FIRST DATE -- DISTRESS -- QUIRKY HUMOR

 Republic -- "If you can keep it."  [Democracy]

      Accountability for Jan. 6 insurrection.

U.S. Select House Committee on Jan. 6th Hearings

(A final Sept. Hearing canceled due to Hurricane Ian -- Reschedule TBA)

QUESTION:  Does Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas' wife's persistence in stating our ex-President's lie the 2020 election was stolen from him present questionable issues about her husband's impartiality, need to recuse himself from some Court case considerations? 

Here in sunny Southern California our temperature has dropped by a few degrees with the extreme heat past.  Fall may actually arrive soon though only the calendar says it's here now.  We still lack sufficient rain with no end to our drought in sight.

Florida and other U.S. east coast states have shared in Puerto Rico's Hurricane Ian's disaster-producing weather -- floods, high winds, tornados, destruction, death.   I guess we will be challenged by events such as this, maybe even worse in the years to come due to changes in our earth's climate.  This sort of weather causing disasters prevalent in other parts of the world is no less serious.

West Coast gas exploitation continues here in California.  No more of those one cent, two cents or nickel a gallon raises overnight.  This past week they just socked it to us -- fifteen cents plus not just one night, but fifteen more cents the next night, too.  The third night the raise eased a bit to ten cents, then seven plus cents the next night.  

"Sock It To Me" -- Judy Carne 

Clip from the US TV series "Rowan and Martin's Laugh-In" (1960s - '70s)

Our Governor has arranged our less expensive winter gas mixture be sold earlier than usual by another week which is expected to result in a twenty-five cents per gallon cost reduction.  He also requests a special windfall tax on oil companies who have made huge profits on gas sales with oil costs expected to decrease.  We could use a little gas pricing stability.  

Humor is where we find it, often with quirky matters triggering my funny bone.  I've always derived lots of laughs from reading posted signs as we drove about locally wherever we lived across this country, also with advertisements in newspapers, brochures.  Not everyone has shared my sometimes-weird sense of humor.

I recall my youth and first date, a blind date at that.  I had reluctantly agreed to this setup by a girl who was only a casual acquaintance, but she had been persistent wearing down my resistance to the idea.  He arrived at my house in a pickup truck in a time when such vehicles were strictly utilitarian on farms -- before becoming culturally popular everywhere in the U.S., including cities.  

My blind date may have felt as I did, nervous, lacking in self-confidence, awkward, uncomfortable -- each of us focused on ourselves and how we were feeling inadequate.  I was shy, especially in 1:1 situations unlike with the boys I grew up with where we lived previously.  I don't recall what verbal efforts were made by either of us to become acquainted.  I just recall the long silence driving into town as he said nothing.

I started reading some funny signs aloud I spotted along the highway into town as he said nothing.  He did not react, say anything, or laugh, even chuckle -- apparently, he did not share my sense of humor.  Or maybe, I wasn't supposed to be the entertainer, but he wasn't entertaining.  I don't recall anything more about that evening, but I don't think it got better for either of us wherever we went or whatever we did -- maybe we went to a movie.  Fortunately, in the years to come my self-confidence improved as my relationships developed, but I don't recall ever going on a blind date again.  

My sources for humor continue to emerge in everyday life, not as many when you live alone, in just about every situation, even some that are quite serious.  Sometimes I laugh so hard I end up crying, and occasionally I've laughed to keep from crying.  Some of my laughter is prompted by matters some people might think weird.  The digital world and the internet have certainly contributed to some laughable events as some of you have probably found, too.

I recently fired off one of my occasional brief instant messages, this time to my daughter -- an observation about a current news report about which I felt compelled to comment.  My daughter responded, "Not in this Pili A1 world would either of those states be ideal".  Reading her observation, I thought, oh dear, some more new terminology younger generations are using, and I don't have the slightest idea what "Pili A1" means.  So, revealing my ignorance of current lingo as I used to know in the days of yore, I asked her, "What does Pili A1 mean?"

I learned later she was puzzled when she read my query, so busily began a Google terminology search for the meaning of "Pili A1" since she didn't know the meaning either.  She came up with nothing specific that made sense.  Then she happened to re-read our previous messages exchange and found "Pili A1" in her's to me.   She could only laugh, she said, as she thought she had typed "political", but Google's automatic word correction had produced "Pili A1".

Google's system often does some curious word creations in messages I've sent confusing or totally altering my message's meaning.   When I read how she had searched Google I started laughing, too.  Now, every time I think about the whole comedy of assumptions and misperceptions we each had made, I start laughing out loud to myself.   Maybe I'm finally cracking up.

CREATURES -- HUMOR -- HOT TIMES -- HEARINGS

This blog is either going to the dogs, is for the birds, or maybe it's just the cat's meow.  All this started when I came across a Jeanne Moos video captioned:  "People are posting their cats' reactions to this new video game" HERE

Later I found this video of cats and dogs reacting to that STRAY video game:

Subsequently I received some feline education with Jackson Galaxy and the game cat in action: 

Earlier, I had been intrigued with another of Jeanne Moos' videos given my ongoing interest in our Big Bear Bald Eagles occasionally featured on this blog:  "Eagle appears to clutch baby hawk for dinner, then decides to adopt it: "HERE".

The piece de resistance was a Jeanne Moos video captioned: 

"See what happens when you put a group of introverted dogs together".

       

I decided to look up this Jeanne Moos who was featuring quirky videos that appeal to my sensibility to discover them all and others on her CNN  profile site HERE.   

I immediately recognized some of the other Moos' wacky videos at which I've been laughing.  I had never before given much attention to the source.  Jeanne Moos, 72 years old, has been a national news correspondent for 34 years at CNN who eventually evolved into this entertaining video niche many of us are enjoying.  Perhaps you have or will find them a fun view, too.  

