Read This: Olbermann on Healthcare

Keith Olbermann talked about Healthcare Reform on his show of October 7th. He devoted his entire show to a special comment on the subject, and it's powerful. I don't agree with everything he says, but he's largely on target, fair, and very informative. You can read the transcript here, and I've also embedded the entire show in the five videos below. Powerful stuff -- Read This, or Watch This, please.

Here's the link to the National Association of Free Clinics Keith spoke of in the last video.

Health Care on Whidbey Island.

Things I see on my way to work

This week I got to see something unusual. A PBY Catalina flew into the Seaplane Base at Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. I was sitting in the recliner around noon on Friday and heard the roar of it's engines as it flew over the house. Silly me, I didn't have the presence of mind to look out to see what was making all the racket! Even stranger since I knew it would be flying in, and we rarely have airplanes fly so low and slow over our house!

After work on Friday, Randy & I went out to the seaplane base to take a look. There it sat on the taxiway, still dripping water and other fluids! It was a beautiful sight, for those of us who like old airplanes!

This particular PBY is currently used for fire-fighting. The local PBY Memorial Foundation has hopes of purchasing this aircraft for a permanent historical display. Visit the links to find out more about these amazing airplanes!

The PBY on Whidbey Island.

My Hospital Adventures

Many of my friends know about my recent surgery. I got to spend two days in the hospital, and all things considered it wasn't entirely unpleasant. The nurses were awesome! They were always there with a friendly smile and great care and concern, as well as lots of encouragement.

One of the most uncomfortable things about abdominal surgery is gas. In my case, my gut shut down for about 24 hours after the surgery, and the gas just builds up. The doctors and nurses are aware of this, and make sure they get you up and moving around as soon as possible after your surgery. With this in mind, you would think they would feed you foods that were low on the gas-producing scale of things.

So what did I get to eat, you ask? The first real meal was a lunch; broiled fish, cabbage, and rice. Next? There was corned beef with broccoli, and potatoes, The rest, I can't recall specifically (after all, I WAS on drugs!) But the vegetables we all of the gas-producing varieties...broccoli, cabbage, and beans! oh my! Needless to say, gas was clearly an issue!

Obviously, I survived the efforts of the kitchen staff to make me explode, and returned home to my convalescence.

hospital stays on Whidbey Island.

Kindle 2

I was asked what I would consider to be necessary accessories for the Kindle. ( 1 or 2) Here's my list, short and sweet:

A case or cover. After spending that amount of money, it's wise to get a case to protect it it when not in use! You don't have to spend a fortune on a case, the stock case from Amazon for $29.95 isn't half bad! If you're crafty, check out Rhonlynn's blog, she has direction for knitting and felting your own cover!

A light. While I don't own one of the clip-on lights, I've often considered getting one. ( Normally, I read in areas that have plenty of light, but on those rare occasions, an extra light would be nice!)

There you have it, Mary's short list. Anything else would be purely superfluous.

In case you're wondering, I've never felt a need to have a spare battery, there's always plenty of warning when the battery gets low, and the charger is small enough to carry in my purse. (especially on the Kindle 2!)

A tip for you new Kindle owners: Turn on the wireless only when you need it, and off when you're done. This will save your battery for the essential stuff, like reading! The Kindle 2 has made the on/off switch for the wireless a software function, so no more fumbling for the back of your Kindle to switch it off (and hoping you got the correct switch!). I will post more as I think of things. Or...Feel free to ask, that gives me ideas for the next post!!

Kindle 2 Whidbey Island.

This Week At Rockhopper!

WooHoo! Tadpole here, Boss Frog is gone! She's taking a few well-deserved days off! (Can you believe she left me in charge?

Here's the news: Rockhopper is serving Corned Beef and Cabbage today only! Get it fresh while it lasts! Tadpole's own secret recipe! The corned beef should be ready , around 2pm for those of you who start early...

We have Open Mic this evening, Erik is hosting, and it should be lots of fun!

Rockhopper will be closed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. (Tadpole has a real job, too.) We'll be open again on Saturday, Rene will be back with a big smile and cooking up a storm for Saturday's Dinner! You won't want to miss her Roast Beef, or her Southern Comfort Cake!

Schedule at Rockhopper on Whidbey Island.

