Listening to:

Kansas, Leftoverture, 'Carry on, My Wayward Son', 'The Wall'

I spent some time with a friend tonight watching a children's programme from Britain produced by Russell T. Davies, who used to be the person behind 'Doctor Who'. This is called 'Wizards vs. Aliens', and while it's a little, well, hokey, it's actually quite a bit fun. We also watched some YouTube videos together. I still need to watch the last episode of 'Grace and Frankie' as well.

Now I'm home, and I've been on the computer putting off a book review and looking over my notes for class on Wednesday, so I'll probably wind up doing those tomorrow. My co-teacher should be back from her trip to the Greek islands on Wednesday. :)

So I'm listening to some music, updating applications on my phone, and that sort of stuff. I think I'll go to bed pretty soon, though; tomorrow is one of my early days and I want to be to work by 7:30 am so I can get my allergy shots tomorrow. With the testing and stuff, I forgot to call the office about the leaking air conditioner. I'll do that tomorrow, and see if they've prepared my new lease to sign as well. Plus, I need to drop off a library book I couldn't renew tomorrow so it won't be late. :) Okay, I guess I'll say good night. Hope you had a good weekend and enjoy (for those folks in the US) a short week. I've got a three-day workweek this week. Yay! And yes, my neighbours are already shooting off fireworks, which I just don't get. It's not even July, after all.

Run, mouse, run!

I spent three hours today going through a series of tests that included making shapes with blocks, reading off names of colours by ink colour rather than the word printed on the page, reciting back stories I'd heard, matching shapes, and the like. Basically it was a series of intelligence and cognitive tests. I feel like a mouse that's been let out of its maze. I'll get the results in a week or two, but the preliminary results were interesting, and it might help me ultimately do better in daily life and employment. I scored very high in verbal intelligence, within a couple of points of the old IQ test I took before junior high school, and in the 99 percentile of the population, but there's an indication that attention is an issue, and it's affecting my working memory. Years ago I was diagnosed with the non-hyperactive form of attention-deficit disorder based on a much less rigourous test, and I think she felt confident that I still show signs of that and could benefit from treatment. Although my working memory and processing things into practical, working solutions was normal, there was a huge discrepancy between that and my actual intelligence, so I definitely have room to improve there. She'll score the rest of the tests and I'll get more detailed information soon. But I suspect I will be going back on medication. I can definitely tell a difference without it, and things were harder not merely because they progressed in difficulty, but because I was having trouble concentrating at times. There was one test, the last one of the day, where you had to press the space bar on computer when a letter that was not X came on the screen, which sounds really simple, but was hard at times, given the speed, and a natural tendency I have to press buttons maniacally (this is also an issue in my field of vision tests, where I see reflections in my glasses and wind up treating the button like a joystick at times). Another hard one was reading a page of colour-related words not by the words, but by ink colour, except for the ones in boxes. So for example, the word 'red' might be printed in blue, and you would read aloud blue, unless it was in a box, and then it would red. Other things were relatively easy. But apparently I am better at auditory comprehension than spatial relations, or so it seemed when it was over.

You know those things on Facebook that go 'things only children of the (whatever decade) understand'?

Here's the best one of them all....

21 Things Only Kids Who Grew Up In The 1590s Will Understand

Listening to

Kansas, Point of Know Return

Just got home from playing the game and discovered that my air conditioning is, in fact, leaking again, so I put a bucket in the spot that it's dripping on, and I'll have to call them tomorrow, which annoys me. That's less than a week after it was supposedly fixed, and the fifth time in ten years this has happened. Don't get me wrong, I like my apartment, my complex, etc. But I'll have to find another place for the big tub of Yule tree because it simply can't go in there; everything else I had in there won't ruin, but that would. Mind you, I hadn't even gotten the stuff back in there yet.

The game was good. We went right into it this time (last week we visited for a couple of hours first, and didn't actually do much). Today two of our characters were attacked by warlocks who tried to kill us and our children, but it all worked out. But both of us are tainted due to wounds by their daggers, and one of my other characters shares this because she is magically linked to the one injured, meaning she also received the injury and taint, miles away at her home. Ah, Call of Cthulhu, you have to love it. Our game master has drawn on the games Werewolf and Witchcraft for some of the stuff we saw today. There are several game systems adapted and integrated into our game, because our game master is just that good, and it's one reason we've been playing for so very long (24 years!), with such a rich story, various player and non-player characters, children, etc.

I drank too much soda today and sat too much; my feet have swollen, so I'm going to prop them up and let them rest on a couple of pillows until they go back to normal size. I also left some cream cheese over at my friends' house, which is unfortunate, as I would have liked to have had a bagel this evening. But I've eaten plenty in (fairly healthy) game snacks--cashews, string cheese, and berries.

I must remember not to go into work tomorrow; I'm off due to some cognitive testing I have to undergo. It lasts for 1 1/2 hours in the morning, then there's lunch, and then another 1 1/2 hours after lunch. We'll see how that comes out. I'm not sure what to expect. I need to double-check the time it starts; I think it's 10:30 am and ends at 2:30 pm. If the weather's nice, I might be able to go for a swim. It's supposed to be partly cloudy at the beginning of the day and then go into afternoon or evening thundershowers, so I'm not sure. But I can sleep in a bit tomorrow morning, at least. And I'll be across town near Beaumont, so I may see about going to Masala's Indian buffet for lunch, since I get a break. I also need to work on a book review before the end of the month, so tomorrow or Tuesday, and there's also some stuff to do over at my friends' house.

Okay, I've checked the news, I've done a few things here. I think I'll just get some rest and recharge the laptop and me as well. Good night.

One of those nights

So I was taking a nap and dreaming about the Cthulhu game and in my dream I was counting and doing math to see what year I turn 65 and wondering if we'd still be playing (so far it has been 24 years next week).  My clock beeped the hour chime and I woke up,  and the sky was barely light,  and I was like,  'oh,  no,  it's morning and I haven't done the game notes yet!'   After a moment I realised it was 9 pm and the sun was going down,  not dawn. So now I just finished the notes,  and it's off to bed for real.  I wonder if there's a name for thinking you've slept the night away? And you know,  I never did finish the math. I think it's 2032. Here's to playing even then,  even if we're all in the same retirement home.  :)

Gee...

I was catching up on Twitter and was amazed at the sheer number of hateful comments being directed to the SCOTUSblog account.  Mind you,  the blog is in no way affiliated with the Supreme Court - - they just report and analyse the decisions. But they were handling the hate with aplomb,  tongue firmly in cheek,  so yay for them.

A humourous look at the state flags of the United States

At least we get credit for being a Commonwealth. :)

Every state flag is wrong, and here is why

Pretty cool...and thorough

The Cast Of 'Harry Potter' Then And Now

Celebrate!