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Southern California, aka SoCal, where I've lived for 50 years is certainly having its share of hot weather as is the rest of our country.  News reports of the high temperatures in other parts of the world where some readers here live are experiencing heat unlike anything they've had before, too.  Many such countries such as the U.K. are quite unprepared with buildings lacking air conditioning as one example.

Before my family moved here, we lived a few years in the Scottsdale/Phoenix, Arizona area.  Previously we lived in the Midwestern Great Lakes area where I recall 80 to 90 degree Fahrenheit temperatures (32 Celsius) felt sticky miserable due to the humidity but few homes had air conditioning. 

Initially in Arizona we had an evaporative house cooling system in the dry heat which I liked for all but a few weeks when the air became much more uncomfortable due to higher humidity outdoors in their monsoon season.

During the few years we lived in Arizona more people were moving there as continues to occur and more land was becoming converted to golf courses requiring much watering in the summer and year 'round.  Simultaneously, we noticed humidity was increasing.  For the first time ever that winter, local news media reported the area experienced smog.  The climate was becoming much less desirable, so we installed air conditioning.  The next year an employment change resulted in our moving to California.

I recall only a few days toward the end of summer our Arizona temperatures ever were in the 3-digit area of 110 Fahrenheit degrees (43 Celsius) or above.  In 2021 Phoenix set a record for F115+ (46+ Celsius) or more consecutive days of such high temperatures since 1895.  Certainly, the humidity is no less now and probably more than when we lived there despite the drought.  

Future temperatures will only become higher.  Countries that are now experiencing high temperatures they've not had before, where air conditioning has not been needed have my concern for how well residents there are able to cope, especially our older generations.  

The nation's first publicly funded Heat Response and Mitigation Office was established in Phoenix in October 2021 with David Hondula of Arizona State University named director.

Hondula said at his appointment "...changes, including planting trees, installing shade structures and adding light-colored surfaces to streets and roofs, can make the city cooler."  He reports finding success in cooling the temperatures a few degrees with residents saying they now notice a difference with the use of special cool-grey paint sprayed over their paved streets.  Cooling ultra-white paint is being used in various ways also.  Volunteers are planting "...trees for a new Phoenix 'cool corridor' " reported in the Arizona Republic newspaper.

So little is being accomplished by our federal legislators, especially in the Senate, House actions are blocked from even coming up for a vote that address environmental issues.  We can thank them for the slow progress adjusting to climate changing issues.  I find it very difficult to accept such a short-sighted view of environmental concerns and failure to act more aggressively toward some resolution given the threat to our earth.  

Local communities and individuals can adopt ways to achieve some change as our contribution with or without federal involvement.  Perhaps more ways will be found in communities where each of us live to cool our environment.  There may be unique ideas some of you are aware of or that are being undertaken where you live that could be described in your comments here.  

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U.S. Select House Committee on January 6th Hearings 

Eight hearings have been held.  More hearings are expected in the fall.

PBS NewsHour -- "20% of Americans are paying no attention to the hearings"

PETTY PROBLEMS -- SURVIVAL LAUGHTER

Bringing this topic up with all the very real problems each of us likely have I probably should feel embarrassed.   These "little aggravations" can be the proverbial back-breaking straw that becomes overwhelmingly exasperating -- especially if the problem does not easily respond to resolution.   This is one I had years ago, may have written about here before.   I thought it had been permanently ended.  As my loving brother would have quipped, "We don't pay you to think!"

I manage to cope with the big issues that come up, but then if a bunch of little matters like this one pile on they can reach a point where even one more can break me down.  I find myself wondering if that's just my weakness or if any others have the same experience?

In the realm of annoyances, after several halcyon years I noticed in a dirt area next to my front entrance the soil has again been recently disturbed with obvious digging much like that made by cats in a litter box.  Sure enough, a cat appeared on my back patio one day.

Another day for several hours, every time I peered out my window that same cat sat by a hedge at my front driveway's edge near my garage door.  I don't know if the cat is new to some neighbor since most have dogs or has been dumped here as has occurred in years past.  

This predominately gray cat with flecks of white I've since seen again, appears to be well cared for so may have a local owner.  People must keep their dogs inside and I wish the same was true of cats.  They discourage birds from my yard, not to mention the hazard the outdoor roamers can present to our declining avian population.

We had a neutered male cat his long entire life so I'm not anti-feline, but I just think owners need to be more responsible, especially given the risks to the kitty's nine lives here at the mountains lower foothills edge.  Selfishly, I don't want a cat creating a personal litter box immediately next to my front door, either.  "Go in our own yard, kitty!"

I went through an unwelcome period of time some years ago when that same dirt area by my door was commandeered by some cat as a personal litter box that began to attract even more felines.  Repellent efforts with some commercial deterrents were unsuccessful but eventually the felines permanently seem to disappear.

Those unfortunate cats may have been the victims of wildlife predators that prowl our community for a tasty morsel.  Those hunters come mostly at night, such as coyotes, bobcats, mountain lions and even bears have been known to appear.  Coyotes, reported to have dens in our city, are the only ones I've ever seen, but I do have a coyote whistle our city distributed to residents to carry when out walking.   Owners of small pets, cats and dogs, are cautioned to take care letting their pet outside, especially after dark.  

When I've looked daily at that front-of-my-house area soil I had smoothed over, there has continued to be obvious digging disturbance.  I may try spreading a common hot spice cooking powder suggested as a possible repellent.  Supposedly, sprinkling the red hot pepper powder over the soil will result in the cat getting some on their paws.  They would then lick their paws when bathing after covering their business and find the smell, taste, or other quality totally unacceptable, even offensive to them, and not return.  Furthermore, all other trespassing felines would avoid the area, too, should any appear.  I wonder if anyone else has had success using such seasoning with this approach?  

