08:28 – We replaced our old den ceiling fan yesterday. I expected it to take an hour or less, but it ended up taking several hours. But it’s finished, and Barbara is happy with the new one.
There was a front-page article in the newspaper this morning about Mt. Airy, the town of about 11,000 people about 25 miles northwest of Winston-Salem that’s most famous as the setting for the The Andy Griffith Show and Mayberry RFD. During the 20th century, that town’s economy was based on the North Carolina Big Three: tobacco, textiles, and furniture. Tobacco and textiles disappeared years ago, and they’ve just announced that the last remaining furniture plant is closing. In a town of 11,000 people, they’ve lost 4,600 manufacturing jobs over the last 15 years. That pretty much sums up small-town North Carolina.
Barbara’s sister just called to tell her that their dad was on his way to the hospital again because his legs were badly swollen and he was out of his head. Barbara dropped everything to head for the hospital. As she was getting dressed, her sister called again to tell her that he wasn’t on his way to the hospital but her mom was panicking, so Barbara just left to meet her sister at their parents’ apartment.
I suggested that it might be a good idea for them just to drive their dad to the emergency room, to avoid a middle-of-the-night surprise. Barbara said they’d sworn off taking him to the emergency room themselves because he’d just have to sit there for hours, where he could die before he was seen by a doctor. If he needs to be hospitalized, they’ll call 911, because patients delivered by ambulance get immediate treatment.
09:03 – Barbara just called from her parents’ apartment. The ambulance is there, getting ready to haul her dad to the emergency room. He suffers from congestive heart failure. She said his lips were blue, he was having trouble breathing, his legs were badly swollen, and he was confused. Her mom has calmed down a bit, although she’s still afraid they’re going to be thrown out of the retirement village because of Dutch’s frequent medical emergencies. Barbara and Frances have explained to her that that’s not how it works, but her mom is a worrier. If the hospital admits Dutch, which I suspect it will, Barbara’s going to come home this afternoon. Frances will stay with her mom.
Sorry to hear the latest news about Dutch. I should have mentioned that ambulance service is better than walk-in, earlier. We quickly discovered that trick while dealing with my M-I-L.
Here we’ve found that walk-in is also fast if there is chest pain/breathing problems. They don’t mess around; but then again, this is northern Vermont; things may be different here.
Best wishes; my MIL is recovering from open-heart surgery but pulled through with nary a problem at 84. And her older sister kayaks on the lake, rides a bicycle and takes long walks in single-digit wind and snow. They’ll all bury me, no doubt.
I keep expecting every trip to the emergency room to be the last. Dutch is 90 years old, and the congestive heart failure makes him pretty frail, both physically and mentally.
While I uncompromisingly insist on the right of an adult to decide his own fate, including his own medical care, I recognize the strain their decisions might place on others. Hence, my sympathies to Barbara and her sister.
Thank you.
I agree completely with your position, except that I’d modify that to “a competent adult”.
Barbara’s parents are both suffering from some degree of senility. Some days they’re better and some days worse, but the trend is of course downward. I’ve been trying to convince Barbara that they simply can’t be trusted to make good decisions and that it is time for her and Frances to make all important decisions. Take their parents’ wishes into account, of course, but Barbara and Frances need to have the final say.
We had a small example of that the other day. Barbara’s mom wanted to send someone a Christmas gift that was sold only on-line. Of course, that meant Barbara had to order it for her and pay by credit card. So, the gift arrived at our house, and Barbara took it over and gave it to her mom. Her mom insisted on paying for the gift, so Barbara left the invoice (which was marked PAID) with her mom, and told her mom that that was how much she owed Barbara.
So the next time Frances was visiting her mom, Sankie told Frances that they had to write a check to the vendor. Frances told her no, that she was supposed to pay Barbara. But Sankie insisted that they needed to pay the company, telling Frances that Barbara hadn’t paid for the gift, so Frances wrote a check and mailed it. When Frances called Barbara and told her what had happened, Barbara was very upset. She called the manager of the retirement village, who told her that this kind of thing happened all the time. He met the mailman the next morning and got the check back (which I thought was illegal once a piece of mail was dropped in the box).
