Second Thoughts

A declaration for Mike Huckabee was a bit premature. Some of his opponents have exposed information upon which Mike had put a good spin, I bought the spin. His avowal that he was a law and order man does not reconcile with the fact that he released over one thousand prisoners out of jail. His signing an order that gave illegal aliens free college tuition while ignoring out of state students showed he is soft on illegals. (He let his heart get in the way of good governance.) While he said he cut taxes, and he did, the fact was that the overall tax burden for Arkansas citizens increased. There are a few other minor things that bother me, so now I am back on the fence.

A Bigger Problem

One of my YMCA students is a volunteer at the church to teach English to Hispanics. She was complaining to me that it is really hard to do. When asked why it is so hard to teach when she already speaks Spanish, her answer surprised me. It turns out that some Mexicans do not speak Spanish, some are from southern Mexico and are Indians who have their own language. These are small people, about five feet tall and they are good workers. (You may recall my observance of people doing landscaping work in this area.) She does not know that Indian language and there are no interpreters. The few Hispanic words they know are not enough to allow a base for learning English. This puts a whole new dimension on the attempt to teach them. Glad it is not my job.

A Kindred Spirit

I have previously expressed my appreciation for Skirt Magazine and there is something on the front cover of the 2007 issue I would like to share with you. A while back something similar was posted by either Adreianne or Kathy, can't exactly remember which. How To Be A Kindred Spirit Be the sugar, not the substitute. Be the rabbit in the hat, not the black cat. Be the harbor, not the hidden rocks. Be the teleprompter, not the heckler. Be the lullaby, not the alarm. Be the green light, not the gridlock. Be the envelope glue, not the postage due. Be the saddle, not the burr. Be the coupons, not the hidden charges. Be a smile line, not a fault line. Be the faucet, not the drain. Be the hug, not the bluetooth ear bug. Be the harmony, not the false note. Be the umbrella instead of the rain. Be yes instead of maybe. Be we instead of me.

Arthritis Curiosity

About six years ago, during my tennis years, I had a severe case of arthritis in my left thumb. It was so bad that I could not squeeze a tennis ball in my left hand without severe pain. I could throw the ball up for the serve because the ball only rests in the hand for the toss. Putting the spare ball in my left pocket was impossible from the pain it caused. Consequently, I placed the spare ball in my right pocket with my right hand. It was mildly disconcerting to shift the racket to the left hand while pocketing the ball in the right pocket, then grasping the racket with the right for the serve. If a second ball was necessary, again the racket shift was employed to remove the ball and shift again to get ready for the second serve. I endured this for three years. Today, I have no arthritic pain in my left thumb. I can squeeze a ball easily, place it in my pocket, remove it, all without any discomfort. However, my right thumb now has arthritic pain. I have taken to doing some tasks with my left hand in order to avoid the pain in the right thumb. We are all aware that arthritis is a buildup of calcium in the joints but what is curious is that it should jump from one thumb to another. Why does it do that? How does it do that?