Wishing The Best ForYou

nüvi® 255W

Regularly $169.99, on sale at Best Buy for $79.99. I could not pass it up. I unpackaged the device once I got into my car on the Best Buy parking lot. I set my home address for directions and enjoyed my GPS navigator's performance.

Son James loaned us his Garmin for our summer vacation and I have wanted one since. However, I needed the price to come down. I saw the sale price online and hoped they would not have all been snatched up as I drove to my destination.

New York Grill is on Ontario Mills Road. Shirley and I have gift certificates for that place and we plan to do a Christmas dinner there. Now we will get turn-by-turn voice directions and a very nice map graphic to lead us.

I still cannot believe my $90 saving

Water That Truly Supports Health

Under our kitchen sink the water supply feeds the double-ganged white bracketed filters. The furthest filter is optional, removing fluoride and arsenic. This is MODULE ONE. The modules are in series, each with its important function:

Function : Purification

Stage One : 5-micron Carbon Block

• As the first purification element, performs bulk purification duties. Filters out all particles and microbes greater the 5 microns in size. Adsorbs contaminates.

Stage Two : KDF-55

• Removes heavy metals if present.

Stage Three : GAC (Granular Activated Carbon) (coconut- standard models, BC- fluoride models)

• Standard Model- Adsorbs remaining contaminates, if any, and polishes flavor.
• Fluoride Model- Adsorbs Fluoride and Arsenic. Adsorbs remaining contaminates, if any, and polishes flavor.

MODULE TWO

Function : Enhancement

Overview : Purified water is stripped of accumulated bioinformation (memory) while surface tension and oxidative capacity are reduced. Molecule to molecule bonding structure is reduced into the micro-clustered range. Bio-energy and dissolved oxygen are increased.

MODULE THREE

Function : Purification

Stage One : .5-micron Carbon Block

• Polishes taste and removes particles and microbes greater than .5 microns in size, if any. Adsorbs contaminates, if any.

MODULE FOUR

Function : Enhancement

Overview : Like water cascading down a mountain stream, Module Four further increases bio-energy and dissolved oxygen while introducing the bioinformation of minerals and trace minerals. Molecule to molecule bonding structure is reduced into the hexagonal range (true structured water).

THE RESULT

Nature's most perfect water- direct from your tap!

Don't Blink

 

 

It's Almost Here — One Short Week Remaining

Global Warming

As we approach mid-December it seems incredible that we could get a very warm day this weekend. My first visit to California in the 60s was during winter. I then marveled at having short-sleeve weather during daytime in spite of very chill nights.

Even in present times I can be surprised and pleased when we get balmy days in winter. Colour me spoiled.

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.

Screwy

screw·y

[skroo-ee]

–adjective, screw·i·er, screw·i·est. Slang .

1.

crazy; nutty

2.

disconcertingly strange

3.

absurdly peculiar or impractical; ridiculous

Every definition fits. How so?

In the past four years we have had our current phone number. Yet, calls for Martha Diaz still occur. Granted they are not arriving as fast and furious as in the first several months. Still, not one month goes by that we do not get a call for Martha Diaz.

People promise to remove our number from their calling list. It appears they do that. Apparently new callers have a reason to call and request to speak with Martha Diaz. Perhaps a collection agency has bought up old accounts from another agency and is making their effort to collect a bad debt.

This has gone beyond "annoying." I would miss the humor (yes, humor) of it if the calls were to stop. It is insanely (i.e., subconsciously driving me crazy) funny. Does Martha know just how [in]famous she has become? I wish there was a way to determine the answer to that question.

What condition exists in the society whereby callers attempt to reach someone at a phone number unlinked to that someone for four years. That is 1,461 days (counting an extra day in a leap year).


Screwy?

GE Buying ‘Tens of Thousands’ of EVs

"It makes sense that a company called General Electric would be bullish on cars with cords. But even by that standard the company is diving into the deep end, with what it says will be the biggest order ever placed for electric vehicles."


We definitely need a ubiquitous charging infrastructure. How wonderful it will be to year-after-year continue to reduce our nation's reliance on fossil fuel.


In due time everyone will find an electric car affordable.

12 [Minus 1] Awesome Airplane Paint Jobs

Click On A Photo To Enlarge

Click On A Photo To Enlarge

Colorado Wildfire Spreads To Moon

Facebook Founders Put $170,000 Into [Pot] Pot

"According to Proposition 19 campaign filings, reported by ABC News, Sean Parker, he of the nasal infractions in "The Social Network," has donated $100,000 to this California ballot measure that seeks to legalize pot in the state.

"He is following the lead of his fellow Facebook co-founder, Dustin Moskovitz, who reportedly already donated $70,000 to support the same cause."

Decriminalization of marijuana possession and the legal protection for growing cannabis is good. This opens the door for local state governments to tax the possession, cultivation, and transportation of the substance.

Marijuana is already California's largest cash crop.

iPod Shuffle

Give your songs a voice.

Say you’re listening to a song and want to know the title or the artist. Just press the new VoiceOver button on top of your iPod shuffle, and it tells you. You can even use VoiceOver to hear the names of playlists and switch between them. And if your battery needs charging, VoiceOver tells you that, too.

It speaks your language.

A French love song. A Spanish bolero. An Italian cantata. Your music library has songs from all over the world. That’s why VoiceOver speaks 25 different languages. So it can tell you song titles and artists in their native tongues or any language you choose.

Mine for only $49.

Hands For Good Health

Click above image and view from the YouTube site.

