Month: January 2013

California Highway News: 1/16/2013 -1/31/2013

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

As I came home from the business trip with a headache, this collection of highway related articles for the last half of January will have to suffice for today:

  • L.A. transit officials release analysis for closing ‘710 gap’. The analysis by the county MTA focuses on five options for reducing traffic and providing better transportation access between the end of the 710 Freeway in Alhambra and the 210 Freeway in Pasadena. Here’s the article from Metro, and a link to the actual report (PDF).
  • Ed Lee talks of tearing down end of I-280. Mayor Ed Lee is floating the idea of tearing down the stub end of Interstate 280 in San Francisco in hopes of creating a new neighborhood and speeding up the arrival of high-speed rail service downtown.
  • Caltrans Making Moves to Ease 10 Freeway Gridlock. Efforts by state and county officials to prevent — or at least lessen the impact of — traffic jams on Interstate 10 between Beaumont and Blythe are moving ahead, with Caltrans announcing the installation of new electronic message signs on the heavily traveled corridor.
  • Razing I-280 stub only part of vision. San Francisco’s vision for the South of Market area near AT&T Park and Mission Bay involves more than just taking a wrecking ball to the stub end of Interstate 280, though that image has drawn much attention in a city known for demolishing freeways.
  • Residents draw battle lines over $143 million Greenbrae interchange project. Residents draw battle lines over $143 million Greenbrae interchange project.
  • Wider I-405 expansion may get another look. The question that motorists stuck in idle might ask themselves during any given rush hour – What the heck would it take to fix the 405? – does have an answer, at least for now: About $1.3 billion in new lanes.
  • Caltrans finishes widening another stretch of Highway 46. Efforts to widen Highway 46, one of the most dangerous two-lane roads in Kern County, have succeeded in turning a nearly 30-mile section of the well-traveled asphalt between the San Joaquin Valley and the Central Coast into a four-lane expressway.
  • 405 widening: OCTA board talks options. A hitch in the planning process for a beyond-billion-dollar expansion of I-405 has given Orange County transportation officials more time to discuss how best to break up the freeway’s grinding traffic. For now, the plan calls for adding one lane to each side of the freeway, at a cost of around $1.3 billion. But some cities have pushed for two lanes in each direction, which would bring the total cost to $1.4 billion – a difference of $100 million.
  • Malibu Receives $14 Million For Pacific Coast Highway Projects. The city of Malibu has been awarded more than $14 million in Measure R funds for improvements to Pacific Coast Highway and several intersections.
  • Metro: Toll lanes to begin on 10 Freeway on Feb. 23. In less than a month, solo riders will be allowed to ride the carpool lanes 24 hours a day on the 10 Freeway between the 605 Freeway and Alameda Street for a toll. Metro has announced the express lanes program will begin Feb. 23 along an 14-mile stretch of the 10 Freeway between El Monte and Los Angeles.
  • 710 Freeway Coalition faces growing efforts against linking the route to 210. Just as Los Angeles County transportation officials embark on an environmental study of options for closing the freeway gap between Alhambra and Pasadena, the lobbying group that supports the controversial tunnel option finds itself trying to regain its footing in an uphill public relations battle.
  • Imperial Highway on-ramps are. A project to alleviate congestion on the 57 Freeway is on track to be completed in late 2014, officials from the Orange County Transportation Authority said. The next phase of the project includes work to reconstruct northbound on-ramps to the freeway from Imperial Highway.
Share

This and That and Da Other Thing, On Travel

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy2 Comments

userpic=zombieToday was another day of meetings at the National Cryptologic Museum, so there’s not much to write about. However, I do have a few things:

