From FreeRepublic, a right wing political website...the photos are from a contest of watermelon carving held in China.
FINEST KIND CLINIC AND FISHMARKET.... Discussing medicine, culture, and the joys of cooking Pansit.
Thursday, June 30, 2005
Watermelon Art
From FreeRepublic, a right wing political website...the photos are from a contest of watermelon carving held in China.
Wednesday, June 29, 2005
Tigger, inventor of the artificial heart
(this and previous post via boingboing)
Paul Winchell has died. We elders know him as the alter ego of Jerry Mahoney, but he was also the voice of Tigger and Gagamel...
Winchell also held 30 patents, including one for an artificial heart, a disposable razor and a flameless cigarette lighter. He donated his early artificial heart to the University of Utah for research. Dr. Robert Jarvik and other researchers at the university went on to construct the first artificial heart implanted into humans.
Ironically, John Fiedler, the voice of Piglet, has also died...they both died within a day of each other...
Paul Winchell has died. We elders know him as the alter ego of Jerry Mahoney, but he was also the voice of Tigger and Gagamel...
Winchell also held 30 patents, including one for an artificial heart, a disposable razor and a flameless cigarette lighter. He donated his early artificial heart to the University of Utah for research. Dr. Robert Jarvik and other researchers at the university went on to construct the first artificial heart implanted into humans.
Ironically, John Fiedler, the voice of Piglet, has also died...they both died within a day of each other...
Tuesday, June 28, 2005
Thursday, June 23, 2005
Yuppie feel good alert
Teaching children to play...
Actually, grandparents do this traditionally...and you could hire a local person to play with the kids for a fraction of the price of the plane ticket. Indeed, given the number of widows and elderly left without financial support, why didn't they start a "foster grandparent" type program, which would have benefitted both the elder and the kids?
But my question is: Who paid for it?
LINK
Did some hard working family send a check to an organization to pay to replace a house or give food to the starving, and all their money is going to an affluent westerner to teach kids to play?
Actually, grandparents do this traditionally...and you could hire a local person to play with the kids for a fraction of the price of the plane ticket. Indeed, given the number of widows and elderly left without financial support, why didn't they start a "foster grandparent" type program, which would have benefitted both the elder and the kids?
But my question is: Who paid for it?
LINK
Did some hard working family send a check to an organization to pay to replace a house or give food to the starving, and all their money is going to an affluent westerner to teach kids to play?
Tuesday, June 21, 2005
Luckily we moved before the electricity and fans went off. This is our covered patio.
Posted by Hello
Posted by Hello
Taking care of Business.
Taking care of business...
My stepson has built a large training center...(large for Gapan, anyway).
Then the organization he was working for decided that they needed a larger training area, preferably in Manila.
So we were left with four classrooms and a large storage area that could be used for parties.
Bummer.
But instead of brooding, we are now looking into making it a preschool when it is finished.
However, we still have the business of subcontracting crafts.
I have posted photos of this before. Right now, we are doing wicker chairs and magazine holders, and ornate Christmas ornaments. You will probably find them on sale in JC Penneys or upscale department stores next fall.
There are groups of workers in various areas. Some work in the home, but many will come and work in workshops. Then usually either we or the Manila contractor goes around to the various small towns and barangays (neighborhoods) and picks up the crafts to take them to the warehouse for shipping overseas.
The workers often bring in the crafts to here, but some work here, on our grounds.This is done in the older area of our compound, and often the workers use the large gazebo, which is cooler, since it is surrounded by trees and bushes and has several fans to keep the air circulating.
Sometimes we take a dozen trainers to Manila to learn the next craft, and then they train and supervise the other workers.
However, our daughter in law, Joy, has arranged for some teachers to come to teach the trainers for the next subcontract for craft work.
The four trainers will be staying here for three days, so we are rushing to finish the room for them to sleep, and also borrowing chairs and tables for those taking the three day course.
So this means buying supplies.
We do have four small beds (the size of cots) but no mattresses or linens.
Yesterday, we went to the mall in Cabanatuan. The mall is full of small shops, and many "fast food" type restaurants (we ate pizza from Pizza hut). And in the corriders, there are many "palenke" type shops with small merchants selling things.
It is a fairly good mall, and was packed because it was Sunday. It was hot, so many went to shop in the airconditioned mall. They also had a free concert of Disney type characters singing and dancing.
So we left Ruby and Lolo and the driver sitting in the second story watching the concert, and went to the Bodega (large Department store...something like Walmart but more basic without frills).
Then we bought linen for the beds, and enough glassware and dishes to feed twenty people.
Ironically, the price of one dish is about the same as the price of ten plastic meal containers, so costwise it was worth it.
Yes, we will have to wash dishes, but servants are cheap.Garbage, on the other hand, has to be hauled out and burned in the vacant lot next door. So it is actually cost effective to use regular plates and glasses.
Today, we went to get the fans and the mattresses for the beds.
Now, in the USA, this might mean going back to walmart.
Or it might mean going to the shops that sell wholesale to businesses. Back in the 1950's we would go downtown to the specialty shops for materials, or to the part of town that manufactured mattresses to buy a bed. Now, with everyone working and little time, time is money, so most harried people just go to the local furniture store.
But again, here in the Philippines time is not money (money is money). So it meant going from shop to shop, bargaining, price checking, and we spent two hours to save ten dollars.
To get foam for mattresses, we went to two shops that sell upholstery material. The second one had the best price, but when we went in, they were cleaning out a septic tank backup...luckily, the mattresses were on pallates and not contaminated, so we bought the four inch foam and will have them cut to the size of the cots.
We also went to four places to get a fan, but the only place with the good brand was in the supermarket, so was more expensive than if we continued to price shop. We will eventually need an air conditioner in this new guest room, but here that means making a hole in the wall for the airconditioner, and we don't have time to do that...so hopefully it will rain in the afternoon to keep things cool.
Now, the big question is if the workmen will get the toilets working in time...and I worry about them clogging. Luckily, here the custom is not toilet paper, but to wash with water...since usually the water pressure is low, most homes have a bucket of water and a small plastic pot with a handle for washing...but we have a spray hose attached to the wall. You see, like most rich people, we have a large water tank on our roof, and a pump to keep it filled...so usually we have water.
Unless the electricity goes out....duh...as it does frequently.
My stepson has built a large training center...(large for Gapan, anyway).
Then the organization he was working for decided that they needed a larger training area, preferably in Manila.
So we were left with four classrooms and a large storage area that could be used for parties.
Bummer.
But instead of brooding, we are now looking into making it a preschool when it is finished.
