A Garden, a Job, and a Theory

I've figured it out.  If you want to get a new job, and want to sell your house and move to where that new job is, all you need to do is plant a garden!  I planted our garden last week, and this past Thursday I got a job offer from Georgia Highlands College.  I'm really excited about it - I'll be the Reference and Instruction Librarian on the Paulding Campus (in Dallas, GA, about 15 miles to the west of Marietta).  It's basically what I'm doing now, but I'll be in a *librarian* position.  ::Happy Dance::

So that was Thursday.

On Friday, I spent hours re-arranging the house and cleaning and boxing up stuff and organizing... We're pretty organized and neat folks most of the time, but the housing market in our area is like the rest of the country - very squishy.  So I want to give our 40-year-old house the best chance possible of attracting buyers.  I took a bunch of stuff to the thrift store, and that felt GOOD.  Why is it that a pending move is the only thing that really prompts us to get rid of stuff we don't need?  (BTW - anybody want to buy a weight machine???  Heh.)

On Saturday, we met with our local realtor.  She was favorably impressed with the house, so after a couple of hours of poking and prodding and talking and telling stories and signing paperwork, we got the listing together.  It should go up on Monday, and then the wild rumpus will really begin.  (The cat did NOT impress our agent, tho.  She coughed up a hairball just as Laura was taking photos.  Anyone want to house a psychotic cat for the next two months??!?)

On Sunday, we drove to Dallas.  We explored the town, ate lunch, and met with our Dallas agent Michael.  The Atlanta area was hit hard by the bursting of the housing bubble, so we were hopeful that one of the seven houses we picked to look at would be at least "a possibility".  Housing is pretty darn cheap right now, so that is good. Unfortunately, most of the first set of houses were Completely Unacceptable.  One was terrific ("Brown 2") until we discovered standing water in the basement.  One was interesting ("Purple with a Study in Blue") but the lot was terrible.  Why is there a 2' diameter black pipe sticking up out of the ground in the back, with a screwed down lid and electrical outlets running into it???  "New Farmhouse" looks like the previous owners took hammers to the walls and fixtures before they left.  The other four aren't even worth mentioning.

Today I'll be poring over the listings again, looking for houses that meet four basic criteria: location, price, a quiet place for a study, and an "interesting" quotient.  At this point, even if it's not interesting we'll consider it as long as it meets the first three!  We'll head back to Dallas on Wednesday, and go from there to see what we can find.

So thank you all for your prayers - God definitely works in mysterious ways, doesn't he?  We didn't find a job for Greg, but being close to Atlanta will open up lots of avenues that our corner of Alabama could never offer.  We're still only 1 1/2 hours from family, so close enough to be there if we need to be.  And my dad can still come over for Football Saturdays in the fall.  All good!  Now we just have to sell our house (insert another plea for prayer here) and find a place to live in Dallas.  Oh, did I tell my job starts in 8 weeks?  So no rush!  (ACK.)

And about the garden?  Fortunately everything I planted can be harvested in late April or early May.  And the seeds for the summer veggies will keep until next year.

Late Summer Hiking Adventure (and a bit of an update)

We braved the heat and humidity last weekend to go hiking again. This time we went north on the Pinhoti Trail, from the Salem Church Road crossing to the 1500' overlook (about five miles round trip, all told). It was great to get back on the trail again after our long, hot Alabama summer. Yes, I know it's still summer, but you know, September 1 is the first day of meteorological Fall so I'm sticking by my story!

This is Hawkins Hollow Creek, which had some beautiful red flowers.



And this is the view from the overlook on Indian Mountain.



In the foreground is Davis Mountain, then you see the Augusta Mine Ridge, then Oakey Mountain, then waaaaaaaay in the distance is Dugger Mountain. We've been to all four! How cool is that?

We still have our sights set on going up to the Walls of Jericho, if the fall doesn't get away from us too quickly. But given our schedules, we'll have to see. What with jobs, and yard reclamation, and other house projects, and college football games, sometimes it's hard to carve out the time.

A brief update on Other Things:
The philosopher had yet another phone interview with the Far-Away School, and he is encouraged. I think he would fit in intellectually very well there, but the whole Big City thing is a tough sell. We are also fairly confident that he'll get an interview for the full time job at the Happy Southern School, where he's already teaching adjunct. It may come to a decision between Two Cities (could that be the best of times and the worst of times?) so prayers for wisdom, and guidance, and patience are always appreciated. You know, it's funny - we talk about these deep things when we're hiking quite often. Maybe it's easier to listen for the still small voice of God when you're in the wilderness?

Defending Myself

I really shouldn't have to do this. But with all the newsprint (and internet bandwidth) given over to the "Health Care Debate," I feel I should say something in my defense. "What!" you say? Well, it's obvious.... haven't you heard? Chronic illness is preventable. It's all chalked up to lifestyle choices. And I have three chronic illnesses, so I must be responsible - through my terrible choices - to the high cost of medical care and insurance. (/sarcasm)

It's true. I have three chronic illnesses. But none were related to "lifestyle choices." I don't drink. I don't smoke. I eat healthily and I exercise regularly. But if you read nearly any article about the health debate written recently, there's little differentiation between folks like me, and folks who really have lived a life of debauchery and decadent living (or at least didn't do a good job maintaining a healthy lifestyle.) I did a quick Google search, and found several prime examples.

