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August 30, 2005
How do the trees know?
In all the news coverage prior to Hurricane Katrina's arrival, I saw a little clip about a small village in Louisiana and their preparation for the storm. One of the men in the interview mentioned the oak trees, and how they watch them for signs of a hurricane. Their local lore says that if the trees have no acorns, then a hurricane is coming, and of course, the trees had no acorns on them prior to Katrina.
This fascinates me, I know nothing of trees, or their internal reproductive mechanisms, but how do the trees know that a hurricane will hit far enough in advance to not put out acorns, and what is their reason for not putting out acorns? What would it matter if it had acorns on it when a massive storm hit? I can see that whatever seeds were put out would likely be swept away and never planted, but does it have an effect on the tree itself? Does holding back give the tree some evolutionary advantage? Who noticed that trees don't make acorns prior to hurricanes? What other natural meteorlogical phenomenon are there? Can these storms be predicted before they ever appear on the radar? Could we project their paths by looking at nature instead of computer models? Is nature more accurate than a computer model? (My apologies to all you geeks out there.) Do trees further inland also follow these same phenomena, or do they only apply to costal regions? Imagine the possibilities, what do the trees know?
Posted by Anna at 2:35 PM | Comments (1)
Katrina Disses Upper Cumberland
While the residents of Louisiana, Mississippi, and other hurricane slogged areas survey the damage left by the storm, Middle Tennesseans feel gyped once again by failure of a major storm to produce anticipated results. In spite of warnings of dangerous flooding and winds violent enough to turn our garbage cans into flying missles, many residents set off for work today, hoping for interruptions in electrical service. The disheartening effect of the paltry rain and winds barely brisk enough to turn long, unrestrained hair into "cousin it" impersonations while pumping gas was only offset by the glee of many school-aged children. School administrators in several counties prematurely cancelled school, expecting a natural disaster. A careful study of radar maps shows the majority of the storm passed to the west of us as it moved further inland.
Posted by Anna at 1:18 PM | Comments (0)
August 28, 2005
Paradox
As I was sitting outside the laundrymat today, reading "Pathologies of Power" by Paul Farmer, another laundry patron tapped at the window to get my attention. The middle aged, fairly non-descript man, a sharp contrast to the normal male clientelle pointed to my book as if to ask what I was reading. I held the book up so he could read the title, he then held up the paperback book he was reading. I didn't recognize the title, but could tell from the picture that it was a frontier-type fictional story. I laughingly waved his book off, and he shrugged his shoulders as if to say "it was worth a try".
Returning to my reading, I thought how different the perspectives of our books, and yet how much they had in common. Mine, a real-life expose of human rights violations due to what the author terms "structural violence", anything other than entertaining, yet none the less gripping. His, a fictionalized account, but no doubt making entertainment of human rights violations carried out by our ancestors against the Native Americans they encountered while expanding their hold on this country. While we all know the feeling of victory that comes with watching the good guy (in the white hat) mercilessly annihilate the "evil" indigenous people, can there be any feeling of victory while reading of Russian prisoners, hoping to be cured of their multi-drug resistant tuberculosis? What about impoverished Hatians, working for anywhere from seven to fifteen cents a day, denied effective treatment for HIV because it is not "cost-effective"? Not likely to become a blockbuster movie, at any rate.
No, thank you, I'm not interested in trading books.
Posted by Anna at 6:08 PM | Comments (0)
Mind Boggling
This story leaves me scratching my head. As much as I'd like to contribute some stellar commentary about child abuse, statutory rape and polygamy here, I can't come up with anything to say.
Posted by Anna at 2:23 PM | Comments (0)
August 23, 2005
Update on my hand
My hand is starting to heal, I'm now allowed to have the bandages off at home, and do all sorts of normal things with it. I still need to keep it covered at work, and I'm on restricted duty. I don't believe there will be any permanent damage to the hand beyond scarring, I'm able to almost close my fist up, but not tightly, it sort of feels like having writers cramp when it's closed. For all you "carnage junkies" here is a picture of it. For those of you who would rather not know, I'd recommend not looking, and for those who would rather not know, but can't help looking, it really looks worse than it is.
