A Puzzling Word

 

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 BCD

 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 of cameraderie.

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.  

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.

What does this have to do with BCD?

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 my 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. 

And here's where everything comes together.  

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.  

Aha!  Now it makes sense why puzzlers are called dissectologists!

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.

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.

 

 

Books, and Jigsaw Puzzles

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. 

Taking the approach that 'Life is Short, and the list of book I want to read is Long', I changed my ways. 

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.

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.

Which brings me to jigsaw puzzles. 

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.

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.

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.

In other words, the Escher puzzle was like a book that didn't appeal.

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.

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. 

Wear a Red S

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.

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. 

Yeah, I get it, you don't like rules that infringe on what you see as your rights.

But I don't like it when you take action that might harm me.

There's a serious tug-of-war going on . 
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." 
But on the other hand, I want to be protected against being near someone who is a carrier of Covid 19.
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.

Fortunately, I've come up with a solution.. a really good solution, I think.

I'm going to continue staying home most of the time, wearing my mask when I'm in public, and practicing social distancing. 
You can go out and about, skip the mask, and ignore the 6' rule. 

BUT.

You must wear a large scarlet S.

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. 
So you need to wear the S. A large S. A red S. 

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.

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.

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.

Devil, or Hero?

Covid-19.  Yes, it's overwhelming.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 

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.

But I'm straying from the point I want to make.
 
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".

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.

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.

So that brings me to Devil or Hero. 

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.
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.

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. 

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. 

And for those who think I'm overreacting, let me share an interesting little tidbit with you.
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.

No question in my mind. Regardless of the outcome, Goodman and Kemp should never be called Heroes.

The Other Holidays

I 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 "100 Offbeat Holidays" (thanks to Mental Floss), I thought 'Woo Hoo, I'm covered'.  And I thought I'd cover you as well.

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.

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, Jennifer Quail (an author with short stories in two Read on the Run anthologies --- A Kiss and a Promise, and Vampires, Zombies and Ghosts-volume 1) 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.

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.

In two weeks, on January 14, is National Dress Up Your Pet Day. NO. NO. NO.  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.

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.

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.









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.

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.

Which leaves Bubble Wrap Appreciation Day.
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.

Fortunately, in my calendar, every day is Have a Good Cup of Tea Day, so I shall.

2020 and a New Decade (or not)

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.

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".

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.

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.

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.  

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.

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.

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!

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!

 **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!

What's in a Name?

According to William Shakespeare  "That which we call a rose. 
By any other name would smell as sweet".  (Said by Romeo, to Juliet)  

In other words, the specific name doesn't matter.


But I think perhaps Will missed the boat on this one.  (Before you start lambasting me in the comments, I realize that Shakespeare was just trying to make a point.... and now, so am I!)  

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. 

But that's not really quite accurate.

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.

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.

Yet all of these are examples of first names.  What about last names?

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.  

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.

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.  94% of women who married got rid of their own last name, and took their husband's last name.

Big deal, you say.  She still has her first name.  

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.

And that's when I realized that Shakespeare's Romeo didn't get it, and generally speaking, many men don't get it.  

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 was {maiden name}", and "when I was {married name}".   When we meet someone we knew long ago, we don't say "oh, you knew me when I was known as {maiden name}"... rather, we say "oh, you knew me when I was {maiden name}."

Your name isn't just what others call you, your name is your identity. Not your first name, but your entire name.  Change that name, and you change your identity.

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.

Why I hate insurance companies

Be forewarned:  This is not a typical Teapot Musing.  This is a major rant about health insurance companies, specifically Blue Cross Blue Shield.

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.

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.

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.

So I began using the first of the other options.  And this was not a good thing.

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.

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.

I feel very fortunate to have a doctor willing to put in the time and effort to see this through.

In the meantime, this is why I hate insurance companies.
Sometimes, tea is not enough, you have to take other action.

On Recommendations

You 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.

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."

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.

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."
Wow.
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.

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.
And this is okay.
It doesn't mean you're wrong or that the list is wrong, it just means that someone other than you prepared the list.

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.
"Sleeping Beauties", 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.
"An Easy Death", 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.
"The Old Man", 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.

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.

PSA

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.
 



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.



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.

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.

