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Greetings, Quotaholics:
Roy Charles Laird (88) and his wife, Clara (86), were to celebrate their
70th wedding anniversary next month. Instead, Clara is dead and Roy
is being held in jail.
Roy
and Clara were in their teens when they married. He was a student
at the University of California, Santa Barbara and eventually became
an engineer for General Electric. Clara stayed home to rear the couple’s
two children. They raised their family in Palmdale, California and moved
to Leisure World (also in California) twenty years ago.
Clara began to lose her ability to function in the world. Her increasing
dementia did not lessen her husband’s devotion to her. He personally
cared for her, bathing and feeding her himself. Three months ago, he
was persuaded to move his beloved wife to a nursing home.
Clara was moved to Country Villa Healthcare Center, but Roy still was
tending to his wife. He would come to the center three times a day to
spoon feed his fragile, ailing wife.
Staff, neighbors, and the couple’s own daughter all attest to Roy’s
love and devotion to Clara. They also all noted that her mental capacity
was in such decline, she could no longer be cared for at home. She was
transferred to the nursing home after she could no longer walk or even
sit up by herself in a wheelchair. She could no longer feed herself.
And most heartbreaking of all, she no longer recognized many of those
around her.
Roy visited his wife this past weekend. A gunshot was heard and pandemonium
broke out in the nursing home. The California Highway Patrol, the county’s
Sheriff’s Department, and three local police departments responded to
the call put out regarding shots fired.
The building was secured and a tactical team entered. They got to the
room in which Clara Laird was a patient. They found her in bed, dead
from a single gunshot to the head. Her husband was sitting calmly in
a chair in her room. He was in possession of a .38 caliber revolver.
The police took Roy to jail. His daughter, Kathy Palmateer (68), arrived
at the jail trying to understand what had happened. She told people
there her mother’s dementia was increasing and her father had been very
upset. She termed the incident a “mercy killing.” Allowed to see her
father, she got him a lawyer and made sure his medications were made
available to him while he was incarcerated.
Prosecutors will decide on what charges to file this coming week.
We have heard about the coming of “death panels” should we make a move
to government sponsored medical care. Is there a time when a death panel
would allow one relief from the incurable and release from mental incapacitation?
Is there a place in this world for Dr. Kevorkian and others like him?
What would be the proper punishment for an 88 year old man who committed
murder? Does the victim’s limited life play any role in your decision?
I’ve heard of the alleged custom of Eskimos placing the sick and frail
on ice floes and sending them off to meet their maker. Is this something
we need to revisit in this day and age of medical miracles salvaging
those whose lives are irreparably diminished?
My heart goes out to Mr. Laird. He had mentioned several older folks
who killed a spouse and then killed themselves, allowing the couple
to be together in an afterlife. I wonder if he wishes he had fired the
gun twice.
Compassionately,
Reminder - Since Thrusday is Thanksgiving
here in the U.S. we will be taking a day off. We’ll be back on
Monday. Till then have a happy holiday and safe travels!
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“The price of empire is America’s soul, and that price is too high.”
- J. William Fulbright, 1905 - 1995
“In the eyes of empire builders men are not men but instruments.” -
Napoleon Bonaparte, 1769 - 1821
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Sound Off!
[Thanks Bonnie]
Wouldn’t it be nice
to tell the principal of your college or high school what you REALLY
think about him/her?
Well,… if you like YOUR principal as much as Jim liked HIS principal,
then you’d better keep your mouth shut.
Jim knew he’d get kicked out of the college if he expressed his true
feelings, so he remained silent for the last four years.
But yesterday was his graduation. And as he walked across the stage,
the principal handed his diploma scroll to him (nicely rolled up and
tied with a ribbon).
Once she handed it to Jim, he thought he could finally tell that @#$&
what he REALLY thought about her.
So he leaned across her podium and looked her straight in the eye.
“You dumb twit,” he said. “You’re so darn ugly,… you could practice
birth control by just leaving the lights on!”
And then he walked off the stage, and went home.
Today, he finally unwrapped his diploma scroll, framed it, and hung
it in the living room, where it proudly proclaims to the world:
“In order to receive your diploma, please present this certificate
to the principal of your college after final grades have been posted!”
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“I have tried to do what is true and not ideal.”
“Love is when the desire to be desired takes you so badly that you feel
you could die of it.”