Finally,  the last barricade to marriage equality has fallen.  Our governor,  who was one of the parties defending in the cases,  promptly announced that new forms would be sent immediately to county clerks so that same-sex marriages could get underway. My faith in the justice system,  and the Supreme Court,  was renewed today. And while I'm glad history was made,  my main concern now is what to wear to a wedding.  :)

Throwback Thursday

One last post for the night. I'm not sure if I've posted this before. I was going through some old pictures and found this one from Yule 2000. It's not of great quality, and I look horrendous, but it is the only one I have of me and my beloved dog together. She had to be put down several years ago, but lived to a ripe old age of 16, and was a loving and devoted companion. I miss her still so very much.

Think animals don't have emotion or caring?

She Told The Chimp She Had Lost Her Baby. What The Chimp Did Next Was Heartbreaking

From the Wikipedia article on Washoe:

One of Washoe's caretakers was pregnant and missed work for many weeks after she miscarried. Roger Fouts recounts the following situation:

People who should be there for her and aren't are often given the cold shoulder--her way of informing them that she's miffed at them. Washoe greeted Kat [the caretaker] in just this way when she finally returned to work with the chimps. Kat made her apologies to Washoe, then decided to tell her the truth, signing "MY BABY DIED". Washoe stared at her, then looked down. She finally peered into Kat's eyes again and carefully signed "CRY", touching her cheek and drawing her finger down the path a tear would make on a human (Chimpanzees don't shed tears). Kat later remarked that one sign told her more about Washoe and her mental capabilities than all her longer, grammatically perfect sentences

Okay, I'd expect it from the Americans, but really you would think the Brits would know better than

to include an Irish singer in their list of British sensations....

AN ENGLISH WEBSITE INCLUDED HOZIER AS A BRITISH ARTIST IN THEIR ‘BRITS BLITZ’ LIST

Hozier has become one of the most famous faces in music after his debut album went stratospheric, so he should be pretty well known at this stage.

The writer of the piece below even acknowledges that Hozier is, in fact, Irish, but she still claims that her publication are "happy to take him to our British bosom".

Um...no. He's Irish, from Wicklow, not from Northern Ireland, not from Britain, not British. What, if I were a famous musician, would she claim me because I happen to have genetic roots in Britain, even though I'm American? Doubtful. What about an Indian singer, since they 'used to be part of the British Empire'. I'm sure that would go over really well, too.

This is kind of cute, for those who like 'Despicable Me' and/or 'Doctor Who'

My favourite is Stuart, the one-eyed one with the frowny face.

For you 'Downton Abbey' fans out there

I somehow missed this, but YKWIA showed me it (and the other parody videos from the same people). I enjoyed this immensely.

I took a quiz

Can We Identify Your Age Based On Your Political Opinions?

You must be around 26 years old! You have a young, optimistic and hopeful attitude about the world. You are very liberal when it comes to most issues, especially social and economic ones. Things like social justice, human rights and the environment are very important to you. You consider yourself a pacifist and activist. It's a good thing you're so passionate because your generation is the next one to take over the world!

Not bad for someone in her late 40s.

Glad that not everyone is as hateful as the woman and her children were

After A 3-Year-Old Aboriginal Girl Was Attacked For Dressing Like Elsa, The World Came To Her Support

This is so cool; what a great idea!

Teens Invent Condoms That Change Color When They Detect STDs

These kids aren’t just all right, they’re brilliant. A group of schoolchildren have invented a condom that changes color when it comes in contact with a sexually transmitted disease (STD). Safe to say, this isn’t the glow many of us are anticipating between the sheets.

The condom, called S.T.EYE, won the health category at the TeenTech Awards in London, which is an annual competition that aims to inspire 11- to 16-year-olds to realize “their true potential and the real opportunities available in the contemporary STEM workplace.”

S.T.EYE would theoretically have molecules in the rubber that would glow when it comes into contact with different pathogens. The condom would glow green for chlamydia, yellow for herpes, purple for human papillomavirus (HPV) and blue for syphilis. The conversation that would follow would certainly have the culprit blushing bright red.

Not sure how practical it will be to put into place, but it is a very interesting concept.

Yay!

1. My air conditioning is back on and working!
2. T-Mobile rolled out an over-the-air update for the Samsung Galaxy S5 to Android 5.1.1. :) My inner geek is happy.
3. Class was the best one so far since I started teaching it. I'm getting more comfortable.
4. I saw two deer running across a field near the hospital when we were outside after class.
5. I'm finally eating dinner (macaroni and cheese).
6. I get paid tonight (don't get excited, creditors; it's mostly allocated already)
7. I found out my stove hood light is actually a standard light bulb. I thought it was a smaller one, because it was clear glass and looked to be as old as the actual apartment buildings, which I think were built in the 1970s. :)

I did manage to slightly burn myself with boiling water (important safety tip, always pour the water away from you, not towards, which I know, but ignored).

Did you see this?

Poor kitty takes unexpected flight.



I think the pilot actually handled the whole thing well. He told his passenger not to reach for the cat, and the cat was inside the wing, so it was somewhat protected, plus it had the good sense to stay in place. But it must have been very scared.

Oh, so cute!

3-week-old baby pygmy hippo plays in the pool with mom.

Sad, that's at least three suicides I've heard of due to this

Estate Of Floyd Co. Woman Files Suit Against Ky. Attorney

The family of a woman who committed suicide after her Social Security/Disability Benefits were removed, has filed suit in Floyd County Circuit Court.

The estate of Melissa Jude, with her husband John Daniel Jude acting as administrator, filed a complaint against Eric C. Conn and his law offices for claims that "legal malpractice" on the part of Conn resulted in Jude's state of mental despair.

This is the second such complaint filed against Conn. The widow of Leroy Burchett also filed a lawsuit on behalf of her late husband's estate alleging fraudulent activity on the part of attorney Eric C. Conn resulted in his wrongful death.

Over 900 eastern Kentucky residents represented by the controversial Floyd County attorney had their benefits frozen pending a review by the Social Security Administration.

The SSA sent out letters notifying recipients represented by Conn's office between 2009 and 2011, announcing a review to determine whether the individual in question was actually disabled.

Two days after Mrs Jude died, benefits were restored to those who had received the letters. My understanding is the government restored the benefits at the request of US Representative Hal Rogers, who cited the hardship it would have. Their benefits have been restored while the fraud is investigated. While I believe disability fraud should be rooted out, it should not be done in such a way that those who are legitimately disabled, many of whom have benefits as their sole income, should suffer. Such a pity this situation led to such desperate acts, and that at least three people seem to have died over this. So sad.

Hahahahahaha!!!

