Having my head examined

Getting old is really a pain - literally. Recently I've been suffering from some lower back pain, slight clumsiness in my walk, and some difficulty standing up from a sitting position. My primary physician referred me to a neurologist who ordered several lab tests on my blood and MRI scans of my brain and neck.

One of the things we really like about where we live is our close proximity to the Kaiser Medical Center. It is a full service medical center which means that almost all the diagnostic tests ordered by our doctors can be performed here although we've also used the facility out in Roseville quite a bit. That isn't all that inconvenient but it's maybe 10 miles further.

Tucked behind the local Medical Center are a couple of trailers for doing some of the more esoteric testing. This is the third time I had a chance to visit the MRI trailer. The first two times were to examine my neck for blood flow and nerve compression. This latest time was a brain scan to see if I might have some nerve blockage there.

When I saw the neurologist today to get the results of the tests he said, "I've got bad news and good news. The bad news is that I couldn't find what could be causing your problems. The good news is that I couldn't find anything wrong with your any of your scans and blood work." I wasn't sure what to make of the fact that he appeared much more distressed about the bad news than he was happy about the good news. In the event, he came up with some more exotic lab tests to order and then suggested that unless they turn up something, we wait until my symptoms get better or worse.

30-day trial period begins

Since the Kaiser audiologist agreed with my daughter-in-law Tiffany about my hearing loss and since our coverage includes a significant hearing aid benefit, I went to the Kaiser Hearing Aid Center two weeks ago to be fitted for a hearing aid. The audiologist actually recommended that I start with one aid to see how helpful it is and how well I tolerate the device in my ear.

Today, I returned to pick up the hearing aid and receive instructions about using it. I have 30 days to try it out. If I decide I can't use it, can't stand it, or for whatever reason that I don't want it, I can turn it in for a full refund. It turns out that Kaiser (and almost everyone else) only sells digital hearing aids any more. This one is programmed by the audiologist to fit my hearing profile and can be reprogrammed at any time if I find it not matching my needs. The plastic earpiece isn't supposed to block any sound as there's a small canal that goes through it to let normal sound through. So far about all I can tell is that the hearing aid amplifies sound just enough to make up for the fact that there's a big piece of plastic in my ear. But then I haven't had the opportunity to see how it works in work and social situations.

Pleasant surprise

It's that time of year again when I finally face the file drawer where I have been stuffing all the tax related junk since last year. I grudgingly sort out all the W-2's, 1099's, and assorted other statements and envelopes declaring "Important Tax Information Inside". Turbo Tax isn't perfect, but it does help organize the process and asks the right questions to get most of the proper income and deductions in their proper place.

For a while, it looked like my change in employment status from employee to part-time consultant was going to leave our taxes grossly underpaid and we'd end up with a hefty payment to the Feds, maybe even a penalty for underwithholding.

But coming to the rescue was our purchase last year of the Toyota Highlander Hybrid and the $2,600 tax credit that purchase generated. That's almost like three free car payments! Our tax bill was reduced to something more manageable and I could breathe a sigh of relief as I submitted our return.

Grandma's next project

Sometimes a sale is inspirational. A recent sale at Beverly's craft store netted us several picture albums and the more she thought about it, the more Carolyn decided it would be a good idea to go all the way. She now has two albums for each of the kids - one to put pictures in that we want to keep but don't have enough shelf or wall space to accommodate and one to put pictures in that we want to share with that child and his/her family. The prospect of sorting through all our pictures is daunting enough but at least this way there will be someplace to put the pictures as they're being sorted.

Is it really just around the corner?

I walked out into our backyard today to examine the trees and found this tiny evidence that spring was indeed approaching. It hardly seems possible as we were having freezing temperatures just a couple of weeks ago and some pretty cold winds and rain this past week. They're predicting more storms for the coming weeks. Right now it is cold and gloomy outside.

