Suncoast Scribe

If you're new here, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. Thanks for visiting Suncoast Scribe!

Ever since my classes ended in July, I have been living calendar-free. After approximately 22 years of using a daily planner like it was a life-support system, I was trying to allow myself a break.

All I did was prove to myself that using a calendar is a wise move.

1. You might miss an important appointment
If you try and depend 100% on your memory, you might miss crucial appointments and events. I missed my friend Christine’s birthday. I have known Christine for over 20 years and having to read about her birthday on her MySpace page just felt shameful. Of course, I looked at my day planner and there was her birthday all marked red, with a little doodle of a balloon. I have no excuse.

2. You could miss out on a free meal
My friend Lynn invited me to dinner for one night last week, but we made the plans over a week ago. She has a tight schedule and that was her first free evening. I was sitting home wondering why I felt so compelled to give Lynn a call and see how she was doing when the phone rang. It was Lynn. She was waiting for me at the restaurant! Yikes. I admitted my hair-brained oversight and jumped the car to meet her. Thank goodness my mom was able to watch Gigi, because Lynn was buying dinner and who doesn’t love a free meal?

3. You might leave your kid stranded
I got Gigi ready for school today, packed her bathing suit and medications in her backpack and reminded her that her daddy would pick her up from school today, take her to her swim lesson, and then she would be at his house until Monday morning. Then I came home and got my errand list ready. I was on my way out the door to accomplish a list of things that would have had me out of the city until well past dinnertime when my sister called. She asked if she could pop by after school so the cousins could play together and I told her Gigi would be at her dad’s. “Why?” she asked, “it’s only Wednesday.”

Holy cow. I had been living the entire day like it was Thursday and had my sister not called; I may have stranded Gigi at school. Of course, they would have called and all would have been well, but I would have been mighty red-faced.

Back when I was married, one of the things I had to get used to in the beginning was X being called in the middle of the night to run to the office and put out virtual fires in the server room. Things would overheat or shut down for no reason, or sometimes just stop running certain processes. I’m sure one of the guys lower on the proverbial totem pole should have been the one to take off in the middle of the night, but X was a micro-manager and a terrible delegater.

By the time someone would realize there was a problem with the servers, it would be to the point where it took hours to bring things back up to running condition. It would have rocked to have a product like the Temperature@lert USB temperature sensor back then. It’s a little device you plug right into a USB port. It keeps tabs on the ambient temperature in the room and if temps go up or down too far out of range, it sends alerts to one or more email addresses. And, it keeps a log of the temperature stats in the room. This would have cut a lot of long nights out of the picture.

Technology just keeps making life easier.

Water conservation is a serious issue. Clean drinking water should be our absolute first concern when it comes to deciding how to use water resources.

Nonetheless, a 70-year-old woman in Orem, Utah was arrested after being charged with failing to maintain her landscaping.

A state investigation found that the arresting officer acted properly in arresting Perry after trying to get her to cooperate. I’d have been a little miffed too, if an officer came to try to force me to water my lawn.

I’ve blogged often in the past about how the lawn of my prior home was the brownest in the neighborhood. It was in OK shape, but not lush and vivid green like everyone else’s. Why? I adhered to the once weekly watering restrictions set forth by the county. I obeyed the law and the lawn got a tad thirsty. Everyone else watered about every other day.

The woman in Utah had her water turned off for about nine months, at her request.

It seems to me that if she wanted to live without water and her conditions were sanitary, so be it. Water has become a precious commodity, especially in hotter months. Who are we to force people to waste it on something ornamental, like a lawn?

As an educator, I have to say that plagiarism has become harder to chase down in the age of the internet. Students have access to a vast variety of research materials at the tip of their fingers. While all of this information is a blessing, it puts more temptation in the hands of the students. You have to teach your students why plagiarism is wrong, but you also have to show them how to avoid unintentional plagiarism. Sometimes we read something and think we are merely feeling inspired, only to carry over entire concepts, ideas and opinions into our reports and essays. You have to be careful to keep the ideas your own.

I am not a fan of students purchasing term papers in order to turn them in wholesale, but I find it interesting to examine the motivation of people who purchase term papers written by companies and other people. Do they intend to provide the background research and ideas? Perhaps a student pays someone for what is essentially technical assistance. Is that OK? Is it any more than some tutors will provide? I suppose that would be best addressed on a situation by situation basis. It feels like a potentially gray area, although educators are expected to issue judgment on a black and white basis.

Sites like custom-writing.org write custom term papers and appear to attract a large number of clients. We can assume that their services are widely used. Do students turn these papers in “as is”, or do they use them as launching pads? My guess is that we may be seeing a little of both, and degrees in between. I think it’s a topic worth discussing more in the future after I have talked to a couple of people who have used such services.

I wrote earlier today about the student who was Tasered at the University of Florida after asking John Kerry questions in a public forum.

Ironically, I was flipping through a copy of Business 2.0 magazine this evening and came upon a story about Tasers, or more specifically the Taser International company. (Using the word Taser to refer to a stun-gun must be akin to using the word Kleenex to refer to a tissue.)

Taser International, in the past, was plagued by lawsuits from people who have been stunned by their stun guns. And, they’ve had horrific accounting issues. Nonetheless, the company managed to WIN all 52 of their product liability cases and now they are running strong than ever.

Why? It is partly thanks to their core customer base: law enforcement agencies. In the 2nd quarter of this year alone, sales to customers in that demographic rose a stunning (tee hee) 59%.

If the 59% more law enforcement professionals out there are going to be given Tasers, then their superiors may want to take the time to better train the officers and make sure they fully understand what warrants the use of the weapon.