“Unfortunately, largely avoidable chronic illness- things like diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease- are a national epidemic. They account for 75 cents of every health care dollar spent. And they're driving up the cost of health care and insurance.” (Blue Cross, Blue Shield, North Dakota)

“These recession-related repercussions could not come at a worse time in the state’s battle against rising health care costs and preventable chronic disease,” said Valerie Fleishman, executive director of NEHI. “Through unhealthy behaviors, people are becoming unnecessarily ill at a time when we can least afford it.” (New England Healthcare Institute)

"Lifestyle choices contribute to chronic illness -- and ultimately higher health insurance costs,"…

“Today chronic illness accounts for two-thirds of a company's health care expenditure, yet 80 percent of all chronic disease is the result of three preventable health behaviors -- physical inactivity, poor nutrition and overeating, and smoking.” (Even During Financial Crisis, Investing in Wellness is Good Business Oct. 21, 2008)

“As a medical student and briefly as an intern physician, I've seen many patients with diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol. … What's more amazing is how these three conditions are fairly preventable with diet, exercise, and weight control.” (Dr. Anthony Lee, Jan 12, 2008 )

“Less than 1% of chronic illness is truly genetic in nature. Essentially, this means that chronic illness is preventable.” (How our lifestyle choices are causing us to sink into chronic illness, Colleen Trombley)

"On May 12, the Senate Finance Committee held a hearing on health care reform. …They gave the reasons that experts -- on right or left -- always give for supporting this idea [ending the tax exemption on employer-provided health benefits]. …It drives up health care costs by encouraging luxurious plans and by separating people from the consequences of their decisions." Brooks, David. "Something for nothing.(Editorial)." The New York Times 158.54715 (June 23, 2009)

“Most chronic illness is preventable through simple behavior changes, like avoiding smoking and excessive alcohol -- and engaging in healthy behaviors such as regular exercise, more sleep and a balanced diet.” If You Ask Me (column) by Don Riegle | Flint Journal Sunday March 22, 2009

“A core truth about chronic conditions is that most are preventable.” Preventing Chronic Illness Health Affairs, 28, no. 1 (2009): 36

Granted, I didn't vet these comments carefully. But I do quote a doctor, the New York Times, Health Affairs, and an insurance website, among others. It's not a kooky idea dreamed up in someone's basement. It's being said over and over and over again. Another thing these articles rarely do is make that distinction between preventable illness and those that are not. Or if they do make a distinction, it's something like "Less than 1% of chronic illness is genetic." (Which doesn't mean that the other 99% IS preventable, but I'm not going to argue that point here.)

Anyway, to you, my two faithful readers, I beg you... When someone tells you that chronic illnesses are preventable, rise to the defense of those of us who had no control over our diseases. We may share in the blame of higher costs, but it is not due to negligence on our part. And for me, that's a big distinction.

Scientific Research Gone Wild!

Well.... or not. Actually, one of the following stories is really true. And one ... erm ... not so much. Before you click on the links to each, see if you can guess which is humor and which is real medical research.

Story #1:
Dr. V.S. Ramachandran is a researcher who deals with phantom limbs. (You know... that sensation amputees have when they experience pain/feeling in their missing limb.) He had a patient that felt significant recurrent pain in his amputated arm. How did he resolve this pain? He amputated the phantom limb with a cardboard box and a mirror.

Story #2:
(You have to click on the link to researcher's interview, which is an audio file. He talks about this particular study at about the 3:25 minute-mark. There's also a link to the journal citation here.)
RAAP Syndrome (Recurrent Acquired Arthrosis of the Pelvis) is being researched by Dr. D. B. Stewart. It is a joint disorder caused by repetitive strain to the hips. It is typically found in men who spent much of their youth walking with a exaggerated gait, causing a repetitive injury to their hip joints.

This is Really Cool

I'm a nerd. Have I mentioned that? I'm also a librarian, which means I get really psyched when libraries do really cool things that combine antique texts integral to the book world and high-tech technology.

Today I discovered that the 1640 Bay Psalm Book (the first book printed in British North America) has been made available free online. The book itself is housed at the Boston Public Library, but it is owned by the Old South Church. And it's not just in the old boring pdf-style, but in a new flash-based digitized version where you turn the pages and it's in full color. It uses a system called the Earlybook Imaging System, where you can do all sorts of book imaging that used to be severely damaging to brittle texts.

So go here and check it out!

Michael Crichton, RIP

A great author passed away today: Michael Crichton. Probably his most memorable book was Jurassic Park, because of the movie, but many of his other books (also turned into movies, with much less success) were even better. Congo. Sphere. Andromeda Strain. Timeline. The list goes on. Though one title the linked article mentions is actually incorrect. It's State of Fear, not State of Favor. May God's peace be with his family during this time. He will be missed by many.

