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Well, it’s ummm, Saturday, and time to clear out the accumulated links to stories that couldn’t be linked into a coherent theme. Have at ‘em…

• Clearing the Roads. Living out in Southern California, I rarely run into roadway deicing. We get perhaps one hard freeze a year, if that. But other areas deal with deicing regularly… and a story about deicing technology caught my eye. If you live in those areas, you know that the regular approach to deicing is to put salt — or salt water — on the road. This has all sorts of bad side effects. The Chicago Tribune had an interesting article on the future of deicing technology: molassass. Yup, the sticky sweet syrup is evidently a great deicer for roads. Another alternative used by many municipalities is beet juice, a byproduct from the sugar manufacturing process. Molasses is similar to beet juice when it comes to keeping roads safe but differs slightly in that it has less pulp. Both sweet substances are mixed with the salt (requiring less salt to be used). The carbohydrate makes the salt more effective, especially on rural, high-speed roads. Salt that doesn’t stick can be blown away by winds or traffic.
• Turning into a Monster. Bad theatre reviews are quite a bit of fun… and one can usually find them where a Frank Wildhorn show is found. Now I happen to like Wildhorn’s music (to a point) — I find there are many enjoyable songs in shows like Scarlet Pimpernell, The Civil War, Wonderland, and Bonnie and Clyde. But critics? They hate him with a passion. A Wildhorn show (Jekyll & Hyde) just opened at the Pantages, and local reviewers reflect that hatred. From the LA Times review by Charles McNulty: “But like Dr. Jekyll scrambling to undo the chemical formula that has turned him into a part-time lunatic, [the director, Jeff Calhoun] lacks the fundamental ingredients to pull off the transformation. Which is to say he’s stuck with Leslie Bricusse’s book and lyrics and Frank Wildhorn’s music, and not even the most resourceful chef can make a gourmet meal when bound to a chain restaurant recipe.” Paul Hodgins in the Orange County Register is not much kinder: “Those who remember the musical “Jekyll & Hyde” the first time around might well greet the news that it’s being revived for Broadway with a question: Why? Sweet mercy, why?”. I have no plans to see this show (I saw it at Cabrillo a few years ago in a great production; I have no desire to see Constantine Maroulis and Deborah Cox…) but boy, are the reviews a hoot.
• Working It Out. If you are like me, you would like to lose a little weight. I’m trying to do it by eating better and working out at the YMCA. But how many days to work out? An interesting article in the NY Times points to the optimal number, which is closer to four (4). I’ve generally tried to get to the YMCA every day, headache permitting. But often, that slipped to every other day or every couple of days. This is showing that the every other day or so is the better approach.
• Las Vegas History. If you know me, you know that one of my hobbies is history of the Southwest … in particular, Los Angeles and Las Vegas. The Las Vegas Sun has an interesting article this week on Jerry’s Nugget, which is a family run hotel/casino in North Las Vegas. It has been run by the same family since 1964.
• The Emperor’s New Clothes. As you know, the Pope has resigned, and there will be a new one soon. Shortly after the puffs of white smoke, the new Pope will appear clothed in Papal finery. Ever wonder how that is done — and who dresses the Pope. Wonder no longer. Hint: He doesn’t shop at the Gap.
• There’s No Need To Fear… I would think that most people of my generation could complete that sentence, and even tell you the character’s backstory. If you can’t, look up these three phrases: “Underdog”, “Shoeshine Boy”, and “Polly Purebred”. Underdog was a television cartoon funded by General Mills in the 1960s about meek Shoeshine Boy who could turn into the superhero Underdog (voiced by Wally Cox). Alas, I must report that one of the co-creators of Underdog has died at the age of 85. David Backlin, on Facebook, alerted me to this real nice editorial cartoon about the passing:

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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Many years ago, at a security conference, one of the keynote speakers said that the best way to attack someone is to sneak kiddie-porn onto someone’s computer into a hidden directory, and then report them. The implication being that whether or not they were eventually exonerated, their reputation would be ruined forever.

This came to mind as I’ve been reading the papers of late, where we are seeing more and more stories of alleged child abuse. Today brought a report of a Tarzana-area teacher charged with inappropriately touching three girls at a middle school. Yesterday, there was report of inappropriate activities — between 4 and 5 year olds — at a California pre-school. There were reports of an ex-priest hired by LAUSD who had a history of molesting. Certainly in LAUSD we’ve seen these reports on a regular basis. Yet when I was growing up, we never had such reports.

