Big Day

What a huge day in the life of our nation! It's National Pi Day and Daylight Savings Time begins. This is way more excitement than I may be able to handle. If I would have been planning ahead, I would have planned on baking a pie today. Of course, my SO and I do not, I repeat - do not, need to eat pie but the romantic notion of eating pie on Pi Day is difficult to resist.

As a former educator and lover of all things mathematical, I made it a priority to investigate the inception of the terminology and usage of pi. Did you know that Pi Day has its own website www.piday.org? (Riveting information) Pi is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter: pi=3.1415926535. (More riveting information) Pi is an irrational number (I could have told you that.) meaning that it will continue infinitely without repeating. With the help of computers, pi has been calculated to over one trillion digits past the decimal. (Someone had too much time on their hands.) The symbol for pi was first used in 1706 by William Jones, but it was popular after it was adopted by the Swiss mathematician, Leonhard Euler in 1737. (Source: www.piday.org) I find it ironic that such a mathematical cornerstone foundation was first used by someone with the last name of Jones. Such a common sir name associated with such an uncommon concept.

Since the residents of most states now have an extra hour of daylight-time on their hands and are wondering how to spend this 'found' gift, perhaps we should all make and/or bake (bake - for those who obtain their pies in the frozen food section of their local supermarket) a pie today. Of course, to fully celebrate National Pi Day , we all have to consume some pie as well.

My SO and I just may have to make an exception to eating pie today. Hmmm, where are all of those frozen raspberries?

Happy Pi Day!

Ancora imparo

Test Anxiety

I'm a little old for test anxiety but that is exactly what I am experiencing with this online course I am taking for boating certification. Each time I finish studying an individual chapter and I prepare to take the chapter-quiz (which you are required to do or the course will not let you advance to the next chapter), I get these little butterflies in my abdomen and I think to myself, "Oh, get over this!" , which does absolutely no good.

There are something like fifteen chapters so I have a ways to go. I really should do three or four chapters per day because I fear that, at my current pace of one chapter-per-day, I'll have forgotten all of the information, from the beginning chapters, when I take the final exam.

As with most educators who have had to (or currently have to) compose their own exams for courses, I am quick to criticize poorly worded test questions or ineffectively organized study materials. This, of course, indicates a high level of hubris, a self-charge to which I readily admit to being guilty of. In my own defense, however, allow me to explain.

Every chapter, regardless of how long the study section is, has a ten-question quiz at its conclusion. There is a minimum-passing requirement of seventy-percent in order to be able to view the contents of the next chapter. In the last chapter quiz, one question was exceptionally poorly worded and I got the question wrong. Before I realized which question I missed, I contacted the concern that administers the course and course exam. This was after I'd hit the back button dozens of times, looking for some way to discover which question I'd missed that gave me only a ninety-percent grade. (I know, I know.) The answer came back that the state I was attempting certification for does not allow that information to be released to the course-taker. Go figure that one!

I am now mentally preparing to study the next chapter. I have physically prepared for my test anxiety by buying a bottle of ready-to-serve margarita mix. As soon as I've taken the chapter quiz, I'll have the perfect nerve-settling, butterfly-banishing potion. Perhaps this will turn out to be so calming that I'll feel inspired to complete four or five chapters per day!

It must be four o'clock somewhere!

Ancora imparo

There Should Be A Rule About This

I am going to contact my Congressmen in an effort to propose legislation that would require new public dining guidelines. We've come a long way in making retail establishments and restaurants more pleasant with many cities and municipalities banning smoking in public places. Now we need to have separate dining facilities for those individuals who can (or do) still eat egg yolks, sausage, bacon, biscuits with gravy, steaks, steaks wrapped in bacon, meat smothered with blue cheese and the like.

It is simply not fair for people who have to eat egg whites, egg substitutes, tofu-sausage, soy bacon, and gruel-type concoctions passing as food to have to watch plate after plate of real (good) breakfast food (dinner entrees, too) being paraded past them. Having to see and smell what others CAN eat is not fair and it must violate some Constitutional amendment.....somewhere, somehow.

