Kansas Primary: August 3, 2010

Before we move on to our day-before elections coverage, let me just say that Dad's settling in nicely at what we lovingly refer to as Shady Pines, but what I really came here today for was to get some of this election poison out of my system.

Get out and vote. Don't sit there and tell me your vote doesn't matter, it does. If you want our elected officials to stand up for the principles they espouse, you need to get off your ass and stand up for the principles YOU espouse. You have a better chance of seeing the candidate you want elected than you do of winning the lottery.

I know I knowingly came to a Red State when I moved to Kansas so I am pleasantly surprised by the wealth of candidates the Democrats are fielding for the primary. Unfortunately I think they could have winnowed out some of the less-likely-to-win candidates in favor of a cleaner ballot and spending more on the few to reach more "undecided" ears. Hopefully this oversight will be rectified by the time November rolls around.

I'm not going to leave my party (too much) in my nit-picking other than to say that I was unaware that there was so much voter fraud going on in the state of Kansas that someone felt the need to make it the #1 issue in their campaign and, really, do you want to send someone to Washington who's only campaign promise is that they're going to "stick it" to Obama and Pelosi? That frightens me more than I can say.

Please note that I am only commenting on races in which I am actually able to vote. The rest of you can do your own research 'cause that's part of the voting process.

For US Senator we're fielding:

Robert Conroy, a man who has no idea how he ended up on the voter rolls as a registered Republican. Thanks, I don't need someone that clueless representing my interests.

David Haley, the only one with legislative experience and my common-sense vote but for the fact that he's so soft spoken I don't know if the people in Washington or Kansas can hear him.

Lisa Johnston, whom my gut and my heart tells me will do the best at the job but for the fact that she has no experience swimming with sharks.

Charles Schollenberger, who says many things I agree with but again, no time in the shark tank.

Patrick Wiesner, who has ten things on his to-do list, seven of which I agree with but I vehemently disagree with those other three.

For the US House of Representatives our choices are:

Cheryl Hudspeth, who is far too valuable at the local level to let go to Washington.

Thomas Koch, a man who can kindly be described as an eccentric Kansan.

Sean Tevis...I don't believe I'd ever seen a left-wing nutcase until I took a browse through his website. I believe he must be friends with the KU alumni who is convinced the Russians are controlling the weather and using it as a weapon against the United States.

For Governor/Lt. Governor there is only one choice, Tom Holland and Kelly Kultala and I don't have a car with a big enough bumper for that sticker but I would vote for Satan himself if he was running against Brownback. Oh wait, he is running against Brownback...

For Attorney General and Treasurer we have Steve Six and Dennis McKinney respectively, so unless I'm doing the write-in thing, X marks the spot.

And, finally, we have the battle of the Chris' for Secretary of State. Chris Biggs hasn't put much on the web to defend his current job or give retention reasons but Chris Steineger has a "billion dollar list" on his website detailing things he'd like to try to reduce the deficit. Because the list contains humor, he will get a vote from me.

So there you have it Dems, these are our choices. All three of us need to get out tomorrow and vote!

Busy, Busy, Busy

Where did April go? We put Nephew on a plane to Air Force Basic Training on March 30th and spent the month waiting for letters (we got 2, one of which was a form letter). I have to admit the letter he wrote was impressive. It was a page and a half long, had no mis-spellings, remembered both our names, and the names of all the animals. He sounded great and it looks like we found a place where he can thrive and mature. We go for graduation on the Wednesday before Memorial Day. I am looking forward to San Antonio as I've never been.

I brought my 75 year-old father from Oregon to Kansas this week. He's been gradually slowing down but resisting any type of assistance. Two phone calls, one from his brother and one from the family that lives next door to him made it clear to me that he's no longer able to live alone safely. I've been dreading this day imagining the fight to get him to agree he needs help and that it's best done close to my home. I can't keep flying off to another state every time he has some sort of crisis.

Surprisingly, he's been very agreeable. When his brother first posed the idea that he needed to go into Assisted Living, Dad asked his brother to look into facilities near him (in southern California). I talked to Dad about his reasons for not wanting to come to Kansas and was able to shoot them all down.

