The Sociological Eye: SANDY HOOK SCHOOL SHOOTINGS: LESSONS FOR GUN-OWNIN...

The Sociological Eye: SANDY HOOK SCHOOL SHOOTINGS: LESSONS FOR GUN-OWNIN...: The aftermath of the school shootings at Newtown Connecticut has focused on searching for a motive. Why did 20-year-old Adam Lanza kil...

Well written post.

More comments on Boston

 So there was this stupid article on Alternet Boston a taste of a police state
I am getting really tired of articles like this, and once again I had to give a long most likely ignored response. Which I want to remember so I am posting it here.
Wow quite the long article there, lots and lots of points, some good, some bad, some so far out in left field the Green Monster can't be held responsible for what happens.

Let me make one point right away. What is happening in Chicago, and in our own Roxbury is terribly sad, young men who don't think they have any value, or much of a future are killing each other for a small payout, or a bit of respect. It is horrible, but it is not the same thing as the bombing victims. In Roxbury, and I bet in Chicago and any other area subject to gang violence the community turns a blind eye to finding the people who do the shooting.

Do you know much about the Boston area? Do you know our politics? Or our history? This is a city that knows martial law, and the pain of innocents, we remember the first Boston Massacre. None of us living today experienced it, but it is a part and parcel of our DNA,

Yes lots of crazy people used the bombing as a way to pump up their own nut job agenda, on both sides of the discussion. Reminding us once again of the crazy comments made after the bombing is meaningless. The comments were stupid, the speakers more so. Although I still can't get Iman Webb's comment about wanting to wrap Boston in a blanket and smother it out of my head. A poor choice of words, hopefully not want he meant to say the two different times he said it.

Now to the suspects, who were the unknown. We knew what they looked like thanks to the brave people who described them to police from their hospital beds. We knew they knew we were after them when their faces were shown by the police. After that happened we also know that some friends helped then hide evidence, while others called the police to give them their names. We then discovered they were willing to murder a police officer, to car jack an innocent man and threaten him with death. They bragged how they were the bombers and loaded pipe bombs in to his car. He bravely escaped and let the police know what happened to him. Would any of us have been that brave to do the same thing?

He did not know if there were just two people he did not know the number of pipe bombs loaded into his car, or the sum total in both vehicles. The police had no choice but to expect the worse. They did not know if the second suspect ran to a safe house, or ran in panic after killing his own brother. We did not know if there were other people involved or if his was on his own. We knew he was someone who had no problem with killing, the police knew they did not want to give him another chance to add to the body count.

So the people of Boston, the people of the Greater Boston area were asked to remove themselves from the equation. To make sure the bombers were the only ones on the chessboard. We did something that few people appear to understand, we got out of the way. When your neighbors house is on fire do you grab a garden hose and put it out your self or do you stand back and let the professionals do their jobs? During a blizzard, who clears your street, you with a snow blower or the city with a snow plow? When a person who has already shown a willingness to kill do you run outside with a gun to look for him your self, or do you let the police do their job? Remember Officer Dorner, the innocent people shot by the LA police? That did not happen here, it did not happen because we did what any civilized people would do, we got out of the way and let the professionals do their job.

I dread to think what could have happened, I am beyond happy that it did not. I'm also very tired of the second guessing, the idea that tragedy is a competition to be won. 

Boston after Bombing

Got back a little bit ago from attending Boston after the Bombings WBUR reporter Tom Ashbrook put it together on short notice with the help of Emerson College.

The room was packed, I'm so proud of my city for getting together to find answers. One of the speakers was a doctor who was running the Marathon who did triage after the bombing. She was amazing said she was not a hero, she was just doing her job. She only stayed for a short time as she had to get back to the hospital. She started crying as she talked about the people she helped at the blast site and how she was still helping today. The audience totally disagreed and gave her a 3 minute standing ovation as she left. We also heard from the incident commander of the Boston Police force. Yes he got a standing ovation too. He talked a little bit about what went on that horrible day, and the search for the two suspects. He talked a bit about how the brothers had many guns and pipe bombs, how the police worked together to find the brothers. He refused to use their names, still referring to them as suspect 1 and suspect 2.

