This movie on netfix instant has a real gritty feel.
It has a Bard college connection.. at least in the credits.
Its a bout a girl headed with a miserable Honda Accord to the fisheries of Alaska.. Ketchican in particular. She needs a job. She has a sweet gold dog.
Its gets kind of heartbreaking as she arrives in a town outside of Portland. She came from Indiana. Her parents cannot help her out. She sleeps in her car but that doesn't work when the car needs repair. I think the point of this story is that the human spirit can take a lot bad situations. She stays strong throughout the tragedies that follow her.
The critics were correct when they mention that the character is more important than the plot. It is nice to see this for a change.
Its has a very believable set of characters in this movie.
If you can get the instant play it is worth the time to watch.
: ) Pat
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Overcoming Some Fears
To overcome your unreasonable fears.
I bring you today dear readers a piece from a blog of a person that has a fear of heights. After watching his You Tubemovie on a mad walk of the kings.. I am not so sure that his fears are not justified.
Take a look at this hike.
The High Hike made Lad in Spain.
I got sweaty palms just watching it.
Have a great Saturday.
Get out their and conquer you reasonable fears.
: ) Pat
I bring you today dear readers a piece from a blog of a person that has a fear of heights. After watching his You Tubemovie on a mad walk of the kings.. I am not so sure that his fears are not justified.
Take a look at this hike.
The High Hike made Lad in Spain.
I got sweaty palms just watching it.
Have a great Saturday.
Get out their and conquer you reasonable fears.
: ) Pat
Friday, July 17, 2009
Health Care from Kibbles and Bytes
A very socially conscience Vermont company that incidentally sells Macs and Mac products and has for many years completely lays it the public plan for health care. Its got to be... or our American small businesses will dry up. Here is a soapbox statement that came from small dog:
Don't be tricked by the current media blitz. We simply have to have this.
Pat
START SOAPBOX
Yes, I can’t help it. I noticed that there are now TV commercials from special interest groups that are once again trying to scare people about health care reform. President Obama is correct in saying that without real health care reform there cannot be a true economic recovery. While the car companies may have failed because they were making the wrong cars, they also had the enormous burden of health care for their current and retired employees. So great was this burden that health care expense represented more in the price of a car than steel.
The Universal Declaration of Human Rights that was passed unanimously by the UN stated that health care was a basic human right:
Article 25.
(1) Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.
(2) Motherhood and childhood are entitled to special care and assistance. All children, whether born in or out of wedlock, shall enjoy the same social protection.
I truly believe that health care is a basic human right. Of the 27 industrialized nations in the world, 26 provide universal health care for its citizens. The one that does not? Yes, that’s right, the USA. While we have the most expensive health care system in the world, we lag behind other countries in areas such as infant mortality, breast cancer screening, childhood leukemia and heart attack survival rates.
We pay over twice what other countries with universal health care pay and yet, we do not get our money’s worth. Worse yet, millions have no insurance or coverage in our country and many millions more are “under insured.” These under insured are often ignored in the system. The natural result of the rapidly escalating cost of health insurance is the flight to very high deductible plans or health care savings accounts, both of which provide a disincentive to seek preventative care and screenings.
We are setting ourselves up for a more costly health care time bomb when unscreened individuals discover the hard way that they have diabetes, high blood pressure or other chronic diseases.
The payer of last resort has always been employee-sponsored health insurance. Our surveys show that this fragile leg of the system we call health care in our country is crumbling as employers drop coverage, move more costs to their employees or go to very high deductibles and co-pays.
This has been a slow train coming for decades. The rate of increase of health insurance has made employer-sponsored health care unsustainable. When I first started in business, I could buy health insurance for a family for about $1500; now it costs $15,000. No longer are decisions about hiring new employees solely made by opportunity and business plans—if you are an employer that does the right thing by providing this benefit for your workers, you must also consider the astronomical cost of health insurance.
These employers are also put between a rock and a hard place as they have a competitive disadvantage in bidding for business when providing this benefit is voluntary and the competitor has a lower overhead structure by not providing health insurance to their employees in the race to the bottom.
This is why I am an advocate for a publicly-financed universal health care system. You may call that a “single-payer” system, but I really do not care if there is one payer or ten payers—I want the burden of health care lifted from employers and recognized as the “common good” that it truly is. I want us to put the sentiment that our country voted for in the UN into law—access to health care is a human right!
