Christmas Eve

Yep. But actually, the one below is more me...

Life, Death, and Paperwork...

Kitty is still alive. The Red Blazer isn't. And it's absolutely unbelievable the amount of paperwork that our society inflicts on itself. 1. Took Faraday to the vet to be put to sleep. Vet knows that if Faraday is put to sleep, the gravy train stops. So vet talked us into taking one last-ditch effort at buying the little critter another month or two of comfortable living. Prednisone. Lots of prednisone. Lots and lots of prednisone. Two full weeks of a full-force, two-pills-a-day routine, no slacking off like past times, stay on the full dosage for 2 full weeks. Fortunately, prednisone is cheap. Oh, and some flea treatment is needed, too. Oh, and some prescription appetite stimulant would be helpful also. Oh, and in addition... That's where I drew the line. Whereas the diagnosis was the same as last time (incurable fatal disease), and whereas the prognosis is the same as last time (just a matter of time on such an elderly feline) and whereas the total bill was approaching the predetermined cost ceiling, we resolved to stop the heroic efforts and unnnecessary medical procedures at that point. A veto was issued on the proposals for expensive testing, the multi-thousand dollar potential treatment options, the exploratory surgeries, etc. Nope, we'll stick with just prednisone and appetite stimulant. Oh, and the flea treatment, too. Result: It seems to be working. Kitty is perking up, eating food and enjoying it again. Her meow is back closer to normal, she is more alert, and does seem to be more comfortable. 2. The red blazer, however, died an ignominious death. Allen had problems with it coming up from North Carolina -- problems that I never experienced in the year that I drove the thing. Allen is a more, um, shall we say, assertive, driver than I am, and was able to uncover some heretofore undiscovered flaws in the machinery. We had a piece of paper covered front and back with the list of symptomatic malfunctions. We presented the list, along with the Blazer, to our neighbor mechanic friend this morning. The phone call came a few hours later, detailing the myriad mechanical defects behind the symptoms. For starters, the right-rear bearing is shot, and most likely so is the axle. The left front steering boot is long gone, and the lack of protection has allowed major damage to some critical plumbing in the immediate vicinity -- copious amounts of mud and grease have penetrated the brake lines and contaminated the brakes, as well as gumming up the steering joints. The electrical failures were traced to a bad battery cable, shot at the connection to the fuse block, which will requiring some major dismantling of other machinery to replace. The four-wheel drive activation motors are both completely shot, and replacing them also requires more major dismantling. The transmission fluid, changed 12 months ago when I purchased the vehicle, is burnt black, probably indicating some out-of-spec activities going on inside the transmission gearbox. The right windshield wiper won't go back and forth anymore, which would necessitate removal of the dashboard to investigate further and/or fix, -- along with the concomitant difficulties handling the 12-year-old airbags embedded in the dash. The leftover problems from last year's once-over (namely, the half-gummed up radiator, the fully-gummed up oil cooler, and the leaking main seal between the engine and transmission -- another major dismantling job to fix) are also factoring into the equation. So, whereas all of these problems, save the wiper, are major impediments to the vehicle serving its intended purpose as a mode of ground transportation, and whereas all of them, including the wiper, individually are multi-hundred dollar repairs, and whereas even after investing the money in those repairs, the vehicle value would be a small fraction of the repair cost (the vehicle has in excess of 195,000 miles on it, and they are all really hard miles, too, since the former owner used the vehicle to pull his 