12:12 – The taxes are complete and in the mail, so I don’t have to bother about them for another year. Well, except for the big estimated tax checks I have to write every quarter. Everything would be so much better if government at all levels operated like a charity, and had to depend on purely voluntary contributions. And those contributions should be earmarkable, so that I could, for example, allocate X percent of my check to the fire department, Y amount to garbage collection, Z amount to the libraries, and so on. Of course, I could instead decide to support free-market alternatives to any or all of those, as could anyone else.
Barbara and Frances took their mom to a doctor appointment this morning. The doctor specifically asked that both of them be present. As expected, the news isn’t good. They did a DNR for Sankie. Barbara and Frances intend to keep Sankie at the Creekside independent-living facility as long as possible, paying for a caregiver to be present around the clock. The doctor is contacting Hospice to arrange for their palliative care folks to visit Sankie at home to keep her comfortable. At this point, there’s nothing anyone can do to fix Sankie’s problems. Barbara and Frances will move Sankie to Hospice when the time comes. As Barbara said, that could be 6 months, 6 weeks, 6 days, or 6 hours. No one knows, although I’d be very surprised if it’s as long as six months.
Yes, such are their practices in delivering opinions.
I was recently called in to have blood drawn.
I week later, the Dr. called and told me the results were OK, we’ll repeat in 6 months.
OTOH, had the office lady called to schedule a conference and bring my wife……….
Attitude appears to have so much to do with health. From what you have explained over the years, I am sure Sankie did herself no health favors by indulging and wallowing in her mental frustrations. Although maybe that was caused by physical factors, who really knows. But over and over, the people I know who are frustrated with life’s challenges have been gone much sooner than those who have a cheery outlook on life, and accept that it is filled with challenges, but get on with it. The former includes my wife and my brother. From an early age, wifey was not happy with life’s personal paradoxes — even though she was one of the most capable and independent women I have ever known. The smallest things set her off. Only when we were on extended vacations, did she let go. My brother was the same way. Life’s challenges seemed unfair to him. He was gone before 50 and wifey was gone before 60.
This upcoming period is going to be tough. I think most of us who end up making it past 50 have to deal with it, though. Not sure the medical alternatives have made it easier; it may be tougher these days than what our grandparents’ generation faced.
The DNR is somewhat of a euthanasia, IMO. The point came with my aunt at the end, where she had so many different and serious physical problems, that they finally removed feeding and she was gone in a couple days. She was mentally out of it with Alzheimer’s, so she had no comprehension of her situation or the state of her health. They just made her comfortable.
My best to you and Barbara and Frances and her family as you go through this — again.
I never knew what to say at times like these. Having been where Barbara and Frances are now earlier this year, I still don’t know what to say. Except to say I think they’re doing exactly the right thing.
Agreed on all counts here; we’re looking at the same situation, more or less, with my own mom, who is in a care facility down in MA, a good one, too.
Meanwhile we spent yesterday with my 86-year-old MIL, her birthday, who still paints, drives all over hell and moves furniture, but has had a series of various operations, including cataracts, hip replacements, heart bypass, etc., etc. and now having more dermatology work done.
80 here right now and extremely windy, with temps dropping to the low 20s and teens the next two nights anyway; perfect for maple sap production. We have ice-out on the Bay!
Might want to update this on your site’s homepage. 🙂
Yeah, I have it on my to-do list to update that in early January of next year. Or maybe early January of 2025.
Hee-hee, Bob has five weeks on me! Old fart.
There was some discussion awhile back about cell phones in planes and the use of the phones on flight 93. My brother, a commercial pilot, and several of his pilot friends, think the plane was shot down and the cell phone calls were a figment of the government’s imagination. Today I read this on CNN about MH370.
And this was added.
Speed can also make maintaining a cellular connection difficult, as a device has to switch from tower to tower to maintain a connection. Rojas told CNN that a plane would have to be going 155 miles per hour (250 kilometers per hour) or less for phones in cell-tower range to make or receive calls.
This comment was made about the towers and signal direction.
For efficiency, many towers are designed to direct their signal where its most useful: on the ground, not into the sky above.
So flight 93 would have to be going less than 155 mph and lower than 10,000 feet using towers that did not have optimized directional antenna.
Wiki says Todd Beamer used the in-seat phone to make his “let’s roll” call. As far as I’ve ever heard, this was the only documented phone call from 93.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Beamer
Re:
State v. Fed…ummmm…we already had that…a little thing called variously the war of northern aggression or the civil war…the states lost…as was amply demonstrated when the feds enforced federal policy a hundred years later regarding school integration. There is no power that can resist the federal government now, imo. The tenth amendment notwithstanding, perhaps we should consider what Charles Evans Hughes said more than a century ago, iirc, “we are under a constitution, but the constitution means what the judges say it means,” or words to that effect. The BLM made a strategic withdrawal…but no fat lady sang, that I heard, at any rate.
