Peanut Butter Prices Skyrocketing

Can you say "global warming" boys and girls?

"Prices for a ton of runner peanuts, commonly used to make peanut butter, hit nearly $1,200 this month, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. That's up from just $450 per ton a year ago. Overall, the USDA projects that American peanut production will hit 3.6 billion pounds this year, down 13% from last year.

"Analysts attribute this drop to the intense heat and drought that hit the southern U.S. this year…"

Al Gore warned us of increased food costs as crops failed due to effects of global warming.

Toilet Operating System

Not A Digital Operating System

w0w… The power-assisted flush of our new Glacier Bay water closet moves waste twenty feet further in the drain line than a conventional gravity-drained toilet. And it uses only 1 gallon of water per flush. Our days of double-flushing are over because the water closet bowl is completely emptied and cleared. And in only about five seconds.

As evidenced in the image above, water never enters the tank proper. The flushing system is the FlushMate device within the tank. A minimum water pressure is required because the FlushMate tank fills, compressing the air above it. This volume of compressed air provides the air pressure needed for the power-assist.

The actual flush is a little noisier than conventional toilets. However, the bowl clears quickly and the refilling takes less than thirty seconds.

Beyond the flushing efficiency is the water conserving benefit. This model sits a little higher in seating than the one replaced. This seems more comfortable for me. Shirley is interested in replacing the water closet in the master bedroom with this model. I think that is a good idea.

GPS Navigation

I was curious. If I cabled my Garmin Nuvi 255W to my iMac's USB port would there be notification of a map update? After all, it had been more than a year ago when the GPS navigation device was purchased. At that time I ran the free map updater. Did I say "free?" Being a new purchase, the Nuvi qualified for a free update within the first ninety days if one was available. It was.

Two choices. A one-time update for $50 or a lifetime plan for $90. I had to be frugal in spite of the costlier choice being the better value. In a couple years I will once again check, then decide if I truly need another update. I suspect I will elect to leave well enough alone.

Having GPS navigation is truly wonderful. My Garmin has assisted me often and can be a dependable time saver when I need turn-by-turn guidance to my destination.

My Garmin Nuvi 255W came with a power cord with the attached FM receiver for traffic updates. When construction or accidents dictate lane closures and traffic back-ups the Garmin suggests alternate routes. I needed that only once, so far, and it was a life saver.

Excuses, Excuses, Excuses

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Truth is, now that I am retired it would be quite interesting to sit on a jury for a trial. For me, the most interesting would be a murder trial. The initial jury selection process would be part of the 'fun'.

However, I take medications that sometimes require my immediate use of the bathroom. This urgent need cannot be put off. So, halting a trial proceeding to make a facility visit would be quite disruptive in the courtroom.

Because I am 70 years [young] I do not need a letter from my doctor if I wish to be excused from jury service for medical reasons. I need only sign a release of my medical records in the event the jury administration should wish to review them. In my excusal request I explained my situation, of course.

That request was mailed one week ago and here I am with the "permanent jury service excuse" in today's mail. With mixed emotions I bid adieu to the jury administration.

Have you served on a jury? Was it interesting for you? Would you like to do it again? Or, do you dislike receiving a jury summons?

Sumatran Coffees

Coffee Beans — Seeds of the Coffee Cherry

Indonesia

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Sumatra

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Sumatra lies between the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean in Indonesia. The climate is tropical (hot and humid); yet, more moderate in higher elevations. Coffee production is the Arabica variety, a superior product.

Sam's Club carries European Café Sumatra coffee beans that are grown in the high altitudes. The beans are air-roasted. Freshly grinding the beans when brewing coffee ensures my enjoyment of the morning cup. Many times I brew coffee in mid-afternoon as a special beverage treat.

My twin brother got me interested in specialty coffee beans. He insisted that the best specialty coffees should be freshly ground using a burr grinder just prior to brewing. Now I will have my coffee no other way.

Potential Race Between Black Guy and Mormon Poses Dilemma for Bigots

Doomsday Scenario, Haters Say

MINNEAPOLIS (The Borowitz Report) – A looming presidential race between a black guy and a Mormon is creating a major quandary for America’s bigots, a new poll reveals.

According to the poll, conducted by the University of Minnesota’s Opinion Research Institute, a broad majority of likely bigot voters “strongly agreed” with the statement, “If it winds up being between a black guy and a Mormon I don’t know what I’ll do because I don’t know which I hate more.”

