A Curious Statistical Anomaly

I must admit that I find the Mindset list from Beloit College to be fascinating. Each year I look forward to their list because it does help to explain some of the cultural problems in dealing with young people.

Their overview of the Class of 2013:

Members of the class of 2013 won’t be surprised when they can charge a latté on their cell phone and curl up in the corner to read a textbook on an electronic screen. The migration of once independent media—radio, TV, videos and CDs—to the computer has never amazed them. They have grown up in a politically correct universe in which multi-culturalism has been a given. It is a world organized around globalization, with McDonald’s everywhere on the planet. Carter and Reagan are as distant to them as Truman and Eisenhower were to their parents. Tattoos, once thought “lower class,” are, to them, quite chic. Everybody knows the news before the evening news comes on.

Some of my favorite:

# The Green Giant has always been Shrek, not the big guy picking vegetables.
# They have never used a card catalog to find a book.
# The KGB has never officially existed.
# Text has always been hyper.
# Babies have always had a Social Security Number.
# They have never had to “shake down” an oral thermometer.
# Condoms have always been advertised on television.
# They have always been able to read books on an electronic screen.
# “Womyn” and “waitperson” have always been in the dictionary.
# Members of Congress have always had to keep their checkbooks balanced since the closing of the House Bank.
# There has always been a computer in the Oval Office.
# There has always been blue Jell-O.

Check out the full list at Beloit’s website. It really does explain why young people and us old foggies have problems communicating our basic understanding of the world is different in many cases.

I know this is a weird one but today, it occurred to me that most of us know what we mean when we say boy noises.  The arummm rumm sound of a revving car engine.  The bruummmmbruumm of a motorcycle speeding up.  There’s others, but they all come clumped as boy noises.

Is there an equivalent list of girl noises?  I could come up with giggles or squee sounds but that’s really not equivalent, or is that just because I’m a girl?  I have to confess that I made a heck of a lot of boy noises when I was growing up because I preferred the trucks and cars to those stiff dolls that didn’t do anything but look creepy — so I have a bias here.  I had a lot of girl friends but thinking about sounds, I don’t recall any particular sounds equivalent to those engine noises and such that guys make when playing.

Is that because girls are doing the doll/tea party thing?  Does the type of play for girls eliminate the need to make background noises?  Even girls that pretend to ride horses don’t tend to make horsey snorting sounds — at least not the one’s I knew but occasionally they did slap their legs to make a clip-clop sounds.

I’m really curious — is there an equivalent?  What’s your take on this?

When the cellphone craze first started many, many years ago. I looked into getting one and looked at the prices and walked away.

Years later, I was living in Maryland and traveling in the DC area, and often wouldn’t be able to make it to appointments on time due to traffic. I figured having a phone with me would be great to let people know I was going to be late. It was only the polite thing to do. What I wanted was a phone that I could use in an emergency and I didn’t want a contract. I wanted a pay as you go phone. I asked at those kiosks in the mall and got laughed at and regaled with the refrain, “what planet do you live on?” But I kept my eye out and checked the cellphone areas of stores and found the Virgin phones. Perfect. Buy the phone and get a card of minutes. Activate and you’re all set until your minutes run out and you buy more. That worked for years. The coverage wasn’t great but it worked in major cities so it was also good when we went to conventions.

Now years later we have cellphones and a plan. We don’t use them much and only with other people on our plan — ’cause the minutes are then free — and for emergencies. Why? Because I see no reason to pay for an incoming call when the caller is paying for the call — that’s called double billing and as far as I’m concerned should be illegal (it’s a way to scam customers and bilk them of money). I don’t like it. But when I try to talk to people about the unfairness of this you’d think I grew a second head or something — a reaction similar to the one I got when I looked for a pay-as-you-go phone (and now just about all the carriers have a version of this).

But today, I found an article in the New York Times by DAVID POGUE entitled, “The Irksome Cellphone Industry“. Evidently, I’m not the only one that thinks there’s something wrong with the way cellphone carriers treat their customers. He also doesn’t like the double billing for calls and text messages.

He also has this to say about the exorbitant rates for overseas calls:

INTERNATIONAL CALLING Dear cellphone-carriers: Using Skype or iChat or Google Voice, I can place a crystal-clear computer-to-computer overseas call for nothing. Chat with China, or gab with Greenland, for hours, for free.

Or if I want to call phone to phone (instead of computer to computer), I can sign up for Google Voice or Skype Out, where I’ll pay 2 cents a minute to call China.

Why, then, am I still billed an astonishing $1.50 to $5 a minute to call these countries from my cellphone?

Surely the zero-cost technology that’s available to Skype and Google is also available to the world’s cell carriers. In other words, there’s no practical reason that cell carriers (ours and the overseas ones) should charge so much — only a greedy reason.

