Month: June 2018

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ORAL CONTRACEPTIVES FOR MEN

According to recent reports in Time magazine, scientists have been testing a new male birth control pill.  This will make women very happy?  I’m not sure.

The problem is that these pills have the same kind of side effects women have experienced with oral contraceptives. Nasty things like mood swings, bloating, depression, loss of libido,etc.  Here’s the thing, women have been putting up with fluctuating hormone levels forever and a day.  The cramps, headaches,  depression, and all the nasty symptoms of the monthlies.  So, the side effects of the birth control pills actually weren’t any worse than what they’ve gone through every month since puberty.

Now, scientists developing the new pill believe that men will take these same side effects in stride.  I would doubt that, because they never had to endure these uncomfortable symptoms before, and we women know how some men are babies when it comes to physical discomfort.
Also, the pills lower a man’s testosterone levels.  Personally, I always enjoyed my man’s testosterone.  It inspired him to bring me flowers, send me cards, and make love to me on starry nights. 😍 Do  women really want a “not tonight dear” kind of man?

Something else: a man’s fertile years may be  double that of women.  The oldest man on record to father a child was 94 years old!  So, a sexually active man may have to be on birth control pills for most of his life.

Worse yet, I’m not sure women want to rely on a man’s assurance that he’s on the pill.  If he forgets to take the pill, she pays the price–not him.  I suppose if you are in a very stable, committed relationship it might work.  But what about temporary relationships or one night stands?  In the old days, most women didn’t have casual sex very often for fear of pregnancy.  Are they now going to trust the stranger they hook up with at the airport when he says he’s on the pill?  I don’t think so.

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COOL AS A CUCUMBER SMOOTHIE

When it comes time for lunch, my husband and I go in different directions.  He prefers a sandwich and chips, while I love a cool smoothie and a few wheat crackers, Usually,  I start with Greek yogurt, then throw in three or four handfuls of  grapes, oranges, bananas, strawberries—whatever was on special at the supermarket.

But every so often, I want something different. Lately, I remembered the marvelous cool soups I’ve ordered in nice restaurants over the years.  Cream of asparagus  and cucumber were two of my favorites.  So, why not combine the veggies for a unique flavor?  First, I snipped the ends from 6 asparagus spears and microwaved them for two minutes. Then, I peeled and cubed about a third or maybe half a cucumber.
The yogurt goes in the blender first, then the chopped asparagus and cucumber, topped with 1/2 teaspoon of dill and 1/4 wedge of a peeled lemon.  Salt can be added to taste, or not, if you’re on a low sodium diet.  A minute or two in the blender, and my delicious cool lunch is ready to serve!  Some people might want to add a little garlic or onion, but I’ll leave that to your discretion (depending on any close encounters you anticipate).

 Here’s my recipe, but it won’t hurt if you use more or less of anything.
Creamy cucumber asparagus smoothie:
1/ 2 cup Greek yogurt
1/3 peeled, chopped cucumber
6 cooked asparagus spears
1/2 teaspoon dried dill
1/4 peeled fresh lemon
Puree ingredients in  blender for a minute or two, pour in a pretty glass, grab a few crackers, and have lunch on the

front porch while you smell the roses.

Easy, low calorie, nutritious, and satisfying. Enjoy! 😊

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WILL YOUR DRIVER’S LICENSE FLY?

Am I one of the few people who just heard about gold star 🌟 drivers’ licenses? Apparently, most everyone knows that in October of 2020, you will need one if you want to get on an airplane. 
A lot of folks are starting to panic about what you must have to get a Real ID, indicated by a star in the upper right hand corner of your driver’s license.  Indiana BMV printed a list of about 30 things you might use to get this ID: a W2 form, social security card, voter’s registration, passport, birth certificate, utility bills etc. Since my license was about to expire,   I spent about a week compiling a bunch of stuff. With a folder full of paperwork, I arrived at the license bureau wondering if I’d brought enough documentation.  Apparently, I had a lot of company, because I saw other people with manila envelopes and file folders full of papers.   

The agent who waited on me seemed about as friendly as a hungry bulldog.  I suppose he’s sick to death of dealing with all this confusion and extra paperwork.  It turned out, I needed only three things to get the new license: passport, voter’s registration, and social security card. Since I haven’t worked for years, I was able to use my social security W2 form as proof of my number.  Those three documents , and my old license got me through the process as fast as dealing a deck of cards.  What I did not like was the new ruling about the pictures.  You can’t show your teeth when you smile, and have to lift your bangs to reveal your eyebrows.  The resulting mug shot makes me look so grim that I’m hoping no one ever sees it.

The irony of it is, I’m  so fed up with flying that I may never need this special ID.  But at least I know that if there’s some emergency forcing me  to stuff myself  into a crowded airplane,  my 🌟 license will fly.

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HACKERS, IDENTITY THEFT & THE IRS

Saturday started out to be a beautiful day. The sun was shining as I walked to the mailbox at the end of our driveway that morning. Sifting through the junk mail as I walked toward the house, my heart skipped a beat when I saw a letter  from the IRS.  No, we didn’t have a refund coming, so it wasn’t a welcome sight.  Who wants to receive a letter from those guys? I ripped open the envelope before I even got inside the house and slowly lowered myself into a chair.

