Disappointed Shopper

For John, BLUF:  I was disappointed by the merchandise selection at Staples this afternoon.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I went to the Staples in Chelmsford, Massachusetts, today, to buy a package of printer paper (a ream).

Along the way I picked up a fountain pen, to replace my Lamy Safari, which is not working, even after I put in a new cartridege and ran the tip under the fauct.  However, when i looked around, i could find no replacement cartridges in the aisle.  I asked a clerk and he said they did not carry spare cartridges.  Does it make sense to sell a pen without additional cartridges.  Is the Lamy, at $24.99 (as I recall), a disposable pen?  Or does Staples want me to buy ink cartridges from Amazon?  I find that poor customer support.

Then I asked about clam clips.  I am looking for a clam clip dispenser.  "Never heard of it," I was told.  Shouldn't an office supply store know about clam clips and other such items?  Apparently not.

When I went to check out I entered my phone number, as I always do, to receive some sort of a discount.  It failed.  It worked a couple of weeks ago.  What happened?  According to the checkout clerk they are moving to a telephone App, and some of us are not being grndfathered until we get the App installed.

In addition, the snack selection, at checkout, is beyond the cash register, and it is not a very broad selection.

If Staples is looking for a part-time hire to help them manage what they stock, I am available [crkrieger@icloud,com].  Having a good office supply store in the neighborhood is important to me, and should be to you.

Regards  —  Cliff

The Paperwork

For John, BLUF:  We need to be looking out for each other, and we need to be in a position to do so.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Buckle Up, Buttercup

Here is the sub-headline:

Life's about to get rough with you

From Cedar’s Substack, by Ms Cedar Sanderson, 20 June 2023.

Here is the lede plus one:

Spoiler: we’re all alive.

This publishes mid-week, but on Sunday the fun started. My husband, best-beloved of my heart and First Reader, came to me in the kitchen and complained of indigestion. I was working on a yellow squash relish, and we’d had a heavy breakfast, so I asked him if he wanted me to find the tums. He said he’d have a glass of milk, and we went on with life. Not much later, he came back, sweating, and asked me to drive him to the doc-in-a-box. He was having chest pain radiating into his arm and hand, nausea, and a headache.

The author gives us some lessons learned:

• Be careful of a Do Not RESUSSITATE (DNR) order.  With such a document in place you shouldn't even do CPR on your spouse.
• What is needed is an advanced care directive (ACD).
• If you are in a relationship with no legal basis, get the medical PoA set up.

During my time in the Air Force I learned the aphorism, "The job isn't done until the paperwork is complete".

I would add,

• Everyone needs a Patient Advocate; someone to go to the desk and convey information, from the patient wants ice cream to the patient isn't acting normally.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Verizon Lags

For John, BLUF:  Verizon is not the forward leaning 21st Century operation I had expected.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I have a cell phone plan with Verizon.  It includes my Wife, myself and two of our children, plus two iPads.

I wanted to upgrade one of the Apple iPhones, which is currently in Illinoi.  I thought I could waltz into the Verizon Store in Tewksbury, arrange a deal and have the iPhone holder go into a store out in Belleville, Illinois, and be off with a new phone.

Not so fast.

This is not the 21st Century I had envisioned.  No, at the Verizon Store it is still 1999.  They are not able to cut such a deal.♠  I could shut down the Cell Plan from here, but I couldn't purchase a new phone.

I think it is time for the Verizon CEO to call for an upgrade to his opersting methods.  It might even make him more money.

Regards  —  Cliff

♠  On the other hand, the previoous week I was able to go to the Tewksbury Verizon store and activate the cell capability on an iPad out in Belleville.

Father's Day

For John, BLUF:  Fathers aren't born.  They are shaped by their Parents and their Wives.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I received a very nice Card from my Wife

A sign of my less than stellar performance in Grammer School, I continue to be confused by things like Father's Day and Mother's Day.  Is it singular and possessive or plural or plural and possessive?  Each occurrance is a chance to try and think it through again.  Today I went with the card.  The good news is the card is from Hallmark.  I am guessing they almost always get it right.

The even better news is that the card choice was excellent and the hand written sentiments even better.

Thank you, Sweetheart.

Regards  —  Cliff

Happy Birthday

For John, BLUF:  She knows who she is.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Regards  —  Cliff

Strange Women In Cambridge

For John, BLUF:  No every encounter with an attractive member of the oposite gender is going to turn out well, if pursued.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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The Most Gullible Man in Cambridge

Here is the sub-headline:

A Harvard Law professor who teaches a class on judgment wouldn’t seem like an obvious mark, would he?

