Really Good Quotes

Greetings, Quotaholics:

I guess death is never pretty.

Some people are luckier than others when it comes to death though. My father-in-law, who seemed to be in good health, walked into the bathroom and fell over dead. No hospitals, doctors, machines, expenses, just here one minute gone the next.

Others, like my father, suffer declining health for years. He was in and out of the hospital a dozen times. He had to talk the doctors into letting him out of the hospital to attend my step-mothers funeral only to be readmitted, near death, the next day. My step-mother suffered from cancer and underwent painful treatments for years before her death.

But one thing all these people had in common was their desire to live. Even when they were at their sickest point, they wanted to live.

I guess I have a little different view of life. I’ve always believed that when life becomes totally hopeless making the choice to end it might not be a bad thing.

I was saddened to read the story of former schoolteacher Chantal Sebire, 52 of Dijon, France. For most of her life Chantal was a normal looking, apparently healthy, woman. Then she developed a rare, and incurable, condition with the tongue twisting name esthesioneuroblastoma. That’s doctor talk for “nasty incurable tumor”.

The tumor invaded her nasal cavity and eventually deformed her face, causing her to lose her eyesight and the senses of smell and taste. She petitioned a French court to allow her the “right to die”. By that, I assume she meant the right to allow a doctor to administer a fatal dose of medication.

The Yahoo story notes, “French legislation adopted in 2005 allows families to request that life-support equipment for a terminally-ill patient be switched off, but does not allow a doctor to take action to end a patient’s life.”

The court rejected her request for euthanasia and Ms. Sebire “…said she would not appeal the decision and that she would find life-terminating drugs through other means.” Her body was found at her home in eastern France on March 19, two days after the court decision.

“‘We can say that Mrs Sebire did not die of natural causes, as shown by the autopsy, but from absorbing a lethal dose of barbiturate,’ prosecutor Jean-Pierre Alacchi told reporters in the eastern city of Dijon.”

The article concludes with the observation that “Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg are the only European Union countries that currently allow active euthanasia.”

Does it seem odd to you that the law allows your family to “unplug” you, but you can’t “unplug” yourself? Shouldn’t the decision to end your life be one of the most basic rights? Sure it can be argued that she did make this decision and carry it out, but she had to do it herself. What if she, being untrained, had not taken a lethal dose? Then her problems could have been compounded by ending up in a coma or paralyzed thereby losing even the ability to end her life herself.

Where do you stand on this? Should euthanasia be allowed in cases like this where there is no hope of cure? Should doctors be expected to participate in the process? Should it be the decision of the patient alone, or should family be involved? If you were faced with an illness of this magnitude would you want to be euthanized?

Dying to know,

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"When I read about the evils of drinking, I gave up reading." - Henny Youngman

"There are certain things in which mediocrity is not to be endured, such as poetry, music, painting, public speaking." - Jean de la Bruyere, French satiric moralist (1645-1696)

I’m not a chemist or a geneticist so I have no idea if what a report in Yahoo News contains is possible or not. A geneticist named J.Craig Venter who claims to have engineered a new bacterium by mixing and matching genes says he is now ready to convert CO2 into fuel.

He is going to engineer a life form that eats CO2 and either exhales, defecates, or otherwise produces methane as waste. Methane, or natural gas, can either be used as a fuel as is or can be converted to a liquid synthetic fuel with Gas to Liquid technology.

Now before you all run out and sell your Exxon and Shell Oil stock, there’s a teensy problem with Venter’s idea which he admits. The problem is getting enough CO2 and his little critters together to produce enough methane to be commercially successful. Although there is a lot of CO2 in the atmosphere, getting it out won’t be easy but reducing a greenhouse gas from the atmosphere is not a bad idea.

I have a concern about his plan. What comes to mind is why convert a greenhouse gas into an even more dangerous greenhouse gas? Since his plan involves living creatures and not machines that can be shut down, the chance of his critters getting loose and converting CO2 into methane unchecked is a scary thought. Supposedly safeguards will be designed into his creature to insure it won’t be viable outside of the conversion facility, but there’s always the possibility of mutation.

