Countdown

Final Month Before Retirement

Signed Retirement Papers On Tuesday – December 7th

Ready To Roll

I am not counting the days. The date is too close. On December 7th I sign my retirement papers. My retirement date is January 1, 2011, a Saturday.

Along with my papers I have the certified copies of Shirley's and my marriage certificate and each of our birth certificates.

There are 'loose ends' to tie up before leaving my job. Data management using FileMaker Pro for various information solutions within my department will be taken over by our Assistant Director of Respiratory Care. There are other duties that I perform which must be continued by others.

As the Chair of ARMC's Injury and Illness Prevention Program (IIPP) Taskforce there are responsibilities that will fall back on our institution's Safety Officer. The data management solution for IIPP is being transferred to our IM department. They will export our data that had been managed using FileMaker Pro to MS-SQL.

So that is pretty much why I am not counting the days. All my time is being spent getting ready to hand everything over to others. January 1st will be here before we know it. YES!

The Frontal Cortex — Jonah Lehrer's Science bLog in Wired Magazine

Why Making Dinner Is a Good Idea

Jonah Lehrer, neuroscientist and author of How We Decide, contributes an interesting bLog in the Science section of Wired magazine. (BTW, How We Decide  is well-written and extremely informative.) In his bLog Jonah claims we are likely to be entirely sated by smaller portions of a meal we prepare versus that same meal made by someone else. Interesting facts are introduced in an effort to explain why the U.S. has a growing [pun intended] obesity problem.

Simply click on this post's title to get to Jonah's bLog post.

Weather Station With Atomic Time Keeping

When I purchased ours a few years ago Shirley said it was a waste of money. I will admit that the idea of automated time accuracy attracted me. The time display is always correct, plus or minus 1 second. Its accuracy is due to a broadcast signal from our US Naval Observatory Alternate Master Clock, Colorado Springs, CO. At 2:00 a.m. each day our clock activates its receiver to capture the time broadcast signal. Thus, the display never strays from the correct time.

Yet, another feature attracted Shirley's interest quite early on. A remote sensor located on our car port reports the outdoor temperature to the indoor display. In fact we see both indoor and outdoor temperatures simultaneously. Shirley will check the outdoor temperature display to determine whether she will need a jacket before venturing out, for example.

Whenever Shirley decides to check the outdoor temp she does so quite easily. Sometimes I hear about how hot the day is getting in summer or how cold it is becoming in winter. Never again have I heard a complaint about the cost of our device. It has been worth the approximate $40 we gave for it.

One more thing. Because we get automated time accuracy, the time and date for springing forward into Daylight Saving Time is programmed on an internal memory chip. Accordingly, when the time / date arrives to fall back it happens as well. The chip can be switched off for areas that do not observe Daylight Saving Time (e.g. Arizona).

One of these days I shall replace the kitchen clock with an atomic clock. I still must change the time in my car and on the microwave oven. One day that will change I am sure.

I am looking toward retirement. My sense of importance will be severely diminished when I am no longer needed to run around the house twice a year to ensure that all clocks are set properly. Then again, retiring from that might be a good thing.

Another Change Of Life

Our county retirement program is rated one of the best. As our new year begins —2011 — I hope to be in retirement mode. It is a time in my life when I no longer will make my daily commute to work each weekday. I will miss the people with whom I associate regularly. However, I expect to enjoy the change of pace.

My twin has been in retirement for several years. He seems to stay busy because there are many grandchildren who are capable of occupying his time. That will not be the same scenario for me. Yet, I expect to find ways to stay active.

Extra Hour Of Sleep, Or…

Those who work tonight get an extra hour to produce. Many get paid for that hour, others do not. In the morning some who forgot to move their time back an hour will be early for work. As for me, it is an additional hour of sleep.

Daylight Saving Time seems to be helpful in that summer evenings have daylight later. Some people could not care less about it. It would be interesting to list all of the cons given about Daylight Saving Time.

Can you imagine how Apple messed up with its iPhone not automatically jumping back an hour tonight when the clock strikes 2:00 a.m.? Egg on Apple's face. I'll bet Steve Jobs is pissed at someone.

Organic Ethiopian Fair Trade Coffee

"Ola's Exotic Coffee is specialized as a variety of African controlled and well-harvested coffee from the fertile mountains and lakes of the African continent. Our selected wild African coffees rival or surpass any arabica or robusta coffee beans around the world both in taste and appearance.

"Ola’s Exotic Coffee beans are from Kenya, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Uganda, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Cameroon, African Organic FT and other West and South African countries."

The Organic Ethiopian Fair Trade Coffee I purchased at Sam's Club is a 2-lb package for $20.44. A bargain price and a tasty coffee. I was pleasantly surprised. Old Bisbee has raised its price to $14 per pound. Ola's averages $10.22 per pound. Ola's is not roasted until the beans reach California.

Study: Alcohol 'Most Harmful Drug', Followed By Crack And Heroin

"Alcohol ranks 'most harmful' among a list of 20 drugs — beating out crack and heroin — according to study results released by a British medical journal.

"A panel of experts weighed the physical, psychological and social problems caused by the drugs and determined that alcohol was the most harmful overall, according to an article on the study released by The Lancet Sunday."

Beer brewers do not want California's Prop 19 to pass. It will potentially hurt their business.

California Governor's Race

The best move for Meg Whitman is to have no more attack-ads against Jerry Brown. If she says the right things that are apt to win the hearts of voters she might have a chance.

Otherwise, Jerry Brown maintains a slight margin ahead of Whitman in the Rasmussen Poll. Should Brown pick up the 'fence sitters' then that bodes well for him.

Those who claim they are "not sure" would be leaning toward one of the candidates rather than be entirely neutral, IMO.

My ballot has been mailed. I do favor Jerry Brown. He was elected twice as California's Governor between 1975 and 1983. As I recall, Jerry Brown never had a poor approval rating. Brown knows how to navigate Sacramento, whereas, Whitman has absolutely no political experience.