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Continuation of Thankful

fixing the computer, sort of

This is a continuation of thankful, which I started last week. I’m not including the Thursday night choir rehearsals, Sunday morning church services, or events presented in some standalone posts, all of which would qualify.

DATE: Tuesday, the 11th. I was to meet Jim at an Albany restaurant, Ale and Oyster, a guy from far out of town visiting his adult daughter, who now lives in the Capital District. He opened the restaurant door and saw a black guy. He said, “Is your name Roger?” And it was! Just not the correct Roger.

We, including his daughter, ate. He and I swapped stories, some about the Beatles; he remembers the ABC-TV cartoon series better than I. His hometown didn’t have an ABC affiliate until 1970, whereas Binghamton got one in 1962, still later than the bigger cities. Hmm—I know most of the lyrics to Mister Ed, a show his daughter does not recall and I haven’t seen in decades. I was challenged to list the Presidents backwards; yes, I can do it.

Charter schools

Then onto the library. Ryane McAuliffe Straus discussed and read from her book, Divided by Choice: How Charter Schools Diminish Democracy. She based her work on a few dozen interviews involving parents and others in the Albany area. She pushed back on many of the racially tinged tropes about the Albany City School District; as well as being an academic, she’s also a mother of children who are or were students in the ACSD. Read the description on the NYU Press website.

Since she was formerly a professor of political science at Saint Rose College before it closed recently, it was not a surprise, but still that Smallbany thing, when one of the attendees knew people I knew; our church choir director had also worked at CSR.

DATE: Wednesday, the 12th: I went to see my allergist for my annual evaluation at Corporate (frickin’) Woods. While I like the new person – my previous provider warned me last year warned me two years running that she was going to retire – I don’t miss going to C(f)W.

Computer games

Then I went to Best Buy. My keyboard has been driving me crazy for several days. The J, Q, and Delete keys failed to operate. When I got to the Geek Squad counter, a man was berating the customer service rep because he had tried to make an appointment online but was unable to. I noted that I couldn’t either, but said it wasn’t the rep’s fault.

The irate customer said that he had driven two hours. He was told that he could make an appointment for three hours out, which he did.

The rep, addressing me, noticed that there was a cancellation for a slot in ten minutes and that they could try to help me. Though I said that I had owned my laptop for three or four years, he determined that it was built in 2018 – I had bought it secondhand – so they couldn’t help me. If they had sent it off, it would have cost me $85; it wouldn’t have been fixed, and I would have been out the 85 bucks.

Instead, he recommended that I buy a keyboard, which I discovered cost a whopping $12. Incidentally, the sales clerk was a friend of my daughter’s.

Since I had previously found a block to plug into my USB ports, I could utilize not only the keyboard but also my backup stick and a mouse, which I still love to use.

When I want to use voice recognition (Windows + h), all I have to do is unplug the whatchamcallit. It’s a clunky but workable solution.

Old friends

DATE: Thursday, the 13th. I had a 100-minute conversation with my oldest college friend. He may be coming up one of these days.

DATE: Friday, the 14th. I talked for 110 minutes to another old friend, a former comic book store customer with whom I’ve worked occasionally over the years. He subsequently texted me that my penny post led him to a “unique historical moment,” which pleased me greatly.

My wife and I went out to dinner at Suwan Thai on Western Avenue in honor of our lunaversary. We try to go out somewhere once a month. It keeps things fresh. But I should not order the spicy versions, I have determined.

I like going to that location. For years, I patronized the Ginger Man for decades until it closed in 2017. I used to live a block away.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Lydster: peanuts!

immunotherapy?

Peanuts! As I noted, our daughter developed a tree nut and peanut allergy. We discovered this when she was about 2 1/2 and had a cookie served by someone else.

1440 had a helpful summary. According to a study published in Pediatrics, “new food allergies in the US have dropped 36% in 10 years. The drop follows a 2015 landmark trial on peanuts and shifting national guidance on early introduction to food allergens.” Ah, if it had only been available a decade or sooner.

Wow. “About 60,000 children have avoided developing peanut allergies after guidance first issued in 2015 upended medical practice by recommending introducing the allergen to infants starting as early as 4 months.” I’ve seen stories on the evening news, but without sufficient detail. This is REALLY interesting to me.

My wife, daughter, and I have asked restaurant servers about their processes. Some places provide more diligence than others; you can immediately sense it.

“Researchers analyzed electronic health records for roughly 125,000 children from 48 pediatric practices across the US. They looked at cohorts of children ages 0-3 before and after a 2015 trial found that feeding peanut products to babies cut their allergy risk by over 80%.” This is great news.

“Guidance was updated to encourage early introduction of peanuts to high-risk children; today, parents are encouraged to introduce peanuts and eight other common allergens to children, regardless of risk level.” High risk includes kids with severe eczema.

“By 2020, an estimated 57,000 fewer children developed food allergies alongside the evolving recommendations. Read the complete study here.”