Since global warming threatens to release a lot of methane trapped in permafrost, I think he should design a critter to eat methane that will exhale oxygen and pee hydrogen. That would preclude dumping too much more greenhouse gasses into the atmosphere. Or perhaps he should create a critter that can eat CO2 and exhale oxygen and crap carbon. We could vent the oxygen into the atmosphere and pump the carbon into closed coal mines where it would eventually turn into coal in a few hundred million years.

There’s already a bacteria that uses iron and oxygen to convert oil into CO2, water and alcohol which was used to help clean up the Exxon Valdez oil spill. Amyris Biotechnologies has modified E. coli to convert sugar into versions of jet fuel and diesel fuel. Synthetic Genomics is working on creating microbes to turn any plant matter directly into diesel or jet fuel, and the LS9 Company is working to modify existing microbes to do the same thing in a different manner.

Just think of the kits you could sell for back yard projects. You supply the 55 gallon drums and buy kits to convert your lawn and garden waste into pure alcohol or gasoline or 10W - 30 oil.

You could buy a canister of dormant critters that could be applied as a dust to lockers, gym clothes in a hamper, or gym shoes in a closet that come to life when in contact with the odor causing bacteria and eat them. Probably the biggest seller would be a butt plug containing a colony of critters to sanitize and sweeten flatulence…hydrogen sulfide (H2S) so you smell roses instead!

Why do I have to think up everything?

The Bad Sied

Our own Cliff has some thoughts about loyalty. He’s loyal to RGQ, and gets his 15 Minutes of Fame for that…and for his thoughts on a subject rarely broached.

What has happened to loyalty?

About a year ago I had a customer call me to get prices on a new phone system with all the amenities. Again, a couple weeks ago, they wanted an updated price. I provided it in a professional manner, and even took a working phone system out and provided a "hands on" demo.

Let me preface this a bit. About 18 months ago, I was called to this customer’s office to do some work to move an office phone. The hardest part was the fact the water heater and furnace were in the way, but working around them was easy enough. All I had to do work around the gas pipe and reach across to clear them and place the wire in the wire hangar.

In this process, the gas line where it joins the water heater inlet simply fell apart expelling gas into the basement. With the furnace nearby and its pilot light aflame, I was afraid of an explosion. I went upstairs and told everybody to get out of the building.

After getting the gas leak stopped and airing out the building, everybody was allowed back in and we inspected the damage. Apparently, the wrong kind of fitting was placed on the water heater against safety and building codes. Also, it had been done so long ago, the fitting had rusted completely through. It had been leaking a little even before it broke. They thanked me for being quick to react and keeping their safety in mind.

All that being said, one would think they would be thankful that my company was always quick to respond to their service requests, and even more so about the situation I just related. Maybe they are. It’s hard to tell.

I learned yesterday that they accepted a bid by a competitor for a phone system that was slightly cheaper. I say slightly only because the prices were very close. I am familiar with the brand they selected. It doesn’t offer as much in capability than the one I proposed. I know this because I could have offered it too, but selected a model that fit their operation better.

Where has the loyalty factor gone? Is the almighty dollar more important now, to the point it is the deciding factor for most people? Are we jaded to the extent that we will accept the lower "customer service" of chain stores and organizations as long as we can save a few bucks? Is "customer service" no longer a valued commodity? I ask this because this is not the first time this has happened, and it appears to be a factor more often considered.

Would you select an inferior brand knowing you were going to save a little over the higher quality brand? Are the Wal-Mart prices more attractive to the point inferior products from China are preferable to similar products simply because they are a few cents cheaper? Is the economy so bad that we focus on price knowing we will have to buy a replacement in a short time compared to the higher priced product and end up paying more in the long run? Do the "extras" have a value any more? Is this just a regional thing, or is it more widespread?

Yes, I do consider my customers as important. It should show in the impact this has had on my feelings. I had considered some of the people at this customer as a little more than simply business acquaintances. Maybe it’s me. Maybe I’m placing too much importance on quality and I should focus more on prices.