But spring is in the air. The rosebushes that Carolyn has been tending lately, giving them a little trim, are just bursting out. The leaves are red or bright green, already adding color to our yard. So, yes, there will be a few more days of wet and cold but spring is just around the corner.

And You Know You Should Be Glad - book review

Don't read this book on a cold, rainy evening when your lover is 300 miles away and you're feeling a bit down and lonely. "And You Know You Should Be Glad" by Bob Greene should be read on a hot summer day with friends and family in the backyard talking about the latest antics of the local baseball team or when the next grandchild in the family is due.

The title is, of course, from the third stanza of the Beatles song "She Loves You" but the book is pure sentimentality told in a personal blog style that includes flashbacks, explanatory fill-in, and lots of heart-warming details. It starts when five men (high school class of 1965) who have been friends since grade school get together again when one of them is faced with serious, life-threatening illness. Bob Greene then takes us through the next several months as his friend Jack fights a losing battle with cancer. Bob and other friends try to rally his spirits and relive his old memories while helping him say his good-byes to the town. By the end of the book you feel that you know Jack almost as well as any of the four of his friends and you wish you could have attended the funeral. Great writing that will have many of us reliving our school year memories.

Glenn Gary - musician and caregiver

One of the more frustrating things about my service for Meals on Wheels has been the need to get the food delivered in a timely manner which sort of gets in the way of getting to know some of the men and women I deliver the meals to. But I still manage to squeeze in a couple of minutes' visit with one or two each Thursday which is my delivery day. That's how I've gotten to know a little about this gentleman - Glenn Gary or, as he is also known as, Glenn Tomlinson.

Glenn was something of a utility man for several bands in the 60's and 70's, playing in almost every state and several foreign countries. Although the Hammond B-3 organ was his most versatile instrument, he also played 11 different horns and woodwinds, guitar, and piano. He often sang along with his own accompaniment or had a horn in one hand while he played accompaniment on the organ with the other.

He has shared with me a CD sample of his wide repertoire as well as a flyer and photo of him working. (Click on photo for a larger picture.) The music works for both easy listening as well as background mood music.

He had to make a decision early in his career between medicine and music and it was a difficult choice since he was good at both. But music was his greatest love and won out. Still, he's a doctor at heart. Now, after a great musical career he spends most of his time caring for his bride of 7 months. She tells me she has a musical history as well. I guess I need to have several more interesting discussions with this couple.

New fast food in town - Chick-Fil-A

Recently Carolyn and I were out and about at lunch time. We were about to stop at one of our favorite restaurants for a bite to eat when we spotted one of the newest fast food places in town - Chick-Fil-A. I've actually been to a Chick-Fil-A in the Del Amo Fashion Center in Torrance but it's been at least 15 years ago. And I think I've seen one in the Long Beach "Edge-of-Town" Center. But this is new to our area so we had to drop in and check it out.

It really had a "McDonald's" feel to it since it had an indoor play area for little ones and the day we were there appeared to be prime time for mothers with their tots. I think I counted 12 mothers, each with at least 1 tot in tow. We managed to get our orders placed just before a huge lunchtime crowd arrived so when we picked up our food the order line was well out the door.

Carolyn noticed that whenever she thanked one of the employees the response was always "my pleasure" not "you're welcome". We had also heard that they were always closed on Sundays. Checking out their web site I noted the following quote:

"Our official statement of corporate purpose says that we exist to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A."

They also indicate they are closed on Sundays so that

"every Chick-fil-A employee and restaurant operator had an opportunity to worship, spend time with family and friends or just plain rest from the work week."

The food (which is pretty much all chicken prepared as sandwiches or nuggets) was good but nothing special. The prices seemed a little higher than most other fast food. It won't be high on our list of places to go.

