Familial Research and Development

...at least that's how Louisville (KY) is pronounced. The house we lived in was a little starter home. It was long and narrow. The 'hallway' was along one long-side of the house. There were no backyard neighbors. You had neighbors on either side. The house lay between two streets. One at one end of the house, the other at the other end of the house. The back half of the house you walked downhill to the street. I remember this clearly because one year the Ohio River flooded and the street at the back end of the house was the one that flooded. The front room was heated with a pot-bellied stove. I'm the one who drew with crayons on it. It was so pretty to watch them melt, bubble and turn black. The front room is where our bunk bed was. Bob slept on the top, I slept on the bottom. Bob got hold of a tube of toothpaste (back then it was a metal tube-plastic hadn't been invented yet) and drew on the ceiling with it. The next room was Mom & Dad's bedroom. There were...

Racial profiling is such a hot topic in current events. Black Lives Matter seems to be the one that is pushing an agenda. I don't care what name you use to label this, it still boils down to bullying which is the excuse used to justify wanton destruction and killing. Always it seems it is the innocents in society who are hurt by such tactics. Little children are being shot to death-murdered-during these 'peaceful' protests. Racial profiling is not new and it is NOT just the white race who are the perpetrators. I was in junior high school (La Cumbre Jr. High). For the most part I was one of 'those' students who tried to keep a low profile. Stay out of their way and maybe they'll leave you alone, right? Maybe. Linda Cedillo was in my English Class. We would chit chat a bit before class began. I had always considered her a friend. Linda had a friend, Sylvia Guevara. Sylvia complained to Linda about needing someone to beat up so Sylvia could prove to her...

In 1988 my baby was 5 years old. My mom was living with us. She had breast cancer. I would take her to the doctor and make sure she had her treatments with the oncologist. I took her to her internist. I took her to the pharmacy and the grocery store and the bank and everywhere she needed. Our oldest was 15. There were six children. Life was very, very busy. I just grabbed my journal and wanted to write some of the 'stuff' I was dealing with during the two years she lived with us. 27 Oct. 1988 I have recently been fighting an emotional battle. One that has troubled me this past 10 months. Trying to understand and work with my feelings about and towards my Mom hasn't been easy for me. I have a deep respectful, and tender love for Aunt Piney. But for my own Mother it's a very different kind of love. My conception of love I think I should feel for my own Mother just isn't there. I've chided myself for it over and again, I've prayed for strength, for a chan...

I realize in today's world that there is a need for a company to protect itself from technological attacks. Whether it be intellectual property theft or malware. It's one of those ugly facts of life we have to accept. What I'm ticked about today is one of the repercussions of such 'protection'. For the past nine years I have used the Internet at work to search for articles, books, research, thesis papers, etc. to support the ingredients used in our products. By being able to use Scholar.Google, I've been able to save a ton of time (roughly doubling the work I can get done in an hour) importing articles directly into EndNote. In fact, there are times when all I can find is a citation and by importing it into EndNote I have been able to find out more details than what is readily available. Which in turn has made it so I can then use inter-library loan and find a copy of the original article to add to our database. Recently I have been finding a new twist to...

Walnut trees grow big and provide a lot of shade. They have big leaves that block the sun. I enjoy the shade my neighbor's walnut tree provides my patio in the summer. It is totally AWESOME! and the other side of this awesomeness is it hides things. Like hornets nests. And in the fall the leaves hide the patio and the lawn. And oh the leaves! All summer getting them off the lawn and patio. Then the fall comes and so much more of both nuts and leaves to get rid of. The leaves have a chemical in them, juglone, that can be toxic to lawn. It's one of those things you want to rake up and get off the lawn sooner than later. And the nuts.... they fall all fall and winter and even a few in the spring-the ones the wind didn't blow off yet. Yes, walnut trees are a bit messy. The hornet nest though, that was a bit of a shocker. I didn't notice it. But one afternoon Paul came to visit and he noticed it. We were all a bit surprised by it. It was really nice to be able...

I know, I know. I'm complaining for no real reason. Let's say that's agreed upon and move on to my beef. Then I can get off my soap box. I go to work. I work in a 'right to work' state. I have a body. I have needs. Who's responsibility is it to fulfill those personal needs? I realize there are some personal needs of which the responsibilities for lie in gray areas. And then there are the other personal needs. I need to have breakfast. I need to blow my nose on occasion. So who's responsibility is it to provide me with food? Who's responsibility is it to provide me with tissues? It is a nicety if the company I work for has boxes of tissues available for me. It is a nicety, a kindness if they allow me to use their equipment (blender, microwave, stove, pots, pans, etc.) to mix up, warm up, and/or cook my meal there. It is a nicety if they let me use their electricity and plug my Hot Logic in to slowly warm my lunch for the day. I don't believe ...

Barbara 1962 “ …except they humble themselves and become as little children .” Mosiah 3:18 3 January 2018 I believe that writing your feelings and thoughts is a very good way to work through your grief. It’s hard. Grief. Grief for things not done or rather couldn’t be done. Grief for how hard mortality really is. Exodus 34:6-7: And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, longsuffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children’s children, unto the third and to the fourth generation. Deuteronomy 5:9-10 Thou shalt not bow down thyself unto them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me, ...