This one was minor, and could have been cleared up with the vendor or a stop-pay if necessary, but the next one might be major. I’m trying to convince Barbara that her parents are not competent to control their own checkbook and that they might easily be scammed for a major amount of money. Barbara is afraid that if she and Frances (who’s paying the bills anyway) try to take control of the checkbook they’ll end up in a major battle with her parents, as they did about taking the car keys away from Dutch.
It’s all about leaving them at least the illusion of independence, which I kind of understand, but I think that needs to be secondary to their best interests. Although I’m not that way personally, I understand that nearly everyone resists such changes. Too bad, in my opinion. Barbara’s parents are no longer fully competent adults, and they need to be treated that way.
Hell, I gave up control of the checkbook 30 years ago, when Barbara and I got married. She looked at my checkbook, saw that I never filled out the check register and that I used checks in random order, and said there was no way I’d ever be allowed to touch our checkbook. I explained to her that I kept everything in my head, which I did. She didn’t buy that, so I gave up control of the checkbook.
Same thing on driving. I understand that nearly everyone with a driver’s license thinks they’re an above average driver, and most men believe they’re excellent drivers. I know I’m not even average. I drive an average of maybe 5 or 10 miles a month. My reaction time is still much faster than average, not just for my age but overall. But even so, I know that nearly all of the people around me are better drivers than I am. Hell, after Barbara had surgery and couldn’t drive, we went over one day to Paul and Mary’s to pick them up for a Costco run and dinner. I drove to their house, but when we were getting ready to leave, I asked Paul if he’d mind driving my truck. He said sure but asked why. I told him because he’s a much better driver than I am.
So, if one day the people around me whom I trust tell me it’s time for me to stop doing one thing or another, I won’t even argue. If one person tells me that, he or she may be mistaken or have an agendum. But if several people tell me the same thing, I’m realistic enough to know they’re right no matter how much I think they’re wrong.
“So, if one day the people around me whom I trust tell me it’s time for me to stop doing one thing or another, I won’t even argue. If one person tells me that, he or she may be mistaken or have an agendum. But if several people tell me the same thing, I’m realistic enough to know they’re right no matter how much I think they’re wrong.”
You feel that way now but might not feel that way in your late eighties.
Oh, I’m sure I’ll still be fine in my late 80’s. I was talking about when I’m 140 or 150.
Pardon me for offering unsolicited advice. Furthermore, I am not an attorney. I’m just a guy who had to put his mother in an assisted living.
Either Barbara or Frances should have power of attorney for both of their parents if they don’t already. Both for general legal matters and medical decisions. I have no clue whether it should be both sisters who have power of attorney or just one. I can see advantages or disadvantages to either way. But their needs to be a power of attorney in place sooner rather than later if there isn’t one already.
I found it very helpful to have a power of attorney when I had to put my mom in an assisted living place when she didn’t really want to go. So I rented and furnished the place with my mom’s money and my wife and I took her to see the doctor one day. Then we took her out to lunch and see her granddaughter for the first time in over a month. My poor mother didn’t realize we were in an assisted living place until after we showed her the apartment I had already rented for her. If I didn’t have a power of attorney, we probably would have had to take things to the next step, and get a judge to declare me to be her guardian.
I completely understand the checkbook thing that Barbara and Frances are running into. I thought we had it solved by my having physical possession of the checkbook after she moved. It appears my mom has in one of her more lucid moments called the bank and ordered more checks. I didn’t even know she could remember what they were called.
OFD is quite correct that walk-ins complaining of chest pains and breathing problems do get elevated quicker at the ER, it’s still not as quick as having an EMT show up with the ability/apparatus to deal with the chest pain/breathing issue en route.
I suppose it depends on the emergency room and how busy it is. The ones here are always overflowing with walk-ins who treat the ER as a doctor’s office. And even those morons know that claiming chest or breathing issues gets them in to see a doctor faster.
I mentioned months ago to Barbara that she should try to get a doctor to prescribe an oxygen concentrator. Her dad has chronic CHF and her mom COPD. They should have an oxygen concentrator in their home for emergencies or even routine use.
