Thug Nation

A presidential candidate wants to "punch" speakers of an opposing convention because they say things that he doesn't like.  He belittles others through derisive name calling--to include gender, ethnicity and physical characteristics--things that one is born with and have no control over.  If any of this happened on a playground, as parents, many of us would point to the offender and call his/her out rightly as a bully.  Further, we would as for an intervention by the child's parents and ensure that our teachers provided a safe environment for our children.  After enough violations, the child would be expelled in school.

Have we become thug nation where this behavior has such wide appeal that one of our political parties would nominate such an individual as a presidential candidate? For all of the empty and plagiarized "Trump-talk" about values, we are reminded that walking the walk talking the talk is much easier than talking the talk walking the walk. (OOPs) And if history is to teach us anything is that fear-mongering  and ego-mania  are  a combustible mix that burnishes the bearer’s name on the pages of history.  And not on the pages that we underline in admiration, but on those that we revile.



Internet Land....the eradication of buffering frustration...

Internet land has become a bit more friendlier.  I had lowest internet service available--which happened to be the ONLY internet service available when I signed up many years ago. I guess over the years, there were add-ons, and I was relegated to the lower rung because I never bothered to upgrade until....

I was having quite a bit of refresh lag at my main computer, and hair-tearingly slow in my bedroom.  After doing some research, I realized (big Doh!) that my current service offering had been out-tiered by two other selections.   I upgraded my service to mid-tier as that is all that my equipment would allow.  I'm not sure that I noticed all that much improvement at my computer (the hard wire), and I was continuing to get poor broadcast from my router.

I wanted something to handle my work computing needs as well as my modest entertainment needs.  I decided to get the full juice package from Cox--but that required an upgrade of equipment.  (My mid-tier upgrade was already providing a problem for my equipment).  My internet is critical to my work as I do so much remotely. So it is mission critical for me to have fast internet. Also, I have to have a backup as well, and my phone hotspot is always a backup if needed. As I looked at my modem (and referring to the manual, UGH!),  I could see that I was not getting the full juice--so my router would be pitiful as well.  Regrettably, the network aspect of computers leaves me more than a little confused.  I'm sure that it is straightforward to some people, but given the amount of griping, handwringing and cursing that I see in the equipment comments on Amazon, I'm confident that I'm in a large majority.

One reason for the delay in getting my equipment upgraded is that I simply did not know what to buy. I ended up buying an expensive package of an Arris SURFboard modem + the router bundle. The router uses Ripcurrent which allows for hotspots via ones electrical system.  Simply by an additional device, and any wall socket becomes hotspot. I was able to install it pretty easily, and already my performance is extraordinary.

The $ delta between where I was and where I'm going is $20/mo.  I brew my own coffee, so a Starbucks habit is more expensive that that.  The Ultimate, does require a $50 one-time fee.  My splurge for eradicating buffering frustration.

Relish Time

Nah...that's not an admonishment to relish time, but rather to herald in the beginning of hot pepper relish time!

My relish is generally chef's pick of the garden.  That means I go out and pick whatever peppers have reached maturity on that day.  I have about 1/2 hot and 1/2 sweet peppers of various varieties in my garden.  However, size and weight will differ depending on, you know, what's ready to pick.

Check out my canning links....most particularly UGA's publications.  Okay, not need to futz about, you can find it here.

I chose their Hot Pepper Relish.  The only modification is that I substituted cucumbers for onions.  I've never done this before--this being adding cucumbers.  NOrmally, I simply use hot peppers.  However, my cucumbers were producing like mad, and it seemed fair and fine to add some!  I realize that one has to be careful when using this v. that for canning, but given the amount of sugar, the hot processing time, etc, I don't think that anyone will get botulism.

Even with the addition of cucumbers, this relish is hot.  I used my Weston #22 (my dog food grinder) to grind my vegetables.  In the past I have hand cut; food processed; Kitchen Aid grinded.  However, last year, was the first growing season that I had the Weston.  It makes very short work out of a very tedious task.

I remember one season, I hand cut peppers into rings.  Let me tell you, that my back hurt and I had a Fred Sanford claw for my right hand.  With the Weston #22, it ground 9 lbs of vegetables in less than 8 minutes.

Oh....I forgot to mention that with the exception of the bell peppers which I split and pulled out the pith, I merely cut out the tops of my peppers and ground the whole thing.  It gives no degradation in taste and amps up the heat.

For those thinking that this must be blistering; it is not.   Cooking the peppers takes some of the heat off.  And speaking of heat.....who wants to can when it is approaching 100 degrees outside.  Well, my Solaire ceramic grill is just perfect.  It sits outside! I pull the grill off and set it sideways right on top of the burner guard.  It's stable, and it is so freakin' hot that the water boils fast and maintains temperature once I add my items to the bath. Between the Weston and the Solaire, canning has never been easier (for relishes).

There are so many different recipes for canning vegetable or fruits.  It can be daunting to a novice.  My advice:    I would recommend that you look at the UGA publications--particularly the principles of canning.  Then,  try your hand at something while good produce is coming in. Observe safety precautions, or just start off with a freezer jam.


