A Curious Statistical Anomaly

Tonight we went to a concert in Baltimore, MD. Pre-concert we decided to try out the newly opened Night of the Cookers at 885 N. Howard St., Baltimore, MD. The menu is very southern, in fact, New Orleans fare predominates as the chef is from the New Orleans area. The atmosphere is very nice — wood floors, comfortable tables and chairs, light enough to see but not put you in a spotlight, and friendly servers. It was also comfortable to talk. There’s a bar area and seating area.

The restaurant is very new, having opened one week ago — along with the advent of the cold, wet, rainy/snowy weather. We weren’t a rowdy crowd (there were 6 of us) but we’re all reviewers and thus into asking lots of questions. The server was friendly and informative about the menu, the restaurant, and the selections. In fact, since things were a bit slow (we were the only customers — if was early for dinning), we got to meet the manager and the chef came out to talk with us. Chef Joshua Hill certainly has the credentials for New Orleans cooking as he lived in the area.

Among the six of us we tried most of the dishes and all were excellent. A couple of us thought some of the food was a bit sweet but we had colds so our taste was a bit off — but it was still delicious. I don’t drink beer but was told that the beer on tap was great. Here’s the chef to show a bit of the menu:

Really, if you’re heading for an evening of music at the Baltimore Symphony in the Meyerhoff, plan to eat at Night of the Cookers. Food is great. Prices are reasonable and the atmosphere downhome friendly. Soon there will be takeout as well.

Well, I unknit the sock down past where the moths had eaten it, clipped out the ends of the eaten bits, and rewound the ball. Then it was a matter of figuring out where I was in the process and continuing on.

This project originally stalled because I didn’t want to do the usual short row heel and I was trying to figure out how to do a normal heel but from the bottom to the top– if that makes any sense. Then I was reading the Yarn Harlot’s blog and she talked about the afterthought heel and how it was just another toe. It was like a light bulb went off. I got out a pair of socks that I’d made last year (top down) and looked at the heel. I thought that if from the toe up I just made a normal heel then the thicker bit usually running along the back of the heel would be under the heel, where it actually would do the most good, and the thinner bit would be at the back of the heel and since I wear clogs mostly, this would be fine (no rubbing on the shoe’s back edge).

The trick was realizing that a heel was a heel was a heel — whether toe up or top down it works and fits the foot the same way. Of course, until I finish and wear them a while I won’t know if this works as well as I think it will but it does make a nice looking heel for a toe up sock.

I think I’ll have a cuppa and admire it for a while. At least don’t tell me 40 billion other knitters already knew this and it’s an old technique until I’ve had a chance to enjoy my cleverness for a few minutes at least.

It snowed today. The picture is from our deck looking out towards the road that leads down to the paved road. I know it’s only about a 1/2 inch at its deepest and nothing compared to New England. My mother, who lives in Maine, says the snow is almost up to the porch rails and is banking the house on all sides. But it snowed here in Southern Maryland in January and we got half an inch.

Earlier in the winter we got about a quarter inch that didn’t last long enough to take pictures, so I had to go out and take these. It’s now rained and almost all the snow is gone — of course it’s darn cold out and the rain was more sleety, but even that’s stopped now too.

I’m not sure if I should be happy or sad that it snowed. Being originally from Maine, this is snow that wouldn’t even be noticed as an inconvenience — down here it’s a big deal. That is, it’s a big deal unless you live in Northwestern Maryland where they actually have snow storms. But here in Southern Maryland a half inch is a big deal and this is the most we’ve had all year and probably the last. What makes it so weird is just last week we had two days in the high 60’s to low 70’s for temperature — now it snowed.

Doesn’t take much to make me happy or intrigued and today it was snow.

On one of the lists I read the talk has been about how to read while knitting. The topic is important for me because I read a lot of books because I review them. Reading sort of means that I can’t really do anything else but if I could figure out how to hold the pages open and get them turned when needed, well I could do some mindless stocking knit stitches which is a big part of socks and sweaters and other projects. So far I have a weighted holder and one of those fold-up book holders. The weighted one works best with all types of books. The folding holder only works with hardcovers or trade paperbacks (paperbacks cause it to fold up and fall over).

The other problem is finding good seating. I’ve got a great chair, it’s a chair and a half really, but I feel like a kid cozying up for a good time of reading when I sit there with a cup of tea or coffee and a book. It’s my nest really, with books, knitting, side table, and really good lighting. But I got to wondering today what kind of options there were to reading chairs and found the photos you see with this post.