“There is no power that can resist the federal government now, imo.”
“Now” being the key word here. As Bob and I and others have said, they’re busily killing the goose that lays the golden eggs, and when that’s done, and the 18-trillion has doubled or tripled, and they can’t pay their soldiers or cops anymore, GAME OVER!!!
Also if and when their cops and soldiers ever decide not to enforce what they’re told to do, with or without being paid.
Plus, the Grid faltering, or collapsing altogether, will be another factor in its demise.
As for history, the Fed demonstrated its determination to stamp out any dissent or rebellion long before the War Between the States, during Shays’s Rebellion and the Whiskey Rebellion, both actions ordered by our hero G. Washington, and in the case of the latter, enthusiastically overseen by the guy on our ten-dollar bill. Our constitutional federal republic was stillborn at the Philadelphia Convention in 1787, which is something they don’t teach us in the publik skools.
33°F, 20 mph gusts, and Graupel falling, forecast to turn to a half inch of snow accumulation before noon tomorrow.
This cold may be the last snap of the jetstream whip. Starting Thursday, the northern loop will begin retreating way up into Canada. We will likely get an instant switch to summer. When I was younger, we used to have weeks on end from April to June with day temps in the comfy low 70’s, but nowadays, it goes from 60’s to 80’s, with no transition through the 70’s anymore. Easter was always nice, unless it came in March, and then you needed a coat and girls were compromised on showing off their dainty thin spring outfits.
Taxes done. In the mail tomorrow. Only took 5 hours out of my day to run up to Muncie and wait in the Social Security office for a copy of my SSA-1099. Actually, it took only 3 minutes, once my number was called. I do not believe I got one, but they assume I lost it. I never lose that stuff, and have a lot of forms from them this year, as the law changed on disbursements, and mine were altered. But no 1099 from them anywhere, and I file that stuff immediately when it arrives.
Stopped by Aldi on the way home. Lots of good German stuff there right now — particularly the Bratwurst from Bavaria. Love that. It is NOT glorified hot dog, like the American version of bratwurst. Nevertheless, you have to watch the stuff that is labeled “Deutsche Küche”. If it does not say “Made in Germany” or “Product of Germany”, don’t bother.
From what I’ve read, I have to agree with Coyotes log – Bundy is the wrong case to get upset about. He’s grazing on somebody else’s land and doesn’t want to pay grazing fees. It doesn’t much matter whose land it is, he’s a self-entitled crook as far as I can see…
Stupid autocorrect: CoyoteBlog
The Nevada caper was political theater with competing narratives; the rancher family “won” that but Leviathan ain’t happy and historically has been pretty vindictive when its authority is challenged and undermined thusly. Next time they’ll control the narrative somehow and take charge of the site immediately, rendering opposition null and void right away, however they have to do it.
Agreed on the probable immediate transition to summuh; we’re seeing high winds and the temps tonight and tomorrow will be in the 20s and 30s, and I imagine the Easter weekend will shoot up into the 80s and 90s or something. Spring normally is an under-heralded season here in Vermont; we like it almost as much as fall; different colors as trees and flowers bloom all over.
I started on our taxes yesterday but ran into a glitch right away. wife’s 1099 is messed up; they have her as earning a wacky sum last year and other info is missing; she has to call her employer and we have to file an extension request. Which can be done over the net, supposedly. Using Turbo, so we’ll see how this works.
Next time they’ll control the narrative somehow and take charge of the site immediately, rendering opposition null and void right away, however they have to do it.
I suspect the IRS has already been contacted and the rancher’s tax return is now under extreme scrutiny. The NSA has been alerted and all phone conversations, emails and other communications are now fully monitored. The CIA has been contacted and the bank records are now being audited with a fine tooth comb. Probably have the DMV involved along with the Nevada State Police digging through vehicle and driving records. Choicepoint has been contacted and all insurance information and claims information is now in the hands of the FBI.
The government doesn’t get mad, they get even.
Exactly.
They could just start turning off various services and access anyway, to whatever. And start compiling, as I’m sure they’ve already done, a big fat dossier on the Bundy family, their relatives, friends and neighbors and anyone who got involved. They really ought to study the old Soviet methodology if they wish to be really thorough, i.e. *all* relatives and associates and then anyone who mentions their name ever again. Article 58’s for everybody! Tenners! Quarters! (sorry, I’m almost done with the third and last volume of the “Gulag Archipelago.”)