You can see after reading this, what one of the most immediate pressing petty issues in the scheme of life is in my current daily existence.  This is that proverbial straw exasperating me when I have more important matters on which I need to focus my attention.  

I'll end this now by digressing to a cartoon that tickled my funny bones "borrowed" ...  okay! ...  stolen from my go-to blog for laughs:  Oddball Observations.

COMMUNICATION SAGA -- QANON -- NON-HUMAN

Another exciting week in which what follows are only a few events during which I also received my Pfizer booster shot, anti-Covid ..... but this has nothing to do with my receiving the vaccination.  This is a flight of fancy!

I've succumbed!  I've been seduced!  I'd always said, "No!" before, but I finally gave in.  Actually, I was in a non-compromising position and could no longer resist.  I expect to hear from some, those words, "What took you so long?", and I may even wonder myself, but avoiding the inevitable for some time, if I could, seemed to be the better part of good judgement for me.

I hope you won't think any less of me for giving-in.  Who knows, I might even come to like it.  I didn't do this just because I kept being told, "It's safe, its okay, everybody's doing it."  I know that doesn't make it the right thing for all to do.  Still, the pressure is off now.  I've done it and there's no turning back.

I'll have to live with the consequences, whatever happens -- adapting my life, adjusting, coping with frustrations.  Facing a whole new way of life may be what I must accept.  Will I continue to oversee my life, or will dictates come from elsewhere?

This is, after all, "a smart phone" -- smarter than me?  Has artificial intelligence, aka AI, taken the device over which, in turn, will conspire to take over me?  Will my thoughts, my time, my whole being be devoured as reportedly seems to have occurred with some who are owned, er-r-r-r, I mean, that own these little devices?  You see, already I'm giving this little invention powers possibly beyond realistic entitlement.

Have I been brain-washed with tales dispersed full of conspiracies composed of unmitigated falsehoods formulated in deep dark dungeons ... spread by the unknowing, uneducated, and the un ... un .... un, whatever? 

Will truth ever emerge?

(I don't actually have this little devil phone in my possession yet, but meanwhile, my good ol' landline remains very operative which I will keep along with the "smart phone".   This may allow the fastest way in some areas for my exact location to be determined should I need to call emergency 911, or possibly if there is a power outage.)

.....

I really had intended continuing with another topic at this point, but in recent days I've had reason to feel concern that word of this "Smart Phone" coming to my house may have unleashed a troubling event, causing me concern there could be more issues materializing.    Thursday I discovered my bedside clock radio had already turned back one hour.  But the daylight savings time change wasn't to occur until the coming Sunday, Nov. 7th at 2 a.m.   What happened?

This premature time reset on my clock prompted me to form a theory much like those promulgated by QAnon.  They may well want to adopt my speculation to spread among their citizenry as fact to those susceptible to such ideas.

I am speculating that the digital devices in my home may be communicating with one another.  Maybe my computer has spread the word a "smart phone" is coming, having deciphered an exchange of messages I had with my son ... but why, and has the word spread even further?  Perhaps to my clock radio, for one, a device that now has chosen to demonstrate a long-awaited increased sense of pending power.  What does this indicate could happen in the future?  

I'm discreetly, but closely, watching my TV, microwave, and oven.  Perhaps, even my dishwasher, clothes washer and drier received the word and pose additional risk.   The refrigerator, too?  Surely not the toaster oven.  Of course, the coffee-maker was, years ago, the forerunner of all these self-operating devices ... and then it went digital!  Now where is technology taking us?  My "smart phone" is coming!

Katzenjammer - "Land of Confusion" 

from the Album,  "A Kiss Before You Go - Live in Hamburg".                                                          Ab25.05. im Handel als CD/DVD:  http://amzn.to/J89Ch7 oder als Blu-ray erhaltlich: http://amzn.to/JiaG72. Sowie als Download http://amzn.to/KBV6zb

Alitlweird comment on youtube site reports between the four girls they play 50 different instruments; their music is acoustically produced, aside from electric sound amplification.   

 

As if my "smart phone" isn't enough, I've now been told on my landline phone, that I'm not human!  Not human? -- I didn't know! -- Am I a robot, an alien and only now learning this?  The digital devices with the smart phone in control are really the forces in charge?

Typically, if I have reason to answer a phone call and it's a recorded message, and there has suspiciously been an increasing number of them, I immediately disconnect without even listening.  Also, any calls with a real live but unknown person on the line, who instructs me at any point to press another key to answer questions or access a different contact, I don't do that either.  Who knows to what I might be acquiescing!

Sneaky ways some spammer, or scammer, tries to accost people include this example in a recent call I received.  I noted it was from a "Wireless Caller".  (I chose to answer this for personal reasons I won't try to explain here.)  The recorded message said, "This is an important call for ... (they accurately gave my name).  If you are (my name again) then press 5, if not press 3".  I did neither.  Following a silent pause, the message continued, "Sorry, you have revealed you are not human!"  Then the call disconnected.  

I consider all the newer inventions that I haven't acquired yet, but eventually may be the only ones available, like the "smart" TVs and appliances, cars that drive themselves, even houses equipped to do lots of things, and who knows what else.   What are the implications of these for our future?

So, here I am, in the autumn of my life, having been described as being not human, with a clock radio seemingly out of my control, and a "smart phone" possibly capable of doing who knows what coming into my home.  What lies ahead for us humans, assuming some of us are humans?   What am I to think or do?  What do you think and what are you going to do?

BLOGAVERSARY 15th -- THANK YOU

Blogaversary -- my 15th on October 24th  -- Where have all the years gone?

I want to tell all of you how much I've come to appreciate getting to know you, along the way.   As I've aged, I've mentioned in recent years how my once large family and wide number of friends here and across the country have been, surprisingly to me, dying in significantly increasing numbers.   How very inconsiderate of them -- a thought with which most of them if still able would laughingly agree!