40-foot travel trailer all over the U.S. for 11 years, mainly up and down mountains), therefore the decision was reached to simply put the darn thing out of its misery. But unlike the vet, who talked me out of the coup-de-grace with the kitty, this time the mechanic heartily endorsed mine and Allen's proposal that the Blazer, poor thing, should be carried out behind the garage and shot. One of the mechanic's sons offered me $200 plus a total waiver of all diagnostic fees to take title to the piece of, um, junk. Although there are pitifully few major organs to transplant, he assured me he could probably salvage some of the minor parts (such as the fog lights, the seat-adjustment motors, and other minor pieces). Ordinarily, an offer to buy a car, coming from the son of the mechanic who just signed the vehicle's death certificate, might smack of a blatant conflict of interest and would raise more than a little suspicion about the integrity and objectiveness of the mechanic's diagnosis. However, I have dealt with this mechanic for 17 years, and not once has he ever given me any reason whatsoever to question his integrity. To the contrary, he has unquestionably saved me thousands of dollars over the years, made numerous repairs at no charge, and in many other ways completely convinced me he is one of the few truly honest mechanics around. That, plus Allen was already convinced that the vehicle should be put out of its misery, added to the fact that I had purchased the wretched contraption dirt cheap from a friend who told me up front that he thought it had essentially expired, well, I had no trouble signing it over and putting it down. Of course, that leaves Allen up the creek without a paddle, to coin a phrase, when it comes to getting back to Fort Bragg. But hey, as Allen is so wont to remind me, he's Allen. What's more to say? Now on to number 3. 3. While in the throes of making the decision on the Blazer, the mail lady brought another bi-daily large 9x12 envelope from my mother, this one containing an inch-thick package of paperwork from Medicare Supplemental Part D drug insurance. I won't spend the hour it would take to simply describe what this package entails, but suffice it to say that I had to spend several hours de-coding the meaning of the many notice of change to benefits, notice of change to coverages, notice of option to change policy options, instructions for changing policy options, details of changes to options, and myriad other papers, booklets, explanatory notices, interpretive declarations, privacy policies, reminders for urgent response by Dec. 31, and all the other stuff that apparently comes out annually to hassle those poor souls who are unfortunate enough to have Medicare drug coverage. When we were in Europe, many of the castles we toured had torture chambers: well-stocked rooms filled with racks, thumbscrews, Judas-chairs, pillories, scold's bridles, crocodile shears, iron maidens, and all kinds of other instruments intended to inflict misery and agony on those who crossed the nobility. Some day in the future, American courtrooms will be open to tourists, and they will likewise have rooms stocked with computers and word processors which are used today by lawyers to type up stuff like this package of papers, said papers designed to inflict unimaginable agony, misery, and suicide-inspiring frustration on the innocent population forced to figure out what the papers mean. The bottom line: after spending about four hours reading, studying, cross-referencing, going on-line to investigate (thanks to Dubby for helping out a bit), several phone calls to my elderly mother, it turns out (get this!) that since her current drug plan is probably the best one offered (thanks to my dad's many hours spend investigating a couple of years ago!), -- we don't have to DO anything! They will automatically re-enroll my mom in the current plan without any action on our part! So NOW they tell us, eh? Last paragraph, on the very last page, of the very last booklet. As the beaver said, as he carefully surveyed the stream ... (!)

