Getting ready for Halloween

Even though my youngest is in her teens, she wanted to go out trick or treating. After a few questions I got the truth: she wants to dress up and get some candy. October is the busy time of the year for us. If it isn't a football game, it's a debate tournament or a band competition. Plus, she's a tad too old to go out trick or treating. Case in point: Oct. 31 there is a debate tourney going on. Nevertheless, I agreed to something slightly less hectic. I'm going to host a Halloween party for about 10 or 12 kids.
I must be nuts, but if I'm going to do this: I might as well put some effort into it. Decorations, party favors, candy treats. I've got a bucket, so perhaps we'll bob for apples? The wife just suggested caramel apples. I like that idea better. That's why I like her: she takes my good ideas and makes them great.
I've still got that soda mix. Birch beer and sarsaparilla. Today I thought about adding a bit of ginger and some melted butter to the soda as I'm making it. If I do this properly, there will be butterbeer served at the party.
The wife will be working that evening, so this is all going to be on me. So my weekend now looks like soda making and cleaning the house.
Here is a picture of what the mead looks like.

It's supposed to look like that

I was thinking of starting another batch. I'm also feeling I should make some holiday beer for Christmas. Decisions, decisions...

The mead has to clear up. It will simply take time, that's all. This is one of the things I can't hurry along. We must be patient.
Speaking of patient. I'm going to need a lab coat and a bow tie for my Halloween costume.

Feeling bad versus depression

This goes out to a friend. Another thing I can't say in 180 characters or less. If this is a way of reaching out for help, I would be remiss if I didn't respond. This meme picture came to my attention via Facebook.


No, you don't sweetie.
You may despair. Your spirit may feel crushed, your heart broken, but you do not want to be dead.
Every human being at one point in their lives feel like you do. Intelligent people are more in touch with their emotional state, that is why you feel a longing for release from your current situation.
You may think it, but you are not alone in your suffering. There are friends who like you. People who count on you. Children who look up to you.
It seems crass to simply say 'get over it', but that is exactly what needs to happen. Given time, and something you enjoy occupying your time, will heal those wounds you feel in your heart.
All too often people faced with what feels like insurmountable challenges turn away from them, rather than facing them head on. People hide and retreat into drunken stupors in an effort to numb the pain they feel, but it's only temporary. The emptiness inside remains, now coupled with a hangover to add to your problems!
If I may suggest an alternative: Cry. Get it out of your system. You have been hurt and you feel betrayed. Face your pain. That is the only way to make it go away.
Next: realize that the only person who is responsible for your happiness is you. Surround yourself with people who accept you and make you feel better. Do things with these friends. Do things that satisfy your needs and wants. You can't go back to the life that was. A new way to live lies in front of you. 
Finally: Forgive the person that has wronged you, and truly mean it. That person no longer has a hold on your heart or shares your life. What is most satisfying is the person you've become is because of what was done to you in the past. Ironically, those who broke your heart actually help you in the long run to become stronger and a better person.
In telling you this, I tried to draw on past experiences without saying what happened to me personally. If my former girlfriend hadn't acted as she did, I would have never have met my wife or my daughters.
Now there will come a time when I find myself face to face with my ex-girlfriend who broke my heart and hurt me to my very soul, and I will say these words to her: 'I forgive you for what was done in the past.'
If Karma and fate have anything to do with it, I will say these words as I roll up the window to my limousine. Life is full of ironic moments like that.

Perserverance

Not too many people can admit they're wrong. Who forgot to take out the garbage? Oh, mea culpa. That sort of stuff is easy to admit and it happens to the best of us. We deal with it. Live and learn.

But what if it's something that goes against your core beliefs? Copernicus and Galileo are today considered the founding fathers of astronomy, yet their heliocentric ideas went against the Catholic church doctrine. Copernicus was reluctant to publish his book on heliocentric ideas for fear of retribution. Galileo was actually convicted of heresy and under house arrest for nearly the remainder of his life.