Never in my wildest imagination did I ever anticipate I would be deprived  of the presence of so many in my life as has occurred with contemporaries and especially those younger than me.  Somehow, though I knew differently on some level, I expected in my old age that most people in my life for whom I cared would be around at least as long as I was, especially my husband, or probably even longer.

After my husband died, I finally was able to begin participating more in some local interest groups to possibly form new friends filling the gap left by the death of the many friends I had acquired in moves about our country through the years.   I was surprised to discover new social relationships did not evolve as readily as they had in my earlier years.  Given the shortened remaining time in our lives can challenge building relationships.  That said, I recall one older long gone friend once told me, there are no friends like old friends.  

This proved to be true for socialization with any participants beyond the monthly meeting times of groups I joined, such as Night Writers, which ended several years ago.  Then, as the years passed, most aging members, even much younger ones, began moving away, or had to devote more time to their loved one's needs, with a few developing serious medical issues, others dying.

In another example, some book club members I learned were caregivers of a spouse or another, and this outing was their only respite time, a situation with which I could identify.  Others hardly had enough time and energy to sustain involvement with local family members, old long time friends, or those new ones they were developing in their nearby retirement community, so they regretted inability to predictably incorporate new people from outside their world into their lives.  Couples circulated almost exclusively with other couples.  All of this is understandable.  I discovered other bloggers reports of encountering similar situations where they lived, thwarting their efforts to form a new local social network.

When I stopped my part time work at age 79, after a couple years some unexpected complications aging can bring began gradually slowing my activities, surprisingly to me at what I thought was my young age.  Had I anticipated this I would have retired sooner, but life is unpredictable.  Of course, like all of you, the pandemic has impacted my life, altering my situation somewhat more and my further socialization efforts as I continue living in place in my home.

Blogging, when I began,  I had perceived from others was believed to offer a multitude of untapped benefits to many including opening the world to older people via the Internet, as well as providing an opportunity to participate in a community, especially for those who live alone or might not have family close by. This was a concept with which I agreed, though not necessarily thinking of blogging being that important to me at the time.  

Little did I anticipate or realize that blogging would, in the years ahead for me, become much more significant in my social life.  So, I genuinely and sincerely offer an inadequate "thank you", to every one of you for writing your entertaining, often informative, occasionally humorous blogs, taking the time to comment on my own conglomeration of thoughts, and offering the blogger community virtual friendship we all enjoy.

On to the current world in which I live .....

I had my annual medical examination with my doctor concluding I was still alive -- just as I thought.   I received this year's protective flu injection.  The end of this coming week I'll be the recipient of the Pfizer Booster jab in my other arm.  Then, I'll be all shot up for however long all that lasts!  ha

If you saw news reports or read about the "Bomb Cyclone and 'Atmospheric River'" lambasting California last week, that rain and storm was elsewhere, not where I live, just below SoCal's foothills.  I did observe we received only a very limited, meager, dripping-off-my-house's-roof amount of rain.

Now, we actually have summer again for a few days with temperatures pushing into the eighties, to be followed soon by cooling into the seventies.  There's even a hint (10% chance) of moisture for several days which will do little or nothing to lessen drought in our area, if the rain really arrives.

Never fear, I believe fall is still trying to come on the scene!  A favorite song of mine seems appropriate here as I think of fall, my favorite season -- the spectacular colors of changing leaves from Aspens golden yellows to Maples rich rusts and deep reds, plus color variations from other trees and shrubs most observable at higher elevations than my own and more profoundly in other parts of our country where I once lived.  

There was that memorable overwhelmingly colorful fall driving trip my husband and I made up the eastern Atlantic coast through states including New York, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine, into Niagara Falls and Canada.   This was my husband's birthday month as well as my own and others in my family.   

I'm also reminded of Eva Cassidy whose vocal talents were just becoming recognized when she died much too early in her young life.

Autumn Leaves (official video) 

 Eva Cassidy & the London Symphony Orchestra

https://lnk.to/evacassidy.      https://blix-street.lnk.to/AutumnLeaves

Then there were fall memories after our family was started, taking our children to a pumpkin patch at what was predominately a nut farm the rest of the year, near what was then called the San Diego Zoo Wild Animal Park, to make their selections for later carving.  One pumpkin's flesh I made into a family favored pumpkin pie.  

Many years later after I became a widow, fall trips to Michigan included visits to a cider farm reminding me of when as a young girl in Ohio we had an apple press from which we made our own cider a couple years. 

Another year in Michigan, when my grandson was younger we had come full circle with a trip to a pumpkin farm that included more cider and a challenging walk through a corn stalk maze.  

And then there's Halloween's ghosts and goblins along with the distributing and gathering of all those goodies!

Perhaps fall has special memories for you, too, and blogging has made your life more enjoyable. 

Thanks again to one an all bloggers and especially those I've come to know here! 

PHISHING, PHONINESS, MOSTLY MERRY CHRISTMAS

 MERRY CHRISTMAS ... Friday, Dec. 25th ! 

"The November 3rd election was the most secure in American history."

PHISHING SCAMS ALERT ...

T'is the season to be especially careful avoiding those who phish and scam.                                              I've had two just this past few weeks.

The first phishing on my laptop was a sudden pop-up of smaller screens, 3 overlaying one another allowing partial reading of content, claiming to be from Apple, looking very legitimate.  They alerted my computer was locked and anything I did would basically only make everything worse, especially if I tried to shut down the computer,  I would lose everything.   The reality was I no longer had control of my cursor, it had disappeared from my screen, so I couldn't do anything.  

This was a very aggressive attack my tech guru son thought when I contacted him.  He concluded the message was not from Apple and probably was a phishing expedition.  He determined some action we could take, so after considerable inconvenience, time and effort, with his assistance I regained full use of my computer without losing anything.   We subsequently ran some malware determining all was clear.

