Heat's Back On

Ever since the wood stove's fire bricks wore away, the oil stove has been our only source of home heat. That's especially bad because it requires both oil to burn and electricity to run the blower -- if we are without either, we're out of heat. We really need to do something about that.

So far, we've been pretty lucky, but today the oil stopped flowing. Sounding of the oil tank confirmed that it wasn't empty, but when Kathe disconnected the supply pipe only a little oil dribbled out, so we knew it was the culprit.

But what was blocking the pipe? Sediment? Ice? And how could we clear it?

I only had one idea, and it seemed pretty dubious to me. Still, it was all I had. I went out and bought a little bit of diesel fuel and requisitioned the big veterinary syringe that I'd used for years to wash out my ear canals. I loaded the syringe with fuel oil, jammed it into the supply pipe and flushed the pipe with oil, then drew back, just like washing out a nasogastric line.

I got a syringe full of dirty oil, plus a big glob of nasty black crud. I repeated the process with a couple of cups' worth of diesel, and the line began to run freely.

I lit the stove and Kathe congratulated me on a successful experiment. I remembered the time that she had finished a difficult repair and celebrated with a Tarzan yell, and said,

"Right now I am made of win like Charlie McCarthy is made of wood and Joan is Maid of Orleans!"

You don't get very many chances to say something like that.

Oh, one more thing: when Kathe gave that yell, she also called out, "Everything in this house that works, works because I made it work!"

You've got to share that title now, sweetie.

//The Magic Eight Ball says, "Memento mori."\\

New Keys

My Uncle Wesley is too sick to drive his Isuzu pickup, so waste not-want not, my aunt Anne is allowing me to borrow it indefinitely.

It did have one problem: the key was bent, and over months it got worse. I took it to a drug store and the clerk clamped the crooked key into their grinder, but the copy looked like the original the way that the FBI Unabomber sketch looks like Ted Kaczynski.
Finally the other day, I was riding around with Kathe while she delivered notices, and noticed that her current stop was a locksmith's shop, a real one and not just a grinder setup at a drug store.

So, I got a pair of keys made and took them home to try them out on the pickup. Only aftyer I got home did I notice that both the old key and the new ones were from Albany Lock & Key. Huh.

Not only did the new keys work, but they work better than the bent key at unlocking the doors and starting the motor.

Dang, I should have done that months ago. Among other things....

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "At least that's one thiong taken care of. Don't stop now. And don't forget to thank Anne and Wes again."\\

Giving Stuff Away

Kathe and I live in a big old house with lots of space (although the lookout tower where I write these words remains imaginary), and we have filled entirely too much of that space with things for which we have no current use but which are just too nice to throw away.

Or could we throw some of this stuff away? Or find good homes for it with people who would appreciate how nifty it is? But how would we find such people....

And that was how things stood for us, even after we got hooked up to the Internet, until just recently. Then we discovere Free-Cycle, specifically the Albany-Corvallis chapter, located on Yahoo.

Yesterday we gave away big stacks of National Geographic. Today it was a classic Victorian-style baby carriage (which did in fact carry several known babies, most recently Waldy). The NGs are going to be circulated among home-schooling families (a very suitable fate for them), and the carriage will serve as a display space for a doll collection.

We are sitting around feeling virtuous, or at least like not such complete and utter fools as all that, for hanging onto those things for so long, and wonderfully relieved not to be responsible for them anymore.

Thanksgiving Message

I am thankful that Kathe and I are still together. People went out of my life this year, and for much of it I thought Kathe was going to be one of them. I am grateful to Kathe for offering me another chance.

I was in a great deal of pain over the past year, of which the hole the doctors cut in my head last Thanksgiving was only the most obvious, and far from being the most painful. Some of that pain I took out on Kathe in ways that now make me cringe with shame. Very little of what I put her through was deserved.

Mainly, though, I look back thankfully on the good times Kathe and I have had. There were a lot more good times than bad, after all. And I look forward to good times yet to come, and give thanks for unknown blessings already on their way

Con Report, Day Three

The soak turned out to be less "blessed" than it was "marginally adequate". The hotel had disabled the bathtub drains, and only had one stopper to offer to guests who actually wanted a bath (as we had specifically requested). The desk clerk managed to find us a coffee can lid which more or less held the water back, provided we didn't move around too much in the water. But hey, we managed.

The next day we passed up "A Mission to Mars" and "Women Role Models in Science Fiction" in favor of "Guilty Pleasures", thereby showing where our priorities lay. We also experienced "Magical Realism" and pondered "At What Point does Society Stop Being Civilized?"

We walked the halls, and I observed that goggles are the new propellor beanie.

We went into the dealers' room and as I looked casually over a table full of books, the dealer laid a book down as though especially for me to see. It proved to be A Houseboat on the River Styx by John Kendrick Bangs, a book I had been looking for for some time, and which is noted for being associated with a surprising number of synchronicities (for instance, Alan Moore named his character Promethea, whose stories are all involved in the interplay between reality and fiction, "Sophie Bangs" long before he'd heard of John Kendrick Bangs) and cultural curiosities (for instance, its cast of famous dead people included Sherlock Holmes, who at the time of the book's writing had been killed off and had not yet been resurrected).

Finding the Houseboat was good luck for me, and I hope that it will prove to be an omen of good fortune for both Kathe and me, also.