Tea Party activist Eldin Brazelton of Oak Park, Illinois, expressed a frustration typical of the bigots surveyed: “We’ve spent the last three years stirring up anger towards a black guy, and that’s all going to go to waste if we just up and nominate a Mormon.”

According to Mr. Brazleton, a presidential choice between President Barack Obama and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney would be no choice at all: “For the life of me I don’t know why we can’t just have a regular President.”

Mr. Brazleton, who considers himself a sexist as well as a bigot, said that the doomsday scenario unfolding for 2012 offered one small silver lining: “At least we know it’s not going to be a woman this time.”

Elsewhere, in response to the ongoing Occupy Wall Street protests in lower Manhattan, banking giant Goldman Sachs announced today that it was investing in pepper-spray futures.

Palin Decides Not to Run: ‘I Want to Go Straight to the Quitting Part’

Decision Leaves Moron Vote Up for Grabs

ANCHORAGE (The Borowitz Report) – Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin told reporters today that she would not run for President because “I want to go straight to the quitting part.”

“If I launched a campaign, let’s face it, a couple of months from now I’d up and quit,” she said.  “This is a real step-saver for all concerned.”

She said that prior to her decision she had seriously considered running, “but only for the free clothes.”

When asked about her future plans, she said, “Although I’m not running for President, I have no intention of spending more time with my family.”

The former Alaska Governor, who had originally scheduled a thirty-minute press conference to announce her decision, abruptly cut it short after fifteen minutes with no explanation.

The Tea Party favorite’s announcement leaves the remaining Republican candidates scrambling for the moron vote, a key constituency in the 2012 GOP race.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney was said to be considering new strategies to dispel the nagging impression that he is mentally competent, an attribute that has alienated millions of Tea Party voters.

Mr. Romney was rumored to be weighing a number of options, such as barking like a dog or wearing a bunch of bananas on his head at the next televised debate.

Meanwhile, still reeling from charges of racism, Texas Governor Rick Perry was reportedly huddling with advisors at his country home, Jewtrap.

Home Made Chicken Noodle Soup

Chicken leg and thigh quarters were slow-cooked last night. The meat is now cut up into small pieces. The recipe calls for cooking chopped celery and onion. The chicken broth stands ready. Wide egg noodles will be included for a tasty chicken noodle soup.

This recipe was gleaned from the Internet and calls for corn starch to thicken the broth. However, I plan to substitute that with a couple cans of cream-style corn.

Overall this is a relatively simple chicken noodle soup recipe. It should be quite tasty and nutritious.

Do you have a chicken noodle soup recipe that you like quite well?

DIY Car Wash Soap

For $5 I can get a "touch-free" automatic car wash that includes a spot-free rinse. I clean my car, on average, once every week. Doing the wash and rinse cycles myself will save me around $20 per month.


Shirley and I are now both retired and a fixed income is in our present and future. We shall be creative in finding ways to cut back on spending.


I Googled "Homemade Car Wash Soap" and found an informative article. I believe I will get some Murphy's Oil Soap and try it. Only 1 fl. oz. of that product is required in my bucket of warm water.


How about you folks. Do you have a car cleaning product of your own invention? And do you have some hints for living more economically? Any ideas will be most appreciated.

Banks Raise Fees on Same People Who Bailed Out Their Asses

Introduce New ‘Thank You’ Fee on Debit Cards

NEW YORK (The Borowitz Report) – The largest banks in the US made history today by hiking fees on the same people who bailed out their asses three years ago.

“We would not exist today without the generosity of the American taxpayers,” said CEO Brian Moynihan of Bank of America, which received billions of dollars of Federal bailout money.  “And we want to thank them by assessing a special monthly ‘thank you’ fee on all of our debit cards.”

Becoming emotional, Mr. Moynihan added, “We think of the taxpayers every time we vacation on our yachts or visit our third homes, and we want them to think of us every time they try to spend $20 on groceries.”

Mr. Moynihan said that even after paying the  new $5 monthly fee, "American taxpayers should still have enough money left over to let them eat cake."

In other news, CNN announced today that it plans to start covering the mass protests on Wall Street in lower Manhattan “as soon as the Michael Jackson trial is over.”

And Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry today blasted President Obama’s decision to kill a terrorist in Yemen: “There are plenty of perfectly good people to execute right here in America.”

Poll: In Head-to-Head Matchup, Obama Who Ran in 2008 Would Trounce Current Obama

Popularity of Old Obama Spells Trouble for New One

WASHINGTON (The Borowitz Report) – According to a new poll of likely Democratic voters, if a primary contest were held today between the Barack Obama who ran for President in 2008 and the current Obama, the Old Obama would beat the New Obama by a margin of three to one.

While the numbers reflect the enduring popularity of the 2008 Obama, they spell big trouble for the 2011 Obama, who is seeking reelection in 2012.

Most troubling for the President, a significant number of voters -- nearly twenty-five percent -- no longer believe that the 2008 Obama and the current Obama are the same person.

At the White House, press secretary Jay Carney attempted to silence the skepticism of the so-called “Differenters,” the growing movement of people who believe that the 2008 Obama and the current one are two completely different men.

“The President has said that he is willing to submit to a DNA test and he will be releasing a Certificate of Authenticity later this week,” Mr. Carney said.  “Beyond that, we’re just going to have to take his word for it.”

In other political news, Texas Governor Rick Perry said today that he would participate in future Republican debates only if they were “open book.”

At a rally in South Carolina, Gov. Perry explained why he was uniquely qualified to be President: “The way I understand it, the main job of the executive branch is executing people.”

Pat Robertson Says Falling Satellite Means God Thinks Satellites are Gay

Warns NASA Against Launching Future Gay Objects

VIRGINIA BEACH (The Borowitz Report) – Evangelist Pat Robertson sparked controversy in today’s broadcast of his 700 Club program by saying that the NASA satellite that plummeted to Earth did so “because God thinks satellites are gay.”

“We have to remember that the heavens are where God lives,” Rev. Robertson said during the broadcast.  “If we launch something into outer space that God thinks is gay, He’s going to kick it right back to us.”

Mr. Robertson offered little evidence as to why God might think the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite was gay, but said, “It does have, I believe, a big telescope sticking out of it and I can see why God would not want that in His face.”

He added that the falling satellite “should serve as a warning to NASA not to launch other gay objects into space.”

The televangelist’s remarks were abruptly cut short when a large piece of metal debris crashed through the roof of his television studio and landed squarely on his head.

Microsoft Is Mediocre

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Here we are with an "upgraded 'blue screen of death' ." The sad-face emoticon empathizes with the user. The original blue screen simply had no text or graphic display. This blue screen of death often results from a memory management issue for which Microsoft's operating system is infamous.

Random Access Memory (RAM) chips hold information the computer needs while executing code. Eventually that information is no longer needed and should be flushed to make room for new information that can require a large amount of RAM's capacity. Sometimes old data is not flushed from RAM, thus "short sheeting" the RAM bed. Thus: the blue screen of death. (Restarting flushes the RAM.)

Mac owners are not immune to memory management problems; yet, these occur far less frequently than those for PC users. And when they do, the application they are using will unexpectedly quit. However, the Mac OS X operating system remains open and robust.

Consider that Windoze (the software) must operate over a number of different computers (the hardware). Hardware configuration can be different, machine to machine. The Mac's operating system (software) is married to the computer (hardware). This superior 'bonding' (if you will) provides a more stable user experience.

That said, Microsoft possibly has the best operating system for PCs when comparing prior Windows iterations. Linux buffs would argue that point as to the superior operating system for PCs.

PC sales are in a negative, downward trend until you include Macs in the mix. Macintosh sales continue to climb in a financially recessive economy. No surprise there when considering Mac's superiority in function and user friendliness. There is no price advantage with a PC once you add the features and peripherals that Mac simply comes with.

Switching to Mac from PC is easy.

Optimum Optimization

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After having my OS X Lion upgrade running for several weeks I decided to check out Micromat's site for an upgrade to its Tech Tool Pro application. Their app is a full-on diagnostics tool and disk optimization utility.

I was surprised to find that my version 4 could be upgraded to version 6. How did I miss the fifth version? Somehow I did; yet, still got the $40 upgrade price. Ensuring that my Mac's volume directory is "glitch free" is vital to avoiding a hard disk drive crash caused by broken file allocation links.

In the past I have sometimes needed to repair volume structures. Monthly diagnostics keeps things easily corrected when a problem is reported.