My son recounted the experience of someone he knew who received a similar popup, had accepted it as legitimate so contacted the perpetrators per the instructions who offered  help as purportedly from Apple.  They reportedly were in an English-speaking country very tech-savvy.  They offered to troubleshoot his problem for a fee to release his computer from this lockup preventing all the disaster that could happen.  This person purchased their service revealing personal financial information in the process.

Fortunately, my son learned of this soon after so intervention was quickly initiated to block the bank payment.  However, all of this person's bank accounts and previously arranged automatic bill payments had to be cancelled, reprogrammed with new bank accounts opened -- a time-consuming activity to insure his funds future bank safety.  

The second phishing scam has come in an email; set up like a business form.  It starts out like this:

"This tracking update has been requested by:                                                                                   Company Name:     xxxxxx Pecan Co. (I've removed co name)                                                       Name:                      Shipping Dept.                                                                                                 E mail:                     "Not Provided By Requestor"

"Reference Information Includes:"                                                                                                     An  Invoice Number and a long list of items including what says it is a FedEx number, highlighted  for me to click on which, of course, I did not do.

(Please note the actual form did not have indentations, but Blogger insisted on altering the accurate form from each line aligned on the left, one under the other as I typed it to reproduce  for publication so you could see exactly what it looked like.)

Independently in  Google Search I found xxxxxx Pecan Co. on the internet appearing to be a legitimate company, but I didn't click on it either.

PANDEMIC HEALTH UPDATE IN SO-CAL -- L.A. COUNTY -- MY CITY

COVID-19 infections rage on with no indication of slowing.  L.A. County ICU hospital beds available for coronavirus patients have declined to 0% at last report.  

One hospital in our east next door community and county continues to report: "we are in internal disaster mode."   

The hospital immediately adjacent west of our city and the one I served for a time period years ago before I associated with a local retirement community has continued to have ICU beds available, unlike many L.A County hospitals reportedly.  Our Claremont Courier newspaper's Steven Feischundneff reported:

"Los Angeles County Department of Health Services Director Dr. Christina Ghaly said during a news conference on Wednesday:

Hospitals adapt and surge.  They add staff,  they clear out beds.  They discharge patients whenever they can.  They cancel surgeries, they cancel procedures that can wait.  They flex their staffing resources.  These actions, while critical, cannot continue indefinitely.  There are simply not enough trained staff to care for the volume of patients that is projected to come," Dr. Ghaly said."  

Referring to my local area hospital she said: "Outpatient elective surgeries and procedures continue being performed, but a need for post-operative admission to my area hospital prevents all elective surgeries and procedures requiring that service."  The hospital "...is prepared to further expand its surge capacity should it continue to experience increases in COVID-19 patient admissions."  

Vaccine:   A phone call to the hospital as I write this confirms "selective hospital personnel are receiving the Covid-19  vaccine."    

This has become very personal for me as someone I care about (not a family member) who lives in a different SoCal county has been coping with a potentially life-threatening medical problem, plus now also needs surgery to minimize, even eliminate a new  risk from a just diagnosed cancer, yet unknown whether spread to lymph nodes.   Ironic, we joke in dark humor about the poor timing that these medical problems should emerge now.  Doubtless there are many across the country, around the world even who are faced with a similar or worse situation during this pandemic. 

CHRISTMAS CELEBRATIONS

I will be home, alone, celebrating virtually via FaceTime with children and grandchildren from their different locations across the country.   My holiday dinner with adequate quantity to allow leftovers which I favor is being delivered the day before for microwave reheating.   Free time will allow me to indulge in whatever gives me pleasure at the time -- perhaps some Christmas music including "Silent Night", "The Christmas Song", "Blue Christmas", "I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas", "Sleigh Ride" to name a few.

Another family celebrates Christmas ... old friends with whom I have contact with mostly at just this time of year report she and husband are donning Hazmat suits to fly east to spend Christmas with family.   

While all is in limbo for so many of us, we adapt, accommodate, cope in many ways, often turning to humor of all kinds.  So .....

I try to keep up with the latest health information.  In these days of ruptured truth it's sometimes difficult to recognize fact from fiction, but here's the latest notice you'll want to know about -- keep in mind phoniness, alternate truths are frequently the order of the day:

Did you receive the latest health alert?

Tonight at 10 pm local time                                                                                                                   a medical satellite is  flying over earth                                                                                                to take everybody's temperature.                                                                                                         Please stand naked outside your door                                                                                                  and wave your Medicare or other insurance card.

(Another staggering of the lines done automatically by Blogger, not at all as I set it up but cannot be corrected.)

I confess.  I cannot lie.  I purloined and edited the above health alert from a cartoon where I often get my humor fix to release those healing endorphins at Oddball Observations. 

I wish each of you a Merry Christmas ...

     Stay Well, 

           Count Your Blessings, 

                  Wishing You Peace and Joy

Diana Krall sings "Count Your Blessings Instead of Sheep"

                                                              

LANGUAGE SETS AN OPTIMISTIC MOOD

Consider with me whatever these thoughts surfacing in my mind during this pandemic may prompt you to think about in your own lives.  I think I am blessed with a somewhat optimistic outlook on life as I consider my situation, that of the current world and especially in my own country, the U.S.   I don't know why I tend toward an optimistic perspective, whether it's genetic, environmental, or due to other unknown factors.  Maybe it's the water I drink.

My mother mostly modeled positivity with a considerable dose of stoicism through circumstances she experienced in her lifetime including during the previous 1918 flu pandemic.  Years later we shared some unexpected significant life changes beginning when I was only a child to which we adapted.  I was able to observe her demeanor, how she coped, acquiring increasing appreciation and understanding for how she managed as I became an adult.