From The Cut, by Ms Kera Bolonik, JULY 23, 2019.

Here is the lede:

It was just supposed to have been a quick Saturday-morning errand to buy picture hooks.  On March 7, 2015, Harvard Law professor Bruce Hay, then 52, was in Tags Hardware in Cambridge, Massachusetts, near his home, when a young woman with long reddish-brown hair approached him to ask where she could find batteries.  It was still very much winter, and, once the woman got his attention, he saw that underneath her dark woolen coat and perfectly tied scarf she was wearing a dress and a chic pair of boots — hardly typical weekend-errand attire in the New England college town.  When he directed her to another part of the store, she changed the subject.  “By the way, you’re very attractive,” he remembers her saying.

And thus began a long and bumpy ride.  A ride that damaged his relationship with his ex-wife and involved him in court action.  But, mostly it involved him with someone who just doesn't seem all that mentally stable.  It is fairly long, for an article.  Read it to see how sane your own life seems.

And here is a follow-up story, mentioning more people who have had encounters like that of Professor Hay.

Regards  —  Cliff

Problem Identification

For John, BLUF:  Life is an adventure and sometimes we go down weird paths.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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I noticed the lamp on my Wife's Night Stand flickering.  I immediately assumed a problem with the socket or a frayed wire, and got to work.

I went to Home Depot, looking to buy a cord to wire into the lamp.  I already had a light bulb societ.

At Home Depot I went to Aisle 43 and looked for a wire with a plug on one end and a couple of soldiered wires at the other end.  I found a heavy duty replacement for a power tool.  Not the visual presence I was looking for.

I wandered around, looking for a clerk, and couldn't find one.  I tried calling Home Depot and was told that they would send someone.  Five or so minutes later I repeated the call and again I was promised they would send someone.  After a couple of minutes I spotted "Bonnie" down at the other end of the Aisle.  She had been there when I had first started looking, thinking to do it on my own, but wandered away.  Now she was with a customer, so I waited.  I explained my problem and she took me in a totally different direction, so an "End Cap" that had what I wanted.

Equipped, I took the pretty large brass lamp into my lap and began to disassemble, which involv3d several parts.  I had to get a pair of vice grips to deal with a pipe in the middle, to free up the remainder of the socket, the cap that screwed onto the pipe.  Then I found that the replacement socket was not the same size as the pipe running through the lamp, but God smiled on me and I had a different socket available, which fit.

I got it all wired up and took it to the bedroom and plugged it in.  The light still flickered.  I pushed the mattress away from the wall, but the plug looked fine.

My wife suggested it might be the light bulb.  I was dubious, but we tried it and it worked fine.  The problem, all along, was the light bulb.

Regards  —  Cliff

Helping the Disabled

For John, BLUF:  It seems the US Commission on Civil Rights is having trouble seeing the individual trees for seeing the forest.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Dissenting Statement and Rebuttal of Commissioner Gail L. Heriot in Report of the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights: Subminimum Wages:  Impact on the Civil Rights of People with Disabilities.

From San Diego Legal Studies (Paper No. 20-468) (7 Pages), by Professor Gail L. Heriot, 17 September 2020.

The Abstract:

On September 17, 2020, the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights released a report entitled Subminimum Wages:  Impact on the Civil Rights of People with Disabilities.  This Dissenting Statement and Rebuttal by Commissioner Gail L. Heriot was a part of that report.

The Commission concluded that Section 14(c) of the Fair Labor Standards Act somehow violates the rights of individuals with Down Syndrome or similar intellectual or developmental disabilities, because it allows them to take certain specially regulated jobs at less than minimum wage.

Commissioner Heriot dissented from the Commission’s conclusion.  According to her dissent, Section 14(c) provides such individuals with jobs that they would not otherwise have; eliminating 14(c) programs will mean fewer jobs.  The parents of these individuals understand this.  That’s why the Commission was deluged by them with comments supporting 14(c) programs.  The Commission largely ignored those comments.

Keywords:  Minimum Wage, Subminimum Wage, Down syndrome, Fair Labor Standards Act, Commission On Civil Rights, Section 14(c).

As this is about a legal issue, I will just say Res ipsa loquitur.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Only Twice A Year

For John, BLUF:  What can I say?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Happy Anniversary

To My Beautiful Wife

Regards  —  Cliff

Happy Birthday

For John, BLUF:  It is the thought that counts, right?  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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You Know Who You Are

You are still young to me.  You are older than I am, of course, but you are still young.