I use Skype when talking to our UK editor and our Canadian editor. Crystal clear communications and no charge for computer to computer other than the special headset I had to buy because I have an older model laptop. The drawback is I have to be at the laptop to get or make a call and I can’t just walk away to get coffee or a drink. But hey, the price is right for the call. Why can’t cellphone companies manage the same technology? Calls overseas on my cell should be the regular minutes for the call just as it is for local and long distance.

But, what brings this to my notice right now is that Congress, you know those elected officials that are supposed to be doing what’s best for the country and its citizens instead of what’s best for their election or pocketbooks, are debating what to do about the cellphone exclusivity agreements. It’s the reason you can’t have an iphone unless you get a contract with AT&T. That’s pretty much it. I agree with Progue, it’s mostly an “Why can’t I get an iphone with Verizon or Sprint” debate. As much as I might like an iphone, I can deal with my disappointment (and believe me my disappointment is really severe, no joke).

What we really need is Congress to investigate and do something about the other problems that consumers have with cellphone agreements and companies. Shouldn’t they be looking out for us once in a while — and I mean the guys to elect them to office. If the people are happy and treated decently and fairly the companies will do okay anyway. I thought that the American way was to be fair, honest, and provide the best product or service at the best price. Some days, I feel that it’s not the best product or service at the best price it’s whatever the company can get from you because you can’t fight back and take or leave it.

Something needs to be done about the injustices and greed in business. Making the terms of service fair and honest and understandable would be a great start. Meanwhile, I can live with my disappointment in not being able to have an iphone.

What about you? Are you happy with your service? Content? Or just living with it?

Every now and then you come across an article that just, while it seems so short, answers a lot of questions. For example this one, Sperm Travels Faster Toward Attractive Females in Discover Channel article by Jennifer Veigas. Of course the research was done on red junglefowl, a sort of chicken.

While women may be picky when choosing a mate, it seem that the male is most likely to produce more sperm with a great desire to make it to the egg if the male finds the female attractive and the more attractive the faster the sperm swim to their destination.

While this is interesting research especially for those who are trying to learn more about fertility, it does seem to be making a lot of assumptions when the chickens can’t exactly tell you that that chicken on over by the watering can is the most beautiful he’s ever seen. The researcher said:

“Female attractiveness is determined by the expression of a sexual ornament — the comb — which is phenotypically and genetically correlated to the number and mass of eggs females lay,” according to study co-authors Charlie Cornwallis of the University of Oxford and the Royal Veterinary College’s Emily O’Connor.

I don’t think that this research can really be expected to map on human behavior because I don’t think it actually maps on chicken behavior — flushed comb or not — some hens are better layers than others no matter what the rooster thinks of them. Ask any farmer? So, while interesting, I think the assumptions are flawed but then again the original papers are not available and the reported methodology just doesn’t make me think they got anything going with this line of research — but it does make you wonder….

We have an entire loft in the shed taken up with electronic this-n-that’s that we haven’t gotten rid of because we don’t know where to take it. I know they are toxic and dangerous to just dump and our recycle center doesn’t take any of it — so it sits in storage and moves when we do.

The other day, I spotted in the New York Times, this article “A Green Way to Dump Low-Tech Electronics.” At last, it seemed that someone or some groups were working on the problem. The paragraph that caught my eye was:

Since 2004, 18 states and New York City have approved laws that make manufacturers responsible for recycling electronics, and similar statutes were introduced in 13 other states this year. The laws are intended to prevent a torrent of toxic and outdated electronic equipment — television sets, computers, monitors, printers, fax machines — from ending up in landfills where they can leach chemicals into groundwater and potentially pose a danger to public health.

The problem was that a careful reading of the article didn’t elicit a list of those 18 states, though several of them got mentioned in the article. So, I clicked on the EPA link and found it only took me to other articles about the EPA. But, being crafty and loving Google, I looked for keywords and found this link to the Electronics TakeBack Coalition. On this site they had a link where you could look up and find a site in your state to take your own electronics to safely dump them. The only problem is that Maryland only has one site that takes electronics, and it’s in Baltimore — which means we’ll have to plan ahead to get there while they are open and based on our pile of electronics we’re ready to dump, it may take several trips.

What I’ve learned from this is that nothing is easy. It never is but you’d think that since toxic waste is such a problem and our society is getting more and more electronic devices in order to keep up connected and online and working 24/7 that it would be a bit easier to recycle or dump outdated equipment–safely. It seems from my reading over the day that the major problem is that no one wants to pay for it and no one wants to be responsible.

