Travel Tuesday: New Haven Connecticut - Yale University

 

Moody Monday: What am I Enjoying

I just woke up from an unexpected afternoon nap.  I can take a nap when the desire strikes me. It is absolutely wonderful. 

When I returned to work back in 2015 after my adventure in modern medicine, the assistant executive director stopped by my office to talk.  She asked if there was anything that could be done to make my return to work easier, and I said, "someplace where I could rest when I am tired, a 20 minute nap makes all of the difference."  She said, we never thought about that when we designed the office.  And they never did.  

I am enjoying long walks in museums.  I enjoyed spending time in Washington DC, before I lived here.  A special part of that was the couple of dozen world class museums and monuments here in DC. That was a major factor in my deciding that DC was a place I wanted to live.  I looked for jobs in places I wanted to live.  I moved here, and I got busy, and saw less and less of the things I wanted to see over the past 15 years.  I am seeing a museum or two a week.  It is WONDERFUL.  

I came to a couple of realizations.  I have spent a lot of my professional life pushing back against the million silly things trying to make my job impossible.  This includes incompetence, bureaucracy, and general silliness. I don't have to deal with that anymore.  And I am wound rather tightly, and I can now be less tightly wound.  That one made J. laugh with a comment along the line of "realllllly!" I am enjoying not having to fight to try to do my job.  I am enjoying being a little less tightly wound.  A little more relaxed.  

I am enjoying finding new places to take a walk.  I walk for at least an hour a day.  Back in 2020 -2021 I walked almost every day in the same place.  It was a good experience.  Something like 330 walks in 365 days on the same trail. Now I am looking for new places.  Pocket parks, different city streets, different approaches to familiar places. I am enjoying the exploring.  

Could I have done this before I retired? Maybe, but I didn't.  I was busy. I was working.  I was not enjoying the day.  The number of days is not unlimited, enjoy as many of them as you can.  

Sunday Five: Courtesy

 Signs often catch my eye, this one inspired this weeks Sunday five. 

1: Do people talk in public on phones where you live? 

2: Do people play music in public without headphones where you live? 

3: Do you smell pot smoke in public places where you live? 

4: Do people smoke tobacco in public where you live? 

5: Are most people nice to you where you live? 

My answers: 

1: Do people talk in public on phones where you live?  Seldom, but it does happen. 

2: Do people play music in public without headphones where you live? Seldom, and when it does happen it is usually a very young person. 

3: Do you smell pot smoke in public places where you live? Annoyingly yes. 

4: Do people smoke tobacco in public where you live? Almost never, I don't know where they smoke. 

5: Are most people nice to you where you live? For the most part yes, they may not acknowledge that you exist, but they are not rude.  

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: A Piece of My Mind

I was going back through the draft post folder, and found one post, I put up, then decided I didn't want to deal with the comments on, and reverted to draft, and didn't delete.  It was about running into a controversial political operative in the grocery store, someone who should be in prison, rather than living in a million dollar apartment with a view of the Potomac River.  One of only two posts that I ever removed, the other one I put back up after due consideration. It was a piece of my mind that needed airing. 

There are also a couple of posts in the draft folder, that either need work, or will never see the light of day. One of them is on guns in the United States - a complicated subject for me, I think our gun laws are ridiculous, but I am also a gun owner. I have strong views on some complicated issues, but sometimes I don't want to cope with the comments, or the trolls.  I keep some of those pieces of my mind off the blog.  

The organizations that I worked for, had political influence, as staff we were trained to keep personal opinions personal. Maybe over time that will fade. 

I am a believer in second chances, in redemption, and recovery. There are few people who are not capable of changing, given the support  that they need. Many of the cast aside people in our society simply need help, support, counseling, training. There is a program in Appalachian Kentucky that trains adults in job and employment skills.  The first couple of months of the program are devoted to teaching people to show up on time, sober, clean, well rested and ready to work.  If you grew up in a household where no one did that, you might need help learning how to do so and understanding why it is important.  And yes, there are families were such basics in life are not practiced. Many homeless persons need more than a roof over their head, they need support to learn to live in a civilized society.  The care and support is often overlooked and many good efforts fail as a result.  At our core we all want a safe place to live.   

