Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

2017 Salem Women’s March in words, photos, videos

Wow, in the course of writing about the 2018 Salem Women's March, which looks like it will be a Womxn's March for reasons I'm unable to fully fathom, I just realized that I never put up a blog post about the 2017 Women's March.I must have been so eager to share the Adobe Spark page I made of that event -- words, photos, videos -- on Facebook, that I forgot to do the same in a blog post.  So... enjoy. It's fitting that I'm doing this on Christmas day, since the 2017 Women's March was a huge gift to Salem.…
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Posted inHome life

Contacting Amazon via chat worked great for me

Maybe this isn't astonishing news, but in the past I've had difficulty contacting a human at Amazon who could help with a vexing problem. So I wanted to share what worked well for me this evening. I'd gotten an email from Amazon saying that I was being charged for some tire chains that I'd returned, but hadn't been received by Amazon.  Having checked on the return status several times, I kept seeing "In Transit." Amazon had already refunded me the cost of the chains after the return shipment had been logged in via UPS. But since the chains must have…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

“Intersectionality” can be dangerous left-wing tribalism

I'm a liberal. Which is why I support liberalism. Meaning, in this context, open-minded discourse about the nature of reality where all views are welcomed, so long as they're backed up by reason and facts.  The interesting thing is that liberals can act in illiberal ways. Of course, so can conservatives. But it's more shocking and surprising when liberals try to shut down discussion of certain topics because they've bought into a dangerous tribalism that views one side, their side, as possessing all goodness and truth, and the other side as being all bad and wrong. Recently I had a…
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Posted inHome life

Behold: the 2017 Laurel and Brian Hines Christmas letter

Yes, we're still writing a Christmas letter. This year, like most years, it is darkly humorous. Hey, depression can be fun! (Especially when you're not depressed.) We are offering it up in two formats.  PDF: 2017 Laurel and Brian Hines Holiday Letter Download 2017 Christmas Letter PDFJPEG: (below)                    
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Posted inHome life

A bone scan, my doctor’s lifestyle advice, a nighttime walk in the country

Somehow the three things in the title of this blog post fit together. I'm just not sure exactly how. Like a perfectly completed jigsaw puzzle? Like a random pile of old car parts in a junkyard? Like pants and a shirt that sort of match, and sort of don't? I had my third bone density scan last week. Osteopenia was the diagnosis after the first one some five years ago. Not as serious as osteoporosis, but a step in that direction. A few days ago someone from my doctor's office phoned to tell me the results. Well, not the real…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

Everybody should be able to talk about anything (just about)

We live in strange times. They got a bit stranger for me yesterday, after I wrote a post on my Salem Political Snark blog, "Salem should have another Women's March, not a Womxn's March." Among other things, I talked about how using Womxn rather than Women didn't seem to be a wise idea, especially since the 2017 Salem Women's March was a huge success, and people thinking of attending the 2018 event would be confused by a word that is both unpronounceable and unfamiliar. I said: My biggest concern, though, is how featuring "Womxn" in the name of the event…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Gun nuts are like children playing with light-sabers (but more dangerous)

I'm hugely enjoying Kurt Andersen's book about how our country became the world's #1 purveyor of kookiness. "Fantasyland: How America Went Haywire" is filled with right-on observations. Andersen chronicles our nation's love affair with fantasy from 1517 up to the near-present -- which is where I am now in the book.  Today I read the Gun Crazy chapter. The following excerpt is one of the best descriptions of gun nuttery I've ever come across. Andersen is a hunter and gun owner, so this makes his characterization of gun wackos even more believable. Andersen writes: One set of fantasies has had…
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Posted inHealth Humor

My annual Medicare wellness visit had its humorous side

Just to give you young'uns (meaning, anybody under 65) a preview of what you have to look forward to, here's some glimpses of how my annual Medicare Wellness Visit went today.  First off, this really isn't a physical exam. My primary care doctor did some perfunctory checking around -- listened to my heart to make sure it was beating, looked in my mouth to see if I had any teeth left, that sort of thing -- but a bigger part of the visit was a nurse asking me a bunch of questions before the doctor came in to the exam…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Salem

“Mingling of the Tribes” effort could help to heal divisiveness in Salem

I don't know if this is a great idea, a crazy idea, a great crazy idea, or some other variety of idea (such as, worthless). I just keep envisioning the notion of a citywide Mingling of the Tribes effort here in Salem that would bring people together in these divisive times to better understand our differences and foster respectful communication, while having fun in the process -- without trying to force agreements. Back in March I took my first blog post crack at this idea in "Salem should have an annual political roast: 'A Mingling of the Tribes.'" Nationally, politics is…
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Posted inHome life Retirement community

Our retirement community conundrum continues

Channelling Kermit the Frog a bit, "It's not that easy being green growing old." My wife and I are in our late sixties. We've been trying to figure out where we should live for quite a while, certainly since I wrote "I'm 65. Where's my 'Aging Hippie' retirement community?" back in 2013. (For all my posts on this subject, including this one, scroll through this blog's Retirement Community category,) We've toured five retirement or continuing care communities in the Northwest, four in Oregon, one in Washington: Hillside in McMinnville; Panorama in Lacey, Washington; Touchmark in Bend; Mary's Woods in Lake…
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Posted inHome life

I love my Allbirds shoes. They make my feet smile.