Do you sense a disturbance in the Force?

Over in Switzerland yesterday, they cranked up the largest supercollider in the known universe (I say "known" universe, because who knows what the little green men in other universes have done thus far!) CERN (the European Organization for Nuclear Research) has assured the world's population that it is perfectly safe - the galaxy has been doing this for "Billions and Billions" of years so no need to worry that we're doing it underground in Switzerland. The skeptics, on the other hand, started wailing about miniature, invisible black holes and other destructive anomalies (though you'd think they could come up with a better name than "strangelets") consuming the earth and destroying all matter in its matrix.

Well, I've read that story already. It's by Stephen King, called The Langoliers. I'm not thinking so much about the time travel aspects of the story, but it's the description of the Langoliers themselves that strike a common cord. And if you saw that BAD made-for-tv version of this some years ago, visually they looked like black masses with teeth eating the world. (Yikes - now I sound like the cult of Cuthulu!) So these fearful folk should come up with a better description, otherwise King could sue them for infringement on his intellectual property!

Anyway, I thought of something much more practical and of real concern.... did you sense a disturbance in the Force yesterday? Could these "strangelets" actually be midi-chlorians, destined to overwhelm the world and create uber-Jedi? >(As an aside, in the linked article, doesn't the image of the Kennewick Man look at lot like Patrick Stewart??) So that, I think, should be our real locus of worry. I can see it now. There's going to be a huge influx of uber-Sith and uber-Jedi, fighting for supremacy in Manhattan, and - like Predator vs. Alien - we unfortunate commoners will be caught in the middle! Aaaah!

Vocabularian

I find this immensely fascinating. So much so that I really want to read his book. I don't want to read the OED, but I would love to read ABOUT him reading the OED. So I suppose that does not make me a vocabularian, but neither do I think his endeavor was quisquilious.

So there you go - and remember - eschew obsfucation!

Cats in the belfry...

Check this out...

I wonder how many community college libraries have a friendly feline? I couldn't bring MY cat (spawn of Satan that she is, she would shred patrons' socks and cough up hairballs in the reference department) but a nice sweet kitty like the one in this article would be just perfect!

Hm. Now, how do I pitch this to my boss?? ::grin::

Feelings, nothing more than fe-e-e-lings

I was chatting with someone the other day (isn’t this how all my thoughtful blog posts usually start?) about bias in the media. That’s not what the conversation started out with, but nonetheless that is where it ended up, and where I am tonight. And as I always do, my disclaimer is that I claim no special revelation here – it is merely a blog post by a bear with very little brain.

So…bias in the media. Conservatives rage about the liberal media, and liberals get equally vituperative about conservative news outlets. The impetus for the discussion started out about the “rice crisis” and the fact that Sam’s Wholesale Club had started putting limits on how many bags of rice each customer could purchase.

Food prices in general have been rising, due to a number of issues including the falling dollar and the rising cost of oil. But I’m not here to talk about food prices – I’m here to talk about how the media talks about food prices! The media has several divergent goals – put forth news stories that people will be interested in, sell advertising space (either through commercials or sidebar ads or old fashioned columnar print), and finally broadcast information … NEWS … that ordinary folks need to know. So, take CNN Headline News for example. It’s what, a 30 minute format with maybe… 15 minutes of commercials? So how do they decide what to report in the remaining 15 minutes? They want to air segments that sell ads and evoke emotion in the viewers. Since I’m using broadcast news as my example, I’ll stick with broadcast news language – substitute “online articles” and “readers” if it makes you feel better! So, depending on who they perceive as their viewers, that’s how they choose their stories because that’s how they get the viewers and thus the ad time.

Anyway, some media offerings are merely sensational: cue car chases and Britany stories and the current “who killed Diana” theories; some go for the granola stories: seas rising in Fiji because of cow methane, Earth Day events, and the hole in the ozone; others try the social justice angle: oppressed African Americans, open borders, and immigration issues; and yet others appeal to the conservative: Homeland security, economics, and homeschooling legislation. Each of these is designed to elicit an emotional response from viewers. Once you understand which emotion a particular story is aimed at, then you can view it with an eye for the tidbit of actual *news* ensconced within.

And any single news story can be spun to fit any number of emotional groups. So you watch a segment on the recent riots in Haiti on two different stations. One calls it a riot of hungry people sparked by the shortage of food, another calls it a protest against rising food prices. The first media outlet is geared to the social justice crowd, and the latter perhaps favors the typical conservative tendencies. So as Nietzsche might posit, there is really no such thing as an “objective” point of view. Knowing that, it makes watching the news a bit more palatable for me. Less like a root canal and more like…hmm…fingernails on a chalkboard?

Adjunct Bots

hat tip: JAG
A friend had a link to a very amusing article on the free portion of the Chronicle of Higher Education website. It's titled "Mutiny of the Adjunct Bots" - anyone involved in higher education will either laugh hysterically or weep. 8-)
http://chronicle.com/free/v54/i14/14b00501.htm