Cell Phone Pain

Almost a year ago October 5, 2010, I posted an article saying that digital devices undermined our ability to think and/or remember.  That theory was proved once again this past weekend.

Honey’s cell phone was lost – most probably stolen by a rotten little kid – on Saturday.

We had been getting emails from AT&T for months saying we were eligible of free upgrades, so Monday morning we headed to the nearest AT&T store. 

What a fiasco! 

We got there only to be told that the free upgrades were only available on line and the only “free” phone in the store required that we buy it and send in a card for a mail-in rebate.  The clerk advised us that we would be better off replacing the phone at Wal-Mart. 

The closest Wal-Mart was closed due to an overnight power failure, but we were finally able to get a free phone at Best Buy – totally free, set up and working in the store, and out the door without paying a cent.  Why couldn't the carrier’s own store have done that?

Totally painless once we went to the right place, except that Honey had dozens of phone numbers stored in her phone, and with no SIM card, they each had to be entered manually into the new device.  That’s a big PITA, but do-able except that many of those numbers  were not available anywhere else!

She sent emails out to friends and family members and is programming numbers as they arrive, but we’re sure that some of those numbers are lost forever.

Earthquake Prediction

I told Honey a week or so ago that I expect a major earthquake in California within the next few weeks. 

I know that quakes are still basically unpredictable, but I based my forecast on the recent increase in activity along the Pacific coasts of North and South America.

I’m not sure if yesterday’s earthquakes in Guatemala add or subtract from the probability, but a bet is only valid if placed before the race begins, so I am posting my prediction now.

Hauling Ass(es)

Almost a month ago, (August 23rd) I wrote about a pair of donkeys roaming our neighborhood.  I didn’t have a picture to post then, but our next-door neighbor put this one on Facebook yesterday morning.  They’re pictured in her back yard and the woods in the background is mine.

The Donkeys’ Tale came to an end– or at least a new chapter began – yesterday.  Our across-the-street neighbor rounded them up and held them in his horse barn until the County came and hauled them off.

13 Hours

No post yesterday, but it’s 7:00 a.m. on Sunday and we’ve already put in a long weekend.

Drove to Liberty Hill yesterday for the grandsons’ birthday party.  Bryce (9-13) is now 14 and Nash (9-16) just turned 11.  They had their traditional combined  party with a pool full of kids, but it got a late start because Nash had a football game in Austin that started at one o'clock. 

He is not the smallest kid on the Liberty Hills Panthers, but he plays defensive lineman, and he was always the smallest on either side of the line.  On almost every play, he was matched against two linemen from the opposition – one on each shoulder.

The field where they played was at a very busy little park/sports complex in North Austin.  There was another football game going on, along with two baseball games and a soccer match.  With three minutes and twelve seconds to go in the fourth quarter, there was some thunder and lightning in the distance and all play was stopped for a mandatory 30 minute wait to be sure it was safe to play.  We never got rained on, but in the way to Liberty Hill, we drove through a heavy downpour on 183 from Cedar Park to Leander. 

Driving up on US 290, we saw evidence of several fires, but we passed south of the Magnolia fire and just north of the Bastrop/Smithville fire.  The evidence of the drought was depressing – dry stock tanks and fields that are normally green or just turning yellow this time of year showed a lot of bare dirt with only occasional brown patches of grass.

Although we did get to see some rain, we returned last night to find there had been none here.  There is a 50% probability today – the highest in months – but I’ll believe it when I see it.

Hummer Update

I mentioned yesterday that we had reduced the sugar water concentration in the Hummingbird feeders to get rid of the Honeybees.  I confirmed that changing the solution from 1:4 to 1:6 had got rid of the bees, but I wasn’t sure if the birds would like it as well.

Looks like they like it just fine.

Birds and the Bees

  On our trip this past summer, Honey found this fancy double-decker Hummingbird feeder.  It was one of the very few souvenirs we bought.  It looks great, but it is a very complicated design - difficult to fill and to reassemble without leaks.  It took a while for the birds to decide to use it, but they do -  just not as much as the others.

We have learned that Hummingbirds have a different aesthetic – their taste in architecture is a lot simpler – and they much prefer the basic (cheaper the better) feeders like this Wal-Mart Special.

This past weekend, we noticed a couple of honeybees had discovered the feeder above.  Word passed quickly, and by Tuesday we had dozens of bees swarming the feeders.

At first, the Hummers would zoom in and try to chase the bees away, but they eventually decided to co-exist, even though the bees were so thick it was hard to find an opening that wasn’t blocked by a bee’s butt.  The bees were not attacking the Hummers, but we knew that red wasps would and were actually capable of killing birds.