PUR® 3 Stage Horizontal Mount Faucet Water Filter

Provides up to 100 gallons of clean water with the flick of switch…

• Built-in Electronic Filter Life Indicator simplifies filter replacement.
• Each PUR filter provides up to 100 gallons of clean water, and the built-in indicator flashes green (go), yellow (close to change time) or red (change filter) so you'll always know when it's time for a replacement filter.

The filters cost around $8 each. We can buy distilled water in 2.5 gallons containers. The cost is $1.12 per gallon. However, to get one-hundred gallons from a filter comes to 8.3¢ per gallon.

I am on my second cup of coffee with this filtered water without wishing I was back to distilled from the container. How long between filter changes? The label claims it would be around three months of filter service. That, of course, is an estimate based on average use. Yet, it does not matter because one-hundred gallons is one-hundred gallons. The choice for savings is a no-brainer.

Laser Pointer Purchase — It Was Easy — Not

How easy should it be to find a laser pointer? Best Buy had the technology built in to a hand-held device that could support advancing and back-tracking the slides in a video presentation. I have seen only one of those and the laser beam was weak. And I needed only the pointer.

Best Buy people who were standing around made no effort to assist me in finding a device. Two of them said I "might" find a laser pointer in the 'computers' section. My immediate recollection of Circuit City staff walking me to an isle and then helping me search came to mind. Sad comparison.

I had to go back to one of those staff and request a little more assistance. She asked if I wanted to find the item in the store. I told her I had not planned to look outside the store. Obviously if I wanted their online retail method I would have remained at home and done that.

Wal-Mart! I just knew that Wal-Mart would have it. An employee there pointed me in a direction and said look where the stationery items are displayed. Nothing there. I elected to not search further because I expected a bit better support in trying to find something.

Office Depot had only one model of Quartet's product. It is their 'Class 3A' standard laser pointer. Red in color spectrum and quite powerful. It will be perfect for my needs. I do some instructing of our Safety presentations at work and the pointer from Education Development is not always available. Nor is it as strong.

The cost was $22 after tax. Similarly priced (as well as less costly) laser pointers at the online venues had reviews whose pros were consistently balanced with cons. It was hard to believe that two people were talking about the same product. I elected not to go that route.

So, yes, I am happy with my purchase. I have a strong red laser beam that will work perfectly, and the item's price shouts "bang for the buck."

Clarified: What does "genetically modified" salmon mean?

Photo: AquAdvantage® Salmon in the background; a non-GMO Atlantic salmon of the same age in the foreground.

" 'AquAdvantage® Salmon' grow into full-sized fish in half the time that it would take a regular salmon, and if approved, would become the first 'transgenic' or genetically engineered animals to be approved for human consumption."


Below is a poll result asking those surveyed if they would eat genetically modified salmon. I believe I would wait to see how others fared over several years of consumption. Clearly half of those people said 'Never'.

Protecting My Kindle

Highbrow protection (above) versus basic inexpensive safeguard (below).

Whooda thought? The written evaluations by a Wired publications author pointed out that the commercially available Kindle cases all have their pros and cons. Then this guy points out a solution by one of his acquaintances that costs next to nothing and gets the job done.

I shall gladly give this method a try. I believe the bubble envelopes in various sizes are available individually at Wal-Mart. w0w… I almost spent $35 for the leather case. Reading the article was rather eye-opening.

Product Features Latest technology for strengthening and protecting your teeth MI Paste enhanced with a formula of sodium fluoride, calcium and phosphate Helps to maintain a normal pH level and healthy teeth Helps condition, protect and rebuild your tooth surfaces Releases vital minerals into your mouth when and where they re needed

My dental professional recommended this product to help relieve discomfort from a sensitive area at the base of a tooth. This is the second night of applying the paste. After reading several reviews from users I am encouraged.

Twin Brothers J David & E Craig Crawford

Descendants of John R. Charlesworth 1st International Reunion — August 2010 — Dayton, Ohio

Front–Seated: Cousin Phil Charlesworth from UK. 2nd Row (L to R): Scott Charlesworth, Susan Hageman, Cathie Abkemeier, Virginia Salmons. 3rd Row (L to R): E Craig Crawford, J David Crawford, John B Williams.

The family reunion picnic was held in Dayton, Ohio at the beautiful Art Van Atta Park. There were approximately 80 people in attendance, including grandchildren, great grandchildren, and extra-extended of family members.

Shirley and I spent ten full days in Dayton, excluding the arrival and departure travel days.  Our picnic day was one of several terrific vacation days that provided wonderful opportunities to spend time with family.

Between Iraq and a Hard Place

Click to Enlarge Image

Nature's Beauty

All the world is beautiful.

Bedtime Reading

I will need a good reading light for my Kindle when I read at night. Once it arrives I shall order the night-light at a cost just under $20.
Product Description

"The Mighty Bright XtraFlex2 Light is a battery operated clamp-on accessory that is custom designed to illuminate your Kindle Wireless Reading device. Two Super LED lights in one head gives you the lighting power of 6 normal LEDs. You have the option of using one or two of the Super LED lights with just a simple tap of the proprietary sensor switch. The flexible neck allows you to position your lighting anywhere you want it. With the XtraFlex2, you can take your Kindle anywhere--in bed, on the bus or train, and have proper illumination at your fingertips."

The lens of this light eliminates the 'hot spots' seen with other reading light devices. I am looking forward to using this item. I wonder how often I will need to change its battery.