The War, e.g., WWII

Am watching The War, the Ken Burns documentary about WWII. Aside from all the emotions it raises (given that I'm a baby boomer, and virtually all the fathers of my contemporaries were involved somehow, including of course Daddy and Frank...don't get me started...), there are so many effects evident and sentiments that appear in southwest france...occasionally, though, some Brit who's retired down there starts complaining about how long it took the US to get involved and pitch in to rescue Europe. And it annoys me greatly...

still more random thoughts

I'm sick: spectacular allergy attack, lost voice, etc., turned into bronchitis and evidently now an ear infection...the heat wave is back, and in a couple of days it's supposed to be even hotter here than in Goliad, TX...aargh...I'm on antibiotics now, and if my ear hasn't cleared up tomorrow I'll go back to the doctor. so there.

Martin and Phil are in Texas; Bobbie Douglas died on Saturday, lovely, beautiful woman, close friend of MA, the woman at the wedding whom everybody pointed out looked like Paula Deen, the Food Network personality, although I'm certain Bobbie was (a) much, MUCH more intelligent than Paula Deen, (b) much nicer, (c) much more talented, and (d) lovelier...I was going, too, until my ear started hurting, and I realized it was a seriously bad idea to get on an airplane feeling like that. Wish I were there, though...

Made the mistake of watching a bit of the local evening news while I was pampering myself this (after sleeping a great deal of the afternoon) getting a pedicure and manicure. Got myself a set of acrylic nails, a first, and am not sure I'm exactly thrilled with them, but hey, it's not exactly permanent. I had no idea how they did them. My nails look much shorter than they did before.

Problem with the tv, and it's going to be constant for the next few months...political ads...anti- Ben Chandler, pro-Andy Barr, or anti-Andy Barr, pro-Ben Chandler, really nasty ones anti-Jack Conway, only thing missing so far (at least, I haven't heard one yet) is anti-Rand Paul, put on by Jack Conway.

Am not a big fan of Ben Chandler, but Andy Barr is seriously underwhelming. I may have to put out some yard signs. And the anti-Jack Conway ads didn't have the courage to mention Rand Paul, who is a seriously clueless nutcase, whether or not you like Jack Conway.

According to Rand Paul, there isn't a big drug problem in eastern Kentucky; there isn't an education problem there, either, nor is there an employment problem. I will cease and desist; he's ghastly. It would be really, REALLY nice if one were ever able to vote FOR anybody.

Sarah seems actually worried about whether or not I will be willing and able to come visit her in California, given that I have been threatening regularly to move to France of late...have passport, will travel...

I have already done some serious cleaning up; nothing like the realization that I don't have to cook dinner for the boys. Maybe I'll get the place more or less under actual control with them gone for two whole days. Perhaps I should work on getting the two of them to leave for a couple of weeks?!?

More later...

Comments on late summer and a request

So folks, several things...

I realize you can't comment unless you have an email account and sign on to something or other, but please, PLEASE at least send me an email if (IF) you actually read my ridiculous posts and have a comment and/or opinion...

Secondly, should I actually care about Paris Hilton's cocaine (LATEST cocaine) arrest? and why exactly, PLEASE, is this news?!?

Who exactly is Paris Hilton? Is she somebody I should be interested in?!?

On a different note or in a different vein, WHY exactly does ANYONE ever aspire to run for or BE President of the United States?!? This appears to me, in my dotage (!), to be a seriously thankless job... Maybe I will wax philosophical about Presidents I have had opinions about (probably since Nixon, whom I thought was ghastly, hopeless, and inexcusable, despite his undeniable gifts, sorry about that, some of you out there...) in some later post, but right now I am sorta wondering why in the world anybody, and I mean ANYBODY, would actually WANT to be President. Life is short, and I strongly suspect it shortens it to be President. And I include here EVERYBODY since Nixon, both the ones I liked, hated, liked and hated at the same time, admired, etc...so there...

Kentucky in late summer/early fall is not, repeat NOT, a lovely place to be. One problem is that I, along with more than a few other people, tend to get sick. Not sure what all is the problem, but ragweed is of course one, but not just the only one. It is this time of year that I seem to be attacked by spectacular allergy attacks (is that redundant?!?), which leave me not only horizontal (all week, in this instance), but also unable to talk! Not a minor problem. I have been SICK all WEEK! This has stolen a week from my life. Yesterday I FINALLY acknowledged, when I woke up at 10:00 a.m. or so, that I couldn't face getting out of bed, yet again (hey, I've been sick all week, and it's a spectacular bore...), that perhaps, just maybe, I should go visit a medicine man. I did. He allowed as how I seem to have bronchitis, as well as a serious allergy attack that has rendered my upper respiratory area unable to function.

Having said that, Kentucky in October tends to be gorgeous, wonderful, etc. And Kentucky in late spring also tends to be gorgeous, wonderful, etc. But please, somebody, help me figure out when to LEAVE so I don't get SICK!...since I am "disabled", I should figure out when to get the **** out of Dodge, or Paris, Kentucky, as it were...so I don't get sick...