I went on line looking for a way to control the bees, and on one Hummingbird forum I found a suggestion – change the sugar water concentration from 1:4 (one part sugar to four parts water) to 1:6, and the bees will lose interest!

We tried it and it works. 

When I went out to retrieve the feeders, there were literally dozens of bees.  I had to shake the feeders and swing them around to get the bees off, and a swarm of them followed me to the house.  Fifteen minutes later, when I headed back out with the diluted mixture, there were still a couple dozen buzzing around the hangers and even a few bees waiting for me at the back door!

Once we hung the feeders, it only took a few minutes and the honeybees were gone. 

The Hummers are feeding on the 1:6 solution although activity may be a little lower than usual this morning – time will tell.

ps – We always add a drop or two of red food coloring to our sugar water solution.  The birds don't care whether it’s there or not, but we do it anyway. It looks nice, and it makes it a lot easier to tell at a glance whether the feeders need refilling.

Bachman/Perry Overdrive

At the Tea Party debate the other night, Michelle Bachman attacked Rick Perry over his attempt to mandate the requirement for all “tween” girls in Texas to receive the HPV vaccine, and the media has jumped in like sharks in a feeding frenzy.

Perry admitted that he probably went about it in the wrong way, but I think his move, although a political disaster, was actually a step in the right direction! That’s not just my opinion, it is also the position of the U.S. Government in the form of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as demonstrated below. 

It would be hard to argue against the effectiveness of vaccines – diseases like Smallpox and Polio have been essentially eradicated during my lifetime - and NOBODY thinks cervical cancer is a good thing. 

But Liberals who otherwise might have supported the idea are joining hard-core Libertarians who despise any political mandate, and Bible thumping Texas Conservatives who were enraged at the implication that their Sweet Innocent Babies might be engaging in Sexual Intercourse – Never mind the numerous studies that show that they ARE, and the age at which they are having sex is steadily getting younger.

It should also be emphasized– especially since I’ve never seen it reported anywhere else– that Washington D.C. and the State of Virginia already require HPV vaccinations for middle school girls.

Perry may have gone about it wrong, but he isn’t the Anti-Christ; just consider this excerpt from a CDC survey issued last month: 

In 2010, vaccination coverage among adolescents aged 13 through 17 years increased from coverage in 2009; however, the percentage-point increase in ≥1 dose of HPV among females (4.4 points) was less than half the increase observed for ≥1 dose of Tdap (13.1) and ≥1 dose of MenACWY (9.1). As in previous years, coverage with ≥1 dose of HPV was higher among older compared with younger adolescent females. Among females with adequate time to complete the series, 30.4% had not done so. HPV completion rates were lower among certain populations (i.e., blacks, Hispanics, and those living below poverty) known to have higher cervical cancer rates (3). Although HPV vaccination is only universally recommended for females aged 9 through 26 years, 2009 ACIP guidance states that HPV vaccination may be administered to males aged 9 through 26 years. Only 1.4% of males aged 13 through 17 years received the vaccine in 2010.

As in previous years, adolescent vaccination coverage varied widely among states and other reporting areas, which could reflect differing vaccination-promotion initiatives among local health agencies and communities. Common initiatives among the three states with the highest vaccination coverage (Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Washington) included strong working relationships and communication between state immunization programs and vaccination providers, local professional organizations, and schools; school vaccination requirements; and promotion of the use of reminder/recall systems (CDC, unpublished data, 2011). Additional factors that might play an important role in vaccination coverage include vaccine financing, health-care infrastructure, local outbreaks, and communication efforts leading to increased consumer demand.

Analysis of 2009 NIS-Teen data found that middle school vaccination requirements for Tdap or MenACWY were associated with higher coverage for these vaccines; however, adolescents living in states with a middle school vaccination requirement for at least one adolescent vaccine did not have significantly higher coverage with all three recommended adolescent vaccines compared with adolescents living in states with no vaccination requirements (4). The number of states with middle school requirements increased from the 2009--10 to the 2010--11 school year (i.e., 37 required a tetanus booster, 31 specified Tdap, and 10 required MenACWY) and likely contributed to increases in Tdap and MenACWY coverage (5). The District of Columbia and Virginia are the only reporting areas with middle school HPV vaccination requirements (4), which might have contributed to the increase in HPV vaccination in those areas over the past 2 years. Missed vaccination opportunities occur when adolescents receive middle school--required vaccines but not other ACIP-recommended vaccines. Further study is needed to understand and address barriers to providing all recommended vaccines during the same visit.