Sadly Imam Suhiab Webb of the Islamic Society of Boston Cultural Center apparently thought the entire thing was a big joke. He wanted to talk about the Celtics game, and complain how he was not allowed to speak at the interfaith service. He brought up the fact that there had been shootings since the bombing and no one was having an interfaith service or big meetings about that. They totally do have community meetings about that, I guess he just does not attend. He also said the brothers were more influenced by Grand Theft Auto than they were Islam. I don't play GTA is there a player option where you get points for sneaking behind innocent people and kill them with bombs.

Any way, it was a real learning experience.

The rest of you shut up!

I really hate listening to people who say Boston cowered, or Boston was under martial law. We were not scared, we are not stupid. We got out of the way and let the PROFESSIONALS DO THEIR JOBS!

So tell me, all you "I would have grabbed my gun and found the bomber" if a house in your neighborhood is on fire do you get in the way of the firemen with your garden hose? No you get out of the way and let the professionals do THEIR jobs. Which is what we did this week, just as we did during Snowstorm Nemo, we got the hell out of the way and let the professionals do their jobs.

 I tremble to think how many other people would have been injured if every person in the Greater Boston area grabbed a gun and went out looking for the brothers. Do the police arrest everyone? How many scared people shoot each other because they "might" be the bad guy?  What Boston, and Greater Boston did was the right thing, we got out of the way and let the professionals do their job. One of those professionals lost his life doing his job, a second officer is fighting for his life. For both those men we are grateful. For all the people injured we stand with you, and will help you live again. For those who lost their lives, we can never replace you, but we will stand with your families and they will not morn alone.

For the rest of you jerks, shut up.

Interesting post on Alternet

http://www.alternet.org/immigration/major-victory-against-language-bigotry

The author mentioned that no one calls Bernie Madoff, (what a perfect name  BTW you think someone would have had second thoughts there) . an illegal. Apparently missing the connection between the different level of crime being committed. 

More interesting to me my response.

Oh where oh where do I start.
Bernie Madoff is not an "illegal" he is a criminal who is serving his time in prison. David Vitter is a scum bag, but not an "illegal". Being in this country without proper documentation is a civil offense. We should change that and make it a criminal offense, coming here illegally should be a greater crime than skipping jury duty.
Now like most people in this country my ancestors came from some where else. Yes I am glad for that. All of my ancestors came into this country legally. Waiting to be processed at Deer Island in Boston Harbor. They had to prove they had a job lined up, or a family member ready to take them in and support them until they could support them selves. They had to show that they would not be a burden on this country. Or that they had some special talent that this country needed. I believe in Boston we call that the David Ortiz clause.
I live in a wonderfully integrated neighborhood. I hear Spanish, Cambodian, Arabic and Russian on an hourly basis plus I am sure others I can't even guess, no Klingon though bummer. All of my neighbors are people who applied to immigrate to this country. They had to apply and wait for permission to come here. Some came her straight from refugee camps. Others are displaced persons who have been without a country for many years. Both groups I think more than deserve respect for following the rules and making this country their home.
I am only asking for a couple of things. First that people should only come to this country legally, that our borders are sealed. Secondly that the people who have already entered the country illegally admit they did something wrong. If they want to stay in this country well it's time to meet the same requirements my neighbors have, and the ones my distant ancestors had to as well. To prove that they can support themselves, that they will not be a burden to this country, that they learn English, as my many neighbors are struggling to do.

Readercon fail - my mother asked me to post this. Then I thought of something

So when I was out in Hopkinton, making plans to bring her down to Plymouth, my brother and I started talking about the Readercon Fail. She wanted to know what we were talking about, so Joe and I described what had happened. My Mom is in her 70's still going strong and one hell of an opinionated lady. Her feeling was that if Rene Walling had done that to any one he deserved to get two things. First a fat lip, and second banned for life. We starting talking a bit more, she has been asking about Readercon Fail every time we talk.