I can’t help but wonder how that would have worked out if we knew then what we know now.

Treatment

There is also a Peanut Allergy Treatment. “In recent years, peanut immunotherapy has emerged as a treatment option. It is for adults and most children.

“Peanut allergy immunotherapy is a treatment that focuses on building tolerance to peanuts. It desensitizes the body to the allergen.

“The treatment starts with a tiny amount of peanut protein, then gradually increases to larger amounts until a target dose is reached. Building up peanut exposure desensitizes the patient to higher doses of peanut protein.

“Peanut allergy immunotherapy is a treatment, not a cure. It is designed to reduce the frequency and severity of allergic reactions. This includes life-threatening anaphylaxis.”

We haven’t talked about this. However, she had a couple of scares in South Africa, where the labeling was not as robust as in the United States. If she wanted to start treatment, I would hope it would be while she’s still on my insurance for the next few years.

RIP, CBS Saturday Morning

Michelle Miller, Dana Jacobson

**Dana Jacobson, Jeff Glor, Michelle Miller**

I have been fond of the program CBS Saturday Morning. It may be continuing, though the info/staffing at this writing is unclear. Regardless, it won’t be the same.

As you may have read, Bari Weiss is what Daily Kos called “the contrarian Substacker turned editor-in-chief of CBS News.” John Oliver is not a fan, either.

As the Guardian reported on October 29, “CBS News staffers lose jobs in ‘bloodbath’ as part of sweeping cuts from Paramount. The corporation is laying off about 1,000 staffers, including some in news, as part of a longer-term cost-cutting plan.

“The network has closed its Johannesburg bureau and is cancelling its CBS Mornings Plus and CBS Evening News Plus streaming shows. The network’s Saturday-morning program will undergo a format change, according to a source with knowledge of the changes… The network’s race and culture unit was gutted.”

Some leaving include Debora Patta, who worked out of Johannesburg, Nancy Chen, Lisa Ling, Janet Shamblian, Nikki Batiste, and the two remaining anchors of CBS Saturday Morning, Dana Jacobson and Michelle Miller.

History

Per Wikipedia, the network had tried a variety of news programming in the 7-9 a.m. Saturday slot, but it has not been very successful over the past nearly 30 years. I remember several of the anchors. But in my mind, it didn’t “click” until the team of Anthony Mason (2012-2019), Michelle Miller (2018–2025), and Dana Jacobson (2018–2025) came together in 2018.

The show, for me, had a good mix of news of the day in the first half-hour and human-interest pieces. It featured the James Beard award-winning “The Dish”, which features profiles of chefs and restaurateurs. The “Saturday Sessions” increasingly focused on independent artists.

Mason knows more about popular music than anyone I’ve ever seen. He was moved to the weekday morning show but left to do more in-depth music pieces for several CBS programs.

On June 22, 2019, Jeff Glor joined Jacobson and Miller as co-host of CBS This Morning: Saturday, later retitled CBS Saturday Morning. This was a big comedown for Glor, who became the new weekday anchor of the CBS Evening News on December 4, 2017, only to be replaced after May 10, 2019.

But he, like Anthony Mason, had a steady rapport with Dana and Michelle. He did great interviews with authors. Unfortunately, CBS laid off Buffalo native Glor and three reporters in late September 2024. His last show was on September 28, allowing him to bid farewell to viewers.

According to reports, the decision in the autumn of 2025 to oust the executive producer Brian Applegate, along with Miller and Jacobson, is reportedly a part of a broader restructuring initiative. Dana Jacobson and Michelle Miller say goodbye in an emotional final signoff on November 22, 2025. Here’s a 2022 interview with Applegate on the chemistry of SatMo.

Last two

Read the impressive bios of Miller and Jacobson. I’m a bit surprised at the ouster of Dana, given her background in sports, having previously worked with ESPN and having covered NCAA women’s basketball for CBS.

“Since joining CBS News in 2004, Michelle Miller has reported on stories of national and international importance. Her reporting around social justice has been groundbreaking. From her coverage of the killings of George Floyd, Trayvon Martin, and Michael Brown, the nationwide outrage of the Emanuel 9 Massacre in Charleston, and sexual assault allegations against prominent celebrities, Miller has been at the forefront of CBS News’ reporting on the protest movement involving these issues.” Given CBS’s recent fear of appearing too DEI, this should not have been a surprise to me, yet it was.

I’m going to tune in on Saturday, November 28, to see what Weiss hath wrought.

Events calendar for December 2025 (mostly)

Nov 25| Book Review | Everything is Tuberculosis by John Green. Reviewer: Roger Green (moi)

The events calendar for December 2025, and a bit before, includes me! All book reviews/author talks at Albany Public Library, 161 Washington Avenue, at 2 pm, EXCEPT the holiday concert on December 16, which will be at 12:30 pm.