Incidentally, the technology/science is pretty cool. It’s essentially an air pump with two pressure vessels partially filled with zeolite (expanded clay). When the air in one vessel is compressed, nitrogen is selectively adsorbed by the zeolite, leaving the air oxygen enriched. When the pressure is reduced to atmospheric, the zeolite gives up the nitrogen, which is vented to the room. With two pressure chambers alternating, the device can supply highly oxygen-enriched air continuously. The technology is very simple and reliable, and would be very cheap if it weren’t for medical liability issues. Someone who was handy with tools could whip one up pretty easily with just a couple of 20-pound propane tanks, an air compressor, and some fittings.
“…one of her more lucid moments called the bank and ordered more checks.”
Yeah, that’s the thing; they occasionally have actual lucid moments and do and say things that can be very interesting, with consequences like that. My dad died of early-onset Alzheimer’s at 71 and I can remember near the end he’d have a second or two of recognition as to who were were and what was happening and then he’d be gone; quite poignant. My mom is nearly 81 and has Pick’s Disease, a lovely Alzheimer’s variant, and I also got to see my maternal grandmother and my paternal great-aunt go deep into terminal senility years ago. None of this was pretty.
We do the best we can, most of us, and sometimes it ain’t gonna be enough.
And I am a wicked outstanding driver, without fail.
That modification opens up a can of worms. Who decides who’s competent? Psychology isn’t a science and its experts trip my fraud detectors every time I pay attention. Neuroscience is a science, but so far as I know it can identify gross problems but doesn’t provide much guidance when Mom is just getting pretty absent-minded. And so long as the government is paying for most medical care for the old, it’s going to stick its nose into the decisions, and I really don’t want that. (Yah, I realize that camel’s nose is under the tent all the way to its stinking ass. I still don’t want it.)
I’m a skilled driver but don’t consider myself a good one because I’m too aggressive. That’s why I drive a minivan, because it limits my ability to put my aggressive tendencies into action.
However, compared to the overwhelming number of incompetents on the road, it seems likely that I am well above average. Frightening, that, especially considering how many incompetents drive 3-ton moronmobiles. I can only hope that the appearance of overwhelming incompetence is one of the logical fallacies, the one where you notice and remember events which confirm your opinion.
A couple decades ago, when big SUVs were just becoming popular, I was at a party in which a small, young woman candidly stated that she’d wrecked some large number of cars in the five years that she’d had her license and that now Daddy had bought her the biggest car on the market so that she’d be safe the next time she drove into someone. I’d have killed her as a simple matter of self-preservation, but there were too many witnesses.
“…I’d have killed her as a simple matter of self-preservation, but there were too many witnesses.”
Don’t think I haven’t thought of this when out and about Happy Motoring on our nation’s highways and byways; even been working on it in relation to the Catholic ‘just war’ and self-defense doctrines. As far as I can tell, there are people operating motor vehicles out there who are trying to kill me; am I not entitled, bound, even, to defend myself?
Yep. And breaking her neck at a party would have been nothing but pre-emptive self-defense.
Well, decades ago I proposed a simple driving test that would have solved > 90% of the problems with morons getting licenses:
1. have an accurate pass/fail gauge that consists of two steel I-beam pillars that are adjustable for separation.
2. measure the maximum width of the candidate’s vehicle.
3. set the pillars to width of candidate’s vehicle + one inch
4. successful driving test consists of candidate driving through the pillars at at least 70 MPH without touching either pillar
My dad made me learn to know exactly where the side of the vehicle was. He also made me learn to back up in a straight line and to maneuver a trailer while backing up.
When I took my driving test at 16, we went through the road test with no problems until we returned to the office. There was a car parked in the alley behind the office, and the examiner told me to pass that car as closely as I could without hitting it. A moment later, he actually screamed. Turned out it was his car. I cleared it by at least half an inch, and probably a full inch.
I’m not really versed in the finer points of Catholic doctrine, but given that suicide (actively killing yourself) is a sin, wouldn’t a failure to preserve your life (passively killing yourself) also be a sin? If that is the case, then you are required by the tenets of your faith to take whatever steps are necessary to preserve your life. Don’t feel any guilt if those necessary steps include the killing of a dangerous person. No one faults the judge or the hangman for executing a murderer, do they?
There ya go. It’s Sophistry Sunday, so there isn’t even a charge.