The Best Lawyer Response Ever. This Is Genius.

Take that, uneducated bureaucrats! :) Thanks to Connie for sharing this on Facebook.

Today's word is 'hot'

H-O-T. Hot. It is 95 degrees outside but feels like 105 due to the humidity. Even the hospital was a little sticky in places, and then I got off work and went across town to pick up a friend's medicine, and didn't feel like I should run the air conditioner since I don't have a lot of gas, of which I can't get more until Thursday, so I had all four windows down (or at least the two front and the two back were half-down, as that's as far as they go). Then I went to Kroger for stamps, dropped everything off at my friends' house, and now I'm home. I don't have the air conditioner on in here, either, because I'd like the house to be clean when they come to fix it, so I need to work on that this evening. Right now I have a small desk fan that plugs up to the computer that's helping. At night I sleep near a bigger fan as well. Right now I'm eating a peanut butter and spreadable fruit sandwich with a banana.

So, things I need to do tonight:

1. Gather up the trash and/or recyclables and take them out.
2. Move everything out of the walk-in closet.
3. Dump the water that's been accumulating in a small plastic tub there.
4. Straighten up the house.
5. Review and read through chapter four of my training manual for the class tomorrow, which is on how the brain works and has a boatload of information.
6. Water the plants.
7. Add water to the fish tanks.

That's enough for now, don't you think?

Oh right, it's Monday

I just got everything together for class Wednesday by piling it next to my book bag.  Laptop,  working binder with readings and handouts, etc.  Trouble is,  tomorrow is Tuesday. *facepalm* Oh,  well,  at least I looked at my phone's calendar before going to bed.  :)

I had a very early appointment

with my therapist in which I got to report on my success in driving to Louisville and back despite a mild anxiety attack before I left. :) Also, the class is going well and that's a boost to my self-esteem as well. I told her about my mom's health and how I'm afraid, given my own issues, that I'll be in similar straits by the time I'm her age (if I make it that far). So we discussed things I could do in terms of setting healthy goals and keeping them.

I didn't feel well today at work, primarily due to issues around my period, but finally stopped cramping and was able to be productive. I went over to the library and checked out the book UnDiet by Meghan Telpner. Then I went home, had a quick bite to eat (some hummus and a garden burger), and then went over to a friend's house to help with a monthly project. Then we watched some more of 'Grace and Frankie' and also 'Danger Mouse' (which I loved when I was younger, and it's good to see it on Netflix). I did a couple of errands on the way home, and now I'm here, and it's almost 11 pm, and I think I should probably get ready for bed, as I have one of my early days tomorrow and have to be at work at 7:30 am. But I wanted to touch base. Good night.

We did play the game today

but talked a lot out of gameplay as well. As far as the game went, it was downtime, and one of my character's is dealing with the fact that she has married a necromancer, is about to deliver their baby any day, and he's being somewhat controlling and sounds damn reasonable at the same time. Since asserting myself is a problem for me, I'm having trouble playing her as she should be, which is much more forthright and furious. I'll have to work on that.

I did get in late, though, and I don't normally post on Sundays, so I'll keep this short. But I hope your weekend has gone well. I remembered I have an appointment at 8 am tomorrow on the other side of town while I was driving home tonight. I just hope I can get up in time.

Today was a lazy day...

I tried to sleep in a little, since I was up so late last night. Then I went to see my mom, who was doing better. It was pouring rain, and I really appreciate the University of Kentucky shuttle drivers who took me over to the emergency department, so I remained dry. There are so many rooms over in that department, at least about 70 that I saw signs for. This evening my stepfather called and told me she was home, so she was able to be discharged and is hopefully on the mend.

After visiting there I went to my friends' house. A had a picnic fundraiser that the pies were for, so he was gone. YKWIA was chair sleeping with the rain coming down outside, and we wound up both napping a bit for awhile. Then we watched videos, that sort of thing, and just had a good visit. Now I'm home, and eating a bit. Tomorrow's the game, but I have the notes finished; I'm not 100% sure we'll play, as Brenda sometimes misses Father's Day if her husband wants to go catch a movie or something like that. We'll see. But for now, I'm headed to bed. Good night.

One last thing

This made me giggle uncontrollably yesterday when I saw it on Facebook:

Amazon Support Shows Us How It Should Be Done. This Is Priceless.

Hope you enjoy. Good night, for real. :)

It is now 2:42 in the morning and I am just getting home

after being up since a little before 7 am and going into work early due to my schedule being adjusted so I could go get an allergy shot after work, which I did. I then picked up some toilet paper from my apartment and ran it over to my friends' as they were out, ate some Morningstar Farms tomato basil pizza burgers and macaroni and cheese, watched a few things with YKWIA, and took A on a very long and grueling run to the grocery store (it was a two-cart run). I fixed YKWIA some dinner, and we watched some 'Grace and Frankie' and the beginning of the second season of 'House of Anubis'. Then YKWIA and I made four (count them, four) traditional derby-style pies for A's picnic tomorrow. We just finished a short while ago. They're in the pantry cooling on racks.

So now I'm home, and very, very tired. I am also very poor at the moment, and just raided a coin-collecting book that had about $5 worth of state quarters in it so that I could pay for parking tomorrow, as I need to go visit my mom, who's in a hospital here in Lexington. My stepfather called me earlier to let me know. I'm worried about her; this is the second hospitalisation in two months. Hopefully everything will be alright.

Okay, I have a little spinach-artichoke hummus and pita in me now. I'm heading to bed, after one more short post. Good night.

But first

let me just say that I am horrified by the events of last night where a white gunman (fortunately captured) opened fire in a black church, killing nine people. My thoughts and prayers are with the families of those involved. I was also saddened to learn that one of those killed was a librarian.

Cynthia G. Hurd, Librarian, Among Those Killed in Charleston Shooting

On the night of Wednesday, June 17, a gunman opened fire at a prayer meeting at Mother Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, SC; officials described the shooting as racially motivated. The suspect was apprehended Thursday morning in North Carolina, more than 200 miles away. Nine community members were killed, including Cynthia G. Hurd, manager of St. Andrews Regional Library branch at Charleston County Public Library (CCPL).

UPDATE: According to a report I read earlier today (6/19/15), the Charleston County Public Library shut down on Thursday in memory of Mrs. Hurd, and the two branches she'd headed were also closed today. There are plans to rename the St. Andrews Regional Library branch after her. What a wonderful way to honour her memory:

Librarian Cynthia Hurd dedicated her life to books, educating others

I think that this was the longest I'd gone

without blogging for awhile. I have no real excuse, other than the fact that I've been coming home, going straight to the bedroom where there's a fan (I'm having some trouble with my air conditioning), put up my feet (which aren't as swollen these days), and sometimes icing them and the knees as well. Then I promptly fall asleep.