Why People Believe Weird Things - book review

Michael Shermer, author of Why People Believe Weird Things thinks that a key to humankind's great evolutionary progress is the result of our being able to believe and disbelieve. Without both abilities we would be severely hampered. We must be able to believe enough to plan for the future, expect planted crops to germinate and grow, and rely on each other for support and comfort. But we must be skeptical enough to question why things work the way they do and whether there are improvements that can be made in ourselves, our tools, and our relationships. The problem comes when I am skeptical about something you believe or you are skeptical about something I believe. Two methods or sorting out such disagreements have been developed and used for several hundred, if not several thousand years: Authoritarianism and the Scientific Method.

According to Shermer (founding publisher of "Skeptic" magazine and regular contributor to Scientific American) people believe weird things because they have been taught to believe them (they have accepted the "authority" of the teacher) or they have experienced something that fits a pattern that makes sense to them. Shermer describes the thought process and how it works for both science and pseudoscience or superstition. The "weird things" he uses for examples are UFO's and alien abductions, near death experiences, ESP and other mind tricks, holocaust denial, creationism, and even Ayn Rand's Objectivism. He even shows how scientists can fall prey to superstition if they forget to continually use the scientific method to test their new found knowledge.

Originally published in 1998, Shermer brought out a revised edition in 2002 and included a final chapter "Why SMART people believe in weird things." In this chapter he details statistics that show that intelligence is no guarantee of being able to screen out superstition and pseudoscience. In fact, smart people might be even better at defending the weird beliefs that they picked up for non-smart reasons. In other words, intelligence is on a completely different axis from belief and skepticism.

I found the book very readable with good examples of all the propositions. But don't take my word for it. Be skeptical until you read it yourself.

American Heritage Celebration

What better way to celebrate Presidents Day than take the grandkids to a American Heritage Celebration which was held at a local Memorial Park (cemetery) appropriately named Mount Vernon. In addition to a fife and drum band, horseshoeing demonstrations, and actors portraying George Washington, Betsy Ross, and Abraham Lincoln, there was also

a spinning wheel demonstration;

a New Pierce Indian with ceremonial regalia worth thousands of dollars;

two baby goats to pet and hold;

and even an old fashioned bicycle (whose rider was taking a break right then).

Except for the wind, it was a perfect day for the activities.

The Crocker

That is short for the Crocker Art Museum, one of the premium museums in our town. Today not being quite the spectacularly warm spring day that yesterday was, we decided to conduct our adventure outing indoors. Besides, we wanted to take advantage of the Crocker Museum being free on Sundays.

We were not alone. So many people take advantage of the free day at the Crocker that street parking (which is also free on Sundays) was virtually impossible to come by. Fortunately, we were able to find convenient parking in a nearby city parking lot for only $3.

The spotlight exhibit today was Ansel Adams and his pictures of Yosemite in particular. Apparently he, Georgia O'Keeffe and a couple of friends made an 11 day trip through Yosemite in the fall of 1938 and Adams made up photo albums for each of the members of the camping party for that Christmas. Naturally, being a VERY limited edition, it is priceless. We also visited an exhibit of noteworthy photographs that have appeared in the Sacramento Bee which is currently celebrating its 150th anniversary.

The Sundial Bridge

My Random Event Generator (Carolyn) struck again. It was a beautiful, sunny day today with no other obligations so we were working in the front yard. Flower beds that had suffered through the winter with several days of frost needed cleaning up and the lawn was looking shaggy but starting to turn green. It needed a perfunctory mowing to clean off the leaves and then a treatment of pre-emergent crabgrass killer. With temperatures reaching over 70, it just made sense to work around the house.

However, it also made sense to go adventuring. Sometime last year Carolyn had read about a "sundial bridge" in the local newspaper and she thought it was relatively close to us - Sutter County, maybe. We decided it would make a nice afternoon excursion after we had tired ourselves out on the flower bed and lawn.

Well, it turned out that the Sundial Bridge is in Turtle Bay park, Redding, in Shasta County, about 175 miles and 2.5 to 3 hours away. Still, it was a beautiful day for a drive. By the time we arrived we only had two hours to enjoy the bridge and the nearby gardens and fountains. That turned out to be plenty of time.

