I'm A Patsy - Gotta Problem With That?

Friday, October 30, 2009


So Portland General Electric is raising rates again? What a surprise.

Actually, it’s not a surprise. They do it every year and always try to explain why they are forced to do it which is crap. I don’t understand their reasons such as “decline from Oregon’s moribund industrial sector.” I had to check my dictionary to see if I knew what “moribund” was and I did. Why didn’t they just say “dying”; that’s what it means. So we are penalized because industry has hit a slump?

They also talk about diluted shares. What the hell are diluted shares? And they want the return for the shareholders to go back to 10% whereas they are forecasted to get only 7 to 8 percent in 2010. Most people would be thrilled to get 8% on something. I know I would. PGE Chief Executive Jim Piro told financial analysts Thursday the following: “In spite of continuing efforts to control our operating costs, I am disappointed with projected 2010 earnings. As a result we are taking actions to address the lower (returns) by aligning customer prices to provide our shareholders with a reasonable rate of return.” So we, the customers, are going to pay more so their shareholders can receive more. What a bunch of bullshit.

I’m afraid things will never change. We thought they would after Enron, but it just got worse. Now when people are having a terrible time keeping up with all their bills which keep rising, it’s like a slap in the face to hear we have to suffer so their shareholders can be satisfied.

The picture above is of my two little girls on their way to school. They came out of a warm house because in those days, we used oil and never had a problem.

Thursday, October 15, 2009

NBC is not playing nice

I hear “Glee” has been dropped from the Macy’s Day Thanksgiving parade by NBC. I didn’t know NBC owned Macy’s; I don’t think they do. Maybe they own the parade. Whatever, they decided they didn’t want a great new show from a competing station – Fox – getting publicity at their expense. The cast of “Glee” was already getting choreography, music and everything worked out when the news came down that they were out. Other shows have been on the parade floats from other stations, but maybe not a show as up-and-coming as “Glee.” I watched “Glee” once and was hooked. The writing is so good and clever, and the singing and dancing is terrific. I think this really puts NBC in a bad light . . . at least it does for me.

I have been pissed at NBC ever since they put Jay Leno on at 10pm. Jay has always been a late night type of guy and should have stayed that way. I have never and will never watch him at 10pm. By doing that, NBC screwed up all the other NBC shows that were on at that time before Jay. Now they have to be squeezed in earlier in competition with other channels. The whole thing is a mess now. I am forced to watch Law & Order at 8pm! 8pm?? That isn’t a show to be watched at 8pm. It’s almost sacrilegious.

I watched the season opener of the FX show “Nip/Tuck” last night. It was just as crazy and raunchy as ever. Maybe that’s why I like it. It was created by Ryan Murphy who also created “Glee.” How about that? Some of the actors have appeared on both shows which I find amusing since the shows are in no way similar. But they clean it up a bit on “Glee.”

Jay Leno’s ratings are not good and are going down. Do you suppose if NBC put him on the float “Glee” was going to have in the parade it would improve his ratings?

Saturday, October 10, 2009


Cindy comes to visit . . . and so does April

Cindy spent a couple of nights with me last week. It was so good to see her as I don’t see my daughters very often. Of course, April, her bull mastiff, came with her. One thing I insisted upon was that April wouldn’t sleep on the bed with Cindy. I sleep on the couch so Cindy had my bed. I didn’t want April getting hair all over the comforter.Well, the first night I went in to turn off the TV when Cindy was asleep, and there was April on the bed, wide awake and watching TV. I took a picture and all you could see of Cindy was the top of her head – she was sound asleep. I took a picture the next night before Cindy fell asleep. That’s the one above. I think they had the TV going all night. I didn’t check.

April is almost glued to Cindy. Wherever Cindy goes, April is right behind her. April is big like a lion with a long tail that bangs into everything. She’s like a bull in a china shop! I’ve never been around a dog like April. She is wary of everything and was hearing all the sounds around here. There’s a lot of pounding going on across the street where they are doing something to those condos – I guess putting on new siding, but they just keep pounding and sawing. April didn’t like it, and neither do I! She’s shy around other people and backs up and doesn’t confront anyone. She finally became used to me, but wouldn’t come out of a room where she’d followed me until I went first and hid around the corner where she couldn’t see me!