The pillars test would certainly separate the poets from the poetasters and the professionals from the poseurs. Backing up is basic, as is parallel parking. I’d add tests for night driving and inclement weather/road surface and make them every ten years until age 60 and then every five years until 70 and then once a year thereafter. And we don’t need the State to do this; local yokels can handle it. Pass the tests and you can drive your car. Additional tests for motorcycles, trucks, SUVs and construction equipment, obviously. I’d pay especial attention to young males and the older folks. I would be perfectly willing to be tested on all this next year or right now.
I’ve already been through those complex theological steps, SteveF, but thanks! And it is actually Epiphany Sunday, where in most Christian churches we hear once again the tale of the Magi, come from the East, bearing gifts and following that star. Funny boy Herod wanted them to slide by his crib later with a full report, that he might come and pay homage, too, ha, ha, ha, but they got the word in a dream and split that ‘hood by another route. And the music today was good, as usual in our parish; not that crappy folk pablum from the Glorious Sixties like in most RC churches for the past couple of decades; “What Child is This,” more familiarly known as “Greensleeves,” an English folk melody going back at least through the 16th-C there; well known by de Vere’s time, anyway:
“Let the sky rain potatoes! Let it thunder to the tune of ‘Greensleeves’!” Falstaff, in “The Merry Wives of Windsor.” And first registered in London as “A Newe Northen Dittye of ye Ladye Greene Sleves”.
32 here with occasional blowing snow today and overcast.
We have a show up in Canada called “Canada’s Worst Driver” and they have a skills test similar to Bob’s above, though with a tiny bit more wiggle room. Vehicles at 70 mph can move more than an inch just because of wind. Much hilarity ensues as the people are shown how to drive better, than shamed into learning.
I would like to rewrite all the driver’s exams and make then actually skills based. Fully half (and I’m being nice!) the people out there driving haven’t the skills to go past 5 mph safely.
Sorry to hear about Dutch’s trip to the hospital. All the best to Barbara and her parents…
I can only second the recommendation of a power of attorney. My mother gave me power of attorney “just in case”. When she passed away unexpectedly, it made life immensely easier, because I could do everything I needed to without waiting for all the unpleasant paperwork, death certificates, etc.
– – – – –
We replaced our old den ceiling fan yesterday. I expected it to take an hour or less, but it ended up taking several hours.
It seems to always be that way. I do a lot of projects around the house, and I have just about given up estimating how long something will take. As someone once said: “you begin at the beginning, go on until the end, and then stop.” There’s no use getting impatient or trying to hurry things along, or it’ll take even longer.
I just replaced a sign for my wife’s business out front. The wooden posts had rotted through, but the sign was fine. I wanted to solve the problem permanently by using (much narrower) metal posts. What I hadn’t reckoned with: the holes used to attach the sign to the wooden posts were drilled pretty randomly – they didn’t line up any which way. With fat wooden posts, this didn’t matter, but it was hopeless with the metal ones. So I had to mount “horizontal” rails on the posts to screw the sign to – “horizontal” because each rail was tilted as needed to line up with two holes on the sign. Getting this right too hours.
Still, I like this kind of stuff, as it is so totally different from IT-related work. Total stress relief.
Speaking of fun hobbies, I am just now brewing my second-ever batch of beer. Also lots of fun – mainly because there are lots of pauses, where you have nothing to do but – of course – drink a beer…
“I keep expecting every trip to the emergency room to be the last. Dutch is 90 years old, and the congestive heart failure makes him pretty frail, both physically and mentally”
I regretted not spending and especially talking to my parents more often before they were both killed by a drunken driver. There is a lot of experience and history (before I was born), I know nothing about.
Perhaps the increased attention needed now provides the opportunity for closer bonding before it is too late. Dutch is surely unique in his own way, and has something to share with loved ones. Perhaps, what is now seen as imposition, will later be remembered fondly as time well spent.
Strength in your time of need.
SteveF: Sophistry Sunday
OFD: Epiphany Sunday
Po-tay-to, po-tah-to.
Speaking of which,
I think that last word is supposed to be poetastoes. I realize that some regional accents make it sound like “-ters”, but the proper pronunciation is either “po-eh-tay-stose” or “po-eh-tah-stose”.
I used to brew a lot of beer and a fair amount of mead. An impressive amount, for someone who doesn’t really drink. I use it for cooking and as gifts and for my father-in-law before he died. When I was learning to brew, the thing that amused me the most about Charlie Papazian’s books was the mug of beer in every free hand in all of the pictures. “Relax. Don’t worry. Have a homebrew.”
