Three forms of I.D.
Aug 30, 2012
I read this on the BBC News site: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-19429409
This topic has come up recently at work and with a group of friends. None of us see a problem with requiring an I.D. to vote.
This is why: An official birth certificate from the hall of records in whichever state is $15:00. This official copy is required to obtain a driver's license in order to legally drive a vehicle (as young as 16, used to be 15).
Social Security I.D. numbers are now assigned at birth. You must have one to work because of taxes. I received mine at 14.
Obtaining a driver's license requires passing the written and driving part of the test and three forms of I.D. Official Birth certificate, Social Security Card, Student I.D., Yearbooks, diploma, job I.D., are acceptable.
With 5 forms of I.D. you can get a passport.
In 18 years that costs:
Social Security I.D. number free on birth
Birth certificate $15.00
School I.D. free or $5.00 depending on school.
Driver's license: varies in this parish it's currently $25.00
Other option from DMV, the non driving I.D. card requires no test: $15.00
Diploma: Pass your classes
Job I.D., required for some jobs and free
EBT card: qualify and have a Social Security I.D. number.
Take any 5 and $150.00 get a passport...
It's not an extra expense to get an I.D. to vote. Especially if they drove themselves to the poll (legally).
Isaac
Aug 28, 2012
I remember when storms didn't have social media pages of their own. http://www.facebook.com/HurricaneIssac?ref=stream
Back then you had to wait for the weatherman (Pat Shingleton or Mike Graham in this area) to tell you what was most likely to happen. Never quite caught the end of the story because the lights would go out at some point. Mike has retired. Pat is still around for what has to be more than 30 years, even with the switching between two local stations. Jay Grymes is the newer guy on the block.
For a couple of days, my friends and I have been watching Isaac's progression on NOAA, NHC and Facebook. Everyone is mostly prepared. There's always something you have to do without, hopefully nothing important.
Any Pedants, here?
Jun 9, 2012
Because I have found the perfect Christmas gift for a pedant:
http://www.amazon.com/Mistakes-Occu...m_kstore_50?ie=UTF8&m=AG56TWVU5XWC2
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Family, Books and Friends
May 20, 2012
It's been a busy few months. In March, my nephew and his wife got a couple of tickets at almost the last minute for a basketball game in New Orleans. So, they quickly planned a trip to New Orleans and Baton Rouge. This included dinner in Baton Rouge on the last night and getting three sides of his family in the same restaurant for dinner. It was good to see them. Hadn't seen him since 2009 and her since 2004 or so.
Finally bought a Kindle, which was a deal with no shipping if you take the 30 day trial of amazon prime (including streaming videos). The amazon selection includes Doctor Who, Midsomer Murders, Inspector Lewis and lots of other things that I'd like to watch. Caught up on the Matt Smith episodes of Doctor Who which have only aired on BBC America (not on my cable package). I'll probably renew the amazon prime for $79.00 a year and cut back a tier of my cable package now that the history channel has gone for reality shows (pawn stars and pickers). I've loaded the kindle with hundreds of free books from amazon and gutenberg.org. Read 'the Dark House experiment in terror', another mystery novel and currently reading 'the Three Musketeers' on the kindle and re reading 'the Great Book of Amber' on paper.
In April I arranged another meet for my facebook friends that went to the same high school. The first meet was at a local pub (really a pub). This time it was a Greek Lebanese restaurant. We had 9 alumni and six guests. It was really nice to see the three that I had not seen since graduation and to meet the children of two other friends.
May is coming to a close. I do have my towel ready for Friday. Hurricane season is getting a jump start this weekend and it's hot and humid and will be for several months.
Neighbours! Really?
Jan 26, 2012
The first I heard of Bryan Adams was 'Straight From the Heart' in 1983.
In 1992, I saw him on the 'Waking up the Neighbors' tour in New Orleans. Still have the shirt, which has the American concert dates and places on the back, and the program which is titled 'Waking up the Neighbors 1992'. The pin from that concert was mounted on blue felt with a bunch of other pins: Foreigner (Agent Provocateur), Paul McCartney (The New World), Def Leppard etc. I just removed the pin from the felt. Never noticed before that it is 'Waking up the Neighbours' on the pin.