Cold Cash in hard times

Here's a money saving tip: Place your credit card(s) and/or debit card in a cup of water in the freezer. Trust me, you'll have plenty of time to think over whether or not you REALLY NEED that item you want to purchase! Especially when, in my case, it involves a 15 minute drive back home, and then back into town. Not to mention the time it takes to thaw and dry off!

I haven't had to go to that extreme myself just yet to curtail my spending. I'm one of the lucky ones with a steady job, regular cost of living increases, and an overwhelming desire to have some money left at the end of the month. I do know people who do that, however, and it seems to work well for them. But to be honest, up until this past year, I've probably been just about average when it comes to outstanding credit card debt. In case you've wondered: The average American with a credit file is responsible for $16,635 in debt, excluding mortgages, according to Experian. (Source: U.S. News and World Report, "The End of Credit Card Consumerism," August 2008)

That is one thing I've been working very hard on lately, much to the dismay of retailers far and wide. If I can stay on track, ( that means, no unexpected bills, like cars dying.) (oops.... now I've done it! any bets on which car dies next??) I will have $0.00 in outstanding credit card debt by June of this year. This process has taken me a number of years to accomplish, truly I've lost track of how many.

My next obsession will be to pay off the car and the Equity Line of Credit. I'll let you know in a few years how that's coming!!

Credit Cards on Whidbey Island.

Read This: The Future of the US

Right before Christmas, New York Times columnist Thomas L. Freidman penned one of the best columns I've ever read. He contrasts his experience in China with his experience back in the US, and decries our investment priorities.

It's a short, simple newspaper column, but it's an important piece that you should read. So go, read already!

The Future on Whidbey Island.

Back to school

No, I'm not really that far behind the times, well on second thought, perhaps I am. Once I considered joining a club for procrastinators, but never quite got around to it. (no lie!)

After 20+ years I have decided it's time to get my Bachelor's degree, and I have enrolled at a university and my first class. In the past few weeks, I have really had to re-cage my brain, and re-orient my thinking towards schoolwork. It's one thing to take an occasional class in printing on fabrics, or making felt. It's not that those classes haven't been hard work in their own right, but a senior level university class is a whole 'nother ball game! I have written assignments due every fourth day, and chapters of reading, and research to support the papers I'm writing. (So that's why I haven't been posting much!)

So far it has been a good experience, and of course, I am learning a lot. If I stay the course, I should have a B.A. in about a year and a half. If I go completely crazy, I could take two classes at a time, and I could finish even faster! But, for now I'm only planning on one at a time. I'm not sure my budget could handle paying for two classes at a time anyway, and I'm fairly sure my sanity couldn't.

Back to school on Whidbey Island.

Music on Whidbey

I love music! I love to listen to it, and participate in it! I sing along with the radio, the cd player, and my favorite musicals. I have even taken part in community theater, but that's another story!

One of my 'me' things is singing with the Whidbey Community Chorus.( I have a few hobbies, if you will, that I use as my personal time away from it all.) This is a group of people in the community who love to make music. We come from all over the Island, north and south. Every week about 80 people get together at the First United Methodist Church in Oak Harbor to practice. We sing a variety of music, each season normally has a theme to tie it all together. One year we did primarily Irish music, another was all Broadway style show tunes, those great love songs from the 40's. Obviously, our Christmas concert is just that, with selections from secular music as well as sacred. Every year, every season has been filled with great music.

Our Director, Chet Hanson, works very hard selecting the music and working us all at practices to perfect our selections. We started two weeks ago rehearsing for our Christmas Concert which will take place the first weekend in December. We always have one concert in Oak Harbor, at the Methodist Church, and one concert in Freeland at the Lutheran Church. We have done as many as four concerts in a season, but that is rare. This year we will probably have our Dress Rehearsal open, as well, to allow another opportunity to come see us.

So, if you like to sing, join us! If you like to listen to great music, or just want to get into the holiday spirit, come to our concerts! ( I know, you don't want to think about holiday spirit just yet, but those of us who have to help you get into it have to start extra early!)

Music on Whidbey Island.

Made on Whidbey

(I am woefully behind on my share of the blogging! I'll try to make up for it.)

When my sister visited this past August, we visited a number of wineries. I've always enjoyed going into a winery for wine tasing, although I really am not a professional by any stretch of the imagination. Through the years I've picked up a few things about wines, but mostly centered on learning what I do and don't like in a wine. Generally, I like sweeter wines, preferring the whites over reds. Occasionally I'll surprise myself by finding a Merlot that I really like. Such is the case with this winery: Holmes Harbor Cellars.

