Month: February 2015

We picked up a sheet of melamine for Peter’s desk and hardware to make a roof rake at Home Depot in Wareham. I bought a couple of deeply discounted Weber fish grill baskets for us and for Peter.

We managed to get everything off the truck and downstairs. Ron and I were screaming at each other, of course.

I made blueberry pancakes and bacon for a very late (3:30) lunch. I’d been hungry since about 10:30 this morning. The pancakes were delicious, in spite of the fact that the mix expired over 2 years ago.

Ron finished the roof rake: it extends to almost 20 feet. I really hope it works.

I had an 8 am appointment for an oil change at Access, so the plan was for Ron to meet me there and drive us both to shovel snow off the porch roof.

I got stuck behind several inspections. Bad timing on my part, this being the end of the month. Ron took a while to get ready, so we met at the town hall parking lot to consolidate vehicles.

Between the two of us, mostly Ron, we were able to clear about 75% of the snow. We’d planned to use the extension ladder, but the lock froze.

We were making decent progress using an ice breaker and small shovel, but Peter’s back was bad, so I stopped work to drive him in Ron’s van to the walk-in clinic. I waited for a bit, left to make a bank deposit and started back for Ron.

By that time it was snowing, and not just a flurry. The van fishtailed on me a couple of times, so I left it at the town hall and took the truck. Around that time, Peter texted that he was done, so back to the clinic, then dropped him off at Cape Coffee so he could pick up Bonnie’s car, which is a four-wheel drive.

Continued to Edgewater to bring Ron to his van.

I got back home just in time to meet Jack S. Both of us had a chance to talk with Jack.

Roads on the Cape were bad; there was a multi-car accident on Route 130 near the Mashpee Market that happened less than an hour after we were in the same spot.

Skipped the User Group meeting tonight in Plymouth. Ron and I fell asleep, and I didn’t wake up until 6:15.

We had visits today from the warehouse manager at Trinity, and two workers from Habitat. The solar panels are working, and Ed showed me how to read the output on the inverter.

Jane received a letter clearing us to operate from NStar. It’s dated February 19. We don’t have a copy, at least not yet.

Habitat took away 6 pieces of J-channel that have been bugging Ron and a partial roll of sheet metal that has been bugging me. They suggested that we keep the insulation panels for use in the basement. I’ll ask Jack S. from Capizzi about that when he gets here on Thursday to inspect the siding.

Gorgeous, sunny and very cold today.

Ron had another full day as Peter’s driver, first to Falmouth Hospital, then with Robert as well to an optical shop in Sandwich. Sounds like they had a good time.

I got the MVC version of Schedule to work!! I am ecstatic.

We scored a deeply discounted restaurant style turkey breast and it seemed like a good day to throw it in the oven with the remaining “used” purple sweets.

After the transfer station run, Ron decided to de-ice the truck bed and the driveway. It took him about 2 1/2 hours, by which time he was able to sit down to a nice Sunday dinner, including a banana bread.

After putting together a magnificent Jambalaya for lunch, Ron lost the working parts of his hearing aids. He found one but at this moment, one is still at large.

The good news is that it has to be here somewhere. Ron hasn’t left 20 Dixon today.

Pesto, olives, feta, artichoke hearts, mushroom pizza for supper, inspired by a recipe on the Shaw’s website, honoring Canned Goods month. Good grief.

It was 0 when we got up.

I cleared most of the snow off the back part of the deck yesterday. Snow is melting off the solar panels, but very slowly.

Made rice and red beans and scallops for dinner last night.

Although the Americans With Disabilities Act wasn’t originally intended to protect people without perfect, tanned bodies, its definition of a disability leaves room for interpretation:

“An individual with a disability is defined by the ADA as a person who has a physical or mental impairment that substantially limits one or more major life activities, a person who has a history or record of such an impairment, or a person who is perceived by others as having such an impairment. The ADA does not specifically name all of the impairments that are covered.”

This act has been applied to physical characteristics, mostly (but rarely) in cases dealing with obesity (and, in one case, a toothless individual whose dentures were painful). In one obesity case, the judge invoked the logic of the halo effect, noting the disabling nature of obesity in employment in “a society that all too often confuses ‘slim’ with ‘beautiful’ or ‘good.’””

However, some proponents of legal protection for appearance-based legislation make another claim. Just as Title VII and the Age and Disability Acts protect people from irrational biases about their worth as employees based on their race, gender, and age, they believe that unattractive people face the same irrational biases.

The favorable bias toward attractive people also endows them with benefits in situations that seem entirely inappropriate. They receive lighter sentences from juries and better wages in positions where their attractiveness has little to no impact on their productivity. Even as schoolchildren they are doted upon more by teachers, which impacts their career trajectories. And all this bias frequently operates without people being aware of it.

We’re told not to judge a book by its cover. But we do. All the time. And everyone’s life is affected by it.

Being Really, Really, Ridiculously Good Looking

Little more snow last night to cover up the driveway we worked so hard on yesterday.

I cleaned out the dishwasher and the top shelf of the frig.

Started work on the new MRS and the NEPS data layer.

Paid bills.

Ron scraped and I shoveled behind him.  We cleared about half the driveway down to pavement.

Did a shop at Shaw’s.  They are having a one-day fish sale for Lent.  Picked up shrimp, cod and one or two other types of seafood.  We purchased additional groceries as well.

Ron commented how nice it was to shop there because it’s so much less crowded than Stop & Shop or Market Basket.  Also, their variety is exceptional for this area.

Cod, rice and spinach for supper.  Making progress with MVC.

“Girth Man” is Ron’s new persona.