Safety Precautions:  It is important to understand the principles of canning, most particularly the principles of pH.  pH is important as +> 4.6 botulism can grow.  So whipping up your own recipe, or failing to follow the correct proportions of vegetables and acids can cause a fatal problem.    I have to believe that given what I've seen on the internet (gross divergences from published standards) coupled with the small incidence of botulism in the US, that it is statistically remote.  That's not to disabuse any of the notion that they can stray from standards.  Rather, that many clearly do.



Once you go through the process, like anything, you will become competent.  Every year people wait for my relish.  Find your own signature canning product--make it your own and enjoy.  It is wonderful to share the bounty of nature.

Incredulity

in·cre·du·li·ty
ËŒinkrəˈd(y)o͞olÉ™dÄ“/
noun
noun: incredulity
the state of being unwilling or unable to believe something.

Incredulity and incredulity are two words that one likely needs to be acquainted with in this political cycle.  When emotional v. rational become the adjectives for describing our public discussions, then we know that as a nation we have failed our civic IQ.

It is amazing to me that there is, respectively, a presidential candidate, and now "Newt" making (1) wholesale threats to ban immigrants or immigrants of a certain religious/ethnic background, and (2) demands to interview all Muslims, test them and monitor their internet habits.

I'm third generation of immigrants (Armenian), so I remember quite well through my Nana's stories of the the reasons her people came to this country.  Many are more generations removed than I.  Accordingly, there is no true sense of origin or even the reasons thereof.

I cannot reconcile the level of outrage accorded to terrorist attacks and the knee-jerk reactions that take away basic freedoms to a large amount of people v. the apathy accorded to run-of-the-mill, egregious crimes (rape, murder, aggravated assault).  I offer up these three "Items" that affect more people than terrorists, but are treated as 'run-of-the-mill, egregious crimes" (as if there could be such a thing).

Item 1:  The FBI has published statistics on these 'run-of-the mill', egregious crimes.  You can find detailed data here. If you click through, you will find than in 2012, there were 84.4K forcible rapes.  According to PolitiFact fact checking, in the last
According the nonprofit project the Gun Violence Archive, there were 12,562 gun deaths in 2014 and 9,959 in 2015 thus far. That’s a grand total of 301,797 firearm-related deaths in the past decade, compared to 71 deaths from domestic acts of terrorism.
http://www.politifact.com/truth-o-meter/statements/2015/oct/05/viral-image/fact-checking-comparison-gun-deaths-and-terrorism-/

In a decade, we have experienced 71 deaths from religious terrorists; however, our American citizens wielding a gun with intent to harm have killed 4250 for every 1 death that the terrorists can take credit for. 

Item 2:  The Wall Street Journal notes that the "U. S. Leads the World in Mass Shootings" 

Item 3:  Child Sexual Abuse:  According to the National Center for Victims of Crime, "1 in 5 girls and 1 in 20 boys is a victim of child sexual abuse"

So the incredulity here, is this:  Where's the outrage?  We wish to engage in political hog calling for the deportation/interrogation of groups of people when in fact our own citizens who are deviant, angry, and lacking in impulse control wreak far more havoc on the innocent than 'terrorists'.

How did we ever become so stupid as a nation? Have we become so dazzled by our American dream that we fail to see what lurks in the shadows?  So much of our misery is created by our own system--our citizen terrorists.  Why do we fail to acknowledge them? Our willingness to abdicate reason in favor of incendiary speech towards others proves that we are merely too cowardly to be introspective of our own blight, and perhaps to anesthetized that by listening to such blather is the only way we can really feel something?  Is this why inflammatory rhetoric by politicians gains purchase?







Appliance Repair | Part 2

Part 1 of this post is here.  After installing the thermostat, cleaning the lines (more on that), the dryer (due to MASSIVE blowback), it was clear, after running a load of clothes, that there were still problems.

I actually thought the line was clear because (confession time), I ran a leaf blower through the line.  Now, my confession is that it was a gas powered back pack Husqvarna.  Yes, I know that you don't run gas motors inside, but I was only going to do it for a minute.  Even with all the best rationalization, it was not a wise thing to do.  You would be surprised how much noxious fumes are emitted.  I opened the doors, let out all of my cool air into the humid Virginia midday heat, and I ran a fan. 

Yeah, it was a stupid woman trick. Two minutes worth was about 30 minutes of clearing the air.  Kick.

Due to the size of the leaf blower, I didn't get ANY blowout of crud.  Granted, I hadn't wrapped a towel around or anything else.  Given that it blows at about 200 mph, I figured that I didn't need to.  Plus, I just couldn't manage it.  (It is a monstrosity).

Mark suggested we consider getting a Makita hand held blower (battery powered).  I ordered one, and he picked it up at Home Depot.  It was smaller than I expected, but it worked fine blowing the line out.  There was an embarrassingly large payday.

