THANKSGIVING THANKS

I am thankful for my country. As my father would say, "It is not perfect, but it is the best that anyone has yet come up with."

Then he would pause so Mom could say, "You should not end a sentence with a preposition."

And he would tell the Churchill, "Up with this I will not put" story.

This year we owe special thanks that the world wide monetary system did not collapse last year. Thank you to all of you who did not panic while the problem was being fixed.

I am off to make my grandmother's apple pie, and pecan pie with maple syrup.

Have a THANKFUL Thanksgiving.

MAKE HOLIDAY MEMORIES

Your kids will not remember all of the toys that they get. But children remember toys that you played with together, like creative puzzles and the thing that makes giant bubbles.

Better yet, do a trip to a special place for the holidays. In the San Francisco Bay Area, we are lucky to have great places to take the kids. Even small towns have something to visit, even if it is the local fishing hole.

Some of the places I have taken children or think I would want to take children are:

1. The Exploratorium in San Francisco. The science toys are first rate and even you might learn something. Pack a picnic to eat while feeding the ducks in the lovely lake outside the building.

2. Lawrence Hall of Science in Berkeley. More science toys. I have not been in a long time.

3. The San Francisco Zoo, where you can tell the story about man eating tigers, if your kids are old enough.

4. Gilroy Gardens, where you can feel like Frodo in the cave behind the waterfall, as they have a three story waterfall you can walk (or wheel) behind.

5. The Tech Museum in San Jose where you can play with robots and buy neato toys.

6. The Science Museum in San Francisco, where you can see fish float above you.

7. The NASA tour in Mountain View, which used to be free. Be sure to buy the space ice cream in the gift shop.

8. Big Basin park between Santa Cruz and San Jose and the train from the redwoods to Santa Cruz.

9. The Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk and the nearby pier where you can see pelicans and sea lions.

10. Art and history museums in every city.

11. Our beaches.

RULES of these trips. Check out the price and the price of parking. NO COMPLAINING. (It is amazing how much more fun it is if no one can complain AT ALL.) Pack warm clothes in case it get cold in the afternoon. Pack a change of clothes for the kids if there is going to be water in the area.

You will make memories which will last a lifetime.

KILLING SMOKE DETECTORS

I have beaten three smoke detectors to death with a wooden spoon. I REALLY BELIEVE that smoke detectors SAVE LIVES.

So why did I kill mine?

The first two detectors, which I carefully purchased with a "stop yelling" button, went off numerous times when I was cooking. (I am not the world's best housekeeper.) This happened even when things were not burning. The shut off button would work for only a few minutes before the loud noise would start again. I may have lost my temper.

So I put the third detector in the hallway outside my bedroom and bath, thinking that it would be too far away from the stove to go off every time I scrambled eggs.

Sitting and relaxing in my hot bath, I discovered that steam sets off smoke detectors. Another dead detector!

Engineers and fire prevention experts do not understand why they find so many detectors missing their batteries. IT IS BECAUSE THEY WORK TOO WELL. The first smoke detectors did not go off unless I could see smoke curling from something I spilled on my stove. I could live with that.

Go back to the less sensitive detectors and you will have a lot fewer detectors with no batteries.

HEALTH CARE COMPROMISE

I think that congress has done a good job on health care reform.

As usual, no one got exactly what they wanted.

The current bill stops the "pre-existing condition" scam which allows the health care insurers to cherry pick only the most healthy as customers. The current bills allows for a government run option along side a privately run group type option.

I think that this is the best that we can do, and that we all need to get behind passing the bill in the Senate, and getting it through the compromise procedure and SIGNED.

I agree with you when you tell me the health care bill is not perfect. No legislation is considered perfect by all our citizens.

Lets get this done. Even CUBA has a lower infant death rate than the USA.

I'LL DO IT MY WAY

Our way is the right way. Your way is the wrong way.

Our spy is a good guy. Your spy is a bad guy.

Our drug is a good drug. Your drug is a bad drug.

Our God is a good God. Your god is a bad god.

Our county makes moral decisions. Your county makes immoral decisions.

Our campaign contributions are ethical and do not cause anyone to vote in a particular manner. Your campaign contributions are unethical and cause you to vote in a particular manner.

We have to accept that people who disagree with us are intelligent and educated and LISTEN to why they disagree with us. Discussion leads to compromise, progress and enlightenment.

Please note that just saying, "I am right because I am right," is NOT DISCUSSION.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

True efficiency comes from lazy people, who want to make the task as easy as possible.

Money is not the only way to be rich. Often people with piles of money are poor in love, family and contentment.

Never blame malice when it is possible to blame stupidity.

"DARKNESS" PREJUDICE IS CAUSING BONE PROBLEMS IN CHILDREN

Ask any person of color. The prejudice against a person of color increases the darker the skin is on the person of color.

This prejudice is old, a side effect of needing to incorrectly believe that slaves are slaves for a reason. It has now become a strong incorrect belief that a "dark" person is less capable than a "lighter" person.

So, to keep children as light as possible, parents use sunscreen on their children. Too much use of sunscreen results in vitamin D deficiency which causes serious problems with bone growth. Feel free to check the Center for Disease Control website for more information on vitamin D deficiency.

WE ALL NEED TO TREAT EVERYONE AS EQUALS. WE NEED TO JUDGE PEOPLE BASED ON WISDOM, EDUCATION, INTELLIGENCE, SKILLS, TALENT, ETC.