I mourn for the people who lost loved one in the OK tornadoes.  I rage for the short sightedness of the people who would not plan and fund a cyclone cellar for schools.  

They do not need elaborate 'safe rooms', they need a simple basement with blast doors.  It should be stocked with some water and perhaps a composting toilet or three.  It should be known to the community, 

To put the children in 'tornado alley' at such risk, when we have seen the risk gown so high in recent years is unpardonable. 

After the events of this week, why do I feel that I can buy a semi-automatic gun and a 30-round magazine with no one caring, but I shall have to get a permit to buy a pressure cooker?
I can almost hear the questions being read by a blue shirted official:


'Have you ever been known to can half runners in the middle of the night?'
"Do you now or have you ever owned any Mason jars?'
'Do you have three witnesses to your ability to can tomatoes?' 

Alzheimer's living, continuing

For all those living with an Alzheimer's patient, if the person wears dentures, please get a spare set made while there is still a level of cooperation and cognition.  We had a missing upper plate a few days ago and  another time an item in the disposal that we thought might have been a plate dropped into some thick soup (it was a ring she wore).  At this point we could not subject Peggy to the process of impressions and fittings, so if a plate were lost or damaged all her food would have to be soft.  Adding more chores to the daily round of tasks that are challenging.  Having a spare, even if never needed would save some anxiety. 

Altzheimer's Living

In a household with an Alzheimer's patient the search for goods and services can take you places you never expected to go.  My Amazon lists range from the latest books the family wants to read to protective bed pads that are almost on recurring schedules. 

A recent challenge is that she does not want to sit up to drink, which has led to some spills, which led to awful problems trying to get the linens dry .... So my solution was to try to find a sippy cup.  I did not want to buy one of the childish ones so commonly available, for some reason I do find that something of an affront to the dignity I want to accord a woman n her late 80s.  Even though she does not seem to recognize this as an issue, each time I purchase a specialty item like this I wonder if I will know what is being done to/for me if I reach that age and state.  And each time  have to stop and think that perhaps she would be just as happy with the child's version.

So, turning once again to Amazon, I searched for an 'adult sippy cup'.  I did not think about what that combination of words might bring up.  OOOPPPS!

Though in fact the search did turn up a good option, which has worked really well.  You can only imagine my surprise at some of the items. 

LOUD

Traveling, like all things disruptive, brings out the best and worst in people.  Today was an exercise in the worst. 

I got on the flight, the typical flight where the last person on board has to be greased up to get in their seat.  No upgrade possible, not even 'economy comfort'.  So I was sitting amongst what felt like several hundred strangers all in my personal space. 

Then I heard the voice, close by and loud.  A woman's voice that seems to carry throughout the plane, echoing  down the aisle, as she began on her story to her seat companions.  Her voice was in just that register that grated on my sensitive ears, and carried past the normal. 

I assumed a few minutes and she would become silent, or at least become aware of the looks.  I was, as I so often am wrong.  When the 10,00 foot announcement came on, I grabbed the Bose headphones as quickly as I could.  The three men across the aisle, sitting in front of her, were looking at the ear coverings with longing.

I could STILL hear her, over 'This American Life', over the Doors, over DEF LEOPARD!  It was not as bad, but it was still there. 

A two hour flight, and all I could figure was that she was practicing the art of circular breathing.  There was no let-up. 

I had to relinquish the headphones as we descended, the soliloquy was still in full flight.  As we deplaned I did ask on of the men across the aisle if she had taken a breat, his response was a look of horror. 

Some people are nervous about flying, and anxiety can take on many forms.  But if you are on a flight amongst strangers and find yourself explaining that your offspring's middle name is from  the general who commanded your great-great-grandfathers regiment in a war (any war!), it is time to stop.  It is time to take a deep breath, and exhale slowly.  To be silent, to cultivate peace.  Close your eyes, and remember that the people around you might be visualizing stuffing one of those nasty polyester blankets down your throat. 

WebSphere MQ - Guilty until proven innocent

Greetings!

Often the product I represent at work, WebSphere MQ, is assumed to be the culprit for every slow down or perceived outage.  This is often because the first observed symptom is either an increasing queue depth, or a report of 'messages getting lost.' There are times when WMQ does have a problem or fault, but far more often the underlying cause is a resource constraint, a network problem, or an application slowdown. 

One of my customers at SHARE told me that they have a term for all the problem investigation time they spend discovering that it's NOT the fault of WMQ; 'mean time to innocence.'  

Happy Thursday!