Stuff

The rain melted all the snow, which wasn't much to begin with, but at least it was warmer. Dad and I made a quick shopping trip to pick up a few groceries. The best time to shop is 10 am. Not many people in the stores at that time.

Came home and I had enough time to create the ID badge for a new employee so I could get that in the mail on the way to the hospital. Oh, nothing urgent! Now that I have the state health insurance there is a whole battery of preventative tests they want everyone to have, and if you don't get them the state gets in a twit. So today I had a bone density scan, but it wasn't one where you place your heel in a little scan thingy. No, this was a hospital gown, lay on a table and get scanned all over deal.

The paper today listed a website where you can check on the air pollution surrounding the school your child attends. It's called "The Smokestack Effect" and it's on CNN. Some of the worst areas are near the mills, of course. One of the cleanest areas (in Indiana) is down by the Hoosier National Forest in one of the areas we are interested in.

Speaking of the environment, my mom would have said, "I told you so". My mom read Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring" sometime in the 1960's, maybe as early as 1962 when it was published. I didn't read the book, but I remember my mom explaining about DDT and how it was causing wild bird's eggshells to be too thin, so they would break and the baby birds would die. My mom went on to join several environmental organizations. Her support of the environment, love of nature, and disgust over littering helped form my appreciation of the Earth. If she were here today, I think she would say, "I told you so, and I'm pleased that there is some progress, but why didn't you start 20 years ago!" And my mom would have been proud to see Obama elected. She would have voted for him, I know.

My dad would have had his own "I told you so" with the crash of the economy and the outsourcing of jobs. My dad passed away in 1987, but what he talked about then rings true today. Though I can't recount my dad's complicated lectures, probably because I found economics boring, I do recall the part about jobs being outsourced to the point where the only ones that were left were in the service industry. Do we see much of that happening today? I think we do. My dad was always critical. I think he would be disgusted by the state of the Nation today. I really don't know for sure who he would have voted for.

Well, that is enough "stuff" for tonight.