Dad: I don't want to live in snow anymore.
Me: (thinks to self---how many more winters are you really gonna see, Dad?) Well Dad, how much time exactly do you spend outdoors each day? And I don't know if you got the memo or not, but Kansas got electricity last year and we now have air conditioning that keeps us warm or cool depending upon the season.
Dad: You have a point.
Me: Next reason?
Dad: My brother and his wife can visit me in SoCal.
Me: You're talking about the people that travel 10 months of each year?
Dad: You have a point.
And what about me? How often can I visit you in SoCal?
Dad: You have a point
Me: Next reason?
Dad: Well all my friends live there.
Me: Dad. Honestly. Not to be morbid or anything, but how many of them are still alive (none)?
Dad: You have a point.
Me: So what do you want me to do Dad?
Dad: Look around and tell me what you've got there for me.

So I suppressed my knee-jerk reaction to hop on a plane. I knew the neighbors would continue to look in on him and either send him to a hospital or get someone to come in the home and care for him until I could get there. I took the time to tour all the facilities in my area and then I went to Oregon. For the first two days I suppressed my instinct to help with every little thing and just observed. That gave me good idea of what he can and can't do for himself. We filled any needed prescriptions, visited a doctor for a specific problem he's having and got the green light to travel to Kansas.

Today we toured some of the places I found acceptable and tomorrow we'll tour more. Friday we have an appointment with an attorney that specializes in Geriatrics and we'll see what sort of money assistance he's eligible for so we can determine what he can afford.

I'm a little stressed, but without the tooth and nail fight I was expecting over this, it's going easier than I could have hoped.

I'd also like to take this time to thank Senator Chris Dodd and President Bill Clinton for the FMLA. Pleased I don't have to worry about losing my job.

March Madness

How did I succumb to March Madness this year? I've never been a basketball fan. I don't think it's the game that I have no interest in, I'm pretty sure it's professional basketball players. The ones I have the most exposure to are the ones in my birth town and the ones that get the press there are just not nice people off the court. There is nothing about them that I think should inspire the sort of worship they receive.

By virtue of where I work, sports are a big thing. Every year there are brckets to fill, this year they happen to be tied in to some charity donations, but they would be there even without the altuistic tinge. This year I filled one out. It's my Underdog Bracket. With the exception of how I determined the winner in the Michigan game, every one of my choices was based on advancing the team with the worst seasonal record. I actually made it through 3 days of play before my bracket bit the dust.

Today is Elite Eight day and my local team is still in it. The game they played the other night, the one that landed them up against Butler today, was the most exciting basketball game I've ever seen. I'm watching the game today for two reasons. To see if my enjoyment the other day was a fluke and, if they win, I'm going to have to go in to work to open up the phones for retail. They will put in some extra hours so they can sell Final Four tee shirts. Don't laugh. We sold out of our Elite Eight shirts in less than a day. Go Cats!

Eats at Barleycorn's Update

Well, Barleycorn's has become the new favorite. I go there any chance I get and have even taken visitors from out of town there.

The three cheese tomato soup is still my favorite, but the chicken noodle is pretty darn good too. I've managed to go beyond the Chipotle Chicken Wrap to try the Jalapeno Chorizo, the Cajun Chicken and the Club Sandwich. Hopefully it does well enough that I will eventually be able to make my way through the complete menu.

Stay tuned.

No Place Like Home For the Holidays

Driving to town to rent a DVD...

• $2.00 in gas

Finding the title you want in stock...

• $4.99 (actually free with the early return rebates you've accrued)

Watching your eighteen year-old nephew's face when the dancing penis comes on screen...

• Priceless

New Eats in Town

We've got a new restaurant in Wamego, Barleycorn's Downtown Bar & Deli. I've eaten there twice now and the food is really good. The first visit I tried the soup of the day, three-cheese tomato. It was awesome soup. You could really taste the cheeses and I'm sure it was made with milk, it had such a rich taste. Paired with a Chipotle Chicken Wrap it made the perfect meal.

Today the sides offerings included warm potato salad which sounded pretty good since it's getting colder. And it was. I wonder if they'll share the recipe with me 'cause I'd like to make that at home myself. I had the same chicken wrap as the first visit and I can say the good food is not a fluke. Spicy chicken and warm salad. I'll definitely be back for more! They have an amazingly large menu for a bar so it will take me a while to get through all they have to offer.

AVG Sux!!!!

AVG sux seriously. What good is an anti-virus that identifies a threat but does nothing about it? No good, that's what I say.

Seems I can only go a few years with an anti-virus product before I have to switch to something else due to it not performing as advertised. In my history as an IT person, that means I've been through Norton (back when all it was was an anti-virus); McAfee (back when all it was was an anti-virus); and most recently AVG (started back when all it was was an anti-virus).

