Journal Entries
Hypatia: NaJoPoMo 24/30
Posted Nov 24, 2011
The last of my guests just departed. One and all seemed to have a good time. The food was excellent, the conversation interesting and my new kitty was a big hit. The only break with traditohn, at least this family's tradition, was dessert. No pumpkin pie. I gave them cheeesecake, instead.
Now I'm left with a dirty kitchen, but blessed peace and quiet. I'm off to run the first load of dishes through the dishwasher, have a bite of cold turkey, and then put my feet up.
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Latest reply: Nov 24, 2011
Hypatia: NaJoPoMo 23/30
Posted Nov 23, 2011
Today marks a first. This is the first time in memory that I have my Christmas shopping done before Thanksgiving. I have truly impressed myself. On top of this, I'm genuinely pleased with my selections this year, especially for my staff. 
My Thanksgiving dinner is also on schedule. I don't anticipate any rushing about tomorrow. In other words, I fear I've entered the Twilight Zone or been replaced by a pod or Stepford wife. 
No, wait! There's still a massive mess of boxes and stuff to move around in order to find the guest bed. Whew! It's really me, after all.
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Latest reply: Nov 23, 2011
Hypatia: NaJoPoMo 22/30
Posted Nov 22, 2011
Today marks the 6 month anniversary of the F5 tornado that took out a huge swathe of Joplin and Duquesne (a suburb) and left 161 people dead, 1500 others seriously injured and 18,000 people homeless. It was such a massive storm that it will take years for the city to recover. Schools, businesses, hospitals, churches, restaurants, homes, apartment complexes all wiped out.
Progress is being made, one family at a time, one building at a time. Large projects and small are in various stages of construction. Several large retailers have rushed construction to get reopened in time for the holidays. Every thing that helps restore normalicy helps.
There have been around 100,000 volunteers and thousands of paid workers involved in the cleanup and reconstruction. But there are still blocks and blocks of empty lots where people lived and worked. Miles of them, actually. It's heartbreaking. And at night it is so unbelievable dark now.
We're a tough lot around here and will be OK. We won't ever be the same, but we'll be OK.
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Latest reply: Nov 22, 2011
Hypatia: NaJoPoMo 21/30
Posted Nov 21, 2011
I have a serious case of fat fingeritis. It was bad enough with my old keyboard with the raised keys. With this new, lower version it has become horrific.
The lower key position also makes it even more likely for me to miss the 'a' key. My little finger is unusually short and combined with stiffness in my hands, I often think I've hit the 'a' when I haven't.
Is anyone here old enough to remember the old manual typewriters folks of my ggeneration used for school papers, etc.? Now those were keyboards. Each key raised enough so you didn't have to reach for them and far enough apart that you didn't always hit two at once.
Not that I want to go back to manual typewriters. Or to being a teenager again. I remember how excited I was with my first electric typewriter. It was a Smith Carona and was blue to match my bedroom. I i mgine that folks with long thin fingers are quite pleased with the new keyboards. I should stop whinging and do a better job of proofreading.
Did I mention that I really hate proofreading?
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Latest reply: Nov 21, 2011
Hypatia: NaJoPoMo 20/30
Posted Nov 20, 2011
Being a caregiver is one of the most frustrating jobs in the world. And the most frustrating part is knowing how much to do, how much of my will to impose, and how to determine what is really best for my mother.
It all boils down to quality of life issues. Modern medical practices are wonderful in lots of ways. But I don't think that the ethics are keeping up with the science and technology. Keeping someone alive just because we can, no matter what that does to the patient's quality of life, seems to be the current ethical norm. This seems especially true to me when we are dealing with the elderly. What they actually want is totally ignored by both the medical establishment and the courts.
The bottom line folks is that none of us get out of this life alive. Why can't we let old people die with some dignity, in their own homes, even if that means a few months less of life than if they were hospitalized or put into nursing homes? By treating death as the enemy and squeezing every single breath possible out of people we are actually making life the enemy and death the final blessed relief.
One situation I find absolutely ridiculous is that the state (my state, I'm not speaking for other places) will spend enormous amounts of money to keep an elderly person in a nursing home, but they won't spend a single penny for home health care, which would cost far less. It would also let the patient stay in their own home, which is where they want to be. 
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Latest reply: Nov 20, 2011
Hypatia
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