tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-27160419839469975672024-03-05T05:55:43.880-05:00The View from Thunder RidgeAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.comBlogger33125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-92212702711994560832017-06-17T08:32:00.000-04:002017-06-17T08:32:03.115-04:00Eulogy for my wife - Joyce Shore<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Hi. Some of you know me as J. and others know me as
Jules and that’s the beginning of our story. <br />
In January 1990, I was assigned to a new base and I was divorcing my first
wife. I needed a change, so I changed my nickname to J.<br />
In January 1990, Joyce was already in Oklahoma City, having moved there with
her first husband and she was divorcing too. <br />
Sometime in late August of 1990, Joyce was granted a divorce. <br />
Roughly two weeks later, I was granted a divorce too.<br />
Some months later, Joyce and I were over the shock of all the change and we
were tired of being alone. Of course, we hadn’t met yet, but we were looking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
The Oklahoma Country and Western Dance Association gave free dance lessons at a
club off I-35 every Tuesday and Thursday; Two-step, Schottische, Waltz, and the
occasional line dance. The club members would usually stay to dance after
lessons. It drew people to the club on off nights. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">One Thursday in June 1991, after lessons, as everyone
was still hanging around, just as a new song started, I walked over to a table
of club members; Ken and Janice James, well, Janice had a different last name
then, but remember Ken and Janice because we will get back to them. Anyway, Ken
and Janice, and Ursula and Johnny had just sat back down, so I said to a lady
at the table, someone I’d never seen before, “Everyone else looks like they
need a break, would you like to dance?”<br />
<br />
And that, my friends, is the real beginning of this story. After a dance or
two, Joyce invited me to join her Saturday afternoon at an event held by a
different dance organization in town. I went, I danced, I won a door prize – a
gift certificate at a restaurant- , and I asked Joyce if she’d like to go to
dinner.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The next scene in the story has Joyce and me moving
in together to a rental house with Shadow, a 20 year old grey female cat, and
Timothy, an indoor/outdoor heavy weight tabby with one folded ear. You do
realize you can’t tell a story about Joyce without a few cats? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Come late October, still 1991, there was a morning
we opened the door to hear the howls of a cat across the street. “Hey, J. do
you wanna climb a tree?” Turns out the kitten was under the church van parked
across the street and not up a tree. He was, however covered in oil; I guess
the van had a leak. And that was Beetlejuice.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I know when, because a week after that we took a
road trip. A “Meet the parents” type event. We drove from Oklahoma City to
Jacksonville to surprise my Sis for her birthday and Joyce got to meet my
parents and my sister. Then we drove up to Culpeper and I got to meet Donna and
Harold and the kids. On the way back to Oklahoma City, we stopped at Nashville
to see the sights. We were in the audience for a taping of a Christmas special
by the Statler Brothers and a Crook & Chase show.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We went to dance contests in Muskogee and Dallas,
and I met Louise and Robby in Ada Oklahoma, and I met Bowman and Jane in Arkansas,
and time passed. We got an invite to Ken and Janice’s wedding, you remember Ken
and Janice, I told you we’d get back to them. Ken and Janice had a beautiful
wedding with all the club members in attendance, and the day after, I rolled
over in bed and said, “Let’s get married?” Not that dramatic as proposals go,
nor was it romantic, but it worked. On 8-8-92, the family gathered and a
wedding was had. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then came orders for a 4 year tour at Ramstein
Germany. We had a great time in Germany. We saw all the sights. Paris, Trier,
Cologne, Heidelberg, wine fests on the Mosel, cruising on the Rhine, Amsterdam,
Brussels, there was always something to do; someplace to see. And the cats came
too, Pipsqueak, and Minke, she’s the kitten the little German boys found, and
Gheist and Weizen born among the barn cats next door and cold and hungry and in
our door they came. We rescued some of Gheist and Weizen’s siblings and the
base vet would give them their shots and find a family for them.<br />
<br />
Then my time in the Air Force came to an end and I wanted to go back to school
for my Master’s degree. We had Florida driver’s licenses in our pockets,
because my parents lived there and Floridians pay no state personal income tax.
I needed a university and a base close together because I had rights to base
services for 2 years, so we settled in Tampa. It was great living close to my
folks. I hadn’t had holidays with my parents in years. And Joyce worked for a
group of orthopedic surgeons and I went to school and worked full time and life
was great.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then came the first of many health scares. Joyce had
a triple bypass. Recovery was complicated, but family took turns visiting for a
week at a time to keep Joyce company while I worked and went to school. And
Joyce got better and went back to work and that semester I graduated and then
got a job with Tampa Public Library. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But I was looking for a government job, because my
Air Force years count for retirement from the government. I was finally hired
and we moved up here. Joyce was thrilled to be back home and visits to see
Donna and Harold happened about every two months. Holidays were spent with the
Virginia relatives and Denise had married and Ashby had married and along came grand
nephews. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Joyce got a job in a Doctor’s office. They loved
her. She could do the paperwork while chatting with the patients and generally
being friendly. The exact person you want to be the face of your office.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
We rescued more kittens. I said no more at 13 and we got to 32 before Joyce realized
it was a lot of work and she couldn’t save them all.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">But Joyce was a type 1 diabetic, so there were more
health scares. In 2006 she had a stroke and the state said she had to stop
driving. But she recovered, and transportation was worked out and she kept
working for Dr. Sivieri. Her vision was worse. On average her corrected vision
was 20/70 meaning she saw at 20 feet what the average person sees at 70. But
she got magnifiers and computer software to magnify the screen and she could
still work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then in 2011, she had a Fem-Pop bypass, to improve
blood flow in her leg. And that surgery became infected and they had to re-do
it and she was released to home with two different IV antibiotics, given 3
times a day for one and twice a day for the other and I learned to give IVs
thru a picc line. The month passed and the antibiotic course ended and Joyce
and I both went back to our offices.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
And life went on, and we visited Culpeper and we went to birthday parties and
Thanksgiving and Christmas and we took care of our cats and we worked our jobs
until <br />
dun dun dun duh… <br />
The next health crisis.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In December 2012 Joyce got a cold and with it came
vertigo. The cold ended, but the vertigo never did. We saw the ENT and he
pointed us to the neurologist. We saw the neurologist and he pointed us to the
ENT. We saw the experts at Johns Hopkins and the final answer was there’s
nothing we can do about it. Diabetic neuropathy meant there was a lag time in
the signal from one inner ear compared to the other. If Joyce moved slow and
focused on a fixed point she could walk without falling down, but move too fast
or bend over to pick something up and she’d at best feel like she was falling,
at worse, she’d fall.<br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">She couldn’t work anymore and retired on Social
Security disability. Those were a very lean 6 months until Social Security
started paying, so we didn’t go out much or do much. But, as all things in
life, this too passed and we got back to normal except Joyce didn’t get out
much or do much.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then Joyce’s oldest sister, Donna passed and
Culpeper changed and Thanksgiving and Christmas just weren’t the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then along came the next High School Reunion and
Joyce got on the committee and had a ball tracking down info on old classmates
and putting together the reunion booklet with everyone’s info and coming to
Culpeper for meetings. After the reunion it got even better as a group decided
they didn’t want to lose touch. They decided on bimonthly lunches and Joyce
became the one to send out reminder emails and we still got to Culpeper every
two months and Joyce had something to do.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Then came a day in late September 2016 when Joyce’s
chronic dizziness resulted in a fall at home. She said she landed on her butt,
but she had a bruise the size of my hand on her right hip. She thought she was
okay, but was walking kinda stiff. After two weeks she was still stiff so we
started seeing doctors to figure out what was wrong. We started with an xray
that didn’t tell us much because her right hip had been replaced in 2015 and
metal doesn’t play well with xrays. Then we saw the hip doctor and her walking
got worse and we saw the back doctor and surgery was decided on to occur Dec
29, 2016. We released from the hospital to a rehab center for two weeks of rehab,
but the surgery was infected and Joyce went back to the hospital and got
cleaned out and started on IV antibiotics and we went back to rehab for a four
week stay. On February 15<sup>th</sup> Joyce was back home. There were wound
dressing changes and Physical Therapy and she was still on IV antibiotics, but
as you can tell from the rest of this story, those were all old hat by now and
life went on and Joyce got healthier.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">We almost made the March lunch for the class of 68,
but Joyce thought a 2 hour car ride might be too much. She was uncomfortable
after 30 minutes in a car; 2 hours? Nah. Next time she’d be better.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">On Friday April 7<sup>th</sup> she went to PT and we
went to lunch and everything was normal. Overnight between Saturday the 8th and
Sunday the 9<sup>th</sup>, Joyce woke me up to help her get to the bathroom.
She couldn’t roll over without pain. Three courses of pain meds overnight
didn’t help, so we went to the ER and found Joyce had her second infection of
this surgery. We thought it was all over and life was going back to normal.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br />
And I’m going to wrap it up soon because it’s recent and raw and I don’t want
to cry or make you cry. Infections are the leading cause of confusion in older
people. So each of these infections would be accompanied by periods when Joyce
didn’t know where she was or why she couldn’t go home. <br />
But, the second infection led to a third infection and more confusion and
unfortunately the confusion never cleared and she was diagnosed with Lewy Body
Dementia. Fortunately Joyce had told us, in an advanced directive that she
didn’t want to live that way, so we withheld all medical interventions and let
her go. Her way.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 115%;">And the story ends, and the second era of Joyce’s
life ends and the second era of my life ends. <br />
<br />
Hi. I’m Jules. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-17992362663114401342014-09-11T23:10:00.000-04:002014-09-11T23:10:07.587-04:00In Memoriam: 9/11/2001<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">On this thirteenth anniversary of the attacks, I thought I'd
write up my memories of activities around me on that day. One thing I've
learned in talking with people about 9/11 is the "localness" effect
on what they remember. I work in the DC Metro region so memories around here
relate to the Pentagon attack. Friends in North Jersey talk about the World
Trade Centers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I was in Tampa working for the Tampa-Hillsborough County
Public Library System at their headquarters library in downtown Tampa. The
President was reading to school children in Sarasota, FL. Sarasota is the south
side of Tampa Bay, which is surrounded by Tampa to the East & North, and
St. Petersburg to the West. The bay is split by a peninsula about 2 miles wide
and 5 miles high. The south end of that
peninsula is MacDill Air Force Base. With the President in the area, Air Force
One was parked at MacDill and I'm sure the Coasties got the rare opportunity to
use the call sign Coast Guard One and flew the Prez across the bay in one of
their rescue copters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">My desk was in a processing area on the third floor of the
Library. All of the Cataloging department staff had desks surrounding a central
area that was filled with book carts. I think there were 10 desks in total with space to pull
a book cart over to be the "third wall of the cubicle" while you were
working those titles. I was the Serials Librarian, having responsibility for
all of the magazine subscriptions and that type work, but I also spent half of
every day cataloging. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jjQwKUEZIjeldqX_vurU3B0hTYTWEt6B7DDCrNtYTvEzYRoeuGzIndTcWRlKIJ-idMO8wCOiVSuYhr8GDRXZLOpxrM7XyvQzK_csqqAq_35N_Mt5zs-OZaYbyL6_Qng3_3sSVw3l4jU/s1600/Mvc-163f.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6jjQwKUEZIjeldqX_vurU3B0hTYTWEt6B7DDCrNtYTvEzYRoeuGzIndTcWRlKIJ-idMO8wCOiVSuYhr8GDRXZLOpxrM7XyvQzK_csqqAq_35N_Mt5zs-OZaYbyL6_Qng3_3sSVw3l4jU/s1600/Mvc-163f.jpg" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
(THPL Cataloging department saying farewell to me Oct 2001. I don't remember what was the deal with the shoes.)</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">The cataloging area was designed to be stacks not offices,
so we had the type of windows you find in most basements, 24 inches wide by 12
inches high, installed right under the ceiling, so we couldn't look out to see
anything. We only knew if it was raining by the darkness.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">My shift started at 9 am, so I'm sure I didn't hear anything
until I was already at work. At work, we may have had a radio providing
background noise in the area. I think that's how we first heard that a plane
had crashed into the World Trade Center. (Or someone's kid may have called in
and said something.) </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I do remember that the first inkling we had of something
being seriously wrong was a sonic boom. They launched the ready fighters from
MacDill and those boys must have been in a serious hurry to get a low cap over
the field because they launched on afterburners and broke the sound barrier
within 1000 feet of the ground. It shook the building. With 12 years in the Air
Force, I knew what it was. (Sonic booms are distinctive.) But I also knew that
was serious if MacDill launched fighters without concern for the noise
generated. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">Shortly after that, we got word from the Director's office
that there had been a second plane, it wasn't an accident, and a TV had been
set-up in the break area so we could check on the news of the day. We sent someone from the section up to watch
and report back to us what was going on, but someone's kid or husband called in
before that to pass on the info that the towers had fallen and all flights were
being grounded. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The next big thing in my day was a call relating to a job
interview. I was scheduled for a phone interview with a federal agency on
09/12, but they were leaving the office, the government was being shutdown, and
they couldn't be sure they'd be back the next day. We rescheduled the interview
for a week later.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We'd get random news updates through the day.