The next step is file optimization to stitch together all fragmented files. Next I perform volume optimization to get all free space into a contiguous array. The operating system requires a specific amount of contiguous free space. Full optimization prevents continuous build-up of fragmentation that will eventually stonewall the proper function of the operating system.

Tech Tool Pro is highly rated for its solid dependability. I have used it for years and am pleased to have upgraded today.

Weather Or Not

When air conditioning fails our home environment feels like an oven. Shirley's heart condition pushes our repair status into 'emergency' mode. On Sunday the failure was impending.

We called our home warranty service on Sunday because the compressor's fan motor was screeching and chirping. The unit was still cooling our home so we were not having emergency conditions. On Monday morning a neighbor kindly asked if we were aware that our AC unit was making noise. We explained that we had already called for repair.

In mid-afternoon the unit's fan had stopped. We called the warranty company to explain our emergency. They checked with the assigned servicer — who had not yet contacted us — and learned that it would still be Thursday before they could help us on an emergency basis.

Warranty company cancelled the service order with that company and found a shop who could have someone here next morning. I spoke with the repair person who now has some history about our unit and situation.

Hopefully we will have some cooling by early afternoon.

Last week our triple-digits reached 109°F. Yesterday we just hit the triple-digit mark and should once again do that today. Temperatures moderated enough last night to allow comfortable sleep with windows open and house fans working at full speed.

How easily we take our comfort for granted when air conditioning functions properly. Even without health problems everyone wants to escape the discomfort of high heat in their environment. All AC repair shops are being hit hard with service requests as scorching temperatures challenge home AC units.

Hope y'all are comfortable in your homes.

Liam Elija Crawford

Adoption Is About Love

James & Stephanie Crawford (youngest son and his wife) have been in the adoption process for a few years.  Last month a birth mother selected their profile from among several. Next she met them and that sealed the deal.

Yesterday Liam was born by C-section and the bonding has begun. Liam may be released from the hospital today. The biological mother will sign a release 7 days after the birth and will have three days after signing to still change her mind.

However, the birth mother states she would not create false hope with James and Stephanie, and will clearly not change her mind. We expect that Liam will find wonderful, loving, caring parents in James and Stephanie.

Gas Prices Rising More Slowly, Might Have Peaked

We are up to $4.30 per gallon I am ready for a reversal. Last fill-up costed me $64 plus change. Not good. Are you doing less driving?

Slim Pickin's

The jet tip for my WaterPik broke in two. No problem… replacement should be easy. Or, so I thought.

A stop at Wal-Mart seemed to be the best choice; yet, a search for my item turned up nothing. OK. No big deal. CVS Pharmacy was on the way home. Alas, no luck there.

Not to worry. RiteAid was just up the street a ways. Again, futility. Being somewhat a resourceful person I figured Walgreens would satisfy my need and should now be worth the extra mileage to get there. Batting 1000 boys and girls.

Finally I drove another distance to Target. Aaarg… ! No store carried the WaterPik Jet Tip replacements.

So a digital trip to Amazon.Com rewarded me with a set of two for just $10.99. That is nearly a 50% savings from regular retail.

Meantime I will use my special brush tip. However, I believe the jet tip does a better job between teeth.

End Of World Alert

Sign Giving Warning

Pamphlet With Literature

Just as any past "end of world" and "judgment day" prediction part of the issue is that people sell their homes and belongings in the belief they will not need them. Apparently many have quit their jobs to join the caravan that travels nation-wide to spread the news.

I truly hate to see people put themselves into such a negative position. Even the Bible notes that no man knows the day of God's judgment. How do these people fail to understand that?

FAA OKs iPad for Pilots’ Charts

"From the earliest days of aviation, pilots have relied upon paper maps to help find their way. Even in an era of GPS and advanced avionics, you still see pilots lugging around 20 pounds or more of charts. But those days are numbered, because maps are giving way to iPads."

No surprise that an app. for Apple's iPad can easily assist aviators.

I have seen one app. that works with our GPS locations to support astronomy. Holding the iPad up to the sky — anywhere — reveals constellations and planets. Tapping one of a constellation's stars or an identified planet allows the viewer to get information about it. Awesome and entertaining (and educational).

The Kindle app. for iPad will obviate my need for a reading light while in bed at night. Yep… I plan to purchase the iPad 2 once it gets released.