Since we weren't staying at the con hotel and were pretty tired also, we left in the middle of the afternoon rather than dead-dogging it. Maybe next year.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Regarding next year, ask again later."\\

Con Report, Day Two

We spent the night at a less than ideal motel (no bathtub to soak our respective sore bones, for one major thing), went further down Barbur to find a better one, then went down to the Marriott for more conventiongoing.

We attended workshops and panels on "Mermaids, Sirens and Other Attractive Nuisances"; "Portraying Workplaces in Science Fiction and Fantasy" and "Have Comics Shaped Our Society?" We went over to visit my cousin Jean and her husband Lukas, then back to the hotel for "What Would Happen if the Oil Stopped?"; "Magic or Technology: Why Must We Choose?" (where I was scolded for saying "magic realism" rather than "magical realism") and the "99 Cent Costume Workshop" (which was fun, but we declined to enter the costume competition in our outfits) and "Non-Eurpoean Mythology: an Untapped Resource".

We also attended the costume contest, voted for our favorites and then left without dancing, opting instead to go get food, go to our new hotel (the Aladdin), take a blessed soak and go to bed.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Remember that fortune cookie? It said you would profit by spending time with family."\\

Con Report, Day One

Kathe and I are attending OryCon 30 in Portland this weekend. We arrived late on Friday (before the opening ceremonies, which we skipped, but after a lot of the programming for the day).

Programming we did attend included "Absurd Robots and the People Who Want to Own One" and "A History of Planetary Probes".

We brought our new matching sweaters, and our even newer matching tights, which we were to wear on Day Two.

More to this post later.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Have a good weekend."

Time Change

Yesterday, my phone's alarm woke me at 0630, so I could get to my parents' place by 0800. But by the time I'd gotten there my phone was on Standard Time, and it said it was 0700.

I know the alarm was still on Daylight Savings Time on Monday morning, because then it was full dark as I made my way to the shower, and this morning it was light at 0630.

So apparently the phone's clock did automatically shift back to Standard Time, but not until sometime between 0630 and 0700, when the official time change was at 0200. Weird.

Galileo Confirmed

Tonight at 1905 PDT, Kathe and I were heading back to Corvallis from Albany on Highway 20 when we pulled over near the Hewlett-Packard campus, rested a pair of Fisher-Price binoculars on the roof of our van, and observed the distinct crescent shape of Venus.

We enjoyed it a lot.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Gather ye rosebuds while ye may."\\

Uncle C, Please Contact Me

Uncle C, please contact me at the e-mail address that is posted on that other blog.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says: "Everyone who isn't Uncle C, don't worry about it."\\

Good Samaritan's New Wing

The other month, when my father was in Good Sam, I noticed their new wing and meant to blog about it, but forgot about it until just today when I was up on the hill (as it happened, on another errand for my father). Possibly I will later move it to an earlier date, which will retroactively make this a retroactive post....

The new wing is still under construction, but the graffito I noticed on the top floor is no longer visible -- I think some new construction has covered it up.

But as I was saying, I admired the new wing under construction, reminded a bit of Major Matt Mason's Moon base playset, and thought that it must surely be attractive to urban explorers.

Then I noticed a graffito (I think it said "Rat" or something like that, which I took to be a personal tag), which had been placed in violation of the conventions of the urban explorer but consistent with the conventions of the smart-aleck.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "You would know about smart-alecks, John."\\

Comment Moderation Enabled

Any future comments on this blog will be subject to my approval.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Up yours, NJ."\\

It Suits Today the Meek and Base

The other day I was watching a financial news report and saw a great big red flag (Chinese) flying in front of the New York Stock Exchange.

Probably not one person in ten who saw that image even noticed the irony.

A socialist of, say, 1908, if granted a millennial vision of the future, would have drawn all the wrong conclusions.

George Orwell, though, would have recognized the final scene of Animal Farm.

BTW, have any of you seen the British comic strip "Maggie's Farm", in which a human (well, zombie) manager is hired for the dilapidated Animal Farm? She remains puzzled by why production continues to fall, in spite of strictly observed taxidermist policies, although she is pleased by the reduced costs....

Anyway, it's a strange old world, isn't it?

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Yes, it is."\\

My Father is Not a Mennonite

He's just staying at their home.

He has a massive infection, caused by the indwelling catheter he was wearing due to complications of his spinal injury, and is now in the fourth week of a 6-8 week program of intravenous antibiotics, every four hours.

That requires him to live at the Mennonite Home until he is done with his every-four-hours infusions. The unfamiliar surroundings add to the confusion caused by his infection, which adds to the confusion caused by his stroke.

It helps if there is someone at his bedside to help re-orient him when he starts thinking that he needs to hurry to OSU to look after his Psychology students, or to the church to look after his Vacation Bible School kids, or to the airbase to report for duty.

Mom is doing most of that. I fill in for her in the evenings. It is wearing me out, and I hate to think what it is doing to Mom.

Just on top of everything else....

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "You do what you gotta."\\

Naughty Sarah

Sarah Palin is wearing Naughty Monkey shoes.

At least she forwent the Quickie, the Nookie and the Bonk Her in favor of the Double Dare, but even so, talk about raising issues of judgment....

Presumably Naughty Moose hip waders were not available in her size.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "John, I understand that you are under a lot of stress, but really...."\\

The End of the Story, Epilogue

Then again, maybe Kathe and I do have a future together after all.