Yes Readercon fail has gotten so big a woman who is not even on the web is following it!

When I went to Plymouth today she asked about what was going on. I let her know that other people had come forward to say he had harassed him, and apparently the only reason something was happening this time is the person he harassed had some serious fan cred herself. Apparently, he has been in the habit of using his position in fandom to harass woman for many years. So ya, now back to the regular hoots

I got down to Plymouth just before noon. Mom had made dinner and we sat down and ate. I had told my aunt that I would take her shopping again if she needed it, but her daughter-in-law is going to take her tomorrow. I had also said that I would take my uncle to the store if he came over when I arrived. Well my aunt called and he did not want to come over, he said his legs hurt.

So once dinner was done we headed out to Hopkinton. Tomorrow would be my Dad's birthday so we went to the grave site and planted a white mum. From there I headed back to Revere. Got caught up on a few things, and now I'm watching Hoarding:Buried Alive on TLC. It's mother daughter bonding time. We call each other to talk about the hoarders just like Dad and I use to do with sports. Kind of tired, going to go to bed pretty soon.

I was reading more about Readercon fail  this great article my policy  When I had an odd thought, if an unknown nobody 20 something first convention attending woman had been harassed, would we be having this conversation?

Convention and accomidation of the hearing impared

This is a Title III question, so I contacted the Department of Justice. I had a lovely chat with an ADA consultant after staying on hold for 30 minutes.

First I want to clarify a misconception about ADA

According to DOJ we are required to follow Title III public accommodation regulations. We are private group putting on a public event. Our event is open to anyone able to purchase a membership. So we must make accommodations for any disabled person who attends our event.

Also, DOJ prefers to mediate instead of going straight to court. We would have to fail on many levels before opening ourself up to a DOJ law suit. Lets not do that DOJ, lawyers make the IRS check under the bed for monsters.

When a person registers for the convention there should be a section of the form asking if they need accommodations. I tried to look at the Readercon web site to see the current registration form, but the site was no loading in the time frame where the consultant could look at it. The form should simple ask “Do you need accommodations and if so what?” If we receive a registration from someone who requires accommodation it is within our rights to contact the person and ask them what accommodations they need. We can NOT ask about their disability, nor can we request proof of their disability. We are only allowed to ask what accommodations they need.

DOJ recommended that a member of the Registration staff working with our disability coordinator contact the registrant regarding accommodations. There are three levels of accommodation for deaf or hard of hearing individuals. Assisted listening devices, Captioning and interpretor.

Captioning is most likely well out of our price range, and not effective for a live event.

Assisted listening devices are not as expensive, according to DOJ. I have been given some companies to contact regarding renting or purchasing a device. The information is provided at the end of this report.

Our third option would be providing the services of an interpreter. We could in our accommodation conversation ask if the individual knows someone they regularly use as an interpretor. We can go a couple of different ways here. If this person brings their own interpretor we must make the environment accessible to them. Reserving lines of sight for the interpretor. Request panelists speak slower and are in the line of sight of the interpretor. I'm not quite sure, and neither is DOJ how we would handle people asking questions from the floor. They would have to stand so the interpretor could see them, or use a mike so the interpreter could hear them. We would not have to allow this interpretor a free membership or a reduced membership. Although that might be a very good option if only to provide a positive experience for the attendie.

If the deaf person requests we provide the interpretor. In that case we might want to look to the fannish community (Or as DOJ put it, contact other events like yours) to see if any of them could recommend a person we could use. We would then have to work out a contract with them to attend. My suggestion would be to look to the fannish community if we have an sign language interpretors and offer them a free membership in exchange for being with our deaf attendee

We could go in a different direction and place sign language interpreters in each panel. That way the deaf person is not attached to one person for the entire convention. Again this could be in our best interest. If we find a few sign language interpretors who are willing to station them selves in a room for an entire day we might be able to connect them with programing and give them the additional duty of being the room monitor.