Don't be tricked by the current media blitz. We simply have to have this.
Pat
Mantras and Scripts
Mantras and scripts are what keeps us going.
I work with a population that still encounters many threats and prejudges. As high school students throughout their educational career adults have told them to ignore the bully,the taunter, and the tormentor. This works well for those that are in power positions. If you have power you can ignore the fly than lands upon you. However, If you are the hiker that comes across a bear that is going to tear you apart, ignoring the crisis will not make it go away.
For many of our students a script is needed. Words to say. Answers to give. If there is a script for those that do not have spontaneous language, then the difficult tasks of life will also work with a script. Each week in my practice last year we devoted a day to working on scripts in "dialog day."
To make this work for you, you must think of at least 2 different things to say for a difficult situation. Work on thinking about not just the words but also where your eyes are when you say them. Saying the words without eye contact does not promote feelings of the sentiment being genuine. Practice your scripts and the scripts will set you free.
Mantras are another thing. They are the mission statement that so many institutions and their leaders are imposing to keep the ship on course. Your personal Mantras.. statements that inspire you to do your plan may make a huge difference in your personal well being. The cold and icy night I learned to ski at Lake Eldora outside of Boulder, Colorada had a ski school coach that developed a mantra of "WE ARE HAVING FUN." Despite the cold wet jeans and the icy fingers.. the mantra took over the experence. Before long I was not concentrating on my physical condition but "having fun"
We need to find some personal mantras to get us be these tough times. Life is hard. Focus on what you want to do in life not on what others think you should do. You know what your mission statement. Decide a set of mantras that you can say to yourself when life or others want to push you to keep you head off of going where you need to go.
Our president is great at doing this.
We must decide what is important to what need to do and show the world through strength and grace that we are the best. It is often seen from the outside as "inner strength". I have yet to see anyone that is perceived to have inner strength that did not have a mantra.
We need scripts to meet our daily life. Mantras to push us in the right direction.
: ) Pat
I work with a population that still encounters many threats and prejudges. As high school students throughout their educational career adults have told them to ignore the bully,the taunter, and the tormentor. This works well for those that are in power positions. If you have power you can ignore the fly than lands upon you. However, If you are the hiker that comes across a bear that is going to tear you apart, ignoring the crisis will not make it go away.
For many of our students a script is needed. Words to say. Answers to give. If there is a script for those that do not have spontaneous language, then the difficult tasks of life will also work with a script. Each week in my practice last year we devoted a day to working on scripts in "dialog day."
To make this work for you, you must think of at least 2 different things to say for a difficult situation. Work on thinking about not just the words but also where your eyes are when you say them. Saying the words without eye contact does not promote feelings of the sentiment being genuine. Practice your scripts and the scripts will set you free.
Mantras are another thing. They are the mission statement that so many institutions and their leaders are imposing to keep the ship on course. Your personal Mantras.. statements that inspire you to do your plan may make a huge difference in your personal well being. The cold and icy night I learned to ski at Lake Eldora outside of Boulder, Colorada had a ski school coach that developed a mantra of "WE ARE HAVING FUN." Despite the cold wet jeans and the icy fingers.. the mantra took over the experence. Before long I was not concentrating on my physical condition but "having fun"
We need to find some personal mantras to get us be these tough times. Life is hard. Focus on what you want to do in life not on what others think you should do. You know what your mission statement. Decide a set of mantras that you can say to yourself when life or others want to push you to keep you head off of going where you need to go.
Our president is great at doing this.
We must decide what is important to what need to do and show the world through strength and grace that we are the best. It is often seen from the outside as "inner strength". I have yet to see anyone that is perceived to have inner strength that did not have a mantra.
We need scripts to meet our daily life. Mantras to push us in the right direction.
: ) Pat
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Start Today with a Triumphant Visualization
You know that you are a good person.
There are many things that you do well and that you care about others. You show this in many ways.
Start today by thinking about how you were successful.
It might be just a little success.
Then think of another..
You can build on a couple of these successes today!
The only one that can put you down is you.
You are way too successful to let anyone but yourself put you down.. and you are successful, so you are not going to let them do it to you today.
Successful people are confident people.
You are confident.. remember the successes?
Go forth in the world and be succcessful.
: ) Pat
There are many things that you do well and that you care about others. You show this in many ways.
Start today by thinking about how you were successful.
It might be just a little success.
