This is a topic I should have posted about 35 years ago, when my older daughter was 14.

My daughter says the other kids get paid for their grades. She doesn’t think it’s fair that I won’t pay her for hers.

I have rules for things I pay for. I pay for services, that are of no benefit to the person performing them, but are important for my quality of life, such as paying the plumber to fix my leaky faucet. I pay for things I want and need, like groceries or new shoes. I pay for…

CVS was having a 30% off sale on CVS brand items.

I decided to stock up on some items I use often.

I bought some pantiliners. Regular price is $5.49

Sale price $3.84

I bought two of them.

The store charged me: $8.24

The invoice had a phone number to call with questions.

I called. My question didn’t fit into any of their categories, so I tried Human, Agent, Representative. Eventually, I got a human.

The woman who answered the phone didn’t understand…

My latest idea for airport safety: All TSA agents should carry photo-ID business cards. Before an agent pats anyone down, the agent should give the future pattee a copy of the card, and make sure that the future pattee sees that the photo matches the agent. After the pat-down, the agent should give an evaluation form to the pattee, which the pattee can fill out and place into a locked box that the agent cannot unlock. This should minimize the groping!

Considering that politicians tend to propose bills that punish their own sins, is it likely that Joseph McCarthy was in with the Russians? Have they been messing with US Politics for far longer than we have suspected? Have they really supported the Republicans and misled us all by smearing the Democratic party as Commie sympathizers? After all, the So-called Communists never practiced Communism. They gave the best stuff to themselves and impoverished everybody else. Reminds me of the…

Idea of the day: The National Endowment for the Arts needs a real endowment.

If 10,000,000 people each gave $100, the NEA would have a real endowment of $1 billion.

This seems do-able. PBS gets donations of this size on average. They have about 1 million donors, just for TV.

NEA supports art, literature and music. 

 This request would be under the duress of Trump not wanting to fund the arts. I think everyone who has…

This is the letter I wrote my GP after my colonoscopy:

When your resident recommended I get a colonoscopy, I asked him for an article that compared colon cancer testing alternatives. He didn’t know of any. The colonoscopy was worse than even I had anticipated.  Since then, I have found the article I wish I’d read in the first place.…

I've been watching picture book videos on Youtube.  Here are some that I like:

In 1944, the King of Denmark,  Kristján X, wore a yellow 6-pointed star and urged all his fellow Danes to do the same.

In that spirit, if President Trump registers Muslims, I will register.…

I love how new words get added to the English language.  Here's one I came across on the Doonesbury website this morning:  Trumpus

I have been ignoring the American election as much as possible, but there has been some leakage. After reading the recent Blowback post about Trump's possible new word (that wasn't) I thought I'd share a portmanteau word I thought I…

This probably explains why I don’t get along well with doctors:

She went to the doctor’s office because of persistent back pain. She gave her birth date as part of the office check-in process.

He came in, looked at the computer screen, and said, “Are you 21 or 22?”

She heard: "I have the wrong chart on the screen, and I haven’t bothered to look at you so I haven’t noticed yet."

She said: “I’m 68.”

She thought: When I was 21 or 22, I had 80 years ahead of me. I was…

Just when I thought America was reveling it its right/left division, I came across this website: http://rightoncrime.com/

The right and left have a lot in common when it comes to reducing prison terms, number of crimes, severity of penalties, and treatment of prisoners.

Now, if we could agree on how to eliminate poverty, which seems to be the main cause of crime, we’d be on the road to recovery.

First I received an email from Draft2Digital informing me that SCRIBD has rejected my children’s book Oliver, A Story About Adoption because of erotic content. I wrote back asking if the problem was the backside of a naked cartoon alligator. They responded that it is possible I received the wrong reject letter. The book might have been rejected because of its wordcount. But a few hours later, I again received the reject based on erotic content. This is an award-winning book that got written…

My back has developed into major pain city. The whole pelvis feels like it is biting me. I was taking pain pills: Ibuprofen, Tylenol.  I even went to a back doctor, who looked like he was readying his itchy scalpel fingers.  He did agree to send me to PT, but said that surgery usually gets better results than physical therapy.

I have a set of 4.5" inflatable balls that I use for some exercises. I put one under my pelvis, while lying on my back. I didn't feel like getting up and doing…

This is a team that can win.

And with a Real Republican on the ticket, Republicans have no reason to vote…

My doctor’s response to information on the lack of value for dexa scans is a model for good medicine.

I sent her these three links to studies of bone fractures and bone density:

http://www.nejm.org/doi/pdf/10.1056/NEJM199503233321202 bone brittleness in white women

http://press.endocrine.org/doi/full/10.1210/jc.2004-1568 bone…

I recently read an article claiming that choosing to act mature was far more useful than self-inquiry. It first that seemed like a disconnect.  

The more I thought about it, the more I remembered that the thing I like about "enlightened" or "wise" people is how mature they are. They don't anger easily.

And what is it that I find when I do self-inquiry?  I find all the things that bug me, all the things that prove I'm not mature.

So, choosing to act mature seems like a…

On my recent visit to my dentist, I had a worn out filling that had to be replaced. No new decay. No gum disease. Very little for the hygienist to scrape off my teeth.

My only problem was that the cold water being squirted into my mouth hurt.

I asked the hygienist about it.

She told me that the same tooth brushing and flossing that keeps my mouth disease free damages the gums. Quite simply, the gums are worn down at the base of the teeth and now the cold water can land on exposed…

My neighborhood has had a deluge of teens selling magazine subscriptions. I get magazines in the mail without ever ordering them. I get letters offering to use my unspent airline miles for magazines. If I wanted to read magazines, I would not need to buy them.

With my aging eyes, the computer monitor is easier to read than a magazine printed on glossy paper.

Yesterday’s teen was different.  I saw the clipboard and said, “I’m not going to buy any magazines.”  

He said,…

Last Tuesday, May 18 at 7 PM I participated in the Ride of Silence. Hundreds of cities all over the world hold these rides to remember and honor bicyclists who have survived and those who have died in car crashes. The rides begin with a reading of the names of those who have been killed in the previous year. In Philadelphia, where I live, these include a young man who just graduated college, and a young woman who was celebrating her 7th wedding anniversary. The reading of…