Star Gazers

    The other night when I went out for my walk I found my 12 year old neighbor, Kenny, standing on the sidewalk with her dog. She was supposed to be walking her dog. Instead she was standing two doors from her house and looking up in the sky. I asked her what she was doing. (Dumb question.) She was obviously looking at the stars and she told me she liked stars.

   It was one of the clearest evenings we've had for a long time. She told me, "That's Orion over there." I said, "No way! Orion is in the southeast." Kenny bought her ipad out of her pocket and started fiddling around. Then she said, I have an app to show me Orion. Kenny pointed her ipad skyward and all the stars, constellations and planets were named as she pointed at them. I was completely blown away. I am familiar with star maps and charts ,but never imagined these things would be refined into a computer map. Papers used to have star charts once a week and maybe some papers still do.

    So we forgot the dog. I forgot my walk and we looked at stars. It was clear so we'd point and say, "I wonder what that one is?"  In a second or two the app would give us a name. Jupiter is now very bright almost above us and to the south. Take out your field glasses and have look.

   So half an hour goes by in a hurry when you're star gazing. I think the app is called Star Rover and it's free.      

   Kenny is one of he best twelve year old neighbors you could have. She's a "yakker" and she knows how to talk to adults, even old ones. So had a few pluses in a short time...star gazing, visiting and being outdoors.

An Elderly Challenge

    The other day when I went for my lab tests there was a very elderly lady dealing with the next clerk. This lady was well up in the nineties and her eyes were level with the counter top. In our system we must show our health care card and driver's license. She told them she didn't have a driver's license and wanted to know why they wanted it. They told her they just wanted to check her age . Her reply was, " I used to always be three years older than my brother. " I had a tough time not to roar with laughter. I like comments like that.

    Then I started thinking. Here's very elderly lady on her own in a large , sprawling hospital. She walked with a cane. Why doesn't someone assist  this senior with some of the basics. I'm sure she was very much with it in her head but physically she was challenged.

    She had been dropped of by a bus service from her senior's residence at 7:30 AM. What time did she have to get up and be ready to wait for some bus? 

   A volunteer had offered to get my paper work done and take me to another part of the hospital. I refused this aid as I had been through this routine before.This poor little lady was on her own. 

    I have a hard time to feel fortunate when I see someone who has to struggle on her own to get things done when there should be some help. 

Lab Challenged

      In preparing for my annual physical check up I was sent to a lab for the many routine tests.

      I arrived very early and so they sent me for my EEG because the lab wouldn't be open for 20 min. The EEG went fine and I went back to the lab. I waited two minutes and I was in. They took the usual vials of blood for the necessary tests. This went great as they hit the vein dead on.

    When I finished the blood work I had one test left. I was handed a small extremely cheap plastic cup and a vial with a centimeter diameter(7/32 in.). You guessed it . The last stop was at the wash room. Now I don't think you could find a more flimsy plastic cup. Most paper cups would be more substantial. I was to make my deposit in the cup and then pour enough of the deposit to fill the vial. Now it doesn't take much imagination to know what might go wrong. Yes, cheap little plastic cup and small vial...an accident waiting to happen. And it did. Next there's a blue plastic cap to go on the top of the vial. Put the sucker on and check to see if it's right. Well , it's not . So push harder. Still lopsided so really push and finally the lid went on. 

     Now here's my point. What are these people in the labs thinking when they set up such a system?  You can see this little old guy and many more rocking back on his/their heels and trying to pour liquid in a very small tube . We shake a bit and can't see too well. It doesn't work. It will be messy! So what do I do next time? Smuggle a little funnel into the lab! Take in a drinking straw to use as pipette?  What if they quit giving you the cheap plastic cup? I hate to think of that one!

    I'm going to have to check with my brother who has  health care kind of job. He's going to have to check into what can be done to help his elderly brother with a lab test. 

    So I hope for everybody else that other areas have not gone on such a cheap test and that nobody has to go through this ordeal. 

A Fine Winter Afternoon

    This afternoon I went for an hour's walk through a nearby natural area. It was minus 6 C (20 F) and very sunny. These days the sun has come back and the rays are a little more direct.

Into the woods

Sunshine finding it's way into the trees

Sun reaching into deep woods

Spruce trees catching some rays at the edge of a clearing

Water flowing up on a stream

Still lots of shadow

My trail takes a hook to the left

      So it was a very peasant afternoon to be out in the sun and shadow.

My Close Call in Theft.

     Most followers know that I was a Middle School teacher all my career. Most people know that middle schoolers can be full of mischief.

    Every year there would be a large incident of kids shooting paper wads. Some busy teacher would leave an unguarded box of rubber bands and after that all the bandits would be well armed and war broke out all over the school. You could confiscate rubber bands all day but unless you found the mother lode of rubber bands , paper wads flew for some time. I can remember getting "tips" and I would find somebody with a pocket full of rubber bands and I would make a major confiscation. That usually ended the paper wad fuss. Every year there would be a water pistol event. Usually a couple of stores had brought in a case of water pistols and every little beaner bought a water pistol and of course took it to school. Again , as with water pistols, these were very cleverly hidden. There were wet spots in the class room . Kids complained. There was extra traffic at the water fountain. Either enough armor was confiscated or became unserviceable and the activity ceased.

     For one outbreak of water pistols, the principal became completely frustrated and read the riot act on water pistols. He did announcements just before dismissal on a Friday afternoon. He told kids to take their weapons home. He told the teachers to disarm every water pistol armed kid. After dismissal I was supervising in the hall and a little guy came by with his weapon in his hand all the while admiring it. My jaw dropped. 60 seconds ago this kid had been told to get rid of his weapon. I had no option but to make a confiscation. The kid was a good jail house lawyer and put up a strong argument. 