Brad, if you haven’t already picked up on it, the single most important factor in not ruining a bottle or a batch is cleanliness.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/poetaster
1599, baby. Way it is.
And for “potato” down in Woostuh, Mass, and several other regional New England variations it is “buh-day-duh.”
-sigh- I know what a poetaster is. You know the problem with getting as old as OFD (which must stand for Old Fart Dave)? You lose your sense of humor. No problem. I’ll just take my (truly excellent) sense of humor to a younger crowd. Like, say, hot babes.
Bob, sorry to hear about Dutch and his troubles. I’ll second or third the idea of getting a POA; it makes life MUCH easier when parents die.
Also wanted to thank you for recommending _Homeland_! I don’t follow TeeVee and only make passing note of your recommendations, but you kept mentioning it so I got the first two disks on Netflix and am awaiting the third. Clever plotting, good characters and good acting; though I think Claire Danes has learned a bit too much from William Shatner. Even though the character is bipolar (or whatever) she ought to tone down the hamming.
Damn, I meant to ask OFD about SteveF’s question: [i]”wouldn’t a failure to preserve your life (passively killing yourself) also be a sin? [/]
What is the doctrine on this?
These would seem to be the specific passages in the Catechism concerning the topic SteveF and I briefly discussed:
“Legitimate defense
2263 The legitimate defense of persons and societies is not an exception to the prohibition against the murder of the innocent that constitutes intentional killing. “The act of self-defense can have a double effect: the preservation of one’s own life; and the killing of the aggressor. . . . The one is intended, the other is not.”65
2264 Love toward oneself remains a fundamental principle of morality. Therefore it is legitimate to insist on respect for one’s own right to life. Someone who defends his life is not guilty of murder even if he is forced to deal his aggressor a lethal blow:
If a man in self-defense uses more than necessary violence, it will be unlawful: whereas if he repels force with moderation, his defense will be lawful. . . . Nor is it necessary for salvation that a man omit the act of moderate self-defense to avoid killing the other man, since one is bound to take more care of one’s own life than of another’s.66
2265 Legitimate defense can be not only a right but a grave duty for one who is responsible for the lives of others. The defense of the common good requires that an unjust aggressor be rendered unable to cause harm. For this reason, those who legitimately hold authority also have the right to use arms to repel aggressors against the civil community entrusted to their responsibility.
For further and more detailed study, one can refer to this section of the Catechism to get the full context, or take a look at this:
http://www.catholicculture.org/culture/library/view.cfm?recnum=8772
@SteveF; I thought your comment about “poetaster” concerned the spelling, thus my dictionary link. I figured you know what it means, homes. You’d better.
Of course I know what it means. As an acknowledged master of the insulting doggerel and the suggestive limerick, I humbly admit to being a poet. I’ll rarely refer to William Blake and his ilk as poetasters, more often as poseurs, most commonly as pretentious gasbags.
Actually, joking aside, I’ve recently turned my way with words to yet another endeavor: songwriting. Specifically, country song writing, which is funny because I can’t stand commercial country music. However, my mother and sister, who do listen to country radio stations, think I’ve got something here. In one song, “To My Darling Wife (As I Walk out the Door)”, the refrain is “I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire”, and their favorite line was “You’ve had more studs on you than any ol’ tire.” Haven’t sold any yet, but this is a recent thing for me. I thought I’d get six or ten written and melodies dinked out before I start looking to sell.
Barbara’s parents are both suffering from some degree of senility. Some days they’re better and some days worse, but the trend is of course downward.
Having just been through this myself, my aunt finally passing away in March and released the claws of dementia, a POA is absolutely necessary.
If it is like my aunt they will drop down a level in reasoning, stay at the level for awhile, then drop again. A significant event in their life will trigger a significant drop in reasoning level.
My aunt in one of her moments of clarity made reservations with an airline to travel back to Seattle, also had a taxi confirmed. I found the documentation in her room. I asked the assisted living place to stop her from leaving and they said that legally they cannot do that unless the person has been ruled incompetent. Otherwise the facility can be charge with kidnapping (TN rules perhaps).