I am now on antibiotics, as well as the usual and boring drugs, plus some short-term prednisone treatment that will, theoretically, at least, help my right knee, which is a mess despite the surgery last November (which made it much, MUCH worse!). I was, however, supposed to start PT with one of these Pain & Torture PT people on Thursday, which I of course cancelled because I was horizontal...so there...go figure...I am only 62, but as I've been warned, getting old is NOT for wimps.

I do feel much better, and actually more or less cooked an actual although eclectic meal for the boys. The chicken breast in the fridge and the sole I bought yesterday at Meijer's were both shall we say past it. The dogs and cats seemed to enjoy them, though. Phil and Martin had those frozen breaded cod fillets you get at Sam's, and I gave the rest to the dogs and cats.

On various other fronts, I WISH I had already done our taxes for 2009. I wish I had filed all the stuff that I haven't filed. If I don't do something about it, our Lexington Herald-Leader subscription will disappear next Wednesday, September 1...the good thing is that you can deal with it now only once/year; the bad thing is that if you don't do it in July or August, on September 1, you get no newspaper, and Martin gets really, REALLY upset because he can't read the sports page.

The other good news is that I may actually be feeling better. Perhaps I won't stay in bed tomorrow until 10:00 a.m. or later...

Bad news is that Bobbie Mills Douglas died this morning (or maybe good news, given that it was a matter of time, just how long and how much suffering, we're all going to die, aren't we, and she had metastasized breast cancer, which had been treated 18? 19? years ago? not sure how old she actually was today...) but it's sad, and we loved her, and she not only had a serious brain, sharp as a tack, but was also lovely and gorgeous and gracious, looked like Paula Deen, the TV Food Network lady, but much, MUCH more interesting and intelligent. AARGHHH...

Yes, I know, I know, had she not had modern treatment, she (and we, and her immediate family) wouldn't have had the last 20 years, but it's still a spectacular bore, or something...

And also on another front, I also must comment that my mother had breast cancer in 1960,I think, I was in eighth grade, and a mastectomy, when I was 12 or 13, and a second when I was 15, I think, early in my sophomore year in h.s., which I guess was when she 46 maybe...No chemo; no radiation; no nothing except surgery. She died in 2000 of Alzheimer's...

More later and love to you all, Lillie

August in Kentucky--random observations

The heat wave has more or less broken. It is no longer hotter here than in Goliad, Texas. That's the good news.

I've started making the rounds of doctors, PT's, etc. Looking at a new round of x-rays and MRI's, etc. Am going to a new orthopod (for my knee(s)) tomorrow. My (unfortunately) new GP (Dr. Dassow moved to Chattanooga) agrees that my knees need more attention, and since I refuse to go back to the orthopod who "repaired" the meniscus on my right knee last fall, he's sending me to a different guy. It's riveting.

At least it's not so hot.

Anybody feel inclined to do our taxes for me? It's 2009 we're talking about here.

The fall election season seems to be ramping up. The Fancy Farm picnic was 10 days ago out in Western Kentucky (for you non-Kentuckians, this is traditionally the beginning of the Kentucky election season...for 130 years...it's a fund-raising picnic at St. Jerome's Parish out somewhere near Paducah...a dry county, although Catholic church picnic...lots of political speeches, heckling, EVERYBODY in Kentucky politics goes, etc...). Rand Paul put his foot in it again. He'd clearly never been to one before, arrived in a limo with Mitch, gave his 7 minute speech, and left immediately in the limo. He then told Sean Hannity on the air something to the effect that he'd had things thrown at him and was afraid he'd get drenched in beer, which of course backfired because (a) verbal heckling is encouraged, but if anything gets thrown, you get thrown out of the picnic and (b) there's little danger of being drenched in beer as the town is dry and the picnic is dry.

And then there's the drug issue in eastern Kentucky which, according to Paul, isn't much of a problem, certainly not one that needs anything more than local attention. And also mine safety (this just after that Massey disaster across the border in W. VA) needs less regulation, not more. I don't much like his opponent for the Senate (he's much too pretty, rich and perfect for my taste), but I'm going to have to vote for him. This guy Paul is a loose cannon or bull in a china shop (pick your metaphor) using his dad's Texas money to run for the US Senate from Kentucky, who clearly knows next to nothing about the actual state of Kentucky other than it's a good place to collect lots of Medicare dollars for his ophthalmology practice--he also wants to eliminate Social Security and Medicaid and estate taxes, repeal the recent health care reform bill, but NOT eliminate Medicare--it makes me want to hide under a bed somewhere.

And then there's the Ben Chandler/Andy Barr race for the 6th district seat in the U.S. House. THAT one is a choice between bad and badder.

On other fronts, the batteries in our phones, smoke detectors, etc. all seem to have died. I'd rather read another detective novel than act like a grown-up. What think ye?!?