I've been working on a really good "war story" to tell in place of the standard "I got in a fight with a decoiler and lost", so far I'm thinking it needs to involve a very big, mean dog, and a poor defenseless baby kitty, but that's as far as I've gotten. There is something to getting hurt at work that's sort of like an initiation. All of a sudden everyone has to tell you their work injury stories, and it's like you've become a member of their secret society.
We had another, much more serious injury last night, one of they guys got his hand hung inside a press, and had to be taken by ambulance to Chattanooga, whether all his fingers will come back with him remains to be seen. (His accident could have been prevented at least three different ways, "Slow Down Snail" should take a day off from visiting local pre-schools and make a trip to our plant.) I think every press operator in the plant was thinking "that could have been me". All of a sudden my two bandaged fingers seemed so minor.
Posted by Anna at 2:20 PM | Comments (2)
August 19, 2005
Ahhhhhh.....
Emergency trip to the walk-in clinic while bleeding... $0.00
Gift prescription of Hydrocodone courtesy Workers Comp.... $0.00
Turning in your neighbor on suspicion of soliciting narcotics... Priceless
Posted by Anna at 10:15 PM | Comments (0)
The current temperature is.....
I think that at some point the numeric value for temperature should be replaced with the phrase "Freakin' Hot" or "Freakin' Cold" depending on the season.
Posted by Anna at 3:46 PM | Comments (0)
August 18, 2005
What if ...?
What if all of a sudden, you could no longer use most or all of your strong hand? How would you accomplish all of the things you do without a thought now? Little things like washing your hair and signing your name all of a sudden require more thought, and perhaps require creative use of other body parts, like your upper arm for gripping, or your elbow for squeezing?
These are things I'll be learning the rest of this week after an accident at work tonight. My hand fared better than my gloves, and much better than it would have without the gloves, but I still lost a chunk of my pinky below the middle knuckle. There was nothing left to sew together, so the nurses entertained themselves by dousing it with betadine and impaling me with a tetnus shot, all the while laughing maniacly like something from a horror movie.
The good part is that it got me out of about two hours of mopping tonight (some say I planned it that way, but I didn't know we had company coming until after the fact.) Although, freaking out the supervisor and QA guys by flopping down on the floor of the supervisor's office just in case I fainted was kinda fun too. (I actually was thinking it was the best way to elevate my hand above my heart, but also felt light-headed and reportedly was white as a ghost.)
I won't loose time at work, I told my supervisor I'd be back tomorrow, but it would probably be a few days before I could go back to what I normally do. Most likely I'll wind up sorting parts or working on the washer, which I love to do, but since anyone with a pulse can do it, I rarely get to.
I've heard that when you do new things, or do things you normally do in a different way you're creating more dendrites in your brain. So if I seem like more of a brainiac than ever the next time I see you, this is why.
Posted by Anna at 12:41 AM | Comments (2)
August 14, 2005
Good Idea / Bad Idea
Good Idea...
Eating seasoned steak fries.
Bad Idea...
Eating seasoned steak fries while watching a documentary on
ancient Chinese mummies.
Posted by Anna at 10:51 PM | Comments (0)
August 13, 2005
Thoughts
The tragic killing of a corrections officer in Tennessee this week has been on my mind the last couple of days. With my brain munching so heavily, I know sleep will be impossible until I put my thoughts into logical sentences.
The photos taken in court of the woman accused of killing Officer Morgan and her husband today haunt me. I would like to say I am a just person, that I believe in the philosophy of American justice, innocent until proven guilty in a court of law, but I'm afraid more often it's just not true of me. I had drawn stereotypes already, even before seeing the pictures, he was manipulative and cocky, she was gullible, scared and in love. The media has provided me ample evidence to declare my verdict, guilty as charged.
I read the reports of their court appearances, his decision to fight extradition. He made a comment about not wanting to go without her, and for a second I thought I saw the hint of a redeeming quality in him. Maybe his brother was right in saying he was a loving person. Does he love her? Is his behavior consistent with "love"?