Holmes Harbor Cellars is run by Greg and Theresa Martinez, a couple my husband & I met through the Navy. The fun part of this is that I have known Greg for a number of years as an aircrewman, and while knowing that all Navy Officers have degrees (at least a Bachelors) you don't always know what that degree is in, or you expect, like my husband, for example, a degree in History. Greg has his degree in Dairy Science, with a double concentration in Husbandry (cows) and Manufacturing (fermented foods,cheese,etc). (Perhaps the reason why a man with a degree in Dairy Science is flying jets in the Navy is the subject of another post!) Greg has been making beer since the 1990's (fits right in with his degree, really) And has recently completed a degree from UC Davis in Enology. Okay so now we know a bit about Greg, let me tell you about his wines!

Generally when you go to a wine tasting, you'll find one or two wines you like, maybe one you really like, and one you don't care for. (at least, this has been my experience) At Holmes Harbor Cellars, all of the wines are delightful! Even the dryest red, I enjoyed! It wasn't just the company of my sister, because I have been there before. I think that Greg has found his calling! The winery opened in 2005, with their first "crush" in 2006. Greg took two of his blended wines to the San Francisco International Wine Competition this year, and both won Bronzes! What a way to start out! If you're lucky, he may still have a bottle or two of them, the 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and the 2006 Red Etude. I got two bottles of the Red Etude to enjoy with our Christmas dinner.

He has a nice variety of styles, from the "Oakless" Chardonnay to a wonderful Syrah, and it is well worth your time to stop in at the Winery. His tasting room is in operation during the Weekends, and at other times by appointment. His web site is currently under construction, but you can find contact information there. Also, The Autumn Crushfest and Grand Opening will be taking place on October 18th from 12 noon to 5 PM. This will be a special day of gourmet goodies, entertainment, tours and tastings! At the present time Greg buys his grapes from Eastern Washington (Yakima and Walla Walla) but has his own vines that should start producing in a year or two. It's a great challenge to find grapes that do well in this cooler climate, but Greg is working with the State Extension to do just that. I look forward to many fine vintages from this winery!

Wineries on Whidbey Island.

Felt Making

Part of my busy-ness lately has been a class I took in felt making. I attended a four day class titled "Experimental Feltmaking, Level 1". The class was held at the Gail Harker Creative Studies Center in Oak Harbor, WA . I have taken a number of classes here from feltmaking to printmaking and more.

The instructor for my class was Valerie Stein, a local fiber artist. You can visit Valerie's blog here. I really enjoy working with Valerie, she has taught me pretty much everything I know about felt making! This was my second class with Valerie, the first being a two day exploration into basic felt making techniques. This class was much more in-depth, although to be honest, the primary principle of making felt is quite simple: get the fiber wet with hot soapy water and agitate!

What I learned this past week went WAY beyond that! I have discovered that making felt allows me to create art in a way that gets beyond my tendency (okay, obsession!) with having everything neat and orderly, without giving me a headache! (reference Rene's post on Creativity!! It's true, I had a splitting headache at the end of the day) I like using an artistic medium that allows me to be very specific in my planning and execution, but will come out with a wonderfully random result. In spite of your best efforts, the fibers of wool are going to move around, that's what makes them stick together! The trick is to keep them from moving so much that you lose what you intended . Of course, sometimes you get something totally unintended that turns out beautiful.

Text about Whidbey Island.

What does YOUR computer do when you're sleeping?

I just had to ask. You see, my computer has a serious job to do while I sleep. When it's not busy defending itself from hackers and whatnot, it's busy crunching numbers. I have been participating in a couple of projects that use distributed computing to come up with solutions. The first project is for SETI@home. This project is sponsored by the University of California. I'm on the team "SimTechs With Time". So, for part of the free computing time my processors have, the SETI project uses my computer to search for intelligent life out in the universe. (Think "Contact" via the World Wide Web!)

The other project I participate in is a bit more down-to-earth. The Rosetta@home project, has my computer busily folding proteins which will help scientists get on with the real work of finding cures for things like Aids and Cancer. This project is sponsored by the University of Washington. My team on Rosetta is "More SimTechs With Time". If you're interested in helping with this worthwhile project, please join my team, even if you're not a Sim Tech!