The hand held blower will be a great tool around the house for quick clean ups--if not for anything more than blowing that @$%^%$#$@&^^ duct out.

 


Appliance Repair | UGH!

It was appliance repair time in Leisa-land.  The dryer failed.  I looked up the schematic and bought 3 things that I thought would be the problem--most importantly the dryer element (which has failed in the past, and I gave it a 95% probability of being right).  I didn't want Mark to come home and say that it was not the element but rather the fuse.  Bought that, too, and a limit switch.  The latter two can be returned so long as they are not opened.

As it turned out it was the element.  When we opened the dryer there was the biggest fur ball that you have ever imagined. MASSIVE. MONSTROUS.  It looked like a Persian cat of large proportion was stuffed in every open area of the inside of the dryer. 

In the past (and most currently), I had cleaned out the dryer back vent, and a normal amount of stuff came out.  However the only way that amount of lint/fur/dirt could have blown back into the dryer had to be due to some sort of blockage.

In addition to my periodic cleaning of the venting assemble, I'm going to open the dryer up and ensure that it is clear.  I had to not only vaccum, but I had to reverse the nozzle and blow out entrapped hair.  (I donned a particle mask).  I even had to get a wooden skewer and pick out hair that had accumulated tightly in the motor.  Yes, it was turned off.

Part of our problem (aside from having too many animals), is that we have three 90-degree turns.  That makes for a long run.  Did you know that for each 90 degree bend, it adds 5 equivalent feet to your run? 

Checking your venting on your dryer is important. According to the NFPA


In 2010, an estimated 16,800 reported U.S. non-confined or confined home structure fires involving clothes dryers or washing machines (including combination washer/dryers) resulted in 51 civilian deaths, 380 civilian injuries, and $236 million in direct property damage.. . . In 2010, clothes dryers and washing machines accounted for 4.5% of all reported home structure fires, 1.9% of associated civilian deaths, 2.8% of associated civilian injuries, and 3.1% of associated direct property damage.

In our case, we could see that the lint/fur had entangled quite a few things, and was surrounding the heating element.  I'm not clear why we could not smell any singe-y smell while the dryer was operating.  It was a disaster waiting to happen.  Which brings me to my public service announcement to avoid being a statistic in 2016:

  1. Check your venting on your dryer frequently (monthly probably a good idea if you have shedding vermin as I do).
  2. Do not run your dryer while you are sleeping or while you are away.  No need to be crispy fried at night or crispy fry your inside pets when you are away.


We saved a some $$$'s not calling a repair person. Good thing, as I believe that I need a dryer booster.



My Friend, John's Passing

I learned that my friend, John, passed away on July 3.  He was 62.

 I knew that he had been battling oral cancer, and because part of his tongue was removed, talking to him on the phone was not an option.  His last email to me some months ago was cryptic, and I got the sense that his treatment options were not expected to be efficacious.

I met John through business.  He worked with Herman Miller, and the dealership that I was working with was availing itself to the dealer financing offered by them at the time.  He was the associate on the front end of it. 

It was a stressful time for me, as we had to unwind one loan transaction (involuntarily) and move into this one.  Recessions and business furniture are a tough mix, and I attribute all of my gray hair to weathering 3 recessions in business:  two in business furniture and one in advertising.  Both are the first to go when corporate belts tighten.

So enter the Herman Miller team.  These guys are from the midwest.  I am given the loan document, and as is my job, I read it carefully.  At the time, Jody De Pree was in charge of these contracts, and I was explicitly told that there were to be no changes to the document.  The loan document was too unilateral, and I simply could not recommend our signing it as is.

My HM team assured me that although the clauses that gave me heartburn appeared onerous, "never have we enforced any of these clauses."  They said these things in the spirit of helpfulness and in their typical straightforward transparency.  While history combined with needfulness might have been sufficient salve for some, I simply said, "If it is in the contract, I fully expect that it is a right that you will assert with impunity." 

My goal was not to escape the clutches of a lender's rights, merely to make a unilateral contract a fair contract.   And after a minimum amount of back and forth we achieved that. (And they were surprised that any changes were made, but in my experience when you come to a business transaction; achieving parity is a noble ideal.  Parity forges trust; and engenders motivation to make the business deal a success.  It is a practice that I adhered to always, and still do.  It has NEVER failed me.

Nevertheless, at the time,   I was surprised by the great transparency of my midwestern business partners.  No duplicity or hidden gotchas.  I was later to learn in my professional life that such straightforwardness in a typical trait.  An admirable one (and different from east coast business culture as I knew it) and refreshing trait that I have tried to emulate.

John and his team members were business colleagues and then friends for 23 years now  So losing my friend--who was a valued business colleague and beloved friend as been difficult.   I always knew him to be genuine, devoted to his family, optimistic, and dedicated to his job and his clients.  He was one of my greatest friends, and I will miss him.

His wife wrote to me that he died surrounded by his family and knowing that he was loved and thanked me for being his friend.  

In the end that is all that any of us could wish for.