When a man loves a woman, does he allow her to jeopardise her career, her childrens welfare, her motherhood, her freedom, and even her life for ANY reason? How about for a reason that, at best, affords him a few short hours of freedom? He put her in a position where she was being shot at by Law Enforcement officers, she is lucky to be alive tonight. But, he doesn't want to leave Ohio without her, how sweet. I'm sure the powers-that-be are making every effort to keep the two of them from having contact, he can offer her little in the way of support, so what does staying in Ohio mean for him? It means nothing, not one thing. He neither gains nor looses anything by staying in Ohio. He is already a convicted felon, stuck in prison for the next 30 some years, this was his fifth escape from custody, I can't imagine there is any consideration for good behavior coming his way. What did he really say in that Ohio courtroom? "I've got nothing to loose, I'm stuck in prison anyway, I may as well enjoy a change in scenery".
Another observation, her family seems to know a lot about him, and her feelings for him. They've spoken on the phone with him, even her young children have spoken on the phone with him. I've seen no mention of her by his family (unless what they have to say is just not being reported in the news). Did he tell them about her? Did he tell his mother he'd gotten married? Has his brother noticed a change in him since she came along?
I think though, what bothers me the most is this nagging question in the back of my head. "What is so broken inside this woman, that she would make such bad decisions?" Since reading Alice Miller's book "For Your Own Good" my understanding of human behavior has broadened. Unlike Dr. Laura, I do not believe that behaviors are more important than feelings. Healthy feelings result in healthy behaviors, unhealthy behaviors ranging from the common to the horrific are a symptom of a damaged emotional core.
This woman will face the consequences of her bad decisions, in a sense paying "stupid tax", possibly with her life. Perhaps she would rather die than live without this man, would rather leave her children motherless than live without him. Perhaps the books and made-for-tv movies are already in the works and will provide us with an explanation. Perhaps I will sleep well tonight and tomorrow there will be other topics of interest for my brain to munch on.
Posted by Anna at 3:58 AM | Comments (2)
August 11, 2005
Christianity at Work
We got a new temp at work tonight, normally I don't pay much attention to the temps, unless I'm training them, but this guy was different. There was just something about him. On one of my numerous trips to the QC lab I noticed his time card in the slot, his name.... Jesus.
My first impression was that our economy is in serious trouble if Jesus has taken a temp job. As I thought about it though, it could be a good sign for my company, as Jesus knows the future. I secretly suspect that it was a move by the plant manager to keep a closer eye on night shift. It certainly impacted my productivity, everytime I felt like goofing off I looked up, and Jesus was watching. My supervisor may need a larger hat though, since Jesus is now taking orders from him.
Of course, this leaves me with a few questions, first of all, do we have to train him since he already knows everything? Does the 40 pound lifting limit apply to someone who is omnipotent? And then there's his "omni-presence", everywhere I went, there was Jesus. While I was working on my presses, he was right there. I was washing my hands, turned around, Jesus was standing there. I walked into the break room, he was there as well. After that I was afraid to go to the restroom.
I wouldn't expect him to have much trouble working until two or three in the morning as he doesn't sleep anyway. And while temp jobs don't pay real well, that shouldn't be a problem for him, as we all know, Jesus saves.
Posted by Anna at 3:37 AM | Comments (2)
August 9, 2005
Sad
My thoughts go out to the family of Tennessee Department of Corrections officer Wayne Morgan, killed today in the line of duty. Officer Down Memorial Page
Posted by Anna at 2:52 PM | Comments (1)
August 6, 2005
Overheard
"I don't have a problem with your f***in' driving, I mean, I've never seen you drive, but you ARE in drivin' school."
(Said by one teenage drama queen to her unlicensed, 15 year old friend who apparently has permission to drive another friend's car, which sparked a rather heated debate over whether that was a good decision. The outcome of the debate was that if they got pulled over they were all in a lot of trouble anyway, so it would be best if the 15 year old was driving. Don't ask me what the logic behind that was.)