Still in Kentucky, unfortunately

Tomorrow it's predicted to be actually HOTTER in central kentucky than in Goliad, Texas. And the low is supposed to higher than their low, too. There is no justice.

Phil spent two days working on the yard, which was, to put it mildly, a disaster. It's still bad, but is no longer knee high in the back yard. And the grass growing through the bricks by the side of the house is no longer ankle deep.

I'm gearing up to wade through bills.

The weather in Couze is lovely, according to my weather schedule (iGoogle tells me every day what's happening in NYC, Goliad, Paris, KY, and Couze--this is actually not a great idea as it has enormous potential to depress me). Can I go back right now? My passport is still valid.

I bought tickets for me and Martin to go to Celtic Woman tonight. This should cheer him up.

Chris (Martin), Cassoulet is indeed a winter dish. Have you ever had it? I know you mentioned that that French restaurant we went to in St. Louis only serves it in the winter. It's one of those stick to your ribs, needs to be drunk with lots of red stuff, and you need a long nap afterwards sorts of dishes. I've been working on it lately, and I always seem to end up with an ENORMOUS amount. Fortunately, it seems to freeze well. I'll end up with two big casseroles to put in the freezer and eat later, in addition to one to put on the table. It also sorta takes forever to make, what with the beans and the meats and the sauce and the slow baking, etc.

I would argue that I am a reasonably intelligent person, certainly well-educated by most standards. I have four university degrees, one of them a Ph.D., taught calculus at university level for more than 30 years, co-authored two published books, have several published papers, etc. I have been trying to wade through all this social security/Medicare/Disability stuff of late, for both Martin and myself. I have been officially "disabled" now for, I guess, a year and a half, and thought you were supposed to be on Medicare if you were "disabled", but only just got some stuff about Medicare while we were gone in July.

And Martin is getting all this stuff about Medicare, and I still haven't figured out how to get his disability checks direct-deposited. And I don't understand ANY of this stuff they are sending us, which is, they tell me, written at a 6th grade reading level, or below. It is all in (on the surface, at least) very simple English, but it makes absolutely no sense. What do most people do? How do they cope with it? I start reading it, and have to quit and find something intelligible like The New Yorker, or the NYT, or a novel, or a cookbook. It is driving me crazy.

And that's the way it is, Tuesday, August 2, 2010, the xxxth day since former President Bush declared "Mission Accomplished" in Iraq (or was it Afghanistan? or both?)

Lillie

clarification, and cassoulet

Tarbais beans are the kind of white beans you're supposed to use in Cassoulet. They look like a cross between a white kidney bean and a lima bean (do NOT taste like limas, though), have thick skins and have to be soaked overnight before you use them in Cassoulet. I bought them in LeBugue from an old Gascon farmer who also makes his own walnut oil (bought some of that, too). He spent some time explaining to me why you treat Tarbais beans differently from Lingots, which are smaller and have thinner skins and are kinda like cannelini. Nice guy, interested in where I was from, and I actually understood most of what he said.

And I did a bit of research on saucisse a l'ail, or garlic sausage, which Cassoulet recipes tend to call for. The stuff I got last year from D'Artagnan had liver in it, not much, but I didn't like the taste. None of the saucisse a l'ail I found (and tried) in Perigord this year had liver in it. I guess I need to make my own. Another project. Great...

back to paris (kentucky, that is)

Came back to Kentucky on Thursday. On the surface it was uneventful (a blessing), but it still a real ordeal. Left Couze at 9:00 a.m., got to BOrdeaux airport at 11:00 to return car, check in, etc. They change the baggage rules monthly, it seems, and I think the AF lady at check-in was (a) nice and (b) tired of dealing with disgruntled people who got caught in the most recent change of rules, as she let us get by without paying extra for the bag that weighed 27 KG which is more than the allowed 23.

CDG was, as usual, an ordeal, exacerbated by passport control, where it appeared that virtually nobody had shown up for work that day. They had two lanes open (out of about 20), with HUNDREDS of people waiting to go through. By the time we got to the area of the boarding gate for our flight back on, unfortunately, Delta instead of AF, they were doing final boarding. Except it turned out we weren't the only ones with the problem. We ended up leaving more than 30 minutes late. Enough. 9+ hour flight, in sardine class, seriously hard on my sorry spine and legs.

The good news is that the customs agent asked why we'd been away so long, asked if Phil was a UK professor (he knows the area, although the lives in ATL now), and let us through without even reading the list of things we'd brought in, some of which were, shall we say, controversial. That's how I got my Tarbais beans into the country.

Weather bad (hazy, hot and humid); not sure Eula did anything while I was gone except cash her checks; yard and general condition of farm appalling, and I mean GHASTLY; unbelievable stack of bills, but evidently nothing has been cut off anywhere yet; politics in Kentucky depressing.

The good news is that there don't seem to be any real disasters, just lots of irritations. People in Kentucky are too fat. And Sarah has finished the California bar exam; this means I can talk to her again.

Can I go back to France? Cheers, Lillie