Saw Bryan again in 1994 because he was the opening act for the Rolling Stones' New Orleans concert. Still have that shirt too. 
I have young co workers that give me the 'I'm an adult blah blah blah...'. I tell them I have shirts older than them and I mean it.
Books...
Jan 14, 2012
I have said, they follow me home. This is one of the odder stories. This is the 'Lincoln Library of Essential Information': http://www.amazon.com/Lincoln-Libra...-Information-Kinsella/dp/B000ZW47J8
This is its history: http://www.thelincolnlibrary.com/aboutlincoln.html
My part in this. While working on the bibliography for a lengthy report in ninth grade, I asked my English teacher how to list a book by a publishing company. At first she did not see that I meant written by the publishing company and not the company by which it was published. She asked the title of the book. I told her it was the 'Lincoln Library of Essential Information'. To which she informed me that was such a rare book that it was very unlikely I would ever see one. I answered that I had one on the shelf in my room for five years and that was only because my brothers had it in their room for years before that.
That old green covered book had been my aunt's when she was in school. My grandmother who did not read English (only French), had bought it from a door to door salesman in the 1940's. The red covered copy we found in a box of books given to us by my other grandmother when I was in fifth grade was a few years older.
I dragged two co workers, after work, to the annual book bazaar at LSU around 1996. One went for the children's book the other searched through reference books. I found a few things and went in search of the friends. We did a few laps of tables on the other side of the mini barn and there amongst law books and encyclopedias was an old copy of that now very familiar book being ignored by everyone in the building. I opened it to find a huge price tag of $2.00, picked it up and brought it home with my other purchases. We stopped by the store where we worked to switch cars and went in for a few minutes. Another co worker went through my stack of books. He opened the 'Licoln Library' recognizing it as he had seen the other copies on my book shelves, he read the inscription on the inside of the front cover which was a name and address then commented 'my mother grew up on that street, a few houses down, in the 1950's. I wonder if she knows this person'.
Variety is good, right?
Jan 8, 2012
I can tell right now, I'm going to forget to turn on the heater on the right night. The 
will eventually remind me.
Forecast for the upcoming week....
Tonight 40%Chance Showers Lo 60 °F
Monday 80% Chance of Showers Hi 73 °F
Monday Night 90% Chance of Showers Lo 62 °F
Tuesday 100% Chance of Showers Hi 73 °F
Tuesday Night 30% Chance of Scattered Showers Lo 50 °F
Wednesday Mostly Sunny Hi 64 °F
Wednesday Night Mostly Clear Lo 45 °F
Thursday Mostly Sunny Hi 54 °F
Thursday Night Partly Cloudy Lo 27 °F
Friday: Sunny, with a high near 54.
Friday Night: A slight chance of showers. Partly cloudy, with a low around 29.
Saturday: Sunny, with a high near 58.
Saturday Night: Mostly clear, with a low around 34.
Sunday: Sunny, with a high near 61.
In other news, tonight is the replay of the last episode of the previous season of 'Downton Abbey' followed by the first episode of the new season. Syfy premiered season 4 of 'Merlin' Friday night.
E books
Jan 4, 2012
I have read text files from gutenberg.org for years. Downloaded the kindle for pc software (it's free) a few weeks ago. Seemed kind of silly to buy an e reader and then find out I don't like the software.
Kindle for pc is easier to read than long notepad files (turns pages, keeps your place when you return etc).
If any of you like older books, there are a lot of free e books online. http://www.amazon.com/gp/b/ref=amb_..._rd_p=1337214842&pf_rd_i=B0051QVESA
Joyeux Noel
Dec 25, 2011
Merry Christmas, Y'all. 
British, American, Southern, Southeast Louisiana...
Dec 10, 2011
The announcement states that 'An American author, writing on an American topic may use American English.'
One of the suggestions for contributing to 'The Guide' was write about your hometown and what you know. I never did that because it simply will not fit in British English. I have contributed to 'The Post'.
For a while I proof read articles for a British Researcher whose Word spell checker only did American English while my version of Word Perfect could do British English. I even switched the language bar on my office computer to English UK. Only one person had a problem with that. The other three just shrugged and ignored the red lines. The fourth should have logged in under his own profile.