I'm surrounded...

Why is there a path shoveled through the 21-inch snow? During the blizzard? It has to do with Scar's famous quotation...

I can sympathize with Scar...

Why No Updates?

Thursday, I had 14 things on my "urgent to do" list. I got four of them done, but added five more. Friday, I got three more done, but added eight. Yesterday I got six things done, but added another seven. So now I've got 21 things on my "urgent to do" list. This doesn't count the 16 things on my regular "to do" list that aren't urgent but still need doing. Blogging isn't even on either list, BTW. And neither is hassling with the idiot technology, which has cost me almost a dozen hours in the last two days, and still isn't working - I'm right where I was before starting, even after spending the 13+ hours on it. Man, I hate the incompetent idiots who design technology that doesn't work. I stayed home from church today to get the Thank You cards written for the flowers at dad's funeral, and to try to get Mom's accounting set up, then gather the papers for application to the nursing home. This afternoon I've got to grade 17 project reviews, and then grade 42 case reports, plus make up two 50-question exams. I'm gonna be up past midnight again tonight for sure.

The World is Losing Its Mind...

Everywhere I turn, I am hassled by idiots. It's as though the entire world has lost its mind. Walmart completely, totally, moved EVERYTHING in the store. Nothing is where it used to be. And while the move is completely completed and over and done, stuff isn't even where the signs say it is. I mean big stuff, too, like the pharmacy department. Outside, over the two front doors... one door is labeled "Food" and the other says "Home and Pharmacy". Guess what!?! If you go in the door with the huge, red, six-foot-high letters saying "Home and Pharmacy", you have to walk 400 feet -- PAST THE OTHER DOOR -- to get to the Pharmacy! And get this! When you walk in, pass the greeter handing out stickers, and get past that first aisle that has the daily specials... guess what the first "department" is now... right up front next to the cash register lines? Nope, it's not the stuff you expect, such as candy, gift cards, envelopes, office supplies, or other high-volume stuff that people say, "hey, I need to run into Walmart and pickup some..." convenience goods. Nope. The first aisles, right up front next to the cash register lines, contain .... curtains, window shades, and door mats. I'm not fooling! Why is this stuff right up front? How many people "run into Walmart" to pick up window shades and curtains? Common sense says you want to put stuff right up front that turns over in "sole purchases". I mean, get real, the computers can now tell you which items people buy by itself, so why not make it convenient for your customers by putting that stuff right up front, where people can run in, pick it up, pay for it, and be on their way without having to hike to the back of the store for it, navigating around the women's lingerie, men's belts and suspenders, children's footwear, and other stuff that I guarantee none of those "convenience shoppers" are going to take the time to buy on such a trip anyway. Stupid. They stopped stocking my cat treats and my favorite plastic storage boxes, but now they have a full aisle of ... treadmills! Yep, a WHOLE STINKING AISLE full of treadmills! Those same $400 exercise machines you see in the want ads for '50-dollars or best offer', that you find on Freecycle for 'come pick up and its yours'. And the treadmills are conveniently located right next to -- the aquariums and fish tank supplies, right where you'd expect them, right? And guess what's now taking up a full third of the entire back wall of the store? Big-screen TV's! And at the end of the line of TV's you find... paper towels, toilet paper, napkins, paper plates, and aluminum foil. Yep, that stuff is no longer in the food section, it's next to the big screen TV's, so that shoppers can conveniently pick up their toilet paper right after putting their big-screen TV in their cart. So while looking for light bulbs in an aisle in the new sporting goods department, you can bump into college students doing their grocery shopping traveling from the milk department through the gun and ammo and the paint departments on their way to get their paper towels. Do you see a pattern here? And the main food section, what's been left intact, hasn't been spared from the madness either. They've completely removed all those overhead signs that used to hang from the ceiling over the aisles in the food section. You know the ones -- that say "Canned Vegetables", "Soup", "Crackers", "Sodas", "Sugar", "Flour", "Juices", and "Pet Food"... that were put there so you could look up from the front of the store and quickly find out which aisle to walk over to in order to find what you're looking for. Yeah. They've taken them down. They no longer exist. They've replaced them with -- get this! -- little signs posted all up and down the aisle on the top shelf of each individual aisle. If you are standing at the end of an aisle, you can see the first sign on the left that says "Canned Vegetables" and the first on the right that says "Snacks", and that's all. But if you walk down the aisle a little way, then you can read the second sign posted on the top shelf on the left that says "Canned Fruits" and the second one on the right that says "Nuts and Popcorn". The signs are too little to be read from the end of the aisle -- you have to walk down the aisle -- and besides, the ones at the far end of the aisle are hidden behind the first ones. Hello!? Is anybody out there?! I don't like having to walk down every single aisle to find the one with the sign that says "Canned Juices"! If I'm going to walk down the aisle anyway, I'm just going to be looking for my juice brand, not some dumb little sign on the top shelf that says "Juices". If I can see the new "Juice" sign, I can see the juice itself, Dumbo. What I need are the overhead signs so I know which aisle to walk down. Geez. Okay, so I get my juice, and a big huge shrink-wrapped economy size pack of 24 paper towels, and I go to the self-checkout kiosk. I scan the paper towels (to my surprise it scans correctly), and the machine says, verbally, "Item scanned, please place item in the bag." Say what?! I'm looking straight at the display screen which correctly lists "24-pack paper towels", and the stupid machine is telling me to "put it in the bag"? Incredible. The bag is only about 13-inches square, and the paper towel pack is at least three feet by four feet! How am I supposed to cram the jumbo paper towel pack in the bag? I put the paper towel pack on the surface beside the bag, and the machine won't let me continue... it keeps saying, "place the item in the bag" ostensible because it's trying to weigh the item to make sure I didn't put two of them in the bag! I end up having to call over the clerk -- which means that the sign lies when it says, "Self-Checkout". The clerk can't get the machine to accept my paper towels either, and I end up standing in another line so a real checkout clerk can check me out. The world is full of idiots. And they all seem to be attracted to ME.