“You today, me tomorrow.”
I am by no means an expert on German food (nor do I probably buy the most authentic stuff), but I love the Mildessa Sauerkraut and it’s hard to find. Does Aldi sell it?
Wiki says Todd Beamer used the in-seat phone to make his “let’s roll” call.
That’s what I posted when this first came up. IIRC, there were also calls from the plane that hit the Pentagon, using the Airphones. My wife and I used it once to make a call to our young daughter on the way home from a trip, in order to say “good night”. Cost about $5 to talk for a couple of minutes.
What Aldi sells mostly bears their own house-named brands (they have a bunch of them), although it comes from mainstream manufacturers. It is quite possible that the sauerkraut Aldi sells under the Deutsche Küche brand is actually made by Mildessa. You would have to try it. In our part of Germany, sauerkraut was not a regular dish; it was reserved for special occasions. Never saw it with bratwurst or kielbasa there either, as is so common here. Again, I never spent much time away from Berlin or in the South, so customs may be different from where we were.
There is a cooking trick to sauerkraut that everyone in Germany knows, but no one here does. When cooking the sauerkraut, they add meat juice (not fat) and diced eating apples (not the sour cooking apples). Simmer that for about 20 minutes and the results are markedly different than what Americans are used to being served as sauerkraut. Even if the jar or can says it has apples, it always needs more.
I cheat and use applesauce and some powdered bouillon from the big jars Knorr sells in the Hispanic food section. I usually use beef bouillon in sauerkraut, because Germany is just not crazy at all for chicken as is the US — beef and pork are their institutions. This adding of meat juice and apples is a definite for the red cabbage they call Rotkohl. Aldi has that right now, in glass jars. I love Rotkohl, and even though it too is a special-occasions dish, we had it several times a month. I do the same here, since I can get it so easily from Aldi.
Europe and S. America use bouillon a LOT more than American cooks. If it needs salt, add bouillon instead. That is why you see the huge jars of powdered bouillon in the foreign sections of groceries.
Well I’ll be damned; there’s an Aldi’s across the lake in Plattsburgh, NY, just several miles as the gull flies but a good hour-plus via the round-about route we’d have to take north, then west, then all the way south again on the other side. Next time we’re over there, though, I’ll be sure to check it out.
I like the sauerkraut tradition the Germans use; will do so accordingly here next time we have it.
When cooking the sauerkraut, they add meat juice (not fat) and diced eating apples (not the sour cooking apples).
My grandmother did this. She also put some caraway seed in the kraut, which I understand to be a Bavarian tradition. I also learned how to bake stollen and liebkuchen from her.
Whenever we drove from Texas to Indiana to see her, she always cooked a special dinner for my dad and I: ham hocks in sauerkraut and potato pancakes with homemade applesauce and sour cream. German soul food…..
Yeah — yummm. Brad lived in the South of Germany for a while, so he better knows the traditions there. That is also where my relatives reputedly came from, but I have never been able to find exact birth information for the first immigrants. US papers only say born in “Germany”. Germans are living proof that it ain’t fat that causes obesity. They cook stuff in lard (if only Mickey D would go back to animal fat for french fries), don’t particularly trim fat from meat (although their meat is almost dead lean — so much so that it was “dry” to our tastes and we always got stuff called “Gemischt” which was ground beef mixed with ground pork, which is also shockingly lean for Americans), and never give a second thought to fat. Their overall daily food intake is about half that of the average American. Supper for most is bread, maybe cheese, and fruit. No real meal at supper.
I have gone back to that, but trying to avoid fat-free crap that is pervasive in the US is almost impossible. Fat is what tells you that you are satisfied. People here eat fat-free stuff, still feel hungry, and continue feeding their face continuously as a result. Lots more fruit in the European diet than Americans are used to. People carry apples and bananas with them as snacks everywhere. I NEVER saw anybody pull out candy or snack crackers as a between-meal; it was always fruit, including what they call “Studenten Fodder”, or trail mix, as we know it. Theirs has no candy in it, but usually contains grain cereal like Müsli, which ours does not. I make my own trail mix, adding the Deutsche Küche Müsli that Aldi sells. I usually add more raisins and some unsalted peanuts, too. No candy.
Semi-vegan daughter now eats fish and when she was here made German veggie meals which weren’t too bad. But ten days of it was too much. And she also eats huge meals, even if it is just veggies.
I gotta do more fruit; but I’m still a sucker for the M&M’s in various trail mixes and have been known to add them.
I agree completely. The only thing I’ll add is that most fat-free crap adds sugar to make up for the lack of flavor caused by removing the fat.