When my shift ended I went home and saw nothing but news for the rest of the
day. We've all seen the same clips now, but I remember seeing as much footage
of the President being told about events as we did of the plane crashes into
the towers.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">President Bush in Sarasota 9/11/2001 </span></span><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="270" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Rg5NvKpJfKE" width="480"></iframe></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">I also remember the news never went off the air. Even though
they had nothing new to report, they just kept repeating the same stuff hour
after hour. Even the next morning the Today show was still repeating the same
old stories.</span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null" name="_GoBack"></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;">So, that's my recollections of the event. I'd like you to share your recollections via whatever social media you're most comfortable with. Recording memories is an interesting exercise.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-bidi; mso-fareast-font-family: Calibri; mso-fareast-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-84829054279144321752014-05-21T07:38:00.001-04:002014-05-21T07:38:13.632-04:00Talkin 'bout the Good Old Days<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">At the time
of this post, I'm 52 years old. I'm not one to reminisce about the good old
days. In most cases, they weren't that good. However, two recent conversations
and the Miranda Lambert song ‘Automatic’ (link below) have me thinking about some skills and
knowledge that kids are missing out on these days.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ksWKOy665o">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ksWKOy665o</a></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">When I went
to Junior High, in the mid 70's, we had a choice of 6 shop classes. In the
basement of the school we had 4 shops: electronics, metal, print, and wood. On
the second floor we had a kitchen and a sewing room.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In
Electronics, you learned the basics of power supply and home circuits. We would
repair cassette decks or stereo receivers. Everyone built a crystal radio. You
learned basics of batteries, fuses, circuit breakers, transistors, resistors,
and capacitors. You understood the difference between series and parallel
circuits. That means 13 year olds could figure the size and number of batteries
to power an off grid system for one day. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In Print
shop, you learned kerning of different fonts; you built a document to be
printed from moveable type. Building one 8 x 11 sheet gives you a greater
understanding of the process of printing a book after Gutenberg until the
advent of computers. We carved designs in print blocks, inked them, and made art
work. We cut stencils to silk screen T-shirts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In Metal
shop, we folded sheet metal into boxes with sealed seams that would hold water.
We cold pounded bars into wall hooks. We made sand castings and poured molten
metal into the form. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In Wood
shop, we learned safety around saws. Band saws, table saws, and drill presses were
all common hazards. We built wall shelfs and stools; fine wood working and utilitarian
work.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">In the Kitchen,
we'd whip up recipe after recipe. From simple chocolate chip cookies to
decorated cakes, we tried it all. Yes, it was the mid-70's so I was the only
boy in my home ec class. (Back then, home economics was a woman's domain.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">I didn't
take sewing, so I can't comment on the school course. I learned that at home.
And yes, I can replace a button or sew a whole shirt from a pattern.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">All of that
is what we lose when we move to teaching the test and stop worrying about the
whole person. One shouldn't need to be an electrician to understand how your home
electricity works. Everyone should be comparing electricity needs when they are
buying a new refrigerator, washer, dryer, etc.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">Building
something yourself gives you a better understanding of what is involved in the
products you buy from the store. It also makes you self sufficient if there
isn't a store nearby. I built my own three level cat tree when stationed in
Germany because the locals didn't have anything like it. Just plywood, fence
pole, carpeting, and tree branches, but it lasted 15 years and two major moves.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<div align="left" class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 130%;">
<span style="font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 130%; mso-bidi-font-size: 10.0pt;">There is a
basic core of knowledge and skills one should have to live on your own in this
society. Forty years ago you learned both in school. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-72623792373249527832014-04-03T00:16:00.000-04:002014-04-03T00:16:22.051-04:00I am privileged to be Pale and Male.<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In occasional Librarian discussions online, the
topics of diversity and privilege come up. Those topics go hand in hand, but
I'm only going to talk about privilege here. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I'll admit that I had a hard time understanding the
concept of privilege. It always seemed to be saying that I had everything
handed to me and I know that isn't the case. A few months ago, I came across
this blog post that did a good job of explaining the concept in a way I could
understand and agree with. <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://thefeministbreeder.com/explaining-white-privilege-broke-white-person/">http://thefeministbreeder.com/explaining-white-privilege-broke-white-person/</a></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">In a discussion today, I came across another way of
explaining it for those that still don't get it. Privilege is not about getting
things handed to you. Rather, it is about factors that are outside of your
control giving you a head start in the race. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Think about being given a deck of cards at birth
that sums up the total potential you have to rise up the pyramid of the social
structure we live in. My analogy says that white males are given a full deck of
all 52 cards. They can be anything they want to be. A black male or a white
female is given a deck that has only the black royal cards. S/he can still rise
up to be an Ace, but they have only half as many chances as the white male.
They can never be the King of Hearts; only the King of Clubs. A black female
only gets the royal cards of the clubs. She can still be an Ace, but she can
only be the Ace of Clubs and not the Ace of Diamonds.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdS5dpfD1fdLgX5vAxJjrbecR6OZEHQdlBtQOfVCgJq_Ea0Uvu7Vg8PZDVaNK3rQv-0KnzFOMZ1kQgEaw2NTASHxe3iPc0cj2rcWlF51ksvcQJE-fREkxvD5DR4WTQWrYrYpBdiKuDpJM/s1600/playing+cards.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdS5dpfD1fdLgX5vAxJjrbecR6OZEHQdlBtQOfVCgJq_Ea0Uvu7Vg8PZDVaNK3rQv-0KnzFOMZ1kQgEaw2NTASHxe3iPc0cj2rcWlF51ksvcQJE-fREkxvD5DR4WTQWrYrYpBdiKuDpJM/s1600/playing+cards.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Remember that none of this is your fault. This is
the way society is structured. If you apply to an Ivy League school, you're
playing your Jacks. Now black females have a Jack, so they can go to Harvard,
but they only have one Jack so they only have one shot at it. A white male has
all four Jacks so he can give it another shot if not accepted the first time
around. Was the difference their studies or their money? No. The difference was
what society expects when they see that person. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">For my analogy, I only focused on race and gender,
but there are many more factors that can be used to split us into social
groups. Rich / Poor, Healthy / Sick, Christian / Muslim / Jewish, Fat / Thin,
Athletic / Geeky. All of these groups are seen differently by society and
expected to perform differently in any given setting. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">You can't earn more cards. They're given at birth.
What's important as you play the game of life is you realize the differences
this uneven distribution produces. Know that everyone playing along with you can
win, but they aren’t all playing with the same odds. The game isn't fair. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /><span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
"Everybody knows the dice are loaded</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Everybody rolls with their fingers crossed</div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
Everybody knows that the war is over </div>
<span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Everybody knows the good guys lost </div>
</span><span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
Everybody knows the fight was fixed </div>
</span><span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
The poor stay poor, the rich get rich </div>
</span><span style="background-color: #ccccdd; font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">
That's how it goes </div>
</span><span style="background-color: #ccccdd; text-align: center;"><div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;">
Everybody knows"</div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; text-align: center;">
-- Leonard Cohen "Everybody knows" </div>
<div style="font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 13px; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, Arial;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG5e1oaen-M">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yG5e1oaen-M</a></span></div>
</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-45188458114552929492014-02-11T23:13:00.001-05:002014-02-13T00:57:32.242-05:00ALA Midwinter 2014 - A Travelogue<div dir="ltr">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here it is my blog post about ALA Midwinter 2014. Held at the
Pennsylvania Convention Center in Philadelphia. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This may surprise some people,
but this was my first ALA conference of any type. I've been a librarian for
almost 14 years. The first 3 years, I was a member of ALA because it wasn't full price, but I didn't see any reason to keep paying. Mostly I saw a lot of
resolutions on social problems that had nothing whatsoever to do with Libraries
or Librarians. People will ask for examples, but I'm concerned that anything I
identify will paint me as a jerk. Let me state upfront that I'm not saying the
topics were unworthy ones, but they were topics that did not relate directly to
Libraries or Librarians. You have to pick your battles or politicians will stop
paying attention. (Reference the "Boy who cried wolf")</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I've been to plenty of other Librarian Conferences, most notably 6
or 7 Computer in Libraries conferences over the years, but also, FLA, MLA
(Maryland not Medical), and NJLA. I even presented at CiL
2012.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">My first Facebook message about ALA Midwinter listed
the full names of the folks I met on Friday, but then I felt weird about listing
everyone's name. So this blog post is mostly going to feature just first names. I connected with people that I've met before and with people that I'm meeting face to face for the first time. For the most part, we weren't strangers; we just hadn't been in the same room before. We've had plenty of conversations, but they were online. I'm going to use 'meet or greet' for these interactions because I don't want to discriminate between the two conditions. I'm also going to apologize from the </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">beginning</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">. I know I've missed people. I don't mean it personally. I just met so many people that I got overwhelmed.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">A big part of this trip was to connect with my friends in their little electronic boxes, but equally important was trying to figure out where I fit in ALA. I've come to learn that you can only change an organization from within. I've also become very active with a Facebook group of Librarians, the ALA Think Tank. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/ALAthinkTANK/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/ALAthinkTANK/</a></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEDflmKldQzU-Pb0lPy0y_9IByCOsEe5tilpC1YqttlBCzyaRoEwZOarcmkK8YKfhUQ_O1vEMnp6XlRtXdrypkl6UuHniK6f6Ne-TrFkNFx7RiUlYnWk1KoNI8ZdUouiiZeMFhq90ifQ/s1600/midwinter+ribbons+edited.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdEDflmKldQzU-Pb0lPy0y_9IByCOsEe5tilpC1YqttlBCzyaRoEwZOarcmkK8YKfhUQ_O1vEMnp6XlRtXdrypkl6UuHniK6f6Ne-TrFkNFx7RiUlYnWk1KoNI8ZdUouiiZeMFhq90ifQ/s1600/midwinter+ribbons+edited.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
Enough of the preliminaries, let's get to the travelogue.</div>
<br />
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I drove up Friday from my home in Laurel, MD (about 2 hours),
checked in to the hotel, and caught the shuttle bus to the Convention center. I
got there in time to tour the exhibits at opening. I ate (pretzel, ours
d'oeuvres, sliders) and drank a glass of wine. While touring around, I met some
friends that I'd previously known online only and renewed some existing friendships. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">(Emily, Emily, Kate, Lauren, & TJ)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: 18.399999618530273px;"> </span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Then I bopped over to the Uncommons where I met some more friends (Paul, Michael, Maurice, and Courtney). They were discussing
dinner. I was totally prepared to consider my snacks at the Exhibits as dinner,
but the company was just too tempting so I joined. We had dinner at a Chinatown
restaurant and great conversation.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">M</span><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">ichael was talking about Executive board and he explained a
little about it since I had no idea what he was talking about. I asked him what
got him involved in ALA and I told him a quick version of my experience so far
with ALA. My memory isn't good enough to quote him, but much of what Michael
said meshed with my own experiences and feelings on the matter. I'm going to
credit him with helping to feed the flame that started in Think Tank as a little
spark. <span style="color: red;"></span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After dinner, I intended to attend the Urban Libraries Unite
gathering at the Field House. Even though we passed the Field House on the way
to dinner, I got turned around heading there. When I pulled out my phone for
Maps and got my bearing, I could see that I was the same distance from the Field House as the Hotel and it was freezing cold. I decided to just call it a
night.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Saturday morning started with the NMRT Conference Orientation. I
was a little late and ended up sitting on the floor. I'm really too old and too
fat for sitting on the floor. That orientation was scheduled in the smallest
room I saw during the whole conference. There were 4 round tables that sat 8
each. Maybe someone will take note and schedule a bigger room. I know they don't
expect as many newbies at Midwinter as at Annual, but that's just an excuse. I
talked with some folks, but none that I had previous connections
with.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Next on my schedule was the LITA all committees meeting, but I
didn't realize that. I saw an Interest Group meeting on the schedule and that's
what brought me to the room. The interest group didn't meet and I didn't find
any of the other committees to be interesting, so I left. I did get to meet or
greet a few folks. Jason and Andromeda stand out the most. (I spent more time
with the LITA folks later, so I may have met them on Saturday morning, but I'll
credit them later.) </span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Leaving the LITA all committees, I decided to head up to the Uncommons and saw Derrick. I put out a call for lunch mates and connected with a Jersey buddy, TJ. We went over to the Reading Terminal Market for sandwiches at DeNic's.
