Ramblin' with Roger

35 Questions Meme, Part Two

36. If you suddenly became single or are single, do you think you could last in a relationship for 12 months or more?

I’d like to think so. Probably.

37. Do you forgive or forget?

Forgive, usually; forget, seldom.

38. Do you trust people?

Probably less than I used to. That said, probably more than more people. I had the laptop in the hotel, and one of my sisters suggested that I lock it up somewhere; it would not have occurred to me.

39. What are you not looking forward to?

Painting the attic. It’s HOT up there by fairly early in the day.

40. Do you get mad easily?

I don’t think so. But when I do, it can be furious, so don’t push it.

41. Tell us about the last time you were told you that you have pretty eyes.

I don’t recall. There was this woman about 25 years ago.

42. Do you have strange dreams?

Oh, goodness YES. Sidebar: I gave up caffeinated soda on March 16 because I wasn’t sleeping. More correctly, I was going to sleep, but I wasn’t STAYING asleep. Then I prettyy much NEEDED the caffeine so that I didn’t fall asleep at my desk.

So now, I still wake up in the middle of the night, but I roll over and go back to sleep. And all these latter-part-of-the-night dreams innvolve distorted versions of my childhood, and all sorts of mayhem that are so vivid, yet so ALMOST plausible that I have to recollect it and realize that it COULDN’T have happened.

43. Ever licked someone’s cheek or forehead?

Undoubtedly, as some sort of torture.

44. Tell us about the last time you fell asleep in someone’s arms.

As opposed to just cuddling, I suppose. It was probably the Wife, and I was probably ill.

45. When did you last play a game?

Uno, Saturday with the Daughter.

46. What do you have on you at all times?

My wedding ring.

47. Do you go out in public without getting all dressed up?

I’d do it more often, if i could get away with it.

48. Do you like fruity or minty gum?

Mint – spearmint.

49. Favourite musician or group?

Beatles.

50. Do you like anyone?

Define “like”. I like quite a few people. Even love a few.

51. Favourite computer game?

Backgammon, except that when I play with someone, they often bail too early. Hearts with no real opponents I can at least finish.

52. First album you ever went and bought with your own money?

Beatles VI.

53. Think back five months ago, were you single?

No, and not 5 months before that either.

54. Do you believe in celebrating anniversaries?

Goodness, yes. Of all kinds.

55. Do you think someone is thinking about you right now?

How could they not?

56. Last thing you bought?

Lunch on Friday.

57. Are you a jealous person?

I tend not to be, though there have been moments in the past.

58. Does it take a lot to make you cry?

Not really. A beautiful piece of music can make me cry.

59. Do you have a friend of the opposite sex you can talk to?

Yes. Actually, for the longest time, about 90% of my best friends were female; now, it about 60%.

60. Have you ever had your heart-broken?

I mean, if you haven’t, you are really lucky, I think.

61. Have you ever done something while drunk that you still cannot believe you did?

Back when I would drink in college, I was very flirtatious, but no, I don’t believe

62. Is there anyone you secretly wish you could be spending your time with right now?

No secret. Myself. Don’t get enough Roger time.

63. Do you text?

Generally not.

64. Do you wish someone would call or text you right now?

Sure, why not? And if they call me and I DON’T want to speak with him or her, well, that’s what Caller ID is all about.

65. Is your life anything like it was a year ago?

Pretty much.

66. Go back one year on your blog. Leave us a link to your favorite post.

M is for Money.

67. You can only drink ONE liquid for the rest of your life, what is it?

Ginger ale.

68. Tell us about someone that you have lost contact with someone you wish you didn’t.

There are so many people I manage to regain contact of, some of whom I had lost contact with. But there was this woman named Diane in college; actually mostly after college when I was still hanging out in New Paltz. We used to just talk, play board games and generally hang out. Totally platonic. Lost track of her. She isn’t in the alumni directory that came out in 2006, can’t find her in Google, and I wonder how she is, WHERE she is.

69. What is the last thing you said out loud?

Good night, sleep tight.

70. Will this year be better than last?

Difficult to say. Last year was pretty good.

ROG

The Health Report

Had my physical this week. Other than too much weight (no surprise) and too high “bad ” cholesterol, I’m OK. My last “annual” checkup was in November 2008. I took Lipitor for a couple months at the time, then forgot to get a blood test, which I needed to get befoe getting a refill, but forgot and let it slide. I’ll do better this time.

Even before this, though, I made a major change. I had become, if not addicted, then habituated to caffeinated soda, usually diet. It had the annoying habit of allowing me to go to sleep, but then had me wake up in the middle of the night, brain on overload, unable to sleep. Then I “needed” a soda while I was at work lest I fall asleep at my desk. Vicious cycle. But when I last gave blood, on March 16, and my blood pressure upper number was 138 – it’s always been between 110 and 125 – I becan to worry, and I quit the soda cold turkey. After about three days of utter exhaustion, I’m actually sleeping better.

I wonder if it was the soda, or merely SAD (seasonal affective disorder) that made me feel crazy in February. Someone said something that annoyed me greatly – and I had a right to be annoyed – but it seemed to have captured me for about a month, with me withdrawing from things, feeling melancholy and alone. It’s passed, even before quitting the soda, but it was very peculiar.

Thus endeth “true confessions”.
ROG

Privacy, identity

My daughter went to the pedetrician she’s seen since she was born last week for her annual physical. The ofice required proof of her insuance – it has not changed, but OK – and proof of identity for her or her parents.