I don't believe in state sponsored murder, that can be war, overly responsive police, or the death penalty. It is hard for a government to preach "thou shall not kill" when the government kills people.  

I believe that you have to be a good neighbor to have good neighbors. Several governments need to learn this simple rule, you can't shoot over the fence at your neighbors and not expect them to shoot back. 

I have really complicated views on physician assisted suicide, and I will call it what it is, it is not physician aid in dying - that is palliative or hospice care.  I worked in an environment where we didn't take a position on that issue, no matter what position you take someone is going to be angry at it. It is a perilus cliff that needs strong fences to avoid a shift from choice, to genocide. 

Well this one went in all kinds of directions I didn't expect when I started writing.  Many pieces of a complicated mind.   

Foodie Friday: Beans

 Simple, inexpensive, durable, beans are a staple in many cuisines. In industrialized countries we eat mostly industrial beans, cooked in the can in massive factories.  They are fast, easy to use, and relatively inexpensive. I use them, but not always.  

Cooking dried beans takes time, but is not complicated. My mother only cooked "Navy Beans" a smaller variety, I have found that I like a wider array of beans, Great Northern, Cannellini, and others. There are hundreds of hybrids out there. 

The process if fairly simple.  You always check the dried beans for things that are not beans, like small stones that slip through the processing.  Most beans should be soaked overnight.  The beans will absorb a lot of water, I start with a cup of beans in 2-3 cups of water. 

The next day, bring the beans to a boil, reduce to a low boil or high simmer and let cook until the beans start to get tender. How long will this take? It depends on the beans, and the water.  Seriously the mineral content in the water makes a big difference in how firm the beans are.  

I like to then bake them.  

I mix in a can of tomato paste, a chopped onion, a generous pour of molasses, and dark brown sugar.  Add a little water if needed. If it is handy I add in chopped bacon. Then bake at about 300 degrees until the sugars caramelize and the beans have the desired texture and the sauce has thickened to your liking.  How long will this take? 2 to 6 hours depending on the beans, the water, the oven.  Again mineral content makes a big difference in texture, I don't add any salt in the process, not when boiling, not when baking, salt tends to make the beans hard, sometimes very hard.  

The Thursday Ramble: Images

People capture more images today, than at anytime in the history of mankind. We have progressed from the first drawings on rock walls, to painting, to photography, to digital photography. Along the way there has been a massive growth in the number and quality of images captured. More than half of the people on the face of the earth now carry a digital camera - most on their phones.  Granted most of the images will be lost to time, but if 1%, or that matter, if 1/1000 of 1% of them survive 100 years from now the world will have the largest image archive in history. 

What will those images say about our time in history? What will it show? The the images make a difference in understanding our time, our history in the making? 

I post a photo a day, or more, here on this blog.  I assume that Google is storing all of these, that bots and AI are selecting images that contribute to the understanding of the world.  I sincerely hope that 100 years from now, long after I am gone, some meaning will be found in the images and ramblings that I post. 

I am hoping that the internet is capturing and preserving some of this.  I know that my digital archive, nearing 90,000 images will disappear when I do.  Maybe it is news, or a portrait of life, art or documentary, or maybe it is none of those, just the ramblings of my mind.  

 

My World of Wonders, aka The Wednesday Ws March 6 2024

Where have I been this week? The National Gallery of Art, Old Town Alexandria, a couple of county parks - looking for new places to walk, the good Doc, oil change place for the car's annual visit, into the city for lunch with my successor, the library a couple of times, the bookstore, to VOTE, the National Gallery of Art East Building. 

Who have I seen?  Friday night was out community LGBT gathering, three neighbors were there, my Sweet Bear, my Successor, 

Who have a communicated with? Blogging buddies, Jim a lawyer and editor, a med school professor with the National Center on Elder Abuse, 

What have I been thinking? I had a busy week, writing a couple of articles, a meeting about the consulting project (I have some background reading to do.) 

Who deserves a big THANK YOU this week? Mitch McConnell for finally deciding to step aside as the obstructionist in chief.  It is about time. 

