Get With the Program or Go

There is a mechanism in the State Department to allow staff members to express their dissent of official decisions and policy, in place since the Viet Nam War era http://www.npr.org/sections/parallels/2017/01/30/512494230/at-state-department-dissent-channel-in-high-gear-with-refugee-ban-protests.  The Dissent Channel is still in effect, and has been recently used by State Department employees who disagree with President Trump's decisions on Immigration. 

White House spokesman Sean Spicer said:  "I think they should get with the program or they can go." I understand that mentality, but he does not understand the intent of the Dissent Channel, which was specifically set up to allow State Department employees to express their opinions.  These state department employees are the experienced professionals who understand how to enact State Department diplomacy. They are not the untried appointees of the Trump Administration, most of whom do not have diplomatic experience or knowledge.

Why is President Trump willing to put our government in the hands of rank, untried, and inexperienced people, when there are tried and true professionals out there who can help him?

The other thing that concerns me about this attitude is that there is a mentality of Trump staffers that people should not be protesting their decisions and actions. Just because Donald Trump was elected President of the United States of America, does not mean that every citizen in this country has to agree with all of his actions, executive orders, and edicts.  The United States of America allows its citizens to dissent against the government, protest, and express dissenting opinions. 

President Trump and his staff need to be prepared for the fact many citizens in this country will be contesting their actions and executive orders. There will be law suits. There will be protests. And hopefully, there will be government employees who know that their allegiance is not to President Trump but to the Constitution of the United States of America. 

Hidden Figures

I went to see the movie Hidden Figures http://www.imdb.com/title/tt4846340/ on Sunday.  Wow, it was an amazing movie.  Just amazing.  Based on a true story https://www.harpercollins.com/9780062363596/hidden-figures.  The most amazing thing to me is what everyone I know who has seen the movie has said.  Well, two things they have said.  This is a wonderful, marvelous, inspiring movie.  But it was a piece of history that we did not know about. Why did we not know about this piece of history?  It is a shame we did not know this piece of history .

When the movie announced the Katherine G. Johnson received the Presidential Medal of Freedom, I joined the applause in the audience.  It was awe-inspiring. 

You know the book will be on my reading list.

Spoiler alert:  Two scenes I especially love are when Dorothy Vaughn goes into the IBM computer room, where the IBM computer lies silent because the IBM techs cannot figure why it does not work, and changes a connection, and voilá.  Fact or poetic license? Do I care?  And when Ms. Vaughn gets a book on Fortran, learns it, and teaches her co-workers so they will be prepared to move into the computer world. 

Speaking Out

I am unhappy with many of the things that are happening out of the office of the President of the United States of America.   Today, I sent messages to the President, my Representative, and both Senators.  I am the grandchild of immigrants who came to this country because they did not agree with the political actions of their country. I do not, today, agree, with the political actions of my country because the Transportation Safety Administration https://www.tsa.gov/ and the Department of Homeland Security https://www.dhs.gov/ and the Office of Immigration Enforcement https://www.ice.gov/. are being required to follow the executive order of the President of the Untied States of America. 

I have sent this message to the office of the President:

To President Trump:

Mr. President,  I believe your executive order on immigration may have some unintended consequences on green-carded legitimate residents of this country that are unconstitutional.  While I appreciate your concern for the safety of our country, I feel that if I do not register my concerns about the unconstitutionality of your actions, I am consenting to this unconstitutional behavior.  I feel strongly that the United States of America has a moral high ground and our government actions should reflect that moral high ground. Thank you for your consideration.

I have sent this message to Congressman Arrington, Senator Cornyn, and Senator Cruz:

I believe Mr. Trump's executive order on immigration may have some unintended consequences on green-carded legitimate residents of this country that are unconstitutional.  While I appreciate the President's concern for the safety of our country, I feel that if I do not register my concerns about the unconstitutionality of his actions, I am consenting to this unconstitutional behavior.  I feel strongly that the United States of America has a moral high ground and our government actions should reflect that moral high ground.  I have studied the inaction of the United States of America during World War II, when the Germans used "the final solution" against the Jews.  That inaction was unconscionable.  Not helping refugee Muslims is also unconscionable. If there are legitimate green-carded Muslims who are not allowed into our country because of President Trump's executive action, that blood is on our hands.  I understand that you cannot do much about an executive order, but even if you do a non-bonding resolution that says the elected branch of the government of the United States does not agree with that action, it will be something.  Thank you for your consideration.

If I do not speak up, I am complicit with the official actions of our President who is issuing executive orders that may be unconstitutional.

Personal Space in Public

So, I want to write about personal space in public, and when it is violated.  The first time this particular sort of situation happened to me was a few years ago, and I have to admit I reacted so poorly, that I was ashamed of myself, and I apologized to the cashier at the check out.

A young couple came up behind me, and the obviously pregnant women started loading their items on the register conveyor before I had finished emptying my shopping cart.  She said, several times, "It's okay, it's okay" but her items prevented me from putting my items on the conveyor belt.  I am afraid that I "lost it" and reacted poorly, embarrassing me, the cashier, the young lady and her companion. After wards, I felt really bad about the way I behaved.