  • Yesterday, I bought a nice ceramic tea mug with the NSA logo. Used it all day with my immersion heater. This morning, while pouring boiling water into it from a hot pot — “crack”. Never had a mug crack like that before. The cheerful lady at the gift shop replaced it for free. Later in the day, I stopped in and picked up a book on Hobo-encoded Quilt Squares for my wife. Talked to the gift shop lady more–she had never had a mug crack like that either.
  • Last night for dinner we hit a fancy Indian restaurant in Anne Arundel. Not that impressed. This evening I consulted Yelp. Found a wonderful local BBQ place in Laurel. Had yummy pit beef and collard greens… from the new owners, who are from Los Angeles!
  • Tomorrow morning, I have a 925am flight out of IAD. This means leaving Annapolis Jct around 530am to return the rental car. Let’s hope the return flight to LA is better than the flight out to IAD.

Given how early I need to get up, I better go to bed so we don’t have a zombie on the Outer Beltway loop!

Share

The No-Tel Motel and the Agency

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy1 Comment

userpic=securityThis week, a project I support is holding meetings at the National Cryptologic Museum, in “The Magic Room”. Now, aside from the fact that it is cool to hold a meeting in “The Magic Room”, what I’m finding interesting about the museum is its history. I’m not talking about the cryptological history in the museum itself (which is also cool), but the history of the building.

You see, the NCM used to be a motel… the Colony 7 motel. NSA used to have some in-facility exhibits, but no one could see them.  Just outside the NSA Ft. Meade headquarters (right outside the employee gate) was the Colony 7 Motel, part of the Quality Inn chain. There was even a dinner theatre on premises. There were even rumors (although I’ve found nothing to confirm or deny them) that Russians rented a number of rooms. In the Spring of 1990, NSA purchased the facility, and the DIRNSA of the time suggested it be used as an NSA-operated museum. The housing wings were torn down, and the main building was renovated into the museum (looking at the map, the Colony 2 room is the Magic Room, and the library is the former restaurant). The museum opened to NSA employees and their families and other members of the intelligence community on July 15, 1993. Not even a press release was issued. According to the foundation’s website, there are plans to build a newer, grander, museum.

This got me thinking about other motels and museums. I’ve written before about the National Civil Rights Museum, which is housed in the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King was shot. Are there others?

Searching, I discovered the Coral Court Motel in St. Louis on Route 66. The “No-Tel Motel with a History”, the facade from the motel is preserved at the National Transportation Museum.

There’s also the La Concha Motor Lodge. Both the neon sign and the motel lobby have been preserved; the motel lobby was moved and now serves as the main building for the Neon Museum.

That’s all I could find. Are you aware of any motel facades preserved in museums, or that are now serving as museums?

 

Share

Up In The Air

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy1 Comment

userpic=psa-smileToday was a travel day from Los Angeles to Annapolis Jct… and it was one of my worst travel days in a long time.

It started with airport security (what else). I normally take my iPod speakers out of my luggage for security, as they always ask what they are. Today, the guard saw me in line, on the bridge, where the cold wind was blowing, with my CPAP, laptop bag, and backpack… and told me I had too much luggage and needed to put the iPod speakers back in. Thus, of course, unbalanced me. I got them in only to reach the front of the line… where I had to take them out again. They also decided to look in my luggage… because of a metal belt buckle in the luggage.

When I got to the gate, there were announcements that the flight was over sold, could people check their baggage, etc. As I was already worrying about carrying on my CPAP, laptop bag, and backpack (although that’s legal — the CPAP does not count as an item), I opted to check the backpack (meaning another 45 minutes of waiting on the Dulles end). Good thing I did — by the time I got on (boarding group 5), there was no overhead space left. There was barely room for the CPAP.

Never fly a 737 cross country. It was like the old stake bed trucks at camp, where you never worried about them overturning because no one would fall out! I had about 2 inches between my knees and the back of the seat. Making it worse, the guy in front of me farted so much I thought I was smelling his ass. Yuk! (and yes, he leaned back his seat as well). Further, being a 737, the restroom line took the entire plane, and the aisles were so narrow no one could pass. Is it any surprise I arrived at Dulles with a migraine. Dinner helped some, as did “Wait Wait” on the drive to Annapolis Jct.