Bibliophiles unite! Who doesn’t love the opportunity to get their hands on a signed copy of a first edition hardcover novel? Anyone who loves the written word will appreciate how cool it is to have something like this in your book collection.

The Capo’s Mistress by Richard Harris is now out in hardcover and to celebrate, the author is holding a contest where ten winners will receive a signed copy of the book. All you have to do is visit the web site for The Capo’s Mistress, http://richard-harris.com and register to win on or before September 30, 2007. This is a singular opportunity for all book lovers.

The mystery/thriller, set in Las Vegas, is available in stores and on the internet. The book introduces hard-boiled Mike Driscoll, an ex-detective sucked into a dangerous case de his weakness for pretty women. The style harkens back to classic detective novels: brisk, engaging and full of vivid descriptions.

In the age of the internet, I love to see authors work hard to promote their own books. Just think of all the great novels we missed back in the day before the net. The opportunity to share you greatest work with the world is a gift, both for the author and for those who will be able to experience reading the story.

By now nearly everyone has read about the University of Florida student who was tasered by campus police during a Q&A with John Kerry on campus yesterday. I’m not going to jump in here right now and deconstruct Kerry’s politics or even the views of the student, Andrew Meyer. All you need to know is that Gainesville is a tiny blue dot in a mostly Blue Florida. Life is different in a campus town. Most residents are rabid Democrats, but as soon as you roll outside the city limits into the calm of Alachua or Micanopy, you‘ll see signs during election time that let you know you are right back into the Red.

I will jump in and say I think that campus police took the situation WAY too seriously. So, Meyer got mouthy. He waved around a copy of a book. He asked more questions than most students. All in all, he was at the microphone about a minute and a half. That is not all that long in the scheme of eternity, my friend.

He flailed around a bit while the cops restrained him. I did not see him strike anyone or threaten violence. He did resist arrest, though I bet that while it was happening he must have been overwhelmed by how utterly absurd it was that he was being arrested at all.

But, a taser? Come on, people. Even the out-of-shape campus police must have felt comfortable that he was not going to harm them. I hope that the officer who initiated the shock is put through the ringer on this one, including mandatory counseling to determine if he is mentally suited to continue duty.

As for Meyer being restrained for his diatribe – whether or not I agree with what he was saying, I do feel that he was shown a disgusting lack of freedom of speech. Way to go, Florida. Keep our state in the headlines for the most embarrassing of reasons.

One thing that I see as an international pursuit is home improvement. We’re all out to undertake projects that better our home and surroundings. It doesn’t matter if you rent or own or share a place with someone else. We all seem to be in a constant endeavor to make our homes more comfortable. I’ve mentioned before in my blog that I have home improvements underway to update the bathrooms and kitchen. I also want to replace the windows and add a porch to the front of the house. Sure, it will all add to the value of the house, but it will also make things more comfortable.

I like the style of windows we currently have, at least when it comes to safety. You have to wind a lever and the sections of glass open up and out. Someone would be hard pressed to break in through one of our windows. But, I’m not as pleased with their insulation properties. Most new windows use double glazing and trap a layer of air between panes of glass. It’s the best way to make sure you are not losing heated or cooled air through your windows. For purposes of lower utility bills, I am looking into all new windows for the beginning of the coming year. The cost of energy just keeps rising and it doesn’t look like there is an end in site. The best we can do is to make changes in our lives to conserve and spend less.

I’ve been get pretty exciting about the idea of putting some tilt & Turn windows in for the back sunroom. I saw a good description of the windows over on the Anglian website and they look perfect for maximizing our view of the star fruit and lemon trees. Plus, they’d be a cinch to clean. I keep thinking of the old sit-com where the maid would typically say, “I don’t do windows.” I can see why. Getting outside in the yard to clean the outside of a window seems like such an undertaking. If I can clean them on both sides from the comfort of my sunroom; all the better.

 

Tonight is the first lesson is the second session of swim lessons for Gigi. After this session concluded, I will sign her up for two more sessions and we will conclude lessonsin mid-November. I know I get pretty tired of the hot days of Florida during the summer months, but somehow it all feels OK when you realize you can comfortably swim in an outdoor pool until almost Thanksgiving, usually later. If the pool were heated, we could go even longer.

In a couple of weeks we will see the beginning of the most luxurious weather on earth, in my opinion. June through mid-September are difficult months in Florida, but the rest of the year is pure bliss. I’ll wear sandals all winter and we will have our windows open, except for the few short weeks we get wintry weather in the area.

There is a reason people move to Florida! Yeah, you give up the mountains and I miss them dearly. But, I can visit up north and vacation in the mountains. I can still go on ski trips and time thing so we can play in the snow at my dad’s. But when it comes to being able to enjoy my own yard and the local attractions, I love that Florida allows me year-round access to blooming flowers, singing birds, and warm sun.

I’m not a big drinker. I like to have the occasional beer with pizza or at a cookout. I cook with liquor often, but don’t use it as much for mixed drinks. One thing I really do appreciate, though, is wine. I drink wine because I genuinely like the way it tastes, the way is can complement some foods, and the way it makes a meal seem more celebratory. I don’t just drink wine to drink it; I drink it to savor it. And, I don’t drink it often, just when it’s right.

I like to try new flavors, new varieties of wine. I have my favorites, for sure, but I am absolutely willing to look at something new to me. That’s why a Wine of the Month club is right up my alley. It gives me an almost passive way to try new wines on a monthly basis. The Amazing Clubs wine club features hard-to-find wines from boutique wineries around the world. That’s the way I like them. I can walk into any grocery store around here and pick up a bottle of whatever the neighbor is drinking. I want to try the obscure stuff. The club allows you to cancel at any time if you are not happy with the product. That makes the risk minimal and the potential to discover new favorites highly likely.