I had never had his happen to me before, and it obviously was really disconcerting. While on the one hand, I was trying to assert my right to have space at the check out counter, on the other hand, I acted a bitch in doing so.

This has happened to me again, twice, recently. I have behaved better, but I don't get it. In the first instance, I had almost emptied the shopping cart, and I did not find the behavior too intrusive.  But this week, the same thing happened: the person in the check out line behind me put the divider bar on the conveyor belt in an area so close to where my items were that I was not able to put the rest of the items on the conveyor belt, without pushing the divider bar back several times, while I was emptying the shopping cart. And, the person behind me kept pushing the divider bar forward, while I was trying to empty my shopping cart. I decided not to say a word to this person, because, frankly, anything I wanted to say would have been so confrontational, I might have caused a scene.

I do not understand this intrusion on personal space.  The behavior of this shopper did not speed up his check out time.  It really did nothing but probably make the shopper feel like he was making the check out process proceed more quickly.  But it did not.  

Amazing Sheets

I had a waterbed since the late 1970s until the mid 2000 somethings.  I liked the flexibility of the waterbed, but sometimes, the tension of the bed was too soft for my taste. I tried to keep my waterbed filled to a firm tension. I loved the heat of the waterbed especially in the winter.

When I converted to a traditional mattress, one of my problems was in the winter months, the bedding was too cold. I started using fleece throws on my bed on the sheet to provide me with a warm bed.  This actually worked well. A few years ago, I purchased a new set of sheets for my bed. The thread count was very high, more so than I thought I would be able to afford, except they were on sale. These sheet are amazing. They are so fine that in summer, they are cool to sleep on, and in winter, they are warm to sleep on...

These are amazing sheets!

Words With Friends

Okay, I admit that I am addicted to playing Words With Friends. And, I have started accepting the challenges that they send out.  Some are amazingly easy, like scoring 8 30 point words in a week. Some are tough, like the one for last week, in which I needed to score over 7100 points.  I did this, though, and have a similar challenge this week.  Completing challenges earns badges.  I do not care about badges. I am just competitive enough to want to meet whatever reasonable challenge I am offered.  I did not think that some of the Words With Friends challenges were reasonable, and I had trouble meeting a 3200 point challenge just a few weeks ago, but evidently there is a network of people out there who want to win these challenges, and they send out invitations to play for that purpose.  So, I have a large list of people with whom I am playing Word With Friends, and we are submitting our words on a regular basis.  I even make playing Words With Friends a priority when I sign on, before attending to other activities, such as reading emails or playing other online games.

Energy Level

When I left work today, I had an errand to run, and then headed home.  I knew I had several chores to accomplish when I arrived home, and I was well braced to do them. I had lots of energy and attacked my tasks and chores with lots of energy early in the evening. I was concerned that this expenditure of energy would sap me later in the evening, and to some extent, that has happened, but it is still early and I can go to bed early. I used to not have to worry about my energy level to this extent, but a sign of aging is that I need to be aware of this.

Today's Weather Conditions

So the forecast for today was actually very mild and pleasant, temperatures in the mid 50's.  And, that did occur, by noon, after a very frosty start to the day.  But when I left work close to 4 PM CST today, it was rather cold, although the temperature was in the low 50s, and the wind chill was not much lower.  Yet, I felt a bit of a mist in the air. 

I ran errands after work, and I continued to feel this mist in the air, although there was no evidence of moisture collecting or condensation occurring.  There has been some light precipitation tonight. And more predicted overnight, but no concern for serious icing although that can always be a concern.

We need the moisture. Let it rain...

A Change in Weather

So I decided to go out today and run a couple of errands and go to lunch.  The cold condensing mist  of this morning turned into rain early afternoon.  By the time I returned to the vehicle at the end of the errands, it was raining very hard.  Then the rain changed to freezing rain, not hail, more like sleet. By the time I arrived at the restaurant, slushy snow was falling.  I considered going home because I did not want to be out in the wet weather, an hour later, scraping ice off the car windows.  But I was already at the restaurant, and decided that not much ice would gather in an hour or so.  So I went inside and had lunch.

About 10 minutes later, looking out the window, I saw that it was just raining again, and not too hard.  So, I settled in and enjoyed a leisurely meal, which is what I was going to do anyway.  I ate at my favorite Asian buffet that has quite a selection of seafood, which is mostly what I eat.  I usually go off rush hour, take a book, and order a pot of tea, which I usually finish off after I have finished my meal. I did that today.  So I was at the restaurant about an hour and a half.  Which is usually how long I stay.

I hope I am not hurting the wait staff by staying so long: there are always plenty of tables available for other patrons, and I tip over 20%.  I do not require a lot of service.  So I figure that is a fair deal.  

Another Stormy Day

Another grey and cold day.  It was foggy this morning, and the mist was so thick, it actually coated some surfaces with condensation.  A brief storm blew through mid-morning.  There was a heavy but brief rain with some thunder and lightning. I believe there is some gusty winds, too.