However, we still have the business of subcontracting crafts.
I have posted photos of this before. Right now, we are doing wicker chairs and magazine holders, and ornate Christmas ornaments. You will probably find them on sale in JC Penneys or upscale department stores next fall.
There are groups of workers in various areas. Some work in the home, but many will come and work in workshops. Then usually either we or the Manila contractor goes around to the various small towns and barangays (neighborhoods) and picks up the crafts to take them to the warehouse for shipping overseas.
The workers often bring in the crafts to here, but some work here, on our grounds.This is done in the older area of our compound, and often the workers use the large gazebo, which is cooler, since it is surrounded by trees and bushes and has several fans to keep the air circulating.
Sometimes we take a dozen trainers to Manila to learn the next craft, and then they train and supervise the other workers.
However, our daughter in law, Joy, has arranged for some teachers to come to teach the trainers for the next subcontract for craft work.
The four trainers will be staying here for three days, so we are rushing to finish the room for them to sleep, and also borrowing chairs and tables for those taking the three day course.
So this means buying supplies.
We do have four small beds (the size of cots) but no mattresses or linens.
Yesterday, we went to the mall in Cabanatuan. The mall is full of small shops, and many "fast food" type restaurants (we ate pizza from Pizza hut). And in the corriders, there are many "palenke" type shops with small merchants selling things.
It is a fairly good mall, and was packed because it was Sunday. It was hot, so many went to shop in the airconditioned mall. They also had a free concert of Disney type characters singing and dancing.
So we left Ruby and Lolo and the driver sitting in the second story watching the concert, and went to the Bodega (large Department store...something like Walmart but more basic without frills).
Then we bought linen for the beds, and enough glassware and dishes to feed twenty people.
Ironically, the price of one dish is about the same as the price of ten plastic meal containers, so costwise it was worth it.
Yes, we will have to wash dishes, but servants are cheap.Garbage, on the other hand, has to be hauled out and burned in the vacant lot next door. So it is actually cost effective to use regular plates and glasses.
Today, we went to get the fans and the mattresses for the beds.
Now, in the USA, this might mean going back to walmart.
Or it might mean going to the shops that sell wholesale to businesses. Back in the 1950's we would go downtown to the specialty shops for materials, or to the part of town that manufactured mattresses to buy a bed. Now, with everyone working and little time, time is money, so most harried people just go to the local furniture store.
But again, here in the Philippines time is not money (money is money). So it meant going from shop to shop, bargaining, price checking, and we spent two hours to save ten dollars.
To get foam for mattresses, we went to two shops that sell upholstery material. The second one had the best price, but when we went in, they were cleaning out a septic tank backup...luckily, the mattresses were on pallates and not contaminated, so we bought the four inch foam and will have them cut to the size of the cots.
We also went to four places to get a fan, but the only place with the good brand was in the supermarket, so was more expensive than if we continued to price shop. We will eventually need an air conditioner in this new guest room, but here that means making a hole in the wall for the airconditioner, and we don't have time to do that...so hopefully it will rain in the afternoon to keep things cool.
Now, the big question is if the workmen will get the toilets working in time...and I worry about them clogging. Luckily, here the custom is not toilet paper, but to wash with water...since usually the water pressure is low, most homes have a bucket of water and a small plastic pot with a handle for washing...but we have a spray hose attached to the wall. You see, like most rich people, we have a large water tank on our roof, and a pump to keep it filled...so usually we have water.
Unless the electricity goes out....duh...as it does frequently.
Sunday, June 19, 2005
Scaremongering criticized
Some UK scientists are criticizing the Lancet for it' s scaremongering...like overblown scares of the MMR vaccine problems, and overblowing the risk of hormone replacement therapy...
The scientists claim it was done to get headlines, even though the result was people harmed because they followed the advice (How many kids will die or be brain damaged from measles because their parents won't let them get the vaccine? How many old ladies will end up with hip fractures because they didn't take their hormones?)
At the end of the article, they mention the "100 000 dead" in Iraq from the Lancet, which was suspiciously printed a week before the presidential elections (later more accurate polls put the number at one fifth of that number: the Lancet study extrapolated from high casualty areas to the entire country so was not statistically accurate...)
And, showing that pigs fly not only in London, the Washington Post has an article from a Russian dissadent about the "american gulag" containing this quoted conversation:
The scientists claim it was done to get headlines, even though the result was people harmed because they followed the advice (How many kids will die or be brain damaged from measles because their parents won't let them get the vaccine? How many old ladies will end up with hip fractures because they didn't take their hormones?)
At the end of the article, they mention the "100 000 dead" in Iraq from the Lancet, which was suspiciously printed a week before the presidential elections (later more accurate polls put the number at one fifth of that number: the Lancet study extrapolated from high casualty areas to the entire country so was not statistically accurate...)
And, showing that pigs fly not only in London, the Washington Post has an article from a Russian dissadent about the "american gulag" containing this quoted conversation:
| |
Chicken Little O'Reilley, call your office...
Saturday, June 18, 2005
In praise of fatness
"For fatness itself is a valuable quality. While it creates admiration in the onlookers, it creates modesty in the possessor. If there is anything on which I differ from the monastic institutions of the past, it is that they sometimes sought to achieve humility by means of emaciation. It may be that the thin monks were holy, but I am sure it was the fat monks who were humble. Falstaff said that to be fat is not to be hated, but it certainly is to be laughed at, and that is a more wholesome experience for the soul of man."
GK Chesterton, The Uses of Diversity
GK Chesterton, The Uses of Diversity
The horror is back
Friday, June 17, 2005
TB SCARE IN BOSTON
A surgical intern has been found to have untreated TB, and everyone is in a tizzy....
Several comments.
First, if you apply to work as a nurses' aid, you need a TB skin test. If it is positive, you get an X Ray and then if you haven't been treated, you get treated...
Both my son and I am "PPD POSITIVE" i.e. test positive for the TB germ, but have a normal chest X Ray. Since we were both diagnosed under age 40, we were treated with INH: I was treated for a whole year, but now they only treat for six months. This kills any germs hiding that might "reactivate" into active TB...but there is a risk of INH hepatitis, more commonly over age 40, so if you are over age 40, they won't treat, since the risk of TB is less than the risk of hepatitis...
There are now guidelines to treat all diabetics with positive skin tests, no matter what age. And also those with immune problems...
I know in the Indian health service, where we see both a lot of TB and a lot of Diabetes this is being done. However, I suspect it is not done routinely.