I hope this has answered everyones questions regarding accommodation of disabled persons. Our responsibility is limited to our events. The hotel is responsible for general access and most likely has a person on sight or someone at the corporation level who deals with accessibility issues as they relate to the physical building. The only way we would have responsibility for physical accessibility would be if we set up a special event that required mobility. Say a maze that was not wide enough for or passable to a wheelchair or motorized scooter.

Resources used for this report.

Department of Justice ADA Home Page hhttp://www.ada.gov/index.html

Job Accommodation Network www.askjan.org

Searchable Online Accommodation Resources www.askjan.org/soar/

It's the end of a year

Last June I was cold called by someone who wanted to offer me an job as an Occupational Safety Engineer. I use to get those calls a lot, more so when I was still married, as that is the name my degree is under. It got slower over the years, but still I would get the calls. How people found me I don't know, because while I did tell my university of my name change, I never changed it on my transcripts or my diploma.  I wonder how much that would cost, BYW.

My last call was according to my personal blog June 17th 2011. It's June 29th which means it has been a full year since I received a job offer. It could be my age, I am 52, or it could be that all the people I told to enter my field have done so and the jobs are filled. Or perhaps

Either way, it's been a year, and quite a year it was. Over all my health has been stable, not better than in past years, but I have a new normal now. 

Two hoots and a garden

This morning was so nice, it was a tiny bit cool and I was all wrapped up in my comforter. It felt so good that when the alarm went off I did not want to crawl out of bed. But I did because it's Wednesday and I had places to be. I got there around 11ish, and we headed out to our errands. We were thinking about getting mulch, and could not decide if we should stop at Lowe's or Home Depot. I remembered that we had seen mulch when we went to B.J.'s last week so I figured we should just try there.

The new Price Chopper in town has been open about a week, and we went in today to check it out. They had butter & sugar corn for sale, that is a corn that has both white and yellow kernels. It tastes great, but I did not get any. The container was very picked over. We both applied for frequent shopper cards. They had some great stuff, including some chicken halves for a very good price. It was a 2 per shopper limit so I bought one and Mom bought two. We did our usual massive money exchange, I bought the mulch and we decided we were even.

We got to B.J.s and I was able to grab for my friend Bill Nowlin "Fenway Park at 100" Which I found so now I have to get him to autograph it. I am leaning toward some thing funny, just have not totally made up my mind yet. I picked up the book, and 4 bags of mulch for gardening. The kid who helped me load the mulch in the car managed to drop the book on the ground and then run the cart over it. No major damage, he tore the book cover. The book it self was not damaged so I just put it in the car.

When we got back to the house it was time to start doing some gardening. First I opened a bag of white rocks and spread them around the plants we planted two weeks ago. From there we got the weed whacker out and I started clearing grass around the shrubs and the center garden. Mom wants to take what plants she can out of the area and let the circle go back to grass. We cleared that out and went inside. That was when I realized I had missed a cal from koshmom* about her car being ready. I headed out to pick her up but thanks to traffic issues was unable to get there in a decent enough time for them to get their car.

Got back to the house and tried to decide what I wanted to make for dinner. I grabbed smelts yesterday but they were still not thawed out. I guess that makes them tomorrows lunch instead of today's dinner. I just made myself a sandwich and nibbled on some fruit.

Just for the record

I think the movie Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter is an abomination

How close are we to the world of Star Trek?

Source: Best Computer Science Degree | Via Geeks are Sexy

Byron has passed away

Early this morning just a little bit past 1am Byron suffered a heart attack and passed away. All the many times he has pulled me from the brink, I was unable to do the same for him.

Ya Obama is for gay marriage. He's not re-elected yet so you might want to vote

It's nice that Obama stood up for gay marriage, but now the right wing nut jobs are going to be out in force to stop him. We need the 40+ percent of people who never vote to get off the couch and vote.

The biggest problem with same sex marriage, civil unions, birth control availability, abortion rights, universal health care and even student loan debt and mortgage relief is the people who support those things don't vote. And the people who HATE THOSE THINGS DO!