Regards  —  Cliff

Foreign Sources

For John, BLUF:  The President criticized for listening to foreign sources.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Aren't delirious Democrats now accusing Team Obama of treason?

This is a couple of months old, but in our unrepentant and unforgiving culture, still relevant.

From The Hill, by Opinionator John Sullivan, 14 June 2019.

Here is the lede plus six:

If you read the newspapers, tuned into the cable TV pundits or received an email from one of the Democrats running for president, you’d swear Donald Trump was back to his treasonous ways.

All that was missing was an annoying OMG text exclamation punctuating the unfounded claims that Trump might violate the law in 2020 by accepting intelligence on a political rival from a foreign country.  The inference, of course, is that it would come from a hostile power such as Russia or North Korea or Iran.

Actually, what Trump told ABC News’s George Stephanopoulos was that he’d consider taking intelligence dirt about a rival from a friendly ally.  (Norway was the actual example he used.)

Sound familiar? That is EXACTLY what the Obama administration did in 2016.  It’s something no one in the media or the political space grasped during the tsunami of breathless reaction that followed the interview.

In July 2016, the Obama administration accepted unsolicited information from Alexander Downer, an Australian diplomat who just happened to have helped arrange a $25 million government donation to the Clinton Foundation years before.  Downer said that he had witnessed a Trump campaign aide, George Papadopoulos, bragging about some dirt that the Russians supposedly had on Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.

Though Downer’s claim was reported two-plus months after the alleged event, and was only hearsay gathered at a London tavern, the Obama administration gave it to the FBI which, in turn, thought it was weighty enough to justify opening a counterintelligence case against the lawfully elected Republican nominee for president.

In other words, the Democratic administration accepted dirt from a foreign friendly and used it to justify investigating its GOP rival.

It appears, in the eyes of Democrats, candidates for foreign office may not read foreign news sources.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Gentrification Outcome

For John, BLUF:  A new study suggests that iffolks are willing to invest in your neighborhood, and you stick around, you could benefit.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Gentrification for Social Justice?

Here is the sub-headline:

A new Federal Reserve report casts doubt on the conventional wisdom that neighborhood improvement hurts poor urban residents.

From City Journal, by Reporter Kay S. Hymowitz, 23 July 2019.

Here is the lede plus one:

For many on the Left, gentrification remains a dirty word, synonymous—or at least closely associated—with racism, oligarchic developers, neoliberalism, and even genocide.  Fortunately, not all gentrification-watchers are so dystopic.  Less excitable observers harbor reasonable concerns about poor residents forced to resettle in blighted areas, unscrupulous landlords, and the disruption of familiar neighborhoods.

A just-released working paper from the Philadelphia Federal Reserve could shake up the conversation.  Several previous studies have already cast doubt on the conventional wisdom that gentrification causes widespread displacement of poor, longtime residents. “The Effects of Gentrification on Well Being and Opportunity of Original Resident Adults and Their Children” goes further by recasting gentrification as a potential force for income integration and social mobility.

Here is a specific:

Most strikingly, gentrification increases the probability that children of less educated homeowners will attend and graduate college.

This has to be a good thing.  No one else is running forward with an alternative solution.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Happy New Year

For John, BLUF:  I just wanted a vehicle to check on the date rolling.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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HAPPY  NEW  YEAR

Regards  —  Cliff

Camille Paglia Explains Things

For John, BLUF:  Nice review of what is happening now.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Camille Paglia: ‘Hillary wants Trump to win again’

Here is the sub-headline:

The author and academic discusses 2020, Trump and Jordan Peterson

From The Spectator (US Edition), an interview of Ms Camille Paglia, 4 December 2018.

Here is the lede:

Camille Paglia is one of the most interesting and explosive thinkers of our time.  She transgresses academic boundariesand blows up media forms.  She’s brilliant on politics, art, literature, philosophy, and the culture wars.  She’s also very keen on the email Q and A format for interviews. So, after reading her new collection of essays, Provocations, Spectator USA sent her some questions.

Professor Paglia reviewed the field of her Party's 2020 hopefuls, dismissing most of them.

If the economy continues strong, Trump will be reelected.

The Democrats (my party) have been in chaos since the 2016 election and have no coherent message except Trump hatred.

Senators Kamala Harris and Screechy Elizabeth Warren, as well as Kirsten Gillibrand and Cory Booker (all the gravitas of a cork).  She has no faith in Governor Andrew Cuomo (a yapping puppy).  Both Bernie Sanders and Joe Biden are dismissed (way too old and creaky).  She has been looking at Congresswoman Cheri Bustos of Illinois and Governor Steve Bullock of Montana.

