Posted on January 22, 2025
I’ve read the term “shock and awe” in more than one media outlet regarding the inauguration of Donnie, Mikey, the oligarchs, and the Republicans. (I need to come up with a clever abbreviation for this group.) According to Wikipedia, “shock and awe” is a “military strategy based on the use of overwhelming power and spectacular displays of force.” Its goal is to demoralize any opposition by making it appear futile.
I’m not ready to discuss the current political situation yet, and perhaps I shall never be. But I would like to use shock and awe in another context to lighten some of our hearts in these scary times.
I use Kleenex® tissues, the cube variety, and my current box shows a winter scene with snowpeople. When you consider that no two snowflakes, much less two snowpeople, are alike isn’t that really a shock and awe situation?
The current Kleenex cube has a sign that reads: “The largest snowperson ever built featured a 130-foot long scarf, truck tires for buttons, and an eight-foot nose designed to look like a carrot.” But there is no documentation of this feat.
So I went to Google® for confirmation. And I learned that in 2008 a group of residents in Bethel, Maine aimed to create the largest snowperson ever built. (Bear in mind I am not sure this is the same snowperson featured on the Kleenex® box, but you can be assured that what I’m telling you about Bethel, Maine is documented.)
The snowperson was named Olympia and she measured 122 feet and one inch tall. She required 13,000 pounds of snow and possibly several pounds of money. As word got out, the community rallied to raise funds and its teamwork got Olympia into the Guinness Book of Records. Now that’s what I call shock and awe in a good sense.
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Posted on January 17, 2025
This is the last weekend before the Donnie and Mikey Show airs in Washington on Noon on Monday. I for one will not be watching. In fact, I am going to enjoy this weekend by not reading about all the hoopla, not learning the names of the dignitaries, and definitely not listening to any inaugural speeches. I don’t plan to blog either.
Instead, I am into a good book, will wander by our den as Earl watches pro football, and fix sloppy Joe sliders for supper.
I’ll be back on Wednesday.
See more 10 Minutes in category 2024 Election, Special Events
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Posted on January 16, 2025
Once a week I take a Pilates class on Thursday mornings. It’s supposed to be a group class, but I’m the only one in the group. So I’m getting private lessons at a group rate.
I grew up in an era where there were few team sport options for women. And I went to schools where there were no gym classes, only dodgeball at recess to work the body. I’m not an exercise freak, but I do have a personal trainer I see once a week, an exercise class I go to on another day, and Pilates. Then I walk with a couple friends on other days.
But of all the exercise modalities I use, the Pilates class is the most challenging and the most beneficial. I always come away from it feeling years younger, because it uses every muscle, bone, and core components of my body in the 75 minute session.
An added benefit, however, is that when I’m in this class I am so focused on the workout that it feels as if I’m on another planet . . . or at least another part of the country. I am not tethered to my cellphone, not trying to multitask, and not worrying about what comes next. It’s a great feeling.
Posted on January 15, 2025
I’m in a quandary every time the quarterly bill for our local newspaper arrives.
The Herald Palladium has shrunk in size and content for several years. But the annual subscription has stayed the same despite publishing five days a week instead of seven. Once a morning paper, it is now delivered in the afternoon by the mailman. And, the paper no longer prints at all on any day when mail is not delivered.
We could cancel. But I believe printed newspapers are important even in this day and age of instant communication. They bring a local focus to obituaries, high school sports, and various events sponsored by merchants, churches, and community leaders that one doesn’t get on the national news.
It isn’t just our local paper that’s struggling. It’s a broader issue. I read a report from the Brookings Institution that identified four factors that are contributing to this situation.
- Advertising revenues, which supported newspapers, have moved online.
- Since 1989, the number of journalists who work at U.S. newspapers has dropped 39 percent.
- Americans get their information from many other sources.
- With online and social media providing instant information, readers spend less time with print publications that are perceived to respond in a less timely manner.
It seems like a losing proposition, especially when this report from Brookings was first published – online – in 2014. In the intervening decade, things have only gotten worse in my opinion.
I shake my head in dismay four times a year, but I’m still supporting The Herald Palladium.
See more 10 Minutes in category Annoyances, Small Town Life
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Posted on January 14, 2025
When you have a king sized bed, buying linens is expensive. I learned this when we moved from a queen to a king about ten years ago. In fact, I added to the cost by working with a local decorator who was sure I needed a bedspread in a certain color from India. It was markedly more pricey than ordering from Bed, Bath, and Beyond or The Company Store; but the decorator was equally sure I’d be happier following his recommendation.
So he took measurements, accepted my deposit, went back to his shop, and called me several weeks later that the exotic spread had arrived. I was to come by the store and pick it up. It was unspoken but my checkbook was to come too.
Fast forward to last week when I ordered a replacement bedspread from an online store for one-sixth the cost of the decorator’s choice. (And this also takes inflation into account.)I figured if I didn’t like it, there wasn’t that much money invested.
The thing is: I absolutely love the new spread. Earl does too. The royal blue color works much better than the previous aquamarine one, and the quality is on a par with its more expensive predecessor. But what I like best is that, even though the previous one was ordered with professional measurements, this one actually fits the bed better. It hangs way longer on both sides. And I didn’t take a single measurement when ordering it.
This might seem like a small thing, but it is a game changer. Since we use the spread as one of our covers, when one of us rolled over the other was often without a layer or two. Not any longer. We have lots of room to roll over and still stay warm and comfy, particularly in winter.