Old-Man Repellant

I was feeling a little better this morning, and the doctor says I'm over the worst of the flu and no longer contagious, so I went to the barbershop this morning. It was reeking of Old-Man Repellant, pungent and intolerable. There were three of them, all under four years old. They were screaming and crying and fighting over some toy or other, while their mother sat eighteen inches away, totally oblivious, reading her Cosmopolitan. Just as I was about to be overcome by the poisonous atmosphere, the barber announced to the 6-year-old in the chair, "well, you're all done, son", and before I could get my jacket zipped back up, the mother and her swarming pack of vermin were heading out. So I was able to get a haircut after all. It's still only $7 including tip, cheapest place around, if you can put up with having to come back several times to avoid the old-man repellent.

One Flu Over the Cuckoo's Nest...

With only two readers responding, it hardly seems worth the trouble anymore. The doctor today diagnosed me with the H1N1 flu. And he also said I have asthma. Pretty bad, too. Hmmm. Where have I heard that before? Medical science never ceases to amaze me. Dubby got me a new cell phone today: a Palm Treo. Used, but new to me. The keyboard is about a third the size of the V-thing she got me last month which had, I thought at the time, the tiniest keyboard imaginable. But I'm more familiar with the Palm operating system so I figured I woudl prefer it. Or at least I thought I would -- before I turned the new thing on. They've gone and done changed everything! Why do these designers take a good thing and screw it up? While I'm on that subject... Dubby got me some malted milk balls, one kind of candy I really really love. Being a Halloween-type item, they come 2-3 balls in a little snacky pack, sealed in plastic. If you don't have a pair of scissors handy, the plastic might as well be steel-coated kevlar... the packs are absolutely impossible to open with your bare hands. There's no perforation to tear, no indicator "open here", no "pull tab to open", no dotted line to indicate a designed-in weakness for the opening -- no nothing. The balls are sealed inside safer than Tutankomen was sealed in his pyramid. And unless I go to the kitchen drawer and use some kind of miracle to find the scissors, those balls will remain sealed inside the plastic just as long as Tut was in his tomb. Why don't the packaging designers realize that at some point in time, someone MIGHT want to get the product OUT of the package? I'm surrounded by idiots.

Is Anyone Out There?

No comments from anyone in weeks. Do I have bad breath online too?

Goodbye...

Born in 1923, died Sunday November 1, 2009, age 86. I'll try to post a bio if I get time. Right now, I'm really, really busy.

Of all the things he did in his life, he wanted above all to be remembered as "a teacher".

Scar was very observant...

I spent almost 20 minutes tonight, long distance, talking to well over a dozen people who hold jobs in a hospital and its associated hospice, who answer the phones, but have no idea how to USE those phones. They can't transfer calls, they can't look up numbers, they have no idea what number they are answering... it's a wonder these people are still living. Thank goodness for gun control. My dad is now in hospice, and knows his floor, his wing, and his bed number. But because the extension numbers in hospice don't correlate to the room number, he didn't know his phone number. And the organization apparently only hires people whose IQ is no more than one-third of their shoe size. He spent almost four hours waiting on someone to bring him his requested pitcher of ice water. THEN they forgot to bring him a cup. An hour later, still no cup. No toilet paper in the bathroom, either. How come these people are walking around loose? They shouldn't be in a hospital, they need to be in law school somewhere. If they were any stupider they could run for public office. Sheesh....