The bridge really is a marvel of beauty and utility. It's hard to decide whether it should be classed as a bridge or a sculpture because it's such a good example of both. It's a suspension footbridge across the Sacramento River. It is a graceful structural sculpture with sweeping tower, delicate cables and attractive glass walkway that is lit from underneath at night.

It is also a working sundial. There are markers on the north side of the Sacramento River to indicate what time of day the shadow of the main structure falls on that marker. Click on the reference above to learn more about this beautiful attraction.

Tiger Cub Timothy

The youngest Cub Scout group is the Tiger Cubs, a change in the Scouting program since my kids were in Cub Scouts and one that the Mormon Church still hasn't come to terms with. So when Timothy joined the Cub Scouts this year it was as part of Cub Pack 123 which is sponsored by the Our Lady of Presentation Catholic Church. Timothy's father, being an Eagle Scout himself, volunteered to be the Den Leader.

We grandparents were delighted to be invited to the recent Blue & Gold dinner put on by the Pack. Not only did they have a sumptious dinner of lasagna and salad

but they also had delicious cakes prepared and decorate by the boys and their dads.

After the meal badges, awards, and thanks were handed out and short skits performed. Then we all retired to the "cultural hall" when various games and activities and even a cotton candy machines had been set up.

Of course Grandma had to tried the air slide and


we both tried our hand at being pushed around the hall by Edward. It was a great evening.

Count first, then deliver

As a young boy I delivered the Salt Lake Tribune to about 50 subscribers on one route and then later another 75 subscribers on another route. The Tribune was a morning paper which meant that we were supposed to have the paper on the porch by 6:00 in the morning which we did most of the time. The papers were dropped off in bundles at the back of the city fire station. The bundles were either 50 papers on weekdays or 20 on Sundays and then a bundle that was customized to the number on your route. If I had 55 papers to deliver I would get one standard bundle and another with 5 papers in it.

I always tried to be at the fire station before the bundles arrived so I had the best chance of getting my papers before anyone else had a chance to get them. You see, sometimes the bundles would be short one or two papers. It wasn't often but it happened enough that it was always a good idea to count your papers before you headed out on your route. One of the other routes included papers for the vending machines and restaurants downtown. They could miss one or two papers but I couldn't. Not without a lot of grief from the subscriber.

All this came back to me when I started delivering Meals On Wheels. The people at the central kitchen do a good job of counting the meals to be packed for each route but sometimes there is an error. This past week was one of those. The truck from the central kitchen delivered to me 6 meals to deliver to 13 clients. Fortunately, I counted before the truck left. Through the cooperation of the driver and the site administrator, I got the additional 7 meals I needed. There are a dozen or so people who come to eat at the drop-off site so I could "borrow" from that group and additional meals would come later to replace them. I was sure glad I didn't discover the shortage halfway through my route.

Happy Valentines Day!!

I think it was a bit of a surprise for Carolyn to find a red box on the kitchen table this morning tied with a big red ribbon.

Inside the box were four cellophane bags of M & M's in the appropriate festive colors of red and white.

But the real surprise was that each of the candies had either "Carolyn + Arnold" or "Together Forever" on it. Until a couple of weeks ago, I didn't even know that you could get M & M's with a customized message.

They're still obscenely expensive (see http://www.mymms.com/home/index.asp for more information) but for a 40th anniversary of the Valentine's cake that surprised me and contributed to this whole relationship, it was worth it.

Reading time

Talk about a win-win-win situation! The grandkids are at the perfect age when they love to sit on grandma and listen to grandpa read some of the books they've checked out of the local library. Because the library has such a selection, there are always new books to read - books like "The Big Sneeze", "Party Animals", and "Pete, the Sheep Sheep". Grandpa can try out his various character voices, grandma can prompt the kids about phonics and rhyming, and the kids can show off with counting and colors.

Happy Valentines Day?

I know there's no hearts and flowers and actually very little red of any kind but we decided to give each other a very practical Valentine this year - a Rubbermaid garden wagon.