They probably don’t have snow in India like we do in Michigan, so perhaps a smaller spread works there. I think I’ll let the decorator know.
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Posted on January 13, 2025
Those of us who didn’t vote for the incoming president-elect are holding our communal breath as Donald J. Trump becomes president again one week from today. I have paid no attention to any plans for the inauguration; although I am aware of the money various millionaires and billionaires are donating to it. And I just learned that Carrie Underwood and the Village People are performing. I wonder if they will be paid.
Donnie has a habit of not paying his bills. With last fall’s campaign in the rear view mirror, more than one city is still seeking reimbursement for the costs associated with electioneering. Among the cities are Erie PA; El Paso, TX; and Mesa, AZ. The costs cover such things as police protection and overtime, additional security services, and the use of airports and other buildings. Not surprisingly, some of these bills date to the previous presidential campaign in 2019.
If you think I’m just sour graping, then do as I did. Google® “Does Trump pay his bills?” And you’ll see source after source weighing in on this subject. It doesn’t matter if you are a conservative or a liberal or somewhere else on the spectrum, you can probably find information about Donnie’s attitude toward money.
I only hope Carrie Underwood and the Village People have read their contracts. Even though they’ve lost me as admirers, I wouldn’t want them to be stiffed.
Posted on January 12, 2025
It used to be called a side job or a part-time job or a moonlighting job, and it’s been going on forever. A person has a full-time gig but for various reasons wants to earn more money. It might be to buy a big ticket item or because the regular job doesn’t support a lavish lifestyle or because the person wants to start a business someday.
Plumbers, electricians, dry wallers moonlight. So do famous athletes, although their gigs are usually as testimonials for various commercials and not as blue collar laborers after regular hours. Think of football favorites and sports announcers who are past their prime and are hawking beer, chips, or casinos. Cars too.
So when The New York Times published an article this morning about how many Hollywood celebrities have “side jobs” because of the insecurity of the Hollywood scene, I took note. I guess if you want to make sure you have a financial base once you “age out,” it’s the way to go.
Cases in point: Selena Gomez and Ariana Grande, both relatively young, have cosmetic brands to augment their movie incomes. Brad Pitt, Ryan Reynolds, George Clooney, Kendall Jenner and Dwayne Johnson all sell liquor with their names on the bottles. I haven’t tasted any of these curated concoctions to offer an opinion, but I’m willing to bet that you’re paying for the name and not the taste.
See more 10 Minutes in category Changing Scene
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Posted on January 11, 2025
In 1929, Virginia Woolf’s essay, A Room of One’s Own, was published. I read it a long time ago and didn’t take the time to reread it for this blog. What I remember, however, was that Woolf championed the notion that people, particularly women, need personal space, privacy, and independence.
We’re almost one hundred years down the road from this work’s first appearance, but I believe its basic premise still reverberates. We all – men, women, children, perhaps animals – need space.
And space is what happened to me today.
I cancelled a walking engagement with a friend – my only commitment of the day – and slept in instead. I had a “To-Do” list, as I always do, but at the end of the day there was little to cross off. Instead I started a book I’ve intended to read since the start of the millennium; and we had the easiest crock pot recipe in the world for supper.
The weather was mid-range, meaning it wasn’t so cold as to be numbing for this time of year but it wasn’t so warm as to be welcoming either. A great day to stay in. Today’s vernacular would call it ‘vegging.’ I call it reclaiming one’s space.
See more 10 Minutes in category Special Events, Things to Ponder
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Posted on January 10, 2025
I’m not a football aficionado, but I still appreciate what a great weekend this is for those who are. There is college football and pro football all playing out on various streaming outlets. If you’re into football, this is the time of year to revel.
Next weekend could be the same as the hype for the college final on January 20 and the playoffs to reach the Super Bowl inch closer. Earl often says that the best games are the ones leading to the final events instead of the final events themselves. I can understand that.
All this means our schedules for this weekend and next will filter around various games, timewise. If it’s a laundry weekend, we’ll time trips to the washing machine with half-times. We’ll manage meals for breaks between games. And we’ll do dessert when our team wins and the commentators are gloating.
If our team doesn’t win, there might not be dessert.
Posted on January 9, 2025
Earl and I are paper people. He owned a printing company for years, mostly before online publishing came to prominence. And I was a freelance writer whose clients wanted someone to make their words read well.
All of this is ancient history, except . . .
“Hey,” I said to Earl a few mornings ago. “Have you noticed the toilet paper we bought doesn’t perf right?”
“I sure have, “ he said, not skipping a beat. ”The perf machine needs to be sharpened.”
Perhaps we’re the only two people in the universe who would live together and notice the same thing. It’s because we’re paper people. We know about bleeds and margins and binding . . . and perfs.
“Perf” is an abbreviation for perforated. It’s that printing step where something you want to tear from a toilet paper roll, a coupon, or a reimbursement check pulls away easily from the rest of whatever it’s attached to. If a client wants something “perfed,” there’s extra money involved. But it does make for a more attractive product.
If you’ve ever tried to tear something from a piece of paper that isn’t perfed, you know how that turns out. A scissors is usually helpful. Of course, in the world of online communication, maybe perforation isn’t so important.
I bet you’ve probably never thought about this before.
See more 10 Minutes in category Technology, Things to Ponder
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