November 25| Book Review | Everything is Tuberculosis: The History and Persistence of Our Deadliest Infection by John Green. Reviewer: Roger Green, business librarian, retired from the NY Small Business Development Center. (Not related to John.)

December 2 | Book Review | The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom by Don Miguel Ruiz. Reviewer: Ezra Scott, Jr., MA, MBE, is a native of Niagara Falls, NY, a public servant, an educator, & the proud father of Khari C. Scott & Exra P. Scott III.

December 9 |Author Talk | Roselee Blooston, author of four other books, both memoir & stories, discusses & reads from her book of personal essays, Including the Periphery.

December 16 | Holiday Concert with the Albany High School Choir, directed by Brendan Hoffman. THIS PROGRAM WILL START AT 12:30 PM, unlike our other programs.

December 23 | Book Review | The Treeline: The Last Forest and the Future of Life on Earth by Ben Rawlence. Reviewer: Jonathan Skinner, PhD, retired statistician & amateur classicist.

December 30 | Book Review | Nadja by André Breton. Reviewer: Dan Wilcox, peace activist & noted local poet.

Art at APL Opening Reception

Friday, December 5, 2025, 6:00 pm–7:30 pm

Pine Hills branch of the Albany Public Library, 517 Western Avenue

Countenance: The Contemporary Portrait, December 5- May 9, 2025

Nuveen Barwari, Judith Braun, Maggie Halloran, John Hampshire, Phil Knoll, Mark McCarty, Philip J. Palmieri, Winosha Steele, Felicia van Bork, Oliver Wasow

More info HERE.

Sunday, December 14

Join us for an afternoon of music and history in support of the Underground Railroad Education Center. Arias in the Afternoon: Lifting Every Voice

Join MC Rex Smith for the beauty of Handel’s Messiah with a performance by Daniel Pascoe Aguilar alongside the Smithsonian’s Voices and Votes exhibit, as we confront our complex history and continue the fight for education and truth.

December 14, 2025
1 p.m. to 3 p.m.
New York State Museum
4th Floor Terrace

AND

Ballad of the Brown King – Margaret Bonds

Seven Carols for Christmas – Alice Parker

December 14, 2025

2:30 Art display
3 p.m. Concert (see poster above)
First Presbyterian Church at the corner of State and Willett in Albany, NY

Sunday Stealing Goes Back To The Well

not as bad as it was

Welcome to Sunday Stealing. Here we will steal all types of questions from every corner of the blogosphere. Our promise to you is that we will work hard to find the most interesting and intelligent questions. Cheers to all of us thieves!

This week, we’re once again stealing from Steph, aka Cry Baby. She loves Taco Bell and asking questions like these.

Revisiting Steph – Sunday Stealing Goes Back To The Well

1) Has anyone ever told you “I love you,” but you didn’t say it back?

This happened at least 48 years ago. This young woman and I were buddies, not even really close friends. We were hanging out somewhere outdoors, and she said that. I thought it came out of nowhere, and I felt terrible. When I didn’t respond in kind, she seemed really crushed. I reflected on the vibe I was giving off to her. I hadn’t thought about that in a long time.

2) Do you consider yourself organized?

I think that there’s more than one way to be organized. In some ways, I am, and in other ways, definitely not. My blog writing has a system: I know what I’m gonna write, but I leave room for inspiration. I go through my email, which is my organizational tool for triggering specific behaviors, such as paying bills. My cell phone helps me remember my medical appointments and other irregular events.

Conversely, my office is a mess. It’s not as bad now as it was a couple of days ago. I was having trouble getting Internet connectivity, and I knew someone from Spectrum was going to come into my office at 8 a.m., so I woke up at 4:40 without an alarm clock and moved stuff around for about 2.5 hours.

Pathway

Now there’s a path from the entryway to my desk, so the worker could, as it turns out, replace the modem I just got a month ago with one that actually works.

3) Where do you look first when you go clothes shopping?

I should note that I loathe going clothes shopping. Last time I went, I needed a new winter coat, so I got one at Lodge’s, the oldest store in downtown Albany. I also bought some socks because I can always use more socks. Usually, my wife buys me shirts from L.L. Bean.

4) Do you often reflect on your past in terms of eras or milestones (“it’s been 10 years since X happened”)?

Not exactly, but I do recall anniversaries. I note famous people’s 70th birthdays, my parents’ birthdays, and death dates, my sisters’ birthdays, etc.

The only time I reflect is in end-of-year posts, when I’m mainly looking back on the previous 12 months. The only milestone demarcations I suppose I have are before the daughter and after the daughter, and my previous church versus my current church.

5) Were you more recently ill or injured (flu vs. twisted ankle)?

Challenging to say. I’m often in a state of mild injury. I wrote about pain in my left knee some months ago. The last time I was sick was probably when I had COVID in August of 2022, and honestly, because I had gotten shots, it wasn’t all that bad.

Thank you for playing! Please come back next week.