I truly miss the old days of flying. Where you never worried about checking luggage. Where you often had empty seats next to you, and actually room between you and the seat in front of you. Where there were actual semblances of meals, and the plane wasn’t so crowded that you could not get up to go to the bathroom. Flying these days is no fun.

One last observation: Waiting for my flight, I was looking at the stanchions with the new United logo. I wondered: When an airline changes logo, what happens to all the old logo stuff? Is it just trashed, filling landfills? How wasteful!

 

Share

Singing and Dancing Velociraptors… What Could Go Wrong?

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy1 Comment

triassic_parquserpic=theatre_ticketsI’m always on the lookout for new and offbeat musicals. Many years ago, this led me to the hills of Anaheim (~64 miles away) to the Chance Theatre for their production of “Brain from Planet X“, a delightfully-kooky science fiction musical. Since then, there have been a number of productions that have intrigued me at the Chance (Jerry Springer-The Opera, Rooms: A Rock Romance, Anne of Green Gables), but either timing or the distance has led me to miss them. So when I read last November that Chance was bringing out “Triassic Parq: The Musical“, I started monitoring Goldstar Events for discount tickets. Luckily, some performances did show up, and even luckier, the first preview performances were the weekend after my birthday. So it was off to the Hills of Anaheim… and I must say, it was well worth the drive!

“Triassic Parq: The Musical” falls into the category of quasi-parody musical. It isn’t a true parody musical like “Silence!” or “Toxic Avenger: The Musical” that follow the original storyline closely, exaggerating the humor. But it also isn’t a serious musical as one sees on the Broadway stage, with a deep storyline and earnest seriousness behind it.  It is a musical that uses the theatrical Jurassic Park as a starting point (similar to the way Brain from Planet X used Plan 9 from Outer Space) to have a good time and perhaps make a point or two along the way. Luckily, Triassic Parq has grown since its first outing at the NY Fringe Festival; it has moved from a collection of sketches to a reasonable storyline with good character growth. In fact, one might say that unexpected growth is a main point of the story.

Triassic Parq (book by Marshall Pailet (FB), Bryce Norbitz (FB), and Steve Wargo (FB); music by Marshall Pailet) tells (roughly) the story of Jurassic Park… from the point of view of the dinosaurs. After a singing and dancing rollcall opening, the background exposition is provided by Morgan Freeman, who relates the story of the island of the dinosaurs, how the dinosaurs were created from prehistoric DNA of an insect mixed with a little DNA of a frog, and how the population is kept under control by being all female. Freeman also notes that the frog used for the splicing has the capability to change genders when necessary to keep the community alive, but indicates that fact isn’t important. Freeman’s character is quickly dispatched afterwards, and we’re left with our primary characters — T-Rex 1 (Kaitlyn), T-Rex 2, the Velociraptor of Innocence, and the Mime-a-saurus — all female. The two T-Rexes are best friends, and Innocence (the lead protagonist) is, well, innocent and curious.  When the lab provides the food for the day (a cute baby goat, wonderfully portrayed through puppetry), the Velociraptor of Faith has a prayer service to give thanks to the great Lab for their food. This celebration is interrupted by changes happening to T-Rex 2. She is having these funny feelings, and there is this strange growth in her body. Faith, recognizing it for what it is, expels her to beyond the electric fence, just like the previously expelled Velociraptor of Science. This provokes Innocence into action: she decides to go beyond the fence to find Science, and learn the true story of what is happening. Innocence goes on her quest, together with her cuddly cow companion, and eventually finds Science. Science knows well what is happening to T-Rex 2, and gives Innocence a book on Human Anatomy. This is where Innocence learns about the Dinosaur-Stick that T-Rex 2 is growing. Later, when T-Rex 2 comes across Innocence in the forest, she learns what is used for. Unfortunately, T-Rex 1 discovers them, and goes mad. This leads to the inevitable conclusion.

