Raise the roof, or the debt ceiling...or not

My friend Rick commented on the debt ceiling standoff to his Circles and I wrote a comment, which I soon realized was a blog. To leave something this long on someone's comment is, well, just rude. I decided to C+V it over here:


Just once I want to see this sort of discussion without bringing up the military, Social Security and Medicare. Yes, they are big budget items, but it's usually the little things that break a budget. Take those 3 big items out of the picture and start cutting the rest. I know how much my house payment is and I can't change that. But I can stop eating out so often. It's the little things.

Here's the thing. We need our government to stop funding every little research program that comes down the pike. Stop funding social agendas with the carrot-and-stick approach. Meet this benchmark and we'll give you money. That is the only power that the Department of Education has, by the way. An estimated $71 billion goes to the Department of Education, plus another $23 billion from the stimulus plan, and the DoE has no power to implement these programs over the states. They can only reward states for meeting their agendas--and effectively removing the power from individual school districts. It's an estimated $93 billion savings if the Federal government butted out of a local issue.  BUT there's a catch and the perfect example is the shuttle program.

How many thousands of unemployed people are there now because they shut down the shuttle program? Think about how many programs, large and small our tax dollars support. Our government funds so many programs that the number of unemployed would skyrocket if they stopped funding them. Not just research programs mind you, but education, social programs; there's a lot of good stuff being funded that would need to find funding elsewhere or shut down.


The ugly truth is that too many of us live off the federal government. The easiest ones to identify are the military, the elderly, and the disabled. However, through federal programs, a lot of us make our living because the government is picking up the tab. Shut down those programs and a lot more people are out of work. 


What we  need are jobs. Real jobs. Not jobs created by the stimulus program that are funded by the government. We need our American companies to come back from other countries and employ American people. We need to stop telling our kids that the only good jobs are jobs in a high rise in a major city, where they wear a white shirt and a blue tie and make a bunch of money. It is okay to work in a factory. It's good, honest work.


I'm no expert. I don't know how to fix the budget, but I do recognize that cutting the budget might be like pulling the 7 of diamonds out of the bottom row of that house of cards. That's probably why Washington throws the military, Medicare, and Social Security under the bus. Those three pull on the heartstrings and we'll fight to save them. Washington doesn't really want to start reshuffling the deck and cutting programs because it will put more people out of work and we can't afford that right now--literally.

My take on Google+ circles

A couple conversations about filtering messages to the right circles got me thinking about how G+ works and how I want it to work. I see G+ Circles like Twitter lists in that I can corral people into lists by topic, but I don't expect them to only post about that one topic. My NCIS tweeps might also be Dr Whovians, for example. There will be crossover and for me, that's okay.

Circles add another dimension. They add the ability for the sender to filter their posts by topic, kind of like adding a Twitter hashtag that we can follow and add to our tweets to be included in the conversation. In some ways when we post publicly or to our circles or extended circles, it's like we're posting our non-knitting comments with the #knit tag. That will be considered noise.

Personally, I like the noise because I recognize that the people I follow are more than knitters or geeks or SM experts. I like finding out that my NCIS friends also are Whovians or Whedonites. The fact that G+ allows us to post to Public, all our Circles, and Extended circles tells me that we're not expected to sort everything we post by topic.

Until G+ comes up with a way to listen multiple circles into our streams*, we may have to drop some of the noise in a circles into our Incoming or into a noisy circle. I would much rather do that than lose a voice that I want to hear. Having said that, I'm giving fair warning that I will not be filtering everything I say by topic, but there will be times when, for example, I'm talking about the Kitchener Stitch, that I will grab my Yarnies circle. If you feel you need to remove me from one of your circles because of the noise, I won't even notice.

note: I know there is an extension to add checkboxes in the stream. Broke my audio/video capabilities when G+ was running and I uninstalled. If you added it, check your Hangout to see if it still works. I'm running Ubuntu Linux YMMV.

Computer clean up

Spent much of the day cleaning up my bookmarks on Delicious, cleaning files on my Ubuntu computer (and a little on the iMac) and then installing Back In Time so it has an actual back up happening.

One of the things I discovered is that I have way too many copies of some knitting patterns. They are bookmarked on Delicious, multiple copies are on my computer, and saved on Ravelry. I also have way too many screen caps from NCIS episodes. Those are stored on 2 computers and on Flickr.

Sorting through those multiples is a project for another day.

Ann Cannon: Yes, I knit, but I’m not one of those ‘Sister Wives’ | The Salt Lake Tribune

Ann Cannon: Yes, I knit, but I’m not one of those ‘Sister Wives’ | The Salt Lake Tribune:

"Then I throw down a “sl st,k1, PSSO, k1” combination, after which I shout, “Boo-yah,” as well as “Who’s your daddy!”"

Need I say more? Except unlike the author, I'm not stopping.

Gatsby's knitting.

Gatsby's knitting., a photo by sandbar17 on Flickr.