</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">After lunch I don't remember what I was interested in, but the room was beyond standing room only and the
presentation was already in progress, so I gave up shortly. I swung by the Uncommons and caught the end of the Ignite sessions and then hung out for another hour. While there I connected with Marge, Peter, Emily, JP, Patrick, John, Lauren, Annie, and probably some more. I think that was the first time I felt oddly famous as people were coming over to greet me. Some I recognized and some I frankly didn't. I go to these conferences with a mental list of folks I hope to run into. I never thought of the possibility that I'm on someone else's list. It's a reminder that you never know what impact you have on others. Someone thanked me for standing up for them, when I remember the discussion as just my normal day. I was just </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">stating</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> my opinion. It just so happened my thoughts agreed with someone who thought her words were being dismissed.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">At 4 or 4:30 I attended the LibTechGender discussion. It
was the most important event of the weekend, in my opinion. I've read the blog posts and articles about problems at some tech conferences and the ALA Code of Conduct. I'm aware that tech is significantly male, but this discussion brought up some other aspects I'd never heard or thought of. The tagline is "who isn't in the room?" But it is more than that. Cecily ,via skype, brought up the implicit discrimination that you feel when you look around the room and see no one that looks like you. You feel unwelcome and unwanted. The words may be saying we're inclusive, but the actions don't reflect it. Even if you have a diverse pool of workers, are they in the room asking the interview questions or are they just workers. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I really wish they weren't ending so close to the last shuttle bus because I wanted to meet some people that were there like Jessica, KG, and Myrna. But timing was tight so I caught the bus back </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">to the hotel to drop my bag and change for a night of partying.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I tried the car service Uber for a ride to Trilogy for the tweet up organized by Lauren and Annie. (I made sure to thank them on Sunday afternoon for organizing it.) It was a great location where we could drink and talk and we took advantage of both. At 9 we moved the party one block to the </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Latvian Society for the EveryLibrary fundraiser, film fest, and dance party DJed by Marc Recordz. I volunteered for the 10 pm to midnight shift doing coat check. I figured that would be a great way to connect with people since they had to come by when entering and leaving. It was almost too good of a thing. By midnight, I was overwhelmed by the people I'd greeted. I wasn't drunk; there were just too many of them. Some folks I remember from Saturday night include Michelle, Daniel, Lindsay, Erica, Kate, Ingrid, Craig, TinaMarie, Alisha, Erin, Megan, Jacob, & Mel. I drank another whiskey & soda after my coat check shift then caught an Uber ride back to the hotel.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Sunday morning started with the LITA Top Tech Trends presentation where I got to meet Carson. After TTT, I went to the Uncommons and caught the end of a game of Cards against Librarianship. That was cool. I really wish Emily had been there at Midwinter to see the results of her work. I also got to meet Larry.</span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXDyhCVVUkVyDOJ1kU4ALIhqL1R9lvKKcsVVEuH1NMnw5U-U76Nyyo8w481c49Mxr_XsauTLziNeMipJxmVNRyaXcNukZGBnpoPr0Tf83H2ulbSnhX009ATT9vYOc8uaxy_yqiXqXTyc/s1600/Billy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbXDyhCVVUkVyDOJ1kU4ALIhqL1R9lvKKcsVVEuH1NMnw5U-U76Nyyo8w481c49Mxr_XsauTLziNeMipJxmVNRyaXcNukZGBnpoPr0Tf83H2ulbSnhX009ATT9vYOc8uaxy_yqiXqXTyc/s1600/Billy.jpg" height="320" width="240" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I connected with Henry for lunch.</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After lunch I attended the Authority Control discussion but left early to go to </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">LITA 201. That really told me a lot more about the only subgroup of ALA that I belong to. I connected with Aaron, Andrea, Annie, Chris, John, Cindi, Jenny, Nina, & Rachel.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Sunday was my planned quiet night (Sorry LITA Happy Hour, now that I know
more, I have to plan to attend future ones.)</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Monday and my last day started with Breakfast with LITA. That continued the introduction to LITA activities and brought up some interesting topics during the table activities. Unfortunately, one of the folks at my table had to be the center of every discussion so we didn't get as much done as we could have. Have you ever been sitting at a table of strangers when someone asks if they can join and you want to say no? Monday morning was one of those times. Folks I met that morning include David, Bree,
Frank, Chris, & Evviva.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Next I attended the GODORT Business meeting. It was an incredibly well run meeting and met my expectations of a business meeting. They went around the room and everyone introduced themselves and their library. I was the only Gov Doc producer in a room that mostly involved gov doc depository libraries, but no one seemed surprised. They had regular </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">committee</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif; font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> reports and even discussed sending condolences to the families of members that had died recently. The meeting was </span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">interrupted</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> twice for the </span><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">candidates</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> for ALA President to talk with us about their platforms.</span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Lunch was provided by APA. The most interesting part of it was running into Hillary. I entered the room of round tables and looked around for anyone I knew to sit with. I didn't recognize anyone, but saw someone really looking at me. I guessed it was someone from the Think Tank so I decided to sit with them. Surprise! It was a classmate from the USF LIS program. We'd graduated together 13 years ago and I'm still surprised that she recognized me. I have put on 100 pounds in those years. It was great to catch up some, over the provided box lunch.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">And that lunch marked my last event at ALA Midwinter 2014. I swung by the Uncommons for some last good-byes and caught the shuttle bus back to the hotel and my car then drove home.</span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">So, what did I learn?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">1) Things you say online may mean little to you, but much to others. Remember the rules are T H I N K. Is your comment: True? Helpful? Inspiring? Necessary? and Kind?</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">2) You have more friends than you'll ever realize.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">3) Pay attention to who is not in the room. Work to get them in the room.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 18.399999618530273px;">4) I'm running for ALA Council. I think I can make a difference for American Libraries and Librarians. </span></span></div>
<span style="color: black; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-87962076794873601482014-01-31T18:57:00.001-05:002014-01-31T18:57:09.651-05:00Gonna Live, Laugh, Love, just for today...I went on a tangent in a conversation last weekend and never got back to an explanation of my wrist tattoo. Not that I need to explain my actions, but sometimes the thousand words only come from the picture when context is added.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmzfBiBOpqTRJKQyehsRSdOcFVkxx6eXnYw8sNr_0xMmBRuWn0aTyXYCsvx0t1jJ2D9AYEcv2-9PkyMJnHTXezglrhChjTdokU030eeeXKagljH4GToKW_nfFXStuTIBSfUK7VbDkJxA/s1600/Grided+tattoo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzmzfBiBOpqTRJKQyehsRSdOcFVkxx6eXnYw8sNr_0xMmBRuWn0aTyXYCsvx0t1jJ2D9AYEcv2-9PkyMJnHTXezglrhChjTdokU030eeeXKagljH4GToKW_nfFXStuTIBSfUK7VbDkJxA/s1600/Grided+tattoo.jpg" height="320" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
Around my right wrist are the words Live, Laugh, Love separated by icons of a cat face, a smiley face, and a heart.That tattoo is my daily reminder to live in the moment. You see, it comes from a song by Clay Walker. The first verse and chorus is:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;">I'm gonna live, laugh, love just for today</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;">Gonna take all the trouble that tomorrow might bring and put it away</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;">Gonna drink every drop of happiness</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;">'Til they cover me up</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, Arial; font-size: 15px; text-align: -webkit-center;">I'm gonna live, gonna laugh, gonna love</span><br />
<br />
That's not to say I don't plan for the future, but I don't want to worry about it. I've already spent too much time on worry. I don't think it was time well spent.<br />
<br />
The past is over, there is nothing you can do to change it. The future is but a dream. A hope for things to come. This is the day you've been given, your present, do with it what you will.<br />
<br />
So that's the story behind the tat. Some context for why I need a reminder to enjoy the moment. If you ever see me looking down & out and you think I need a pick me up, just whisper, sing, or hum a little Live Laugh Love and I'll be back to my smiling self. Try it if you don't believe me.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/v9mcroP1zUE?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-78338046840314501392013-10-12T23:46:00.000-04:002013-10-12T23:46:49.668-04:00America - You embarrass meFriends, I haven't written in awhile and I'm sorry. Life has been very busy, but that's a discussion for another day. Today I want to talk a bit about politics in America.<br />
<br />
I am a Veteran. I spent 12 years in the Air Force forecasting weather. Unlike the folks you see on TV, that meant I was responsible for warnings at my airfield that ranged from stop fueling aircraft due to thunderstorms, to close the airfield due to icing, to take cover there is a Tornado.<br />
<br />
I am a Librarian, I've spent 12 years as a civilian working for the government. I can't tell you the details because it is an ethics violation, but I provide a valuable service that is used by over 1 million unique users daily.<br />
<br />
I am a Patriot. "We the People, in order to form a more perfect union, establish justice, ensure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general welfare, and ensure the blessings of liberty for ourselves and our posterity...." I find that a wonderful and succinct mission statement. One that still has meaning over 200 years later.<br />
<br />
Here comes the bad news -- <b>I've lost faith in our system of governance. </b><br />
<br />
Here's a clip from the first episode of Newsroom:<br />
<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVwUphZ37Ww">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVwUphZ37Ww</a><br />
<br />