Finally, if you're into puzzle-type computer games, but tire of the mindless and useless time-wasters, the Rosetta project has come up with a new game, Foldit! It starts out simple, with a series of puzzles to teach how to use the program. After finishing the tutorial section you move on to actual proteins, and, if you're into the competition, compete for the high scores. New 'puzzles' are added, and you can work solo or as part of a team. It's kind of an open-ended puzzle, in that you don't so much complete the puzzle, but find a solution that is most effective (reflected in the point value given). Still a mindless time-waster, but in the process you're doing something to help scientific research!

Now you know. Even when you're not using your computer, you can be using your computer. A CPU is a terrible thing to waste, especially when you've gone to the expense and effort of a tricked out machine. There are a number of projects you can attach to that are interesting and worthwhile. Just download the BOINC software, and pick a project. Happy computing!

Crunching numbers on Whidbey Island.

A new High in Geekery

I've told you before I'm a geek. Well this week I have achieved a new high in my geekery rating. I have a birthday coming up, as well as an anniversary. My husband asked me what I wanted, I told him, "It's kind of expensive, but I'd really like to have a Kindle" He said "Okay, order one up for yourself" Wow, if only it was always that easy! Seriously though, now he's completely off the hook for not only an anniversary gift, but a birthday gift as well. I guess it was worth it for him! Bad news is, I still have to come up with an anniversary gift!

Back to the geekery, though. If you don't know what a Kindle is, it's an electronic reader made by Amazon. You can connect wirelessly to their web site to download books, magazines, newspapers, blogs. The prices for the books and newspapers are pretty reasonable. The books off the New York Times Bestseller list go for about $10., and older books go for $5 to $7. Not bad. I ordered a couple of books. I've already finished one, and have a good start on the second. My Kindle is fairly easy to use. I took a little time to scan through the owners manual to get an idea of what it could do, and have become quite comfortable with it fairly quickly. It's much easier to read from compared to a computer monitor. Really not much different than reading from a book. It's about the size and weight of a paperback, and with the cover, you could almost imagine you're holding a book. If you're really into the tactile aspect of turning pages, you'll miss that, but I found that once I started to get into the story I was reading, it was easy to forget that I wasn't reading just any regular book.

If you're the type that likes to makes notes about what you're reading, you can do that. If you need to look up a word in the dictionary, one is included for your convenience. You can make bookmarks, add tags, and I'm sure a number of other things I have not yet discovered. I tried out the experimental section to use the web access. The connection was a little slow, and I don't know yet how much that brief foray onto the world wide web cost, but I had to give it a try. I checked my gmail account, looked up Rockhoppers Daily Grind, and that was it. ( As an 'oh-by=the=way' downloading a book wirelessly takes only a a short time, and does not incur additional fees over the cost of the book)

I have also discovered, so far, at least one web site that offers free downloads of Science Fiction books that are compatible with the format used on my Kindle. (I can download to my computer, and then transfer them through the USB port on the Kindle) It's the Baen Free Library There are some well known authors whose works are published there, and I'm looking forward to downloading a few titles for my Kindle. I am quite sure there are others as well for more general titles. If there appears to be interest, I'll post them as I find them.

If any of you living in the nearby area would like a chance to get a good look at a Kindle, come by the Rockhopper on a Saturday night! I'm almost always there, and as long as the battery isn't dead, (One charge has gotten me through one book, two newspaper issues and a fair amount of 'show & tell' so far!) I'll be happy to show it off!

Kindle on Whidbey Island.

The New Computer

It's here! It's functional, mostly! So far so good!

My new Dell computer arrived today. It's an Inspiron 530s, with 3G ram, some ridiculously huge hard drive and a dual core processor. It's got a 19" flat panel monitor, and I opted for the all in one printer/scanner/fax/photo printer/copier. (Hey, it was only $49.00 more! I'll spend that the first time I buy ink for the thing!) I know, for a geek that isn't much of a description. I like to keep things on a level most people might understand.

So far, I've managed to get it to crash and have to restore itself only once, and that within the first hour! I'm not sure how it happened, I was checking the usb plug for the printer to ensure it was properly seated and it just shut itself off. Bad thing to have happen in the middle of installing software! I suppose, if I were wise, I'd do a quick backup of the system as I've set it up, before it has a chance to get all gummed up with crud, instead of surfing and writing and so on, but who ever said I was wise?