I don't just think about NCIS. I knit as well. This is a tie I'm working on as my carry-around piece. Snapped it at Gatsby's, where go to see friends play. The pattern is from Lion Brand's site. It's the Vertical Striped Tie. You can't miss it.

NCIS Photos: Lost Photo on CBS.com

NCIS_Gary (NCIS Executive Producer, Gary Glasberg) says if we wish real hard, we may get Abigail Borin to come back for a visit sometime soon. I hope so. We love her.

NCIS Photos: Lost Photo on CBS.com

Battelle hired to help fight lake algae | The Columbus Dispatch

This is potentially good news. Our lake cabin, which I call CBTL (or Cabin by the Lake in a nod to the Michael Weatherly flick of the same name) is at this lake. My mom worked at Battelle. If anyone can solve this problem, it is they.

Battelle hired to help fight lake algae | The Columbus Dispatch

The Play’s the Thing « NCIS Exposition Faerie

Latest post by my alter ego. Shakespeare and NCIS collide.

The Play’s the Thing « NCIS Exposition Faerie

Still thinking...

I'm still giving thought to my idea about blogging something regularly--again. I may try the something new idea again. I liked the concept. Since we're at the end of the month, I'm hoping to kick it off for July. *fingers crossed*

Carrying through is not my strong suit

It's pretty obvious from the last few attempts to blog consistently that I'm lacking on follow through. I'd like to think that it's because I'm busy. It's more like I'm easily distracted. Tweeting, Facebooking, improving my web design skills, knitting, watching TV, hanging out online with my friends, training for to walk a 1/2 marathon leave little time for other things. I'd like to get back into the habit of writing regularly and reading every day. I'd like to finish sorting through the junk in my house and getting rid of the excess. I feel like I need a TARDIS to have enough time.

I think I really just need to focus better. On my computers I have multiple work spaces. My work computer usually has my inboxes on one, my set up browser on two, my calendar on three, and my play-space (Tweetdeck) on four. I wonder if using this technique is making me ADD or if I've learned a way to cope with all the information coming at me and need to learn that skill in the real world.

When it comes to blogging, I think I'm on the right track. A new thing everyday. I liked that. I may need to try that one again. Or at least, I need to have a purpose for whatever blog I'm writing. I'm thinking of "Julie & Julia" or a blog of which I caught the last post. A woman had explored being a woman and a geek. Interesting concept. That's what I need: an interesting concept.

Playing catch up

I've missed a week's worth of posting firsts, but I've been busy. I worked the Heartbeat Conference as an exhibitor, went to the convention center for the first time. I walked down High Street through the Short North after having my first wine tasting at Camelot Cellars. Green Apple Riesling. Good stuff.

I also met almost all my coworkers, Qui-Gon couldn't make it. Went back to the Apple store and picked up my Mac. Whew! I've pushed the envelope of newness. Still thinking on today's something new. It needs to be something relaxing.

Monday's new thing

Still on the thirty days of new. Monday had a couple changes. First, the rainy weather kept me close to home for my walk. Took a new route so I would be only a few minutes from home if the clouds opened up. Secondly, since iMacGee is in the shop, I worked on my own personal computer for the day. Learned alot about shortcuts and trick with some of the software that I have or is in Ubuntu's repository. This will be handy at our lake house since I'll be taking an old computer running Ubuntu to the lake when I go up with the hubs this summer.

Cbusr - Meet new people. Discover Columbus, Ohio.

Today's something new is Cbusr.com, a website recommended by my friend, Rick. I think I'd like it better if you could search by interest not just area and occupation, but since they encourage meeting in real life that makes sense. If you're in Columbus, check it out. Cbusr - Meet new people. Discover Columbus, Ohio.

Something New Every Day

I read an article on LifeHacker.com suggesting that every day for 30 days we try something new. It doesn't have to be anything big, just something to shake up the routine. I'm on day three, and I would have blogged this sooner, but Blogger was down. Anyway, this is a great idea and I'm going for it.

On Day One, I did something easy. I made an iced coffee smoothie for my afternoon caffeine pick-me-up. Day Two was more strenuous. I dug up about 70 bricks in the yard so we could move the hostas to a shadier spot.



Today, I'm taking my work computer to the Apple Store at Easton. It's doing this random shut down thing again. Anyway, my first time to the Apple Store. This could be dangerous.

Bin Laden is Dead

When the Towers fell, before the news said anything about Bin Laden claiming responsibility, I knew that he was behind it. He'd tried to bring down the WTC before, he had made it clear that he was targeting Americans. I had no doubt.

When the news broke last night about Bin Laden's death, after a bit of whooping and hollering, my mind turned not only to the memory of the first tower falling--which at the time I my mind couldn't comprehend and my son had to tell me it was gone--to the attacks on Khobar Towers and the U.S.S. Cole. Finally, the bastard got what he deserved.

I'm proud of our Navy SEALS who went in on a CIA-run operation and took him out. Thank you.

An NCIS script? Are you nuts?

