After last week’s disaster, I’m happy to report that this week’s trip to the Lakeway City Hall Art show will be a success. The lights and art cooperated. We are catered by Stella San Jac of Austin. Our entertainment is Don McLean.
Before we go, I want you to know that I will be traveling and on a break from Wednesday March 12th until Wednesday March 19th. I will be off-line for the whole week. Tempeste and Twiggy will be back on the 20th.
Menu
All American – Scrambled Eggs, Bacon, Crispy Hash Brown, Sourdough Toast
The coffee machine leaves a message to watch the time after pressing my order. The 10 oz coffee order is pressed and the cup is filled in ten seconds. A message comes back that the machine will try for a new record tomorrow. With a shoulder shrug and a sip, the clock is the next item of concern. The setting is for Chicago on March 8th, 1925. The duration is an hour. The plunger is pulled and we find ourselves at the Chicago Department of Public Health.
Dr. Herman N. Bundesen, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health announced in an article in the Department’s weekly bulletin that the ongoing crossword puzzle fad caused no ill health effects from headaches or eye strain, as had previously been feared, and was beneficial to health in general. The Commissioner reads from the bulletin to the employees gathered in the cafeteria. In a feature titled “Cross-Worditis”, Bundesen humorously noted, “The savage little cross-word microbe may be largely explained by the fact that part of our lives and much energy must be put into amusement, to satisfy the play instinct within us. Therefore, any game with a mental ‘kick’ in it is quickly accepted and eagerly pursued. A collective sigh went up from the crowd, and all continued drinking coffee and working on their crossword puzzles.
The alarm goes off and we end up on the couch. A text has come in from Linda Hill. It reads: Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “open book, close eyes, point, write.” When you’re ready to sit down and write your SoCS post, open the closest printed matter, close your eyes, point to a word, and use it as your prompt. Use it any way you’d like. Have fun! Following directions, I open and point at a page of GQ Magazine. My finger lands on the word “watch” in a Cartier Timepiece Advertisement.
Verizon teamed up with ForgiveCo to eliminate $10 million in consumer debt for 6,500 Western North Carolinians who are still recovering from Hurricane Helene’s sweeping devastation.
The North Carolina families learned that Verizon—the world’s second-largest telecommunications company—cleared their medical, financial, and other debts with the help of ForgiveCo, whose “random acts of kindness” model purchases consumer debt with no applications required. In fact, the beneficiaries did not need to take further action.
Recipients were then notified through surprise letters, emails, and text messages.
But if a phone call learning that your debt has been cleared isn’t exciting enough, Basketball Hall of Fame coach and Asheville native Roy Williams has signed on to share the news with the impacted families.
“These are challenging times, but I’ve seen the strength and resilience of this community. Verizon’s support is a powerful reminder that no one is alone, and together, we’ll rise stronger,” said Mr. Williams.
“It’s a privilege to share this message of hope with the incredible people of North Carolina.”
The hurricane destroyed Shelley Queen’s home in Jackson County. Still, she was one of those touched by Verizon, having medical debt forgiven after she was diagnosed with diabetes, which turned her family’s life upside down.
John Middelkoop
“There were numerous hospital visits, including times I was in a coma and needed a pump to survive. These medical challenges have been difficult, both emotionally and financially. This forgiveness is truly a life-changing gift.”
Craig Antico, Founder and CEO of ForgiveCo, confirmed the debt relief, saying, “Through this effort, Verizon will bring transformative change to the lives of North Carolinians in crisis, leaving a lasting mark on future generations.”
Tim Luker, who also lives in Jackson County, has congestive heart disease and was hospitalized the day before the hurricane hit. Since then, he’s been working tirelessly to clean up lots of water damage, floor issues, and yard damage. “When I got out of the hospital, I couldn’t go home because of storm damage.”
“It means everything to me,” said Tim. “I don’t have much… $11,000 is life-changing for someone like me.”
“This makes a huge difference.”
The good news in this story is that a giant company is willing to help its customers in their time of need. Today’s JohnKu talks about helping others. I hope you have a beautiful weekend.
I randomly opened Detour on the Eternal Road to page 205. With my eyes closed I pointed to the page. The word closest to my finger was “face.” That is the prompt today.
This post, co-authored by Marie Bailey, ran on November 6, 2013. Since people still commute to work, it should be relevant.
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Top Ten Things Not to do When Commuting to Work by Car
10 When commuting to work by car, do not apply mascara or use an electric razor while driving. If you do, at best, you’ll have smudges or missed spots. At worse, you might wind up with a mascara brush sticking out of your eye or a long shave up the side of the head as you slam on the brake to avoid hitting the car in front of you. (Good luck at the meeting.)
9 When commuting to work by car don’t drive like James Dean in Rebel Without a Cause. If you do, at best, you’ll just wind up stopped at the next intersection. At worst, you’ll wind up alongside the road being attended to by a traffic officer eager to make his quota early and being on display for all the folks you passed.
8 When commuting to work by car, try not to listen to state or national news on your radio. If you do listen, at best, you will need to breath deeply. At worst, your fellow commuters will call the local police thinking all those expletives were signs of a nervous breakdown. (Sitting in the back of a police care sure makes those news stories seem insignificant don’t they?)
7 When commuting to work by car, do not think you are encouraging the driver ahead of you to go faster by following them so closely that you can see yourself in their rear view mirror. If you do, at best, the driver ahead makes no sudden stops. At worst, they quickly step on the brake and cause you to rear-end them. (Don’t even try to argue the point of who’s fault this accident is. You know it’s yours.)