I'm also having fun trying to acquaint myself with Windows Vista. I'll let you know how it works for me after I've been using it awhile. At least it's a little nicer than Win98SE, in terms of speed. My next task is to get the hard drive out of my old dinosaur computer and see if I can recover any data files, photos, or perhaps my address book. Wish me luck!

Computers on Whidbey Island.

Computers...Arrrrghhh!

Well, IT happened. you know, the inevitable realization that your computer is dead and now you have to buy a new one. My faithful machine of almost 6 years bit the dust this past week. It was nothing fancy, just a barebones model from Dell, but it has served me well. I went to burn a cd, and it wouldn't recognize my cd burner.

Being the geek that I am, I opened it up and checked the connections, etc. Still no joy. After I turned it back on, it reported there was no drive 0. OOPS! Big-Time problem here! After much trouble-shooting, hindered by having no cd-rom, I've come to the conclusion the drive controller on the motherboard is kaput.

You know what that means.... Shopping for a new computer! Oh joy! To keep it reasonably short, I ordered up another barebones system from Dell. I decided to bravely give Vista a go, I may yet live to regret that choice. My new machine should be here next week.

I'm currently working with a Really old system that was out in my studio.

I had set it up as a Windows 98SE machine, whose primary purpose in life was to play music while I work in the studio. Of course, it had no antivirus software, no firewall, none of the multitude of programs that keep a computer safe on the internet. I didn't even have Firefox loaded!

So I spent most of a day getting all that taken care of. Did you know you can still get downloads that work with Win98??

All this has served to make me appreciate the new computer even more when it gets here!

Computers on Whidbey Island.

Why We Don't Have TV!!

So Dan and I have not had television to speak of at our house in over 5 years. In truth we don't miss it much at all. However, there have been a couple of shows that I have gotten somewhat interested in lately. Granted I have not been interested enough to get an antenna or to subscribe to cable but I have enjoyed catching them on the Internet through their station channels. Last year I found myself really enjoying Studio Sixty. This movie was about a comedy being performed on television and was written by the same people responsible for West Wing. It was a drama however and because it's humor did not involve prat falls or farting .... well let's just say it didn't catch on. I also found myself really enjoying Kidnapped which was about ... you guessed it... a young man who got kidnapped and the extraordinary efforts the family went to to get him back. It was very well done and I have to admit I was wondering how they could possibly continue this series for another season. The first season did have an ending with the young man being rescued. Both of these shows were canceled! Both these shows were witty and engaging and what is more they were VERY WELL WRITTEN!

So this year I found myself wondering what the networks could possibly turn out that is any thing like these two shows. I met with shows taken from awful advertisements to stupid humor. If it wasn't CSI type shows then it was "reality" television (although I do question that title... who's reality? NOT MINE!)Awful Awful television viewing... However I do enjoy CSI and Bones and all the CSI MIMES. So I discovered Pushing Daisies... Cute but got tired of it... then I discovered Las Vegas. I did not want to like this show! I hate gambling.. big waste of time and money and it really felt like it was glorifying this industry. However, I love tom Selleck. So I gave it a shot.. I loved the characters.. I really did and gradually I found myself really enjoying this show. So the last episode comes on and leaves us with a real cliff hanger and guess what? It is the last episode! I HATE THAT!!!! I really hate that shows that are really decently written are taken off the air. So it is back to CSI, NCIS, and Bones for me and we will see if they can survive the network stupidity that seems to be so rampant on TELEVISION.

In the meantime when all of you who are so avid television fans have to endure the 1000th advertisement telling you why you should vote XYZ ... just remember there are those of us out here who enjoy finding out who to vote for without televisions suggestions and who really enjoy finding good news on the net to go along with the bad news that we still get to hear about. The only difference.. We get to hear the bad news one time and digest it on our own. Television isn't happy unless they have you hearing it every hour on the hour and if it is really big... you get to hear it every 10 to 15 minutes.

When national shut your TV off day comes try it... You might just find yourself enjoying peace and quiet and you might enjoy spending time playing games like Monopoly, Scrabble or the like. You might find yourself wanting to come here to Rockhoppers and play them and we will welcome you and maybe even play with you if we have time.In the meantime here is some good television to view.

Who needs TV when you have Whidbey Island?