I called the airline and asked them to cancel the reservation. They said no as I did not make the reservation. I then told the airline that she had dementia and once she was on the plane she was their problem and that I, since the airline said I had no legal authority in spite of a POA, would be responsible. The airline could take care of her. The airline quickly cancelled the reservation.
The most difficult part is that you have to remove the emotion from the decision process as it will could the decision process. Make decisions in their best interest, not yours, and not on emotions. Restricting their abilities and activities should be done even though it will hurt their feelings.
My aunt was the victim of a shady law firm that cost her over $8,000 in fees for an unnecessary trust set up. And because the setup sold all her securities a $10,000 bill from the IRS. The trust was not in her best interest but in the best interest of the law firm. Thankfully the POA allowed me to revoke the trust but she still lost the money. I did file a complaint with the Washington state bar association and got nowhere. Attorneys looking after attorneys.
“…William Blake and his ilk as poetasters, more often as poseurs, most commonly as pretentious gasbags.”
I don’t find much worth reading or listening to after, say, the English Jacobeans.
“…can’t stand commercial country music. ”
My next two younger brothers and I have listened to country for forty years and we all tend to dislike anything much after, say, 1975.
“I wouldn’t piss on you if you were on fire”
I don’t know where that line comes from, offhand, but I first heard it many moons ago as a street cop, when another cop used it in reference to the deep and warm regard the citizenry had for us in general.
Also wanted to thank you for recommending _Homeland_! I don’t follow TeeVee and only make passing note of your recommendations, but you kept mentioning it so I got the first two disks on Netflix and am awaiting the third. Clever plotting, good characters and good acting; though I think Claire Danes has learned a bit too much from William Shatner. Even though the character is bipolar (or whatever) she ought to tone down the hamming.
Just finished Season 2 (via Showtime on Demand) – what a great show, twists and turns in every episode – plus stellar performances (as usual) by Mandy Patinkin. Can’t wait for Season 3…
Live and learn. On the shady criminal scumbag attorney front, I have only been involved in one lawsuit during my entire life, and since I had two wives, you can guess what it dealt with. My attorney—although very experienced—made the decision to allow the other attorney to hold the escrowed funds (Hahvahd attorneys expect all their fellow counselors to play by gentlemen’s rules). You know where this is going.
Now the state of Mass. has a law prohibiting an attorney from taking his fees out of escrowed funds without a court order, and the very first rule of the Mass. Bar Association said that doing such a thing was subject to immediate and instant disbarment. The other attorney did it openly; he even indicated in the accounting printout that it was for his attorney fees—some $12,000 in all. We had all the necessary proof. My attorney claimed he could not initiate the action with the Bar Association, so I did.
Guess what? The Bar excused the action, because ‘the judge had not specifically prohibited such an action’—even though both the law and the Bar rules specifically *require* a judge’s order before money can be taken. Nobody—including a subsequent judge—made the guy return the money. Since the money in escrow was solely from me, that meant that I effectively paid all my ex-wife’s attorney fees. Nice criminal gamesmanship.
Lessons learned: 1) Bar Associations are completely incompetent to regulate lawyers and that job should be done by panels of non-lawyers; 2) don’t bother filing any kind of complaint with Bar Associations as it is only a minor speed bump to them; 3) *always* require both attorneys to agree to, and sign, disbursements of escrowed funds in adversarial situations.
Indianapolis right now has a strange case where a very well-respected older attorney embezzled money in the millions from many of his clients over the course of the last few years. His reputation was such that he even had the library at the local state-owned law school named after him. It is not just the Bar Association involved in this one; the courts are, and he will be spending the rest of his natural life behind bars. He had a high maintenance lifestyle, but no one suspected he could not afford it. But apparently, with the downturn in the economy, his income no longer kept up with his lifestyle. But more guessing what? The story is not in the local news media. Bar Association working overtime behind the scenes to keep it out of the media, don’t ‘cha know.
Thanks OFD, I think. Not quite the chapter and verse of the current Catechism I’d hope’d for, but a politic reply.
Supposedly said by Bette Davis about Joan Crawford?
“I wouldn’t piss her if she was on fire!”
Lose your iPhone to theft? Here’s how an NYC musician got his back.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/ilove_you_ya_crook_C1suESfULaCmC80NLx6O3H
“…Not quite the chapter and verse of the current Catechism I’d hope’d for…”
Not sure what you mean; that was taken verbatim from my copy of the “Catechism of the Catholic Church,” Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994, pp. 545-546. I realize there is a more recent edition of 2003 but IIRC, these sentences were not changed.