European-Style Billboard in Florida

Europe has some pretty risque billboards. Here is a billboard I found alongside I-95 in Jacksonville, advertising a local costume shop.

Communications Gap .. Been There, Done That

Been There, Done That...

Vianden, Luxembourg

Tuesday, we took a couple of days off, and made a 3-night trip to the town of Vianden, in the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg. It is about 4 hours by train, followed by a half-hour by bus, into the heart of the mountainous country of Luxembourg. Dark forests, deep gorges, running mountain streams, lakes, orchards, and farms, dotted with little tiny towns of about a thousand people each every few miles. The town of Vianden, founded in Roman times, is located less than a mile from the German border, about two hours north of the city of Luxembourg. It is the site of the Castle of the County of Vianden, who is the ancestor of the house of Orange-Nassau, from which William of Orange (and today's Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands) are descended. The castle is on the mountain above the town.

The buildings and architecture in Luxembourg are very different from Flanders, which in turn is even different from the Wallonian part of Belgium. Luxembourgish architecture, even the brick and stone buildings, are covered in stucco which in turn is painted in various colors. The Luxembourgians keep their towns clean and neat.

However, many of the Luxembourgians had an "attitude", somewhat arrogant and superior. Of course, Luxembourg has the highest per-capita income of any European country, has one of the lowest tax rates, lowest unemployment rates, and highest standards of living. So I guess they have a reason for feeling superior: they are.

Overall, however, most people we met were nice. Vianden is a tourist town, and we met many nice and wonderful people from all over Germany, Netherlands, Belgium, England, and even Alaska! French is heard as often as German. Luxembourgish is a combination of German and Dutch, and is different from both -- to the point of being considered its own language.

The castle has been fully restored and is kept in pristine condition by the government of Luxembourg as a national monument.

A Hike in the Luxembourg Woods

Tuesday, after arriving at the hotel and unpacking, we hiked up the mountain to the castle, and continued beyond, going further up into the hills and forests of Luxembourg. We probably hiked a couple of miles. The hiking trial led back down into the town of Vianden, and the woods looked like a well-groomed and manicured park. The trees were old and huge.

Very relaxing and enjoyable.

Inside the Vianden Castle

Wednesday, we hiked back up to the castle (yes, we hiked all the way to the top of that mountain), and took the castle tour. We enjoyed meandering and strolling through the old rooms, reading the details in the English-language brochure, and learning about the castle and its inhabitants, history, and culture. Here is a photo of the town of Vianden taken from the castle. You can see the town through the Byzantine windows of the castle keep. Here is the dungeon, which has been turned into a cafeteria today.

The grand banquet room.

The large kitchen (yes there's also a small kitchen).

The family dining room for the Count and his family, separate from the knights and other nobles who dine in the banquet room.

This is the outer walkway around the chapel.

One of the Count's main responsibilities is the protection of his serfs. When enemy armies approached, the peasants would flee to the safety of the castle. There, they would go about the business of living, including making of cloth, leather, maintaining weapons, etc.

One of the largest rooms was the "agricultural stores" area where they stored grain and other edibles for use in time of seige. The castle included a well dug 150 meters (460 feet) through solid rock, a magnificent engineering feat for the day.

Below is the knight's room, where the knights would suit up, go over battle plans, etc.

The castle was quite impressive, with large courtyards, bed chambers, and yes, even a torture chamber, although the torture chamber was not stocked as are the ones in Ghent, Bouillon, and the tower of London.