TB is usually in certain populations. If you want to have TB recognized on your x ray, find a foreigner to read it, or have someone who worked with American Indians to read it...Ironically, I picked up two active cases of TB that were missed when I worked for the IHS, because I saw a lot of cases in Africa and recognized the symptoms.
In both cases, the hospital personnel freaked out...worried they might have caught it...
This is not an idle threat. About twenty years ago, a cook in the Congressional dining room staff had TB and there were 100 plus cases and one or two deaths from it.
TB has two phases: The early phase is like a viral pneumonia, but can also spread to other organs...and be missed. One case in Africa where I couldn't figure out what was wrong tested positived in his bone marrow, but not his sputum...he had "miliary TB (because the tubercules of early tb are the size of a millet sead).
The typical cases are "secondary" where you see large tubercules: About the size of a marble in the upper lobes. The body walls off the TB germ in abcesses, then if the walls of the abcess break down, you get massive spread and sometime bleeding that can be fatal.
Several comments.
First, if you apply to work as a nurses' aid, you need a TB skin test. If it is positive, you get an X Ray and then if you haven't been treated, you get treated...
Both my son and I am "PPD POSITIVE" i.e. test positive for the TB germ, but have a normal chest X Ray. Since we were both diagnosed under age 40, we were treated with INH: I was treated for a whole year, but now they only treat for six months. This kills any germs hiding that might "reactivate" into active TB...but there is a risk of INH hepatitis, more commonly over age 40, so if you are over age 40, they won't treat, since the risk of TB is less than the risk of hepatitis...
There are now guidelines to treat all diabetics with positive skin tests, no matter what age. And also those with immune problems...
I know in the Indian health service, where we see both a lot of TB and a lot of Diabetes this is being done. However, I suspect it is not done routinely.
TB is usually in certain populations. If you want to have TB recognized on your x ray, find a foreigner to read it, or have someone who worked with American Indians to read it...Ironically, I picked up two active cases of TB that were missed when I worked for the IHS, because I saw a lot of cases in Africa and recognized the symptoms.
In both cases, the hospital personnel freaked out...worried they might have caught it...
This is not an idle threat. About twenty years ago, a cook in the Congressional dining room staff had TB and there were 100 plus cases and one or two deaths from it.
TB has two phases: The early phase is like a viral pneumonia, but can also spread to other organs...and be missed. One case in Africa where I couldn't figure out what was wrong tested positived in his bone marrow, but not his sputum...he had "miliary TB (because the tubercules of early tb are the size of a millet sead).
The typical cases are "secondary" where you see large tubercules: About the size of a marble in the upper lobes. The body walls off the TB germ in abcesses, then if the walls of the abcess break down, you get massive spread and sometime bleeding that can be fatal.
Thursday, June 16, 2005
Thunder and whirlwinds and rain, oh my
When I came here from Oklahoma, my joke is that in the Philippines, when the thunderstorms come, I can stay indoors instead of going out in the rain and watching for funnel clouds.
Well, I was wrong...yesterday we had a terrible thunderstorm...I was out shopping, and it took forever to get home because of all the tree limbs on the road...and when we got home our cook came out excited and said there had been a whirlwind in town that uprooted some trees...
Well, it's not quite the same as an F3 tornado, but it made me feel homesick...
Dr. Chesbro, call the office...
Well, I was wrong...yesterday we had a terrible thunderstorm...I was out shopping, and it took forever to get home because of all the tree limbs on the road...and when we got home our cook came out excited and said there had been a whirlwind in town that uprooted some trees...
Well, it's not quite the same as an F3 tornado, but it made me feel homesick...
Dr. Chesbro, call the office...
Attention Spies...
Via boingboing...
Kryptos is a sculpture located on the grounds of CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Installed in 1990, its thousands of characters contain encrypted messages, of which three have been solved (so far). There is still a fourth section at the bottom consisting of 97 or 98 characters which remains uncracked.
Kryptos is a sculpture located on the grounds of CIA Headquarters in Langley, Virginia. Installed in 1990, its thousands of characters contain encrypted messages, of which three have been solved (so far). There is still a fourth section at the bottom consisting of 97 or 98 characters which remains uncracked.
Wednesday, June 15, 2005
News from Zimbabwe
My "evil mugabe" blog has stories from that poor country...
However, I didn't know the AIDS center was run by Sister Patricia, somebody who I know personally...
However, I didn't know the AIDS center was run by Sister Patricia, somebody who I know personally...
Stem cells get brainy
Another breakthru in adult stem cell research...
WASHINGTON -- Scientists working in mice said they had found a way to identify master cells in the brain and grow them in large batches -- a potential way of helping patients grow their own brain tissue transplants....
This is important, since using stem cells from another person, including fetal cells, has a different DNA, and might be rejected by the immune system...
These so-called adult stem cells could come from a patient himself so no donor and no immune-system-suppressing drugs would be needed.....
Another potential source of stem cells comes from early human embryos, either taken from fertility clinics or made using cloning technology and perhaps a patient's own genetic
material.
Translation: getting stem cells from a patient would solve the immune problem, and instead of getting 12 stem cells per fetus, and having to grow them for 12 generations (with the risk of cancer) and probably having to clone them so the DNA will match, we can freeze dry a couple thousand from a tiny brain biopsy, grow them 2 or 3 generations then place them back: Cheaper and easier, but I have to mention embryonic stem cells because they are pc in the newspaper industry...
WASHINGTON -- Scientists working in mice said they had found a way to identify master cells in the brain and grow them in large batches -- a potential way of helping patients grow their own brain tissue transplants....
This is important, since using stem cells from another person, including fetal cells, has a different DNA, and might be rejected by the immune system...
These so-called adult stem cells could come from a patient himself so no donor and no immune-system-suppressing drugs would be needed.....
"It's like an assembly line to manufacture and increase the number of brain cells," said Dr. Bjorn Scheffler, a neuroscientist at the University of Florida who led the study.
"We can basically take these cells and freeze them until we need them. Then we thaw them, begin a cell-generating process, and produce a ton of new neurons."
The hope is to use such cells to treat brain disease.
And, of course, the article ends with the PC argument:Another potential source of stem cells comes from early human embryos, either taken from fertility clinics or made using cloning technology and perhaps a patient's own genetic
material.
Translation: getting stem cells from a patient would solve the immune problem, and instead of getting 12 stem cells per fetus, and having to grow them for 12 generations (with the risk of cancer) and probably having to clone them so the DNA will match, we can freeze dry a couple thousand from a tiny brain biopsy, grow them 2 or 3 generations then place them back: Cheaper and easier, but I have to mention embryonic stem cells because they are pc in the newspaper industry...