Who deserves a slap this week? My Mac, it keeps losing it's internet connection, while my chromebook, sitting in front of it, maintains a solid connection. 4 out 5 five, I have considered opening the window and aiming for the parking lot. 

What have I been reading?  A couple of books about China, a book on poverty that was partially really good and mostly really terrible.  

What has been bugging me this week?  My feet have been hurting. 

What am I finding this week? Humor, Joy, 

 

Travel Tuesday: National Museum of African American History and Culture

 

Moody Monday: Feed Your Mind

There is a lot of depressing crap in the world, but there is also a lot of positivity in the world. To some extent, I can control what I let in, and what I block out.  

I select the news stories I want to read, those that will inform me, and those shut out those that I will not read.  I am very selective on what television I watch, I select things that will feed my mind, or entertain me.  As my mother's dementia progressed she found refuge in sitcoms, the rauncher the better (Two and Half Men was a favorite.) My father didn't get it, he went to the other room and played solitaire on the computer with Faux News for background noise.  

I find some great content on YouTube.  Amazing content by independent content producers who are doing amazing work, travel, or thinking.  There is also a lot of crap on YT.  It is my choice what I watch and what I avoid.  

I just logged my 17th book read in 2024. I select books that feed my mind, and sooth my psyche. I know that not all books will do this. I am very much enjoying having plenty of time and energy to read. I'd like to think that I am still learning. And each time I go to the library or the book store I am looking for books that will add rainbows to my life.  

I almost always have music playing in the background.  I guess it is selective hearing, or maybe some undiagnosed brain fart, but music can play while I read or write, or study.  When some music plays, it brings back memories of what I was doing when I listened to it. 

My music taste is eclectic, from classical, to country, to rock, to folk, and a little bit of todays music.  I generally avoid music that is angry, or violent.  I don't need to feed my mind with anger, or violence. No one needs to feed their mind with that.  

I read someplace that "some people walk in the rain, others just get wet." I like that, enjoy the walk, you will dry off. 

 

The Sunday Five : Five Things About You

Dora recently posted 10 things about her, and this is inspired by that.  

1: What do your friends and family call you?  

2: Do you consider yourself, young, middle aged, old, or antique? 

3: Where do you live? 

4: Boundaries, what won't you talk about? 

5: Family, household composition? 

My answers: 

1: What do your friends and family call you?  David, as I would insist when I was a child, "just plain David."  

2: Do you consider yourself, young, middle aged, old, or antique? I young person trapped in an old body. 

3: Where do you live? About 8 miles south of the White House in Washington DC as the Eagle flies. 

4: Boundaries, what won't you talk about? I generally don't talk about politics, religion, or my sex life, 

5: Family, household composition? I am married to my sweet bear, I am the youngest of four kids, the previous generations are all dead.  

Please share your answers in the comments. 

The Saturday Morning Post: On Writing

John wrote recently about the struggle to get started on a writing project.  This got me to thinking about the writing process.  I have read, studied and practiced trying to improve my writing.  One of the reasons I blog daily, is to force myself to write a dozen relatively coherent paragraphs each week.  

At times I struggle to get a few sentences together, and at other times the "words flow like water." Most of my posts are written in one sitting with a little editing before (or after) they post.  Some, like the two or three I have written in trying to write this post, I finish, then don't feel comfortable posting and are left in the draft box for later.  Some of them linger there for days, some for years.  

Often getting started is the hardest part.  Thinking of what to say. One thing that many sources recommend, is just getting started. Put whatever you think, on the screen or on paper. I almost always write on screen.  I will take notes on paper, but when I am writing text, it is almost always on a keyboard.  I just need to get started.  Then edit and clarify.  

At other times, the idea is there, and the words flow easily, needing little editing.  Often the image inspires me, or something I have read, or heard, or seen.  Even when the words don't come easily, I still need to write, to write what I am thinking, even if the text will end up in the draft folder, or destined for the delete key.  

Something I need to do is get better at telling stories.  My story telling was repressed over the past 25 years, by a combination of factors.  The work that I did, that dominated my life for the past 25 years, is rich in stories, but is covered by an ethical pledge of confidentiality. So the stories need to be drawn from what happened outside of my work.  To tell stories, I just need the courage to get started. 