Some website deposited three nasties on my laptop last week. The scheduled scan of AVG did not idetify any of these bad-a$$ exe's. Resident shield identified the three but took no action even though auto heal/delete was enabled. The only reason I knew of the invasion was my firewall was prompting to allow internet access for a program I did not recognize.

Is there anything out there that works anymore? I don't need link scanning, safe-surfing, or any of that other bullshit. I want a program that does one thing (check for viruses) and does that one thing very, very well.

Crazy busy

So...what do you do when what you loved to do for 8 or more hours every day becomes something you dread to do for 8 or more hours every day?

I miss my home, I miss my dogs. I miss life.

Gee, what will they think of next...

Mom, you won't miss anything if you want to skip this post.

I got this newsletter today telling me about a new insect repellent from SC Johnson Brands. The OFF!® Clip-On™ repellent provides personal protection from mosquitoes without having to apply something to your skin.

This is really appealing to me since I am really appealing to mosquitoes and rather sensitive to the repellent products that actually work to keep me from being bitten. I’d never heard of the active ingredient, metofluthrin, so I G00gled it. It made for some interesting reading. I learned about things like LD50 (lethal dose where 50% of the test subjects die) and LC50 (lethal concentration in 50% or test subjects). Here are some excerpts from the EPA’s sheet on this chemical (http://www.epa.gov/opprd001/factsheets/metofluthrin.pdf):

… Metofluthrin, like other pyrethroids, is neurotoxic in rats, rabbits, and dogs; both sexes were equally sensitive to metofluthrin. Clinical signs include tremor (all species), vomiting (dog only), and increased salivation (rats and dogs).

SO THEY TESTED THIS ON DOGS (beagles, to be exact), RABBITS, RATS, AND MICE.

… clinical signs including ataxic gait, tremors, tip-toe gait, lateral position, clonic convulsion, hypothermia, and mortality in both sexes.

DID WE MENTION DEATH…OH YEAH, WE CALL IT MORTALITY.

… a single dose of 100 mg/kg produced tremors, twitches, abnormal respiration, increased motor activity, and mortality. The animals found dead or in extremis 24 hours post-dosing (7 out of 20 animals) exhibited signs of clonic convulsions, hyperpnea, prostration, lost righting reflex, soft or liquid feces, tonic extensor convulsions, salivation, chromorhinorrhea, and chromodachyorrhea.

… Increased incidence of tremor was observed in males at 30 mg/kg/day in the chronic dog study. Tremor was observed in the head, limbs, or body of all males beginning on Day 96 (1-5 incidences/dog except one male with 46 incidences) and in only one female and only on Day 289.

ARE YOU TELLING ME THEY POISONED THESE ANIMALS FOR ALMOST 300 DAYS IN A ROW???

Well, this is just a little upsetting to me. I know, testing like this goes on all the time and it’s for my protection but shouldn’t we really be testing this stuff on humans to get results relevant to our own species?

I don’t know that I could buy this product knowing what I know about it and frankly I’m afraid the look at the MSDS sheet for the product I currently use.

On the other hand, the testing is done and the animals are already dead. Nothing can bring them back. If I don’t use this product, won’t their deaths have been in vain?

I fucking hate moral dilemmas.

Europe recap

We are safe and sound back in the good old U.S. of A. I have to comment about how well the traveling part of the trip went. I love vacationing in far-off destinations but I hate the physical act of traveling. I hate lugging luggage. I dislike plane travel (that must be a control thing) and I wasn’t especially fond of the public transportation (but was, frankly, glad not to be driving in Amsterdam or Paris). Once I’m where I’m going I’m fine, it’s the getting to and from that irks me. Can’t wait for transporter technology to be developed so I can just beam to my chosen place.

Here are a few more pictures from the trip, pictures that didn’t really fit in with previous posts (plus after running around all day, it was a stretch to stay awake long enough to post the entries I did; I’m not a spring chicken anymore). Our canal tour of Amsterdam was quite a long tour and there were so many things to take pictures of, but this one is noteworthy for the fact that you can see arch after arch after arch looking down the canal (I believe the guide said 8 in all) and the teeny-tiny delivery truck on one of the bridges is pretty darn cool.

As we were waiting for the Thalys train to Paris, we sat on this really cool red bench in the station that has all sorts of quotes about travel. I guess if we’d known and taken the train from Schipol instead of trekking into Amsterdam Central again, we never would have seen the bench.

Here’s what the view was like from the high speed train.