And the quote for you to read:<br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">"And yeah, you, sorority girl. Just in case you accidentally wander into a voting booth one day, there's some things you should know, and one of them is, there's absolutely no evidence to support the statement that we're the greatest country in the world. We're 7th in literacy, 27th in math, 22nd in science, 49th in life expectancy, 178th in infant mortality, 3rd in median household income, number 4 in labor force, and number 4 in exports. We lead the world in only 3 categories: number of incarcerated citizens per capita, number of adults who believe angels are real, and defense spending, where we spend more than the next 26 countries combined. 25 of whom are allies. Now, none of this is the fault of a 20 year old college student. But you, nonetheless, are without a doubt a member of the worst period generation period ever period. So when you ask, "what makes us the greatest country in the world?" I don't know what the fuck you're talking about. Yosemite? </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">[Pause]</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"> We sure used to be. We stood up for what was right. We fought for moral reasons. We passed laws, struck down laws for moral reasons. We waged wars on poverty, not poor people. We sacrificed, we cared about our neighbors. We put our money where our mouths were. And we never beat our chest. We built great big things, made ungodly technological advances, explored the universe, cured diseases, and we cultivated the world's greatest artists </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">and</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"> the world's greatest economy. We reached for the stars, acted like men. We aspired to intelligence, we didn't belittle it, it didn't make us feel inferior. We didn't identify ourselves by who we voted for in our last election. And we didn't... we didn't scare so easy. We were able to be all these things, and to do all these things, because we were informed. By great men, men who were revered. First step in solving any problem is recognizing there is one. America is not the greatest country in the world anymore. </span><i style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">[Pause]</i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"> Enough?"</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">I type this 11 days into a temper tantrum in Congress. They've shutdown our government by not coming to an agreement to fund it. For two years, they've been pushing the problem down the road by passing Continuing Resolution after Continuing Resolution (CR). A CR basically continues to fund the government at the existing levels while you work out your differences to create a budget. That there are differences that can't be worked out after two years is amazing. When I encountered that problem in my life, I divorced my first wife. I guess these geniuses we elected never think of the greater good, but only about their access to power. They'll never think about walking away in hopes that their constituents might find someone that is willing to compromise and elect them. </span></span></span></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">Frankly, I wish there was a way to fire the whole lot of them. I'm not going to apportion blame. There are at least two sides to this discussion and all sides are guilty when they can't even gather to discus their differences. That is their most important job. By not doing it, they've shown that they are incompetent. </span></span></span></span></h4>
<h4>
<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">Does anyone have any idea how I can get my faith back? </span></span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">Do you still have hope for this country? Why?</span></span></span></span></h4>
<span style="background-color: white;"><span style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;"><br /></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-82295356286866088462013-07-14T23:49:00.002-04:002013-07-14T23:49:47.043-04:00Lest we Forget<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">We were having a FaceBook discussion about tattoos, when someone's tattoo of numbers across her wrist led to the discussion of Nazis tattooing ID Numbers on their prisoners' arms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[0]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[0].[0]">I had to make sure everyone knew what we were talking about. "On the off chance that some readers may not know what L___, me, & others are talking about... Prisoners in Nazi Concentration Camps had identification numbers tattooed on their arms. Right or left, and inside or outside of the arm varied by the camp. A</span></span><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3].[0].[0]">s a kid, there were always two little old ladies sitting on the front row at synagogue. The one on the aisle had hers on the upper left forearm so you always saw her number on her arm on the arm rest of the pew. </span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3].[0].[0]"><br /></span></span></span></span>
<span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3].[0]"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503815496357942}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3].[0].[0]"><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;">"Lest We Forget"</span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[0]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;">I followed up with this message a few minutes later.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[0]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;"> I had tears in my eyes when I typed "Lest We Forget". (And I do again). Those that don't remember the past are doomed to repeat it. </span><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[1]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[2]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[3]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;">I've seen Bergen-Belsen where they burned down the dormitories for fear of disease and all that's left are mass graves marked with the number of dead in that grave.</span></span><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-1BpVKs8teOs/TkpQUv9bGJI/AAAAAAAAACo/qr9P1npgb1E/s640/P1000217.JPG" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[5]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[6]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;">I've seen Dachau and the Gate of the Great Lie - Arbeit Machts Frei. There they've restored some dormitories so you can see the conditions and you can see the "showers" that showered only poison gas and crematoriums conveniently located near by.</span></span><br />
<img src="http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3078/3147969745_69cc8889f6.jpg" /><span style="font-family: Georgia, Times New Roman, serif; font-size: large;"><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[7]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[8]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[9]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;">I walked up stairs hidden behind a built in bookshelf and into the world of a little girl. Her father published her diary after the war and it has sold an estimated 30 million copies.</span><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[10]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[11]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[12]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;">Anne Frank died in Beregen-Belsen of Typhus. If she had survived, she'd be 84 right now and she was a teenager during the war. Soon they'll be no one left to tell the story and that is why I MUST tell the story whenever I can.</span><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[13]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><br data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[14]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;" /><span data-reactid=".r[7hux].[1][4][1]{comment503442476395244_503874666352025}.[0].[right].[0].[left].[0].[0].[0][2].[0].[15]" style="background-color: #edeff4; color: #333333; line-height: 14px;">Today's entry from the Diary - 15 July 1944: "I see the world being slowly transformed into a wilderness, I hear the approaching thunder that, one day, will destroy us too, I feel the suffering of millions. And yet, when I look up at the sky, I somehow feel that everything will change for the better, that this cruelty, too, shall end, that peace and tranquility will return once more."</span></span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-47270209717198594992013-07-04T01:58:00.000-04:002013-07-04T01:58:03.885-04:00LibraryBox for Disasters (aka a Medical eBook GO Bag)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Recently, I was brainstorming about uses for my
LibraryBox. If you aren’t familiar, LibraryBox is a concept started by Jason
Griffey of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. The LibraryBox is a
portable file sharing server built on a router the size of two packs of cards.
The device is powered via USB cable and can be run off of a laptop, tablet, car
charger, rechargeable battery pack like you’d have for your cell phone, even a
solar charger is a possibility. The files are stored on a flash drive and the
LibraryBox shares them out thru an internal wifi to devices via the device’s
browser. Apple, Android, Windows, Phone, Tablet, Laptop; it is entirely
platform independent. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://librarybox.us/">http://librarybox.us/</a> </span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/000/696/673/fa4857182924ad413c8cfddd0081b436_large.jpg?1372075491" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="115" src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/ksr/assets/000/696/673/fa4857182924ad413c8cfddd0081b436_large.jpg?1372075491" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;">I've</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> heard Jason present on the LibraryBox and read
some posts on it, but I </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">didn't</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> have a use envisioned. At <b>Computers in Libraries
2013</b>, I discovered another use as Jason had his LibraryBox on and loaded his
presentation PowerPoint on it. That meant we could all download the slides to
our tablets beforehand and follow along with a screen in our hands. Imagine not
having to sit on the front row just to see the slides anymore. <o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Being a geek, I ordered the </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">TP-Link MR3020 router and a 16 GB Flash Drive from Amazon
(</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Portable-802-11n-Wireless-TL-MR3020/dp/B006DEBXD0/?tag=jasongriffey-20"><span lang="EN">http://www.amazon.com/TP-LINK-Portable-802-11n-Wireless-TL-MR3020/dp/B006DEBXD0/?tag=jasongriffey-20</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> ) and built my own LibraryBox. But I still didn't have a
practical use envisioned. I thought I might load all of my family pictures on a
flash drive and share them at the next family gathering (Birthday party,
Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, etc.).<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">In all the Social
Media traffic from the ALA Annual Conference, I discovered Jason had started a Kickstarter
project to bring LibraryBox to version 2.0.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/griffey/librarybox-20"><span lang="EN">http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/griffey/librarybox-20</span></a></span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Passing the
Kickstarter information on to the ALA Think Tank group on Facebook (</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/ALAthinkTANK/">https://www.facebook.com/groups/ALAthinkTANK/</a>
) </span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">got me started brainstorming on
other uses for the LibraryBox. If I say so myself, and I do, I think I found a
great use. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">When I was in the
Air Force, we were usually subject to “recall” for deployment to any hot spot
on the planet. For rapid movement, we all kept a GO Bag in our closet. Three
sets of BDUs, 5 T-shirts, 5 briefs, 10 pairs of socks, 30 days of toiletries, a
spare pair of glasses, etcetera; all of the things you’d need in the middle of
nowhere without a Wal*mart around the corner. The contents would change
depending on the season and area of interest covered by the Air Force Base I
was stationed at. I obviously didn't need to carry a sweater to Saudi Arabia,
but I would need it (and more) if we had to deploy to a mountainous area in winter.