It seems that there are as many places to sit and read books as there are people to read them. I have fond memories of reading under the covers with a flashlight when I was young. Yes, I know that’s sort of a cliché but then there is a reason some things become clichés. I was read to as a child, so I read to my son. I have many memories of us snuggled up on the couch with a warm blanket, and a wonderful book. He also turned out to be a reader with his own collection of books and reading memories. Guess I wonder if there are better ways to enjoy reading — ways to make it more pleasurable but the more I think about it the more I think that as long as you’re comfortable and the journey in your mind is exciting, then reading itself is a pleasure because you almost don’t notice the surroundings because you’re in that other world — the one within the covers of the book.

I doubt there is anything worse for a knitter than finding a moth in the house. Well, finding a moth has eaten a hole in a beloved project or two or three. It’s been on my TO DO list for a while to go through all my stash and get it organized and figure out what I have and where it is. If you remember one of my New Year’s resolutions was to finish some of my WIPS (works in progress) and UFOs (Unfinished Objects). So, finally this past weekend I started. Imagine my delight when I found this sock — I still like the yarn. I started to wonder why I never finished it and remembered it was my first ever toe up sock and I didn’t have a pattern for doing that and was winging it and having some problems with the heel… turned it over and started looking at what I’d done…. Horror struck — it had been eaten by something.

Now, a while back I’d heard that Zip-Lock bags were a gift to crafts people protecting fiber from moths, dust, dirt, and other damaging whatevers that could cause fiber disasters. So, I’d bought boxes of various size bags and had been putting yarn into bags by project as it arrived at the house. However, I hadn’t yet started on the stash. So, tonight I started going through my living room stash: checking for damage, sorting by yarn and color. Now I feel better since I, so far, haven’t found any other evidence of moth damage or any other damage — so my delusion is that only this one sock/yarn/project has a problem. I’ll live with this delusion as I move on to my next stash area and more organization.

I’ve noted over the last few years that the United States seems to be taking some very unexpected turns. But with the article in CNN on New Rules on Licenses, I’ve realized that without changing my abode, I’ve ended up living in 1960s USSR.

When I was growing up the Cold War was very hot. People were afraid most of the time: of rock and roll; of hippies; of Cuba; of communists; of nuclear war; and of fear being afraid. I remember hearing in talks among adults, seeing in movies and books, the evils of communism. The biggest one talked about was how citizens couldn’t go anywhere or do anything without (and this last was usually mentioned in a whisper as if it was a dirty word) papers. Guess what. Soon Americans are going to need papers (disguised as a RealID) to travel within their own country. American’s use to pride themselves on not having a National ID, of being able to travel where they wanted, when they wanted, without having people track their every move, library book, and purchase. Personal anonymity use to be a hallmark of our society. We only gave up what we absolutely had to, and only when there was an overriding imperative, because we believed we had the right to be left alone. Those days seem to have passed.

What happened to move us in this direction? Fear. People today are afraid: of terrorists; of strangers; of each other; of immigrants; and, worst of all, of fear itself. Once people are filled with fear, they want to do things that will make them feel safer. Polls show that a whopping (that’s a technical term) percentage of Americans are willing to give up most, if not all, of the rights guaranteed to them in the Bill of Rights to be safe.

“Those who desire to give up freedom in order to gain security will not have, nor do they deserve, either one.” Benjamin Franklin.

Whenever you give up your freedoms to be safe, you’ve started on a downward slope that will rob you of your freedom and make you even more vulnerable than you were before you gave away your rights. In listening to people, I hear them say over and over that all this security is making us safer. How? That they can’t answer, because they don’t feel safer. Studies show that with all the extra security at the airport, we’re no safer now than we were before 9/11. Most of the security that’s been implemented here in the US is more for show than for safety. Most American feel that if they get horribly inconvenienced then they must be safer. Well, they’re not.

The problem is 9/11 can’t happen again or at least not the way it did. The paradigm used won’t work anymore. In fact, due to communications technology it didn’t work on the third plane. Once people realized that the “hijacking” wasn’t in fact a hijacking, they fought back and kept that third target from being hit.

Are we safer today than the day after 9/11? No, we’re not. In fact, in some distressing ways, the terrorists have won. The United States of America, Home of the Free and the Brave, the country I grew up in no longer exists. Our Constitution is in shreds under attack by our executive, congressional, and judicial branches. Our Bill of Rights is being eroded away by the courts and people who are afraid to have too much freedom because someone might do something someday that they might get hurt by. So, the US is gone, it’s now becoming the USSR of the 1960s; a land of scared people, constantly under watch by their government. Its kind of ironic that the USSR has been broken up and is working on becoming a democracy.

I miss my country and I want it back. I want to once again be able to be proud of my country and its accomplishments. I want to live in a country where human rights are for everyone, torture is abhorred and not sanctioned by the government or its president, and with a Constitution and a Bill of Rights that apply to everyone, not just a select few. I didn’t want to move, I want to live in America, too bad it moved out from under me.

OK, so maybe for most people chaos does NOT breed contentment. Well, probably it doesn’t work for all people. I like a bit of chaos in my life. If everything runs too smoothly, I keep waiting for the other shoe to drop and badness to happen.