6 When commuting to work by car, do not try to eat your breakfast and drive at the same time. If you do, at best, you’ll just gross people out when they see you stuff a double-Egg McMuffin in your mouth. At worst, the coffee you start to sip will wind up all over your nice white shirt or blouse when you suddenly have to step on the brake to avoid hitting someone pulling out of a McDonald’s in front of you. (Seemed like a good idea while in the drive through.)
5 When commuting to work by car, avoid the temptation to pick your nose, pop a pimple, or check your teeth while waiting for a green light. If you can’t avoid the temptation, At best, no one will see you. At worst, the other commuters viewing your activities will be attending customer meeting that you have scheduled that morning. (Too bad you grossed out your important customers)
4 When commuting to work by car, do not try to read The Wall Street Journal or finish reading the last chapter of the book you can’t put down. If you do, at best, you are fully aware of surrounding traffic. At worst, you’ll never get to finish the book because the traffic cop saw you reading, pulled you over, and then confiscated your book (How were you to know it was on his TBR list?)
3 When commuting to work by car, do not think there will be no traffic when you’re running 15 minutes late for a meeting with the CEO of your company. If you do, at best, you make all the lights. At worse, the city utility vehicles will be out in full force, trimming trees and picking up yard waste on every street that is normally part of your commute. (Your commute time is double and your chances of being fired triple)
2 When commuting to work by car, do check your text messages before you get to your office. At best, you’ll have some near-misses as commuters try to get around you and put distance between your bad driving and theirs. At worst, the same traffic cop that pulled you over in #4 and #9 will be more than happy to pull you over again since you are single-handedly helping the officer meet a quota.
1. When commuting to work by car, do not treat your driving as a right, but rather as a privilege which can be taken away at any moment for bad behavior. If you do, at best, you’ll rack up more fines and fees in a month than you pay in car insurance in a year. At worst, bad driving can lead to bad things happening to other people or to you. (Be mindful. Be aware. Drive safely)
There are times in life when you have to admit that what you have planned just didn’t work out. This is one of those times. An exhibit at the library titled Women in Photography curated by the organization Women in Visual Art (WIVA) opened on March 1. (Yesterday) I had planned to use this event for the Views of the Neighborhood today. The photographs are quite nice but are displayed in a room with many windows. The photos are behind glass and taking clear shots is nearly impossible. I tried using editing techniques to filter out the interference but was unsuccessful. After taking the photos and attempting to edit them, I have run out of time. So what we are going to do is get on the bus and eat and drink like sloths.
We are catered by Moonshine of Austin and our entertainment is Whitney Houston.
An explanation is in order. Last week, there may have been some confusion around the fact that the coffee machine communicated with me. To be clear, the machine does not talk. She sends messages through a mounted menu screen. The screen also has a touch pad, so no external mouse is needed. It wouldn’t be right to think that the machine has the human ability to speak. She has reasoning ability through her AI construct, which leads to her being able to ask questions. For example, today, she wondered if she should make coffee to go.
Declining the to-go cup and ordering the standard was the prelude to grabbing the clock. The time was set to March 1, 1925. The location is New York City and the duration is one hour. A pull of the plunger and we land in New York City. We are just in time to witness the founding of Viking Press.
The publisher Viking Press was founded in New York by Harold K. Guinzburg (formerly of Simon and Schuster) and George S. Oppenheimer, advertising manager for Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. The Viking Press is an American publishing company that specializes in bringing books to a wide audience. It was formerly known as Viking Penguin and Viking Books. The Penguin Group acquired the Viking Press in 1975. Today, Penguin Random House owns the Viking Press.
After one glass of champagne, the alarm goes off and we find ourselves on the couch. There is a text from Linda Hill. It reads:
Your Friday prompt for Stream of Consciousness Saturday is “mouse.” Use it any way you’d like. Enjoy!
From Corpus Christi comes the story of a commercial mariner who developed a passion for saving lives—cold, imperiled, and scaly lives.
It started in 2018, when Captain Brandon Upton was out in the Gulf waters on a particularly chilly afternoon. He saw a dark shadow floating nearby.
As the owner and operator of Sea Tow, a boating assistance company, Upton thought he had seen everything the Gulf of Mexico could conjure. But soon, he saw more dark shapes, and then even more.
He realized to his shock that they were sea turtles.
“I didn’t touch it, because I know they are endangered and protected,” Upton told the Dodo. “On my way in, I saw more and more sea turtles and was very confused. In all my years on the water, I had never seen anything like it.”
Rather than take any actions himself, Upton did the right thing and contacted the relevant animal authorities—in this case, the ecologists at San Padre Island National Seashore, who explained the turtles had been cold-stunned.
Cold-stunning is a normal phenomenon in which the cold-blooded turtles fall into a comatose state if the seawater temperatures fall below 56°F. Their heart rate and metabolism plummets, and they float, incapable of moving. This puts them at risk for boat strikes, drowning, and even land predators if the tide and surf should take them onto the beach.
Every winter since then, Upton has remained vigilant for potential cold-stunning events. If the water temperatures start to fall too low, Upton will bring an airboat to tow alongside him, into which he will toss any sea turtles he finds.
“While sea turtle rescue typically requires special training, we started in an emergency situation,” Upton said. “We picked up two or three boatloads of floating turtles that very first day.”
San Padre Island workers receive these cold-stunned animals and place them in a rehabilitation center where their bodies are gradually warmed up to the temperatures needed to restart their systems. Then they’re released.
Upton described his 7 years of pro bono help as “only natural” since he carries around a lot of specialized equipment that makes rescuing turtles easy and is a proud part of the close-knit boating community.
He’s an animal lover to boot, and whether it’s “taking a spider outside” or helping cold-stunned turtles, he considers them all like a second family.