We'll see.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Only time will tell."\\

Is There a Way?

I have always said, "There is a way", but what if there isn't?

Perhaps I have put myself in a position from which there is no honorable way to move, no way to avoid a choice that breaks the heart of at least one person I would rather die than hurt.

But to choose death myself would only cause still more pain than any choice I can make. So what then?

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "I have no idea at all."\\

One Way or Another

I hadn't told my now-grown children about my relationship with R***** or about G****'s birth, not because I considered it a shameful matter but because I wanted to respect R*****'s privacy and because I thought explaining the matter might prove...complicated. Basically, I didn't want to get into it, and I didn't see any pressing reason to do it.

Now that Kathe and I are apparently parting ways, there is indeed a pressing reason.

The other day, one of my daughters called me from Texas and asked casually how we were doing. I felt I had little choice but to tell her all of it. I was sorry to dump it all on her that was, but there was, after all, a lot to tell, so I did.

I was encouraged by the fact that her first response to the information dump was to tell me that my first priority needed to be to be a good Daddy to Gideon. That is the response I would have wanted to hear from her, and I agree.

I also asked her to call her sister in Portland and ask her to call me. Instead, she called her sister and, without explaining why, urged her to visit Kathe, and she is in town now, and I'm very glad of that.

So, the girls know the story now, and the boys know most of it. Soon enough, everyone will know the whole story, and soon after they will all be sick of it, because while some of the story does not reflect well on me, I am not in the least ashamed of knowing R*****. Or G****.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Knowing what you should be ashamed of is half of a moral education."\\

UPDATE: At R*****'s request, I have deleted her name and our child's, since we will not be living together after all.

My Father is Very Sick

At Good Samaritan getting IV antibiotics for a resistant bladder infection, which turned into three antibiotics for a bladder and kidney infection, which is now, I think, three different and stronger antibiotics for an infection of his kidneys, heart and possibly other structures.

Dad has been plagued for months by a series of highly-resistant infections. They keep piling on new antibiotics, but meanwhile the bugs keep getting more resistant.

If you would like to do something in honor of the suffering of my father and others like him, please go right now and wash your hands.

I'm serious. Wash your hands now. Wash your hands several times a day, with soap and hot water, taking as long as it takes to sing one verse of your favorite song.

And not with antibacterial soap, either. Casual use of antibacterial substances is part of the problem.

Wash your hands, people. Wash surfaces that people touch frequently (like computer keyboards). Wash them, and wash them again when needed.

I am not being the least bit blasphemous or facetious when I implore you earnestly to for God's sake wash your hands.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "When was the last time you washed me, John?"\\

After the End of the Story

I have at last seen the e-mail headed "The End of the Story", and have also learned a couple of significant facts.

One is that the e-mail wasn't actually as bad as I had imagined. Quite reasonable under the circumstances, actually. Another is that Kathe did, in fact, send me a copy, and when she heard that I had complained of not getting it, she sent it again.

Finally, Kathe didn't actually send the e-mail to everyone on Earth, but only to those with whom she had excvhanged e-mails in the past. This last was a comfort to hear, because just before Kathe sent out the e-mail she asked me to provide her with a copy of my own Friends list on Hotmail.

The End of the Story

If you are someone who knows me personally, you have probably already seen an e-mail which Kathe apparently sent out to everyone she could reach who knew me. I haven't seen it myself yet, because Kathe didn't include me among the recipients and because those who have seen it have all sent me comments like, "I deleted it and put her on my Blocked Sender list" or "There was nothing in it you would benefit from seeing".

That last comment is probably right. Still, I'm only human, and I do wonder what was in it. So to anyone who has received an e-mail from Kathe titled "The End of the Story", I invite you to forward it to me, with or without your own comments.

And to Kathe I will say, I would never have done to you what you have now done to yourself.

And by the way: one day I hope you will be willing to hear me say what I say right now: I love you.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Life Goes On."\\

Happy Birthday

My father's birthday is not until the 4th of July. Today was not my niece Andrea's birthday, either. But hey, close enough, at least this year.

Kathe and I went out to Bellfountain. So did my brother Tom and his girls, Andrea and Linda. So did Casey, the girls' grandmother, my mother's sister Pat and my father's sister Ann, Ann's husband Wesley.

A fairly low-key event. Andrea got some presents (including a book about Batman, her favorite character, with a read-along tape I recorded for her), and so did Dad (including a book of allegedly brain-stimulating puzzles Kathe found at Browser's Books). We had wrap sandwiches, and pieces of a flag-themed cake.

Not much, just a family event. The big event was that someone's dentures got misplaced, I won't say whose.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Family is important, if only to one's own family."\\

Surviving A Disaster

Informative interview with Amanda Ripley, author of:
The Unthinkable: Who Survives When Disaster Strikes—and Why

http://www.motherjones.com/interview/2008/06/five-ways-to-survive-disaster.html
Disaster survival tips:
1. Learn how to text message. Oftentimes, as in Katrina, text messages will go through when cell phone calls won't.

2. Expect smoke. If you're in an airplane, know how many rows are between you and the exits. If you're at home, know your way to the door without the lights on. Most fire deaths are due to smoke.

3. Get to know your neighbors. They may be your key to survival. The stronger your community is, the better equipped you will be to survive a disaster.