In fact, after I've contacted my Congressmen about this ground-breaking idea of mine, I'll work on organizing a new lobbying group, the AGLU: American Gruel-Lovers Union. We gruel-lovers must band together to help spread our message that we will no longer sit idly by in dining establishments and observe others eating what we no longer can. Let those who are able to eat fat and cholesterol dine by themselves - as a group - bound together by LDL and tri-glycerides.

How will AGLU members and chapters be identified? They'll be the ones frowning as they eat, wiping tears of sadness from their faces between bites - remembering the day when........ They'll also be the people with their faces pressed against the windows of the restaurants where the AFLU members eat.....with wistful expressions on each and every face.

What's AFLU, you ask? American Fat-Lovers Union.

I'm not allowed to join and there should be a rule about this!

Ancora imparo

The Last Laugh

Just yesterday, a friend stopped me to talk as I was out running errands. We chatted with ease for quite a few minutes. She maintains a blog and periodically makes postings to it. Her blog is much different than this one, with her postings being far lengthier than those of Ancora imparo. She has been writing for a very long time and so I suppose she simply has more to 'say'. Toward the end of our conversation she mentioned, in passing, that she thought I would enjoy 'blogging' and I was able to tell her about Ancora imparo. She shared tips with me and asked many questions, among them, "How do you select your posting titles?"

Today's posting title, "The Last Laugh", was easy because I wanted to write about Mother Nature and all of us optimistic folk that think that winter is over and spring is officially - in a non-official way - here. True, I took my early morning walk without a coat and I saw many joggers on the bike path without coats or jackets as well. There were even a couple of joggers sporting shorts. I drove past a house where people were bringing out their patio furniture to the deck and I decided that the bed has one too many blankets on it now. For a time, this afternoon, the sun was brilliantly blazing away in the sky although now the rain clouds have moved back in to produce a decidedly overcast and dull appearance to the sky.

We are all being fooled into thinking that snow will not make another appearance but, typically, Mother Nature does have other ideas in this region at this time of year. I'm not ready to trade out my winter clothes for spring and summer wear, although I will enjoy keeping the front door open and letting in more natural light. For now, I'll just enjoy seeing the snow banks melt away, diminishing almost by the hour.

Little by little, bit by bit, winter is slipping away but never underestimate Mother Nature. She always has 'the last laugh'.

Ancora imparo

What's Between the Rock and the Hard Place?

As a consumer, I feel as if I am suspended in the Netherworld. Daily reports with contradictory information accost me like asteroid particles bombarding the Mothership in a sci-fi movie. Between the pharmaceutical industry and our national governmental leadership, we - the American public - are buffeted about as in a Category Five hurricane. Add in the confusion and in-fighting regarding health care and one wonders where 'this' is all going.

Conflicting information about this and that prescription drug is released on an almost-daily basis. This drug, when taken as instructed, actually exacerbates the very condition for which it was prescribed. That drug, when taken as directed, is effective for the first years, after which its ingestion becomes counterproductive to the original remedial purpose. I find this highly unsettling and prone to make me question ever agreeing to take another prescription medication. Are we all just rats in a laboratory experiment, the results of which will be revealed at a later date? Oh-by-the-way, take at your own risk.

The seat of our nation's government is full of elected officials that would never be able to agree on which nursing home(s) to put their loved ones in. Of course, these politicians would not need to worry about that because they have the finest health-insurance coverage in the world........the same politicians, many of whom have never served in the military but are more than willing to commit our military personnel to the dangers of war and our nation's economic resources to funding 'conflicts' abroad.

Then there is the matter of our country's sad state of economic affairs. I wouldn't want any of my state or national elected men and women to handle my personal financial matters. The term 'balanced budget' is but a pipe dream from a 1960's hallucinogenic-inspired rock ballad.

So what is between the rock and the hard place? As I prepare to complete this, the four-hundredth posting of Ancora imparo, I am challenged to find an answer. I do know that I find solace in my family, my grandchildren, friends, the idea of becoming a poultry farmer in Iowa or becoming a dog trainer. I'd list baseball, hot dogs, apple pie and Chevrolet, but two out of those four are on the endangered species list. Perhaps it should be my Three Muskateers, chocolate, wine, a puppy and my cookie closet.

Don't bother calling me from my rock and the hard place unless the Three Muskateers have come to visit or a puppy ends up on my front-door step.