Even today birthers (left wing nut jobs) vehemently deny that President Obama was born in the United States. News flash: Hawaii become the 50th state in 1959. There is a lawyer who is trying to get the President deported. I can't make this stuff up even though my imagination is quite healthy. I realize this is a piece of drama and fluff with no substance, but it only serves to add to the FUD. Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt.
Fox 'news' thrives on that and you know the trouble? People are gullible enough to swallow it. Repeat a lie often enough and people begin to doubt. Is it really too much trouble to check an independent source? When Donald Trump started spouting that birther nonsense (As opposed to the usual drivel that comes out of his mouth.) I simply looked at the public record. Yet these idiotic people will continue to deny the truth. Seems a bit juvenile, doesn't it? Shouldn't they be locked up in an asylum for being that delusional? At best it is a childish temper tantrum.

My anti-vaccine friend from a couple of posts ago has effectively shut down/ kicked out/ unfriended/ any reasonable discussion of view points that don't align with his narrow world view. 
I've often wondered about the next big die off. In their history, humans have survived plague, wars, and famine. It's my personal belief the human race is overdue for a culling. Perhaps it's not going to be a flood and hurricane like Pat Robertson says. (Ha ha, that guy cracks me up.) Maybe we are going to kill ourselves with stupidity. The optimist in me would like to believe we are going to be improving the gene pool in grand Darwin Award fashion, but we have entirely too many stupid people saying idiotic things. This is one of the times where I wish stupidity was immediately painful. Not in a 'hold my beer and watch this' moment. (Although those are entertaining in and of themselves.) Perhaps a buzzer that goes off, giving the liar a headache. For repeat offenders, an electric shock sent through your cell phone as a reminder of your stupidity. Of course that's not going to happen, but I can day dream of electrocuting Bill O'Rielly for being an asshat.
For a long time now I've been following/ reading a blog from James Randi. His JREF foundation has a one million dollar challenge  to anyone who can demonstrates psychic, paranormal, or supernatural ability under satisfactory conditions. So far no one has taken him up on the offer. There is a quote from him that I'm very fond of. It sums up a great deal and shows why I am in awe of this man.
“There exists in society a very special class of persons that I have always referred to as the Believers. These are folks who have chosen to accept a certain religion, philosophy, theory, idea or notion and cling to that belief regardless of any evidence that might, for anyone else, bring it into doubt. They are the ones who encourage and support the fanatics and the frauds of any given age. No amount of evidence, no matter how strong, will bring them any enlightenment. They are the sheep who beg to be fleeced and butchered, and who will battle fiercely to preserve their right to be victimized… patent offices handle an endless succession of inventors who still produce perpetual-motion machines that don't work, but no number of idle flywheels will convince these zealots of their folly; dozens of these patent applications flow in every year. In ashrams all over the world, hopping devotees of the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi will never abandon their goal of blissful levitation of their bodies by mind power, despite bruises and sprains aplenty suffered as they bounce about on gym mats like demented (though smiling) frogs, trying to get airborne. Absolutely nothing will discourage them.” 
― James Randi

A little too much carbonation

I was working on a blog entry, but I'm going to have to put it off for a bit. I'm currently typing with band-aids covering several places on both hands.
Yesterday my sister came over with some wine bottles that I'd use for the mead currently bubbling away near my desk

Bubble, bubble

She also brought the case of cider I'd made for her. My first time making it and I didn't put enough sugar into the mix. The cider was so tart it was undrinkable. Not that it wasn't poisonous or whatnot, simply bad tasting.
Figuring I'd make the most of a bad situation, I poured one into a glass with a teaspoon of sugar. Wow, what a difference! It actually tasted good, but the sugar didn't fully dissolve. Hmm... My wife suggested the agave nectar I had. The nectar sweetened it up and dissolved into the cider, but changed the color of the cider to a dark amber. I also noticed that the cider had very little alcohol in it. Four ciders with various sweeteners and all I had to show for it was a couple of trips to the bathroom. One side note: about three of the bottles foamed up like a baking soda volcano when opened. I made a mental note to open them in the sink from that point on.
Today after a hard days work, I put the dinner in the oven and decided to open another cider. As I began to open it, the bottle went off like a gun shot. Right now I'm glad none of my neighbors called the cops. Yes, it was that loud. I think I taught my kids some new words. Daughter number two sprang into action and put the dog out before I had a chance to give the order. So putting her in for a commendation for quick thinking.
Next up: triage. Daughter 2 and 3 helped Dad get washed up and band-aids over the worst ones. To my surprise, I'm currently sporting a couple of  puncture wounds above my belly button. It went through the shirt I was wearing. Ouch.
Then the clean up. Most of the glass shards were in the sink. I had to fish a few out of the garbage disposal. My daughter swept the kitchen floor, but left the blood drops for me to clean. Fair enough I suppose, it was my mess.