Dear Taxpayer, it began.  Then went on to say they needed to verify our identity before processing our tax return.  This did not sound good.  Was it a sneaky way to tell us we were being audited?  We were given 30 days to reply to this letter “4883C”  by phone or mail. First, I would need to gather various documents, including the previous 2 years tax returns. (Thank you, God, we don’t do our own taxes).  We’ve used the same accountant for 30 years, but the letter said we couldn’t ask him to handle this for us; we had to do it ourselves..  

I put the letter down and dialed the toll free number, but of course, they said they were closed on weekends. This would give me two days to stew about it, even though my husband wasn’t concerned.  I did what I always do at times like this; got on the net and keyed in 4883C IRS letter. There were lots of links, and most of them said the same thing. This letter does not mean you are in trouble.  Good, that calmed me down a bit.


Finally, this morning, I called a very pleasant women in Texas.  After I gave her all the information she needed, she sweetly informed me that someone had stolen our identity, filed a tax return before we did, and received a tax refund.  That sounded like something to worry about, like it or not, but she assured me we weren’t responsible for the fraudulent payment.

Now comes the curiosity phase. How do identity thieves scam the  IRS?  Apparently,there is a window of opportunity for hackers in January, because employers don’t have to file W2 forms until the end of Jan.  So, the identity thieves create fake W2 forms before that time (in our case, Jan. 23) and file returns, and scurry  away with their refunds before anyone is the wiser.  Our accountant says it happens all the time and costs the IRS  billions.   But now we have this creepy feeling that someone has way Too Much Information about us. Yikes!

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LOVING GRANDPARENTS ARE A RARE TREASURE

 

This post will not be a tribute to my own loving grandparents, because I didn’t have any.  My maternal grandmother died  in rural Indiana when my  mother was thirteen.   Mother went away to school, and at age 21,  married my father in Chicago while she was attending musical college–much to the chagrin of my paternal grandparents.  They didn’t like her,  and so naturally, she didn’t like them. As a result, we seldom saw my father’s parents except for brief visits every few years.  My father’s brother lived across the street from them, and his children were the ones they cared about.  My widowed, paternal  grandfather lived on a farm with my uncle’s family of four children, so those were his “real” grandchildren.  I don’t remember any of my grandparents sitting down and talking to me or showing the slightest interest in me or my life.
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So, I do have grandparent envy when my husband talks about the wonderful relationship he had with his grandparents in Nebraska.  If you read his book, A Preacher Called Sinn, you will understand what a profound effect their love had on his childhood.  During the depression, his parents were under stress, afraid of losing their farm, and consequently home life was fraught with tension. But my husband had a safety net—he could go across the road and enjoy the unconditional love of “Grandma Alice and Grandpa Will.”


Grandparents living nearby can serve as back up parents, compensating for the occasional lapse in parenting skills  on the part of their own children.   And even if they don’t live nearby, faraway grandparents can still offer loving support in the way of phone calls, special family trips together, visits, birthday and Christmas cards, and even social media.

In Hillbilly Elegy, the author J. D. Vance writes of a tumultuous childhood with a drug addicted mother, and divorced parents.  The only thing that saved him was the knowledge that his grandparents would always be there for him.   Who knows what your grandchildren will accomplish in life because of the love you’ve given them.

 

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ACTIVISTS PROTEST WHILE FARMERS PRAY FOR RAIN

Although my husband and I live in the city, we have an acre of land, and are surrounded by farmland.  As we drove past thirsty cornfields on the way to the cemetery on  Memorial Day, we thought about the anxious farmers who planted those fields. You see, my husband grew up on a farm in Nebraska, and my grandfather owned a farm in Indiana. And even though I lived in big cities like Chicago and Miami for a couple of decades, I never forgot the importance of rain.
Over the weekend, I read a fascinating book written by activist Cecile Richards, and it occurred to me that perhaps it offered an explanation of the great divide between big city liberals and heartland conservatives.   In general, people in flyover country don’t really have the time to devote their lives to activism.  They’re too busy producing the food that appears miraculously in New York and LA supermarkets for the people who live in high rise apartment buildings, and never have to  worry about mowing their lawns.
I thought about this last night while I was cleaning up my garden.  It finally rained,  so I could stop watering the flowerbeds and grass, and get to work.  I broke a pretty good sweat while down on my knees, tugging on weeds in the good, moist soil while my activist sisters in big cities were busy planning protests and hoping it wouldn’t rain.  Here in the heartland,   people don’t have their heads in the clouds, they’re literally more down to earth.

I am not saying that’s good or bad; and I’m not defending either side of the political spectrum,  but it may explain the difference in the mindset of  middle America vs the east and west coasts.  Of course, we have our share of liberals and activists, especially on college campuses everywhere in the United States.  But generally speaking, people in small cities and towns in the Midwest  are more focused on just making a living and getting by, and yes, praying for rain.