Life has also been fairly quiet. We've been watching 'Grace and Frankie' on Netflix when I'm over at my friends' house. We finished the first season of 'House of Anubis' as well. Class went really well last night. So basically, same old, same old.

I'll try to blog something meaningful tomorrow. It's past midnight (YKWIA and I have been on the phone) and I have to get up in five hours and a bit. Good night.

I know something will get me in the end

but I'm glad I have never smoked, and I wish someone in my family would quit. She already has COPD, and I worry about her, as I watched her father go through the same thing.

Smoking Blamed for Half of Deaths From Major Cancers in People Over 35

About half of U.S. deaths caused by certain cancers -- including lung, colon and pancreatic tumors -- can be attributed to smoking, a new American Cancer Society study estimates.

In 2011, nearly half of the almost 346,000 deaths from 12 cancers in people 35 and older were linked to smoking, the study found.

"Despite large declines in smoking in the United States over the last 50 years, smoking still accounts for the majority of lung cancer deaths," said study co-author Rebecca Siegel, the American Cancer Society's director of surveillance information.

The researchers looked at 12 cancers known to be caused by smoking. In 2011, they found that 346,000 people died from these types of cancer. The researchers also had data on current and former smoking, and found that almost 168,000 of these deaths were due to tobacco.

Smoking is preventable. These deaths are preventable. It's no guarantee--people get cancer who have never smoked, even lung cancer, but it would decrease the deaths substantially. Isn't that worth putting down the cancer stick?

Did you see this?

Why Did Elle Magazine Pull An Ad Featuring A Skinny Model?

The pose was more than a little disconcerting, with rib cage obvious and legs about the same width as the young girl's ankles. The picture wasn't of a death camp survivor, but an ad for Yves Saint Laurent, one of fashion's premier houses. When The Advertising Standards Authority, a U.K. watchdog for the advertising world, banned the ad from publication, the fashion world was stunned. But they instead should have been stunned that the fashion world has not recognized the worsening trend for unhealthily skinny models. Isn't it time for the United States to follow Europe's lead in striking down the use of these scarecrow models?

Something to remember when I'm scared to go into the pool for fear of being the 'pink blobbie'

Image credit: scarymommy.com

So sad to hear this!

Danzig Moon Suffers Fatal Injury

Derby runner Danzig Moon suffers fatal breakdown

A collision at the Queen's Plate Trial at Woodbine caused the horse to fall and break a leg, and he was euthanised. So sad.

An interesting yet disturbing period of medical history

How Black Slaves Were Routinely Sold As ‘Specimens’ To Ambitious White Doctors

The history of human experimentation is as old as the practice of medicine and in the modern era has always targeted disadvantaged, marginalised, institutionalised, stigmatised and vulnerable populations: prisoners, the condemned, orphans, the mentally ill, students, the poor, women, the disabled, children, peoples of colour, indigenous peoples and the enslaved.

Human subject research is evident wherever physicians, technicians, pharmaceutical companies (and others) are trialling new practices and implementing the latest diagnostic and therapeutic agents and procedures. And the American South in the days of slavery was no different – and for those looking for easy targets, black slave bodies were easy to come by.

Putting the deaths of World War II in perspective, and those in wars since

The Fallen of World War II by Neil Halloran

WORLD WAR II’S IMPACT VIEWED IN A NEW LIGHT IN “THE FALLEN OF WORLD WAR II”

I'm enjoying watching these with YKWIA

I mean, how can you go wrong with this cast?

Something to make you think

I find it very relaxing, and yes I have crayons and coloured pencils at home--I should invest in some colouring books

For Adults, Coloring Invites Creativity And Brings Comfort

Adult coloring is surging in popularity, and I've wondered why. Sure, it is engaging, relaxing and helps combat stress — and who doesn't in our too-hectic lives need more of that terrific trio? Yet I can experience those things from my primary leisure activity, reading fiction. What coloring offers that reading does not is explained aptly by clinical psychologist Kimberly Wulfert for EverydayHealth.com:

"In coloring, you've got this physical sensation of the tool you're using touching on the paper. You also have the feeling in your hands and fingers holding this tool, and moving in different rhythms as you fill in the space," she says, adding that "you're being mindful, and when you move in a rhythmic fashion for an extended period of time, that becomes a meditation."

Something fun and cute--these are adorable

22 Before-And-After Photos Of Pets Growing Up With Their Favorite Toys

Fighting stereotypes with humour--and truth :)

BBC Trending: Female scientists post 'distractingly sexy' photos

Female scientists have been sharing "distractingly sexy" photos of themselves after a feminist website encouraged them to respond to comments by a Nobel laureate. Nobel Prize winner Tim Hunt was roundly criticised when he detailed his thoughts about the "trouble with girls" at a conference of science journalists. "Three things happen when they are in the lab," he said, "you fall in love with them, they fall in love with you, and when you criticise them they cry."

He said his comments were meant to be "light-hearted, ironic comment", but whatever the intention, it went over like a heavy metallic dirigible in a field with some widely acknowledged gender issues. Hunt has now resigned from his position at University College London.

On Thursday the hashtag #DistractinglySexy began taking off, with more than 10,000 tweets in a matter of hours. The trend was prompted by a shout-out by the feminist online magazine Vagenda which urged female scientists to share pictures of themselves at work.

and then there was this:

The unseen women scientists behind Tim Hunt’s Nobel prize

Hunt calls women scientists “girls”, as though they are immature, and incapable of forwarding academia in any serious way. He suggests they disturb serious, hard-working men in their scientific pursuit. Yet Hunt knows women who have bolstered to his own success. He is obviously aware of the ground-breaking research women are doing in science; he is certainly more aware than any member of the public, and many of those criticising him. Is it that only some women are distractions, or maybe he thinks he would have won several Nobel Prizes if there were no women around?

It is obvious that his comments were sexist, but few people could recognise the names or faces of the women he has so thoughtlessly brushed aside. Even in his inadequate apology, he neglected to mention any women scientists who have impressed him during his career, choosing instead to justify himself with unsolicited details about his love life. Many have railed against Hunt’s casual chauvinism, without questioning why positive remarks about women are still missing. Would such comments be irrelevant? Unless we acknowledge the stories of women he has forgotten, a negative portrayal of women once again takes centre stage.