Foodie Friday: White Pizza

Someone's digestion has become sensitive to tomatoes and green peppers, a shame as that rules out many of the worlds great pizzas.  But a white pizza will work.  

Pizza dough: 

Yes, you can buy it refrigerated and ready to use.  It is not hard to make.  

3/4 cup warm water (105-110 degrees f) 

2 teaspoons sugar

2 heaping teaspoons dry active rapid yeast (I buy this in 1-pound bags and store it in a tightly sealed jar in the freezer, it keeps for years.) 

Combine water, sugar and yeast and set aside to proof, it will get bubbly and cloudy in 5-10 minutes. 

1 3/4 Cups flour (bread flour works best, but is not necessary.) 

pinch of salt

2-3 tablespoons olive oil 

Mix flour, salt, and olive oil in bowl of stand mixer (I love my Kitchenaid stand mixer.)

Add the yeast mix, stir to form a firm dough.  Adjust with a touch more flour if sticky, or a teaspoon or two of water if needed to get the dough to come together.  

Knead in stand mixer with dough hook for five minutes.  Or by hand on the work surface. 

Place in an oiled bowl (I use the bowl from the mixer), cover and let rise for 1-3 hours in a warm draft free place.  

For the toppings. 

Mixed shredded Italian cheeses  - 8 - 12 ounces 

Chicken, I poached a boneless chicken breast, allowed it to cool, sliced it, sprinkled it with olive oil and dried oregano. 

Thinly sliced onion

Sliced ripe olives. 

Ranch dressing drizzle

Make your own, ranch seasoning, buttermilk, sour cream.  I keep a 15 ounce bottle of the seasoning mix in the spice cabinet. A teaspoon or so, it a 1/2 cup of buttermilk and a couple of tablespoons of sour cream. 

Preheat oven to 450 degrees f. 

Stretch the risen dough,  layer the toppings, starting with cheese.  Be careful about getting the toppings too thick in the middle, it will slow the crust from crisping. 

Add other toppings or seasonings to taste. 

Bake 10-12 minutes, 

The last piece cold for breakfast the next morning. 

Thursday Ramble: Out for a Think

Having time, and being able to get out and about, I find myself walking and thinking, and taking photos - at the rate I am going I will to take 1,000 photos this month.  

I never know what is going to walk by, or when I pause for a moment's rest in the sun, sit down next to me.  On this walk I started at the subway station at Arlington National Cemetery, and walked into DC.  

Several members of the "Old Guard" were out for a run, they live just west of the Cemetery on a small Army Base.  Two were recently charged with vandalism and theft, for ripping down and stealing rainbow flags in front of home near the base.  Five flags were ripped down in one week, all captured on video doorbell cameras.  The neighborhood responded by most of the homes posting rainbow flags, and sending the police more video from security cameras.  The comment from the "Old Guard" was at this point the soldiers have been suspended pending the criminal process, the behaviour is not in accordance with our high standards of conduct. If not court martialed, they will spend the rest of their enlistment hauling trash at some remote base in North Dakota.  

Alabama has ruled that frozen embryos are people.  The next day the news was that IVF, in vitro fertilization clinics had suspended operations in the state. This hits close to home.  Like many young people today, a dear family member didn't marry until mid-30's, they desperately want a baby, and the normal way of conceiving just didn't cut it. They have used IVF, and are expecting in the spring.  It is exciting.  If they lived in Alabama, they would now need to travel to another state, adding an additional layer of stress onto a process that is fraught with stress - and expense.  A new car would have cost less.  For a policy that is pro-life, it is not pro-baby, or pro-family.  IVF often results in more fertilized eggs than can be used, we don't need more Octo-Moms. Classifying the fertilized eggs as humans, causes all kinds of legal traps that no health care professional, and no couple desperately trying to have a family should have to consider.   