Cliff

Email Kirsten

A lot of people like snow. I find it to be an unnecessary freezing of water.
- Carl Reiner -

Have you ever noticed how crabby people get when the weather is bad? There are some lovely people in the world - people who would usually rescue stray puppies and help old ladies cross the street. When you put a few clouds in the sky, and make it cold and rainy, these same people turn into Hannibal Lecter. Something in our genetic code makes us predisposed to be happier when the sun is shining.

There are studies that show weak links between the weather and our emotional wellbeing. No-one’s been prepared to give the statistics any scientific credence, because there are so many variables that affect our moods. For instance, on Tuesday, everyone at work spent the day looking as if they wanted to spit on the person at the next desk. As it happened, the weather on Tuesday was absolutely miserable. But my building only had one functional elevator, so people could just as well have been mad about that. Whether or not the sunshine or lack thereof affects our mood to any great extent, we do know that going for a brisk walk on a nice day can work wonders for us.

According to the BBC, the weather has physiological effects on us. The human body is not designed to function effectively in extreme temperature conditions. When it’s very cold, our bodies are expending energy to try and stay warm. When it’s hot, we are trying to get rid of the heat that we produce internally. With our bodies focusing on regulating our temperatures, it’s no wonder that we find it difficult to concentrate when it’s hot enough to fry eggs on the sidewalk, or cold enough to have icicles hanging from your beard.

Atmospheric pressure is a determinant of whether our joints ache or not. We have tons of atmosphere exerting constant pressure on us. We are not crushed by it because there is equal pressure within us that pushes outwards. When the atmospheric pressure drops, our internal pressure does not equalise as quickly as we might want. Body fluid flows into tissue spaces, and this puts pressure on nerve endings, resulting in aches. When the atmospheric pressure rises again, our body fluid goes back to wherever it came from, and the atmospheric pressure hugs our bodies. We are usually comforted by hugs, and this no exception. The increased pressure takes the aches away.

There is mounting evidence to suggest that we are effected by the electrical charge in the air. Opposites attract, and so negatively charged ions make us feel positive and vice versa. In most workplaces, heating and air conditioning deplete negative ions. The positive ions keep circulating and making us feel bad, and our bodies become less able to acclimatise to different weather conditions.

Next time someone asks why I’m in a bad mood, I’ll be able to legitimately tell them that there’s something in the air.

Kaleidoscopically yours,
Kirsten

What talented poets you all are!

Next opening line…
My last date was a big mistake…

Hints:  There’s a great rhyming dictionary at http://www.rhymezone.com/
Limerick rules.  http://freespace.virgin.net/merrick.sheldon/limerickrules.htm 

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I found an old love note from Stu Ending with the phrase "I love you" But it ripped, I fear Words "Not being here" Were written when he was through. - Maria in Illinois	I found an old love note from Stu— It said "I don’t know what to do"— I am so conflicted and I am addicted to women’s clothes that I’m now "Sue". - Cassandra in New York
I found an old love note from Stu. And, yes, it was addressed to you. I had always thought he Was crazy about me; It seems my view was askew. - Bonnie in Louisiana	I found an old love note from Sue… And it said, "I’ll always be in love you" Well, I married the Bitch And did her feelings switch. Now she writes, "The alimony check is due" - Rick in Roanoke
I found an old love note from Sue… It reminded me of a love that was true But our wedding plans had to wait Because we were only eight Then she moved and bid me adieu. - Rick in Roanoke	Bruce said, You guys are slacking But in reality what was lacking Was the opening line! But it is all fine My friends thought my poems were smashing! - Anne Onimous

What bothers me the most about this incident is the motivation of the students who wanted to get this poor woman in trouble. Why? She wasn’t the regular teacher, she hadn’t done anything to them and she’d probably never seen any of the students before that day. It’s stories like these that make me so glad that I didn’t go into teaching!

This is just another example of the increasing lack of privacy in our society. With all of the recording devices we’re surrounded by, we don’t know exactly when we’re being recorded or by whom. Sure makes me want to mind my manners! - Pam in Arkansas

OK, that’s not what you asked us. The questions you mention seem pretty tame to me. It’s not like she was expounding on positions, fetishes or her personal preferences, which would have been over the line. Chalk it up to inexperience and forget about it. - Lola

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