Well, after searching a bit, the best I can do for the pissing/fire quote is that it is as early as 1964 so must go back further somewhere or other, I would guess the UK. My reference books are still in boxes here…
Wow. Now if you were selling a product, would you sign an exclusive deal with only Walmart, purposely shunning Target? That’s effectively what Universal just did with HBO, excluding Universal movies from Netflix for 10 years.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/06/hbo-inks-exclusive-deal-with-universal-to-keep-content-out-of-netflixs-hands/
Chuck wrote:
“Now the state of Mass. has a law prohibiting an attorney from taking his fees out of escrowed funds without a court order, and the very first rule of the Mass. Bar Association said that doing such a thing was subject to immediate and instant disbarment. The other attorney did it openly; he even indicated in the accounting printout that it was for his attorney fees—some $12,000 in all. We had all the necessary proof. My attorney claimed he could not initiate the action with the Bar Association, so I did.
Guess what? The Bar excused the action, because ‘the judge had not specifically prohibited such an action’—even though both the law and the Bar rules specifically *require* a judge’s order before money can be taken. Nobody—including a subsequent judge—made the guy return the money. Since the money in escrow was solely from me, that meant that I effectively paid all my ex-wife’s attorney fees. Nice criminal gamesmanship.”
Something like that happened with my sister’s divorce. My skunk of an ex-brother in law had an investment worth around $10-20k, which was a joint asset in his name. He decided to use this to pay some of his lawyer’s fees. My sister got wind of this and stopped the asset being used this way. As in Chuck’s case this highly unethical behaviour could have led to the lawyer being disbarred (my sister’s daughter in law, also a lawyer, was giving informal advice to my sister and recommended that my sister report my ex-BIL’s lawyer to the law council with a view to getting her disbarred.) Well, after the divorced was settled my sister was too stressed out to pursue this. I would have liked her to and nagged her a bit, but eventually let go.
The divorce was a financial nightmare for my sister, but it could have been a lot worse. The whole family turned against her ex, even their kids, but she’s the one who was mangled financially. He wants her to take him back (as long as he can manage the finances), my sister has had enough of him and will take him back about the same time hell freezes over.
Well, now my elder nephew and his wife (the lawyer) are divorcing. She doesn’t want to but has accepted the inevitable. They’ve agreed to cooperate and the legal costs they’re incurring are minimal, because of the cooperation. In my sister’s case the lawyer’s costs, which my sister ended up paying, were very high because my ex-BIL wanted to keep his snout in the trough as long as possible. I remember telling a family member at the time that I’d like to explain some stuff to my ex-BIL with a spiked baseball bat. The family member said there was already a lengthy queue.
Well, my younger nephew got married in September to a …. Yep, you guessed it. Another lawyer. Our family is swimming in them now. And she’s pretty smart too. Her Tertiary Entrance Rank was 99.9, which I think means that 99.9% of the people doing the university entrance exams got less marks than her. Her two bridesmaids also got TERs of 99.9
I’m perfectly happy about my nephews marrying lawyers, but I prefer to keep my contact with lawyers in general at the purely social level. The thought of having to employ one in a court case terrifies me.
Country music sales up 38% 2012 over 2011, says Nielsen—no thanks to me. Digital sales of single tracks leads physical copies (can you get physical copies of a single track anymore? I thought vinyl singles died long ago), but physical discs outsell digital for albums 3 to 1. Meanwhile, Spotify quits selling downloads to focus exclusively on streaming.
http://techcrunch.com/2013/01/04/download-me-maybe-u-s-music-market-up-by-3-1-fuelled-by-1-3b-digital-track-sales/
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-01-07/obama-considering-wide-ranging-gun-controls-reports/4454666
“And in a move that is set to anger opponents of gun control, the taskforce is reportedly looking at measures that can be implemented by the president’s order without the approval of Congress.”