Then think of another..
You can build on a couple of these successes today!
The only one that can put you down is you.
You are way too successful to let anyone but yourself put you down.. and you are successful, so you are not going to let them do it to you today.
Successful people are confident people.
You are confident.. remember the successes?
Go forth in the world and be succcessful.
: ) Pat
Wednesday, July 15, 2009
Sun Star Has Ideas About Furloughs
In an opinion piece the Sun Star weighs in with a furlough (forced or contracted non paid time off). If furloughs have to be considered.. and certainly not unless required, the following philosophy makes sense. This was published today in our local paper,, The Merced Sun Star.
UC's plan eases pain of furloughs
Multiple-tiered system ought to be used in other branches of state government.
California's gargantuan $26 billion budget deficit means that even its most vulnerable state workers must share in the pain.
But even in these extraordinary times, the red ink shouldn't forestall creative action.
At the University of California, President Mark Yudof has proposed a tiered system of furloughs for employees, based on their level of pay. It's an approach that other branches of state government should seriously consider.
Under the plan, the lowest-paid of the plan's seven categories of workers -- those making up to $40,000 a year -- would take 11 annual furlough days, equivalent to 4 percent of their salary.
Midlevel workers, who make between $60,000 and $90,000, would take 18 days, equal to 7 percent of their salaries.
The best-compensated workers, those who pull down more than $240,000, would have to take 26 unpaid days off a year, the equivalent of 10 percent of their salaries.
Contrast that with the state's approach toward most other state workers. To cut spending, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered them to take three furlough days a month, the equivalent of 14 percent of their pay.
He's pushing for an additional 5 percent reduction. State workers at the bottom of the pay scale would take the same percentage cut as those at the top.
Anyone receiving a state paycheck suffers under these cuts. But they will devastate the lowest-paid workers -- people who are already struggling to pay rent, mortgages and other bills.
Lack of imagination is one reason that no other part of government -- with the exception of the Legislature -- has taken the same course as UC.
Leaders of the California State University system have given all its employees the same choice, regardless of salary: 24 annual furlough days, which is a little less than 10 percent of their pay, or layoffs whose numbers are unspecified but are presumed to be harsh.
In addition, most state agencies must cut salaries by the 14 percent the governor has ordered, which is more than UC (or CSU). Spreading the salary-cut pain is harder when there's more pain to pass around.
But it's not impossible, as UC, whose regents are expected to approve the plan today, has demonstrated. The Legislature and even the governor claim to be troubled by the pain that state worker furloughs will cause. This could be a chance to make a little of that pain go away.
UC's plan eases pain of furloughs
Multiple-tiered system ought to be used in other branches of state government.
California's gargantuan $26 billion budget deficit means that even its most vulnerable state workers must share in the pain.
But even in these extraordinary times, the red ink shouldn't forestall creative action.
At the University of California, President Mark Yudof has proposed a tiered system of furloughs for employees, based on their level of pay. It's an approach that other branches of state government should seriously consider.
Under the plan, the lowest-paid of the plan's seven categories of workers -- those making up to $40,000 a year -- would take 11 annual furlough days, equivalent to 4 percent of their salary.
Midlevel workers, who make between $60,000 and $90,000, would take 18 days, equal to 7 percent of their salaries.
The best-compensated workers, those who pull down more than $240,000, would have to take 26 unpaid days off a year, the equivalent of 10 percent of their salaries.
Contrast that with the state's approach toward most other state workers. To cut spending, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has ordered them to take three furlough days a month, the equivalent of 14 percent of their pay.
He's pushing for an additional 5 percent reduction. State workers at the bottom of the pay scale would take the same percentage cut as those at the top.
Anyone receiving a state paycheck suffers under these cuts. But they will devastate the lowest-paid workers -- people who are already struggling to pay rent, mortgages and other bills.
Lack of imagination is one reason that no other part of government -- with the exception of the Legislature -- has taken the same course as UC.
Leaders of the California State University system have given all its employees the same choice, regardless of salary: 24 annual furlough days, which is a little less than 10 percent of their pay, or layoffs whose numbers are unspecified but are presumed to be harsh.
In addition, most state agencies must cut salaries by the 14 percent the governor has ordered, which is more than UC (or CSU). Spreading the salary-cut pain is harder when there's more pain to pass around.
