Prices then and now

When I was a kid, things were different.  For one thing, a candy bar cost a nickel, you know, $.05.  Now, I received an email from a younger friend asking where were candy bars selling for “only” one dollar.  So, was a nickel the “right” price and a dollar “much more expensive”.  

I think prices need to be evaluated relatively.  If a nickel was very difficult to obtain then, but a dollar is easy to obtain now, there is probably a good argument to be made that the candy bar is cheaper now.  Sometimes, prices are evaluated in terms of minutes or hours needed to be paid that much.  To a large extent, minutes or hours of work seem more or less the same now as a couple of decades back.

Trouble with chicken and pills

They are not a big deal but they are certainly irritating.  Every now and then, I like to buy cooked chicken.  I don’t want a cooked chicken.  I want pieces of chicken: wings, thighs, breasts, etc.  But five or six times, I have looked at plastic bags of cooked chicken, been certain I am buying separate pieces and then find at home, that no, it is a bag of a whole cooked chicken.  Very annoying!

Lynn takes fiber pills but I bought her a type that she doesn’t like.  Please get the type she does like.  So, I went to the store, looked around carefully and bought the kind she doesn’t like AGAIN!  Can you believe it!  Talk about very annoying!  On second thought, you don’t need to. I have annoyance enough on my own.

Click on the purple

We recently had a stack of legal papers to sign.  Each place where a signature was called for had a purple spot on the computer display.   We were asked to click the mouse on each purple spot and our “signature” would immediately replace the purple bit.  All our clicks were witnessed by two members of the staff but I want to avoid taking a test on what I “signed”.  We did discuss what the papers said a week or so beforehand but still…

Poetry and me

Our former teacher told me about an event at the library and I got myself there.  It was a meeting of the local chapter of the Wisconsin Fellowship of Poets.  I am definitely not much of a poet.  Here is a sample of my poetry.  It might be my entire production of poems.

https://sites.google.com/view/kirbyvariety1/bill-kirby-poems

I have had courses in English departments that included work on and with poems.  I have never felt drawn to writing poems but I am quite interested in the best wording for what I am trying to say.  

Lynn and I have enjoyed the three part special on PBS by Ken Burns and crew about Henry David Thoreau.  I thought of saying to the small group at the library that they might enjoy reading “Walden” for the poetic images that imaginative individuals used in his book.

Blog statistics

Most days, as I finish a blog post, I check the web page to see that the post was posted nicely.  It is only a click or two away from the page and the owner (me) can see the past week’s statistics about the blog.  I am a fan and former teacher of basic statistics and I am interested.  The information of most interest to me is the number of blog visits during the past week from viewers in different countries around the globe.  Usually, there have been blog page views from Europe, Asia, Africa, and North and South America.  Sometimes, Australia too but not Antarctica.

Looking at babies and toddlers

When I look at a baby or toddler, I feel something happen in me.  It is usually a joyous moment.  It is so strong and so reliable, I wondered if what I feel is a common experience.  I looked up:

“is there a human reflex that is felt when an adult looks at a baby or toddler?"  Here is a link to what I found: t.ly/1Soiz

I guess what I feel is an innate nurturing response.  I really like the way babies stare at a face as though they are hypnotized.

I don't know!

Henry David Thoreau first came to my attention when I was about 14 years old. Our English teacher gave us a flyer listing books we might enjoy.  One was “Walden” by Thoreau.  The description of the book intrigued me and I bought the book.  At about 17 years old, I tried basing an English paper in college on the book. Last night, we gravitated to Wisconsin Public TV and the Ken Burns programs about Thoreau.  That got me reading Walden again.

Today, I read his question “How can he remember well his ignorance when he so has often to use his knowledge?”  That brought my friend’s description of worry about that day’s doctoral oral exam to mind: “They could ask me ANYTHING!”  She was aware of her ignorance of many, many subjects.  I have often wondered if some such stark focus on what one does not know is a pivotal part of being helpfully educated.

The world of feminine beauty

We watched “Legally Blonde” on a whim.  We had seen it before but that time I paid attention to the story, to what happens.  This time, I paid attention to the world of beauty.  I see that a real beauty queen gets a facial, skin treatments, comes close to being assaulted with all the things that must be done to her skin, her hair, her nails, her other nails and plenty of other things that guys are not allowed to even know about.  Once that is all properly done, she is PERFECT! (for a short time). 

Morning sites

I still look at CNN Five Things AM.  The limit of five items appeals to me and I am a fan of the language Alexandra Banner uses.  It is clear, honest, direct without being comforting or scary.  I supply my own level of comfort or fright.  My wife and I share events on Google Calendar despite Apple efforts to get us to use their products exclusively.  I am not trained in meteorology but I like to see all of the US at radar.weather.gov. I still use Gmail mostly and rarely use Voice for texting. 

Happy

I may not have time later so I am blogging earlier than usual.  

Happy Easter!  Happy Spring!

Wishing you a fine day!