4. Practice. Many people who survived the WTC attacks knew where the staircases were because they did lots of fire drills. Children especially should know where to go in case of emergency, and walk that route until they are familiar with it.

5. Lose weight. Overweight people often are less able to move quickly in escape situations that call for speed.

Memorial Day

In the Oregon State University Daily Barometer for 29 May 2008, columnist Dan Fitzpatrick complains that "the mainstream media has [sic] been paying less...attention to American...wars in the Middle East", and proposes to "provide a brief dedication" to recent Medal of Honor recipients.

Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick is unable to follow through on his lofty goals, and instead uses American heroes as cheap props in a feeble attempt to dress up the abject failures of his beloved President Bush, talking wishfully about "the success of last year's troop surge".

Let me tell you about honoring the service of brave and capable Americans in war, without regard for the politics and personalities which sent them off to war.

When I was serving in the United States Navy, I was stationed at a medical center which had been in continuous use for over a hundred years. Although most of the base was modern and up-to-date, there were a few reminders of older times, most notably a military cemetery behind the enlisted men's quarters. I walked past that cemetery almost every day, and frequently paused to read the stones and contemplate their meaning: "Unknown USN...Unknown CSN...LCpl. R. Jones, USMC...Ens. M. Richards, CSN...."

The stones were identical, and no effort was made to separate the Union from the Confederate dead. This in spite of the fact that, no matter what the Confederate sailors' personal motivations might have been, the judgment of history is that the Confederacy was founded on "treason in defense of slavery".

But there's something more: the graves were dug (and filled) right in the midst of that terrible war, by Union sailors who were burying their own comrades -- and the men who had killed them.

That is what I call setting aside politics in order to honor the dead.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Rest in peace, one and all."\\

Library Books, 24 May 2008

Ex machina. Book 04, March to war / Brian K. Vaughan, writer ; Tony Harris, pencils ; Tom Feister, inks.
6/3/2008
*
A distant soil. Vol. IV, Coda / Colleen Doran.
6/3/2008
*
RG Veda. Vol. 10 / by Clamp.
6/3/2008
*
Rhode Island blues [sound recording] / by Fay Weldon.
6/3/2008
*
The 9/11 report : a graphic adaptation / by Sid Jacobsen and Ernie Colón ; [with a foreword by Thomas H. Kean and Lee H. Hamilton].
6/3/2008
*
Torchwood, the complete first season [DVD] / British Broadcasting Corporation ; executive producers, Russell T. Davies, Julie Gardner ; producer, Richard Stokes ; written by Russell T. Davies ... [et al.] ; directed by Brian Kelly ... [et al.].
6/4/2008
*
World of warcraft : the art of the trading card game / forewords by Samwise Didier and Glenn Rane ; introduction by Jeremy Cranford.
6/4/2008
*
Superman vs. Hollywood : how fiendish producers, devious directors, and warring writers grounded an American icon / Jake Rossen.
6/4/2008
*
A book is born : 24 authors tell all / created by Nancy C. Cleary with co-authors Christine Louise Hohlbaum ... [et al.] ; illustrations by Kelley Cunningham ; editing by Kim Pearson.
6/4/2008
*
Boldly live as you've never lived before : (unauthorized and unexpected) life lessons from Star trek / Richard Raben and Hiyaguha Cohen.
6/5/2008
*
A woman's self-esteem : stories of struggle, stories of triumph / Nathaniel Branden.
6/5/2008
*
Sublime spaces & visionary worlds : built environments of vernacular artists / Leslie Umberger ; with contributions by Erika Doss ... [et al.].
6/6/2008
*
Your perfect right : assertiveness and equality in your life and relationships / Robert Alberti, Michael Emmons.
6/7/2008
*
Overstreet comic book price guide / Robert M. Overstreet.
6/11/2008
*
Batman. The long Halloween / writer, Jeph Loeb ; artist, Tim Sale ; colors, Gregory Wright ; created by Bob Kane.
6/18/2008
*
Antique bakery Vol. 3 / Fumi Yoshinaga.
6/18/2008
*
Imadoki! Nowadays. Vol. 01, Dandelion / Yû Watase.
6/18/2008
*
Maxwell Strangewell / story and art by the Fillbach Brothers.
6/18/2008
*
Perfect example / by John Porcellino.
6/18/2008
*
Scott Pilgrim. Vol. 04, Scott Pilgrim gets it together / [Bryan Lee O'Malley].
6/18/2008
*
Sorcerers & secretaries. Vol. 02 / by Amy Kim Ganter.
6/18/2008
*
Spent / Joe Matt.
6/18/2008
*
Bizarro comics / [writers, Jessica Abel ... [et al.].
6/20/2008
*
The rejection collection vol. 2 : the cream of the crap / edited by Matthew Diffee.
6/20/2008
*
All I need to know I learned from my cat (and then some) / Suzy Becker.
6/20/2008
*
Einstein simplified : cartoons on science / by Sidney Harris.
6/20/2008
*
Great lies to tell small kids / Andy Riley.
6/20/2008
*
Schulz's youth / by Charles M. Schulz ; foreword by Jerry Scott.
6/20/2008
*
Walt & Skeezix. 1923 & 1924 / by Frank O. King.
6/20/2008
*
The Bakers. "Do these toys belong somewhere?" / Kyle Baker.
6/20/2008

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Read 'em and weep."\\

McCain Video

Here's your straight-talking maverick, America: http://video.tagged.com/?v=GEtZlR3zp4c&ect=dxaxxuk&al=1

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Next question."\\

Junking the Tercel

Kathe and I have owned three Tercel station wagons over the years. Overall, they've been the most reliable vehicles we've owned since original-series Beetles became too expensive to maintain.