I look and feel sunburnt

but except for about 15 minutes today, with lots of sunscreen on, I haven't been in the sun except what has come through the window while driving, and the most painful part is on the back of my head, where it should have been safe in the car. So I'm not sure what happened. I've been red-faced and hot all day, inside, and a little sweaty. I really used the fan my co-worker let me borrow a lot today. We had our big sports clinic at work today, too, so most people were out there. I volunteered to make the certificates (we'd already printed them on cardstock, so all I had to do was add the name and a gold seal, the latter of which weren't particularly sticky, so I found a decent glue stick and went to work with that). The good news about that is I contributed, but didn't have to spend the day out in the sun and heat (it's 88 at the moment with a heat index of 96, and that's in the late afternoon, not in the middle of the day when everyone was outside). We got a free lunch, but I don't do hamburgers or hotdogs (or baked beans with meat in them), so I had a cheese sandwich with Fritos and a fountain drink. I'm hoping to have something more substantial for dinner. I kind of wish I'd ordered a shirt, but I didn't. They're a heather blue. In the past a lot of times they were pretty much neon, which I cannot wear without looking washed out. I do have one from last year in cyan that I got after the fact when someone didn't pick theirs up. Maybe that will happen again. :)

After work I ran some errands, but didn't get my allergy shot. I'll have to get back on track on Tuesday. I paid my rent (yes, it's late), and requested a new lease be drawn up for me to sign (eighteen months and it only goes up $5 a month, which isn't too bad, and after all I've been here 10 years and would like to stay).

I'm on my own for tonight. Last night I finally got some rest, and recuperated fully from the weekend of training last week. Today I'm going to try to watch something or do some reading, something fun, rather than just go in there and crash. I may go into the pool, for that matter, depending on how I feel after dinner. I did find the glasses I couldn't find this morning (they were of all things on my dining room table, not at the bedside (their place) or the bathroom). So I could wear them over to the pool. I had a spare, older pair as a backup with me that I packed in my bag just in case I had any trouble with my contacts. On any given day my purse or bag contains as a minimum:

1. Medical supplies (a bag with my oral meds, a pill reminder box, pen needles, injection pens, and the charger for my glucometer)
2. Glucometer
3. Epi-Pen twin pack
4. Asthma inhaler and spacer
5. Ear buds
6. Phone charger
7. Kindle charger
8. Kindle
9. Bag with toiletries such as a small hairbrush, lip balm, contact case and solution, glass cleaner and microfibre cloth, fingernail clippers, mirror, magnifier, and measuring tape)
10. Eyeglasses in case
11. Wallet
12. Pen and highlighter

So obviously small purses are right out. I do have a wallet case on my phone for the absolute essentials such as driver's licence, credit cards, and AAA card. Everything else is in the normal wallet. But if I'm over at my friends' and have to run to the store, I can just carry my phone in my pocket without bringing the bag. On the other hand, I discovered last weekend that putting a key card for a hotel room near your phone is a quick way to get it not to work. I don't know if it erased or just scrambled it, but I couldn't get in. Fortunately a nice lady in the room next to me saw me and went down and asked them to key me another, since I had all those bags and it saved me a trip down. On the other hand, women who look nice but who perhaps aren't could have easily fooled the staff into giving her a key to my room, so I don't know exactly if it really was a good thing or not. :)

Okay, dinner's here. I'll write later, after I check today's news.

Now I remember why

I'm not a big fan of compression stockings. They are hard to get on, harder to get off, get progressively less comfortable throughout the day as swelling gets worse, are hot (and I, like many people, only really swell up with heat), and it feels like the cuffs cut off my circulation at the end of the day. But I did manage to keep them on all day, which is great. The left foot looks mostly normal; the swelling occurred up in the calf where the compression isn't as much as at the ankle. The right foot and ankle is very swollen, but only about 2/3 of what it looked like last night. While my feet and legs are somewhat uncomfortable, I am not in the pain I was last night, and my knee is better. This may mean the New Balances and compression hose are just going to have to be a part of my future, even though it is very hot. But I did get around that somewhat because one of my co-workers has a medium-sized fan that they got her when she was pregnant with her daughter, and she's let me borrow it for now (until she's further along in her current pregnancy). It's under the desk, so when I turn it on, it blows on my feet and legs, where I get hot the most, and by keeping it cooler, I think that helped with the swelling as well.

So now I'm lying on my side on the bed, staring at the computer screen with my head cocked (not great if you have bifocals), with my right foot up on a Euro sham pillow, above my heart.

Since the weekend of training, I have been over at my friends' house or in class until very late, getting home around midnight each night. As a result, I still feel very tired over the training, and so tonight I'm going to try to relax a little bit. I should get into the pool, but frankly it's over 90 degrees out there, and I'd rather be inside with the air conditioning, the fan, etc. I do now have proper sunscreen for the pool, including the sprayable clear type that's good for backs or the part of the hair.

To that end, I'm going to take a short nap, hopefully, without it turning into a longer sleep. But first:

Let me just say that I was very sad to learn of the death of Sir Christopher Lee, who was in over 250 films, and ahd a long and illustrious career. His sonorous voice and thin build usually made him be cast as the bad guy, whether as Count Dooku in Star Wars, Saruman in Lord of the Rings, or any number of monsters in the Hammer horror films, to name a few. But my absolute favourite character of his was Lord Summerisle of The Wicker Man. I love that movie, and his performance was excellent. To be so prolific, for so long, is amazing. He was acting into his nineties, which is remarkable. RIP Christopher Lee.

Sir Christopher Lee: Screen legend dies aged 93

I tried to post last night

But it got hung up somehow.  I was so tired I fell asleep while taking a quiz on Facebook about what Hogwarts teacher you were (I was Dumbledore). My feet were swollen and hurting (see photo),  as was my knee. So I put them up on a big pillow.  Today I plan on putting my legs into some support hose (if I can get them on),  and wearing pants and my New Balances rather than sandals,  and see if that helps. They'll be hot,  but still.  And yes, I'm also on a diuretic.  Okay time to get ready for work.

One last post for the night

This was a good opinion piece from Kelly Gunning, the director of advocacy and public policy for the National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI) in Lexington.

Banishment of mentally ill all too common: Son also given trips; Horine case violated court order

It should come as no surprise that severely mentally-ill citizens of this country have long been targeted for relocation by some dubious law-enforcement agencies. In the case of Adam Horine, a compassionate judge, Carroll District Judge Elizabeth Chandler, could sense immediately upon interacting with him that he was not a dangerous criminal but a very ill individual pleading to go to the hospital. According to the news report, Chandler ordered an immediate mental-health examination of Horine and his transport to Eastern State Hospital. It is also noted that a social worker’s preliminary evaluation confirmed the judge’s initial read. Yet these prudent and justified acts of advocacy, according to the report and accompanying video, were soon overridden by Carrollton Police Chief Michael Willhoite and Officer Ron Dickow, who put him on a bus to Florida.

Also in The Lexington Herald-Leader today of note:

A picture of the Central Library check-out desk, 1982.