As an avid reader I always kept a stack of paperbacks to be read and I’d throw
a pile in the top of my GO Bag.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">That got me
thinking that one place people need books is when they've rapid deployed to a
disaster area. Especially true of medical personnel who may be forced to
perform procedures they wouldn’t usually perform at home. Think about the
doctors responding to the Haiti earthquake a few years ago. No electricity,
phone, internet, running water; the whole infrastructure of modern life
unusable. I’m sure they’d all love to have a set of basic references they can
use to refresh their memory of unusual procedures. Everybody is going to do
great with the basics, but the day after the event or two days after, when they
want to give the patient the best recovery. When they have the time to do fine,
detail work, they may need to look at some reference works. Also they may
respond to a radiation event or another type of event that no one has any
practice with.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">The National
Library of Medicine (NLM) has a division known as Specialized Information Services
(SIS). They maintain a lot of resources for disaster recovery. One of those is </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">a
gateway (</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://disasterlit.nlm.nih.gov/">http://disasterlit.nlm.nih.gov/</a>)</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">
to freely available online resources related to disaster medicine and public
health. Resources include expert guidelines, factsheets, websites, research
reports, articles, and other tools aimed at the public health community.</span><span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> Gateway, for those unfamiliar with this usage, means the
resources are all linked from this one central database. You may have heard
portal or federated search as other terms for this type of database.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span class="value"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">All of the resources are
downloadable files free of any copyright restrictions. </span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-size: large;">Examples of the items you can link to from the
DisasterLit database include:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
</div>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">FEMA’s </span><span class="value" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><i><b>Radiological Emergency Preparedness: Program Manual</b></i></span></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">International Red Cross’ </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>War Surgery: Working with Limited Resources
in Armed Conflict and Other Situations of Violence</b></i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">International Red Cross’ </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Caring for Volunteers: A Psychosocial
Support Toolkit</b></i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">International Atomic Energy Agency’s
</span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Communication with the Public in a
Nuclear or Radiological Emergency</b></i></span></li>
<li><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">American Veterinary Medical
Association’s </span><i style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"><b>Emergency Preparedness and
Response</b></i><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> (Bet you didn’t even think about animal care, but those animals
may be the only food source for some while after the disaster.)</span></span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Ideally, you’d individually check
the gateway and download whatever resources you’d expect to need to your tablet
or phone, but what if you </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">didn't</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> Or what if you don’t want to fill your device
with all of these files when you may only need half of the works available? </span><span style="line-height: 20px;">Wouldn't</span><span style="line-height: 115%;"> it be great if someone was detailed to download all of the SIS Gateway
works to a flash drive? Then when you get to the Disaster Area, you can
download the work you want to your device for use. What about another flash
drive with a bunch of conversational language guides? You could have different
Flash Drive for Flood, or Earthquake, or Volcano, or Forest Fire, or Tsunami,
or whatever disaster.</span></span></span></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;"> </span><span class="value"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">That’s my thought, a digital
library of disaster resources that fit into your bag easier than a single
paperback. </span></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Do you work with a team of medical personnel that might respond to
an emergency? Then I could use your help.</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; line-height: 115%;">Who should manage a program like this? </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">Is there a resource you </span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 21px;">wouldn't</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="line-height: 115%;"> want to be without? </span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: large; line-height: 115%;">I’m hoping to present my idea to the NLM SIS
folks, but any and all suggestions of other agencies to contact are welcome.</span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-84094160800858642152013-05-30T00:46:00.000-04:002013-05-30T00:46:34.904-04:00Talking about DiversityI started typing a long reply in a FaceBook group then realized it would be better placed here.<br />
<br />
There are some topics in Librarianship that cycle around and back again. Sometimes they're initiated by a blog post someone read. Here's the article that started this discussion -- http://www.cbcdiversity.com/2013/05/searching-for-our-jeremy-lin.html#more<br />
<br />
I've seen three different discussions today about Diversity in Librarianship. Whenever I hear someone ask "How do we get more diversity in Libraries?", my immediate thought is "Do we need more diversity in libraries?" The question assumes that as a fact to begin with, but it doesn't address it.<br />
<br />
Maybe we need to define diversity before we start having this discussion. When you say diversity to someone of my years, I immediately go to school busing and the act of forcing children to attend a school further from their home just to even out the number of minorities in every school. That failed miserably. People want to attend schools in their neighborhood with their neighbors.<br />
(I call it school busing, but the Wikipedia article calls it desegregation busing - <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desegregation_busing">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Desegregation_busing</a> )<br />
<br />
I don't think we need that type of diversity in libraries or anywhere. I think society diversifies in its own way and in its own time.<br />
<br />
I grew up in SE PA in a blue collar neighborhood in a blue collar city. I'm White, but grew up with a Black neighbor and Puerto Rican kid across the street that walked to school with me. I'm not "color-blind". I recognize friends and neighbors that are different races. I honestly don't care. I wasn't brought up to dwell on those differences. I played with all of those kids. The was a kid with Down's Syndrome around the corner. He had limitations, but he'd play some games, some times. Why not?<br />
<br />
I still remember an event in High School that was identified by the local newspaper as a "Race Riot". In reality, it was a drug deal gone bad. It just happened the buyer was black and the dealer was white. When the fight broke out, it was all black guys on one side against all white guys on the other. But race had nothing to do with it.<br />
<br />
At the end of senior year, there was an award assembly. There was actually a scholarship for the best academically performing Black. The kid that everyone expected to win stood up and some one else's name was read. We all wondered WTF? Matt is as White as they come. No he wasn't. He was interracial and we didn't know the kinky brown hair, tall height, and full lips were from his Black mother. He didn't scale as Black to us.<br />
<br />
I had Black roommates in college, but I didn't socialize with them too much. I did socialize with a co-worker that lived a few doors down. He was Black, I'm not. Do you think folks were looking at me driving him to work and wondering what was going on? I doubt it even registered. That was the area we lived in.<br />
<br />
I joined the Navy Reserve while in college and was surprised there were no minorities in my unit. After graduation, I entered active duty in the Air Force. My first duty station was Ft. Hood TX. The Army doesn't have weather forecasters, the Air Force does that at all Army bases with aviation assets. I noticed that the Army was primarily Black and Hispanic and the Air Force was mostly White. But we did have one Black & two Hispanic in a 20 person unit. I think I was seeing self-selection in progress. Army soldiers were mostly urban kids, while Air Force attracted the farmers and rural kids. No one is telling people what service to join. They join because of their family and/or friends. The coastal kids join the Navy. The crazy ones join the Marines.<br />
<br />
I still remember the mandatory Sensitivity Training session I had at my first Air Force station. They passed around index cards and we all had to say the first thing that came to mind when we flipped over the cards. My card said "Nigger Lover." My response: How old are these cards?<br />
Trainer: That is a current set. What makes you think that is old?<br />
Me: No one says that anymore??? That's from the 60's.<br />
Trainer: Anyone have a different view?<br />
Some Other Guy: Sure. If you were hanging out on a Saturday night in my hometown you might hear that if a mixed couple showed up.<br />
Me: What??? Who would even notice? Why would you care unless you were jealous that she was with him?<br />
Trainer: Next...<br />
<br />
This was >25 years ago, but I remember something else from that session. Someone said something about Indians going off the Reservation. The Trainer noticed a bunch of puzzled looks so he asked for some views from the rest of the room. Plenty of us were WTF??? Wasn't Indians and reservations something out of the 1880's? Those of us East of the Mississippi had no idea there were still reservations out West.<br />
<br />
(I was later stationed in Oklahoma City, so I know that Native Americans are a visible minority in the Western US. They are totally invisible in the East.)<br />
<br />
My history tells me society is diversified. With my house at the 6 o'clock position on the dial, 12 is Hispanic, 2 is Hispanic, 4 is a rental & I haven't seen the new tenants yet, 8 is Black, & 10 is White.<br />
<br />
With all of that history, 50+ years of one man's life, I don't see a problem so I'm not concerned about finding a solution. So I've come full-circle, Why do we need to do anything to Diversify? Isn't society doing that on their own?<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-72336288092147335412013-05-21T17:33:00.001-04:002013-05-21T17:37:21.452-04:00Our Oklahoma City Home<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Friends have asked about our Oklahoma City Home. The A marker is the house we rented while stationed at Tinker. The Red S is the Plaza Towers Elementary School.</span><br />
<br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;" />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;">Even more amazing to me. At this zoom, the path of the 1999 F5 Tornado shows as a tan line. The houses have been rebuilt, but the earth was so churned up that it still shows. I've circled the area in red to help you out, but the map is otherwise unmodified from Google Maps.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 18px;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFRMSMApsWc65m9dcSyCOu9uTtU4x8cQltBEIHr9unDiX-NQcf7efEZDYqVkxnOVQ-WKLb6M5nUlmINSTAj-j9ziVtHhvwtqVNtEZTFdNd5Bxgi0ZKrr5iLSoxf1_pEcnuJS-xt_hP-g/s1600/OKC+Sat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="534" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigFRMSMApsWc65m9dcSyCOu9uTtU4x8cQltBEIHr9unDiX-NQcf7efEZDYqVkxnOVQ-WKLb6M5nUlmINSTAj-j9ziVtHhvwtqVNtEZTFdNd5Bxgi0ZKrr5iLSoxf1_pEcnuJS-xt_hP-g/s640/OKC+Sat.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-28522967670778619332013-05-10T09:56:00.000-04:002013-05-10T09:56:08.027-04:00My Friends in their little electronic boxes<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Friends,<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
mean that salutation literally. You, dear readers, are the only friends I have
and that concerns me. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Let
me start the story in the beginning. Like most folks my age, I grew up playing
outside with the neighborhood kids. Everyone within a block and within 2 years
+/- my age were my friends. This continued thru my school years with only the
range increasing to larger than a block and/or to being centered on specific
places. I had school friends that I </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">didn't</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> see in the summer; Synagogue friends
that I only saw on the weekend; Pool friends from the summer; etcetera. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTYa7LveG4D1-ZvuCTGT6qFpf4tzUdYlwwsqeMR1pcZEb11h1Km0sGJJLtN0z7gPbl7WkXKRG1vzemBQugM09xHoIkWjWjY6eetVQJPKjKpL13eYTRihM7lrNWES7HMPD66Dl-lzcv8k/s1600/ERSA+Swim+Team+1976.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFTYa7LveG4D1-ZvuCTGT6qFpf4tzUdYlwwsqeMR1pcZEb11h1Km0sGJJLtN0z7gPbl7WkXKRG1vzemBQugM09xHoIkWjWjY6eetVQJPKjKpL13eYTRihM7lrNWES7HMPD66Dl-lzcv8k/s320/ERSA+Swim+Team+1976.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">ERSA Swim Team 1976 </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">(J is on back row, 1st male from the left.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I
went to college 3 hours from home and </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">didn't</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> go home very often, so the process
started over in College. Still it followed the same pattern, friends were in
the same class(es), or lived close, or worked with me, or were friends of other
friends. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
same pattern reestablished itself when I was married and in the Air Force.
Because life was a little more temporary, i.e. we moved more often, there might
not have been as many friends as I’d had at some times in my life, but I always
had someone I could invite to a Surprise Birthday party for my wife, or a
backyard </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">barbecue</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> or to watch the big game, or whatever event called for a
gathering. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Time
stands still for no man. I eventually ended up stationed in Oklahoma City and
divorced from my first wife. I made friends with people in the unit and I
frequented a Bar / Dance Club that featured Country Dance Lessons two nights a
week. The lessons were taught by a Country Dance Club and they’d match up
singles or get club members to fill-in. I met the club members and dated some
of the single ladies I met thru the lessons until I met my current wife. We
became active members of the Club and had backyard </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">barbecues, </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">bridal showers,
weddings, and weekends away at dance competitions. All of those activities I’d
already associated with being friends. I had lots of friends and our wedding
ceremony featured a fairly even grouping of co-workers, family, and dance club
friends. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKdSj6APVMdgylcQzSt7azvadCwIeJUbtwTbG94YTun_Dn4fGtKUWxch_QQa3qZixhGmSSxXFZoHgcN5eaX3rnsY7Qxjs6KiYBXrzchTOSVvDFJbbcWYJpkN-vfOaY_tZC2QiUW7trkQ/s1600/8-8+cropped.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXKdSj6APVMdgylcQzSt7azvadCwIeJUbtwTbG94YTun_Dn4fGtKUWxch_QQa3qZixhGmSSxXFZoHgcN5eaX3rnsY7Qxjs6KiYBXrzchTOSVvDFJbbcWYJpkN-vfOaY_tZC2QiUW7trkQ/s200/8-8+cropped.png" width="178" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">Soon
after the wedding we transferred to Ramstein Germany and the process started
all over again. We </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">didn't</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> join any organizations, but we had neighbor friends
and coworker friends. Everything seemed normal to me.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">Then
came the cascade of events that ended in my separating from the Air Force.