The thing supposedly has a 1,000 pound capacity and it certainly felt pretty solid when I rode in it. It has a "dump truck" mechanism which should make it much easier to transport and unload dirt, rocks, or compost. The tires are large with inflated inner tubes and the front wheels turn in tandem so it doesn't have the same tendency to tip over that wagons with a pivoting front axle do.

A bonus for me was that I got to put it together and you know how much I like kits.

This one was especially nice as the instructions were clear and to the point and the pieces were bubble wrapped by assembly step making it virtually impossible to use the parts in the wrong place.

Of course it helped to have a willing assistant. Nice going Rubbermaid!

The rains are back

After a very dry January, it appears that the rains have returned. We're hopeful that there will be enough snow from these storms to replenish the snow pack in the mountains. And it is refreshing to have the rain around here as long as it doesn't flood us out or find a hole in our roof. By the way, we have added a drop of blue food coloring to our rain gauge so we can see the level better from a distance. This is how much it has rained in the 24 hours before I took the picture. At that time I dumped out 1.25 inches. And since the picture it has rained another 1.25 inches.

Donor appreciation party

It wasn't exactly a black-tie affair but it was fancier than most events at the Davis Musical Theater Company. Jan and Steve Isaacson definitely dressed up for the occasion, as did many of the guests. Volunteers served champagne, lemonade, and cookies to patrons who had donated time or money to make the new theater a reality. A big push had been made to complete the carpet runners and the painting of the floor in the main seating area. Even the carpenter's work room had been cleaned up. Volunteers stationed around the theater including backstage, dressing rooms, and orchestra pit were on hand to explain what went on there during musical productions.

After the refreshments and tours, we were treated to solos, duets, and ensemble numbers from various musicals with the them being a general thank you to the donors. Between the numbers Jan and Steve read off the names of donors. Because of my participation in Oliver we were ranked among the "mainstage donors" rather than the general donors.

Nice touch.

Classes begin again

It was a cold and rainy day in Sacramento but it was warm inside the classroom as we began the class portion of the Renaissance Society at Sacramento State University today. The class I had selected was Watercolor Painting taught by Dick Meagher, shown here reviewing some of last semester's students' work. There are a lot of people who take the class multiple times because the teacher is an excellent artist and really has a good technique at sharing his experience.

While Dick was giving us newcomers the orientation lesson about what supplies we need and where to get them, the carryovers were busy working on projects from last semester. I found it helpful to see what they were using and how it worked for them. It looks like it's going to be a fun class.

Anonymity

One of the Heinlein sci-fi novels I read once went into great detail about the heroine’s need for anonymity and how she protected herself with layer upon layer of temporary and throw-away ID. At the time (at least 20 years ago) I thought it was pretty far fetched but now I don’t know.

Of course, email anonymity has been available for years with hotmail and yahoo accounts easy and free to set-up and maintain. Avatars and aliases are expected on forums and in chat-rooms. So I was not really surprised to see that there are several services which provide anonymous proxy phone numbers. Most of them are simply inbound message numbers for someone to leave message for you but some actually can (for a fee) transfer the caller to your real number.

Two services that offer free proxy phone numbers are NetZero and Laser Voicemail. NetZero even offers you a choice of area codes in most states so that you could, for example, apply for a job in Oklahoma with an appropriate local callback number even though you live in upstate New York. You can even have the messages emailed to you to save you the trouble of calling into your "answering machine".

NetZero upgraded their service recently with two new options: a "gotta go call" and private number callback. The "gotta go call" is for those occasions when you WANT to be called in the middle of a meeting or social function. You can answer the call and with appropriate nods, grunts, and other gestures, indicate to those around you that you are so sorry but you have to attend to some important interruption. You no longer have to depend on your secretary or partner in crime to do that. Private number callback allows you to return a call with you proxy number showing in the caller ID thus keeping your real number hidden and reinforcing the idea that the proxy number is your real number. Nifty service.