Okay, my husband and I recycle. We have ever since the first programs 20+ years ago in Maine. Here in Maryland we have to actually store our recyclables and take them to the center ourselves since we don’t have any pickup where we live and the center is about a 45 minute drive away. To get electronics to Baltimore is about 1 1/2 hours away by car and we need to get there during their open hours. We’ll probably do that but why isn’t there a skip for dropping off this type of waste at every major recycle center? Why make it so difficult for people to do the right thing?

For years I’ve wondered why there aren’t companies that buy waste from one company and sell it as input to another one? It only makes sense since often the waste of one is the input for another. The government should be encouraging such reuse of toxic materials. Why make more and more toxic stuff when we could reuse what’s already there with a bit of cleaning and filtering.

More food for thought I guess — I’m still trying to find a place to recycle our old batteries. We mostly use rechargeable ones but we do have some that just need to be tossed (mostly those for the camera and other related equipment). Our recycle center supposedly takes them but we haven’t been able to find the spot to put them, but have found plenty of signs saying not to put them HERE.

What’s your experiences with recycling or safely dumping electronic wastes?

Today when I opened my online news source, I was greeted with an article about the FDA wanting to pull many of the prescribed painkillers containing acetaminophen off the market. Philly.com has this article Painkillers at a crossroads as FDA decision looms. The Globe and Mail had this article, U.S. FDA recommends pulling some painkillers off the market. There was an article with an opposing view that was rather mild in my opinion.

In the Globe and Mail article, it said:

Despite years of educational campaigns and other federal actions, acetaminophen remains the leading cause of liver failure in the U.S., according to the FDA.

Panelists cited FDA data indicating 60 per cent of acetaminophen-related deaths are related to prescription products. Acetaminophen is also found in popular over-the-counter medications like Tylenol and Excedrin.

Those of you who read my blog know that I suffer from chronic pain. I found this bit about “years of educational campaigns and other federal actions” to be laughable. At one point, before my arthritis was diagnosed, the family practice doc I was seeing didn’t want to do anything about it because I was simply fat and needed to lose weight. The pain had gotten so bad that I was scaring myself with the number of Tylenol that I was taking just to manage to walk with a cane. I made an appointment and told her how much Tylenol I was taking and that I was concerned with liver damage. She laughed told me I could double or triple the dose and to just lose weight.

At the time, I was well below liver damage’s (LD 50) but that level has been lowered twice since and now I’d be just a bit below. I was so angry. I left the doctor’s office and went to see my chiropractor without an appointment. They took a look at my swollen knee and referred me to a specialist (at the time I couldn’t see another doctor without a referral). After seeing the specialist, I was diagnosed as having arthritis in both knees and later the added bonus of it was aggravating my fibromyalgia — a double whammy.

The point is that I knew more about the drugs I was taking than the malpractice-suit-waiting-to-happen doctor that I’d been seeing. Needless to say, I also changed doctors that day.

The second point is that most doctors, though they write the scripts, are not experts in drugs, drug interactions, and doses — most of the time they rely on the pharmacist to flag if something they prescribe is going to conflict with something you already have, or needs special information or training for the patient. Remember, there is a reason that so many pharmacies ask that you keep ALL you Rxs with them. It’s also the same reason they staple those informational notes to the Rx’s bag and ask if you have any questions.

If you take prescriptions be sure you understand how to take them and how often and whether you need to keep taking them if you feel better or should quit. Always ask questions if you don’t understand or feel confused. It’s your body and your life — you are the best person to take responsibility for keeping yourself healthy and safe.

Doctors have years of schooling, internship, and practice under their belts but, at heart, they are people. They know more about their fields that we ever will, but when you have a chronic condition, it’s worth your while to learn about it and ask questions, because no doctor can be an expert in every condition and disease that will walk through their office door. Mistakes and accidents happen.

My story about the doctor that suggested I take a near lethal dose of a Tylenol is a case in point. If I hadn’t read about the dangers of Tylenol/acetaminophen and liver damage, I just might have followed her suggestions. Luckily, I didn’t.

Do I think these painkillers with acetaminophen should be pulled from the market? NO. A resounding NO! Here in America many people live with pain — chronic, near crippling pain. Most people who deal with pain are under medicated and ignored. They need help. If these drugs are pulled, there are other that can be used, but we don’t have access to them in the US. Unless the FDA is going to allow alternatives they should consider leaving these on the market with strongly worded cautions and plainly worded Dosage Limits.

Even more important — the FDA should make sure that pharmacists, doctors, and the public have access to this education and training that they THINK they have done over the years. I’ve heard more stories similar to my “ignorant” doctor (used with the meaning that it can be cured) than I have of the other kind. I think information on drugs should be easier to find online, with easy to understand material explaining doses, uses, and contra-indications. Most dosage info online is convoluted or needs a chemical degree to figure out what’s too much and what’s safe — we need better resources for patients and doctors.