Trinitarian Church Next to Our Hotel

Immediately next door to our hotel is a church of the Trinitarians which dates from 1267. The church includes a cloister of the monastery from the Trinitarians (a catholic religious order, like the Benedictines, Jesuits, Franciscans, etc.). Here is a pic of the cloister courtyard. Below is the inside of the Trinitarian church. There was a dispute between the Trinitarians and the Knights Templars around 1300, and the Pope decided in favor of the Trinitarians, and told the Templars to go build another church further down the hill. (That church is also still standing.) The Templars were put out of business (e.g., eliminated) around 1318. Interesting history.

Here is a view of the church and its attached cloister, taken from a tower of the town's ramparts, which we followed on a hike through the mountain woods descending from the castle. Our hotel is next door to the church on the right, behind the tree.

Our Hotel

Debbie found this quaint little hotel right next to the Trinitarian Church: the Heinz Hotel, run by the same family for several generations. The building was originally built as a hotel and brewery for the monk's cloister next door.

The hotel has some of the most beautiful stained glass windows.

Even the regular windows were beautiful. That's a clothes press in the window, circa 18th century. We enjoyed numerous meals at outdoor cafes along the streets of Vianden. No, that's not pizza, it's Luxembourgish crepes.

Nice Photos of Vianden Castle

If you've got a camera, why not take some pictures, eh?

Castle at Clervaux, Luxembourg

On Thursday, we took the bus about an hour north to Clervaux, Luxembourg. Notice the bus stop, built into the rock mountain, with a flower box on top of it.

The courtyard of the castle of Clervaux contains the last Sherman tank to be put out of action by the Germans in the closing hours of the Battle of the Bulge. This tank was defending the castle at Clervaux. The castle contains a very nice, and very big, WWII museum dedicated to the Battle of the Bulge, similar in size, scope, and collection to the museum in Bastogne. This museum is Luxembourg's version of the Bastogne museum.

Unlike the Vianden castle, which is on a mountain overlooking the city, the Clervaux castle is in the middle of the city center. The city grew up around the castle. The white building below is the castle, which dates from the 13th century.

In addition to the WWII museum, the castle has a collection of models of 22 of the best castles in Luxembourg. Below is the model of the Vianden castle.

The Clervaux castle also houses the Steichen collection "The Family of Man", which I cover in another post below. You might want to do a google or wikipedia search for "The Family of Man", since it is world-famous. Edward Steichen was born in Clervaux, hence it is fitting for his exhibit to be housed here.

Clervaux also has some very pretty architecture, classical Luxembourgish.

Stoltzburg S.E.O. in Luxembourg

On the way back from Clervaux, we got off the bus at the Stoltzburg S.E.O. (central electric authority) Hydroelectric plant. Here's the deal: they started with a lake high up in the mountains, with a river way down in the valley. They tunneled up from the river, up through the mountain, up to the lake. They let the water run down the tunnel and through turbine generators when they need extra power. But, since most of Luxembourg (like Belgium) power is generated by nuclear, they keep the nuclear plant humming along on full power all the time, and they use the hydro power to meet peak demand. Then, when demand is slack, they keep the nuclear plant humming along at full throttle, and they use the excess electricity to (get this!) pump the water back up from the river to the lake! This keeps the lake full. Ingenious. Of course we use this kind of arrangement back in Virginia (Bath County has a plant like this, as does Lake Marion in South Carolina). But still, it was interesting. Debbie and I toured the hydro plant, including the turbine room, deep, deep back in the mountain. Here is the entrance in the side of the mountain. From the entrance, you walk down a looooong tunnel, lined on both sides with photos and hands-on exhibits about energy and power and the water cycle and hydro generation and stuff. At the end of the loooong tunnel is a heavy steel door about two feet thick, that opens into the stairwell leading down another 50 feet to the turbine room.

Voila. The turbine room, with ten turbines. This plant is about as big as Clark Hill.

And here is the control room. The operator saw us, smiled and waved, then went to the rest room. Go figure.

Fun and educational.