Everywhere we went people were very nice and polite. I loved Amsterdam and the people living there and there was quite an international assortment of guests at our hotel (it was a popular place for airline crews on their ‘you-will-get-some-sleep’ layovers. The Internet in the room (wired) was expensive but if you went to the lobby you could have the wireless for free so that’s where I ended most of my days in Amsterdam and at that time of night the guests coming out to smoke are pretty darn tipsy from happy hour. One night there was a drunk Englishman and a drunk Norwegian giving me tips on France. The Englishman kept repeating himself and the Norwegian was completely unintelligible. But they were harmless. When I saw this sign, I thought maybe it was a special place for the Russian flight crew that was staying at our hotel.

But it turns out it means health club. The fitness center was right next to it. Zorg gets me to thinking of the girls from Kazakhstan. I was out having a smoke one night and these two dark beauties and a guy were waiting for the hotel shuttle into Amsterdam. They were in town for two days and ready to hit the clubs. Of course they spoke better English than I do. I always ask the foreign smokers to translate the warnings on their cigarette packs. The ones we have here in the US are so wimpy. Other country’s warnings detail the slow, painful death that results from smoking. They told me the ones in Bangkok even have pictures of lungs and deformed babies. We traded cigarettes. I ended up with the remainder of a pack of Kiss Superslims Energy. I don’t know what’s in them that makes them call it energy, but my bet is it’s not legal in the U.S. There were supposed to be four of them going to the clubs but one of them wimped out and went to sleep. They invited me along and as appealing as it sounded, I declined on account of the fact that I might have succumbed to all the vices of Amsterdam.

As you can see from this next picture, I really will take a picture of anything. Another of the things I liked about Europe (at least the parts of Europe I went to) were the public restroom stalls. These babies had floor to ceiling walls and total privacy. Why don’t we have that here? Oh, because we can't even get the toilets to flush here...

Everywhere I looked there was ornate detail on everything. The buildings…

…the statues…

…even the light posts are works of art.

I know we are a young country, but why don’t we do structures like this? Everywhere a feast for the eyes.

On my 270 photo day, there was a lot to go through when the day was through. I didn’t know how well my pictures of the high up statues were going to turn out. This one had a little bonus when I looked at it full sized. Don’t ask me to identify the kind of bird, but it’s a one in a million shot, oui?

They are very environmentally conscious over there. To get the electricity and air conditioning to work in the hotel you have to put your room key in a slot by the door otherwise you get nothing beyond the 30 second courtesy light that comes on when you open the door. This can create problems if one of you keeps heading down to the lobby for a smoke because the one that stays behind gets left in the dark. We learned quickly that we’d need a second key. They’re big on recycling and make it easy with bins all over the place. Trash cans too. No, the car in the picture below is not being recycled…yet.

The cars for the most part are much smaller than here but I’m not sure if that’s an environment thing or a we-have-the-smallest-streets-you’ve-ever-seen thing. There were a lot of Smartcars and they even have a program where you time-share a Smartcar with other people. It makes sense. Many people live in walking distance of where they work and the public transport is usually faster than driving on the streets. If all you need a car for is the occasional large purchase, why not share a car with others?

I loved touring Paris by open-topped double-decker bus but it did have its hazards.

I liked the cobbled streets and would like to get the moss between the stones thing going on the cobbled paths in my garden. The local upscale produce market has these plants called step-ables for sale. I think I will get some and see if I can’t recreate a little Europe in my own backyard.

The food was divine. We did a lot of eating but for the most part the calories we consumed were canceled out by the calories we burned walking. We only had one meal that wasn’t WOW and even that had a wow factor in that it was topped with a thick layer of melted cheese. We really like the fried egg sandwiches and even made some at home for dinner when we got back. We went to one restaurant that turned out to be a mistake. Funny, everyone kept telling us that the French were rude, especially to Americans. Maybe it’s because we mostly went to tourist sites, which depend on your dollars, but the only rude people we found in Paris were the two Italians that were on staff at Pompei Pizza. We’d been eating off and on all day so we weren’t looking for anything heavy. We thought the pizza place around the corner from our hotel at Rue de l’Arcade & Rue de Castellane would be perfect.

We’d figured to split a pizza and have drinks before calling it a night. Well apparently you don’t split a pizza at Pompei Pizza, everyone is required to order an entrée and they were extremely rude about it. So we left and went to Triadou Haussmann at Boulevard Haussmann & Rue de Rome where we each ended up ordering something and I had the best omelet I’ve had in a long time. All in all it was a great vacation and I’d highly recommend both cities to anyone, but Amsterdam was my favorite. But skip the pizza in Paris.