Over the last few weeks I've been tweeting then Facebooking with a newly discovered online friend who feeds my analytical writing side--the English major in me who likes to discuss story, symbolism, and the dreaded significance. We're not talking Shakespeare or Dickens or even Austen. We're talking NCIS. Up to this point we've created some McMayhem and some fantastic t-shirts dedicated to the writers of NCIS. But we've also caused one another to think about what we write, and how we learn about writing in different ways.

Colorguard28 writes that she's not a visual thinker, and that she struggles to see the images she writes. I, on the other hand, see the images and struggle to describe what I see with the detail that exists in my imagination. I've considered for months participating in Script Frenzy this year, but since I completely bombed at NaNoWriMo in the fall, I've hesitated. The more I've thought about it, the more committed I've become. The theatre muse who helped write 3 summer shows for the teen theatre is ready to try her hand a an NCIS script.

Our Texas Trip

The hubs and I flew to Texas last week to visit with our sons and to see the newest Barton, Moriah (born Christmas Day). We're still here and loving it, even though snow arrived today and I picked up a cold somewhere--probably from the woman next to me on the flight from Chicago to St. Louis. Still I'm very glad we came.

Yesterday we went to Central Market, a grocery store that I am tempted to relocate for. The produce section was amazingly the size of some markets alone with huge amount of organic produce. When we walked in the door, there were ruby red grapefruit so large that Bekah called them pumpkins. The fish and meat section had butchers, not just clerks. The wine and beer section was massive and then there was the rest of the store. We went on Saturday, so samples were on the agenda. Who needed lunch?

We drove back past the campus of Rose Bowl champions TCU. I was tempted to bring home a Rose Bowl shirt, but figured my Ohio State neighbors wouldn't be amused.

Today we visited my sons' church. Very nice congregation that seems to know the  meaning of worship. I have strong opinions on music in church and that it shouldn't resemble a concert. I want to hear the congregation singing, whether I'm off stage or on. I'm told that the congregation was a little light because of the pending bad weather, still I could hear those gathered for worship over those on the the stage. My younger son played percussion today. He tells me that the worship leader told the singers not to sing too loudly, only if the congregation needed help with the music. Apparently, it's not them performing but rather assisting the congregation in singing together. Mmmmm. I love that concept.

We'll be heading back on Tuesday. I'm not anxious to get back, but working from here on the laptop has not been the easiest thing to do. If I could hang out here longer, I certainly would. I know that I'm not waiting so long for the next visit.

Christmasy things

Christmas started for me at the end of last summer, or at least my Christmas knitting did. This is the year of the scarf and I have knit a bunch of them. Everyone got a scarf or a shawlette, with the exception of my granddaughters who got vests. One also got a poncho--oh and my daughters-in-laws got socks. I suppose I didn't really grasp the amount of knitting and purling I've done until my youngest son texted me on their Christmas (two days later) and said that I must have been knitting like a mad woman.  He also said that they had received an inordinate amount of knitted things. *blush*

In other news, their Christmas was two days late because my newest granddaughter was born on Christmas Day. Moriah certainly brought a new meaning to the Christmas story as I waited through the night for news. For the first time in probably 26 years I didn't have to stay up late to wrap or assemble Christmas gifts after Christmas Eve service, and I still stayed up late, this time on baby watch.

The knitting continues, however. I was one scarf short, so I'm knitting one for a brother-in-law. Fortunately, that Christmas party is not until Saturday. I also have a blanket for Moriah on the needles and a red riding hood for Bekah, and as always there are socks in my purse. This thing you do with the yarn is addicting.

No time for melancholy ramblings.

Just deleted a positively morose post lamenting how my peer group is dragging me into acting their age not mine. I am younger than my hubby and a good portion of our friends--many of who are ready to hand the baton to the next generation. I really need to remind them that while they are staring down or passing 60, I'm closer to 50 than 55 and have no intention of packing it in yet.

The Red Scarf Project

My Christmas knitting has gotten a little sidetracked with the discovery of Orphan Foundation of America's Red Scarf Project. According to their website:

OFA helps former foster children become successful adults. In most states, foster youth leave the social services system when they turn 18. In the eyes of the court they’re adults, but few 18 year olds are emotionally, mentally or financially able to support themselves. Without someone to guide them, too many end up homeless, unemployed, incarcerated or pregnant. But it doesn't have to be that way. Thanks to the generosity of thousands of volunteers and donors, OFA is changing the odds for former foster youth every day.

One of their projects is the Red Scarf Project for which crafters make red scarves to give to these young people for Valentine's Day to encourage them.

This project strikes a chord with me because I am an orphan. I wasn't part of the foster care system, but I was raised by my aunt and uncle after the deaths of my parents. I understand what it is like to be 18 and on your own, trying to find your way in the world. Not that my aunt and uncle weren't there if I needed them, but I never felt comfortable enough to ask for their help. From the day I left for college (when I was still 17) I felt that I was on my own.

The Red Scarf Project is a small way that I can encourage someone that they can make it. I've done it, and I'm passing on a scarf to let them know that I've been there and I know they can do it too.  If you'd like to join in just follow the link.