We are a commune of inquiring, skeptical, politically centrist, capitalist, anglophile, traditionalist New England Yankee humans, humanoids, and animals with many interests beyond and above politics. Each of us has had a high-school education (or GED), but all had ADD so didn't pay attention very well, especially the dogs. Each one of us does "try my best to be just like I am," and none of us enjoys working for others, including for Maggie, from whom we receive neither a nickel nor a dime. Freedom from nags, cranks, government, do-gooders, control-freaks and idiots is all that we ask for.
Thanks to Squanto, the Pilgrims had a decent harvest of corn and squash (pumpkins mostly, I think) in the autumn of 1621. Also, thanks to Squanto, the friendly neighboring Wampanoags visited bearing venision. Indians likely outnumbered the English at this feast day.
It seems Turkey, roasted pumpkin, mussels, eels, cod, roasted or stewed venison, corn meal mush, and maybe lobster were on the menu: First Thanksgiving Meal.
There seem not to have been a lot of oysters nearby (maybe the Indians ate them all), but plenty of Cod. Ever heard of Cape Cod Turkey?
They had to learn to fish and how to plant. They had no milk (no livestock on Mayflower unless you count the 2 dogs), and any sugar or flour on board had been exhausted during the voyage. The Mayflower crew (30 men) returned home on starvation rations in Spring, 1621. Mayflower was an 80-foot leaky old cargo vessel which was barely suited for anything.
Penn Station is a sort-of terminal in NYC for the Long Island Railroad, AMTRAK, and the New Jersey Transit - all heavily used. One cool - if only 150 years late - is a new stop for the LIRR in Grand Central.
Grand Central Terminal has a total of 67 Metro North tracks serving the New Haven line (to Boston), the Harlem Line (s commuter line to Dutchess Co., NY), and the Hudson Line which connects to Yankee Stadium but mainly goes to Poughkeepsie. There is also a train to Montreal (The Adirondack). It might be AMTRAK - I get confused about all of the lines and destinations because there are so many.
I've had a couple of surgeries in my life, but had never spent a night in a hospital until last week: 5 days in there. Even in a very attentive and kind hospital it is a strange, unpleasant - and disorienting - experience. Feeling like a pin cushion is the least of it.
I'd be interested in other peoples' experiences.
Things I learned:
- Rules about your restaurant doggy bag: Heat to 165+ degrees before eating it, and throw it out after 24 hrs. Our new rule: No more doggy bags at all (except steak) which is a drag for me because I have not finished a restaurant meal in a decade. Typical food-poisoning is Salmonella, but I got Campylobacter (which is typically minor but not in my case). Besides fatigue and constant diarrhea, my electrolytes became dangerously imbalanced which is what concerned the docs: Potassium mostly. Plus IV saline to combat the dehydration.
- When you are sick as s-, you don't necessarily appreciate how ill you are because it affects your mental clarity. I had to fall on the floor from weakness + dizziness due to dehydration to realize this was not nothing.
- Being in hospital feels like confinement (is confinement) unless you feel too terrible to get out of bed. Plus the hospital gown makes you feel (and look) like an invalid: "How are we feeling this morning? Did we have a BM?"
- A "Clear liquid" diet is the worst thing. 3 times/day: Decaf tea, jello, ginger ale (which is ok), lemon ice (which I hope to never see again). Finally got a nice nurse to sneak me fresh coffee from the nursing station.
- How to fix an IV pump yourself when it beeps an obstruction.
- A regular Med/Surg floor at my place had 4 units, about 20 patients/unit. A unit has a Charge Nurse, 4 RNs, 4 CNAs (Certified Nurse Assistants) and a clerk. The RNs work 12-hr shifts for 3 days (7 -7), then 4 days off unless they want to fill in for others. I had a private room, thankfully. The hospital docs make rounds any time before 1 or 2 pm.
- When a patient dies it is dealt with discreetly. Happens all the time, too.
- Can you sleep normally in a hospital? Nope, even with sleep meds.
Pheasants are an invasive species from China, but they are not very invasive like Burmese Pythons and Iguanas in Florida. In fact, they do not really thrive anywhere in the USA, but they make for good sport and good dog-training where they are found. Friend sent me this pic from a Pheasant hunt in northern Montana a couple of weeks ago (it would have been full of bison and grouse in past years):
Spent a great day in NYC, mainly looking at the Picasso Fontainbleau show at MOMA, urban hiking, and getting to one of our favorite lunch places. Readers know that I am a Picasso junkie, and the amount of varied stuff he produced during a 3-month summer vacation is mind-boggling.
However, on our walking we happened to see the crane lowering the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree. Cool.
Lines of people prepare to go into San Marco, but that Byzantine stuff is too much to take in. You could easily spend a day just examining the floors of that place. The Frari church is more of a church. Yes, it's still an active church and monastery but you have to remember that the Venetian population is far less now than it was historically. Probably a third, or less.
I stupidly did it by mistake this year, and it turned out better than ever: 
How to (Actually) Change Someone’s Mind. 
JFK assassination: 60 years later
Spent a great day in NYC, mainly looking at 
For some reason, in English this 16th C. Venetian artist is known as Titian. Some of his cool masterpieces are in the Frari church in Venice.