And Amber, re the building you were asking about (across from the giant marshmallow peeps bunnies). I don’t know if it’s anything special in the architecture/historic category, but it is the GAP store at Rue Auber & Rue Tronchet.

Paris: Last day - Montmartre

Our last day in Paris finds us on the Metro again.

This time our destination is the Montmartre area.

But we almost think we’ve taken a wrong turn when we see this Metro stop.


I think we’ve walked quite enough on this vacation so when I see transportation to the top of the hill, I can’t get to the ticket window fast enough.

At the top of the hill is the oldest church in Paris, Sacre Coeur. It also contains the world’s oldest bell (according to the driver of the choo-choo tram that runs between the metro and Sacre Coeur).

Along with the church there is what is probably very expensive real estate with killer views.

Like Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur has lots of rain spouting gargoyles.

No sign of Quasimodo, but this pigeon apparently spends a lot of time in front of the camera judging by the poses it ran through for me.

I ran across a familiar name…

The guy in the orange shirt is about to sketch my portrait. The orange shirt is a sign, oui?

And I’m glad to have gotten the portrait sketch out of the way right away as there is another sketch artist around every corner. Sort of like stink on you-know-what. Around each corner is some little gem of scenery like this fountain.

Or this garden.

As we sit at a café on the main square overlooking all the resident artists, I realize it truly is springtime in Paris and the birds are looking for love in all the right places. This is the only French Porn I saw.

We skipped Dali’s place…

…since we had the real McCoy’s right in front of us. The gentleman peeking out of the right side of this display is a true artist. He stretches his own canvas.

We’re making it an early day today since we have to rise at oh-dark-thirty to catch transportation to the airport. We take the stairs down the hill. Gravity does help but after so many of them I get dizzy and worry about overstepping and tumbling the rest of the way down. When we arrive safely at the bottom we celebrate with cappuccinos…

…at a café with a photogenic waiter…

…and an aptly named toilet. Definitely not sitting here.

Finally, here is the café area of our hotel where we had breakfast every morning.

And the lobby where we had refreshments in the evening.

Paris: Louvre & Notre Dame

Today was a misty day in Paris. A day fit for ducks…

…and tourists who weren’t letting a little water stop them from enjoying the sights and sounds of Paris.
We decided to walk from our hotel to the Louvre for some indoor sight-seeing. From the Tuileries looking back towards the Place de la Concorde I noticed an obelisk that was just screaming to be pinched.

Upon our arrival at the museum, I discover they’ve installed this pyramid that is begging for the pinch treatment.

You enter the pyramid and descend to the ticket counter.

Once you have your tickets you are free to roam. The last time the missus was here, she jokes that she and her traveling companion did the Louvre on roller skates. We will not repeat that feat. I love statues, sculpture, and works in stone. I am in heaven.

I could spend hours studying the detail in this relief of Adam and Eve.

Or this bust of Antinous.

It’s hard to maintain a serious demeanor when you are on vacation. Sometimes you just have to let life imitate art.

This place is huge and after yesterday’s climb up l’Arc our legs and feet are a little out of sorts. In fact, our feet hurt. We collapse on a bench and our heads fall back and WHOA! Look at that freaking ceiling. Not only is this place packed to the rafters with art, it IS art.

Everywhere there are signs to beware of pick pockets and other thieves. This poor guy is on his way to security. Seems someone stole his cell phone…while he was still using it.

In the Apollo Gallery, where there is an awesome Zodiac on the ceiling, I discover they were a little more advanced in the late 1700’s than I’d originally thought. Who knew they had email?

In the section that hosts many Da Vinci’s, I tried to imagine the dialogue between the painter and the subject.

Subject: Hey Leonardo, did you know I have a roof leak?
Leo: No, I did not.
Subject: Yeah, it’s right up there.
Leo: Don’t move; the light is perfect right here.

Did you know the Louvre had a moat?

Or an extensive Egyptian collection? Here is a little known work called Pharaoh Pharted.

I enjoyed the vice room but I think the dice were loaded.

There was much, much more to the Louvre and I took many more pictures. Sometimes the light just didn’t cut it and the opportunities to use the flash were few and far between. I have way too many pictures to post here and then what would you have to look forward to on your own trip? We actually ran out of time and had to leave. Fortunately we were able to catch Mass at Notre Dame, where I lit a candle for my brother.