Our most recent Tercel, a 1984, recently started making funny noises, which turned out to be very extensive wear that would have required about $1,200 worth of work. We could probably buy two equivalent cars for that much money, so sentimental and frugal as we are, the Tercel will be junked.

It's parked in front of the house right now. We've already stripped it of small items like the ice scrapers and the jack. Monday or Tuesday, we will v-e-e-e-r-y carefully drive it down to B&R Auto Wrecking and be done with it.

We also saved the owner's manual -- anybody need one?

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Life goes on."\\

My Father is Better

Actually, his recovery has been so rapid that his care team aren't trying to set goals for him, they're just monitoring his progress and waiting to see how much he recovers and how fast.

Kathe and I went to Eugene for his care conference, and for his first time out of the facility since his arrival. We went out to a Red Robin (more my parents' sort of place than mine, but not bad), hoping to be joined by my cousin Jean and her husband, but they were delayed.

Afterward, we went back to Dad's room at Riverpark to wait for the others to arrive, but the night shift I worked the night before caught up to me, and Kathe persuaded me to leave for home. I slept in the car for most of the trip.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "So far, so good."\\

All Those Kids, What to Do?

The authorities are hard-pressed to know what to do with all the kids they carried away from the FLDS compound: where to house them, who should care for them, how to deal with culture shock.

Hey, guys, here's a thought: Why didn't you just leave the women and children in place and just run the menfolk out? Jail them or rent motel rooms or whatever, let the DA's people and the social workers interview everyone in good order, and decide in some reasonable period of time who can go home before the trials and who can't?

A lot less trouble and disruption than spiriting the kids away and scattering them on the winds, seems like. Probably less expensive, too.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Never attribute to malice what can be explained by stupidity. And never attribute to individual stupidity what can be explained by institutional culture."\\

My Father is Very Sick

He had to go off the coumadin in order to have oral surgery, and while he was off it, a blood clot formed and he had a stroke.

He's improving rapidly, but is still going to be in "skilled nursing facility" in Eugene fo awhile.

It's a nice one....


//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Be brave."\\

365 New Superheroes -- Honest!

A couple of years ago, I grandly announced at a purpose-built blog that I was going to create 365 new superheroes over the course of a year.

Considering that time was I tossed off a dozen or more in a single letter composed in an idle afternoon, I thought I could keep to an average of one a day without a lot of trouble.

Well, quite possibly I could have, but I didn't. I posted in fits and spurts, and eventually stopped posting at all.

So, I'm starting over again, as of today, 8 May 2008. Go to my blog and see how I'm doing.

//The Magic Eight Ball says, "So far, so good."\\

Spring Planting

I helped plant flags at the Iraq Memorial at the Valley Library today.

Each red flag represents five dead Americans. Each white flag represents five dead Iraqis. Takes awhile to plant that many flags.

I don't know what the other people planting flags were thinking about as they carried out the task, but I kept flashing back to occasions when I have had to handle actual dead people.

So many flags....

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Remember the dead".\\

The Bush Memorial

News item sent to me by Kathe's son Jake, from his Flotsam web site: The Presidential Memorial Commission of San Francisco, filed paperwork at San Francisco City Hall April 25 to put an initiative on the November ballot. Leaders are optimistic that they'll collect at least 7,200 valid signatures to put the measure before voters. The measure would change thethe name of the Oceanside Wastewater Treatment Facility to the George W. Bush Sewage Plant on Jan. 20, 2009, inauguration day.

Well, all right, but no President of recent memory will ever have a more appropriate one than Ronald Reagan has in the Ben Linder Room at the University of Oregon.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Remember."\\

More Dead Gophers

The gophers are still coming back, must not have killed enough of them last time. More Giant Destroyer cartridges....

My father had a bad fall this morning (ahem, before I arrived to help him with his PT), so I got to practice my wound care, washing and bandaging a skin tear on his arm and washing the blood out of his shirt sleeve.

Whether you are frail or vigorous, at age 77 your skin is liable to be fragile and easily torn. They call them skin tears in the trade, and they are almost as feared as broken bones.

Oh, well. Hydrogen peroxide does a good job of cleaning both skin tears and stained cotton.

Baptizing Chu

Kathe and I went to Portland over the weekend to attend the baptism of Chu Taylor, the second Asian child to be adopted by my longtime friend Francine deGrood Taylor and her husband Calvin Taylor.

By accident, at first we walked into the wrong church in a neighborhood impressively thick with them, and saw a poster with one of my favorite quotations, "Preach the Gospel at all times. If necessary, use words." When we finally found the right church, we got to hear Calvin playing the tune commonly known as "Morning Has Broken". I was struck by the coincidence: both the quote and the song are attributed to Francis of Assisi. So okay, he's still big, that's no surprise.

We also dropped off some comics to be assessed at Karen's Comics, and found it to be a very enjoyable experience. Karen and her husband are good people, and I was glad to have made their acquaintance and glad to have found a "good home" for the comics.