Tuesday, June 14, 2005
Gloriagate
The scandal is getting bigger, and the press has named it "Gloriagate"...
As far as I can tell from the Manila Bulletin, Gloria's son Mikey has denied getting payoffs from illegal gambling...
Gloria's telephone was wiretapped, and someone named Ong has the tapes, and he's hiding out at a local seminary...but the bishop is mad about it...
However, on a side page (I can't find the links on line) it mentions that the tapes are on sale in Manila along with other illegal cd's and dvd's...the street vendors handed over a truckload of these cd's "voluntarily"...(sure they did)...but the bureaucrat in charge of monitoring pirating cd's says that unless the person who did the taping makes a formal complaint about copyright fraud, he can't do anything about stopping the tapes...
My husband figures all politicians are greedy, even if they come from rich families like Gloria...
In the meanwhile, 14 communist guerillas were killed in Pampanga....which is not that far from here....
As far as I can tell from the Manila Bulletin, Gloria's son Mikey has denied getting payoffs from illegal gambling...
Gloria's telephone was wiretapped, and someone named Ong has the tapes, and he's hiding out at a local seminary...but the bishop is mad about it...
However, on a side page (I can't find the links on line) it mentions that the tapes are on sale in Manila along with other illegal cd's and dvd's...the street vendors handed over a truckload of these cd's "voluntarily"...(sure they did)...but the bureaucrat in charge of monitoring pirating cd's says that unless the person who did the taping makes a formal complaint about copyright fraud, he can't do anything about stopping the tapes...
My husband figures all politicians are greedy, even if they come from rich families like Gloria...
In the meanwhile, 14 communist guerillas were killed in Pampanga....which is not that far from here....
the hand plow used to prepare the fields...something between a small tractor and a hand tiller
Posted by Hello
Posted by Hello
Hmmm.I'm cultural creative
 | You scored as Cultural Creative. Cultural Creatives are probably the newest group to enter this realm. You are a modern thinker who tends to shy away from organized religion but still feels as if there is something greater than ourselves. You are very spiritual, even if you are not religious. Life has a meaning outside of the rational.
What is Your World View? (updated) created with QuizFarm.com |
NYTimes and infanticide
NYTimes discusses the treatment of meningomyelocoel as "playing God"...
And they note most cases are now aborted...duh..remember this next time you read about the need for partial birth abortion...
Medical discussion HERE
The article says whether or not to treat, ask them in twenty years...but doesn't mention that most of us docs HAVE patients twenty years old who were born with this problem--and a lot of them have web pages!... You see, these kids now are adults, often with their own lives and families......80 percent have "normal" IQ...and many end up on dialysis by age 40...because of neurogenic bladder and kidney infections...
Hmm...wonder why the NYT doesn't bother to tell the other side of the story????
And they note most cases are now aborted...duh..remember this next time you read about the need for partial birth abortion...
Medical discussion HERE
The article says whether or not to treat, ask them in twenty years...but doesn't mention that most of us docs HAVE patients twenty years old who were born with this problem--and a lot of them have web pages!... You see, these kids now are adults, often with their own lives and families......80 percent have "normal" IQ...and many end up on dialysis by age 40...because of neurogenic bladder and kidney infections...
Hmm...wonder why the NYT doesn't bother to tell the other side of the story????
Monday, June 13, 2005
Fungus to the rescue
One of the dirty little secrets of the Ecology religion is that, by banning DDT to protect birds, the "side effect" has been an upsurge in Malaria deaths in Africa, since other insecticides are much more expensive and dangerous to humans...
So now the BBC reports spraying a fungus might kill the mosquitoes...a "green" and natural way to decrease mosquitos that carry disease
Ah, but 1) will it harm humans
2) will it contaminate food, leading to loss of stored grain
3) HOW expensive will it be?
4)different mosquitoes carry different disease...which mosquitoes will it kill? and will it kill GOOD insects that are needed for the ecosystem?
Developing....
So now the BBC reports spraying a fungus might kill the mosquitoes...a "green" and natural way to decrease mosquitos that carry disease
Ah, but 1) will it harm humans
2) will it contaminate food, leading to loss of stored grain
3) HOW expensive will it be?
4)different mosquitoes carry different disease...which mosquitoes will it kill? and will it kill GOOD insects that are needed for the ecosystem?
Developing....
Gloria
If I don't blog much on Philippino politics, it's because it's the same old same old...
Erap was corrupt, so he was impeached and the "second people power" revolt threw him out...except that comparing Marcos' attempt to steal the election to a popular albeit corrupt pres being thrown out for corruption is like comparing a mouse to a lion...after all, Erap wasn't about to shoot the demonstrators, and he had no need to steal the election, since he was popular with the people...
But Erap stole too much to get away with it, so was removed...
Alas, what goes around comes around, so Gloria is facing charges that some of her relatives took bribes etc...the opposition phone tapped her private telephone (Newt Gingrich, take note) and there are all sorts of appeals to patriotism not to "destablize" the government...
Ho hum...same old same old...
One of these days I'll ask my relatives who are involved in politics what's going on...but for the rest of us who live up country, the main question is if we can go to Manila on what days (Prosperity has caused so many people to be able to buy autos that traffic is restricted on certain days according to your license plate)...in the good old days, this would not have stopped us from driving, since if we were stopped a simple bribe would have allowed us to go on...now we hestitate to drive on the "wrong" day...
I don't know if this means things are better or things are worse...
So the govt' is fighting illegal gambling and passes strict laws against corruption...ah, but does anyone actually enforce the laws?
Don't ask me...
Erap was corrupt, so he was impeached and the "second people power" revolt threw him out...except that comparing Marcos' attempt to steal the election to a popular albeit corrupt pres being thrown out for corruption is like comparing a mouse to a lion...after all, Erap wasn't about to shoot the demonstrators, and he had no need to steal the election, since he was popular with the people...
But Erap stole too much to get away with it, so was removed...
Alas, what goes around comes around, so Gloria is facing charges that some of her relatives took bribes etc...the opposition phone tapped her private telephone (Newt Gingrich, take note) and there are all sorts of appeals to patriotism not to "destablize" the government...
Ho hum...same old same old...
One of these days I'll ask my relatives who are involved in politics what's going on...but for the rest of us who live up country, the main question is if we can go to Manila on what days (Prosperity has caused so many people to be able to buy autos that traffic is restricted on certain days according to your license plate)...in the good old days, this would not have stopped us from driving, since if we were stopped a simple bribe would have allowed us to go on...now we hestitate to drive on the "wrong" day...