“Of course one should not drink much, but often.” - All by French painter
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec born on this day in 1864
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No
Matter Where You Go… There You Are!
[Thanks Tesser]
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Speak right up!
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View Points
Autumn is a somber season. Aside from the beauty the leaves display
as they prepare to drop (thus the vernacular term for the season - "fall"),
the world takes on a sepia tone instead of the multiple shades of green
interspersed with the rainbow of colors from blooms. Although
the color spectrum is somewhat diminished, there is still a beauty in
a forest of naked tree limbs.
A friend of mine and I traveled to the Daniel Boone National Forest
to do some geocaching recently. It is a hilly, rugged area, and,
heavily forested. Thus the name. Some of the trees
are coniferous. Most are deciduous, which leaves (pun intended)
a view almost every direction practically unfettered.
We had driven up into the hills along a long, gravel, mountain road.
It looked more like an old logging road that had been upgraded to a
gravel road. It was a single lane in width, which made it interesting
as we rounded corners going around boulders and trees. It is hunting
season. Hunters are our in their pickup trucks. But we didn’t
encounter any traffic either time as we traversed this road.
What was amazing about this particular route was the view. In
many places, the hillside dropped dramatically from the edge of the
roadway for hundreds of feet below. The ground looked like a dappled,
1960’s carpet had been placed over it. Without the leafy undergrowth,
nor the foliage on the trees, the hillsides seemed to go on forever.
A brownish-orange wormhole seemed to appear in the fabric of the space-time
continuum.
Our quest was to find some of the oldest caches in the region.
Some of the original caches placed 9 or 10 years ago were placed with
the hike and scenery in mind. There were at least 4 such caches
in this area. We were not disappointed in how these were placed.
They were as expected, with one requiring a one-mile hike just to get
to it. Then you have to return. In the process, the lake
nearby was easily seen from the hillsides and hilltops. It is
hard to describe the beauty of the colorful leaves coming to an abrupt
end at the edge of the water, with the blue of the water contrasting
the oranges and browns.
At another interesting cache, a different, yet similar, view was available.
A climb atop a rocky knob was required to access this cache, and it
was rather exciting with the loose leaves everywhere. Footing
was tenuous, at best, for the ascent and descent, but the view
from on top of the knob was beautiful. We could see across a wide
valley to the hills beyond in one direction, and the aforementioned
lake and other hills surrounding it in the other direction. With
nothing to obstruct the glow of the colors of the fallen leaves, the
hills seemed painted with a multicolored brush
Here’s your quiz:
Where have you gone to see some different types of terrain or colorful
displays?
Do you prefer colorful views, or do you prefer interesting or unusual
geologic features?
How deep into the woods would you go to witness such things?
View Points - If There Are Two Or More, Is That A View Line?
Cliff (the High-Tech Redneck who doesn’t rate a fancy ’signature pic’)
P. S. - Happy Thanksgiving to residents of the U.S.A. Don’t overstuff
the turkey, nor overstuff yourself with turkey.
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Email Kirsten
“If
nothing ever changed, there’d be no butterflies.”
~ Unknown ~
From my blog, Running
for Autism
Sometimes I wonder how I stayed sane before I started running again.
The answer, of course, is that I probably didn’t. Several years ago
things got kind of hectic in my life. I left my job in a whirl of negativity
on the same day that my Dad, on the other side of the world, started
chemotherapy. Six weeks later he died, and my guilt about not having
made it home in time to see him alive plunged me into depression. A
year later, my second son was born, and I learned the hard way that
post-partum depression does, in fact, exist, no matter what nonsense
Tom Cruise may have been spouting at the time. A year or so after that,
we were hit with George’s autism diagnosis.
So for a period of three years or so, we were very unsettled. As soon
as we came to grips with one thing, something else would crop up and
derail us again. And in those days, I didn’t have running. I had no
means of escape, no way of letting off steam. Anger, despair, and sadness
reigned supreme in my household.
Several years on, I look back at those days and wonder how on earth
I got through it all. How did I endure the stress, the confusion, and
the absolute lack of self-esteem without blowing a gasket? My life now
is so different. I have a job that I enjoy. I love being Mom to my two
beautiful boys. I am getting married next year (the day after the Royal
Wedding, no less!) to the man who has been by my side for the last ten
years. I have rediscovered running. I am, for the most part, happy.