And we found a coffee shack to add to our collection. I'll post a report about it on the coffee shack blog as soon as I can figure out how to download the photos from my new phone.

Library Books, 11 April 2008

Children of the storm [cass/book] / by Elizabeth Peters. Title April 14, 2008

Doctor Who, the complete third series [DVD] / a British Broadcasting Corporation production ; Canadian Broadcasting Corporation ; CBC Television ; produced by Phil Collinson. Title April 15, 2008

Inside straight / edited by George R. R. Martin ; assisted by Melinda M. Snodgrass and written by Daniel Abraham ... [et al.]. Title April 15, 2008

Monsters / Charlie White ; introduction by Sally O'Reilly ; interview by Benjamin Weissman. Title April 15, 2008

Graphic classics. Vol. 14, Gothic classics / edited by Tom Pomplun. Title April 18, 2008

Wormwood, gentleman corpse. Vol. 01, Birds, bees, blood & beer / created, written and drawn by Ben Templesmith. Title April 18, 2008

Confessions of a blabbermouth / written by Mike Carey & Louise Carey ; illustrated by Aaron Alexovich. Title April 18, 2008 8. Dead@17. 01 / written & illustrated by Josh Howard. Title April 18, 2008

Earthian. Vol. 03 / art and story by Yun Kouga. Title April 18, 2008

Ads to icons : how advertising succeeds in a multimedia age / Paul Springer. Title April 25, 2008

Fell. Vol. 01, Feral City / written by Warren Ellis ; illustrated by Ben Templesmith. Title April 29, 2008

Powers. Vol. 05, Anarchy / created and produced by Brian Michael Bendis and Mike Avon Oeming ; color art by Peter Pentazis. Title April 29, 2008

Blue pills : a positive love story / Frederick Peeters ; translated from the French by Anjali Singh. Title April 29, 2008

Welcome to Tranquility. Vol. 01 / Gail Simone : writer ; Neil Googe : artist. Title April 29, 2008

The books of magic. Vol. 07, Death after death / created by Neil Gaiman ; writer, ; illustrators, Title May 08, 2008

James Sturm's America : God, gold and golems. Title May 08, 2008

Shiny beasts / Rick Veitch with Alan Moore and S.R. Bissette. Title May 08, 2008

Storeyville / [Frank Santoro]. Title May 08, 2008

Tellos. Vol. 1, Reluctant heroes / story Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo. Title May 08, 2008

Tellos. Vol. 2, Kindred Spirits / story Todd Dezago and Mike Wieringo. Title May 08, 2008

With the light. 01 : raising an autistic child / Keiko Tobe. Title May 08, 2008

The saga of the bloody Benders : the infamous homicidal family of Labette County, Kansas / written and illustrated by Rick Geary. Title May 08, 2008

Note: Just because I choose to make this information public doesn't mean I approve of anyone snooping in other people's library information.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Create no easements at this time."\\

Poisoning Gophers in the Yard

I went to my parents' house today, as I do on Wednesdays lately, to help my father with his physical therapy. Mostly, I walk alongside him while he goes up and down on his property, and do small things around the house in between walks, so he can rest.

Today, I dug up gopher mounds while he rested after our first walk, and buried burning Giant Destroyer cartridges in them, so that their noxious outpourings of oxides of sulphur and carbon could have their chance to kill the critters.

Dig, poke around, find the gopher run, light a cartridge, stick it in, bury the whole mess, repeat. I repeated eight times altogether.

There was a book published awhile back, the von Hoffman Brothers' Big Damn Book of Sheer Manliness, which asserted that Corry's Slug and Snail Death was by fare the yard-care product with the manliest name. I have to contend that Giant Destroyer exceeds even Slug and Snail Death for sheer manliness, although admittedly Corry's has the spiffier package.

So, we'll see whether I got all the gophers with those eight sticks, or whether we'll need to go after them again. Personally, I'd rather just persuade gophers to only come up alongside fences and garden walls -- if they would just do that, we could probably live in peace with them.

And my father's health continues to improve, as evidenced by how much longer the walks we're taking are getting.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Try not to take too much pleasure in killing animals in their homes with poison gas -- it's no more good karma than it is good taste."\\

New Coffee Shack Blog

Kathe and I have started a new blog, devoted to the coffee shacks of the Pacific Northwest, or anyway of the mid-Willamette Valley.

Every time we stop at a new coffee shack, with the owner's permission we photograph the building. We also collect any punchcards or other memorabilia. And we have a mocha, and review it for quality.

One day, we might just do the coffee table book we've been talking about for years, but in the meantime we've got the blog, and some digital pictures to put on it.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Be kind in your reviews."\\

Now It Can Be Told

At this late date, I suppose there's no harm in revealing that in the Spring of 2001, I was flown to Washington DC to consult with President George W. Bush on Middle Eastern policy.

I don't know why they asked me -- I'm not in any sense an expert on the subject -- but then the Bush Administration hasn't been especially noted for its good sense.

Still, they asked, so I did my best.

So there I was, sitting across the Oval Office desk from George W. Bush, and he told me what he had in mind.

"We're going to transform the entire Middle East with a bold initiative, starting in one country and then moving on, domino after domino. But first we have to establish a beachhead."

I nodded, beginning to get excited.

