Once I include that missing piece, it's no longer quite so 'obvious' that electing a Republican president will fix any problems I might have. And I suppose that's not fair. After all, the candidate didn't say.. I will fix your problems. He said.. What have you got to lose?<br />
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Forget statistics... as a voter, I'm an individual, not a statistic. And whether I want to or not, I can't travel back in time, I can only move forward. As I look at the troubling situations both here and abroad, and as I watch news reports from both this country and from other parts of the world, and I consider the future, I would say that I have a lot to lose. We all do. <br />
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This doesn't necessarily mean that this candidate is bad... after all, it's just a slogan. But it's a stupid slogan. And it's insulting and offensive and demeaning to suggest that people have nothing to lose. <br />
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That's enough for now. More than enough.<br />
It's time for tea.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-62271893388360938942016-08-19T16:36:00.001-04:002016-08-19T16:36:23.660-04:00Tips and tidbits about teaYes, the name of this blog is Teapot Musings. Yes, I am often drinking tea,or I've just finished a cup of tea, or I'm about to make a cup of tea, as I'm writing these posts. But generally, this is not a blog about tea, or making tea, or different things you can do with tea. After all, there certainly are blog posts and websites out there that fill that niche... There's How to Cook with Tea, 7 Ways to Cook With Tea Leaves, How to Grow your Own Tea, lots and lots of sites reviewing the best teas, and Wiki-how even has a page on How to Make Tea -- 15 Steps with Pictures! (OMG.. just thinking about <u>fifteen</u> steps to make <u>one</u> cup of tea is enough to make me have to stop and have a cup tea!)<br />
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Nonetheless.. I do have some tea tips and tidbits that I wanted to share. <br />
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First - I was recently asked what it's called when a tea drinker bounces their teabag up and down in their cup. No, it's not dipping. Yes, I suppose you could say 'bounces their teabag up and down' if you wished... but I think you'll find the more common word is 'dunking'. Yes, dunking your teabag. Not to be confused with dunking your ginger snaps into your tea... which is also nice.<br />
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Next - People! QUIT dunking your teabags! While bouncing your teabag certainly gives you something to do, much like a coffee drinker might tap their spoon on the counter while waiting for their coffee...that's all it does. Studies have shown that, once the bag and the tea leaves inside are wet, diffusion takes over, and your tea will brew at the same rate, whether you dunk or not.<br />
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7KhF8TeMzk/V7dswy1gAPI/AAAAAAAABng/o949heUjDakf0curMiRutV147QgPB5JRACLcB/s1600/squeeze.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-t7KhF8TeMzk/V7dswy1gAPI/AAAAAAAABng/o949heUjDakf0curMiRutV147QgPB5JRACLcB/s1600/squeeze.jpg" /></a>Next, and even more importantly, QUIT squeezing your teabags! Yes, I agree, when you put your teabag on your spoon, and wrap the string around the bag, and give it a little squeeze... dark tea comes out of the bag. The problem is that the dark tea resulting from the squeeze has a high concentration of tannins.<br />
Tannins = bitterness. Want stronger tea? Let the teabag steep a bit longer, or switch to a brand that makes stronger tea. But please, don't squeeze the teabag. (and if that last sentence made you think of toilet paper, you're telling your age!)<br />
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And finally, for those of you who are turning up your noses at the notion of using teabags rather than loose tea, I have some news for you. It makes absolutely no difference whether the leaves are loose, or in bags. What IS important, is the freshness of the tea. So if you have an old box of X brand teabags, tucked back in the corner of the cabinet, pulled out once a year when Aunt Petunia comes to visit... yes, I'm quite certain that Aunt Petunia will find her cup of tea to be less than ideal. But the problem isn't the teabag, it's the age of the tea leaves inside the bag. Similarly, if you sparingly use that large tin of loose tea that you inherited from Cousin Louise, because she always made wonderful tea and you want to savor and extend your enjoyment of your inheritance ... don't bother. I suppose if the tea inside the tea is vacuum sealed, and each time you have some tea, you open the bag, remove the desired amount, and then re-vacuum seal the bag, you'll be fine. But who are we kidding? Nobody is going to do that. The trick is to buy just enough tea, that it's still fresh when you use the very last of it. That's one of the many reasons I enjoy my typhoo tea. I buy it in teabag form, but it comes in vacuum-sealed foil packs of only 40 teabags per pack. No, I don't re-seal the bags, but I can most certainly go through 40 teabags before they get stale.<br />
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Before I wrap up here, and partake in the steaming cup of tea that's waiting for me, I know that some of you are wondering why I haven't addressed the issue of using one teabag for multiple cups of tea. I have one word for you. DON'T. No, make that five words... Don't Ever Do That. Ever.<br />
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Enough said, now it's time for tea.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-4293142160267935502016-08-17T16:23:00.002-04:002016-08-17T16:23:49.167-04:00Black Cat Appreciation DayHaven't been here in awhile.. my apologies to those who missed me.<br />
Yes, it's true that life has been busy. <a href="http://www.smokingpenpress.com/" target="_blank">Smoking Pen Press</a> has now published its third title, and we've put out a call for submissions for the next title - due out before the end of the year. Family was visiting for a couple weeks, which was a terrific treat. And we're having some major renovations done to the house. <br />
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But I don't think those are the real reasons... the real reason is that I've been so discouraged by all the political garbage being bandied about, that I just haven't felt like posting. I've never been very political, and I've never liked the political campaigning we have to put up with every four years, but I sincerely feel that this time is the absolute worst it has ever been. The good news is that the election is only a few months away. We'll still have to deal with politics, but at least we will no longer have to deal with campaigning.<br />
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So... on to bigger, much better, and much more important things!<br />
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As has been pointed out to me, today is Black Cat Appreciation Day. <br />