This story has hints of the original Jurassic Park story: you can see it in how the Dinos were created, through occasional touch points in the story, and how they go crazy at the end. During the discussion after the show, one of the authors pointed out that the closest parallel is Wicked — using the basic characters as a framework to tell a slightly different backstory from a different point of view. For Triassic Parq, when you strip away all the stereotypical jokes about men and their behavior, what you have is a story about family, the importance of survival, and how families will do what is needed to survive. We see this in the growth of Innocence, who moves from a young girlsaur to being a leader, as well as in the growth of the other dinos, who learn to accept their sexuality. What the story lacks (and perhaps what keeps it in the quasi-parody camp, although it doesn’t hurt the fun) is a depth of character: we see the lead characters as more broad archetypes as opposed to deeply realistic characters with which we identify.  This may improve as the show continues — we saw the 2nd preview and changes were still being made… on top of the large number of changes since the recent off-Broadway staging and the extensive changes from the original version. Translation: it keeps getting better and better. [ETA: Note that this also means that the Triassic Parq cast album may not agree with the show; the authors should consider doing a Kickstarter for an updated cast album, as they did with Now. Here. This.]

The staging of the show is very creative. The dinosaur aspects are conveyed through hints of costuming (as can be seen in these photos). Puppets are used to good effect, and the dancing uses the stage space well. I also liked the creative use of the electric fence. The score was a rock score and was enjoyable; I would need a few more listens to determine how well it holds up. Another creative aspect was the gender bending — all of the male characters were portrayed by females, and the female characters were mostly played by men. This allowed the audience to not bring in external stereotypes to their interpretation of the characters. However, there was another bending problem in the show: my mind couldn’t grok the species-bending aspects of T-Rexes mating with Velociraptors. Oh well, I guess all dinosaurs look alike in the sack.

Under the direction of the author, Marshall Pailet (assisted by Christopher Renfro/FB), the performances were great. In the lead position was Keaton Williams (FB) as the Velociraptor of Innocence. Williams brought a delightful (shall I say girlish :-)) energy to the ensemble: he danced well and sang wonderfully. Playing off of Williams were the two T-Rexes: 1 and 2. T-Rex 1 (Kaitlyn) was played by Micaela Martinez (resumé, FB) , and T-Rex 2 was played by Kellie Spill (resumé, FB). Both were strong singers and dancers, and Spill had some wonderful gender-bending scenes. The two also had a lovely duet.

Leading the dinosaur group was the Velociraptor of Faith, Jackson Tobiska (FB).  Tobiska had a bit more of a malevolent presence, for some reason — you weren’t quite sure of his motivations or why, but there was something he was hiding in his actions (note: I’m never sure what pronouns to use here, for you had male actors playing female characters). This was the mark of a good performance. Rounding out the cast were Alex Bueno (resumé, FB) as Mime-a-saurus and Camryn Zelinger (FB) as Morgan Freeman, the Velociraptor of Science, and various unnamed dinosaurs.  Bueno performed well, although (a) I couldn’t figure out why there was a particular dinosaur that was a mime, and (b) I couldn’t always figure out what she was miming. Other than that (which was more of a book flaw), Bueno was fun to watch on stage, especially in her final scenes. Zelinger was also fun. This was especially true in her Freeman introductory exposition, as well as her wonderful rap number with Innocence.

Movement and music-wise, the production was excellent. The production was choreographed by Kelly Todd (FB), who designed  creative dances that used the stage — including the fences and the poles — to good effect. Musical direction was by Taylor Stephenson (FB), who also led (as Pianosaurus) the three-piece band consisting of Stephenson on keyboard, Ryan Navales (FB) (Guitarodactyl) on guitar, and Jorge Zuniga (FB) (Percussodon) on percussion. The band provided great sound (I’ve always liked the live music at the Chance), and I particularly enjoyed the interactions between Pianosaurus and the remainder of the cast.