"That's a bold move, all right. Well, the obvious choice is Israel, which is practically a U.S. client state. Persuading them to grant meaningful sovereignty to the Palestinians, and providing the Palestinians with the support they will need to build up a viable country, will be quite a challenge, but --"

"We weren't thinking of Israel, actually."

"Oh. Well, the obvious second choice is Egypt, where the government is closer to a functioning republic than any of the other Arab countries...."

I stopped as I saw him shaking his head.

"Oh. Well then you must be thinking of Saudi Arabia, where the U.S. has almost as much influence. They're a long way from democracy, but I suppose it could be possible.... But that's not what you had in mind, either, is it?"

So he told me: it was going to be Iraq.

I didn't bother to tell him that was about my seventeenth choice.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "That was unkind, John."\\

Out From The Library, as of 21 March 2008

1.	This book contains graphic language : comics as literature / Rocco Versaci. Title	March 31, 2008
2.	Ex machina. Book 03, Fact v. fiction / Brian K. Vaughan, writer ; Tony Harris, pencils ; Tom Feister, inks. Title	April 03, 2008
3.	Overstreet comic book price guide / Robert M. Overstreet. Title	April 03, 2008
4.	Queen & country. Vol. 08, Operation Red Panda : report of proceedings / compiled by Greg Rucka ; illustrated by Mike Norton and Steve Rolston. Title	April 03, 2008
5.	A distant soil. Vol. III, The Aria / Colleen Doran. Title	April 03, 2008
6.	Batman : Hush. Volume two : Hush / Jeph Loeb, writer ; Jim Lee, penciller ; created by Bob Kane. Title	April 03, 2008
7.	Edmund and Rosemary go to hell : a story of our times with (hopefully) some hope for us all / Bruce Eric Kaplan. Title	April 03, 2008
8.	Freud for beginners / Richard Appignanesi & Oscar Zarate. Title	April 03, 2008
9.	Lost at sea / Byran Lee O'Malley. Title	April 03, 2008
10.	Paintings of you / writer, Mia Paluzzi ; artist, Mia Paluzzi, Chris Delk. Title	April 03, 2008
11.	Silverfish / David Lapham ; greytones by Dom Ramos ; lettering by Jared K. Fletcher. Title	April 03, 2008
12.	The early years of Mutt & Jeff / [by Bud Fisher] ; edited by Jeffrey Lindenblatt. Title	April 03, 2008
13.	Blue Beetle. [Vol. 02], Road trip / John Rogers & Keith Giffen, writers ; Cully Hamner, Rafael Albuquerque, ... [et al.], artists ; Guy Major, colorist ; Phil Balsman, Pat Brosseau, Jared K. Fletcher, letterers. Title	April 14, 2008
14.	Batman : bloodstorm / writer, Doug Moench ; penciller, Kelley Jones ; Batman created by Bob Kane. Title	April 14, 2008
15.	Children of the storm [cass/book] / by Elizabeth Peters. Title	April 14, 2008
16.	Good as Lily / written by Derek Kirk Kim ; illustrated by Jesse Hamm ; lettering by Jared K. Fletcher. Title	April 14, 2008
17.	Romeo and Juliet / by William Shakespeare ; adapted by Richard Appignanesi ; illustrated by Sonia Leong. Title	April 14, 2008
18.	Graphic classics. Vol. 14, Gothic classics / edited by Tom Pomplun. Title	April 18, 2008
19.	Invincible. 08, my favorite martian / created by Robert Kirkman & Cory Walker. Title	April 18, 2008
20.	Wormwood, gentleman corpse. Vol. 01, Birds, bees, blood & beer / created, written and drawn by Ben Templesmith. Title	April 18, 2008
21.	Cairo : a graphic novel / written by G. Willow Wilson ; art by M.K. Perker ; lettered by Travis Lanham. Title	April 18, 2008
22.	Confessions of a blabbermouth / written by Mike Carey & Louise Carey ; illustrated by Aaron Alexovich. Title	April 18, 2008
23.	Dead@17. 01 / written & illustrated by Josh Howard. Title	April 18, 2008
24.	Earthian. Vol. 03 / art and story by Yun Kouga. Title	April 18, 2008
25.	Tramps like us. Vol. 14 / by Yayoi Ogawa. Title	April 18, 2008

Now We're Getting Somewhere

Awhile back I suggested that once we have either an African American or a woman as President, the real 21st Century can begin, and this Godawful mess we've had since 2001 will shrivel up and blow away.

Now comes this headline: SPACEWALKERS ASSEMBLING GIANT ROBOT.

Hey, all right! Now, about those rocket packs....

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "John, I thought that initial remark was just a joke."\\

Hypochondria

The other day, I noticed that the place where the neurosurgeon opened my skull is decidedly flat under the scar.

Is it hypochondria that makes me think that today it's actually indented, or did I just not notice it before?

Is it hypochondria to think that the recent extreme stress in my life is causing me to develop hypochondria?

The Courage of George W. Bush

George W. Bush displayed more courage than I would have expected of him when he vetoed the torture ban. I would have expected him to just quietly ignore the whole matter and then gone right on torturing. But no, he actually went on record as endorsing torture. That did indeed require a certain measure of courage.

The kind of courage, that is, that it takes to order someone he's never met to torture people he'll never see. But as far as that kind of courage goes, he has more than I would have expected.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Give credit where credit is due."\\

I'm Glad I Have His Genes

My father is 77 and has had a series of major health problems in recent years, but right now I'm visiting my parents' home at Bellfountain near Monroe, and appreciate what I've seen of his improving condition.