And a followup on the story of the bicyclist who was killed by an allegedly drunk driver recently:

Justice system failed family of Lexington bicyclist allegedly killed by drunk driver, widow says

Just a week before his death, Mark Hinkel said if anything ever happened to him while biking, he'd be OK with it because he'd be doing what he loved.

"I don't think he dreamed anything would happen" when he said that, his widow, Mary-Lynn Hinkel, said in a recent interview.

Mark Hinkel, 57, was at mile 99 of the Horsey Hundred 102-mile Century ride on May 23 in Scott County when he was hit by an oncoming truck whose driver allegedly was drunk. Hinkel landed on the truck bed cover, and the driver went about 3 miles with Hinkel on the cover before the truck was stopped by police. Odilon Paz-Salvador, 29, has been charged with murder.

Okay, let's put aside for a moment that this driver had no driver licence and is an illegal alien who should have been deported years ago back to his homeland. Let's look at this:

Paz-Salvador told officers after his arrest that he had nine previous DUIs, most older than five years.

The fourth DUI during a five-year period is a felony in Kentucky, but after five years, a person's DUI count resets. As a result, a driver could be charged every five years, and each time it would be the driver's first offense.

Without the five-year reset, Paz-Salvador would have been in prison, and Mark Hinkel would be alive today, Bayer said.

"The laws were not in place to protect our father, or anyone's father," Lauren Lewis said. "We cannot let another family go through what we're going through right now, because it's just unimaginable."

I hope the laws regarding driving under the influence and the 5-year reset will be changed as a result of this case. My heart goes out to the family of Mark Hinkel.

And lastly, there was a horrific accident on I-75 Southbound at the Clay's Ferry bridge. A tractor trailer caught on fire and the driver, no doubt fearing for his life, jumped from the cab, taking him off of the bridge and down below, where his body was found after the semi-truck crashed into a barrier, with flames spreading behind it for several trailer lengths. Someone shot a very chilling video of the fire. No one else was apparently hurt, which is a miracle, although the interstate was shut down for some time, there was a fire where the fuel came down off the bridge, and some of the fuel may have made it into the river, according to the Herald-Leader. The driver was from Florida. I am so sorry for his family. It was a horrible choice he had to make, and there was little chance short of a miracle that he would emerge unscathed, judging by the reports.

It was so nice to be back and able to visit with friends

Today was National Best Friend Day, in case you missed the memo, so after work I took some soy burgers, whole wheat buns, egg mustard potato salad, and cookies over to my friends' house and we all had a nice dinner. YKWIA and I watched some videos (including the one below), and then a couple of paired episodes of 'House of Anubis'.



As great as this weekend was, I was happy to get back into my routine with work and then spend time with my friends, whom I had missed, I must admit. Still, it was nice to get away from the norm for a couple of days.

Totally off topic, I've reserved Windows 10 for both computers, as the little Windows logo appeared in my desktop tray, and it has you go ahead and sign up. It'll be released on July 29th.

As another non sequitur, I just had the best, sweetest California blackberries. They tasted as fresh as if I'd just gotten them from a field. Yay!

I do have to admit that I didn't really feel that tired from the weekend until today, when I've struggled to stay awake. Now I;m thinking of going on to bed to crash. After all, the fan is in the bedroom and I've become hot this evening, even with air conditioning and the fact that it's only 70 degrees in my apartment and middling humidity. I am going to have to call my landlady tomorrow, though, as my air conditioning, which is above a walk-in closet, in which I try not to keep anything easily damaged, is leaking slowly. So they'll probably have to take what's in there out (the Christmas tree in a big container, a bedside commode, a shower chair, and that sort of thing) out, and fix it. But that is for tomorrow. For now, I am going to turn the laptop off, turn out the aquaria lights, and set my alarms, after I do a quick check of the news. I had a clock application freeze this morning, causing me to think it was an hour earlier than it really was, but fortunately I discovered it with just enough time to get to work on time. So here's to that not happening again. Good night.

One last one before bed...

Apparently I'm in an 80s mood

A fantastic song and classic video for no discernible reason

Yay, I am home!

There were really no problems. I used Google Maps on my phone to get to my meeting this morning, and then get back on the Watterson Expressway and I-64 to get home. Once I reached Lexington, I decided to stop for dinner as a reward for doing so well, and the Google Maps application voice was increasingly insistent that I wasn't going the right way home. :) But I was much more relaxed on the trip home, even going past an accident on the on-ramp to I-64 and some major construction that had us at times at a standstill, and sometimes going maybe 20 miles an hour, tops. I even passed some on the way home, whereas last time I was really just trying to make sure no one merged into me.

The training was absolutely excellent. I am so stoked for class on Wednesday. I had a great roommate, met some really wonderful people, and received a tremendous amount of information (and my own teacher's handbook). I want to thank NAMI Kentucky for paying for my hotel for two nights plus meals (one of their people actually went and got me something yesterday for lunch since I didn't eat meat). The hotel staff were fine, the hotel was a little oddly set up (sink in the hall, bath having a toilet and bathtub/shower), but serviceable. I did very nearly leave a library book that had a white cover on the white sheet of the bed, and my shave gel and body wash were saved from the bathroom thanks to my roommates vigilance during walk-through.

So now I'm home with my suitcase, vanity case, laptop bag, CPAP bag, purse/tote bag, jug of distilled water, training manual and portfolio, cup of favours we had at our seats, and a muffin I grabbed that was left over from breakfast. It took three trips to get everything in. And while I'm not as exhausted as I thought I'd be, I am planning on getting some rest, take my contacts out, get into something comfy (I've already done the latter), and just chill. I considered going into the pool for a bit, as it's still open, but I really just want to enjoy being home and lounge around.

Overall, I did very well. The driving was a bit nerve-wracking at first, but it did get better, and actually I drove home on the interstate without my anxiety medication, because I left before I normally take it and didn't think about it at the time. I had never used the Google Maps application on my phone before for navigation, and didn't have to on Friday or Saturday, but this morning the only thing I did wrong was get off at the 15A exit rather than 15B off the Watterson onto Gardiner, but I just had to do a U-turn, which the woman in front of me did as well (she was in our group, the one who got the food for me yesterday) and we had done the same thing in my roommate's car yesterday, so I just went with the flow, and kept going, and made it with no trouble.

Okay, I have informed my friends that I am back, and I seem to be heading towards a small crash. Here's to taking my contacts out, setting up my CPAP, and crawling into bed for awhile, even though there's still plenty of sunshine left.