Mind-Body Problem - book review

Mind-Body Problem by Rebecca Goldstein is one of the few books I haven't pulled off the "New Book" shelf in the library. I actually requested it because I had enjoyed the author's treatment of Kurt Goedel's Imcompleteness Theorem in a semi-biography of Goedel that I never completed. Goldstein is one of those rare science authors who is equally comfortable with complicated science (math, physics, philosophy) as well as being able to write convincingly and entertainingly.

In this novel, the heroine Renee falls in love with and marries Noam Himmel, a famous mathematician who is the proverbial absent-minded professor when he is engrossed in his mathematical thinking. This leads to feelings of insecurity on the part of Renee and puzzlement or resentment on the part of Noam - when he thinks about it at all. Mixing the story with a healthy doze of Jewish culture and Yiddish sayings, Goldstein makes it a believeable tale.

The title refers to the classical question of whether or not a person's mind is just a part of the body like the heart or lungs. Or whether it is somehow distinct from and outlives the body as the soul spoken of by religions. Renee, a philosophy major, has chosen that as her field of study and her metaphor of life with Noam.

I found the references to mathematicians and their thought processes eerily familiar and wondered if my life would have been more like Noam Himmel's had I remained in mathematics. Although there are turns and twists in this book like in any good novel, I was really glad not to have chosen a path that would have placed me on that road. I'm also afraid that most non-mathematicians would find the book a little too heavy on philosophy and hints of mathematics.

BS Protector

At least one member of the VFW (Veterans of Foreign Wars) understands the equipment necessary to listen to President Bush talk about his latest plan to end the war by escalating the number of troops committed. I can think of several times I could have used something like this.

Automated donations

No, it's not the "red badge of courage" but it is the only physical evidence I have that I took some time this afternoon to lose a pound. I didn't go to the gym but rather to Bloodsource, Northern California's principle blood donation processor. There, for the first time in my life, I donated blood plasma rather than whole blood as part of their "Automated Donations" program.

Considerably more complex than whole blood donations, the automated donations program allows donors to give various different components depending on the need of the community and the health and availability and even the blood type of the donor. Being ABneg, my blood is seldom needed for whole blood but becomes the "universal donor" for plasma. And I can donate plasma every four weeks instead of every eight weeks with whole blood. According to the nurse that processed my donation, they have discovered problems with using plasma from women who have had children so they've stopped accepting accepting it. Instead, they're recruiting more men to donate plasma.

The process is similar. I had visions of being poked in both arms with blood coming out of one and the blood minus some plasma going back into the other. Instead, there is still just one stick. About a foot away from my arm is the Y junction where I could see blood leaving my arm during the extraction cycle and blood minus some plasma coming into my arm during the restore cycle. It's kind of like merging a blood donation with a blood infusion. A machine automates the whole thing so once the nurse hooked me up, I could watch the monitor to see what was happening and which cycle I was on. Four 11 minute cycles completed the process. The ritual cookies and juice are the same. But I didn't get a frail little "pink lady" to escort me to the table.

Even better without the quarter

We recently enjoyed dinner at Strings in the Country Club Mall with our kids and grandkids. While waiting to be seated, we sat out in the mall while the grandkids played on the mechanical cars set up there to entertain small ones. Not only do the cars make excellent places for pictures, they are good for imagination play and climbing structures. Of course the company would like us to put in the $0.50 or $0.75 needed to activate the gentle motion of the vehicles but I think our grandkids enjoyed them every bit as much without that motion. We certainly wouldn't have felt as comfortable with them climbing all over if they were moving.

And the winner is...

Timothy Loveridge with his souped-up, blue hardtop convertible number 76. His Pinewood Derby car won every race entered winning him the coveted red, white, & blue ribbon and first place in the Tiger Cub competition.

Meanwhile, his father, with sleek red aerodynamic racer number 10, came out a distant 3rd place in the Dad's competition. But that let him show Tim how a good sport takes a loss.