I'll celebrate Obama's position on the second Friday in November if he wins a second term and control of the House and Senate. The only way he will do that is by getting people who have never voted to VOTE.

Let me put it this way, 

- If you are an adult  who has sex, you might want to vote this time.

- If you are a person who believes any one who wants to marry deserves to marry you might want to vote this time. 

- If you live in one of the "swing"  states of Michigan, Florida, North Carolina, Virginia, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Iowa, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and New Hampshire, and you want to see President Obama have a second term, you might want to vote.

- If you have ever been sick and unable to see a doctor because you did not have health care, you might want to vote.

- If you just watched your student loan rate double on your useless college degree, you might want to vote.

- If your house is worth less than you owe on it, or you have lost your house to foreclosure, you might want to vote 

Pretty much dance around and have a drum circle or what ever will make you feel better today.  Then go out tomorrow and register to vote! Then remember to vote come November, because it's the one duty you have to this great country.

 

Purple hoot

It's Wednesday and on this blog Wednesday is hoot day!

I put the food steamer in the car last night so I would not forget it. I did not call her last night or this morning like I usually do. I have started to figure that it is a given, but she was unsure. So back to calling her on Tuesday evening.

We kind of had an idea of something to do on Saturday, but instead she decided to go to an all day Lions meeting so I am free to go some where else. Now this might not be that important a story, however, this is MY Mom.  She is a member of the Ashland Lions and the club has a club color. Purple, very very purple. She wanted to get a new purple polo shirt that she could wear during the day. She has a purple sweater and a purple club polo shirt, but she wanted another one. After we got our few groceries we went first to Old Navy, then Gap, the K-Mart looking for just the right color. Old Navy had a short purple sweater which was way to young for a 73 year old. Heck it was to old for me, and I never say that. Went to the GAP next and wow, their stuff is crap! So fragile and thin I wondered if it would have stayed together had she tried the shirt on.

Kohl's had nothing so we went into KMart, they had some nice purple tops, and matching purple jeans.  I cracked up, even going so far as to offer my Mom money to put them on. I got as high as 50 dollars and she just would have nothing to do with it. No go, darn they just matched! The had a couple of purple shirts that were close to what she wanted but not really. I suggested she get them because even though they were not just what she wanted, they were close enough in case we could not find exactly what she wanted. We went back to the house and on the way, Mom started talking about J.C. Penny, she loves that store. We got directions to the nearest store, one of only 4 in eastern Mass. We went in and there were those purple jeans again, well not the same brand, but the same purple. She also found one purple polo top, just what she wanted. So next week we will bring the shirts back to KMart.

When I was doing my laundry a couple of days ago some of the ladies that like to hang out in the lobby were surprised at the weight of my reading. I kind of riffed on the number of books I had and mentioned even having one on Krakatoa. No one knew what that meant, and Flo said she might want to read that, so today after I called Mom to let her know I was home I brought the book over to her. I tried to pull up my entire library on my smart phone. But I could not get a connection. So annoyed! I have the entire list printed out, I wonder if I should put the list in a spreadsheet so I have it with me even  when I am not on line.

Kohls 0 hoots 2

It Wednesday, and you know on this blog, Wednesday is hoot day! Mom had the Kohls add and they were offering a hot air pop corn popper for 19.99 and the same Food Network steamer I had for 30.00. The Kohls near her was out of the steamers but they did have the pop corn popper. We went to the desk with the popper and it rang up a full price. My Mom had the add with her and showed the desk clerk that the popper was on sale. She got the sale price and I figured that was the end of it. I told her I would go to the Kohls near my house on the way home and get the steamer for her.

From there we went to do our other errands, looking for a replacement fern leaf bleeding heart. We did not find one at Home Depot last week or Lowes this week. Time to hit the net. Looks like Mahoney's has it. I guess I'll be over in Brighton tomorrow. T's been wicked sick so I can't go hang out with him, with my immune system (or lack there of) I would be flat out pretty fast.

We got back to the house and Joe was mowing the lawn, Byron had fun rolling in the newly mowed grass. He left a little green ring on my car seat. Lovely, just lovely.

