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Greetings, Quotaholics:
Not
long after I got started writing, I got a note from Bruce that said
his sister thought I wrote too much about sex.
I
guess age has caught up with me though, because I haven’t received
such a complaint for a while. But now some of you may be ready to complain
that I write too much about marijuana!
You have to take my word for this, but I haven’t even tried pot
in almost 40 years. I only used it briefly in my early 20’s. At first
I enjoyed it, but as it got more potent I began to feel stressed, paranoid,
and like I was going to have a heart attack or something.
Needless to say this wasn’t particularly enjoyable so I made a
point of staying far away from it. For a while even the smell of it
could cause a panic attack.
The only reason I’m writing about marijuana again is that I found
a new article about it on Slate.com
recently. The author, Daniel Engber, writes about the night his mother
asked him if he could help her get some!
He went on to say, “…in the weeks and months that followed,
I discovered that many of my contemporaries—people in their late
20s or early 30s—had experienced something similar. Soon I’d heard
dozens of stories about retired moms and pops returning to the marijuana
habits of their youth. There were solicitations made over family dinners,
intergenerational drug deals worked out over holiday weekends - the
anecdotes were easy enough to find. Would I come across any data to
support this trend?”
“In fact, a statistical trace of what I’ve taken to calling the
"puff daddy" movement emerged a few years ago, when researchers
at the National Institutes of Health compared national drug surveys
conducted over two-year periods beginning in 1991 and 2001. Their analysis,
published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found
that the percentage of people who say they smoked marijuana in the past
year had remained fairly stable over the 10-year stretch. (That is to
say, it ended where it started.) But they found a very different pattern
among those between the ages of 45 and 64: As my parents’ generation
matured, the number of smokers in that group had nearly tripled.”
“The baby boomer drug uptick turns up again in the recent data.
According to the 2007 National Survey on Drug Use and Health, almost
6 percent of all adults between the ages of 50 and 59 reported smoking
marijuana in the past year. That’s up from about 3 percent five years
earlier. Meanwhile, the number of recent users over the age of 50 has
climbed to 2.65 million people nationwide (and we can assume the real
prevalence is somewhat higher, since these figures are based on self-reported
drug use). Here’s something to think about: There are about as many
boomers using cannabis today as there are high-school students doing
the same.”
“In August, researchers at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health
Services Administration published a detailed look at patterns of drug
use among the boomers. Most appear to have used marijuana continually
throughout their lives, but a sizable portion were classified as "resumers"
— those who recently emerged from a long hiatus in smoking dope.
Sure enough, almost all the puff daddies and pot mommas I’ve encountered
fall into this latter category: After years of abstinence, they’ve just
recently started to rifle through junk drawers for vintage roach clips
and rolling papers.”
He goes on to discuss some of the people who he met that have started
using pot again and some health concerns associated with it. He says
that some studies show an increase in death due to heart attack in people
using pot. A 2008 paper published in the American Heart Journal said,
“…marijuana appears relatively safe when looked at across the
general population. But it may be risky for certain subgroups, like
those with incipient heart problems.”
However researchers at the University of Edinburgh found that it might
prevent osteoporosis among the elderly.
So if you are over 50 and have started to smoke pot again maybe a word
of warning is in order here. Stop if you have any know heart problems
or are at risk of heart disease. But if you have osteoporosis you might
want to give it a try!
Do you know anyone over 50 who uses pot? Has it been a lifelong usage
or have they recently started back? Have you tried it recently? Do you
think at some point in your life you might try again?
If you are under 50 years of age, what would you do if you found out
your parents were using pot? Would you be concerned about their health
or would you think they had gone nuts and were chasing their youth?
Over 50 But Not High,
Comment
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“I have abandoned my search for truth, and am now looking for a good
fantasy.” - Anonymous
“Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry.” - Henry Ward
Beecher
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Groaners
[Thanks Sied]
England’s King Edward
VII was alarmed when his admirals informed him that Kaiser Wilhelm
was embarking on a crash building course to greatly increase the Imperial
German Fleet. When he asked how much money would be required to build
a dreadnought that would defeat the German Navy, the admiralty informed
him, “100 million pounds sterling, your majesty.”
“Oh dear me, I’ll have to pawn the Star of India, the largest diamond
in the world, the front piece on the Crown Royal to pay for this!”