I don't know if this means things are better or things are worse...
So the govt' is fighting illegal gambling and passes strict laws against corruption...ah, but does anyone actually enforce the laws?
Don't ask me...
Sunday, June 12, 2005
Thomas Merton remembered
I had a rant on him but moved it HERE
Summary of rant: Damn, he could write...but his pacifism was mostly self serving (in WWII) or leftist (only condeming PC stuff, not genocide by communists or leftists)...and of course, there were these girlfriends...
Summary of rant: Damn, he could write...but his pacifism was mostly self serving (in WWII) or leftist (only condeming PC stuff, not genocide by communists or leftists)...and of course, there were these girlfriends...
Happy Philippine independence day
LINK TWO
Lots of speeches, traffic jams, partying, music and crowds at the city hall down the street...
I will enjoy it...because by next year, they are moving the city hall to a larger building on the growing edge of town about a mile away.
Lots of speeches, traffic jams, partying, music and crowds at the city hall down the street...
I will enjoy it...because by next year, they are moving the city hall to a larger building on the growing edge of town about a mile away.
The Oldest recording
Saturday, June 11, 2005
It's official
The NYTimes finally noticed that Mugabe is evicting a couple thousand of people, and notices a few funerals....
Maybe if they have a reporter not busy trying to authenticate Koran scandals at Gitmo, they will correct the line:Mr. Mugabe, re-elected to another five-year term in 2002
It would be more accurate to note that Mugabe stole the election: Not just by having dead people vote and registered voters turned away (if all elections where that happend were thrown out, no one would ever have an election in Chicago) but because Mugabe threw out NGO's and insisted that only his own government cronies would distribute food, and that he won the election because it was common knowledge that villages and areas that voted against him would not get food...
More Links HERE
Maybe if they have a reporter not busy trying to authenticate Koran scandals at Gitmo, they will correct the line:Mr. Mugabe, re-elected to another five-year term in 2002
It would be more accurate to note that Mugabe stole the election: Not just by having dead people vote and registered voters turned away (if all elections where that happend were thrown out, no one would ever have an election in Chicago) but because Mugabe threw out NGO's and insisted that only his own government cronies would distribute food, and that he won the election because it was common knowledge that villages and areas that voted against him would not get food...
More Links HERE
New man?
Scroll to 6-9-05
A couple days ago, there was this article on the latest trend in manhood...
I was going to comment, but had posted enough screeds at the time...so Lileks did it for all of us, and as usual, is the master of ironic writing...
A couple days ago, there was this article on the latest trend in manhood...
I was going to comment, but had posted enough screeds at the time...so Lileks did it for all of us, and as usual, is the master of ironic writing...
Virgin Mary of Lipa
In the US, we have the virgin Mary's image appearing in windows and under overpasses in chicago.
But years ago, there was a reported appearance in the Philippines in Lipa.
Sounds like typical hysteria to me, except that in the Philippines appearances of the Virgin are not big thing-- they happen all the time and then get forgotten. But this one hasn't been forgotten, and has indeed grown. So the bishop is planning to reexamine what happened.
Now, I have no opinion on the appearance -- I figure 99 percent are hysteria, hallucination or fraud, although I do think about 1 percent are real..
But I once knew a Spanish exchange student whose uncle was a Jesuit...and his uncle was with the vatican group mentioned here...his uncle didn't believe in any apparitions, and therefore would have opposed this.(the student was snotty, so I suspected his uncle was also snotty and acted superior to ordinary people).
The problem is that in the 1960's, there were people who believed miracles NEVER happened, so if you claimed a miracle, they dismissed it without examination.
Now the bishops are fighting back against the overintellectualization and the skepticism of European Catholic bureaucrats.
So bully for the bishop.
But years ago, there was a reported appearance in the Philippines in Lipa.
Sounds like typical hysteria to me, except that in the Philippines appearances of the Virgin are not big thing-- they happen all the time and then get forgotten. But this one hasn't been forgotten, and has indeed grown. So the bishop is planning to reexamine what happened.
Now, I have no opinion on the appearance -- I figure 99 percent are hysteria, hallucination or fraud, although I do think about 1 percent are real..
But I once knew a Spanish exchange student whose uncle was a Jesuit...and his uncle was with the vatican group mentioned here...his uncle didn't believe in any apparitions, and therefore would have opposed this.(the student was snotty, so I suspected his uncle was also snotty and acted superior to ordinary people).
The problem is that in the 1960's, there were people who believed miracles NEVER happened, so if you claimed a miracle, they dismissed it without examination.
Now the bishops are fighting back against the overintellectualization and the skepticism of European Catholic bureaucrats.
So bully for the bishop.
First they came for my Celebrex, then they came for my Motrin
and BMJ link HERE
As a sufferer from Osteoarthritis, I have been cynical about the Vioxx controversy, and a couple weeks ago I predicted wait till they find the excess deaths from Motrin...
So now they found the excess deaths....duh...
NSAIDS like Motrin increase fluid retention and counteract the blood thinning from Aspirn.
But one of the problems is that this is not a predictive double blind study, but a population study:
The database has been validated by comparing birth rates, death rates, consultation rates, prevalence, and mortality with other data sources including the general household survey and the general practice research database
Notice what they didn't check for? Right. Pain...people don't take Motrin to prevent disease, but to treat pain (although there are studies showing taking motrin decreases bowel cancer, I don't know people who take it every day for that reason).
Reason for pain includes headaches-- associated with high blood pressure, which causes heart attacks, and associated with stress, which causes heart attacks, and associated with migraines, which means your blood vessels tend to overreact and constrict, which can also cause heart attacks.
Pain also might be from arthritis. Rheumatoid diseases have all sorts of effects on the body. But what about those of us with osteoarthritis? Osteoarthritis is associated with previous injuries or heavy labour..many factors might increase injuries: druggies and alcoholics get a lot of injuries, which might increase cholesterol, or in the case of Crank/meth/cocaine might actually cause heart attacks. Then you have activity. People who work in physical labour might have more heart attacks--perhaps due to labour, perhaps due to sociological factors. Then there is the question: generalized osteoarthritis is because the cartilege is different...could the gene causing this also affect the heart attack rate?
Developing....
As a sufferer from Osteoarthritis, I have been cynical about the Vioxx controversy, and a couple weeks ago I predicted wait till they find the excess deaths from Motrin...
So now they found the excess deaths....duh...
NSAIDS like Motrin increase fluid retention and counteract the blood thinning from Aspirn.