Well I told Mom I would go to Khols and see if I could find the steamer there. She told me to take the flyer with me in case I had a problem. I tried not to, but she was so insistent, and as it turns out right.  Because guess what, yup same problem. I pulled out the flyer from my purse and had just about the same conversation with the store manager as she did in Milford. Oh I was so pissed!! First they tried the "that flyer has ended" but I pulled out my phone and showed them it was still April 25th. Then they tried to tell me the flyer was not valid in that store. Well I quickly pointed out that the Medford store was indeed listed on the flyer. Not only did the store manager admit I was right, but she offered me an additional 5% off of my total sale, mostly I think to get me the hell out of the store. Well it worked, but I'm still pissed.  Just might be writing to store management after the hockey game.

On the way home my cell phone rang, it was my friend, on her cell phone, she never uses her cell phone unless it's an emergency. I asked her where she was and she said "right behind you!" I looked in the rear view mirror and there she was! I started to tell her my Kohls story, but she does not like to talk on the phone while she drives. Me I just toss the phone on the dashboard and chat away. I followed her to Sally Beauty Supply, which reminds me, I should check and see if they have an app. I grabbed a few more of their dirt cheap sample bottles, they were having a buy two get one free special.

I was standing in front of the CVS looking at it and trying to remember what it was that I saw this morning at CVS. They were having a buy one get one free sale, and I could not remember on what. So we both walked in the store and I wandered around looking for the sale. Turns out it was gatoraid so I grabbed four bottles. They also had the new mint and raspberry jelly M&M's. So I got some of them too. 

Well it's 8:30 I should eat some thing, gonna go yell at the Bruins some more. I would be in an a better mood if the Bruins were playing better.

Two hoots in bloom

I wanted to go to the Boston Flower Show and I did not have any one to go with, I really don't like going by myself. I realized that I did have some one to go with, a hoot out in Hopkinton who never says no to any of my crazy ideas. Well some times she says no, but always for a good reason. I called Mom and asked her if she wanted to see the Flower Show, she told me she had never been to the Flower show an had always wanted to see it! Silly woman, I told her had I known that we could have planned ahead! Which we will, next year.

I went out and picked her up and drove back into town. I am not sure where my brain was but first I thought the event was at the Boston World Trade Center, so I went to there. Well I was wrong, it was 4 blocks away at the Seaport Trade Center. Some how, I could not negotiate those 4 simple blocks and ended up on the Mass Pike heading east, in other words back to Revere. I had printed out the directions before I left the house, I had just left them in the printer. So we stopped back here, dropped Byron off as he was being a beast and headed back into Boston. A quick little trip, no more than 7 minutes and 8 miles away according to my infernal GPS. So with the directions in had and KITT as navigator off we went. Kinda... See KITT told me to turn left at an intersection that had two left turns, don't ask it's a Boston thing we really do have other lefts. I went left, but I went ALL the way left instead of half a way left. KITT really should be more specific.

 I figured since I knew where we were suppose to end up I could ignore KITT so I did, at my own peril. Because for reason I still do not understand dear reader, and in the time it will take you to read this entire post start back at the beginning and find your self here again,  I   missed   the    turn!

For those of you lucky enough to have never driven in Boston, or dealt with the big dig, the exit to South Boston and the many multiple trade centers Boston has is very well marked. It is if you are paying attention easier to miss the beach than it is to miss this exit.

 I should stop now because well I missed the exit.

 I turned KITT back on, and he redirected us to the proper building. So what should have taken at best 40 minutes turned in to an hour plus adventure. My mom enjoyed her self thoroughly before we even GOT to the darn flower show!! Well get there we did, and the show was every thing she had hoped for. I took lots of pictures and picked up some thing nice for Tom and his mom, it's tiered planting system, all flexible vinyl. I saw some amazing art while we were there, and reveled in the beautiful plants. The fragrance of the Flower show is something to behold. I know winter was neither brutal or cold, but seeing so many plants in bloom would make anyone happy.