“Dedication, your majesty” was all they could reply.
So the King sent for the Crown Royal and personally dug out the Star
of India and took it in the state carriage to a pawnbroker in the
East End, where he’d seen such establishments.
“How much will you give me for the Star of India, my good man?”
“Ow, Guv’nuh, Oi t’ink all I kin lend ye would be 100 pounds.”
“What? A mere 100 pounds sterling! This is the Star of India, worth10,000
times that. Do you know who I am?”
The pawnbroker replied, “When you wish to pawn a star, makes no difference
who you are.”
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“Abstract art is a product of the untalented, sold by the unprincipled
to the utterly bewildered.”
“Any place that anyone can learn something useful from someone with
experience is an educational institution.”
“Today’s younger generation is no worse than my own. We were just as
ignorant and repulsive as they are, but nobody listened to us.” - all
from Al Capp, born on this day in 1909
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Bad
Place Names
[Thanks Tesser]
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Speak right up!
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Fall
Two weeks ago, a week before the "official" date, I noticed
a tree back in our little patch of forest had begun it’s change. This
seems quite early to me. This week I’ve noticed others have begun turning
as well. Reds, yellows, browns, and greens begin the annual color palette
we get to enjoy in the northern areas.
Autumn, Fall, or whatever it’s called in your little patch of forest,
is a bittersweet time for me. I look forward to Halloween. I’ll explain
that another time, but we really do it up right. Friends from out of
state come to participate. We have an "after scare party",
of sorts, that all participants enjoy finger food, light beverages,
and we share our moments.
The weather begins to change this time of year. This year has been rather
cool and wet. If this trend continues, it will be a good thing that
I got my snow blower tuned up. It starts with chilly nights too cool
to even let the windows stay open. Then the days take on that same chill
making the change from Summer to Winter complete.
The trees denuded of their leaves look terrific in a strobe light at
Halloween. Once the decorations are put away, once the lights are out,
the trees look mournful and dreary. The bark loses the tinge of brownish
color that differentiates the various species. Light tans, medium browns,
and those in between all change to gray. as the sap drains to the roots
to be stored until Spring.
As a sufferer of overactive sweat glands, cooler weather brings a comfort
from working & playing in moist, sweaty clothes for hours on end.
I’ve found that I can put on layer after layer of clothes and successfully
maintain my comfort when the temperatures dip. When the temperatures
rise, I’ve found they will arrest you if you continue to remove those
layers trying to stay comfortable. So, I’m looking forward to cooler
temps.
Soon will come the soft, flaky, white stuff that makes my lawn look
just as good as any of my neighbors. Then, in about 6 months, Spring
will return and little buds and fronds will appear. Another promise
of temperatures that allow families to gather, play and enjoy the indoors
and outdoors.
Here’s your quiz:
Do you participate in the secular Halloween activities?
Do you live where the trees do the color change thing? If so, have yours
begun yet?
Do you prefer the warmer temps of Summer, or the cooler ones of Autumn?
Fall - Now The Trees Lay Down To Sleep…
Cliff (the High-Tech Redneck who doesn’t rate a fancy ’signature pic’)
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Kirsten went jogging and is too tired to write! Here’s an article
from the archive.
(Actually Kirsten completed a half marathon and deserves the day off.
Congratulations Kirsten!)
Email Kirsten
"Ah, yes,
divorce … from the Latin word meaning to rip out a man’s genitals
through his wallet."
~ Robin Williams ~
Today’s
column is a slight departure from the kind of stuff I usually write
about. I don’t feel too bad about that, because after all, my column
is a Kaleidoscope. The slightest movement can yield completely unexpected
images. Human relationships work in much the same way. You can see
two people who are, by all appearances, completely right for one another.
They have the same values and are in agreement over major life decisions,
and seeing one without the other is almost the same as seeing someone
who is suddenly missing a leg. Then you see the same two people a
year later, and to your amazement they are splitting up, accusing
each other of horrible things, and fighting bitterly over who should
get custody of the kids.