My plans for the day included housework, and listening to the Lady Raider and Red Raider basketball games, so that fits in with the weather.  The girls have taken the soft chairs in the computer room, which I am keeping warmer than the rest of the house with a space heater.  All is serene at this time.

Lubbock Weather Varies

So the weather in Lubbock has been quite varied this week. Monday afternoon, it was so warm, I sat in the yard and read while wearing just a light jacket.  We had another warm day this week.  We were supposed to have frozen rain, sleet or an icy mix today, but it did not happen.  It was a grey, overcast day, and very cold, but no precipitation. Tonight the forecast is for rain and freezing rain or sleet possibly around Lubbock, but mostly to the north. Monday is supposed to be sunny, though.  Which is good.  That is a holiday, and I have some outside tasks to do, mainly taking down the Christmas light.  We shall see what actually happens.

So, in preparation for the weekend weather, I went to the grocery store on Thursday and stocked up, and topped off the gas tank. Since there was no precipitation today, I could have done my shopping today, but who knew? 

Social Life

Have I ever written about this?  My social life?  I do not have a big social life, but I have several activities that I consistently do and enjoy.  Most recently, that has included not just the Texas Tech Lady Raider games, but, because our administrator obtained free tickets for the Red Raider games, I have gone to several of those.  Including a double header that was on the same day as the Lady Raider's game.

So last week, I went to a Red Raider game on Tuesday night, and the Lady Raider game on Wednesday night. Tonight, I went to a Red Raider game again. I have tickets to the Lady Raider game on Wednesday, and then I have book club on Thursday night.

So why do all of my social activities happen in close proximity to each other?  This seems to be a pattern in my life.  I accept it because I do what I like to do and do not worry too much about the timing. 

Shovel or Melt Part 2

On January 8, 2017, I had to go to a meeting, leaving the house mid-afternoon.  There was still a cover of snow on the driveway, where the sun is shaded from the ground by the house. About 2 hours later, I arrived home and almost all of that snow was melted.  Waiting to let the snow melt was not a bad thing to do.

Cooking With Cast Iron

I actually like cooking with cast iron, and have a cast iron Dutch oven, two frying pans, and a small sauce pot that I cook with.  I used the large cast iron frying pan on 1/6/17 to make seafood spaghetti.  After doing so, I realized that I needed to season the frying pan, once again.  This involved putting some sort of oil or shortening on the utensil, and heating it until the oil or lard sort of soaks in.   Today, I did this. At first, I heated the frying pan on the stove top, which is sometimes effective, but was not today.  So, I put the frying pan in the oven. This was actually not a bad thing, and served two purposes. I seasoned the frying pan, and by heating the oven, took the chill off part of my house.  Which was a good thing, as it has been a cold day. 

Shovel or Melt

When I left work on 1/6/17, I was debating how to handle the snow in my driveway. Shovel or melt.  When I arrived home, the part of my driveway that was not blocked from the sun by the house was bare... That decided it.  I will let the atmosphere melt my driveway. The temperature today was above freezing, but most of the melting occurred where the sun shined.  That is okay. I believe the rest of the snow will melt in the next few days.

Snowstorm In Lubbock

We had a snowstorm in Lubbock on January 6, 2017. It came through mid-morning, and was done well before noon. As the snow was falling, it looked like we had the potential for a lot of snow.  However,the radar showed that this snowstorm was a thin squall line that was moving through the South Plains horizontally, and Lubbock was smack dab in the center of it. The squall line was thin, and if it had been vertical, Lubbock would have received very little snow. As it was, we received about 1 to 1.5 inches of snow.

Cats Sitting on My Stuff

So, my cats like to sit on my stuff.  They like to sit on the laptop, and it is a struggle sometimes to keep them off.  I forget to close it, so who knows what they do when it is shut off, but the top is not closed.

When I sit at the dining table, my cats very often sit on the book I am trying to read, or the puzzle that I am working on. Sometimes, I think the cats like the laptop because of the warmth, but there is no warmth on the books or puzzles. So, then it becomes a question of why they want to sit there. I think it is because they want attention. And, they get it.

Fundraising

Have I posted this before?  I apologize for repeating myself, but if I do, I obviously believe it is worth repeating.

This is a commentary on school fundraising projects, in which my grand niece and nephew are involved.

When my siblings and I were growing up, our family and neighbors supported our efforts in church, scouts and school, and I now try to “pay it forward.”

If you don’t mind a little story. Many years ago, some neighborhood boys were selling chocolate bars for the Boys and Girls Club to go to a Texas Rangers game.  I do not eat chocolate often, but they came by every day, (They actually watched for me to come home from work, and met me at the garage!) and I took turns buying a bar a day from them. (I brought the candy to work, and left it in the break room.)  The older boy said “I bet if we were selling dog biscuits, you’d buy a whole case.”  (That was when my dog-child Mack was alive.) He was right.  A couple of years later, that same older boy rang my doorbell.  He said he was helping his little sister with her kindergarten fundraiser, and he was showing her how to do it and who would buy!  He was right. I was actually pleased that the children in my neighborhood knew that I would support them.