As for Hillary, she’s pretty much damaged goods, but her perpetual, sniping, pity-me tour shows no signs of abating. She still has a rabidly loyal following, but it’s hard to imagine her winning the nomination again, with her iron grip on the Democratic National Committee now gone. Still, it’s in her best interest to keep the speculation fires burning. Given how thoroughly she has already sabotaged the rising candidates by hogging the media spotlight, I suspect she wants Trump to win again. I don’t see our stumbling, hacking, shop-worn Evita yielding the spotlight willingly to any younger gal.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

As Young As You Feel

For John, BLUF:  Is what we think, in fact, reality.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Dutch man, 69, who 'identifies as 20 years younger' launches legal battle to change age

From The Telegraph (UK), their Foreign Staff, 7 November 2018.

Here is the lede plus three:

A pensioner has begun a legal battle to be recognised as being 20 years younger than his actual age so he can go back to work and achieve greater success with women on Tinder.

Emile Ratelband, 69, argues that if transgender people are allowed to change sex, he should be allowed to change his date of birth because doctors said he has the body of a 45-year-old.

The entrepreneur and self-help guru is suing his local authority after they refused the amend his age on official documents.

Mr Ratelband's case has now gone to a court in the city of Arnhmen in the eastern Dutch province of Gelderland.

I checked, and it is not 1 April anywhere in the world.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

New Name For The Skins?

For John, BLUF:  I liked it.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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WE ASKED REDSKINS TAILGATERS IF THE TEAM SHOULD CHANGE THEIR NAME TO THE ‘WASHINGTON WARRENS’

From The Daily Caller, by Reporter Benny Johnson, 5 November 2018.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff

Reaching for the Humanity in Someone

For John, BLUF:  Whoever they are, they are a brother or sister.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Curiosity and What Equality Really Means

From The New Yorker, by Dr Atul Gawande, 2 June 2018.

The following was delivered as the commencement address at U.C.L.A. Medical School on Friday, June 1st.

Here is the lede plus one:

I want to start with a story.  One night, on my surgery rotation, during my third year of medical school, I followed my chief resident into the trauma bay in the emergency department.  We’d been summoned to see a prisoner who’d swallowed half a razor blade and slashed his left wrist with the corner of the crimp on a toothpaste tube.  He was about thirty, built like a boxer, with a tattooed neck, hands shackled to the gurney, and gauze around his left wrist showing bright crimson seeping through.

The first thing out of his mouth was a creepy comment about the chief resident, an Asian-American woman.  I won’t say what he said.  Just know he managed in only a few words to be racist, sexist, and utterly menacing to her.  She turned on her heels, handed me the clipboard, and said, “He’s all yours.”

And Dr Gawande stepped up.

I am no Saint Francis of Assisi, prepared to kiss a leper's open sores, but I admire his understanding of his duty as a physician and a human.  Thank you, Dr Gawande.

Regards  —  Cliff

M E R R Y C H R I S T M A S

For John, BLUF:  Everything to see here; just keep looking and believing.

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And A Happy New Year

Regards  —  Cliff

New to the Zoo

For John, BLUF:  The real question is how it all works out when the barrier comes down.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Meet Beaker and Beetlejuice, Oakland Zoo’s newest zebras

Reporter Laura A. Oda, Mercury News, 25 November 2017.

The lede:

Oakland Zoo’s older female zebras, Jumoke and Stormy, are slowly being introduced to a pair of energetic young males, Beaker and Beetlejuice, 1 and 2 years old, that arrived in October.

Later in the story we learn that Jumoke (and her friend Stormy) can be a real jamoke.

Hat tip to My Brother Lance

Regards  —  Cliff

Charlie Manson (Gone)

For John, BLUF:  Every death is a loss, the closure of an opportunity for redemption.  Nothing to see here; just move along.

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Charles Manson Dies at 83; Wild-Eyed Leader of a Murderous Crew

Finally.

From The Old Gray Lady, Reporter Margalit Fox, 20 November 2017.

Charles Manson, one of the most notorious murderers of the 20th century, who was very likely the most culturally persistent and perhaps also the most inscrutable, died on Sunday in Kern County, Calif.  He was 83 and had been behind bars for most of his life.

Amongst the victims, Actress Sharon Tate, eight and a half month pregnant.

Hat tip to the InstaPundit.

Regards  —  Cliff