Chuck wrote:
“Lose your iPhone to theft? Here’s how an NYC musician got his back.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/brooklyn/ilove_you_ya_crook_C1suESfULaCmC80NLx6O3H
”
A chap here recovered his iPad by tracking it using the Find My iPad app.
http://www.canberratimes.com.au/technology/technology-news/court-ponders-trespass-by-triggering-ipad-alarm-20120822-24n1q.html
OFD wrote:
“My reference books are still in boxes here…”
You mean the fembots haven’t thrown them out yet?
OFD, you have me at a disadvantage — I only have an English, paperback version of the 1994 Catechism from the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994.
http://www.amazon.com/Catechism-Catholic-Church-U-S/dp/0385479670
OFD, I think SteveF’s question. “wouldn’t a failure to preserve your life (passively killing yourself) also be a sin?” Doesn’t that qualify as a sin of omission?
Should I sign a DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) order in the event my EEG shows flatline, am I sinning?
Would I be in a state of sin if my parents signed the same and I followed their intructions?
Your link was to *commentary* on official RC dogma, and being my usual quibbling self I’d rather get to the root of the matter.
Is signing a DNR a sin?
It is if your name is Sandra Bullock.
SteveF writes: “Brad, if you haven’t already picked up on it, the single most important factor in not ruining a bottle or a batch is cleanliness.”
I haven’t yet been able to try either of the batches I made, as they’re not quite done yet. I expect the first batch to be awful, as I made several mistakes, but only time will tell.
Cleanliness: The course I took treated everything like we were about to go into surgery. Everything boiled and then wiped down with alcohol. Put the boiling hot wort into a sealed container, then crash-cool it.
The book I am following seems more practical: Clean everything with water, but never use soap. Leave the wort to cool overnight in the pot you cooked it in (which is, after all, pretty darned sterile after more than an hour of boiling).
I am following the book more than the course. We’ll see how it works out…
Hey, is beer good for hot babes?
If a babe isn’t hot when you’re sober she will be when you’ve had half a dozen.
So that’s a “yes”
Actually, re-reading your last line I’m not sure if you mean “does beer imbibed by a cold babe turn her in to a hot one” or “does beer imbibed by a guy turn any girl into a hot one” or just “is it good for her health, just like lean steak and vegetables”. Can you please be more specific?
I’m not quite sure how I meant it either 😉
“OFD, you have me at a disadvantage — I only have an English, paperback version of the 1994 Catechism from the Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1994.”
I have no one at a disadvantage; that is the exact same Catechism I copied/pasted from with the section numbers included and the page numbers where they appear. You can look it up!
“Your link was to *commentary* on official RC dogma, and being my usual quibbling self I’d rather get to the root of the matter.”
Correct. That link was *in addition* to the text from the Catechism and was meant simply as a source of more information.
In answer to your three questions off the top of my head:
I don’t know but suspect that, yes, a failure to preserve your life, passively, as you say, would constitute a sin of omission. Drinking or doping oneself slowly to death may be an example of that, as I have cause to know.
Signing a DNR order? Again, I don’t have it right in front of me, but IIRC, the Church has provisions for end-of-life and similar medical dilemma situations covered, that maybe were not at the forefront of medieval thought back in the day. No, I do not believe it is a sin as that is defined by the Church.
For these and other questions, I would simply refer you to the edition of the Catechism you already have in your possession; stuff is pretty easy to find in there.
Pax vobiscum.
Brad, bleach is the home-brewers friend. Sterilise with bleach, then rinse with a very little hot water to carry the bleach away.
Bleach will certainly work, but food-grade 30% hydrogen peroxide is even better.
Either of those sounds like a good compromise, mainly because neither of them is going to linger. The vicious chemical cleaners used by the course people worry me…
Of course, those folks have a whole other problem: they are producing nearly every day, which means that their equipment and kitchen are always wet. If they weren’t viciously clean, they could indeed have problems. Me, I’ll brew every few weeks, and no secret bacterial colonies are going to sprout on clean, dry stainless steel.
Chlorine bleach does linger. The standard production process produces an aqueous solution of sodium hypochlorite and sodium chloride, both solids.
RBT:
Where does one purchase 30% hydrogen peroxide?
Robert
I have some 27% Hydrogen Peroxide that I bought from the local health food store.
You’ll see it listed as anything from 25% to 35%, but anything near 30% is fine. Food grade H202 is sold by food service suppliers in most communities. It’s best to buy it locally, because you may incur high hazardous-material shipping surcharges if you have it shipped.