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I have two black cats.. well, not completely black, they're tuxedo cats. But they're mostly black. And in fact, my previous cat was also a tuxedo cat, and the cat before that - my very first cat - was entirely black. So at least in my household, it's somewhat silly to have one Black Cat Appreciation Day a year... for us, ALL days are BCAD.<br />
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But it is true that there are a lot of myths and superstitions associated with black cats, and one purpose of BCAD is to try to dispel some of those. So - in case you didn't already know -<br />
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* black cats are NOT the familiars of witches<br />
* black cats are NOT bad luck<br />
* black cats are NOT reincarnated demons<br />
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However, based on my personal experience:<br />
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* black cats are particularly adept at making sure that when they shed, their fur lands on a light colored surface... the lighter the better<br />
* black cats do have interesting personalities (well, yes, this does apply to all cats.. but that includes black cats)<br />
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To (perhaps) dispel another myth... it is commonly believed that black cats are the last to be adopted. But while trying to confirm that, I found an informal study that suggested that the real issue is that more black cats are taken to shelters, than non-black cats. Nonetheless, it is true that many shelters are giving deeply discounted prices today - Black Cat Appreciation Day - if you adopt a black cat.<br />
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I already have two black cats, and I appreciate them every day. If you're considering adopting a cat, perhaps today is the day, and perhaps the magic color is black.<br />
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And before I return to my cup of tea... let me share some pictures of my current cats with you.<br />
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<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7298988200657419795.post-78377382241652268002016-06-15T12:49:00.000-04:002016-06-15T12:49:05.986-04:00Green Thumb (and the magic celery)I recently posted a tour of my yard, complete with pictures, and in the past I've posted about my garden and other plantings. And while I share these things online, I also share them in real life. So I suppose I shouldn't have been surprised when someone remarked "You must have a real green thumb".<br />
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My thumb is not green....<br />
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nor are any of my fingers.<br />
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Now, we all know that when someone says you have a green thumb, they mean that you grow things... but it did make me wonder -- where did that saying really come from? After all, not everything that grows is green... and it's certainly not green when it first begins to grow. Yes, I know, seedlings are green.. but seeds are not. And things that grow, are typically grown in dirt... and when I plant things, I most certainly get very dirty... so why don't we say that people who plant things, have black thumbs? And why thumbs? My fingers generally get much dirtier than my thumbs.<br />
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So I hopped on the great big internet research center, to see what I could find.<br />
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First, I found that, in England, the phrase is "green fingers" (which is why I showed you that even my fingers are not green.).<br />
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And I found all sorts of discussions about planting seedlings - which are green, and you use your thumb and forefinger to pinch back plants, and statements that green is always associated with growth.... none of this was very satisfactory.<br />
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And then I found something about some king or other who really liked peas and his favorite servants were those who could shell the most peas, and shelling peas gave you green thumbs.<br />
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Nope, that didn't do it for me, either.<br />
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And then I found something that said that the saying comes from the fact that<span style="color: #484747; font-family: Georgia, Lucida Bright, Lucida, Constantia, DejaVu Serif, Bitstream Vera Serif, Liberation Serif, serif;"><span style="background-color: #ebefe9; font-size: 12px; line-height: 12px;"><b> </b></span></span><span style="line-height: 18px;">algae growing on the outside of earthenware pots will stain a person’s thumb (and fingers) if they handle enough pots. Hence, a person who is always working with flower pots has a green thumb.</span><br />
<span style="line-height: 18px;">Hmmm... still not a terrific answer... but I'm ready to move on.</span><br />
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<span style="line-height: 18px;">Because what I REALLY want to share with you is my magic celery. When I gave you a tour of my yard, I also explained that I recently saw something online about growing new celery -- that you can actually put in your garden and harvest -- from the butt end of a celery bunch. I didn't believe it, so I tried it.. and it works.</span><br />
Here are pics of the progress so far...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 4, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 11, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 14, 2016<br /><br /></td></tr>
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As you can see, the growth is quite dramatic! The instructions say to plant it outside once the outer leaves start to rot away... so I'll be planting it this weekend.<br />
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But it gets better!!<br />
I actually have room in my garden for perhaps half a dozen celeries... so while I don't know that I'll do that many, I decided I would do at least one more. And clearly, celery butt #2 did not want to get left behind. Note the dates on these pics...<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 12, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 14, 2016</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">June 15, 2016<br /></td></tr>
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That's right, boys and girls.. this is what I've got in THREE DAYS!! Actually, more like 2 and a half.. because I cut the base and put it in the dish Sunday afternoon.. and the June 15 pic is from this morning.</div>
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So.. you can call it green thumb, green fingers, green hand... whatever you want... it's not me, it's the magic celery! I will be planting both of these in the garden, this weekend.</div>
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And by the way, in case anyone cares, I NEVER drink green tea. It's usually Typhoo tea, it's always black tea leaves.</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0