Good
evening, 919 Gang. I have used the word "decimate," never realizing its
origin. This from Wikipedia:
"Decimation (Latin:
decimatio; decem = "ten")
was a form of military discipline used by senior commanders in the Roman Army
to punish units or large groups guilty of capital offences such as mutiny or
desertion. The word decimation is derived from Latin meaning
"removal of a tenth".[1]
The procedure was a pragmatic attempt to balance the need to punish serious
offences with the practicalities of dealing with a large group of offenders ...
A cohort (roughly 480 soldiers) selected for
punishment by decimation was divided into groups of ten; each group drew lots (Sortition),
and the soldier on whom the lot fell was executed by his nine comrades, often
by stoning or clubbing."
--------------------------------------------
CHUCK BOYD says:
A friend of mine lives in Encinitas
and made this comment when I said the 919 Gang was discussing Whole Foods:
"We now have a Whole Foods here
in Encinitas on the main drag that's certainly not needed. I guess someone on
the city council was slipped a bribe by the contractor who built the store and
the surrounding stores and condos by being allowed to go beyond the city's 30
ft. height limit.
"They even put in a multi-story
underground parking lot for Whole Foods.
"Even before the structure was
built, #101 traffic just crawled going down this section of downtown on
#101(beyond the Daily Double Saloon), but now it's almost at a standstill
Thanks Whole Foods or is it Whore Foods?"
I wrote back to him:
I liked the Daily Double Saloon
because it had double-sized padded bar stools. Even better than the old Press
Room bar downtown.
That reminded me that we had a
long-time neighborhood bar close here in Charleston a few years ago.
It was one I used to go to with my
priest when I was an altar boy, after a Sunday Mass, for a late breakfast. He
would usually have a cup of "tea" that sure smelled like bourbon to
me.
The owner would stop by and say "Now Fadder, you know you're eatin' free. I
hope when I die, you can do someting (sic) for me up there,"
pointing upwards.
Anyway, it was the last day for the
bar and I joined a crowd of regulars. The owner had died by then, and I
reminded his son how the priest and I sometimes would come by on Sundays.
He said that his Dad did that a lot,
especially for the parish priest. It was really an Irish neighborhood in those
days.
He laughed and said, earlier that day,
he had pulled an oldtimer aside and said, "because you've been coming here for nearly 40 years, I'd like to give
you a souvenir, something to remember the place."
He was thinking maybe give him the
man's favorite bar stool.
The codger thought for a moment or
two, squinted, looked around the crowded room, rubbed his scratchy chin and
said "Wouldja mind, maybe givin' me the television set?"
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REBER:
Alan Drooz needs to replace his home's air condition system, and he asked for advice.
JIM OKERBLOM writes:
I recommend that Alan buy a
high-efficiency system, which will almost certainly mean it has a scroll
compressor instead of the standard pump-type compressor. The compressor is the
major power user in a AC system.
The advantages of scroll compressor
systems are higher efficiency, quieter operation and greater reliability. Such
systems do cost more on the front end, but will more than pay for themselves
over the long haul.
On the subject of
home repairs, what happened with Michael Grant's water-damaged bathroom?
Inquiring minds want to know.
REBER: And how about the so-called
"mold" problem Lew Little and Mary Ellen Corbett were struggling with?
BOB ELLEDGE writes:
Alan: I got a quote last week for a
4-ton central A/C unit for our 1,500 square foot house (which has a forced-air
furnace but not central A/C), a new furnace (he found current system was
unchanged from its installation in 1959 and surmised we are using 70% to 80%
more gas than a new one would), new insulated ducts and modern vents. Our home
has no insulation as it was not required at the time when gas was about a
nickel. We are also having cellulose insulation blown into our walls. It's the
insulation people who recommended Tarpy.
We
are not going forward with this proposal until our newly begun home remodeling
is completed in a month (??). But a friend of mine who is in charge of building
projects at Arizona State University and advising me on all things
construction, said it was a very reasonable quote and quality equipment for all
that price. Paul was very personable, his office personnel were friendly and
helpful, and he showed up on time for our appointment. Most importantly, he was
not pushy. I've met with dozens of contractors and tradesmen in the last year
while planning this project, and his degree of professionalism was in the top
of the heap. We hope to get this phase done in two or three months.
Four attachments: three of the
equipment and the fourth is the quote breakdown. For the furnace, vents, A/C
and ductwork: $7,800; with a tankless water heater installed, $10,000. He said
the savings on natural gas for the furnace and tankless heater are substantial.
Good
luck.
REBER: I chose not to reproduce the four
attachments here, but I have forwarded them to Alan, and I will send them to
anyone else who is interested. Insulation is a big deal. Our house has good
insulation and double-pane windows. We've had a lot of 90-degree heat (outside)
but have yet to use air conditioning this year.
------------------------------------------------
CHERYL CLARK writes:
To Lisa Petrillo's point about medical
testing: I couldn't see the AARP story Lisa linked to because i am not a member
or subscriber so the link didn't work for me. But apparently it was referring
to the same list I was referring to in my prior e-mail that urged 919ers to
check out, Choosing Wisely, the American Board of Internal Medicine
Foundation's list of potentially unnecessary medical services. Each of dozens
of medical specialty groups voted and submitted to the ABIMF's list its
selection of five or more Choosing Wisely medical services.
While the annual physical wasn't in
the list of the 26 procedures mentioned in the study that prompted the launch
of this thread, Lisa is correct in that the annual physical is mentioned in one
of the Choosing Wisely lists. But as I mentioned previously, the Choosing
Wisely inclusion of the annual physical references a population that would get
little or no benefit from the annual physical, and that apparently is a
different group than the one that included her brother, who Lisa said had a number
of health issues when he went in to see the doctor. So apparently, he was not
asymptomatic. Here is the language in number 2 of the 5 recommended by one of
the specialty groups that represents internists, the Society of General
Internal Medicine, the folks who are among those likely to make money on the
unnecessary annual physical.
"2. Don’t perform routine general
health checks for asymptomatic adults."
"Routine general health checks
are office visits between a health professional and a patient exclusively for
preventive counseling and screening tests. In contrast to office visits for
acute illness, specific evidence-based preventive strategies, or chronic care
management such as treatment of high blood pressure, regularly scheduled
general health checks without a specific cause including the “health
maintenance” annual visit, have not shown to be effective in reducing
morbidity, mortality or hospitalization, while creating a potential for harm
from unnecessary testing."
-------------------------------------------------
BRIAN CLARK writes:
See story from last Sunday's LA Times
travel section. (My Walter Mittyish exploits continue...)
I've found the cure for seasickness,
and it doesn't involve drugs, pressure points or herbal remedies. But I'd
recommend this therapy only to the truly adventurous.
------------------------------------------------
RICK
SMITH writes:
A question for David Farmer, the
Charles Osgood of the 919 set: When did "Little Santa Monica" become
known as Santa Monica Boulevard. South? When I worked in Westwood, there were
two, "Big" Santa Monica Boulevard and "Little" Santa Monica
Boulevard.
P.O.
Box 2239
Ramona,
CA 92065
U.S.A.
