Mueller report out...

Well, the gutted (redacted) version of the “Special Counsel” is out. It will be interesting to see how the Democrats will react and even more interesting to see how much smoke the trump folks will spit out.

 I think the House, having announced they demand to see the full report, is going to end up issuing subpoenas to get this. I suspect the subpoena fight will end up going to the Supreme Court.

Heinlein on Expertise and Experts

"Expertise in one field does not carry over into other fields. But experts often think so. The narrower their field of knowledge the more likely they are to think so."

​

Robert A. Heinlein​

MONDAY, JUNE 04, 2012

"The Republican Party, while it is wicked and corrupt, is not an assemblage of fools, and, while there may be, and doubtlessly are, many foolish and stupid men who put themselves forward as leaders, the mass of voters in all sections of this country are tolerably sensible people."

Dodge City Democrat
December 23, 1883

 

short list for pre-death prep

About a year after my youngest brother died of congestive heart failure, I wrote a little essay about "lessons learned". Here are condensed items to consider:

1. Have a will listing who is your executor! Don't make the relative tasked with looking after your affairs have to spent time with the lawyer.

2. Write down what you want done with your body and who you want to cremate or embalm you.

3. In your will, list who gets which of your items. Your relatives might not think your valuables are so valuable.

4. Have a list of all your debts (a simple ledger sheet would work).

5. List your email accounts and your passwords, any blogs you are on, your social network accounts, etc.

6. If you are on the road, be sure to have a letter with the names, addresses, phone numbers and electronic addresses of your family and friends. Don't make the police have to deploy detectives to contact them if you die in a car crash or worst, are found dead in a motel.

7. If you do not have family or friends who are willing to clean up after you, you will then have to find an organization in your community who can help you. Some of these could be:

a. Church
b. Civic Organization (i.e. Lions, Kuakinas, Knights of Columbus)
c. Hospice

If all else fails, you could simply contact an Estate Sales Company (i.e. a company that sells personal items of the recently deceased) and make a deal with them. If you are renting a place, you could ask your minister or even (gag!) the landlord to be there when the vultures come for your stuff and decide who is to receive the cash proceeds. I would not give the proceedes to your landlord as he would probably keep your last month's rent and security deposit even if you had someone to send this money to!

lessons learnt from my brother's death

On 10 December 2009, about 1:10 am, my youngest brother Charles Andrew Bell died of heart failure. He was 44 years, one month old and had been a juvenile onset type 1 since he was about 14. (This should have spurred me to learn everything I could about Diabetes then and not after my MD called me on the phone and said "Mr. Bell, you're a diabetic" on 7 May 2004.)

My brother Jim, who lived fairly close to Charlie, called me at 3:12 am to pass the news. Ironically, this was just before my alarm was to go off (at 3:15 am) and I thought the phone was my alarm clock...

Charlie died without a will and had refused to give Jim a Power of Attorney several days earlier. This meant that Charlie's corpse was in the Hospital Morgue.

Jim had a lawyer friend create paper work declaring Jim to be Charlie's "Successor" (not "Executor"). Then, he had our other brother (JJ) and I sign the paperwork agreeing to this, get the paperwork notarized and fax it back.

Jim had Charlie's corpse moved to the Funeral Home that had "served" our parent's and several family friends (his choice sounded fine to me). We discussed cremation versus embalming and subsequent burial in emails and we all agreed to cremation. This required Jim to send us forms to be filled out, notarized and faxed back. (It was an easy choice: have you compared the costs of both?)

Jim then negotiated the Memorial Service date with the Minister, JJ and I. This was more than just a "the brothers will decide"; our wives and Jim's kids all had their opinions.

We submitted ideas for songs to be played at the Memorial Service and appropriate Bible Verses (reading my verses was one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. Charlie was 14 years younger than me and I wasn't supposed to be burying him; he was supposed to be burying me decades from now!)

Then, it got to be much more of a pain in the ass for Jim. He had to go through all of Charlie's bills to find out who he owed money to. One creditor refused to tell Jim the total size of the debt without Charlie's written permission; I guess that didn't understand what "he's dead" meant? When Jim stated the amount given on this creditor's bill (around $400), they blurted out "oh, he actually owes us $8,000!"

Charlie had used his car title on for a loan and we had to pay off that loan to get title back in order for Jim to sell Charlie's car. He had borrowed from his life insurance so that was rather anemic.

Charlie shared an apartment with a friend. We agree the roommate could have any of Charlie's worldly goods that he wanted (save for the car). Jim put what was left in his garage and Jim, JJ, my wife and I went through these items deciding who would take what and what would go to Good Will or the garbage. I still have a big box of his stuff in my Father-in-Law's garage and will have to arrange to retrieve it later...