Ancora imparo

No-Dust Zone

Today, I'm writing about my SO. He has been immersed in a project that has become larger than he anticipated, I'm afraid. It (the project) probably seemed doable at the time he made the decision to make this a DIY project. Who would have thought that sanding, staining, and varnishing teak and mahogany pieces of wood would become so time-consuming, challenging and perplexing?

To his credit, he approached this task with the same dogged determination and attention to detail that he displays with any project he tackles. Most of the initial, major sanding was done off-site because we currently do not have the proper facility to manage large quantities of sanding dust. After the wood was prepared and he brought the pieces home to our tiny basement area, he did his homework and found the stain color that was the closest match, as well as procuring the highest quality marine varnish he could locate. Next came the actual staining, which was relatively quick and easy.

Now to the challenging part - varnishing. The varnish application process has been a work in progress, with lots of learning curves along the way. Unfortunately, for both of us, he discovered.....a little late into the game.....that regular household dust was a problem. I do not know what other mere mortals' homes are like but ours is most definitely not a no-dust zone. If it were, I'd do a fraction of the sneezing and nose-blowing that I do. Just being alive and moving produces dust, enough so that if the sunlight is just right, you can see all of the dust particles that naturally swirl around each living 'thing'.

This dust issue wasn't evident to him, initially. It took a number of varnish coats to realize that dust particles do, indeed, show up big-time on freshly varnished wood - especially in the right light. It was then that he became highly aware of the dust particles' effect on a fresh coat of varnish and began utilizing the vacuum sweeper and special dust-prevention tools.
Even now, after he thoroughly vacuums the work-space area, the vigilance required to keep dust to a minimum is huge. And, all of this effort in a home that has plenty of naturally-occurring dust, cat hair, cat dander, and other minute particles that routinely float about in the air.

Since there will be about ten coats of varnish in all, perhaps we should install a vacuum chamber that would suck all of the dust from our garments before we enter the condo. This might also remove other items from our bodies (guests' as well) such as fabric and hair, which could lead to interesting scenarios.

Imagine Cranky Kitty's shock and surprise should she get near the vacuum chamber.

Imagine my home a no-dust zone. Can pigs fly?

Ancora imparo

If I Had A Dime For Every.......

The publishing industry must think that consumers are either ignorant, illiterate or both. If I had a dime for every magazine renewal notice that comes across my desk for the same magazine, I'd be wealthy beyond my wildest imagination.

Hurry! Urgent! Last Notice! Renew Now! Your Subscription Is About To Expire! Don't Miss An Issue!

Years ago, I was not wise to the panic-technique, as I call the methodology employed by publishers of periodicals. I would receive a renewal notice in the mail and, not wanting to miss an issue, I'd fill out the form and return it right away. Never considering that I might be naive, I kept no records until one day some fine print caught my eye and I discovered my subscription for a well-known, weekly news-magazine had been renewed three years out.......by me! Imagine my anger and embarrassment. After that, I began carefully scrutinizing all magazine mailing labels. I read every word, large or small, on renewal notices, and I started keeping records on which magazine was renewed when and for how long.

This has been a successful routine for me and I'm confident that it will continue to enable me to decipher the decidedly deceptive and manipulative process utilized by the publishing industry. However, I just realized that my vigilance must be ever keen. Their latest technique to arrive in the mail went something like this:

NOTICE OF BENEFITS DUE from the Blah blah blah Consumer Services Dept. And I quote: A thorough review of our accounts confirms that the renewal of the Washingtonson (their word, not mine) Subscription to Blah blah blah is now pending. Act now to receive the following preferred benefits and services: .......... The notice goes on to give a "benefits must be claimed by" date and even has the audacity to make the tear-off, bottom portion of the "Notice of Benefits Due" form look like a benefits claim voucher.

Does this magazine think I'm living under a rock? Is the same advertising agency responsible for the television commercial tag-line "It's so easy a cave man could do it." now creating marketing techniques for the publishing industry?

I think and I can read - two dangerous traits for a consumer to possess. I'm not sure the publishing industry is prepared for intelligent, informed and literate consumers. Must be all these years we've just been looking at the pictures!

Ancora imparo