Those details may be discussed later, but for this post I’ll just say it was a
rough time in my life. I returned to the states to Florida because that was
where my parents lived and I had a FL Driver’s License in my pocket. (Military
members can pick and choose what state they like to call home. FL has no
personal income tax, so it is very popular.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">The
plan was to settle in Tampa and go back to school for my Master’s degree. I had
2 year’s rights to the commissary & medical care, so I had both a nearby
base and a University to attend. The same pattern “how to make friends and
influence people”* reasserted itself. We became friends with neighbors and
coworkers and classmates. Still it was a bit strained. I was working 40 hours a
week and attending classes for another 8? hours and had homework for another 8?
hours. (? = Yes, I’m just guessing at this time.) That meant I </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">didn't</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> have as
much time for friends and we couldn't always plan on every weekend being free.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">* - Would that be a better post Title?</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">While
we were in Tampa the Apartment management had us all move out while they
renovated the buildings, we moved and neighbors moved elsewhere so we had less
geographic friends. Then graduation split up the classmates and all of a sudden
we had more time but less people to spend it with. Like my classmates, I was
looking for a job elsewhere, so I </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">didn't</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> really worry about it. I’d assumed it
was a temporary condition. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
got that job elsewhere and we moved to Maryland. We had more family in the
area, so that was an improvement, but we knew we’d be moving into a house when
we found one so we didn’t make any friends around the apartment. Also my
coworkers were spread out over a much larger area. We generally all lived
within a 20 mile circle centered on Work, but we covered that circle from 7 o’clock
on the dial around to 3 or 4 o’clock. In some cases it could take 1.5 hour to
drive from my home to a coworker’s. We did buy a house, my first (at 41 years
old), and that only decreased the number of potential friends by spacing out
the living areas compared to the compactness of an apartment complex. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">So
after 800 words, I get to the heart of the matter currently. I don’t have any
friends that I can invite to a backyard barbecue or to watch the big game. I’m
not involved in any organizations like the Elks, Moose, Rotary, etcetera. My
wife’s health has deteriorated so we’re not going dancing. I don’t have the
free time to leave the house to cultivate a friendship. I have a herd of cats
to care for. I’m the only driver in the house, so I have to do all of the
grocery shopping and other trips out of the house. I’m the cook and the maid.
I’m not complaining. I said ‘til death do us part and I really mean it this
time. I also said in sickness and in health. I will not leave the marriage this
time. I take responsibility for that decision and I stand by it. If I left,
Mrs. would have to live in an assisted living facility. She </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">couldn't</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"> take care
of herself.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">So
you, my friends, are the only friends I have. I only see little pictures of you
on my tiny electronic screens. Are you real? I’ve met some of you in-person,
face to face, so I know that some of you are real, but that accounts for less
than 100 of you on Twitter. (I follow close to 2000. About 1200 follow me.)
When it comes to FaceBook, the number I’ve met in person is higher because it
includes friends from childhood, High School, College, and more distant family.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">If
we define a friend as someone that can feed your cats if a death in the family
calls you out of town unexpectedly, or come to your rescue if your car runs out
of gas, or bail you out if arrested, I’d be lucky if I had 5 people I could
call on.<a href="" name="_GoBack"></a> (I know the last two are covered by roadside
assistance & bail bondsmen, but the first is a real concern.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="font-size: large;">I
don’t like this situation, but I’m at a loss as to how to fix it. Is this
normal in our society today? Are there millions out there just like me? Is this a stage in everyone's life or does it relate specifically to frequent moving and not setting roots? Is it
right for me to join an organization that’ll take time away from managing my
household? What about Mrs? Surely she feels lonely too. I’m the only person she
sees most days. We do get out of the house for shopping together at least
weekly. I’d probably go stir crazy if I was that limited. At least I get to
interact with coworkers at the office. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">This
is the longest, the most personal, and the saddest post </span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;">I've</span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman, serif;"><span style="font-size: large;"> written. It should
be in blood red; I've poured my life onto the page. Do you have any
insight? Can you help me? Answer in Comments or via email to 7shore at gmail.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-1250979716883536902013-05-02T12:53:00.000-04:002013-05-02T12:53:26.829-04:00How snarky is too snarky?
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Friends,<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">This is my free space to say anything I want to; my
online diary. It’s not about sharing secrets per se, but rather about
discussing whatever is on my mind. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve seen a number of discussions recently about the
smarminess of online conversations with different ‘experts’ opining that
anonymity makes it easier for the worst behavior to show up. I don’t really
want to get into a discussion of all of the possible reasons for the level of *snarkiness
/ cynicism / rudeness / whatever term you prefer* to be on the rise. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have my opinion, like everyone else, but I
long ago learned that opinions are like assholes: everyone has one and they all
smell about the same.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m more interested in raising the level of online
civility and I’m not alone.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m
participating in a Social Experiment – The No Library Whining Zone. For 24
hours, we pledge not to complain or whine about libraries publically. Details
at <a href="http://librariankate7578.com/2013/05/01/the-no-library-whining-zone-a-social-experiment/"><span style="color: blue;">http://librariankate7578.com/2013/05/01/the-no-library-whining-zone-a-social-experiment/</span></a>
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">{Acknowledgements
to Kate Kosturski, Andy Woodworth, Liz Burns, and Steve Thomas. If you haven’t
heard their names, they are Librarian Rockstars, Movers & Shakers in the Library
World, and Big in Lithuania (inside joke that 100 or so people will laugh at).}<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">I don’t need to expand on Kate’s blog, but I have
thought it would be great to expand this experiment outside of the Library
world to everyone online. I envision a NoWhineWednesday movement. In which we
declare every Wednesday to be Whine Free on all Social Media sites. Will you
join me?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Here are some inspirational pictures that hang on my
cubicle walls.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaIXU69kMuUur21IlfyC1sNDwoMygntYUzjfRi5tNch6xLzFJQDku8sPSc6KtN8W4Cdl30VC8dbjKwiDjRm9U21FXcoDw7Z5VfDMDIJoeUoMP1Y1bJEiatRCTv_YmVLEPihkXCPLy4elM/s1600/before-you-speak-think-is-it-true-helpful-inspiring-necessary-kind.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaIXU69kMuUur21IlfyC1sNDwoMygntYUzjfRi5tNch6xLzFJQDku8sPSc6KtN8W4Cdl30VC8dbjKwiDjRm9U21FXcoDw7Z5VfDMDIJoeUoMP1Y1bJEiatRCTv_YmVLEPihkXCPLy4elM/s320/before-you-speak-think-is-it-true-helpful-inspiring-necessary-kind.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%; mso-no-proof: yes;"><v:shapetype coordsize="21600,21600" filled="f" id="_x0000_t75" o:preferrelative="t" o:spt="75" path="m@4@5l@4@11@9@11@9@5xe" stroked="f">
<v:stroke joinstyle="miter">
<v:formulas>
<v:f eqn="if lineDrawn pixelLineWidth 0">
<v:f eqn="sum @0 1 0">
<v:f eqn="sum 0 0 @1">
<v:f eqn="prod @2 1 2">
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelWidth">
<v:f eqn="prod @3 21600 pixelHeight">
<v:f eqn="sum @0 0 1">
<v:f eqn="prod @6 1 2">
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelWidth">
<v:f eqn="sum @8 21600 0">
<v:f eqn="prod @7 21600 pixelHeight">
<v:f eqn="sum @10 21600 0">
</v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:f></v:formulas>
<v:path gradientshapeok="t" o:connecttype="rect" o:extrusionok="f">
<o:lock aspectratio="t" v:ext="edit">
</o:lock></v:path></v:stroke></v:shapetype></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 115%;">R</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">ecognize
that we are not all alike<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 115%;">E</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">nsure
expectations are clear<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 115%;">S</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">eek
to be inclusive<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 115%;">P</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">roject
a positive outlook<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 115%;">E</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">xplore
other’s viewpoints<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 115%;">C</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">ommunicate
for understanding<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 36pt; line-height: 115%;">T</span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;">reat
others as they wish to be treated<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt 1in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 20pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Wishing everyone a peaceful day free of whining and
complaints. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Namaste,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Jules<o:p></o:p></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-46984510487293665972013-04-03T23:49:00.000-04:002013-04-03T23:49:28.785-04:00What's in a Name?<span style="font-size: large;">Some of you have known me for a long time, while others are just meeting me. Some of you connected with me via Twitter and others via FaceBook. If you've seen me on both Twitter & FaceBook, you know I list my name two different ways.This blog explains why.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">My parents named me Julius at birth, but they called me Jules. Until 1990, everyone called me Jules. After 1990, I introduce myself as Jay but prefer to write it as J. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Is there a little more back story? Sure. I had an Uncle Jay from Albany, GA, but his name was really Joseph William Strawder. As a true Southern Gentleman (yes, I'm being sarcastic), his buddies called him J W. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">"What happened in 1990?", you may ask. (Well? Ask it! I'm not going to pause here forever.)</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">In 1990 I returned to the US from 15 months stationed at Lajes Field, Azores. I was finally away from my first wife long enough to realize it wasn't going to work and decided to divorce. So I was starting my life over at a new base as a single. I really wanted to change everything about me and my nickname was one of those things I could change. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">I didn't know anything about branding in 1990. I thought I was making a clean break. Folks there is no such thing as a clean break in human society. I had no way to forecast the future existence of Social Media. I didn't know the mess I was going to create. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">On FaceBook I have friends from High School & Undergrad College that know me as Jules. I don't expect them to change, so I listed as Jules.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">When I created my Twitter account, I listed as J. That's how "new" friends know me. Now I've found that I really like FB better as my Social Media Hub. Twitter is still great for instant chat and for use at conferences, but I there is more depth available on FB.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">What's this all leading up to? If I meet you in person, I'm going to introduce myself as J. Only old friends call me Jules. Even my second wife, who I met in 1991, calls me J. If you know me from FB and call me Jules, I will respond. 1) It's not a common name. 2) I lived with it for 28 years, so I'm well trained to respond.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">If we're in a conversation and people use both names, it's OK with me. I'm me whether you call me J. or Jules I'm still the same me.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">Shakespeare had it right,</span><br />
<i>"<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">What's in a name? That which we call a rose</span></i><br />
<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">By any other name would smell as sweet</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">;</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">So Romeo would, were he not Romeo call'd,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">Retain that dear perfection which he owes</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">Without that title. Romeo, doff thy name,</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">And for that name which is no part of thee</span><br style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;" /><span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">Take all myself." </span></i><div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; line-height: 19.1875px;">(Romeo & Juliet, Act II, Scene II.)</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-37263716972431323672013-04-03T12:55:00.000-04:002013-04-03T12:55:14.050-04:00Hidden in Plain SightI can hardly stop laughing over this one, so I thought I'd share with you...<br />
<br />
In the course of my usual duties, I looked at a journal article. My Place of Work has a license to read the article, but the publisher isn't recognizing our ID / Password right now. When I viewed the article on my screen, I noticed a faint blue color below the <em>'Login to Read More'</em> message. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoU7mH9GGK7dvXbbjfmzY5PssGlXcZ3pK8RYLX-20vRQsbgUChifV7rjFuDb05qgem4QA7MK1aXIjE6kzsOyjE7i8G92hF7RZa7lIOmaMUx27g_LhGCfqm0AIF0uReB-UoBtW5vz8Lv0I/s1600/hidden+in+plain+sight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="219" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoU7mH9GGK7dvXbbjfmzY5PssGlXcZ3pK8RYLX-20vRQsbgUChifV7rjFuDb05qgem4QA7MK1aXIjE6kzsOyjE7i8G92hF7RZa7lIOmaMUx27g_LhGCfqm0AIF0uReB-UoBtW5vz8Lv0I/s320/hidden+in+plain+sight.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I don't want to embarass the journal, so I've semi-redacted the text that is in solid black. Can you see faint blue text below the Login message?<br />
<br />
On the journal site, you can right click and View Source to read the whole article in solid black text. Or you could just copy and paste it to Word and change light blue to black. <br />
<br />
<Shake My Head><br />
<br />
<em>Attention Journal website staff,</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>If you don't want us to see the text, don't show it. You should show one page before Login and a different page after Login.</em><br />
<em></em><br />
<em>That is all,</em><br />
<em>J.</em><br />
<br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-45475744060648119632013-03-20T00:07:00.002-04:002013-03-20T00:07:37.643-04:00Not for the squeamishTo protect against unwanted shock, I'm going to fill space so the picture needs to be scrolled to. These are plexiglass panels featuring a thin section of the human body; male on left & female on right.<br />
<<<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br /><<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK7AF55deVi-kiv17Lk7TostFldvzj__imAAenBg0MnqBaDnPvoRGARocp23Ktf891zCl0St-YKKwMfpXU6b8RfpubPNxOtlVOL3W-kwZfgG7pQoMyvcqF7UAGuXEKZbUaJgUEYekS9vU/s1600/IMG_1180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhK7AF55deVi-kiv17Lk7TostFldvzj__imAAenBg0MnqBaDnPvoRGARocp23Ktf891zCl0St-YKKwMfpXU6b8RfpubPNxOtlVOL3W-kwZfgG7pQoMyvcqF7UAGuXEKZbUaJgUEYekS9vU/s640/IMG_1180.JPG" width="476" /></a></div>
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-49818046134372059192013-03-04T22:06:00.002-05:002013-03-05T15:18:23.242-05:00Are we over-medicating our children?<br />
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I come here to say what's on my mind. Sometimes it is fluff, other times it
is something that really affects me. Today I want to talk about a nephew and
some recent diagnoses that frankly worry me.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Things are very different than when I grew up. As a kid I was bored in
school. I was smarter than the average student so I was already done with that
section while the teacher was still trying to get the slower students up to
speed. This hasn't changed in today's classroom. There has always been and will