Now, I’m not trying to defend those truly guilty. Child abuse — verbal, sexual, or physical — is not to be tolerated. Period. End of story.

But I am worried about McMartin syndrome. I’m not sure how many people remember McMartin Preschool. This was a long expensive trial of pre-school owners where it turned out the children’s accusations were false, and had been suggested by the parents or counselors. I’m worried with all the media reports, that we could create an avenue of hysteria where innocent teachers may have claims made against them — claims that may ruin their careers. Especially in the area of child abuse and sex crimes, the attitude of society is to presume that accused is (as Doonsebury put it) guilty! guilty! guilty! How do we balance protection of our children with protection of the rights of the innocent? Already (at least to read the comments on article), one gets the impression that there is some segment of the population that already believes that every male teacher or priest has that proclivity.

You’re probably asking what this has to do with guns. First, there’s the issue of background checks. The gun proponents argue that increased background checks probably won’t do anything to affect gun violence. I can see some reasoning in that logic — after all, criminals likely get their weapons either illegally or from a relative who obtained it legally. The background checks only deter those on the edge. Similarly, I can see a call for increased background checks and investigations for those who work with our children. Will they stop these crimes? Very likely… no. It is likely quite rare that someone with something obvious in their background would apply to teach (knowing they would be rejected)… and preemptive testing to determine “traits” would be like saying that we can’t have gays in the military because they would attack their comrades. [As an aside, my wife had a suggestion to deal with this problem: simply bring back adult teacher's aides. Having two adults in every classroom at all times will likely go a long way towards preventing these problems. Now if only there was a parallel with guns, but I don't think there is such a thing as two-man trigger assault weapons]

The other parallel with guns is the effect of the media. There is already a culture of porn, just as there is a culture of violence. More significantly, society today has sexualized pre-teens. Look at any show on Discovery or TLC, and you’ll probably see what I mean. Who is watching Toddlers and Tieras–I mean, c’mon! What is the effect of this culture on society? We debate it for guns, but does it affect other areas? Further, what is the contribution of the Internet in all of this (I was going to title this post “What have we wrought?”)?

In short, I’m trying to figure out why we’re seeing more and more of these incidents — both gun violence and child abuse? We can attack the symptoms — this is what background checks and gun restrictions do (or, for that matter, going back to only having single unmarried schoolmarms). But what we really need to do is find out the cause. What has changed in society that is leading to this increase… or was it always there, and the changes to our media just mean we’re hearing about it more?

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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Seen while cleaning out the spam comments: “EasyBinaryCash.com – Learn how to make 1000′s of dollars a month from home.” My first thought? Gee, I can make 8 dollars a month! Second thought? Gee, I can earn more being a folk musician; they make tens and tens of dollars!

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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“Said the little boy, “Sometimes I drop my spoon.”
Said the little old man, “I do that too.”
The little boy whispered, “I wet my pants.”
“I do that too,” laughed the little old man.
Said the little boy, “I often cry.”
The old man nodded, “So do I.”
“But worst of all,” said the boy, “it seems
Grown-up don’t pay attention to me.”
And he felt the warmth of a wrinkled old hand.
“I know what you mean,” said the little old man.
(The Little Boy and the Old Man, from “A Light in the Attic” by Shel Silverstein)

I read this poem by Shel Silverstein many years ago, and found it touching. Today, I see it in a different light. Not only am I growing older myself (which is, to use the vernacular, “a bitch”), but I’m getting to deal with a senior who I care about, but who seems to be pushing away those who care about her.

The situation is this: this senior (my mother-in-law) lost the love of her life, her husband, four years ago.  She’s been mad at the world ever since for taking him away. She has steadily withdrawn from activities she used to do with him, while bemoaning the fact that she is lonely. This was made worse over a year ago when a car accident demonstrated that her acuity had started to deteriorate to the point where it was not safe (for her or for people around her) to be driving.  The DMV pulled her license, increasing her isolation and putting her, as she puts it, “in jail”. Translation: Although she could physically drive, she shouldn’t be driving. I recognize this is one of the hardest decisions to make, for if you don’t live in dense areas with good transit, it leaves you housebound. Luckily, there are services like Access Paratransit, LA Cityride, TLC Senior Ride, and loads of other services.