This week, I went to see my primary care physician for MY annual physical doctor. I’ve had this doctor for over 15 years. The front staff know who I am. In fact, when he asked me for MY ID, the staffer said, almost giggling: “We KNOW who you are.” I also prsented my insurance card, though it hadn’t changed.

Now I understood it when I went to St. Peter’s to get X-rays; I’m not exactly a regular.
***
A bit off topic, but it did get me to think about issue privacy and personal information. The type of info I hate giving up is the type I believe will harm me. For instance, one of my providers STILL uses my Social Security number as my patient identification. This makes me VERY nervous. And isn’t that in violation of the HIPAA law?

Meanwhile, there are members of Congress complaining about the “invasive” Census. Frankly, I’m a bit disappointed that, with all the money being spent on it, they didn’t ask for more.

Newspapers, when I write a letter to the editor, require my name, address, and phone number. But if I write to their blogs, I can hide under a pseudonym and say pretty much what I want. The blogger can block it, but still the conversation is far more incidiary than the print letters. I’m not sure that folks online shouldn’t be subjected to the same rules of contact as their pen-and-paper cohorts.

***
The question: what issues of privacy do YOU worry about? Census, online transactions, the restaurant worker with your credit card ?

MLKing National Memorial

As I’ve noted recently, this month marks the 42nd anniversary of the death of Dr. Martin Luther King. I remember the particulars of 4/4/1968 as much as I do 11/22/1963, for instance. I have recently elucidated about the importance of Dr. King in my social development.

I’ve only recently discovered a group that is “commemorating his life and work by creating a memorial in our nation’s capital. The Washington, DC, Martin Luther King, Jr., National Memorial will honor his life and contributions to the world through non violent social change.”

There is a website, mlkmemorialnews.org, that includes videos, photos, banners, and an opportunity to donate money to the creation of the memorial.

“After many years of fund raising, the memorial is only $14 million away from its $120 million goal.”
***
Poll Finds Tea Party Anger Rooted in Issues of Class (NYT, 4/14)

The fierce animosity that Tea Party supporters harbor toward Washington and President Obama in particular is rooted in deep pessimism about the direction of the country and the conviction that the policies of the Obama administration are
disproportionately directed at helping the poor rather than the middle class or the rich, according to the latest New York Times/CBS News poll.

Why is this absolutely unsurprising?

Interestingly, Dr. King’s last efforts were not based on just racial equality, but on economic justice. But economic justice is like water on dry ground; it lifts ALL boats up.
***
Democracy Now! spoke to the mayor of my hometown yesterday, Binghamton’s (NY) Matt Ryan. “He’s taken an unusual step to remind the city’s residents about the expanding costs of the wars. Early next week, the city of Binghamton plans to install a large digital ‘cost of war’ counter on the facade of City Hall. The counter will show that the residents of the city have already spent $138 million on the wars since 2001.” More here.

This reminds me that MLK’s opposition to the Vietnam war in 1967 was not exactly a popular move, either with the LBJ administration or with most civil rights leaders.
***
I got an message from an old high school chum. (Why is it that certain people you remember instantly, and others are…who is that again?)
He wrote: “I can remember a speech you gave one day in an assembly. The idea being that racial equality had to do with even more than having a black person star in a deodorant commercial (which at the time was progress!) It made an impact that lasted…you never know what will, do you?”

Boy, I wish I could remember the context of that speech…

ROG

Taxing day

One of the things that my wife and I did a few years ago that has almost certainly saved our marriage was to get someone else to process our taxes. In the the first few years, we calculated them ourselves and it took FOR-EV-ER. Well at least in my mind. It made me cranky, and my crankiness made HER cranky.

In the years prior to us filing jointly, I had always filed a 1040-A or even a 1040-EZ. No muss, no fuss. There was also no calculating of itemized deduction. Compare this with calculating not only all of our charitable contributions but also using Schedule C to keep track of all of the expenses of the rental units in the two-family dwelling we lived in, and did NOT live in the next few years. My wife figured out most of this latter info, but still, it was torturous.

Worse, almost every year, we made some math error on our state and/or federal taxes and have to do an amended return, generally not in our favor.

Now, you might observe, “Hey, you could have gotten a tax reduction all those years you didn’t itemize from all your contribution to your church and other organizations.” This is no doubt true. Yet, it wasn’t the reason I MADE the donations, so I did not care as much; still don’t, actually. There’s a friend of a friend who does some very good work for the poor and disenfranchised, and his organization deliberately is NOT eligible for a tax deduction. His philosophy is, and I tend to agree with it, that if you want to contribute, you should be doing it from the heart, not just for the write-off.

In the last few years, we have had an accountant do our taxes. We still have to gather the information, but it’s a lot less onerous. Even since we sold the rental property, interestingly corresponding to the arrival of The Daughter, it’s still worthwhile.

So, it was a bit of a shock to the system to get a letter from the IRS last month saying we owe $749 for the 2008 tax year. Seems that the IRS saw the line on The Wife’s W-2 and thought there was $5000 being contributed by her employer for child care. In fact, the $5000 was HER contribution to child care on a flex spending account. However, the accountant did make ANOTHER mistake, so we DO owe some money. But the accountants are paying the penalty and interest. At the end of the day, we’ll have our 2009 return pay for what we owe in 2008.

Still, all of this was MUCH less stressful for me than the DYI model.
ROG