So, I guess I’d have to say that this weekend (so far) I must be really happy. On normal weekends we run errands, clean house, shop, and otherwise do all the stuff that doesn’t get done during the week. This weekend we hosted the e357 (SFRevu, Gumshoe Review, TechRevu) staff meeting at our house. Not a problem, except we still had our Christmas tree in the living room (as of Friday) and all the other Christmas decorations up. AND, we still hadn’t made the bed in the guest room (seen from the main room if anyone needed the bathroom). Not to mention that we’d moved all our files out of various places and bought a new file cabinet and…well…hadn’t actually gotten around to putting them all in the new cabinet and getting them out of the temporary boxes and bins and the old file cabinet. “Not so bad”, you say. Well it wouldn’t be except we bought the new file cabinet last summer. And did I mention that this is the time of year to plant spring bulbs and we’d stored those in the basement right near the door — our most used and convenient door.

So, a whirlwind cleaning event occurred. By 1AM last night (hence no blog post) we had the tree and all the Christmas decoration down, packed, and ready to go to storage. A bit of sleep and another marathon whirlwind of work found: cleared floor space, setting for eight people, all unsightly-ness hidden from public view, and snack tray set out and pizza in-process just as the guest arrived.

As a side benefit, I’ve got a clean house with clean floors and bathrooms, all the Christmas decorations packed and stored for next year, the guest room all set and ready to go for another guest, I found several WIPS (works in process), and my desk is cleaned. I could just sit here and revel in the joy of a clean house — aaaahhhh! Unfortunately, another side benefit was a new task list as well as the realization that the spring bulbs need to be planted (after all the moles, voles, and whatnot might be hungry). And I still need to clear up the file cabinet and now it’s all easily reached to do it.

Okay, I was reading one of those technology sites today — I’m a geek, so tech news rocks, what can I say? Anyway, there was this article on the Tata Nano. It’s made by Tata Motors and will be sold in India. It seats 5 and is expected to get 54 US miles per gallon.

Sounds great and the price is under $3,000. Why don’t we have a car like that in the United States? If you go to the article there’s a link to a video of the unveiling (watch with sound OFF — it’s horrible and the video is shaky) — the car is really cute — but that’s beside the point.

My point is that I’ve been reading about these new cars in Europe that are coming to the US. They all get tremendous mileage compared to American made cars (here I’m talking American brand of cars not foreign cars made in America (Honda)). So, why can’t America make a car that gets 54 miles per gallon and doesn’t cost the same as 4 years tuition for a college education? We’re supposed to be the best and yet we continue to put out cars as if there isn’t an oil crisis. We built bigger and with more bells and whistles that we don’t need, as if the environment isn’t also having a crisis. What’s wrong with us?

I’m talking not just about the industry, but you and me. They’re never going to change if we don’t stand up and say “this has got to stop, make me an ecologically sound car that gets 80 miles per gallon, that can take me and my family to school, work, and on errands.” The government recently changed the rules and now US cars have to have meet 35 miles per gallon (currently 27.5 mpg) averaged over their fleet of cars by the year 2020. What that means is that car manufacturers only have to drop their most gas guzzling model or two and hey we meet the standard, business as usual. Whoopee for the company and the heck with the consumer and the environment. And they don’t even have to do it for another 18 years.

Someone once told me that American’s don’t want hybrids or fuel efficient cars. I said, “But I know that Honda has waiting lists for their hybrids.” The response: “See, no one wants one.” “How can that be, if there’s a waiting list to get one. Obviously people are willing to wait their turn to get one.” But says he, “American’s don’t want them or there’d be more on the road.” I hope you understand that logic because I surely didn’t and still don’t. I’ve known people who waited for almost a year for their shot at a hybrid and they love the ones they have. I’d certainly get one if I could afford one, but my old Honda (over 10 years old) is still running strong and most of the time gives me better mileage than that new ruling from Congress.

It seems to me that as long as we as taxpayers, consumers, and citizens are willing to sit back and let corporations rule us, we’re never going to get out from under. I believe that if Tata’s Nano could be sold in the US — it would sell like hotcakes. Who wouldn’t want a car for under 3K that got 54 mpg. Oh, I forgot — it might not make it in an accident with those big behemoth gas guzzlers. Because, I also know that people are afraid that if they get a smaller, lighter car that gets good mileage, they might not be as safe as in the big behemoth that would probably hit them since they couldn’t see them since they’d be so much smaller in comparison. But, maybe, if we all drove the smaller more ecological and economical cars that safety factor would cancel out. [NOTE: Found a site with some safety information on the Nano — Jan 10.]

So, I ask why can’t America come up with a decent low prices, high mileage car? Is there any other reason other than they don’t want to — because the rest of the world seems to be able to do it.