I have had a couple of long walks around Amazon's developing east coast headquarters, as they call it HQ2.  Several new office buildings have been built, several older buildings remodeled with people actually working there. Several new apartment buildings have been built. Some of the buildings from the late 1960s and 1970s have been torn down and replaced with new buildings.  There is a thriving restaurant and bar scene, with wonderful new offerings that appear to be busy.  With the exception of grocery stores (including an Amazon Fresh) what is missing is retail.  There is very little retail in the neighborhood.  There is a major shopping mall a few blocks away - and it is doing well.  Stores that went empty during COVID are being filled, some local one off shops are going it a try, new national and international retailers are filling in the space.  But I was surprised in the neighborhood where people are living and working, there are lots of new places to live, and restaurants and bars, but next to no places to shop.  It is not a truly walkable neighborhood, if there is no place buy a new pair of shoes. 

 

My World of Wonders, aka The Wednesday W's, last of February 2024

Where have I been?  Out and about locally, Oxen Hill Farm, Monumental Washington DC, Crystal City, a little shopping, the MGM Casino at National Harbor, the lawyers office to sign updated estate planning documents, and King Street for a walk. 

What was I doing at a casino?  It was a cold wet day, it is a good place to walk inside, and parking is free.  I limit myself to $10, I cashed out when I was $32 ahead.  As the bard said, "know when to hold them, know when to fold them, know when to walk away."  Anytime you are ahead, it is time to walk away, or run.  

What was in the agenda last week? Nothing, and I am proud to report that I accomplished all of it and more.  

What have I been drinking? A Castle and Key, single barrel, 2023 release. It is good, a little young (4 years.) 

Who have I corresponded with?  Sassy Bear, Catalyst, Maddie, Urspo, Andrew, it was a wonderful week. 

What made me sad this week? Bill Kelly, husband of Ron in Delaware died. Ron dedicated the past few years to caring for Bill at home. Ron is heartbroken, and probably exhausted.  

What does my week look like?  I have two Zoom meetings. Busy for a retired person. 

Who deserves a big THANK YOU this week? My local library, they are keeping me supplied with books, Amazon's revenue will be down a little, but my reading is way up. (I have finished 16 books since the first of the year.) 

Who deserves a slap this week? Alabama, five out of five. 

What surprised me this week?  I have been trying to buy a new address book, a paper book for postal mailing addresses, phone numbers, email addresses.  They have all but disappeared, I have looked in five stores and found one, a nice leather cover with replaceable pages that is $30.  

, 

Travel Tuesday: Isn't that grand!

I had walked past it before, the Steinway showroom in New York City, this last trip I slipped through the revolving door to take a look.  There were a dozen or so grand pianos on the floor, most of them in basic black, but also white and pink? Pink? Yes, for $40,000 or so, as a special order they will paint it just about any color you want.   
 

Moody Monday: Staying on the Path

It is so easy to get distracted, to be drawn into the 101 crisis in the world, to get sucked back into the day to day of my former office.  One of the attorneys left a few days after I retired, and they are short handed and struggling, and no I am not the rescue ship. 

It would be easy to settle in front of the television, and not leave the house, or my bed for that matter.  But that is not what I want to do with the last 10-20 years of my life.  So I limit the time it is on, I find the off switch and get off my duff.  

It would be easy to get sucked into the petty, but I choose to stay on the path I have chosen.  A path that takes me places known, and to explore new places I never knew existed, or have never found.  

How am I feeling?  I am feeling good.  I am getting done what I want to do.  I am getting out of the house, I am staying busy, I am taking random afternoon naps that I had fought back against for 50 years.  

Are you staying on the path you wish to be on? 

Sunday Five: What are we thinking

 1: What are you looking forward to in March? 

2: There are 29 days in February this year, any plans for the bonus day? 

3: What is the strangest thing you have seen this week? 

4: What is the first blog you read after your own? 

5: Have laughed or cried most recently? 

My answers: 

1: What are you looking forward to in March? My sister's birthday. 

2: There are 29 days in February this year, any plans for the bonus day? I have an editorial board meeting that day. 

3: What is the strangest thing you have seen this week? A murder of crows. 

4: What is the first blog you read after your own? Ken in France. 

5: Have laughed or cried most recently? Laughed, much laughter these days.  

Please share your answers in the comments.