Still learning how to use my big camera, so not so sure of how my pictures came out. I have been taking lots of pictures of my Barbie doll collection that I am putting on my pinterest because unlike Byron and Purrball they will pose for me all day. I have been working on Barbie dolls wearing wedding dresses. Next I think I might get all my Ken dolls together and put them all in suits.

Today had two stories

This morning I went to the apartment of a neighbor to walk his dog. He broke his leg a couple of weeks ago, and I have been taking his dog for a walk for him. His dog is a little terrier mix, and is very fearful of people. Walking with her is generally keeping a job of keeping people away from her. She does not bite me, but if someone walks to close to her she will growl and nip. Sadly the one thing I had been concerned about happened today. As we were walking back from the beach she spun out and grabbed the pants of a person walking by her. She ripped his jeans, and scratched the skin underneath. I am not sure the guy realized she had bit him. I stopped him and asked him to check and see if she had got him. I asked him to join me in returning to the building with me to talk to the owner. I was not sure if she was all up to date with her shots. I can't figure out why she is a nipper around strangers. I went over to Koshmom's house so we could take a quick (actually long) run to a garden center. She is a big fan of Kane's Flower World, and I don't understand why. Yes their prices are low, but so are Wal-Marts, and at a least in Wally's world the employees are nice! I like to go to garden centers where they know about things like customer service. I had my Christmas cactus in the car and was hoping they might give me some advice on bringing it back to health. I figured it just needed some fresh dirt and a simple re-potting. They refused to even look at the plant, much less give me any advice. The center of the plant was turning brown, and it really needed re-potting and fresh soil. I really don't like the place but Koshmom swears by it. I think next time she suggests going I am going to pass. I think growing up near Weston Nurseries. Considering White Flower Farms to be the local growers of note. Then returning to Boston with the benefit of a Mahoney's Garden in my neighborhood has spoiled me. On the way home I was craving a shamrock shake from McDonalds. Yes I know it's just a vanilla shake with green food color and peppermint flavoring, but I like it. I stopped at 3 yes 3 McDonalds and all three of them had already stopped selling them. I was so pissed!!!! Well the last McDonalds I went to is right across the street from KFC, and since yesterday's South Park, I have been craving me a little KFC. So I drove across the street an ordered a small meal. Just two pieces of chicken, mac and cheese, and a single biscuit. Then I stopped at Stop and Shop and got a carton of vanilla ice cream, if I can't get a shamrock shake, I'll just make my own.

The Radio Boston show that got me thinking

On February 27th Radio Boston did an interesting show. It was on accents, specifically the famous Boston accent. One which I proudly speak. I can go full on Boston, or Boston lite, the result of twenty hard years living in Connecticut. In Connecticut, speaking with a Boston accent is considered to be a sign of a lack of intelligence. While the New York City accent is considered to be the smart ones. Which is neither here or there, but something I just had to throw out there. This episode was an interesting one, the interview with Ben Zimmer language writer for the Boston Globe was informative. Sadly Richard Bailey the author of "Speaking American: A history of English in the United States" died before the book was published. Speaking American I plan on getting the book, but am having an internal war with myself as to I should get it as an E-book or a hard back. Still the most interesting thing about the interview was the comments that happened during and after the show. I commented that it was funny to hear a radio show about Boston accents, given by two people who don't have one. The main correspondent of the show responded to my comment about how she was born in Boston but did not have the accent. I countered the accent was something that had to be learned, just being born in the 617 area code is not enough to give you the accent. It comes from listening to siblings, parents, grandparents and the like all speaking with a unifying accent. I also mentioned my dislike of the use of "Native" to describe someone who was born in the area. Specifically -- I am a fifth generation local / townie. I sound just like my parents, grandparents and while it has been a while since I heard them, my great grandparents. I also know a lot of people who have lived here since college, and consider them selves to be Bostonians, with no accent. When they have kids, the kids don't really speak with a Boston accent either. But the kids consider them selves to be 'native' Bostonians. I also hate the term 'native' Bostonian, as my parents use to say unless you have Native American blood, you are not a native. -- There was the side conversation with a Max Headroom reference that I only just remembered I had not responded to. Some one made a comment about providing valid input, and the radio correspondent did not know what that meant. So I was able to clarify it for her. Someone responded to my comment about my dislike of the term native. With a very well thought out comment. Jan - while I take your point about 1st generation residents, I must disagree with your parents. The word "native" means that you are born somewhere. If anything, the term Native American is a misnomer, as any of us born here are in fact, "native Americans". But until someone comes up with a better, non-derogatory term, the confusion continues. Which made me think... In thinking more about this, I wonder if my inherited aversion to "native" has less to do with the Native American idea. Is it instead what would have been my great-grandparents, great grandparents feelings about what we now call Native American's. Could this be a bit of prejudice I did not realize I had? I love Radio Boston and good shows like this are the reason I listen. Radio Boston is on 90.9 WBUR Monday through Friday at 3:00 PM every day.