Mostly, we need better pain management. I have my good days and my bad.  And I do it mostly without painkillers.  But today, I slipped and fell, landing full force on my knee — it sure would be nice to take something, but I can’t, because I might need it more later on and I can’t waste the few painkillers I have. (I’m not the only chronic pain sufferer who has to balance need this way, and the sad part is none of us should have to.)

This is our weekend. Last night was WSFA’s 3rd Friday Meeting in DC. It takes us slightly under two hours to get there and another to get back. So, we were home by about 2:30 a.m. Of course, we slept late.

Up late. Made breakfast. Finally got the Banana Pecan Muffins made. Then down to the mailbox for the paper and mail. Put some food in the bird feeder. Headed out to do the shopping.

Back home and it’s nearly 8 p.m. So, folded the wash which dried while we were out. Put it away. Skipped supper in favor of a bit of cheese and iced tea.

Picked up Blood Ties Season One. It’s a series based on Tanya Huff’s Vicky Nelson series of books. So we watched disk 1. I’m greatly pleased with the first disk of shows. Looking forward to the rest of them. Will do a review when I finish watching them.

Now it’s bed time. The weekend only has one day left and I’ve got nothing to show for it so far except clean clothes, the weekly food shopping done, and about 3 inches on my sweater (I always knit while watching shows otherwise I really wasted my time).

Anyway…two day weekends aren’t enough. Where’s those 4 day work weeks we were promised in the 60’s?  Shouldn’t they be here by now, it’s the 00’s after all. It always takes one of the weekend days to run all the errands and then the second day is for all those household chores that take two of us. Where is that day of rest thing? I think I’ve been robbed.

Do you remember being a kid and thinking, when I grow up I’ll have time to just do what I want? Being a grown up just means you tell yourself what to do all the time. I’m a real task master. Yeah, just ask me,  my boss is a real ‘nose to the grindstone’ task master. Too bad I’m self-employed. I never let myself get away with crap. Then on the weekend it’s work, work, work — only this time it’s housework and yard work, and on and on.

So, what happened to those carefree weekends we’re supposed to have? Mine got repossessed somehow.

Time is finite. There’s 24 hours per day or 1440 minutes or 86400 seconds. Of course we’re supposed to sleep at least 8 of those hours. So basically each day we have 16 hours or 960 minutes or 57600 seconds to do stuff. That stuff includes making meals, cleaning the house, taking care of hygiene issues, work hours, and leisure time.

Now it sort of sounds like that’s plenty of time to get things done. But of those 16 hours 8 are spent working (plus the commute time for most people). Of course, I work at home so I tend to work more like 10 hours a day. Since I’m here in the house, a trip to the bathroom or to get a cup of coffee means I can toss in a load of wash or put it in the dryer when I pass, and then back to work. So some multi-tasking gets done.

Somehow, I always feel there isn’t enough time for all the things I want to do. Sometimes it’s just my subconscious making me feel like I’m not working that messes up my schedule. For example, I often feel that the time I spend sitting and reading is not working and I should get back to work. But reading books, to then write reviews of them, is working. It’s just that old New England work ethic that makes it feel that if it’s also enjoyable and fun, it can’t be work. Often, I have to keep reminding myself that reading IS work and it’s okay to just sit and read. But when I’m sitting by the window listening to the birds and enjoying a cuppa and taking notes on a book, it’s just too much fun — can that really be work? Well, when the reviews aren’t written because I didn’t finish the books — that’s definitely not fun. But how do you convince yourself that an enjoyable activity is also work?

Then I want to do some knitting. I’ve got lots of started projects and I’m trying to finish some of them off because I want to start new ones. So, I’ve been committing one hour or so a day to knitting on a project to finish it. Again I feel like I’m wasting time…I’m not. I know I’m not — but, it somehow feels like I am. So, since a lot of my time is spent online reading emails, answering questions, and adding stuff to the databases, I’ve taken to keeping my knitting handy so that if the response time is slow, I knit in order to keep myself from hitting random keys trying to make the thing move faster….. I know it doesn’t do anything but lock up the entire keyboard, but I’m the impatient sort. So I’m starting to keep knitting handy (I used to play games but that eats up time beyond what the delay takes so I’m off that now).

Some people just seem to get so much done in the same amount of time. I wonder how they do it. Some people think I do an amazing amount of stuff in the time available to me. Unfortunately, I feel like I waste an awful lot of my allotted time.

Is time management really just a perception problem? I don’t know, but it’s something I’ve been thinking about a lot lately. How do people allocate their time to make sure the have a good mix of work, play, and sleep? Time for family. Time for fun. Time for themselves. Time for work. Time’s finite but we all use it differently. We all perceive it in a different manner. Time fleeting. Time dragging. Time passing us by. But is there a way to use it up wisely and to the best advantage without waste or regret?

Any tips on organizing your time that you want to share?