Language is not all about spelling, though. There is a mind set that accompanies it. That mind set is of a time and place. For instance, there was a discussion on site about the lyrics to 'American Pie'. If Don McLean wrote that for h2g2, how would the words have been changed?
I agree with Lewis Grizzard, that a person has to be born Southern to say 'Come here'n, ya'll'. And, while I understand that, it still is not what I hear in South Louisiana where Santa's sled is pulled by alligators and bonfires light the levees so he won't get lost in the swamps.
That high pitched sound...
Dec 8, 2011
Was my thermostat shrieking in frustration. In the last four days the setting has been cycled through dehumidiy, cool, fan only, heat, dehumidify, heat.
This morning the projected low was 34F for tonight (on the television). On the drive to work the radio announcer said 'low tonight 29F'. Thankfully, the rain stopped, this morning. But, it's colder than I was expecting.
According to NOAA, tonight's forecast is now:
Tonight: Clear, with a low around 26. Calm wind.
Thursday: Sunny, with a high near 55. East wind around 5 mph becoming calm.
Thursday Night: Partly cloudy, with a low around 32. Calm wind.
The Ultimate GAME DAY!
Dec 3, 2011
At 3:00 Central time, LSU and Georgia play the Championship game in Atlanta. http://www.lsusports.net/
There are rules for watching this, even at home.
'In this house, you will cheer for LSU.'
'Any sports presenter who can not pronounce the names of the LSU players properly (especially ESPN announcers) will be muted.'
There are houses with longer lists.
30 November 2011 The End... or is it?
Nov 30, 2011
5:55 p.m. (Louisiana is GMT-6)
Currently 56F dropping to 34F tonight.
Last entry in NAJOPOMO 2011. 
NANOWRIMO word count 3,987. Nowhere near 50,000. But, I developed a character that wasn't supposed to be more than a cameo. Then, the story shifted to another direction. I intend to finish this story, no matter how long it takes.
And best of all... 
It's the last day of hurricane season! At this rate, it could snow next week, though.
29 November 2011 End of Month in More Ways Than One
Nov 29, 2011
It's just after 4:30 a.m. The weather report is:
Clear 36°F
Feels Like: 31°
Wind Chill: 31°
Heat Index: 36°
Wind Speed: 6mph
Humidity: 86%
That's a huge change from last week. I woke up early this morning, on my own without help from the pets. I've already filled their kibble and water dishes. They probably went back to bed. I had a bit of extra time so, I sat down for a few minutes to plan my day.
November is almost over. The sooner the November paper work is done and in a box, the sooner we move on to the end next month and the end of the year paperwork. That also means taking an inventory of all merchandise in the store.
December is the month that is usually understaffed because of staff taking vacations or other time off. We might need to hire someone to replace those that are not filling the entirety of their shifts through either leaving early or arriving late, too.
One more journal after this for the Najopomo challenge. No really, just one more.
And, the Nanowrimo challenge ends tomorrow as well. Phew! I haven't written as many words as I'd have liked. But, the plot is more shaped than I'd expected. I'll let you know if anything comes of that. My goal is the story not the challenge with this one.
Now, that leaves the dreaded Christmas shopping. I really dislike shopping for undetermined items especially surrounded by huge crowds. In the past I've done the traditional store to store, even the.... mall. Only one mall and that's because it's close to where I work. Then, I did smaller stores like Tuesday Morning or the World Market. Considering doing the bulk of it online this time because more sites are offering free shipping for one reason or another.
Any suggestions for gifts for two brothers and maybe one or two friends? They have clothes, love reading, enjoy cooking and really don't do cologne, perfume, fragrance type of things.
28 November 2011 Frosty!
Nov 29, 2011
I like my seasons as I like my holidays, more than two days apart. South Louisiana seems to have skipped Fall and gone straight to Winter. At 7 P.m. it is 41F and dropping. The sun didn't fully come out until 3 this afternoon.
Traffic was rough this morning. The drive home was nice, though. Haven't been home for very long. Well, long enough to feed the pets and eat something. I think tea or hot chocolate is in order,with the cold weather and all. Still writing for Nanowrimo. That's next on the list after find something warmer to wear.