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. 

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.

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 tea-infused potatoes.

Hmmm... sounds interesting.  I'll give it some thought as I drink another cup of tea.

..but I LIKE carrots!

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. 









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.

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. 
But I digress... let's get back to carrots.

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.

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.

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!!! 

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. 

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. 

But I guess it does. 

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.

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.

I also like tea.  And although my favorite tea (Typhoo) comes from the UK, I would NEVER ring up my tea, as carrots.

Perhaps it's best to ignore them

Charlottesville 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.

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.

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.

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.

No, I'm absolutely NOT blaming this on the counterprotesters... not at all.  But...
I think it's time to change strategies.

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.

And... if you could force yourself to quit responding...  pretty soon your sibling would get bored and move on.

Yes, it was a childish game... but these white supremacists are acting in a childish manner.

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.

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.

But while they're only talking, and until/unless they do more than talking.. perhaps it's best to ignore them.

Yes, I know it will be difficult.. but we can all take a lesson from Tina Fey and eat cake.
And drink tea.

The Thing About Birthday Cakes

I came across something interesting this afternoon, and thought it worth sharing.

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.

And those candles would be lit... and then you'd try to blow all the candles out in one breath.





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.

And then everyone would get deathly ill.

Oh wait --- that's NOT how your birthdays went?  Gee, that's not how my birthdays went, either.

Well, maybe we were just lucky.

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.

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.

Wow.  What a concept.
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.

And yet somehow, this idea hasn't caught on.

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.

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.

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.

Summer 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.

BUT!  Summer is here... a time for new beginnings .. a time to start over.

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.

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.

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.

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 another 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.

So -- If signs from Mother Nature come in 3s... there you have it.  Three animal sightings in less than 24 hours.

What did I tell you?  Summer is here!

And so am I.  Happy to be back in my blog

Just in case you wondered... I always drink tea, whether I'm blogging or not.

Patriot(s) and apostrophes

I live in Massachusetts... which means that today - the third Monday in April - is Patriot's Day.

Or - wait...  is it Patriots Day, Patriot's Day, or Patriots' Day?


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 wanted needed to know if there was an apostrophe, and if so, where it belonged.

So of course I took to my friends Google and Wikipedia.  I found some really interesting information, and discovered the cause of my confusion.

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.

But that still left the question of the apostrophe.

Here's the answer ---

Patriot Day is the anniversary of 9/11/2001

Patriots Day is the name of the movie about the 2013 Boston Marathon bombing

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.

Patriots' Day is the name of the holiday celebrating the battles, in Massachusetts and Wisconsin.

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.

And not to leave out my Canadian friends (even the coffee-drinking ones!), Canada celebrates National Patriots' Day on the Monday preceding May 25.

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.

Yes, this is a great day of celebration.... because it's not often that I give people a pass on apostrophes.
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.

Quit apologizing

There'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....

But there's a problem with these reports.

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.

And while maybe it's always okay to say "I'm sorry", there are many instances when "I apologize" is wrong.

A few months ago, I found myself saying --

Quit Apologizing.  You're Just Making Me Angry.

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.)

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.

Let me give you some background, and I think perhaps you'll understand.

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.

Except that, two days later, it wasn't. So I was on the phone again.

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.

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".

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.

Apologies are okay.  Saying you're sorry is okay.  But use the one you mean, and mean the one you use.

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."

Hmmm.

Frankly, I'm better off having a cup of tea.

Don't take it personally....

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.

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.

Instead, let's look at the official White House Statement:

Wow.
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.

But instead of something clean and professional, we have this childish, tantrum-sounding, name-calling statement.

Betrayed?  Gee, Trump administration... don't you think that's just a teeny tiny bit overreaching?
Weak on borders and illegal immigration?  Yeah, right...  as if that's why you removed her.. and where's your foundation for that statement?  Sounds like slander, to me.
Wrongfully held up confirmation?  For strictly political reasons?  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?
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.

And then it hit me.  THIS is the problem...Trump, the experienced businessman, is taking all of this PERSONALLY.

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.
We're getting knee-jerk reactions (and tweets, of course) from President Trump.. because we're hurting his feelings.

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.
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.

And hey.... have a cup of tea.. it might make you feel better.