Turning to the technical (and I’ll note there were a few glitches I’ve written off to it being a preview performance): The scenic design by Joe Holbrook (FB) [assisted by Karrah Marie Spitznagel/FB] was relatively simple: a cave-like structure, some electrified fencing, with the musicians at the top of the structure. It worked well, although I couldn’t figure out the purpose of the ropes at various places. Lighting was by Matt Schleicher (FB) was very effective — it made good use of what I think were scrollers, as well as a number of LED lights and conventional lights. The sound design by Ryan Brokdin (FB) worked well, modulo the preview glitches. I particularly liked the deep-bass dinosaur roars. I’ll also note that Ryan worked on one of my recent faves, A Mulholland Christmas Carol, although he didn’t list it in his bio.  The costumes, which I’ve previously mentioned (and you can see here), were designed by Anthony Tran.  We’ve seen Tran’s work previously at the Colony for Year Zero. He did a great job here, with costumes that provided the suggestion of saur-i-ness without being overly limiting. Stage (or should I say Satge) Management was by Christopher Ramirez (FB), assisted by Jules Fugett/FB. The Executive Producer of Triassic Parq – The Musicalwas Mary Kay Fyda-Mar (FB).

“Triassic Parq-The Musical” continues at The Chance Theatre through February 24. It is well worth seeing, whereever you live in Southern California.  Tickets are available through Ovation-Tix, and may be available through Goldstar and LA Stage Tix. Chance has an interesting season this year with good pricing (as low as $45 for all 4 mainstage shows); alas,  they are a bit far away for us to subscribe). Their 2013 season consists of Triassic Parq (1/25-2/24), The Laramie Project/The Laramie Project: 10 Years Later (4/18-5/19), Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson (7/5/8/4)*, and Time Stands Still (9/27-10/20). The Holiday series is The Secret Garden-The Musical (11/15-12/29) and The Eight: Reindeer Monologues (11/25-12/23). [*: Note: BBAJ was just announced the 2013 season of DOMA, running 10/18-11/24, if you don’t want to drive]. As for us…

Upcoming Theatre and Concerts:   Next week sees us back at REP East for the “25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee“.  February 9 is “Backbeat” at the Ahmanson. February 16 brings “You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown” at Cabrillo Music Theatre, and the last weekend of February is “The Snake Can” at the Odyssey Theatre (based on an ad that caught Karen’s eye in the latest Footlights). March starts with “I’ll Be Back Before Midnight” at the Colony. After a break for Fogcon (although I may do something here), theatre picks up with “Catch Me If You Can” at Broadway LA/Pantages on March 16 and “Boeing Boeing” at REP East on March 23. March may also bring “End of the Rainbow” at the Ahmanson, most likely on March 30. April will bring the Southern California Renaissance Faire (huzzah for the $15 Holidazzle sale), “Grease” at Cabrillo Music Theatre, and a winetasting at Temple Ahavat Shalom. May is also busy, with two concerts — Elton John in Las Vegas on May 4, and (tentative) Michael Feinstein at VPAC on May 11. May may also bring “Falling for Make Believe” at The Colony Theatre, “To Kill a Mockingbird” at REP East. Lastly, continuing the look ahead, June will bring (tenative) “The Scottsboro Boys” at the Ahmanson Theatre, “Priscilla – Queen of the Desert” at the Pantages, (tentative), Sweet Charity“ at DOMA, and the Western Corps Connection at the end of the month. I’m also keeping my eyes open as the various theatres start making their 2013 season announcements. Lastly, what few dates we do have open may be filled by productions I see on Goldstar, LA Stage Tix, Plays411, or discussed in the various LA Stage Blogs I read (I particularly recommend Musicals in LA and LA Stage Times).