always be faster and slower students.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">In my case, this boredom showed in talking to myself, talking to neighbors,
or reading a fiction book when I could get away with it. I still remember at a
very early age being put in the corner for talking in class and then having my
parents called in because I was talking to myself in the corner. It's funny
now.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">This weekend at a birthday party I found out a nephew has been diagnosed
with ADHD & Oppositional Disorder for what is effectively the same actions I
had done. It scares me that they may medicate him for things that I consider
normal. I said as much to his mother, my niece. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I hesitate to think of what they would do to the 13 yr old me in today's
society. Would I have become me or some Borg equivalent to me? Are we dooming
the thinkers of our society to having that "wild streak" medicated out of
them.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Lest you think I have a high view of myself, I'll admit that I ended up
self-medicating in high school and college. I don't recommend it. There is much
of my childhood I don't remember at all. Not just fuzzy recollections, but none
whatsoever. Those brain cells are dead. </span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">I make a good living and someone thinks I'm productive or I wouldn't be
making that living. But I wonder what I could have become in different
circumstances. And I wonder what my nephew will be stopped from becoming. That's
the saddest part of looking back with 50 year old vision.</span></div>
<div>
</div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">What do you think?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Are we over-medicating our children?</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Are we medicating the spark out of children that could become the next
truly free thinkers.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Does this worry you?</span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-4051803413320620792013-02-13T17:32:00.000-05:002013-03-21T16:37:35.091-04:00I hope this isn't an online journal trend<span style="font-size: large;">Readers, 2013 is starting off with a disturbing trend for those of us heavily involved in access to journal contents online. So far we've identified two associations that are reserving online access to their journal for association members. Any one, individual or institution, can subscribe to their print journal, but only association members can access the journal online and <u>They Don't Offer Institutional Membership</u> (or at least not to American institutions).</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I'm not going to name the associations. However, one is Canadian and the other is Japanese. These are both medical associations (I work pretty exclusively with Medical Journals.) </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Library patrons have grown use to reading articles online and many libraries have made budget decisions to stop getting print for titles they access online when there is a significant saving for dropping he print. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Now we have another worry added. Before this, we had to worry about titles that ceased and weren't archived online at PMC, Portico, LOCKSS, etc. Now we have to worry about associations deciding their online presence is something to be protected from access, even if money is offered. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"></span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I pray these are just two silly associations and no more appear. Unfortunately, my years of dealing with journals have made me a pessimist.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">[Updated 03/21/2013]</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #990000; font-size: large;">The count all year is now up to four. Two Japanese associations, one Canadian, and a Non-Profit that has decided to embargo their online issues for 1 year. They are open access after that year.</span><br />
<br />
<br />Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-40852139286396307522013-02-03T09:44:00.002-05:002013-02-03T09:44:12.871-05:00Consumer Marketing needs a new DirectorReceived in my Saturday mail Feb 2nd:<br />
(Subscriber Account Number, Phone Number, & Sender's Signature redacted)<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS816Bdir4MSSyRT7Q7An_tkV1HslGIjPzCqe3SSu0lU3u_PFT_sPzoSK_fBavfr_fQaqN2IybFWrUUCLW6qby-Uc11eNJ81scTm0iCoLv6tBUEqA61Awi_fJtPubSd9ryz5t_oWWtIGQ/s1600/Image.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="394" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhS816Bdir4MSSyRT7Q7An_tkV1HslGIjPzCqe3SSu0lU3u_PFT_sPzoSK_fBavfr_fQaqN2IybFWrUUCLW6qby-Uc11eNJ81scTm0iCoLv6tBUEqA61Awi_fJtPubSd9ryz5t_oWWtIGQ/s400/Image.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
My response emailed at 9 am on Sunday Feb 3rd:<br />
(Addressed to the postcard sender his title is Director of Consumer Marketing, the Newspaper's Editor & First Assistant, and the generic Customer Satisfaction account)<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
I have to tell you, if you screwed up this bad in my company, you'd be fired.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
I'm sure you meant well when you came up with this idea to sell everyone the Monday Special Edition. You were looking at a pile of complaints from folks who wanted a paper and couldn't find one. I hope you realize that failure belongs firmly on the shoulders of the Circulation Manager. They decide how many copies of an issue get printed.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Unfortunately, your solution took that problem and turned it on its head. I can't fathom the leap in logic needed to decide that x number of complaints on not finding an edition equals everyone wants this paper. No. The pile of complaints mean everyone who went out of their way to find a special paper wanted to find that paper. You may logically extend that thought to these people will go out of their way to get the Super Bowl Special Edition too, but you went to another universe.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
Here's my problem: I get my Saturday mail at 10 pm Saturday. It includes a postcard telling me I'm paying $1.50 for a paper I never ordered. I have the right of refusal if I call you. The only hours available to make that call are 8 am to 12 pm Sunday. I'm writing this at 9 am Sunday. Your phone system is either entirely broke or it can't handle the volume. I've given up trying. I've already spent more effort on this than my $1.50 is worth and I'm mostly writing this email to help lower my blood pressure.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
This might have been a good idea if you'd come up with it on Tuesday and got the cards out to your weekend subscribers on Wednesday. Then there would have been adequate time to refuse this delivery. It might have been OK if we got the cards on Friday and the automated system had an option to cancel the special edition delivery. As it is, I'm sure you're going to hear an earful from folks that get their card on Monday and had no chance to refuse.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
The 100% absolute correct and time tested solution to the problem folks found last Monday is (drum-roll please) print more papers this Monday. You may have helped a handful of interested parties that only subscribe to the Sunday paper for the ads. You did nothing for the folks that only pick up an occasional paper at the 7-11.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
I wish you luck in your future endeavors Don't let the door hit you on the way out. You're fired.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
J.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">What do you think?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Would you fire this Director if it was within your power?</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Is my email too harsh? </span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="background-color: white;">
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif;">Discuss</span></div>
<div style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-82993210036667284152013-01-04T00:07:00.000-05:002013-01-04T00:07:35.336-05:00The Soundtrack of My Life<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">The soundtrack of our lives is ever changing, but I think it is an interesting reflection to occasionally write down the top twenty songs from your soundtrack. Here's mine:</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">1) Hallelujah – Leonard Cohen</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">2) Tweeter and the Monkey Man – Traveling Willburys</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">3) Downeaster Alexa – Billy Joel</span><br style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;" /><span class="text_exposed_show" style="background-color: white; color: #333333; display: inline; font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 17px;">4) The River – Bruce Springsteen<br />5) Sounds of Silence – Simon & Garfunkel<br />6) Aqualung – Jethro Tull<br />7) Allentown – Billy Joel<br />8) You Took the Words Right Out of My Mouth (Hot Summer Night) - Meatloaf<br />9) Nights in White Satin – Moody Blues<br />10) Friends in Low Places – Garth Brooks<br />11) An Innocent Man – Billy Joel<br />12) Moondance – Van Morrison<br />13) Paradise by the Dashboard Light - Meatloaf<br />14) The Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald – Gordon Lightfoot<br />15) Johnny 99 – Bruce Springsteen<br />16) Leaving on a Jet Plane – Peter, Paul, & Mary<br />17) Pour Some Sugar on Me – Def Leppard<br />18) Scenes from an Italian Restaurant – Billy Joel<br />19) Detroit Rock City – Kiss<br />20) You Give Love a Bad Name – Bon <a data-hovercard="/ajax/hovercard/user.php?id=1525543360&extragetparams=%7B%22group_id%22%3A0%7D" href="http://www.facebook.com/Jovuk?group_id=0" style="color: #3b5998; cursor: pointer; text-decoration: initial;">Jovi</a><br /><br />What's yours?</span>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-1010726855296919172012-12-20T18:53:00.001-05:002013-07-26T23:13:26.568-04:00Gun Control<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’ve been meaning to write this blog for days since
the school massacre at Newtown happened. Those who know I’m an Air Force
veteran will probably not be surprised that I own a gun and I favor people
owning guns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Friends, I have been shot at and I have shot at
enemy troops. I do not expect that a full scale war requiring that response
will occur in the United States. I’m sure my forefather farming a plot North of
Gettysburg, PA in 1860 didn’t expect it either. We all know now that he was
wrong and he was lucky. The war came knocking on his front steps, but it never
entered his life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have been to Bergen-Belsen, and Dachau, and Anne
Frank’s Hidden Annex. I have seen the results of tyranny taking over a peaceful
people who did not have the power to resist its rule.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Our founding fathers following a war to overthrow an
absent leader understood that the average man needed the means to reject authoritative
rule. Yes, the 2<sup>nd</sup> Amendment says: A well trained militia being necessary
to the preservation of freedom, congress shall make no laws abridging the people’s
right to keep and bear arms. Please parse that sentence. It does not say
Congress can’t stop people from being in a militia. It doesn’t require you to
be in a well trained militia to own a gun. The beginning is a subordinate
clause. It explains the reason for the sentence, but doesn’t modify it in any
way. In short, the action in the sentence is “Congress shall make no law abridging
the right”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">That is why I believe everyone should start with the
right to keep & bear arms. However, like other rights, I do agree there are
ways you might lose the right. Just as convicted felons can’t vote, I don’t
want them to have guns either. I can easily see owning guns being registered
and licensed just like owning a car and driving it are managed. I include
testing, inspections, registering, liability insurance, and the means to revoke
the right in that process. My wife had a stroke in 2006. Her Doctor submitted
paperwork to the state and she was notified that she had lost her right to
drive <u>and </u>what she needed to do to get that right back. I think we can
enact the same rules regarding mental health and gun owners’ rights.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Is this change going to be easy? No. The idea for
cars started when there were very few cars on the road and it was easy to
enforce. The continued enforcement has been handled by requiring car dealers
registering vehicles before they leave the dealership. I’ve no idea of a
practical means to register already owned guns. There will be a certain percent
that voluntarily do so, but will that even be 50%? I don’t think so, but I’m
just guessing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Now some of you are going to ask me, “All guns?” Do
you all realize that 12% of the US population is Veterans? Want to guess what weapons
we are most familiar with? Yeah.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I have a pistol and only a pistol. I’m too old and
too fat to be in a situation needing an assault weapon, but if the worst comes
about, you can be damned sure my fire team will have a few. I’m more likely to
grab a shotgun to fire for effect because it’s point and shoot; no aiming
really required. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Am I sad about the events at Newtown? Of course I
am. How can any human with a beating heart not be upset over the massacre of
innocent children? <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Do I think that will be the last such massacre? No,
but I don’t think removing all guns from circulation is the answer. That simply
opens us up to more problems down the road. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Are there other steps that can be done? Yes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">a.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
in favor of trained staff carrying guns everywhere. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">b.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m
also in favor of limiting the size of magazines. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";">c.<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;"> </span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">I
can also agree to limit the sales of semi-automatic weapons. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">The first limits massacres by shooting the offender,
the latter two by limiting the number of rounds that can be fired in a given
time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%;">What will congress do? They are supposed to
represent us, so I hope they create a registration & licensing system.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-20361687354309093702012-12-19T15:55:00.000-05:002012-12-19T15:55:20.235-05:00Question for Type 1 Diabetics about Pumps & Continuous Glucose Monitors
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Friends, I’m crowdsourcing a question. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">I’m going to put a lot of narrative below,
but my basic questions are:</span><br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">
</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 31.5pt; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;"> 1)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
pump do you use?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Why?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
infusion set do you use?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Plastic
or metal cannula/needle?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Have
you ever had problems with insulin leaking, the cannula or needle pulling out,
or any other non-standard response?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">5)<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">Do
you use a Continuous Glucose Monitoring system?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">a.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">If
so, which one?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman";"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">b.<span style="font-size-adjust: none; font-stretch: normal; font: 7pt/normal "Times New Roman";">
</span></span></span><span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;">What
are the pros and cons of that system?</span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span> </div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt 0.5in; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -0.25in;">
</div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">If you feel you can answer those questions without
any more info feel free. You can respond with comments, you can email me at <a href="mailto:7shore@gmail.com"><span style="color: blue;">7shore@gmail.com</span></a>, find me on FaceBook as
Jules Shore (same picture) or via Twitter @7shores.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Now for that background: My wife, hereafter known as
Mrs, has been a Type 1 Diabetic for 51 years. Hold your applause please, it
doesn’t mean she’s done everything right. On the contrary, she’ll be the first
to tell you she isn’t a good diabetic. She has exceeded all expectations of
doctors. 20 years ago when we got married, she was expected to live about 5
years. It’s 20 years later and she’s slowed down some, but she’s still ticking.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mrs works in a Doctor’s office (Family Practice).