But one of the problems is that this is not a predictive double blind study, but a population study:
The database has been validated by comparing birth rates, death rates, consultation rates, prevalence, and mortality with other data sources including the general household survey and the general practice research database
Notice what they didn't check for? Right. Pain...people don't take Motrin to prevent disease, but to treat pain (although there are studies showing taking motrin decreases bowel cancer, I don't know people who take it every day for that reason).
Reason for pain includes headaches-- associated with high blood pressure, which causes heart attacks, and associated with stress, which causes heart attacks, and associated with migraines, which means your blood vessels tend to overreact and constrict, which can also cause heart attacks.
Pain also might be from arthritis. Rheumatoid diseases have all sorts of effects on the body. But what about those of us with osteoarthritis? Osteoarthritis is associated with previous injuries or heavy labour..many factors might increase injuries: druggies and alcoholics get a lot of injuries, which might increase cholesterol, or in the case of Crank/meth/cocaine might actually cause heart attacks. Then you have activity. People who work in physical labour might have more heart attacks--perhaps due to labour, perhaps due to sociological factors. Then there is the question: generalized osteoarthritis is because the cartilege is different...could the gene causing this also affect the heart attack rate?
Developing....
Friday, June 10, 2005
Red tide in the Sunset...
Red Tide is toxins from an algae bloom that enters the food chain...
It happens periodically here in the Philippines, but I didn't know it occured in New England...
On the other hand, there is still a restaurant chain in Boston named "legal seafood Restaurant"...
CDC LINK HERE
It happens periodically here in the Philippines, but I didn't know it occured in New England...
On the other hand, there is still a restaurant chain in Boston named "legal seafood Restaurant"...
CDC LINK HERE
Thursday, June 09, 2005
Handmade Christmas ornaments
Here are some photos of some of the workers making Christmas ornaments.
Most of the work is done at home or in small workshops. The photos are of some workers who work in our "gazebo" when the weather is good, or in the kitchen when it is bad (we have an outdoor kitchen and eating area which is the gathering place for the help and for us when it is hot...for formal guests we have a dining room and indoor kitchen with microwave)...
We have orders for a couple thousand of these, to be delivered into Manila next week...we will have to pick them up in various barangays and towns and transport them with our two ton truck...and then take the leaders/educators to the next training session for what ever will be ordered next....Christmas ornaments go on sale in September in finer US stores, so they have to be finished now...
The workers get only a small amount for each one done, but if they are fast and accurate, they can get a fairly good salary by Filippino standards.
Don't ask me if we make any profit.
With my stepson building and building, all I see is constant bills being paid out of my husband's hard earned retirement savings...maybe in a year, we can use his castle for a school...maybe not...but in the meanwhile, it's like a white elephant: Fancy but useless...
Most of the work is done at home or in small workshops. The photos are of some workers who work in our "gazebo" when the weather is good, or in the kitchen when it is bad (we have an outdoor kitchen and eating area which is the gathering place for the help and for us when it is hot...for formal guests we have a dining room and indoor kitchen with microwave)...
We have orders for a couple thousand of these, to be delivered into Manila next week...we will have to pick them up in various barangays and towns and transport them with our two ton truck...and then take the leaders/educators to the next training session for what ever will be ordered next....Christmas ornaments go on sale in September in finer US stores, so they have to be finished now...
The workers get only a small amount for each one done, but if they are fast and accurate, they can get a fairly good salary by Filippino standards.
Don't ask me if we make any profit.
With my stepson building and building, all I see is constant bills being paid out of my husband's hard earned retirement savings...maybe in a year, we can use his castle for a school...maybe not...but in the meanwhile, it's like a white elephant: Fancy but useless...
Madlibs
Your timewaster of the day thanks to headsup from those dotty right wing conspiracists at the Corner...
Wednesday, June 08, 2005
Death of Ivan Ilych
I spell Mr. Ilych's name wrong in a previous post...but here is the link to Tolstoy's classic novel...
The President's bioethics council has a book where they use exerpts from classic literature to discuss bioethics...one of the excerpts is from this novel...another is the harrowing childbirth scene from Kristin Lavransdattir, where she almost dies of childbirth...The Kristin Lavransdattir triology is not well known in the USA, partly because the translation was so archaic that it discouraged readers. But now it has been newly translated, and republished...it is essentially a story of a medieval housewife, and if you think that sounds boring, think "Dallas" or "Falcon Crest" in medieval Norway.
Part one was made into a movie, but tell you the truth, the movie was not made as "Dallas" but as a clone of Wild Strawberries or the Seventh Seal: Artsy, with all the plot based on sexual repression...they miscast the pudgy but loyal boyfriend (think John Candy) as a handsome young man, and miscast the Clinonesque lover as a quiet repressed but not very sexy young man (in the book, he is Tom Cruise, in the movie, a klutz). And Kristin's father, an upright man greatly loved by all, is played in the movie as the usual ogre...
Oh well....so much for "multiculturalism"...
The President's bioethics council has a book where they use exerpts from classic literature to discuss bioethics...one of the excerpts is from this novel...another is the harrowing childbirth scene from Kristin Lavransdattir, where she almost dies of childbirth...The Kristin Lavransdattir triology is not well known in the USA, partly because the translation was so archaic that it discouraged readers. But now it has been newly translated, and republished...it is essentially a story of a medieval housewife, and if you think that sounds boring, think "Dallas" or "Falcon Crest" in medieval Norway.
Part one was made into a movie, but tell you the truth, the movie was not made as "Dallas" but as a clone of Wild Strawberries or the Seventh Seal: Artsy, with all the plot based on sexual repression...they miscast the pudgy but loyal boyfriend (think John Candy) as a handsome young man, and miscast the Clinonesque lover as a quiet repressed but not very sexy young man (in the book, he is Tom Cruise, in the movie, a klutz). And Kristin's father, an upright man greatly loved by all, is played in the movie as the usual ogre...
Oh well....so much for "multiculturalism"...
Outsourcing problems
Discusing the problems with outsourcing.
They have a similar problem here. They are hiring people to work in Makati, but only one had the proficiency in English to do the work, so they have to hold courses for people to upgrade their vocabulary...
Which is, perhaps, why Dell and Gateway have offices in Oklahoma...
They have a similar problem here. They are hiring people to work in Makati, but only one had the proficiency in English to do the work, so they have to hold courses for people to upgrade their vocabulary...
Which is, perhaps, why Dell and Gateway have offices in Oklahoma...