I am in
the unfortunate position of being friend to two people currently going
through a bitter divorce. The events leading up to the split form
a long story. The short version is that he did stuff wrong, she did
stuff wrong, and in the end she left him. She went off to live with
another man; he quickly got involved with another woman. In the beginning,
the separation was amicable enough. Tom (not his real name) and Denise
(not her real name) split custody of their son, the only child resulting
from their union. They sorted out logistics and division of assets
with a minimum of fuss. There wasn’t any anger or resentment, although
there was sadness and a sense of loss on both parts.
My role
as Friend was easy in the immediate aftermath of the separation. I
was friends with Tom, and I was friends with Denise. Each one knew
that I was friends with the other, and no-one minded. I listened when
they needed to talk, but I was careful not to express any negativity
about the other person. Our respective children, who have been friends
since the birth of my older son, continued to attend each others’
birthday parties and have playdates at each others’ houses.
Unfortunately,
in the last month or so, the whole situation has exploded in a frenzy
of chaos. My first clue that something was wrong came shortly after
I sent Denise an invitation for her son to attend my son’s upcoming
birthday party. Denise sent me a response by email, in which she said
that since I was friends with Tom, and saw any redeeming qualities
in him whatsoever, I was now one of her biggest enemies and she had
no desire to have anything to do with me whatsoever. I was asked,
therefore, to send her son’s invitation to Tom’s address.
In the week
since this happened, I have discovered that Denise has launched an
all-out war against Tom. She has cleaned out the joint accounts that
were supposed to be used to support their son. She is suing Tom for
half of the value of his business - a claim that, if successful, would
force Tom out of business. Her lawsuit includes a claim for half of
all of Tom’s future earnings. Over and above that, she is claiming
an astronomically high amount of child support, complete with built-in
annual increases.
It should
be noted at this point that Denise has a well-paying job, and that
she left Tom for a man who also has a well-paying job. It should also
be noted that Tom has, since the separation, allowed Denise unlimited
access to his bank account, for the purposes of caring for their son.
Denise’s
attack on Tom’s current and future income isn’t even the worst part.
Unfortunately, her lethal weapon of choice is the one person who doesn’t
have a voice in all of this - her son. She is trying to deny her son
access to everyone who loves him - his friends, his grandparents,
and worst of all, his father. She even went to extent of calling Children’s
Aid and reporting abuse and neglect on Tom’s part - claims that were
investigated and found to be groundless.
Now, we
all hear stories about people who stay together for the sake of the
children. It is often not a good idea, and leads to the kids growing
up with constant exposure to their parents’ fights. Admittedly, my
husband and I went through a somewhat bleak period in our marriage
when we stayed together for the sake of the children. In our case,
it worked out, and now I am extremely grateful that we stuck it out,
whether our reason for it was right or not.
What I am
absolutely not in favour of, though, is people using their children
as pawns in their marital break-ups. Unless abuse or neglect are part
of the picture, children should have access to both of their parents.
They should not be made to divide their loyalties. They should not
be expected to start abandoning their friends to make one or both
parents happy. They should be sheltered from the trauma as much as
possible. Some emotional fall-out is probably inevitable. But what
really makes my blood boil is when parents deliberately and knowingly
force their children into the fighting ring with them. Because invariably,
the kids are the ones who stand to get hurt the most.
Kaleidoscopically
yours,
Kirsten
Comment
On This Article
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Today I’m going to write kind of a “reverse” Dear Tim letter. You’ve
asked me for my help, now I’m going to ask you for yours.
Dear Readers.
I have a problem. Well, it’s actually a couple of problems, but
it all boils down to one problem. In order to create accounts for
students, we need their name, Social Security number, and date of
birth. But we have Canadian students who don’t have a SSN. They do
have a 9 digit Social Insurance number, so we use that instead. The
basic idea is that we want to create accounts where the student can
look up their passwords using personal information they know.
But now we have students coming from China. They have National
ID numbers, but they are 16 digits long. We could use the first 9
digits or the last 9 digits, or some part thereof, but I’m not sure
what to use. In the United States, the first part of your SSN is based
on where you were born, and the last part is what uniquely identifies
you. I’m not sure if that is true in China. Perhaps the first digits
are what is unique about the number and we should use those. I just
don’t know, and apparently the higher-ups are too lazy to find out.
If anyone can help me with that, I would appreciate it.
But that’s just part of the problem. We are going to have students
from Isreal. I believe everyone born there serves in the military.