For the last little while, though, a certain level of anxiety and nervousness
has been creeping in. It’s not all bad - it is attributable to the fact
that I have been making decisions to make some changes in my life, to
make things better, and to confront ghosts from the past. The destination
that I am aiming for is positive, but the journey to get there is somewhat
unnerving.
What this means is that I have entire herds of butterflies constantly
jiving around in my belly. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind them being
there. Butterflies are lovely, and every healthy belly needs a few of
them from time to time. I just wish they weren’t breeding like rabbits,
and I wish the little buggers would all dance to the same tune. And
I wish they were waltzing instead of breakdancing.
I get relief from this state of astonished nervousness when I run. I
am very focused as a runner. When I’m on the road, I do not think about
what’s going on in my life. I think about what’s going on in my run.
How is my pace? Is my heart rate within range? Does my body feel good
enough for me to kick it up a notch or do I need to hold back? Am I
hydrated enough? Do I need to take a gel? And so on and so forth. From
time to time my thoughts drift into non-running-related territory, but
they always come back to the running.
When all of this is going on, the butterflies don’t get much airtime.
They probably realize that no-one’s watching their manic performance,
so they lie down and take a nap. For whatever reason, when I am running,
the butterflies are still. I feel a sense of calm that is almost surreal.
I always know that as soon as I stop running, the butterflies will wake
up again, but in the moment, the lack of nervous agitation is a beautiful
thing.
At the end of the day, though, I find that I have to embrace the nervousness,
because it is symbolic of positive change. To cross the finish line,
you have to run the race, even if the road you travel on takes you past
places you weren’t sure you wanted to go.
Kaleidoscopically yours,
Kirsten
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I have a nice fattening recipe for the turkey this year. I’m going to
make it, although just the thought of the butter involved makes my arteries
nervous.
I’ve always liked Thanksgiving. It is one of the few days in the year
that speaking the word "calorie" could result in commission
of a felony. All right, I probably wouldn’t kill someone who said the
"C" word. Just don’t do it when I’m about to dig into my 4th
helping of mashed potatoes or 3rd piece of pumpkin pie.
The thing that pleases me about a fattening turkey recipe is the irony
of it. All year, health gurus tell us what a low fat, healthy meat comes
from that particular bird. Sausage, bacon and hot dogs made from turkey
are even sanctioned by Jenny Craig. Of course, Jenny likes the taste of
cardboard, as long as it isn’t high in calories and has plenty of MSG
to hide its true nature.
I have many recipes that suggest substituting turkey for more high fat
fare such as pork chops or hamburger. "It tastes just like the real
thing!" these cook book editors like to claim. "You won’t even
miss the extra calories!"
When I visit my sister, Chicagoann, she trots the fake food out for our
consumption. She uses egg substitute, cooking spray, and artificial sweetener.
Then she cooks a gourmet high fat supper, or we go out to a meal that
swims in cream and butter. I’ve noticed that many times when people suffer
through a low calorie substitute, they make up for it with something tasty
and not so virtuous later.
So, as I was saying, my turkey may have arrived at Sam’s in a low fat
condition, but by the time I’m done with it, it will have had the cure.
It will be slathered in butter, herbs and wine. It will contribute to
the creamiest gravy I can concoct. If we all need quadruple bypasses after
Thanksgiving dinner, I will have done my duty. Just to be a smart Alec,
I might even come up with a sour cream dip for the rice cakes.
Happy Thanksgiving, RGQ readers and editors.
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Misc. Tips
[Thanks Herm]
Crayon on the wall - toothpaste and brush it!
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Maybe a lot of people are out of town for the
holiday already. That’s why I’m not getting many limericks this
week. I’m sure it’s not the quality of the opening lines…
That’s my story and I’m sticking to it!
Next opening line…
The cranberry sauce we did open…
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
The
turkey is stuffed and is browning.
Kids run around and are clowning.
The table is set,
We’ll eat soon, you bet!
For it’s bird-taters-punkin’ we’re downing. - Nancy L in Ohio |
The
turkey is stufffed and is browning
So why is Mother standing there frowning
Relatives abound
Doing nothing just sitting around
So with cooking sherry, her sorrows she is drowning. - Bonnie |
The turkey
is stuffed and is browning
in gravy he is drowning
We will enjoy his meat
and plenty we will eat
and getting ready to soon be gowning - dEE |
The turkey
is stuffed and is browning!