Larry Gelbart explains it all
Larry Gelbart is, of coure, the producer of M*A*S*H* the TV show, explains to us why Hollywood no longer portrays villians and terrorists from Arab ethnic groups:
No executive today is willing to greenlight a movie that portrays extreme Islamists as the enemy (though check out Fox's 1994 actioner "True Lies" to see none other than current California Gov. Schwarzenegger going head-to-head with crazed jihadists). But Gelbart believes that is a pragmatic decision having little to do with politics.
No executive today is willing to greenlight a movie that portrays extreme Islamists as the enemy (though check out Fox's 1994 actioner "True Lies" to see none other than current California Gov. Schwarzenegger going head-to-head with crazed jihadists). But Gelbart believes that is a pragmatic decision having little to do with politics.
"You make a radical Muslim mad, and he won't rip off your bumper sticker, he'll rip off your bumper -- then your car will be found in another state, and he'll put a fatwa on you," he says. "I think fearing for your life is a pretty good reason not to do it."
HMM....Mario Cuomo, call your office....Tuesday, June 07, 2005
The "Right to die" fairy tales
It's a long depressing post, but essentially says that in the "good old days" people just quietly slipped away and died...
Having lived much of my life in the third world, I know it is not true...
But what few realize is that CHRONICALLY ILL people have a miserable life...people with arthritis or TB of the spine or bad backs who essentially stay in bed for years...the old lady who "fell and never got up" so she has laid on her mat for five years due to an undiagnosed hip fracture...the young boy with cancer who went home to die and lived miserably in terrible pain...the people with dropsy (Congestive heart failure or renal insufficiency) whose legs swelled up and got infected...
Read "the Death of Ivan Ilyovitch" by Tolstoi for how people died in the "good old days"...
The moral to Tolstoi's story was that the REAL compassionate person was the peasant nurse, not his relatives who avoided his suffering at all cost...
Having lived much of my life in the third world, I know it is not true...
But what few realize is that CHRONICALLY ILL people have a miserable life...people with arthritis or TB of the spine or bad backs who essentially stay in bed for years...the old lady who "fell and never got up" so she has laid on her mat for five years due to an undiagnosed hip fracture...the young boy with cancer who went home to die and lived miserably in terrible pain...the people with dropsy (Congestive heart failure or renal insufficiency) whose legs swelled up and got infected...
Read "the Death of Ivan Ilyovitch" by Tolstoi for how people died in the "good old days"...
The moral to Tolstoi's story was that the REAL compassionate person was the peasant nurse, not his relatives who avoided his suffering at all cost...
Lileks on Bible desecrations...
"...Don't get me wrong. I want us to do the right thing. I don't think there should be a policy that permits interrogators to treat the Qur'an like it was, oh, a Bible discovered in the Saudi airport customs line. But when it comes to the revelations of these Gitmo tales, I cannot care as much as they would like me to care. I cannot. Not to say we should treat the Qur’an with casual disrespect. But if an infidel touches the book with the wrong hand and people react like a two-year-old whose peas are touching the mashed potatoes, well, I understand why this matters, but when measured against the sins of headchoppery and carbombs, it pales to an evanescent translucence...."
Lileks is the master of ironic writing...and I laughed at this, because, as any Filippino with relatives working in Saudi Arabia can tell you, they aren't allowed to bring in a Bible or hold any religious services...Indeed, one of my relatives had her rosary confiscated and she was forced to throw it in a trash can...
So when I read complaints from Islamic organizations stating
....He said that this disgraceful conduct of those soldiers reveal their blatant hatred and disdain for the religion of millions of Muslims all over the world...
Hmm...so that means the Saudi government, who authorizes the Bible and rosary destruction and arrests Filippino citizens for holding Bible studies are reavealing THEIR "Blatent hatred and disdain for the religion of millions of Christians all over the world?
Lileks is the master of ironic writing...and I laughed at this, because, as any Filippino with relatives working in Saudi Arabia can tell you, they aren't allowed to bring in a Bible or hold any religious services...Indeed, one of my relatives had her rosary confiscated and she was forced to throw it in a trash can...
So when I read complaints from Islamic organizations stating
....He said that this disgraceful conduct of those soldiers reveal their blatant hatred and disdain for the religion of millions of Muslims all over the world...
Hmm...so that means the Saudi government, who authorizes the Bible and rosary destruction and arrests Filippino citizens for holding Bible studies are reavealing THEIR "Blatent hatred and disdain for the religion of millions of Christians all over the world?
UglyDress.com
Via the exquisite Manolo comes a link to a page that has Bridesmaid dresses from hell and other horror stories...
Headline spin
MSNBC: Religious ZEAL sets Americans apart....
But then they discuss religious BELIEF...which is not the same thing...the spin of the article is that unlike sophisticated Europe, Americans let religion influence "political" decisions...on MORAL issues...
But then they discuss religious BELIEF...which is not the same thing...the spin of the article is that unlike sophisticated Europe, Americans let religion influence "political" decisions...on MORAL issues...
Monday, June 06, 2005
Last man out
While the MSM is busy debating if jailing 500 terrorists from Afghanistan is the same as jailing 20 to 40 million civilians for being politically incorrect in Russia, a Canadian newspaper reminds us why getting information from terrorist suspects might save lives in the long run...
Tom Clancy, call your office...
Tom Clancy, call your office...
Send one quick
Do you ever run around hunting mosquitos and insects with shoes and books?
Try the Electronic Mosquito Racket to finish mosquitoes in a zap. It sure does look like a tennis racket, but it zaps pests instead of tennis balls. The internal charged mesh is powered by electic current which hunts the bugs. It is a very popular tool in tropical countries where mosquitos are abundant. The power source is a rechargable battery (Though you might get cheaper versions running on 2 pencil batteries). It is light weight, portable and easy to carry.
Boy could I use one of these...mosquitoes love me....now, if they could only get one that kills cockroaches...
Archie the cockroach, call your office...
Try the Electronic Mosquito Racket to finish mosquitoes in a zap. It sure does look like a tennis racket, but it zaps pests instead of tennis balls. The internal charged mesh is powered by electic current which hunts the bugs. It is a very popular tool in tropical countries where mosquitos are abundant. The power source is a rechargable battery (Though you might get cheaper versions running on 2 pencil batteries). It is light weight, portable and easy to carry.
Boy could I use one of these...mosquitoes love me....now, if they could only get one that kills cockroaches...
Archie the cockroach, call your office...
Attention cockfighters
First we had the Oklahoma senator proposing that we place boxing gloves on our fighting cocks...
Now we can also buy them uniforms...
Now we can also buy them uniforms...
A range of fashion clothing for chickens has been launched by a group of designers working in Austria and Japan.