What an absolutely long day, but a good one

So my day started about 5:50 am. The seminar started at 7:15, and I was fortunate to ride over with my roommate and another attendee to the college campus where it is being held. Tomorrow, though, I'll have to go over on my own, as I'll have to check out of the hotel before I go to the meeting. Today we met till about 6:30 pm and then went to a restaurant, Buckhead Mountain Grill, on Bardstown Road, where I had a portabella mushroom sandwich and a sweet potato, plus rolls with cinnamon butter. It was excellent, and it was nice that the organisation was paying for our meals. One of the ladies even went and got me a fish sandwich from McDonald's when we were going to break for lunch this afternoon, because they'd ordered smoked turkey and ham sandwiches/boxed lunches from Panera, and there were no vegetarian or pescetarian options. But she called them and tomorrow there's a veggie sandwich that she's ordered for me. We had muffins and giant, yet sweet, oranges for breakfast. Tomorrow they're having muffins and bananas, but it'll be running from 8 am to 5 pm, so technically I should be able to eat at the breakfast bar at the hotel before leaving. We're going to get up early and get packed, then eat (the breakfast bar starts at 7 am), and then head over to the class. Then I'll go home from there after all is said and done.

It's been a day packed with all sorts of useful information. I've learned a lot. We went through various materials and several of the lessons. Tomorrow there's about eight lessons to go over, so it'll be pretty intense as well.

I really have enjoyed this experience so far. My classmates and teachers are all very pleasant and have a lot of experience that's proving useful.

Oh, and it was great that we got to the restaurant right before the Belmont Stakes started, and we got to watch American Pharoah win the Triple Crown. Yay!!!

Okay, I've got a bit of a headache, so I think I'll take some ibuprofen, drink some caffeine, and get some rest. I may write some more in a little while, but for now I just want to catch my breath. I'm in my sleep shirt and shorts, and got all comfy at least, as soon as I got in, and checked on my friends as well. So I'm ready for some quiet time.

I made it, yay!

I got onto the Interstate around 4 pm, after checking the oil and tyres, and putting a quart of oil in, and pretty much stayed behind tractor trailers that were doing between 60-65 mph (the speed limit is 70), and just let anyone who wanted to go around me do so. It worked out that, with one exception, I didn't even have to worry about people trying to merge into my lane. So all is well.

I did really well on the Interstate, although my hands are a bit cramped from holding the steering wheel for so long and so hard. :) I got off the Interstate at the correct exit, got to the next couple of streets, and only had trouble with the actual street for the hotel I'm in. I went down the wrong way and back and forth a couple of times, then decided there was a big white building on the other side of the road that might be the correct building, and it was. Yay! I checked in, but my keycard didn't work, either because it didn't take when they keyed it or because I put it next to the phone. So a nice lady in the next room who was going back down told them (I had all five bags and a jug of distilled water with me, so she thought she'd save me the trip), and she brought up the new one. I came in, put my stuff down, and plugged in my phone, which was kind of low on battery, and called YKWIA to report.

The quarters are nice. There are two double beds. The bath is just a bathtub/shower and toilet, with the sink out at the entrance to the room. It has a TV, microwave, mini-fridge, etc. The only thing so far I'm having issues with is that the outlet for my CPAP seems to be behind the actual bed. I waited until my roommate came in to choose beds, wanting her opinion. Now that I have mine (near the window), I can try to get behind the pillows and see if there's anything there. The clock is plugged up, so there must be something. The bedside lamp doesn't have any outlets. The desk lamp has two, one for the fridge and one free one, which is currently hosting my phone charger.

It's nice and cool in here, which is great. Even though I don't normally use my car air conditioner, I did on the way up because 1) it's very hot outside, and 2) it means less drag on the car at higher speeds. But I'm still sweaty from the trip.

I double-checked with one of our hosts and we're on our own for tonight, with the agenda starting at 7:15 am. My roommate did check in; she and another lady who she gave a ride to are out eating dinner right now. I'm going to check and see what's around here. I did see a Subway, but there might be something better. I wanted to charge the phone up a little and rest a bit, but I haven't eaten in almost 7 hours, so I'm getting a bit peckish.

At least the hotel does have free Wi-Fi. That's nice. So I can update here, although over the next couple of days, I'll have very little time to. Tomorrow has a very early start and could run twelve hours in terms of training; Sunday we'll be here at least until 4:30 or 5 pm.

Okay, I'm going to check out what's around here. The hotel serves breakfast, but not any other meals, so I'll have to go back out in the heat to find something. With that in mind, I'll check online and see what's around first.

Have a good weekend!

Home from work

I left everything on the bed, because I decided it would be really hot in the car today, and didn't want anything damaged. I'm starting to get very nervous. I've taken my afternoon medicine, which includes the BuSpar, early, since I'll be on the road when it would normally be time. I'm not in panic mode at the moment. I just feel very nervous, my stomach is bothering me, and I'm having tell myself to breathe slower. I'm going to call YKWIA before I leave. In the meantime, everything is packed and ready to go; I'm going to try to leave by 3:00 or 3:15 pm, so within half an hour. I am going to stop and check my oil and tyre pressure before I get onto the Interstate. Then it's on the road from there. Wish me luck.

Speaking of strikethrough

This made me laugh myself silly yesterday when YKWIA showed it to me. Enjoy!

I am up exceedingly early

I'm going to break Internet protocol, and post things ahead of time about a short trip I am taking. I hope that does not mean bad things will happen, but this is really basically my diary, and given my driving anxiety, I need to write a bit here before I go.

First, the things I have to do before I go to work (and for once I won't use strikethrough on the list; suffice to say it all has to be accomplished:

1. Get some water in me; I'm very dry.
2. Switch from my backpack to my Chicago tote bag in terms of 'purses'.
3. Take a portfolio with various information on the training I'm doing related to the class I'm teaching.
4. Make sure I have the Kindle charger with me.
5. Fill up my medicine box, replenish my pen needles, get extra insulin together, and put in an extra phial of test strips.
6. Make sure I have my highlighter and plenty of pens, as well as the sticky notes for the training notebook they'll give me.
7. Get my clothes together for the weekend.
8. Bring three books, Pete Earley's Crazy, the Anxiety and Phobia Workbook, and a book on mobile technologies in libraries that I have to review by month's end.
9. Take apart my CPAP and get it into its bag.
10. Charge my phone (I fell asleep without doing it.)
11. Charge my laptop.
12. Transfer the game recording over to the laptop so I can work on that if I have time this weekend.
13. Get ready.
14. Feed the fish.
15. Water the plants.
16. Put the toiletries into a bag.
17. Put the bags all together.
18. Make sure I have distilled water jug with me for the CPAP.
19. Program my destination into my phone
20. Return an interlibrary loan to the public library.

All in all, with my 'purse/tote', I have five bags, plus a water jug, but they're all small and portable. Fortunately there will be no plane rides with this, so I can take whatever I want.