I'm making use of my massage experience and half-formed nursing skills to assist in his rehabilitation. I've been supervising his stretching exercises and inspecting his shoes and walkers, but by far the most important thing I've been doing for him is simply walking over the grounds with him.

My parents' house sits halfway up one side of a long narrow valley, and they own the land from the roadway down to the bottom and up the opposite side to the ridgecrest, one of several similar properties in the valley. When they bought it in 1989, the opposite hillside was forested and the bottom was pasture. They undid the drainage that had been done years before and restored a pond and wetland that was much as it had been before the land was settled. Later on, they re-drained part of the wetland in order to plant more trees for the sake of income in later years, but there is still a substantial pond, and migrating birds still stop there.

When Dad was 73 and recovering from a hip replacement, he said, "I guess I'm just about able to hobble around the house now. Some people would say that's enough at 73."

"Time enough for that when you're eighty-three," I retorted. Possibly I felt the remark hit too close to home, since Kathe has also had both hips replaced, but Dad was clearly pleased with my response.

In recent years, Dad has been too limited in his mobility, or too frail, or both, to walk over his property the way he'd like to, but just recently he's been making some impressive progress.

We walk down to the barn and poke around in the workshop on the ground floor, or go up the outside stairs to go over the books in the library there. On Monday, we went on past the barn to see how the occasional worker had been handling the slash from recent tree-pruning (answer: burning some of it in a couple of small piles, leaving more for small wildlife). The bridge over the creek is currently made up of rocky stuff that I'd be hesitant to go over in a truck, but once it's been filled in with some small broken rock I'm hoping to get Dad up to the ridge on a bright Spring day so he can look down on all his land at once.

The Voice of History

I am deeply troubled by the way that Republicans are treating the threat of global warming as though it were a fit subject for partisan scheming, and not an issue we should all unite behind.

Why, if they had done the same with the threat of war with the Axis nations, we'd have stayed out of the war for two years or longer, if not actually being caught flat-footed by a sneak attack.

Oh. Right.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "I don't care who was partisan first, John -- stop it already."\\

Do Antidepressants Work??

Answer: They work exactly as their designers expected them to: they help people who are suffering from a specific diagnosable brain disorder called Clinical Depression. They don't work on people who are "merely" having a bad year.

Sigh.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Don't despair in the face of human stupidity."\\

CH2M

In this case: Corvallis, Halsey, Harrisburg and Monroe -- to say nothing of Alpine, Junction City and various other towns, large and small, in the mid-Willamette Valley.

Kathe has recently started a new job, serving papers on people and appearing as a witness to official auctions (or more often, to the fact that no auction actually happened at such and such a place on such and such a date). In the furtherance of this mission, she is getting to know the various nooks and corners of the mid-Valley the way she used to know her mail route in Philomath.

When I have the chance, I ride along with her. We've made progress on our long-running project to review the coffee shacks of the Pacific Northwest (both their architecture and the quality of their mochas). The long periods of driving together have also allowed us to make some progress on other matters, too.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Take what you can get."\\

Dear National Review

Dear National Review:

Are you entirely sure that you want to remind the whole country that you* and the Communist Party USA were on opposite sides of the segregation issue -- and who was on which side, and stayed there . . . and stayed there . . . ?

Well, if you insist . . . .

* And when I say "you", I mean your entire staff back in those days (and more recently), most especially Mr. Buckley, as well as your official editorial policy.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "One man in the right is a majority of one. -- Thomas Paine, leftist activist"\\

Bush Liberates Cuba

In the tradition of the beloved Ronald Reagan, who tore down the Berlin Wall, Our Leader has succeeded in his efforts to topple Cuban dictator Fidel Castro.

He has called for...

He has called for...

[ /sarcasm command breaks down ]

Good grief, he has called for open and honest elections.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Don't allow any poll watchers from Florida."\\

Honk for Impeachment

Because at least it's better than bleating for immunity.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Do what you can and leave the rest."\\

My Innards, My Poor, Poor Innards

My innards are very unhappy with me. Yesterday and again today. I was going to go to a job fair in Lebanon yesterday. I was going to go to work tonight. Instead, I stayed home. I went to bed early last night, and plan to again tonight.

I know I'm really sick, because I don't make a fuss about going to bed early.


Ow, ow, my poor innards....

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Drink plenty of fluids."\\

Knock 'Em Down!

Good grief.

I can just barely imagine what it feels like to a resident of Gaza to be on the right side of a bulldozer for once.


//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "It's like schadenfreude without the guilt."\\

ReCAPTCHA Vanishing Literature

Using CAPTCHAs to translate text which computers can't read.

What a cool idea.

Way cooler than using idle computers for SETI, even.

Almost as cool as having a robot for a best friend.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Take what you can get."\\

Sorry to Have Fallen Silent

I'm not writing anything here lately because

1) I'm pretty much recovered from the brain surgery.

2) Some things are happening in my life that are much worse than any mere brain tumor, and I'm not ready to talk about them in public.

//The Magic Eight-Ball says, "Take care of yourself, John."\\

[UPDATE: I'd like to clarify that my current condition is not life-threatening. It only make me wish I were dead.]