Earthmoving event...
via improbable research, an article that calculates how to move the earth's orbit...
Douglas Adams, call your office...
Douglas Adams, call your office...
Sunday, June 05, 2005
NYT on embryo adoption
Hmmm...nytimes notices that left over embryos are good for something besides stem cells...
...People on this part of the political spectrum have begun calling the process "embryo adoption," echoing the phrase that Snowflakes uses instead of "embryo donation." The Health and Human Services Department has termed the process embryo adoption in certain grants. Bills that would formally call it "embryo adoption" have begun to filter into statehouses in California, New Jersey and Massachusetts, states that, not coincidentally, are at the forefront of legalizing and encouraging embryonic stem cell research.
The adoption terminology irritates the fertility industry, abortion rights advocates and supporters of embryonic stem cell research, who believe that the language suggests - erroneously, they maintain - that an embryo has the same status as a child.
But for some conservative Christians, that is precisely the point.
"I think appearing with Snowflakes kids is a potent symbol, and I think it illustrates the truth, which is that the embryo is just that child at an earlier stage of development," said Bill Saunders, director of the Family Research Council's Center for Human Life and Bioethics.....
Saturday, June 04, 2005
Stem cell discussion
Often when they discuss stem cells in the media, they fail to distinguish where the cells come from...
Most of the "religious opposition to stem cells" is not religious opposition to stem cells (stem cells from fat, cord blood etc are morally ok)
the problem is that we take an embryo that could easily become a human being and destroy it...
I laughed when Bush had the nerve to bring out babies adopted as embryos and who now thrive...you see, like the post in last week's LA Times, the press never covers the other side of the story...
However, embryonic like stem cells can be obtained in other ways...the link is from a Catholic web site...
original link HERE
Ironically, Catholics oppose in vitro fertilization...and therefore worry about "adopting" embryos since it might lead to more exploitation of life...however, since most of the couples doing it seem to do it out of love, one suspects it is morally ok for them, indeed, it is a mitzvah, a good deed...
Most of the "religious opposition to stem cells" is not religious opposition to stem cells (stem cells from fat, cord blood etc are morally ok)
the problem is that we take an embryo that could easily become a human being and destroy it...
I laughed when Bush had the nerve to bring out babies adopted as embryos and who now thrive...you see, like the post in last week's LA Times, the press never covers the other side of the story...
However, embryonic like stem cells can be obtained in other ways...the link is from a Catholic web site...
original link HERE
Ironically, Catholics oppose in vitro fertilization...and therefore worry about "adopting" embryos since it might lead to more exploitation of life...however, since most of the couples doing it seem to do it out of love, one suspects it is morally ok for them, indeed, it is a mitzvah, a good deed...
Thursday, June 02, 2005
Attention Hillary
Dr Antonio Damasio of the Department of Neurology at the University of Iowa College of Medicine, said some may fear the findings could be used by those trying to gain people's trust.
"Some may worry about the prospect that political operators will generously spray the crowd with oxytocin at rallies of their candidates.
"The scenario may be rather too close to reality for comfort, but those with such fears should note that current marketing techniques - for political and other products - may well exert their effects through the natural release of molecules such as oxytocin in response to well-crafted stimuli.
"Civic alarm at such abuses should have started long before this study."
Wednesday, June 01, 2005
Gateway: bah humbug
I am having an ongoing fight with Gateway. They are ever so polite, but incompetent...
YOu see, I am a computer freek, and usually can do minor repairs on my computer.
This has not been a problem with previous Dell computers (except for the last phone call, when I freaked out a nice Bengali lady by saying: I took out this part and this is the number of the part, at which she gasped and said YOU CAN"T DO THAT IT"S UNDER WARRANTY"...after which, I got a Texan (or a Bengali with a Texas accent) who laughed, took the credit card information and sent the part.)
But on the Gateway site, you get a "WHAT IS YOUR SERIAL NUMBER AND WHEN DID YOU BUY THE COMPUTER"...
So I email back: This is the part I need, can you send it...
And they politely email back: SEND YOUR SERIAL NUMBER SO WE CAN PROCESS YOUR REQUEST...
and then I email back: THIS IS THE PART I NEED...damn it all, could you send the part?
Then they say: We can't send it to the Philippines, have someone in the USA call us...
So I asked my grandson to do it...and they said: WHAT IS THE SERIAL NUMBER...and we are back to stage one.
Now, like most serial numbers, it is pasted on the bottom of the computer...but unlike most serial numbers, it was not laminated well, so from frequent use is scratched off...and unreadable. The serial number that I put in my palm pocket when it was only partly unlegible doesn't work..
So now I am back to stage one: DAMN IT ALL I JUST WANT THE PART AND I WILL SEND MONEY WHY DO YOU NEED THE SERIAL NUMBER...would you let me talk to a texan who can fix the problem ?
(although I believe gateway now has a service center in Oklahoma, so maybe I should have asked for a fellow Okie.)
Oy veh, now I'll have to go to confession for the sin of verbal aggression...
YOu see, I am a computer freek, and usually can do minor repairs on my computer.
This has not been a problem with previous Dell computers (except for the last phone call, when I freaked out a nice Bengali lady by saying: I took out this part and this is the number of the part, at which she gasped and said YOU CAN"T DO THAT IT"S UNDER WARRANTY"...after which, I got a Texan (or a Bengali with a Texas accent) who laughed, took the credit card information and sent the part.)
But on the Gateway site, you get a "WHAT IS YOUR SERIAL NUMBER AND WHEN DID YOU BUY THE COMPUTER"...
So I email back: This is the part I need, can you send it...
And they politely email back: SEND YOUR SERIAL NUMBER SO WE CAN PROCESS YOUR REQUEST...
and then I email back: THIS IS THE PART I NEED...damn it all, could you send the part?
Then they say: We can't send it to the Philippines, have someone in the USA call us...
So I asked my grandson to do it...and they said: WHAT IS THE SERIAL NUMBER...and we are back to stage one.
Now, like most serial numbers, it is pasted on the bottom of the computer...but unlike most serial numbers, it was not laminated well, so from frequent use is scratched off...and unreadable. The serial number that I put in my palm pocket when it was only partly unlegible doesn't work..
So now I am back to stage one: DAMN IT ALL I JUST WANT THE PART AND I WILL SEND MONEY WHY DO YOU NEED THE SERIAL NUMBER...would you let me talk to a texan who can fix the problem ?
(although I believe gateway now has a service center in Oklahoma, so maybe I should have asked for a fellow Okie.)
Oy veh, now I'll have to go to confession for the sin of verbal aggression...
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