Posted by Anna at 7:19 PM | Comments (0)
August 5, 2005
Chivalry not dead, it's been renamed
Benevolent Sexism, and if you're not watching it can bite you, at least if you're a working woman. Tulane University has studied women who flirt or use other sexual behaviors to advance their careers, and discovered that, on average, women who engage in these practices earn less and are promoted less than their non-flirtatious counter parts. (Read USA Today article) Of course, my mind immediately draws the parallel that women who feel compelled to use their femininity to further themselves must be lacking confidence in their own professional abilities. Or could it be their supervisors perceive a lack of competency due to their reliance on what Donald Trump would call "God given assets". But where exactly does the line fall between when it's ok to be a woman, and when it's not? Isn't flirting in the eye of the beholder?
Executive coach Debra Benton points out in this article the most innocuous of coments from the woman's perspective can be interpreted as teasing from the man's perspective. I was recently asked by a male co-worker if I'd ever used my blue eyes to get out of trouble. How I answered does not matter, I'd already been tried and convicted by a brown-eyed jury. The incriminating blue eyes were futile in arguing that people with blue eyes don't consider them special, and except for the rare occasion when we're filling out drivers license applications, don't think of them at all.
According to the Tulane researchers, we should use caution in allowing a man to open doors or lift a boxes we are capable of lifting, yet how many times are we accused of doing something "to prove we can do anything a man can"? One of my personal favorites is when a male comes through my area of the shop and sees me performing a task as a normal part of my job, something I am accustomed to doing several times in a shift, and he feels the need to jump in and take over. (I'm not talking about tasks which are above my physical capacity here, I know when I need to ask for assistance.) Generally the person "helping" me is in a position which would never require him to perform that duty, and as such, has very little idea of what works well and what does not. I'm enough of a lady to stand back and watch him struggle with a smile on my face, thinking "I would have been done already if you'd let me do it myself". Now I'll be wondering "Is this going to affect my next raise?"
Posted by Anna at 10:00 PM | Comments (0)
August 1, 2005
Freedom of Speech, or Language abuse?
As Americans we pride ourselves on the freedom to say anything we want, but has this freedom led to abuse of words? Have you ever found yourself listening to a presentation and instead of taking in the information presented, counting the presenters frequent or inappropriate use of a single word? From investment advisors to reporters, everyday innocent words such as "actually" and "essentially" are being abused, misused and overused by otherwise intelligent individuals. Please, lets police our own vocabularies to avoid further victimizing these words (as well as grating on the nerves of language snobs, such as myself).
Posted by Anna at 2:23 PM | Comments (1)
For Your Own Good
If I used a "star" rating system for my book reviews, this one would have it's own galaxy. I don't remember how this book came to my attention, it could have been referred to by another book I'd read, or just something I came across by accident, but the subtitle is what grabbed me. "Hidden cruelty in child-rearing and the roots of violence". How could I pass that up? I'm glad I didn't.
Human behavior is a fascination of mine, whether I'm reading the news, or "people watching" at the fireworks, I'm always trying to guess at what lies beneath the surface. Most interesting to me is the puzzle of how an innocent baby turns into someone like Adolf Hitler, and this book examines exactly that.
Alice Miller, a psychoanalist and writer, skillfully avoids the "blame the parents" trap while exposing cruelty in child-rearing practices. But even better, she gives answers. What do children need most to become healthy, well-adapted adults? Love. Respect. Read the book.
Posted by Anna at 5:05 AM | Comments (1)
The origin of "blog"
Jim has posted a comment in the "guestbook" section of my blog asking the age-old question "What does "blog" stand for?". I have done some research, and determined that the term "blog" is derived from the Latin "Blogunary" and means "relating to the blogsphere", although, these days, it is generally accepted as an abbreviation of the term "weblog", a forum for posting items of interest to particular internet communitys. Hope this clears things up for you Jim, and thanks for reading my blog, I'm glad to have you here.
Posted by Anna at 2:03 AM | Comments (0)