About two years ago a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medtronic</i> pump
salesperson approached the Dr to get him to recommend pumps for patients
needing that type of therapy. The Dr wore a pump for two weeks with saline in
the reservoir to get a feel for it. At the same time, they recruited Mrs to try
pump therapy too. Of course, she had a real live pump full of insulin. That
went well so they added on some other incentives and Mrs became a pumper at the
cost of $1500.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Up until that time, our Primary Care Physician was
following her diabetes. Mostly that meant checking the A1c and keeping up with prescription
needs. They didn’t want to follow her use of the pump, so they really forced us
to get an Endocrinologist.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">When we signed up with the Endo, she already had a
pump and supplies, so there wasn’t any discussion of which pump to use. Within
a few months, they were pushing the CGMS integrated with the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medtronic</i> paradigm pump that Mrs is
using.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mrs’ control has been great on the pump, but frankly
it hasn’t been the easiest change to make. She had a lot of problems with the
first Infusion sets she used. They had a needle inside a plastic cannula. After
insertion, you pull the needle out and an internal valve is supposed to keep
the insulin from coming out the hole. That didn’t work for us, after a number
of instances of changing the infusion set while on the phone with <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medtronic</i> customer support, we resorted
to covering the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hole</i> with tape. On a
following visit to the Endo, we were put in touch with a different <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medtronic</i> salesperson. They may call
them case worker or similar title, but I call a spade a spade. She switched Mrs
to the Sure-T infusion set. That model has a needle stay in the whole time, so
there is no hole for leakage. Unfortunately it has a smaller patch of adhesive
and Mrs has pulled needles out on occasion. We reinsert it and cover it with band
aids or tape and change at the next expected change.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Mrs also tried the Glucose monitor system from <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Medtronic</i> that integrates with her pump.
Frankly it was a pain in the ass. (My blog; my rules.) She couldn’t take any of
the IV covers they wanted her to use. Tegaderm works fine in the hospital, but
after three days around the sensor she’d be all red and bumpy at the edges.
Without a cover, the sensor adhesive would sweat off before 3 days were up. In
addition, she’d have to check her BG 8 times a day to keep the sensor
calibrated.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thru Twitter contacts, I’ve discovered there are
other brands of pumps and also CGMs that aren’t integrated with the pump. So I’m
looking for some feedback from real users about their equipment; good, bad, or
ugly. I can do research all day long, but none of that is as valuable as the
info I can get from real users. Feel free to pass this around via any social
media to all of the Type 1 pumpers you know.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> If there are any other sugestions, feel free to share those too. It seems strange to be newbies at the process 51 years into a disease, but it is true that we are newbie pumpers compared to some of you.</o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Thank you,<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">J.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-70515351731975867132012-12-14T15:38:00.004-05:002012-12-14T15:38:56.318-05:00I Love Serials (no, no, really, I do)In today's episode of "<em>It's Tuesday, so this must be Belgium</em>", a journal in search of an identity:<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Previous
titles/ISSNs:<br />
0023-023X <cite><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ophthalmic
Surgery</span></cite>, January 1970-August 1995<br />
1082-3069 <cite><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ophthalmic
Surgery and Lasers</span></cite>, September 1995-December 2002<br />
1542-8877 <cite><span style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif";">Ophthalmic
Surgery, Lasers & Imaging</span></cite>, January 2003-December 2012<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: Calibri;">2325-8160 <i>Ophthalmic Surgery, Lasers & Imaging
Retina</i><b>, </b>effective January 2013</span></div>
<br />
I guess I shouldn't complain, they are keeping Catalogers all over the world gainfully employed just cleaning up after them. But still, does this change really make any difference to your readership?Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-83558698525693252572012-12-07T11:49:00.001-05:002012-12-07T11:49:36.728-05:00Xmas Lights<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/OkKkx7lKk00?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
This year's decorations for Christmas, Chanukah, Hanukmas, Christnukah, Festivus, what ever you like to call it. May everyone have a Merry Holiday season. I still limit my wishes to three: Peace on Earth, Goodwill towards Men, and a list of all the Naughty Girls within one mile of my house (but 2 out of 3 wouldn't be bad).Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2716041983946997567.post-73855385767076696152012-11-16T12:48:00.000-05:002012-11-16T12:48:11.566-05:00Citizenship – A forgotten duty<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">This morning (11/16/12) on the Today show, I saw 30 new Americans take the Oath of Allegiance. (That’s the oath that makes them American Citizens.) I was struck by the differences between the Oath of Allegiance, the Oath of Enlistment (taken by everyone enlisting in the Armed Services), and the Oath of Office (taken by Commissioned Officers and also civilian Government Employees). (Yes, that’s right; I’ve taken the last two.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I have the full forms of all three oaths below. Due to length, I’ll put the last two much further down after the meat of the post. You can read them now or later as you prefer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Go ahead if you want to, I’ll wait.</i>] 8-)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s the Oath of Allegiance:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I hereby declare, on oath, that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; that I will support and defend the Constitution and laws of the United States of America against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; and that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; so help me God.</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The actual legal code is at <a href="http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title8-vol1/xml/CFR-2012-title8-vol1-sec337-1.xml"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/CFR-2012-title8-vol1/xml/CFR-2012-title8-vol1-sec337-1.xml</span></a><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(There are exceptions for religious reasons) <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s what is in that Oath, but isn’t in the Oath of Enlistment or Oath of Office:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">… that I absolutely and entirely renounce and abjure all allegiance and fidelity to any foreign prince, potentate, state, or sovereignty, of whom or which I have heretofore been a subject or citizen; <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">…that I will bear arms on behalf of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform noncombatant service in the Armed Forces of the United States when required by the law; that I will perform work of national importance under civilian direction when required by the law; <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">That first part makes sense. To become a citizen here, you have to ‘un-become’ a citizen somewhere else. It’s that second part that makes me say “Wow! That’s some heavy shit, dude.” </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">(Yes, I’m 50. Put your own age appropriate exclamation there if you if you want to, that’s mine.)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> </o:p></span></span><span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">New Citizens are required to swear they will fight for this country, if able, or perform some other public service if they can’t bear arms. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I was born here. I have sworn to support & defend the laws of the US. I have picked up arms on behalf of the US. No one ever made me swear that I was willing to do so. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">So, what am I getting at? We make people that want to join our country swear to do something that no one has made any citizen swear to. Even the 12% that have borne arms for the country never had to promise to do so. I’m not speaking out either for or against that, I’m just commenting - <span class="p1">“Wow! That’s some heavy shit, dude.”</span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><span class="p1"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span class="p1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">[12.1% of the US Population is a Veteran. By state, the top 5 are Alaska, Mont., Maine, VA, & WY (all over 14%). The bottom 5 are Utah, CA, DC, NJ, & NY. (All under 10% of their populations) NY, the least, is at 7.9% of the population.]</span></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</span><o:p></o:p></span><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">I’m a little late on the Veterans’ Day wishes, but thanks to all who have made that commitment. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s a toast to absent warriors. We’ll reunite again on the Plains of Megiddo. <Pours a little Whiskey on the ground; drinks the rest in one gulp.> (Don’t ask why. I’ll never be able to explain. I haven’t the words for those that don’t understand; I need no words for those that do.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><Present… Arms!> <two><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><o:p> Thank You!</o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Here’s the Oath of Enlistment taken by everyone enlisting in an armed service of the United States:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span lang="EN" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">I, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">[name],</i> do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/subtitle-A/part-II/chapter-31"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/10/subtitle-A/part-II/chapter-31</span></a><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">The Oath of Office (for Commissioned officers and civilian Government employees) is slightly different:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="mso-ansi-language: EN;">I, <i>[name]</i>, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; that I take this obligation freely, without any mental reservation or purpose of evasion; and that I will well and faithfully discharge the duties of the office on which I am about to enter. So help me God. </span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/part-III/subpart-B/chapter-33/"><span style="color: purple;">http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/5/part-III/subpart-B/chapter-33/</span></a><o:p></o:p></span><br />
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11137413128188261428noreply@blogger.com1