That would probably give them a military number, but would they remember
it? We’re recruiting students from Tanzania. I have no idea if they
even have a numbering system there.
So I figured I would ask my global audience (both of you) what
kind of numbers your country uses. Please help me help kids get a
decent education.
Looking for help in Buffalo
You can e-mail me using the “Dear Tim” link below.
Tim a’Musing
Having a Ball with Numbers
E-mail
Dear Tim
Comment
on this article
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Miscellaneous Tips
A Perfect Pastry Crust? In your favorite recipe, substitute a 4:1
ratio of lard to butter.
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These are good. See what you can do with
this line.
Next opening line…
I once had a furry black cat…
Hints:
Here’s a great new rhyming/composition tool. http://www.writerhymes.com/
There’s also a great rhyming dictionary at http://www.rhymezone.com/
Limerick rules. http://freespace.virgin.net/merrick.sheldon/limerickrules.htm
Submit
Opening Line
Submit
Limerick
There
was a young girl from St. Paul…..
She wasn’t very tall…..
She bumped her knee…..
On the curb you see…..
And had herself a great fall. - Skeeter |
There
was a young girl from St. Paul…..
Who said crazy things; off the wall…..
She bit her lip…..
‘Cause she wasn’t real hip…..
And now says nothing at all. - Skeeter |
There was
a young girl from St. Paul…..
Who had a job at the mall…..
In a small kissing booth…..
But she had a missing front tooth…..
Didn’t do much business last fall. - Skeeter |
There was
a young girl from St. Paul…..
Really really quite small…..
She said with a sigh…….
As she piled her hair high….
"Ah, this makes me look bigger, y’all". - Skeeter |
There was
a young girl from St. Paul—
Who appeared like she had it all—
But she spent her days
in an alcohol haze
and then she went and shopped in the mall. - Cassandra in New
York |
There was
a young girl from St. Paul
Who wore hardly anything at all
Which was fine for awhile
She made everyone smile
Except Mom, said "Get thee to the mall." - Bonnie |
There was
a young girl from St. Paul
Who wanted to visit the mall
She didn’t have cash
So hid her great stash
Toward back of a store near the wall
Maria in Illinois |
There was
a young girl from St. Paul
Who wore a newspaper dress to a ball.
The dress caught on fire
And burned her entire
Front page, sports section and all. - Author Unknown |
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Re: Citizenship tests
Canada has a similar citizenship test, and a point system for money,
education and other factors for basic eligibility. I think that most
Canadians would score over 20% on a civics test, but that does not
tell us how the country is actually governed. Like the U.S., we have
a veneer of democracy over a very strong plutocracy. I almost passed
the U.S. test given, but was under the impression that the U.S. had,
on paper, accepted international treaties as their highest law. -
Bob of the North
I don’t have children
myself, but I do have six nieces and nephews. They range from 4-years
up to 18-years old. The problems of the US educational system are
blindingly obvious – we don’t educate children, we teach
them to take tests.
One
of my nieces will be ten in two weeks. She is in fourth grade. Her
book bag weighs 22 pounds. She average at least three hours of home
work every night.
They were
out of school for Labor Day, resulting in a four day school week.
On that Thursday they took two tests, followed by five tests on Friday.
All these on information they supposedly learned that week (Tuesday
and Wednesday). There was a spelling test. There was a science test
(covering both the skeletal and digestive systems). There was a science
vocabulary test. There was a reading comprehension test for that week’s
book. There was a math test. I don’t even know what the other
tests were.
This is
a schedule that repeats week after week after week. It is not humanly
possible to retain information under these circumstances. The human
brain isn’t built that way. Information requires time to move
from short term to long term memory. Keep stuffing in new facts and
there is no time to consolidate the previous information into long-term
memory.
There are
other factors, of course. On top of the schoolwork, there are other
after-school activities. Too much artificial sweetener. Not enough
sleep. The list could go on and on.
Elementary
school, especially, needs to get back to the basics… reading,
writing and arithmetic. I we want kids to learn more science or history
or philosophy or whatever, just make that part of the reading. Why
have kids read some silly story, and test them on that, when we could
have them read about George Washington Carver and all the great stuff
you can do with peanuts. Test the kiddies comprehension of that story
and you test their comprehension of history, geography, botany, etc.