In my mother's case, her religious faith coupled with the secure foundation of her farm family upbringing were strong influences for her coping mechanisms in a very different time from that of my own generation.  Her religious/spiritual beliefs were personal, private, non-extremist, devoid of politicization.  They were not the kind pressed on me or others, a practice which might be better for all today to clearly separate church from state.

My life has been presented with its share of complications of varied complexities beginning when I was very young, so I have had adversities to address before, a few of which, unfortunately, could even be characterized as traumatic.  Fortunately, without denying such, I still developed an overall outlook somewhat like this song's lyrics.  (Much to my surprise I discovered among name vocal artists recordings a version by actor/director Clint Eastwood, not known as  a singer.)

Particularly during this pandemic time as I hear and read about many having all sorts of difficulties adapting and coping, I am grateful to feel fairly comfortable with how I have been able to manage, at least to date.  I do know what exists today is no guarantee for what the future may hold.  Certainly, my circumstances have not been without challenges as I age, incur some unexpected medical issues, and practice living in place in my home with no family nearby and too many friends long since deceased.

Also, anyone reading this blog knows I have very real concerns about the state of our government, our nation and the world.  I have ample reasons to be emotionally depressed, negative in attitude, even feel overwhelmed with the future's uncertainty.  For whatever the reasons, generally speaking, I do not feel that way though I am acutely aware of the potential for worse case scenarios both personally and with our country, even the world.  I do not ignore any of them, but they generally do not press on me emotionally though I do have my moments.

I try to consider what my options are in order to be as prepared as possible mentally and otherwise for what might occur which I've attempted to do throughout my life with varying degrees of success.  Beyond all that, knowing there are factors over which I have no influence, I simply go on with my daily life much as most of you probably do, too.  Always, the unexpected may occur, does and has, which is just a given, but I'll not fret about it.

A board game I had growing up was called "Pollyanna", the glad game, though I don't recall that I ever read the book which prompted the games creation.  I do know the name has become associated with describing someone "excessively cheerful and optimistic who wants to pretend life is all sweetness and light" as defined in Oxford Languages.  I certainly know life is not "all sweetness and light" as I'm sure you do, too.

Though I've never been accused of being a "Pollyanna" and never thought of my outlook on life as being excessively optimistic, some might not differentiate the nuances in meaning.  But don't confuse my type of optimism with that version prostituted to the extreme by our nation's leader's prevarications -- bald-faced optimistic-like lies.  

I do think between this pandemic,  how it's been handled, the general state of the nation and the world with the creeping autocracies featuring fascism ideologies, racism, environmental planet preservation issues, other inequities that a whole lot of negativity has been created.  This negativity permanating our lives can be as contagious as a self-replicating virus and we know something about that now, don't we.  

So, when I express some potential optimism and hope for the future I do so fully cognizant of the immediate reality, possible implications in the present and time to come.  (Countermanding this "permanating negativity" here's Steven Wilson's tune "Permanating" he performs with the Bollywood Dancers to lighten the mood.)

Positive Psychology  discusses that Pollyanna Principle but also notes "A tendency to be optimistic and find a silver lining does impact health and well-being" in beneficial ways as I think we need to keep reminding ourselves.  I think science and we can readily conclude the degree to which one is optimistic does have some bearing on the quality of our lives, though I wonder how many people agree with that view in practice.

I think the ability to find and envision reasons to be optimistic, thus have hope for our future, is vital to our mental, emotional and physical health.  I also believe the language we choose to use describing situations to others and to tell ourselves, especially, has some bearing on the attitude we create, thus influencing how well we cope.  (I rather like this version of jazzy sentiments Paul McCartney sings with artist Diana Krall and her musical group to convey the message.)

There are various means we can use to best adapt to whatever our situation.  Resilience is a means defined by numerous dictionaries and psychologists as our being pragmatic, able to adapt, withstand and recover from significant stressful events, adversity, trauma, threats, to return back into shape.  We're all mustering our resilience to survive this pandemic, our governmental and world situation as well as our own challenges.

I find being resilient, even stoic for a limited period of time, beneficial.  Combined with a degree of humor, being realistically optimistic without rigidly specifying a specific time when all will be resolved or overcome, can be a healthy approach to survival.  

Critical, too, is having hope for the future, again without defined timelines given the uncertainty, optimizes my overall wellbeing to travel the adversity of any rough and rugged road ahead.

I wonder how others view the manner they approach what they do to effectively deal with life's adversities, be it this pandemic or other experiences including from the past -- if either optimism or hope are present in your life now and as compared to other times?

HUMEROUS OR OTHERWISE FAMILY STORIES

Escaping the ever-present effects on our lives from “the virus” – that viral one in the atmosphere and the other one in the White House, my mind has taken respite in all sorts of humor-eliciting matter – cartoons, satirical writing and viewing performers whose perspective on daily life often reveals a bizarre point of view reminding me of just how crazy life can be. 

Also, crossing my mind are recollections of laugh worthy events or circumstances I’ve experienced.  I am reminded of stories generations share that are unique to each family contributing to the special bonds to one another we feel. 

My mother shared a few tales from her early nineteen hundred’s young life that titillated our family.   We were still primarily an agrarian society just beginning to give way to becoming industrialized.   Small farmers prospered as did her father.   Homes were gradually becoming modernized with electricity, telephones, outhouses giving way to indoor plumbing, likewise well water pumps were placed inside the kitchen.   

My maternal grandfather was considered progressive, so his neighbor farmers sometimes razzed him by asking when he was going to get one of those new-fangled automobiles.  He would respond that he was waiting to get an airplane. 

Mother would relate neighborhood tales that aroused her community at the time, such as one Halloween some enterprising young farm boys thought it would be hilarious to upset one farmer’s outhouse, so they did.  What they hadn’t counted on, was that someone was in it at the time.

Then, there was the young niece who took great delight in explaining to all who would listen who the relatives were that were pictured on the wall.   All would wait to hear her say, “And that is Grandpa Hall’s Hyde!” 