Share

The Problem of Debt

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy2 Comments

userpic=moneyThe other day, I was reading an article on the agreement on the debt ceiling when something caught my eye:

 The new proposal to balance the budget in a decade would zero out the federal deficit almost twice as fast as previous Republican efforts.

“It’s time for us to get serious about how over the next 10 years we balance this budget and put America on a sustainable fiscal path,” the speaker said after the debt ceiling measure passed the House, 285 to 144.

Think about what that says. We had a balanced budget under Bill Clinton.That meant that we were not increasing the Federal debt. After 8 years of a Republican administration and 4 years of a Democratic administration (here’s another analysis), we are now at the point where it will take at least 10 years to bring the budget back into balance, let alone pay down the debt to a reasonable level.

How do the Republican’s propose to achieve their goal? Not through new taxes. Not through cuts to the Defense budget. According to the article, “their approach would require steep reductions in domestic programs — particularly education, infrastructure investment and the safety net for low- and moderate-income Americans.”

Now, I’m all for working our way back to a balanced budget, and to bring the debt down to a reasonable level (but not wiping it out–there are many reasons not to do that). But if we are going to do it — and if it is a National priority — it has to be shared sacrifice. It can’t just be in domestic programs. There needs to be significant increased income and significant cuts across the board. If there is going to be pain — and there will be — it must be shared.

If our leaders do not feel this is a program worthy of shared sacrifice… if our leaders feel do not feel this is important enough for everyone to give a little… then we may just as well live with the debt we have. After all, other countries are perfectly happy having us pay interest to them, reliably. They show no great desire to be paid back; they are not increasing the interest rates they charge us because they do not believe America will pay its bills. (As an aside, that was the problem with Spain and Greece: other countries believed there was a risk they wouldn’t get their interest payments, and thus kept raising the rates to account for that risk — this is something that hasn’t happened with US debt). I certainly feel that most people don’t understand the National debt, nor realize that households are different than nations, and there is no agreement on what is too much debt.

Personally, I do not believe our leaders feel the debt and deficit is a real issue that requires shared sacrifice and pain from everyone. They are willing to use it as a campaign issue to goad the other side, but want to protect their sacred assets while letting others pay. This is being done by both side. That’s not fair.

 

Share

Friday News Chum: Redistricting, Fonts, Liddsville, Dogs, Lawns, Apollo 11, Stomach Flu, and Postage

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

userpic=headlinesWell, it’s Friday at lunch, and you know what that means — time to clear out the accumulated links that couldn’t be formed into a coherent theme. Well, at least I couldn’t figure out a theme. Perhaps you can:

  • Impacts of Redistricting. Let’s start with a couple of aspects of redistricting. First, in California, the state senate districts have staggered elections and terms (just like the real senate). This means when redistricting occurs, there is a short period where some people might have two state senate representatives and others might not have a state senate representative at all. The state senate has just addressed the quirk, assigning senators to those areas that ended up without representation. If you are wondering how this happens, The no-senator areas, known as deferrals, stem from the interplay of the Senate’s election schedule and redistricting. One-half of Senate seats are up for election every two years and the 2011 remap moved some residents from odd-numbered districts scheduled to be on the ballot in 2012 to even-numbered districts on the ballot in 2014. The result is that those areas have no senator for two years. Here’s another redistricting issue: Redistricting in many states results in gerrymandering, where districts are created to have majorities in one party or another. The Republicans in Virginia and a number other “swing” blue states are attempting to take advantage of this by allocating electoral votes to the winner of the district. It’s one thing to allocate proportionally based on total state voting, but doing it by congressional district allows the gerrymandering effect to predominate, disenfranchising those in the minority in the district.
  • Readability. Let’s move away from politics. You’re reading this post on your computer, in a serif or non-serif font, depending on your preference. Mine’s serifed. We’ve always believed that serifed fonts were more readable because the serifs helped move your eye along the line. Guess what? Serifed fonts may not be more readable. Ariel or Lucida Sans for the win!
  • It Won’t Be The Same Without Charles Nelson Reilly. Those of us who grew up in the 1970s will remember Lidsville, a Sid and Marty Krofft series about talking hats. It may even live in that scary memory place with the Bugaloos, the Banana Splits, and H.N.R. Puffnstuff. Well, this article will really cause you to flip your lid. Alan Menken, composer of such shows as Little Shop of Horrors, Beauty and the Beast, The Little Mermaid, and many others, is working on a live-action movie version of Liddsville (as well as a musical episode of The Neighbors). Dreamworks is producing.
  • Turning Wolves into Dogs. There has been a lot of debate of how the wolf was domesticated and became man’s best friend, the dog. A story in the Washington Post posits that it was moving to a diet of grains and potatoes that did it. A team of Swedish researchers compared the genomes of wolves and dogs and found that a big difference is dogs’ ability to easily digest starch. On their way from pack-hunting carnivore to fireside companion, dogs learned to desire — or at least live on — wheat, rice, barley, corn and potatoes. As it turns out, the same thing happened to humans as they came out of the forest, invented agriculture and settled into diets rich in grains. Co-evolution at work!
  • A Concrete Jungle. Los Angeles has been referred to as a concrete jungle. San Francisco, on the other hand, has a problem with concrete lawns. Specifically, under San Francisco city law, at least 20 percent of a front yard must consist of permeable surfaces with vegetation, mostly to allow for proper drainage and to keep the neighborhood looking green. Homes can be reviewed for compliance every time an owner does construction on the driveway or property. However, this is ignored more in the breach, and now the paved-over lawns in San Francisco are creating environmental concerns due to excessive drainage.
  • Learning from the Past. Another thing that those of us from the 1970s will remember is the Apollo Program and the launches to the moon. Bet’cha thought it was dead. Well, not quite. NASA has started testing a vintage F-1 series engine from the Saturn V.  The hope is that it could become a template for a new generation of motors incorporating parts of its design. Those of us who live in the San Fernando Valley remember well the roar of those engines — they were built in Canoga Park and tested in Chatsworth!
  • Getting Sick of It All. I’m sure you have all heard the exhortations about the Influenza going around the country, and you have gotten your flu shot (except those of you who don’t believe in vaccines — but that’s a different debate). There’s another “flu” going around (with “flu” in quotes since it really isn’t a flu), and this one doesn’t have a vaccine: There’s an epidemic of norovirus, a/k/a “stomach flu”, going around. It’s a pretty strong variant (from Australia, where they make things stronger). This variant causes nausea, forceful vomiting, diarrhea and abdominal pain, accounted for 58% of outbreaks of norovirus nationally. Norovirus typically begins very suddenly and lasts one to three days. Most people recover without treatment, but some require rehydration with liquids or intravenous fluids. The disease is most severe in the elderly and can also hit young children hard. Norovirus is extremely contagious. The best protection is vigilant hand washing with soap and water. If surfaces may have been contaminated, the CDC recommends disinfecting them with a diluted bleach solution made of five to 25 tablespoons of household bleach to a gallon of water.
  • Stamping It Out. And lastly, first-class postage is going to 46¢ on Sunday, with postcards going to 33¢. I’m sure most of you are unfamiliar with postage and postage stamps, as you have never written an actual letter or paid a bill by mail. You see, people once communicated not via email, but by putting pieces of paper in an envelope, affixing a money-equivalent to the envelope, and giving it to someone to take to the recipient. Seriously, even those of us that use postage stamps forget the price of postage these days, as most first class stamps are “forever” stamps. So pick up some forever stamps now, before the price goes up. Those dollars you save might buy you a cup of coffee. I emphasize the “might”, given Starbucks’ prices. You’ll do better at McDonalds!

 

Share

Food on the Brain

Posted onAuthorcahwyguy

userpic=pastramiAs you can see, I’m doing a late lunch today. This means I’ve got food on the brain…

 

Share