The training is pretty intense: 7:15 am Saturday to 7 pm plus dinner; 8 am Sunday to 5 pm, with breaks about every two hours and meals provided.

I'm a little nervous about the drive, but not in full-blown panic, which is good. We'll see if that changes once I'm on the Interstate. But people have assured me that I-64 is much easier to handle than I-75, I should avoid most construction, and the plan is to leave work early enough to get a good start before rush hour traffic happens. Of course, once I get to Louisville, I'll be in rush hour traffic there, most likely, so I guess you pick your poison there. It's only about an hour and a half drive, straight up the Interstate to the hotel. The college where the training is a little further away from the hotel than I thought it would be, but it's a short jump on the Watterson Expressway from I-64, and while I could go the back roads, I've never actually driven in Louisville and it would probably be easier to keep to the major ones. In a way, I'm looking forward to the actual trip up there. I have a roommate at the hotel; I hope she's okay with my (very quiet) CPAP.

Okay, I have reached the point where I get ready for work. I haven'd decided whether to get my allergy shot before I leave town or not. I'm afraid I'll get bogged down with things if I try to run any errands or do anything before I go. I think I'll skip this time; I can double up next week. In fact, I may just pack up everything into the car before leaving for work and then drive straight from there to the Interstate. I think my CPAP would be okay in the car trunk. We'll see.

So glad someone found this little fellow

Sage advice

How to Have Cats Without Being a Cat Lady

If you’re a middle-aged single woman who happens to own a cat (or even a few cats), you don’t have to be pigeonholed into the old “cat lady” adage. With an increasing number of women choosing to live in single households, having a cat provides the same benefits of pet ownership but without the more dependent entanglements associated with having a dog or other high commitment companion animal. Although the “cat lady” stereotype prevails, you can still have a cat and not be a cat lady.

Listening to:

Good night.

Nice rendition of a song I love

Teaching my first class

went really well tonight. We've got a great bunch of people. Here's to a wonderful summer of learning!

I am so sorry to hear this

Jean Ritchie, Who Revived Appalachian Folk Songs, Dies at 92

Jean Ritchie, who brought hundreds of traditional songs from her native Appalachia to a wide audience — singing of faith and unfaithfulness, murder and revenge, love unrequited and love lost — and in the process helped ignite the folk song revival of the mid-20th century, died on Monday at her home in Berea, Ky. She was 92.

Jean Ritchie, 1922 - 2015

"I see folk music as a river that never stopped flowing," she told The New York Times in 1980. "Sometimes a few people go to it and sometimes a lot of people do. But it's always there."

Here she is playing one of my favourite folk songs:



This is lovely:



Finally, one she wrote herself, about mountaintop removal, a controversial practice here in Kentucky:

I wish today had been sunnier and warmer

I know we do need the rain, but I'd hoped to go back into the pool today, but I don't think it even made it into the sixties in terms of temperature, and it rained most of the day and even now is very cloudy and could spit rain at any moment. Welcome to June, after several days of 80s in May. :)

Hmmm....an insider-turned-outsider's perspective on the Duggar abuse case

I could’ve been a Duggar wife: I grew up in the same church, and the abuse scandal doesn’t shock me

Unlike most of the writers covering the Duggar sex scandal, I was raised in Advanced Training Institute (ATI), the fundamentalist Christian organization with which the family is affiliated. Joshua Duggar’s confession of sexually molesting young girls in his family’s home when he was a teenager didn’t surprise me, nor should it surprise anyone with any intimate knowledge about this organization, because ATI’s theological beliefs and practices cultivate an environment where women and children are more vulnerable to rape and sexual abuse. Ironically, the same theological beliefs and practices at the heart of this scandal are the same beliefs that created the Duggars as a media phenomenon, and drew viewers and fans to their TLC show “19 Kids and Counting.”

Personally, I don't get the appeal that the Duggars had for viewers. Having that many children, in my opinion, in a world that has birth control and where people know how to use it, seems insane, irresponsible, and environmentally disastrous. I think people like the concept of good, wholesome people who are God-fearing and the such. But I think that's just a concept, an ideal, in this case. I don't have an issue with most people's beliefs, so long as there is no one being harmed by those beliefs, but if there is harm, then it really has to be examined and made right. And while I'm not against homeschooling, by any means, I think there are people out there who quite frankly don't know how to teach, don't know the subjects themselves, and don't bother to teach children with the rigour they should.

I hope that viewers get a clue and stop supporting these type of shows. Reality TV in and of itself is not really true entertainment, and quite frankly is deplorable. It's fake, but claims to be real. It amazes me that there are people out there who are famous and fabulously rich because they starred in a reality show. Come on, Hollywood, use some creativity--give us stories that matter, yet are riveting, and not in a train-wreck sort of way. And people need to hear about the darker side of these religious groups, whether it be ATI, or Scientology, or Child of God, or any of a number of movements that hold sway over their members down to their very thoughts.

What I find most deplorable of all about this situation is that while some amount of concern was shown for helping the teen who was the perpetrator in these sex abuses--however weak--no attempt at all seems to have been made to help the girls who were abused. And that, in my opinion, is not just wrong, un-Christian, and so sad, but is monstrous. But then, apparently female lives don't matter, and male ones do, in the Duggar world. If that's true, then it is a horrible place, and it should be shunned rather than broadcast to the masses as entertainment, for it could be damaging to other young girls in terms of its supposedly wholesome message.

I have never trusted those drying cages

and I could not imagine putting a dog inside and just leaving it. I have used them for incredibly fluffy dogs when I've taken the dogs to the dog wash at a local store, but always for a very short time, checking the temperature often, and under my supervision. There was definitely some sort of disconnect here. They basically baked this poor dog to death.

Dog dies after forgotten inside Petco’s drying cage during routine grooming: owner

After not hearing from the Richmond-area facility several hours after dropping Colby off, Marks said she called the location and was asked to meet them at an area animal hospital. There she found Colby, dead.

An assistant manager for the Chesterfield County Petco allegedly told her that the groomer left to attend a graduation ceremony after placing the dog inside of the heater.

"This is her exact words: Your groomer had to go because she had a graduation to go to," Marks told WTVR.

The heating machine was supposed to turn off at 15 minutes. More than an hour after the dog died, however, his body's temperature was still at 105 degrees, Marks said.

The vet said the dog appeared to have died from a heat stroke.

Our cafeteria really outdid themselves today

For $3.59 you could get a grilled salmon salad with a dressing that is basically a Ranch-raspberry vinaigrette, and it was very tasty. I also had a pepper stuffed with cheese, mushrooms, and carrots. When I went to leave this afternoon, I picked up another salad to take home for dinner. The salmon was a good size, and it was very tasty. The head of the department had seen it at a food show she attended recently. :)