27 November 2011 Raining and Writing
Nov 27, 2011
So much for the forecast which said 'Sunday will be sunny and....'. It has rained since yesterday. It's overcast and gloomy outside. The forecast also said high around 70F. Yeah, it was 56F last time I checked. The low tonight might be 36F.
I have been typing the handwritten notes for my Nanowrimo novel. It's 1847 words so far, with still more to type. I'm happy though, because it is a story I wanted to write and its lengthier than previous writing projects.
Oh, and today the same television channel is showing a marathon of the three Star Wars movies I like.
Back to work, tomorrow. 
26 November 2011
Nov 26, 2011
It has rained for hours. Now, it's foggy with more rain expected. This is perfect sleeping weather.
One of the television channels is doing a Star Wars movie marathon. Sadly, they are showing the three Star Wars Movies I don't care for all that much. Guess which ones. I might put in some dvds as background for housework. 'Red Dwarf' will make even the most drudging cleaning go by easier.
Managed to completely avoid the 'black Friday' sales. Yay! Have managed to do a few extra house related things I had on a list. Still have more of those on the list. So, back to the list.
25 November 2011 It's a Record!
Nov 25, 2011
From LSU Football on twitter:
'Final: LSU 41, Arkansas 17. Tigers are 12-0 for the first time in program history and Atlanta-bound for next week's SEC Championship'.
Way to geaux Tigers!
I did see some of the 4th quarter on television. There will be a re broadcast in a day or two.
Have done some laundry and some house cleaning. A few more gallons of caffeine from now, my kitchen might be back in order. Meant to clean all that last night but something came up. Today has been overcast and cloudy, warmish even. Tomorrow is supposed to be stormy. Then it's supposed to be colder going into next week.
24 November 2011 Olives
Nov 24, 2011
I have bought pet treats and cat toys. The favorites, judging from time spent with, seem to be the box from something entirely different and the green olive I just dropped while making potato salad for dinner, tonight.
It took three cats to give it a thorough inspection, sniffing it several times, conferring, attempting to bat it, and then deciding to either ignore it or save it for dessert.
I'm not sure which because they didn't submit a written report on their departure from the kitchen in search of something more interesting. I left the James Bond marathon on for them in the other room.
23 November 2011 Long Weekend
Nov 24, 2011
This morning started early, 3:00 a.m. to be exact. I took some melatonin last night, watched one television show and felt sleepy enough to go to bed for 9:00. Slept well and felt rested at three, so I got out of bed an hour earlier than usual. Did some stuff around the kitchen and then the usual getting ready for work stuff. The drive to work this morning was nice. Made it to work for 7:00 a.m. All those cars, I didn't see this morning were on the road this afternoon, each and every one of them. My 30 minute drive home took 50 minutes.
I now have the ingredients for everything I must cook plus the usual pantry stuff and a few extras. Anything not used for Thanksgiving will be added to the Christmas stuff.
Not going anywhere until Monday. It's been a long time since I've had extra time off from work. There's a lot of things I'd like to work on around the house, especially with the change of season. There is also the novel to write.
22 November 2011 Encore!
Nov 23, 2011
BSOD made an encore appearance this morning. The other branch's cashier called me. After a few tries, the computer restarted as normal. A few minutes later, I got a call from the Asst. Mgr. there. She asked if they could use the old manual register. I said 'Do what you have to.'. I called the owner to ask if I could call the usual tech. Called the tech service to arrange a service call. Not sure what happened there, yet. We dug out the old registers at our store. By old I mean circa 2004, pick up off the shelf at Office Depot registers. The first wouldn't even light up. The next lit up, but the 1, 2 and 3 keys were not working. The other had working keys. However, its printer was broken.
Still with me? The Store Mgr. at our store is also an electrician who does a lot of other types of repairs, including car and house things. He took the working printer off the one register and put it on the other identical register. Dr. Frankenstein would be proud. Couldn't remember how to program tax codes. Found the manual online, printed relevant pages. Thirty minutes later, register (now named Frankie) was in a box waiting to go to the other store. We added the manual credit card machine and manual credit slips as well. Sounds solved, right? The register didn't retain the tax info. That will have to be redone, there, tomorrow morning.
21 November 2011 The other holiday tradition
Nov 22, 2011
There is a tradition that we try not to mention too often at work. It seems that a major piece of equipment (usually refrigeration) will fail over a holiday weekend.