The loneliness manifests itself in a number of ways, usually in the form of a phone call around dinner-time, usually about 5 minutes after I walk in the door after driving the vanpool home on the 405 for 90 minutes. I answer the phone hurriedly (as my wife usually doesn’t answer the phone). When she asks “how are you?”, I answer that I just walked in the door. At this point, one of two things happens. She asks for my wife, and if my wife is unavailable she gets upset with me and cuts off the call. Alternatively, she’ll just sit on the line. When I ask if there is anything I can do for her, she’ll say “no” and hang up. Sometimes she’ll ask what we’re doing for dinner. Often, we have other things going on and we tell her that. Again, she then quickly goes “oh” and cuts off the call.

Making matters even more worrisome to those who care about her is that her “jail” is a two-story townhouse, with the bedroom and full bath upstairs. She’s moving very slowly and unsteadily, and we are very worried about her falling on the stairs. She has part-time assistance, but it is only part-time (and she still complains about being lonely). We’ve been trying to convince her that now is the time to consider an assisted living facility: she could move without our worrying about her falling, and she would be around people so she would not be so lonely. These facilities (such as Aegis) also provide transportation and events.

From her point of view, she thinks we want to put her in a “home”, which she equates with a old-style nursing home. We’ve had her visit — and even do a short stay — in some nearby assisted living facilities that are very nice, but she still thinks “nursing home”. We’re debating showing her the difference. She would rather be home alone (calling us to complain about it, trying to get us to invite her to dinner and go pick her up).

My wife tends to approach this issue bluntly, which doesn’t always work. I tend to try to use finesse. I recognize that I need to understand where my mother-in-law is coming from and what her concerns are in order to address them. I still believe that we can convince her that such a facility is in her interest. Alas, I fear that she is moving down the path my father took: slowly losing faculties without realizing it; finding the old ways and the old pain more comfortable than solving the problem.

I have this feeling she’s stuck in the lyrics of the song “Who Gave You Permission?” from “Ballroom”:

Who gave you permission?
Who said you could go?
If you had asked me,
I would have said “no.”
You always said we would grow old together.
You always promised that’s the way it would be.
You never said that one would go first.
How could you do this to me?

Who is there to cook for?
And what’s there to clean?
And how will I fill up
the washing machine?
How do you sleep with nobody snoring?
Waste a teabag for one cup of tea?
One loaf of bread will last me a month.
How could you do this to me?

(the song goes on, but you get the idea). She’s choosing to be angry at the world for taking her love away; she’s happy being miserable and cursing the world. But those of us who care about her want her to be really happy: with friends, and in a safe place. But she doesn’t see it. She sees us as the people who are making her life miserable; the people putting her in jail. She doesn’t see it is her choice.

This is what I mean when I say “Growing old is a bitch.” Growing old is like cooking a frog on a pot in the stove. You don’t realize when the situation has gone too far; you don’t realize when things are going. You become like a small child, feeling ignored and frustrated and angry at the world. You become set in your ways, wanting the comfortable pathways even though they hurt every-time you walk them.

I wish I knew how to resolve this situation.

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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Well, Apple has finally released iTunes 11 (Gizmodo, PC Mag, ReadWrite). This means it is time for the eternal question:

I have an iPod Classic. Should I upgrade from iTunes 10.4 to iTunes 11?

I’ve hesitated updating from 10.4 to the later 10.x versions because of problems reported on the iPod Classic forums. But iTunes 11 looks to be a complete rewrite. I know that a number of my friends and readers have iPod Classics. If you have “bitten the bullet” and gone to iTunes 11, I’d love to know your experience. Did you have any problems? Does the updated iTunes work well with the classic? Please reply whether you have had problems or not, and let me know what operating system you are using.

I do have the option, when I do the upgrade, of using the Acronis “Try and Decide” feature to back out the change if it doesn’t work. Of course, that wouldn’t address the new iTunes corrupting the iPod Classic. To address that, I’d need to use Acronis to do an image backup of the iPod Classic, and I’m not sure that works (although CopyTrans does seem to have a product that works ($20)).

So what are your thoughts? Upgrade to iTunes 11 or not?

Music: Capitol Collectors Series – Louis Prima (Louis Prima): “Buona Sera”

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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