One of mother’s favored tales was about her father when their rural farm community finally had a telephone system – one with party lines shared with a few neighbors.    Each person’s phone line had a different ring, such as one short and two long rings, or one long, a short and another long ring, for example.  The caller cranked their phone accordingly to reach the party they wanted.  If one party was on the phone, none of the others could make a call.

One day, some sort of problem came up for my Grandfather who felt he needed to make a call post haste.  He kept picking up the phone to find the same neighbor lady, known for using the line a lot, was on the line talking to another woman.  Considerable time passed and each time my Grandfather picked up the phone she was still on the line. 

Phone users on the line could tell if someone picked up the phone as there would be a click when they picked up their phone and another click when they hung up so this would discourage eves-droppers.  Also, it would indicate to the phone line user that someone else wanted to use the line, so as a matter of courtesy the user typically would make an effort to end their call quickly.

On the occasion of my Grandfather’s call effort, considerable time elapsed and she remained on the line.  Quite contrary to his character, my grandfather became quite exasperated.  Finally he picked up the phone once more, heard the woman say, “...so I washed down as far as possible and then ....” to which my grandfather interrupted by saying, “Well, why don’t you go wash possible and get off this line so I can make a call!”

I still chuckle to myself, picturing that scene, though I never knew my grandfather since he had died years before I was born. 

Are there stories unique to your family that are shared with great relish with one another?

REASSESSMENT

I’ve taken quite a lengthy break from writing here.  Thanks to commenters for your continued interest despite my mercurial writing commitment.   I really haven’t known if I would resume writing, but concluded if I did, I wanted a limited publishing schedule and posts of relatively short content.   We’ll see how well I can follow that plan as it’s no understatement to say that I can tend to become a bit verbose as you likely have noted. 

Also, especially since 2016, when I begin to write I’m often challenged with thought intrusion associated with preservation of our threatened democratic republic’s freedoms.   Consequently, I experience frustration resisting excessively writing about the state of our nation.   I realize too much of this subject matter may be less than appealing to readers here, but I seem to feel the need to express myself.

Those were my thoughts before the most recent actions initiated by our nation’s leader who has now unleashed the potential for even more dangerous unpredictable world events.   Escalating uncertainty ensues with unknown consequences.  Additionally, indicators of our planet’s climate changes, denied by this same leader, increasingly manifest themselves in destructive weather events around the world we read or hear about in our daily news such as the present horrendous Australian fires.   

I long for a nation and world that seems not to have so many more such serious issues demanding immediate resolution.  I entertain the hope we will overcome these challenges for the betterment of humankind but wonder if any will occur in my lifetime, much less that of my children and grandchildren.  Perhaps in a more desirable environment my thoughts and writing would explore light-hearted topics.  I try to differentiate between what I can realistically do to positively influence matters and what is beyond my control.   

The manner in which I can act to impact the situations has altered through the years.   My ageing, physical condition has gradually limited me more, but the very least I can do is to vote as I have now arranged to do by mail should I be unable to visit my voting site.  Traditional voting sites are changing in California and elsewhere, anyway.  We just need to insure as best we can the security and integrity of our states voting systems.  We also need to combat voter intimidation through limiting laws and any gerrymandering prevalent in some states. 

We can combat the forces that defy our nation’s values with the November 2020 national elections offering a significant major opportunity to do so.   We need to facilitate new voter registration through every method possible as one means of accomplishing this opportunity for necessary meaningful change.   

Meanwhile, we’re all faced with finding coping mechanisms to aid in retaining our sanity for relief from the unbidden heavy life complications foisted upon us.   We each do so in our own way.  I use a variety of methods in an effort to balance my thoughts with other input.   Just a few alternate focus areas for me include following my distant family members activities, listening to music, pleasurably reading both fiction and nonfiction, engaging in a variety of other involvements that also serve as distractions, but humor of all kinds is a saving grace. 

I never knew what one favored type of humor, often flippant and funny, sometimes with serious meaning, was called, “Paraprosodokian”, where the statement ending can be quite unexpected, a reversal  from the beginning of the statement, such as: 

"War does not determine who is right – only who is left."

What prompts your choice of writing topics? 

How do you cope with any frustrations you may feel with life issues? 

CHRISTMAS -- HANUKKAH -- PAST -- PRESENT -- FUTURE

Wishing you the merriest of Christmases ... happiest Hanukkah !

Early twentieth century Christmases my Mother described are surely different than what I experienced mid-century.   The differences are magnified in our twenty-first century.   She grew up on a farm in northeastern Ohio, actually born in the nineteenth century.   As youngsters she and her brothers and sisters led interesting horse and buggy days lives. 

My mother described occasional dates her father believed to be to attend a church meeting, that sometimes might have ended up elsewhere as she loved to dance.  Then the ride home, whether buggy in amenable seasons or sleigh in snowy winter, would be cozy for snuggling with the horse needing no guidance -- always knowing the way home -- just like self-driving cars will be.  

Her father, my grandfather who died many years before I was born, was considered by his friends and neighbors as progressive.   He was strongly supportive of women's rights.  He also felt women and girls should not be expected to perform outdoor heavy-duty farm work with all they had to do -- keeping house, cooking, though tending the foul, gathering the eggs and engaging in any gardening with flowers, herbs and vegetables they might enjoy was agreeable.  

Farmer friends used to tease him by asking when he was going to get a car.  He sarcastically told them that he was waiting for an aero plane.  What would he think of cars today?   Little did he imagine the development of the airline industry, a trip that went to the moon, projected space travel.

He's also noted for having become frustrated waiting for one of the neighbor women on their telephone party line to finally end her call.  The telephone system then was a technology requiring the caller to crank a set number of short and long rings to reach the party they wanted.   One day there was some important matter he needed to reach a neighbor farmer about, but every time he checked the line after long waits in between the line was still busy as that neighbor kept talking, a frequent problem with her.  The last check he listened long enough to hear her say, "...and so I washed down..as far as... 'possible'..." when he interrupted by saying, "Why don't you go wash 'possible' and get off this line?"