We started to notice when the meat freezer died the week after Thanksgiving, before we could sell all the turkeys for Christmas. We (meaning me) baked the turkeys, all six or so, in two days and sold them by the pound cooked. The owner let us take some home too, so it wouldn't be wasted.
A few years later it was a different freezer over the New Year weekend, and just four turkeys (and lots of other stuff).
The produce cooler has participated in this as well as the air conditioners.
Just today, the Mgr. of the other branch called me to say the computer had the blue screen of death. That computer is the database and cash register for that store. I told her how to boot in safe mode and do a system restore. I haven't heard from her since. I hope that was all it needed. Later, I found out that one of our delivery vans isn't working. No one said anything until it was almost too late to find a mechanic that would be able to do anything before next week.
Can't wait till Christmas.
20 November 2011 Things to Do
Nov 20, 2011
The LSU Tigers won last night, 49-3. That means 11-0 with just one or two more games this season. The next game is 25 November. I hope that one will be televised.
This morning it dampish. There is a thick fog and a mistiness with temperatures around 70F. It's 8:30 a.m.
Soon, I will have to get out in that to go to the store for a few things, including a Sunday newspaper and a bottle of drain cleaner. After that is some house stuff and cooking a turkey.
There was a very good deal on turkeys, buy one get one free, which brings the price to .74 a pound. The turkeys were frozen solid. They have been in the fridge. Now the turkeys are defrosted and in need of cooking. I plan to cut them before cooking so they can be cooked with different seasonings and different ways. This also decreases cooking time a lot. After they are cooked, I plan to package them for the freezer. On Thursday all I have to do is pick a package of pre cooked turkey and make my holiday dinner.
Then there will be the post cooking clean up and dish washing.
That's the day I'm planning to have. Let's see what actually happens.
19 November, 2011 The day has only just started to get interesting
Nov 20, 2011
It is a few minutes before 6 p.m. GMT-6 in Louisiana, in case you were wondering. The LSU game starts at 6. This a big, important, much anticipated game.
I still have a lot to do around the house, especially in the kitchen. Still working on the nanowrimo novel. There isn't a word count posted on that site yet, because I've been writing on paper. Actually, it is in a big wire bound notebook with a purple plastic cover.
Can't wait for the four day weekend, next week. Really need some time off.
18 November 2011 Holiday Shopping
Nov 19, 2011
After work today, I bought the fruit, vegetables, spices, and other things for cooking next week. This includes the remaining things for Thanksgiving dinner. Tomorrow's tasks include making sure I have enough pans & pots and cooking.
My father would wait until the last minute to shop for a holiday. Last minute as in 5:30, the night before the holiday (back when stores closed at 8:00 or earlier). My siblings, being older and faster, would disappear when Dad said 'let's go get the groceries.'.
By the time I was 12, holidays meant an irritating few hours at the store that didn't have everything, waiting at the checkout for a long time, then making another trip the next morning to the one convenience store that was open to pay more money for the thing we could have bought the week before, if only...
At the age of 13, I took Home Ec. In class we cooked: A turkey, yeast breads, giblet gravy and cornbread stuffing. We took notes and were even tested on these recipes. Didn't know it at the time, the teacher was using a Betty Crocker cookbook for the recipes. The turkey recipe was different than my mother's. It was less time, less effort, and no guesswork (there was a chart).
At 15, I cooked my first holiday dinner. It was just easier that way, really. Mom made the shopping list on Monday. Dad went shopping on Tuesday for the turkey which went into the fridge to thaw. Wednesday, Dad bought the other stuff. Wednesday night, turkey (still in plastic wrapper) went into sink of water. The water was changed every hour or so. I started cooking at 10:30 Wednesday night. Finished cooking Thursday afternoon. Dinner was at 2:00 p.m. There was even some sleep in there, from 1:00 - 6:30 a.m.
Just about every year someone will tell me about a holiday tradition that they dread, such as the family argument or the fruitcake that no one likes. The holidays shouldn't be the cause of stress. They are meant to be celebrations. If all else fails, borrow the tip from Justin Wilson: 'I always cook with wine, here's the pot, and here's the glass of wine. *sip* 
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