But no,
no, no. We want to test, test, test. And test some more. Followed
by testing. - Tammy in Alabama
Well, I learned something today. I really thought we elected senators
for 2 years. But in going to the test, I see it’s representatives
that we elect for 2 years. I went back and forth between 12 and 9
for justices and for some reason I thought Ben Franklin wrote the
Declaration of Independence. So I would have gotten 70 on your test.
We studied US Constitution in high school, but that was almost 50
years ago. So I just forgot.
I’m printing out the full test and answers for our boys. They’re studying
Constitution this year. - Noella - PS; the full test can be found
here.
[Noella,
sounds like the two questions that tripped me up got you to.
Thanks for the link to the full test!]
Re: Cliff and grandchildren
Grandchildren–what a ticklish
issue with my kids! I have four adult children, two married, one in
a serious relationship, and I wish would find a good girl that he
could bring home to mom so I could quit worrying about him!! I’ve
always been very careful to not push them about it–that’s a quick
way to alienate your children and I want them to enjoy life a little
as single people. (To say nothing of making sure you’re in a stable
relationship before having babies!) It is their decision in the end,
of course!
My
oldest daughter had two children, after much trying. Unfortunately
they live in OKC and I live here in WA–so I don’t get to be around
them much. Boy, do I miss them a lot! I miss so much being the "kitchen"
grandma, and the "doll" grandma, etc. My dad’s mom was a
big part of my life growing up and so was his dad. I was really looking
forward to being that for my grandkids. I’m just hoping to someday
move back there and be with them. Maybe by then the rest of my kids
will settle down and I’ll have a few more babies to play with! - Ruth
in WA
Oh! I’ve two wonderful grand daughters. The oldest is three years
old, and she always insists that we play doctor with her little first
aid kit. The second one is eight months old, and she is pulling up
on everything, and discovering her feet and that they’re good for
something other than chewing on. I am in love with the two of them,
and every time I come back from a visit with them, I am worn out,
but wouldn’t trade it for anything in the world. I am Granny Tazz,
and loving every second of it! There names are Telucia Lyne, and Katie
Rose, and they’re the lights of my life. - Tazz
As far as I could tell,
my parents only fed me in order to look normal. I put off having kids
until I could support them without spending their natural inheritance,
or see some other way for them to live in a safe, sustainable world.
So, no kids here, and sister is barren. I had always hoped to become
a surrogate grandparent, but nobody here seems to need one. - Bob
of the North
Cliff, you get the comments early each weekend because I’m off in
Hilton Head visiting the grandchildren - and their parents. Four darlings
ranging in age from 3 months to 6 years old. Wouldn’t trade this for
anything. We play and laugh and rough house and get the kids all worked
up and then we come home! All the fun and none of the responsibility.
I’m looking forward to the day the older kids can torment their father
just like he tormented me. I want to laugh. - Patti
Re: Kirsten and time alone
I know it must’ve been very
hard for you to have had to suffer through such an ordeal as having
time to yourself, but I hope you enjoyed the heck out of it. LOL!
- Tazz
Reader
Submission
I consider
myself to be pretty computer savvy, and since I just learned something
new I thought I’d pass it on, figuring there must be others out there
who also could benefit from it.
I use web mail exclusively. I don’t use Outlook or any other mail
program at all, and while I am very happy with the arrangement, there
was always an odd time when I would delete some lines, either accidentally
or intentionally, where I changed my mind and wanted to undo it. Web-based
mail doesn’t let you…or so I thought.
Seems that if you use the keyboard commands CTRL+Z, you can undo,
and with CTRL+Y you can redo. It never occurred to me to try those
commands within Yahoo mail. I just figured I wouldn’t be able to do
it, and was pleasantly surprised to find that they worked.
Just passing on a tip. Hopefully someone else will be able to use
it as well. - Bruce
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Disclaimer- All quotes printed in this publication are believed to be
accurately attributed, but no guarantees are made that some incorrectly
attributed, or even outright false quotes won’t get in here from time
to time. I assure readers that I will do my best to weed out incorrect
quotes, and will print a retraction as soon as I become aware of any errors.
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If you run across something really outstanding when perusing the archives,
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and point it out to me. I’m in the process of compiling an e-book
called, not surprisingly, The Best of RGQ, and I’d like to hear from you
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