just a couple of flesh wounds

Screw drinking the rest. I'm going to open them wrapped in a rag in case they go off like the other one. I am extremely thankful my sister didn't get hurt by one of my rogue brewing concoctions.

being right or popular

Yesterday a friend of a friend posted an article about how an HPV vaccination killed a 12 year old girl. I read the article which was full of anti-vaccination buzz words. All the links in the article pointed toward anti-vaccination stuff. The byline is your fist clue. It was originally published in natural news, an anti-vaccination web site.
With cynical shields up, I went to snopes.com
Which by the way, is an excellent resource for checking up on hoaxes. A quick search revealed this. Snopes gave it a rating of False and provided the links, backing up the facts.
I included the link for the vaccination facts from my last post. This morning I got a response from the people who posted about vaccines being deadly.

"Sorry, he's a liberal nut job from San Antonio and has been unfriended."

Not that I'm going to lose sleep over that, but I am amazed with the closed minded thinking. I have friends that I don't agree with all the time, but I'm pretty sure they're not Hitler incarnate. I've half a mind to call up my lawyer and ask if he can draw up some papers. Since this guy is obviously not going to vaccinate his children, perhaps I should should propose a bet: If he or his heirs die from a disease that could of been cured with a simple vaccine, I'd like to be named in his will as sole beneficiary. Come on, it'll be fun! 
Conversely if I die from a curable disease in addition to signing over my house, I'll allow him to write anything he'd like on my tombstone.  

Not just me

This morning was one of those times where the sewage line broke next to the air conditioner. Perhaps that metaphor doesn't work. One small detail resulted in some very huge consequences. Two people forgot to do one aspect of their job. When we get a delivery truck, the doors are opened as the trailer backs in. This allows the night crew to unload the truck. The next morning people like me can put it all away.
Except the truck driver and the receiver both forgot to open the doors.
A call was made to the trucking company to send another truck out. Naturally, they were the only ones who were allowed to do it. The trailer needed to be moved so the doors could be opened. Then eight or ten people unloaded half to three quarters of the trailer before the appliance truck arrived. All this before 8 AM.
This was an avoidable mishap. It put a strain on a lot of people. We had to unload it faster, put it away quickly and get ready for the rest of the day's arrivals... all before noon.
All I can say is; I'm glad it wasn't me. While a lot of good natured teasing went on, there were no repercussions for the responsible parties. Bet your butt they would have made a big deal out of this if I was the one responsible.
As it was, no lasting harm was done, we all just had to squeeze a lot of work into a very short time. It does make the day go faster. I am going to bed early, that's for sure.

This came across my desk about the Berlin patient.
Scientists are a step closer to finding a cure and it might not be one single thing, but perhaps a combination of factors. Any way you look at it, Mankind is closer to understanding how to beat this horrific disease. Stuff like this makes me feel hopeful about humanity. Perhaps we're salvageable after all.

Idiots

Smart people can change their minds. We can believe in something until evidence comes along that makes intelligent people re-evaluate their mindset.
Even then, amid a host of facts and evidence, a certain segment of the population refuses to accept common sense.
And then the rest of us have to be blunt. This is an article that was published last spring about vaccinations. In the past I've touched base on this, but it bears repeating.
Vaccines save lives. End of discussion.
People say measles isn't deadly. Guess what? If you're not vaccinated, I hope you have your affairs in order.
I thought that was too harsh a wording at first. The pictures say otherwise.
First off it's a virus. What does a virus do? It mutates. When some of the population gets immunized and even a small portion of people don't receive immunization, that virus lives to get stronger. We (as in a world-wide 'we'.) almost had this thing beat.
Unvaccinated travelers returning from the Philippines infected an unprotected Amish community in Ohio.
Every single argument and discussion point has been refuted by qualified scientists. The article I posted a link to at the beginning bears repeating in case you didn't read it. They site a whole plethora of links stating the case for immunizing your child. Please read the whole article and click on the links they provide. 
I grew up in a time where there wasn't vaccines for the majority of childhood diseases. Even though I was inoculated as a child, I still caught chicken pox as a young adult through one of my students. 
This is one of those things that doesn't go away, but viruses like this can be reduced to non-zero statistics and keep the population safe. Wouldn't that be worth it?