Back from the concert - Byron was great

A splendid time was had by me, and Byron. I was seriously thinking of leaving him at home. He did not agree. As I was getting ready to go he positioned himself in front of the door and refused to move. We got to the car and headed out, my first job was in Natick in a building right next door to the Natick Center for the Arts which when I worked in down town Natick was a fire house. I even parked in the same parking lot I use to park in for my job. Getting there was easy, I just took the pike to route 30 then route 27 to Natick center. I pulled out my GPS, which has been sitting on the desk for quite some time. It started out okay but once i got off the highway it locked up. I knew where to go so I just put the unit in my purse and kept driving. The opening act was Emily Elbert a real sweet singer songwriter, who did a short set. At the end of her set I wanted to go out and sign up for her mailing list, but instead got distracted by the people sitting near me. Byron had gotten up for the first three songs, thinking that meant the show was over, since that is what applause means at the end of science fiction panels. He realized that applause meant nothing so he settled down for a nice long nap. During the intermission a woman was was volunteering at the show asked me about Byron and his training. She has a friend with MS who is looking to get a service dog and has been having trouble. Apparently she has tried 3 times to get a service dog, and the group doing the training has said she did not properly bond with the dog. I gave her my card and told her to have her friend email me. I am not sure how I can help, but maybe just talking to her will help. Joan was great, as expected. She opened with a new number and then went right into Saint Teresa. I loved the show, I just wish she had a few copies of her now cd out. The CD drops on March 27th, so I'll be hitting up a record store, or something like that soon. Byron stayed right under my chair all night! His butt stuck out into the row of seats behind me, I checked with the woman sitting behind me to make sure he was not in the way. The couple sitting next to me mentioned how sweet and quiet he was. At the end of the show Byron really wanted to go out, and we had to kind of had to push our way through the crowd. I went back into the building after he peed, because Joan was doing a signing after the show. The line was really long and it was almost 11. I was given the option of just sitting and waiting until the end of the signing, except there was no guarantee she would stay to sign every thing. So I decided to head home. When I got back in the car I plugged the GPS back in, but the screen stayed black. It would not even turn on! Luckily I knew how to get right back to the Mass Pike, travel right down 27 and connect with 30. I have the GPS on the charger now, and I am hoping that the problem is just a really dead battery and not a massive failure.

My busy month so far

Well I did not realize I had gone so long without posting. I have been organizing my library here at the apartment. Funny, but I am finding some books I have duplicates of. Other books that I know I have, I can't find any where. Well I still have a few boxes of books in storage to go through, so I am not quite ready to go on an ordering spree. I have been thinking of starting a new book list, one I can list as apartment. I have a library thing and a good reads account but I am not sure how updated they are. So instead of painstakingly going through pages of books it might be easier to grab my cue cat and just start a new list. I can't find some of my Arthurian books, including a few that are out of print. I will have to keep opening boxes and trying to find them. I find it a bit odd some of the books I can't find. I tried really hard to organize books by subject as I was packing them up. I know the two people helping me pack did not take them, they did not value books and would have had no idea what to take. So they have to be some where!