An ancestor helping settle northeastern Ohio was a protestant minister of a major religion prevalent yet today.  Church involvement and activities were always a significant part of life, providing spiritual sustenance and a social network for the far-flung rural community residents.   Christmas was a most significant time of year with special serious meaning, but the secular Santa Claus joys were enjoyed, too, during my Mother’s youth.

Farms then and now, especially if there are animals on the land require 24/7 care.  My grandfather had several cows to provide milk for butter, cheese, smearcase (cottage cheese), plow horses to work, some fast trotters for buggy pulling when the family needed to travel and smart walking horses for individual riding.  Of course, there were a few hogs, chickens, ducks.  To control any vermin in the corn storage area (beginning of silo usage), also the barn and hay mow, domestic cats prowled and resided there, also often becoming pets along with the family dog(s) to ward off strangers and predatory creatures. 

Animals showcased creature and human life, procreation activities, birth, the unique attraction of helpless newborn piglets, foals, calves, kittens, puppies, chicks.   Love and loss,  sometimes injury and illness, also death was a natural stage of life.  Responsibility for others was vital.  Care for the earth's vegetation, insects such as bees needed for pollination of plants and so much more pertinent to human survival and environmental preservation was learned.  Despite all,  prayers were not always answered.  Life was not always fair. 

Indoor plumbing had not yet been adopted by many in rural areas, so unheated outhouses sat off some distance from the house – usually one-seaters, but some accommodating more users simultaneously were luxurious two and three-seaters, probably appreciated by families with many children.   A hand pump for water was centrally located at the front yard’s distant edge from the house, but also accessible to the barn since buckets of water would be needed both places. 

Fresh water was needed daily for wash basins placed on small stands (one lovely maple wood stand with a birdseye maple drawer I have) in each bedroom to provide moisture for clearing sleep from the occupants eyes each morning, or to cleanse the hands during the night if the beside covered pot had to be used.   Who would want to trudge down the stairs in the dark, to the outhouse, especially in a stormy or icy snowy cold winter?   Of course, these prone to being smelly pots had to be lugged daily to the outhouse to be relieved of their contents, freshened so they could be returned bedside for the next night, a job not readily welcomed. 

Downstairs firewood previously cut to kindling and larger split log sizes had to be carried inside, kept in supply for the wood burning kitchen stove and oven, any other heat-producing stoves or fireplaces in other rooms. 

How baking was done still marvels me -- sustaining an even consistent temperature with a wood stove -- no temperature dial there.   Meats butchered earlier in the year and relegated to the outdoor refrigerator-like storage room dug into the earth and earlier harvested fruits from the apple, peach, plum trees and vegetables in a fruit cellar were at the ready when needed, some dried, if care had been taken to prepare each year’s supply at harvest time. 

Plenty of water was needed for cooking with some heated on the stove for other usage.   Hot water was especially needed on nights a periodic tub bath was scheduled for the various individuals.   Bath tub/shower type bathing was not a daily activity for each person as we indulge ourselves today, sometimes soaking in luxury with hot water readily flowing with the turn of a knob.  

Woolen clothes to be worn during winter would have been brought out from storage earlier, aired of moth ball aromas.   There was no dry cleaner to regularly freshen them after wearing, plus people had no deodorants.  Mother said she didn't recall any B.O. (body odor), but speculated that "Maybe we all just smelled bad so nobody noticed".  

The parlor as one room in the house was known, was kept pristine for special family occasions and entertaining visitors.  (I have a rich-looking dark cherry drop leaf table from my grandmother's parlor.)  Everyday living activities took place in the rest of the house, often frugally to conserve wood,  they centered around a single heated stove in the kitchen as outdoors winter’s winds howled in blizzards, freezing temperatures.

Mother’s recollection of the Christmas holiday and preparations was intriguing to me.  She said the actual setting up their decorated Christmas tree was never done in advance.  The children went to bed Christmas Eve and when they awoke in the morning, miraculously a colorful ornamented tree appeared downstairs.  When the oohs and awes subsided Santa would make his grand entrance with his bag of presents for distribution.    

The ecstatic children were so accustomed to their father being in the barn doing his daily early morning chores they thought nothing of the fact he wasn’t in the house with them when Santa arrived.   Mother said years later she marveled that it never occurred to them that Santa was their Dad so he must have had a pretty good costume and disguise.  

I wish I had talked further with her, or maybe I’ve forgotten what she said, about Christmas tree ornaments, what sort of gifts they received.   I expect there were a lot of handmade items, especially from the girls who would be learning all sorts of sewing skills, knitting, crocheting, tatting, hooking rugs, making quilts, sewing clothes items, also for their Hope Chests. 

Likely the boys were into various crafts of woodworking, little toys maybe, or sleds.  Store-bought gifts would likely have been rare, perhaps expensive.  I know she spoke of my Grandmother’s wealthy sister and her husband, a doctor in Atlanta, Ga, sometimes sent special items -- or, remembrances from the uncle sailing around the world during his U.S. Navy career.  No doubt hand-me-down clothing had been remade as a matter of practicality and was like-new to the recipient.   I know books were treasured items, all sorts of print, pictures, and writing instruments with ink, paper to write and draw. 

Christmas preparations, singing in the choir, pageants, and celebrating with religious music, for which my Mother played the church piano as she did for weekly services was her practice when she became older.  

Some traditions from days of yore continue, others change, commercialization has increased from her generation to mine and from mine to that of my children, even more for their children. 

Will there be more Christmas changes and in what way in future decades, I wonder?  

How do those who observe Hanukkah perceive any changes through these same decades, including with their gift giving rituals?