I'm a man who adores lightweight comfortable shoes. Being a 69 year old man, I also need my shoes to be supportive. Not in a psychological sense, but as in arch-support.  My newfound shoe love is called Allbirds.  They're made of wool. I'm unsure why they aren't called Allsheep. The "Our Story" page on the Allbirds website talks a lot about merino wool, and mentions sheep, but there's nothing about birds, except for this about the founders (isn't "bird" Australian slang for "woman"?: After careers in professional sport and biotech, our wives brought us together. We bonded over birds and…
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Posted inHealth Living with a catheter

Here’s how I feel about my atonic, underactive, neurogenic, screwed-up bladder

Regarding the title of this blog post, in two words, IT SUCKS. Big time.  Before I elaborate on this, let me address what I tell myself, and what my wife tells me: there are many worse health problems.  For sure. Aside from not being able to pee properly without the aid of self-catheterization -- not fun, but better than getting kidney failure from a backed-up bladder -- I'm basically a pretty damn healthy 69 year old guy.  I wouldn't trade my bladder problem for, say, cancer, heart disease, or loss of a limb. And I've no doubt that people with…
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Posted inSalem

Breaking news about Salem “Watergate” scandal

YES, SALEM, OREGON HAS ITS OWN "WATERGATE" SCANDAL. City staff aren't adequately watering downtown hanging baskets. So says my informant, who would go nameless if I didn't say it was Carole Smith, a downtown business owner and resident. I have broken this story in hopes that a Floral Pulitzer Prize will be mine. (Well, mine and Carole's.) Click below to view our exposé. Be warned: some of the photos are graphic, showing horribly mistreated vegetation.
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Posted inEntertainment Health Living with a catheter

Five observations about Ed Asner’s show, “A Man and His Prostate”

Last night my wife and I saw Ed Asner perform "A Man and His Prostate" at the Elsinore Theatre here in Salem, Oregon.   It's an entertaining reading by Asner of what a different Ed, Ed Weinberger, wrote concerning what he went through after he collapsed while on a vacation in Italy. Since I'm not going to describe the show in much detail, you can read a review to learn about it.  What I want to do is share five observations of A Man and His Prostate based on my personal experience of being also a man, with a prostate,…
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Posted inCurrent affairs

Hey, Congress, don’t take away my state and local tax deductions

These days the Republicans in Congress and the White House are adept at doing stuff that irritates my sense of fairness. But usually it doesn't directly affect me. Or at least, not much. For example, attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act upset me because of the horrendous impact this would have on millions of people who have insurance through Obamacare. Yet since I'm on Medicare, repeal wouldn't have meant much to me personally. The tax reform efforts that are making their way through the House and Senate committees are different, though. One thing that grabs my attention is the…
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Posted inEntertainment Salem

Next Fall is a great Enlightened Theatrics play. Go see it!

Main point of this review: There's five days left to see Enlightened Theatrics' current production, the play Next Fall. Get your tickets. Now. The last shows are Wednesday-Sunday, November 8-12. My wife and I loved Next Fall -- one of the most enjoyable plays we've ever seen. There's even a two-for-one ticket offer that likely still holds: Next Fall is about a gay couple who bicker, argue, make up, break apart, drive each other crazy, help each other be sane, cry, laugh, and otherwise display all the strengths and weaknesses of every other long-term committed couple, homosexual, heterosexual, whateversexual. Having…
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Posted inCurrent affairs Sustainability

More misguided cougar and wolf hysteria strikes Oregon

Oh, my! Lock the doors and keep the children inside! A cougar may have killed a house cat in Seaside, Oregon. So all student activities at Seaside Elementary School were moved indoors.  Which is ridiculous, because while cougars may kill cats (so will dogs, of course, and much more often), a cougar has never killed a human in Oregon.  As I said in "Danger warning! -- people and dogs sighted in Salem park," what Seaside school authorities really should be concerned about are adult men and family dogs roaming around near the playground. I've done some research to quantify the…
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Posted inLiving with a catheter

Hope vs. Reality vs. Idiocy: my chronic condition conundrum

When my wife and I talked with an Oregon Health Sciences University urologist three weeks ago about my bladder/prostate problem, wanting to get a second opinion from Dr. Jonathan Witten, I told him that I was looking for a balance of Hope and Reality. Meaning, I explained to Witten, I was desirous of getting more hope for eventual recovery of my peeing ability than my local urologist, Dr. Mhoon, had offered up. But I also wanted to know the reality of what my prognosis was.  (For background on my urinary retention and weak bladder problem, which led to depression, see…
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Posted inBooks Salem

Our town’s attractiveness, like perfection, is mostly in the mind

I wish life was perfect. It isn't. The Buddha taught this. Life is suffering. We're born, we grow old, we die. Our goal shouldn't be to try to eliminate suffering in a vain attempt to make life perfect, but rather to look upon things as they imperfectly are without unduly reacting to them with thoughts and feelings of  Ugh! So wrong! Horrible! Can't be! Likewise, the place where we live has to be accepted as a blend of positives and negatives that will forever dance together in an intertwined dance of opposites that both attract and repel. Take our current…
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Posted inHome life

Why are there so many kinds of windshield wiper arms?

I'm an atheist, but after spending way too much time today trying to figure out how to put new wiper blades on our cars -- each of which has a different kind of wiper -- a prayer to the Automotive Gods seems in order: Please put this thought in the mind of every car manufacturer CEO -- we shall all agree on one type of wiper arm for every car we make. I recommend that this be the J-hook type. It sure seems to be the simplest. Our 2014 Toyota Highlander has that type of wiper arm. I have no…
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