    Early Saturday morning, before I was up, there was a loud knock on my apartment door. The kid's Dad was there with another guy I knew well and he went ballistic. He wanted his son's water pistol back and he yelled at me and told me what a disgusting human being I was. Since I'd turned the device in to the principal I could not return the goods.  I was shaken up by this encounter. I phoned my principal right away to give him a heads up on what had happened and to let him know what he might expect.

    The guy who accompanied the wild man contacted me later in the day and said he was completely unaware as to what was going on and he wanted me to know that he was no part of it.

    We had a police administration center in our town and the top guy was a superintendent. A few weeks after this incident when I was chatting with him he said, "Say , what was going on with the thing about a water pistol in school?" He said, "The guy came to him and created a big fuss as he wanted the superintendent to lay theft charges on me." He said, "I had an awful time with the guy." the supt. thought it was odd but not serious. So the guy had gone not to a constable to lay a charge but to the very top.

    So this was the only time in my life I came close to being charged with anything. I have often said that I appreciated  the  support I received in all the communities I taught in. However , this was one of the exceptions.

Who Makes the Rules

   Sometimes you bump into a series of events that make you ask a question related to these different happenings. This happened to me recently. Here are the three events. There was an obituary of a former student in the paper this morning. I read a blog post this morning which ended with "We need a system." I heard a radio piece this week that dealt with Dr. Martin Luther King's well known civil disobedience stand.

    Chrissy, the former student, died at age 57. I had her in middle school and she challenged me, the principal, all other teachers and students. She pushed every body's buttons. She was part mischievous, part mean and very bright. Now some people might say that Chrissy was incorrigible and throw the book a her and throw her away and that would do some good and solve the situation.. Was Chrissy, in her unhappy way, telling us that our school rules left something to be desired? Many school rules are made for the comfort of the organization rather than for the students.

    The post I read this morning was humorous and made a good point. How are people supposed to behave? Is a set of hard and fast rules needed so that everybody knows how to play? My reply to the post was, "Can you make rules for a little random, chaotic, quibbler like me? Would your system bring out the rebel in me?" 

    Dr. Martin Luther King lead a civil rights movement that fundamentally changed a country. King had to work years to bring about change. King brought about attention to problems by civil disobedience. King had stringent guide lines for civil disobedience. He would break unjust laws and expect to be punished and accept his punishment. 

   So all of this made me ask the question,"Who makes the rules?" Now before I go any further I'm all for honesty, goodness, peace, order and respect. But sometimes I have to wonder about rules which impose some group's stringent rules on others. This week in Mali we found out that Extremist Islamists tried to impose Shia law on a group of people without their consent. Not too long ago Christians burned witches. These religions are also divided into many denominations which sometimes disagree with one another to the point of violence. The Irish situation is a perfect example of religious turmoil. Political systems disagree and go to war.  The world suffered a Hitler who in his demented mind thought some people should be exterminated. Political parties in governments argue to the point of bringing paralysis to their country. Type of clothing is sometimes directed by others. Men require women to be covered in a precise manner in parts of the world. 

    Why do people have the need to impose their idea of rules and regulations on others?  I hope all people will question proposals for rules. It is our responsibility to question proposed rules so that we get the rules we deserve. In many cases we have far too many rules and regulations...red tape. People have not been thinking about making things efficient for a society to function.

   Okay, there's my rant! By this time some of you have  closed your eyes and put your hands over your ears and gone on to another blog! My rules make it so that you can leave my blog and go somewhere else. I won't be offended. I hope you won't be offended but will go away and think about things.

    Serendipity. A Beatle's song just came on called "All together Now."

    

Bannock: A World Food.

    A few days ago Darlin posted on baking some bannock and she had some awesome pictures of her production. Now I like bannock so her post got me thinking about my experiences with bannock.

     The basics of bannock are flour, water, baking powder and salt. After that, all bets are off. There are literally thousands of bannock recipes.The things that go with your bannock are endless. The history of bannock is very, very old. Unleavened bread is mentioned in the bible and has a place in religious practices. In biblical times , I don't think they could run to the store for some Flieschman's yeast or pick up any Blue Ribbon baking powder either. All cultural groups have some form of bannock. Aboriginals had a form of bannock before the Europeans came. They had certain roots the were ground up to make something similar to flour. 

    Baking powder biscuits are a form of bannock and they are baked in the oven. Many bannock recipes can be baked. My Mom furiously baked some baking powder biscuits when she was caught without bread and someone was coming to visit.

    Now to get to my experience with bannock. I was exposed to bannock when I spent 5 years in the Arctic.  The Inuit and Indians used bannock on a regular daily basis in their homes but their experience with bannock was really when they were out in the country. They would take a small bag of flour and baking powder with them and they were set. To make a bannock they usually made a small depression in the flour at the top of the bag. They poured in some water and mixed the flour and water by hand. The dough produced this way was flattened and put into a frying pan with lots of lard. It didn't take long and you had fresh hot bannock. If you had any meat then your meal was complete. For many travelers they started out from home with a bag of bannock. Bannock is very dry so it doesn't freeze. The first time I went out I took my bread sandwich. Guess what? When it came time to eat my  sandwich, it was frozen as hard a steel. It was embarrassing. Someone had to give me some lunch.  Getting back to the flour sack..it was sometimes a ghastly mess by the end of the trip.

    I still remember the great taste of bannock. I still remember all the things I put on my bannock...mostly jams and syrup. 

    It's hard to believe that bannock is rarely made since it is such a simple process. It has great taste and leaves a pleasant aroma in your house.