The pies with sweet cream get their crowning!
The potatoes are whipped
with parsley fresh snipped!
Not one of our faces are frowning! - June |
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Re: Stolen Gasoline
Right or wrong, it would
be interesting to learn about Mr. Englund’s fate. - Carol T
I don’t side with
either but no one life should be taken over something replaceable.
- dEE
Re: Teachers
Thanks Cliff, I think teachers
are great too.
Here in Turkey 28th November is National Teachers Day, when the whole
country thanks them for their efforts. Its great if you flash your
teachers card you get lots of discounts. Kids bring gifts and our
PTA always have a teachers breakfast! - Best
Regards Sue
I have
done some teaching/job training, and have always found it far easier
with someone who is assumed to be a rank beginner, and not likely
to figure stuff out on their own. Oddly, giving a dog credit for having
some intelligence works better (with some dogs) than it does with
many people. However, throwing in some reasons for an instruction
being as it is at least lends it authority, and an outside chance
of intelligent response to a novel situation. If my student "knows"
something that is false, it ruins hours of instruction before finally
making itself known, and then may not even be changeable. The worst
offenders seem to be ideas from a similar field that don’t actually
apply in a new situation. - Bob of the North
I’ve been a part
time teacher of choral music - Youth Choir. The fantstic moment is
when a bunch of kids who have always sung just melodies learn how
to harmonize in three parts, hear each other, and realize what they
have accomplished. Heaven’s angels couldn’t sound more glorious! -
Nancy L in Ohio
Re: Frozen Beans
You can refreeze
if you only had them in the refrigerator.But if they thawed out while
outside of the refrigerator no.
Once food is thawed in the refrigerator, it is safe to refreeze it
without cooking, although there may be a loss of quality due to the
moisture lost through thawing. After cooking raw foods which were
previously frozen, it is safe to freeze the cooked foods. If previously
cooked foods are thawed in the refrigerator, you may refreeze the
unused portion. Freeze leftovers within 3-4 days. Do not refreeze
any foods left outside the refrigerator longer than 2 hours; 1 hour
in temperatures above 90 °F.
If
you purchase previously frozen meat, poultry or fish at a retail store,
you can refreeze if it has been handled properly. - dEE
Re: Cashback Scam
See snopes re: cash back
scam attributed to walmart.
http://www.snopes.com/fraud/atm/cashback.asp - bob in maryland
The cash back story
is an hoax. It’s been running since 2004. http://www.snopes.com/fraud/atm/cashback.asp
- Nathalie
In response to the reader
submission concerning cash-back scam - According
to snopes.com (http://www.snopes.com/fraud/atm/cashback.asp)
the story is false and has been circulating since Dec. 2009. - Sandy
Re: Travel Security
The problem with
the TSA procedures is that they do not make travel any safer. There
is no way to search every possible place that a bomb or weapon could
be hidden on a person.
I live in Israel and regularly travel through one of the safest airports
in the world, Tel Aviv. Security at Tel Aviv airport is second
to none, but they don’t make you take off your shoes, confiscate liquids,
and certainly don’t grope random passengers.
That’s because they are not looking for bombs, they are looking for
potential bombing. With every passenger that enters the airport they
want to answer one question "Why does this person want to board
the flight". If they can see that the passenger regularly travels
to a destination to visit their grandchildren, unlikely that they
are a bomber. If they are part of a school group travelling to a sporting
event, unlikely to be a bomber. You can normally confirm this type
of information with a few simple questions taking no more than a minute
or 2.
With a few simple questions, you can rule out maybe 90% of travellers
as potential bombers, which allows the staff to concentrate on the
other 10%.With a slightly more thorough investigation, you can normally
reduce that 10% to maybe 1% or less. Once you are carefully
checking only a small percentage of travellers, it is relatively easy
to take them aside and check them more thoroughly, I have friends
and relatives who fell into this small percentage, they are checked
in a private area in a polite atmosphere, but checked very thoroughly,
including removing shoes and going through items in carry-on luggage.
The result has been 100% success for the past several decades, in
spite of the fact that Israel is a prime target for terrorists. -
Michael
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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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