Cindy was gone for several hours one afternoon visiting an old friend and I babysat April. She whined much of the time and lay down on the floor beside me when I was lying on the couch. I had a towel on the couch so that when April would look up at me and I’d pet her, she wouldn’t get drool on the couch. We had a towel we’d use to try and catch the drool before it hit the floor. I found out there’s a lot to do with a dog like that. I’m glad she’s Cindy’s. I even sang songs to her when Cindy was gone – special songs I sang to the girls when they were babies. It didn’t help – she still missed Cindy. When Cindy came home, April jumped around and practically demolished the living room. Her tail hit my fan and it went crashing into the wall. She just went crazy!

Cindy told me that April runs out of the room when someone is clipping their toenails! She doesn’t like the clicking sound. I floss my teeth three times a day, and sometimes I do it in the living room while I sit on the couch and watch TV. Normal people do it in the confines of their bathrooms, but I live alone and am maybe not normal. Anyway, I was flossing on the couch when April jumped up and walked over to me and just stared at me. She could hear the clicking as I flossed. So from then on I tried to do it in the bathroom. I’m not all that crazy about being just like normal people.

I really enjoyed their visit and I hope they did too. Cindy said she did . . . I don’t know about April.

Sunday, October 04, 2009

Ig Nobel awards ceremony

Last week I was reading the paper and looking for something more humorous and uplifting than news about Afghanistan, unemployment, David Letterman and so on. I happened across an article about the Ig Nobel awards ceremony held at Harvard University that week. The Igs celebrate research that “cannot, or should not, be repeated,” and are given to scientists whose works make you laugh as well as think. The prizes are awarded by real Nobel Laureates, and they cannot give acceptance speeches longer than 60 seconds! This time limit was enforced by an eight-year-old girl! I wonder if she could be hired to do the same thing for all the awards shows on television where the winners drone on endlessly. This ceremony is hosted by the Harvard-based journal Annals of Improbable Research. This coincides with the legitimate Nobels which are much more serious and lucrative and are due to be announced this week in Stockholm. But I bet they aren’t as much fun as the Igs!

The following are some of the winning ideas:

A prize in veterinary medicine was given for discovering that giving cows names such as Daisy increases their milk yield. On of the two winners said it was the highlight of his career.

The Peace prize was given for research on whether it’s better to be smashed over the head with a full beer bottle or an empty one. Researchers reported that empty beer bottles are studier than full ones.

Public health prize was given to a woman for patenting a bra that can be converted into a pair of gas masks, one for the owner and one for a needy bystander. The woman who invented it was originally from Ukraine and was inspired by the Chernobyl nuclear accident.

Physics prize went to Katherine Whitcome and colleagues of University of Cincinnati for a detailed explanation of why pregnant women don’t topple over! I imagine we have all wondered about that from time to time. Over the years we have adapted to this huge ball we women carry in front of us by enhanced curvature and reinforcement for the lower spine. This didn’t take place over night; it took years for the spine to adapt. Thank God it finally did.

Biology prize was given to three people at Kitasato University graduate school of medical sciences in Japan. I won’t list their names as I don’t want to try and spell them correctly. I’m just not up to it. They demonstrated that kitchen waste can be reduced by more than 90 percent by using bacteria extracted from giant panda poop! I love it! One of the scientists suspected panda poop must contain bacteria capable of breaking down even the hardiest foods because of the panda’s enormous consumption of bamboo. How do we go about putting to work this brilliant discovery?

Economics prize was awarded to directors, auditors and executives of four Icelandic banks. I won’t list the bank names as they are sort of like the three people in Japan whose names I didn’t use. These people demonstrated that tiny banks can be quickly transformed into huge banks, and vice versa – and for demonstrating that similar things can be done to an entire national economy. But we already knew that as we have done it here. I’ve read that Iceland banks have done pretty well because they were all run by women. I like that.

There were a few more awards, but I think this gives an idea of what the Ig awards are like. I just wish I could have been there!