Years ago, at a family get together, I was told that I'd become a "Cautionary Tale". My nephew and niece was told "Uncle Mike" stories and admonished not to "be like Uncle Mike". There were some stories I didn't remember and some I didn't want to remember. There were some lessons to be learned from my brother.

1. Have a will listing who is your executor! Don't make the relative tasked with looking after your affairs have to spent time with the lawyer.

2. Write down what you want done with your body and who you want to cremate or embalm you.

3. In your will, list who gets which of your items. Your relatives might not think your valuables are so valuable.

4. Have a list of all your debts (a simple ledger sheet would work).

5. List your email accounts and your passwords, any blogs you are on, your social network accounts, etc.

Having written this list, I realize that I haven't done 1, 3 and 4 because I think my wife will outlive me. I haven't done 5 because it is a hassle and because I'm not sure I care if these accounts become orphans.


lessons learnt from my brother's death
lessons learnt from my brother's death,Charles Andrew Bell,cremation,will,need to tell heir beneficiary or inheritor or recipient,Successor not Executor


fin

great speech by HRC!

Hillary R. Clinton just gave a speech that was presented on CNN Sunday morning. It was very rational, very intelligent, patriotic and made great sense.

It was a Presidential Speech!

Her speech did not knock anyone, did not prod the various divisions in our country and made her look so good compared to Trump.  For one thing, her speech was focused and stayed on her message. It makes me think of what we could have had if the election had gore in a rational direction in 2016. sigh...

room 274

I was dreaming that I was back in college again (I don't know why). In one of my final classes in that last quarter, I was using a simple seeming computer language to design images on window glasses. One morning, I realized I could create designs outside the windows.

That is when I went to room "274" and upon entering there, went down the rabbit's hole. I found myself going from place to place but no one seems able to get back home. As I was wakening up, I was able to return home.

Still, I kept thinking of "Rom 274" as being the place where you went but did not come back from.

bags of germs

CNN reported this morning that measles were considered extinct in the US of A twenty years ago. Now, the CDC is reporting that measles is on the increase. So, what has happened?

The anti-vaccination ("anti-vaxer") movement is based on a single "study" which showed that vaccinations cause autism. This study was a lie written by an MD who was desperate for a paper!  The "data" was false and the conclusions not only false but could not be verified.

Those fucking "anti-faxers" are not getting their kids vaccinated.  This means the kids they are "protectng" have a 90% chance of getting measles if exposed. If the anti-vaxer parents take their  measles infected kids to an emergency room or to a pediatric clinic, said bag of germs will fill the airspace with their measles germs and will have a 90% chance of infecting kids too young to have gotten the vaccination. So, who are these parents?

One example is a couple who took their 3 unvaccinated kids to Viet Nam on vacation and brought back the measles. Great! A final assault from 'Nam.

I had the measles in 2nd grade and the chicken pox about that time. I also got anti-polio vaccination when it was available. I've read they have polio in 'Nam. I wonder if any parents are planning on taking this "kiddos" to 'Nam for a vacation any time soon?

Post Script: After writing this, I need to listen to something uplifting. I'm looking at a Steppenwolf CD and will listen to "Snowblind Friend"...

fire alarm 30 March 2019

We were at a hotel in Beaverton, Oregon and were visiting Kathie's Father.

About 5:45 AM, 30 March 2019,  a loud noise woke me. I slapped the radio alarm a couple of times but this did no good. I then stood up and pushed the button on the smoke detector with no result. I saw an alarm horn, put my hand over it and realized it was the noise source.

It was the hotel fire alarm!

Before I could get dressed, I absolutely had to piss! It took a couple of minutes and Kathie was pissed!  Oh well, I have little control over my bladder in the middle of the night.

I need and then got dressed.  All the while Kathie was telling me to hurry and telling me "we would have burned to death if there was a real fire".

We wandered down the hall and down the stairs.

There were a large number of people waiting for the all clear. I was amazed at how well everyone had gotten covered up before going down stairs.

There was no fire (fortunately!) And we went back to our room. I had a hard time getting back to sleep as did Kathie.

The desk clerk said this was the second day in a row the fire alarm went off at the same time. I will lay out clothing for a fire drill tomorrow morning.  Hopefully, we will not be awaken...

Upon returning to our room, I realized I had left my inhaler in the room.  This could have been very needful had the hallway or stairs been smoke filled!

Finally, while I worried about not having my medicines but never thought of about my books or clothing.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The next, when alarm did not go off, we asked the desk clerk about this. She said:
"There was a man who got up about 5.40 am and sprayed himself with strong manly colone. One of our people was walking down the hall and smelled this odor. He asked around and found out who was spraying himself.

This guest promised to refrain from using his spray the next day and we changed the sensors...

Oh, well...