But it's not impossible, as UC, whose regents are expected to approve the plan today, has demonstrated. The Legislature and even the governor claim to be troubled by the pain that state worker furloughs will cause. This could be a chance to make a little of that pain go away.
Monday, July 13, 2009
A tree that is in severe stress
My apricot tree is going berserk. I can I jam I do everything and still there are many beautiful fruit handing from the tree.
Dad has a theory that when some fruit is picked it allows the other fruit on the tree to get bigger and fill in the gaps.
Last year was sort of a disaster. Only 6 quarts of apricots could be canned. I have heard that apricot trees tend to be cyclical. One year they have a great crop and the next year they rest. This is probably what is going on with this tree. My neighbor has an apricot tree in his front yard. It is young tree. It is a Blenheim. Their fruit ripens eariler than the Tilton that I have. He had just a couple of quarts this year. Last year the crop almost broke down its branches.
My poor Bonanza peach put on so many peaches this year that a third of the branches broke. I worked hard to thin the peaches out. The next year that such a crop is on, I will be more careful to thin for branch strength.
The little PeeZee peach in the front yard had a banner year. People that usually "share" my nectarine were more inclined to help themselves (with my permission) to the big peaches that are on the tree closest to the curb. Most of the peaches were huge. As dad would say.. 40's.
The nectarines were sort of disasterous. The earwigs got them. and the pollination was not so good. That means that next year it will be nectarine heaven. Something to look forward to.. right Linzi?
There is a moderate crop on the white peaches that Sue dispises. An early Elberta has been saving my bacon over these. I can float a few of these peaches in (yellow) when I make a cobbler and it is okay.
The biggest innovation to the canning process this year has been the use of my lemon juice ice cubes from last january. I just drop a couple of them in to the cooking fruit and no squeezing of fruit is needed or rinds or any of that stuff.
I found a website this year that talked about jarring up some pie filling. It is an interesting process as corn starch is used and each quart of pie filling is made individually. Corn starch is combined with sugar and lemon juice and sugar. When this is boiling, and the corn starch is disolved in it, the fresh quartered apricots (5 cups) are introduced and cooked for 5 minutes. Then hot processed into the glass jars and put under 3 inches of boiling water for 30 minutes.
Some mean looking apricot pie filling is made. I am hoping that the new jars of pie filling will result in some "out of season" apricot pie or cobbler.. And it won't take up my freezer space.
: ) Pat
Dad has a theory that when some fruit is picked it allows the other fruit on the tree to get bigger and fill in the gaps.
Last year was sort of a disaster. Only 6 quarts of apricots could be canned. I have heard that apricot trees tend to be cyclical. One year they have a great crop and the next year they rest. This is probably what is going on with this tree. My neighbor has an apricot tree in his front yard. It is young tree. It is a Blenheim. Their fruit ripens eariler than the Tilton that I have. He had just a couple of quarts this year. Last year the crop almost broke down its branches.
My poor Bonanza peach put on so many peaches this year that a third of the branches broke. I worked hard to thin the peaches out. The next year that such a crop is on, I will be more careful to thin for branch strength.
The little PeeZee peach in the front yard had a banner year. People that usually "share" my nectarine were more inclined to help themselves (with my permission) to the big peaches that are on the tree closest to the curb. Most of the peaches were huge. As dad would say.. 40's.
The nectarines were sort of disasterous. The earwigs got them. and the pollination was not so good. That means that next year it will be nectarine heaven. Something to look forward to.. right Linzi?
There is a moderate crop on the white peaches that Sue dispises. An early Elberta has been saving my bacon over these. I can float a few of these peaches in (yellow) when I make a cobbler and it is okay.
The biggest innovation to the canning process this year has been the use of my lemon juice ice cubes from last january. I just drop a couple of them in to the cooking fruit and no squeezing of fruit is needed or rinds or any of that stuff.
I found a website this year that talked about jarring up some pie filling. It is an interesting process as corn starch is used and each quart of pie filling is made individually. Corn starch is combined with sugar and lemon juice and sugar. When this is boiling, and the corn starch is disolved in it, the fresh quartered apricots (5 cups) are introduced and cooked for 5 minutes. Then hot processed into the glass jars and put under 3 inches of boiling water for 30 minutes.
Some mean looking apricot pie filling is made. I am hoping that the new jars of pie filling will result in some "out of season" apricot pie or cobbler.. And it won't take up my freezer space.
: ) Pat
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