2013 Arts on the Green, Davidson NC

I was in Davidson this morning at 7:30 with Jim and Beni to help Jan Black get her tent and displays assembled for the “Arts on the Green” in Davidson.  Arts on the Green is not your usual art festival in that the artists’ work is vetted by their peers and only the best artists are invited.

I got to see some of Jan’s latest works for the first time today. To see the improvement in her work is inspiring. She has always had an eye for a good photograph and she could take a picture with a cell phone and get results that I can’t get with a Nikon.  Now that she has a professional grade camera, the result is awesome.

Jan’s subjects have gone beyond sunsets and sailboats, although those subjects are well represented. She has mountain streams, waterfalls, park shots and even a lake shot with a fish jumping from the water. There are wonderful pictures of an old mill, and a geometric taken from the inside of the mill's water wheel is gorgeous, with the rust and moss adding the color contrast. The detail on the sailboat shots is amazing.

She has introduced two new media for this show. Some of the prints are now on metallic paper that makes the colors really pop. And the pieces de resistance are the sailboat pictures printed on metal. They look like 1” deep gallery mountings but they are actually on metal sheet. These are not affected by weather so they are suitable for patio or boathouse, unlike paper photographs which can wrinkle in humid conditions. The brilliant red sail on one of the metal pictures really grabs your eye, with almost a 3-D effect.

You can see Jan’s work, along with the other better artists in the Davidson area, today and tomorrow, April 20-21, 2013 at Arts on the Green in Davidson NC.  

Ivory Soap....And Witches?

Sometimes you just have an unusual train of thoughts while in the shower. Sometimes it’s a brilliant idea that later goes away because you don’t have time to write it down before leaving for work. Yesterday, I was thinking about how long this particular bar of soap had lasted. I started thinking about the soap we used when I was a child and how quickly a bar would be used up.

We were an Ivory house. Ivory Snow for the laundry. Ivory Flakes for hand washing “unmentionables.” And, then there was Ivory Soap. 99 and 44/100% pure. So pure that it floats! Actually it floated because it was whipped with air. It was about 35% air. That’s why an Ivory Soap bar the same weight as Palmolive or Dial was 50% bigger and had a score line so you could break it in half and actually hold it in one hand.

So pure that it floats! That led me to think of witches. In Colonial Virginia, witches were ducked. They had a seat on the end of a long pole. A suspected witch was strapped to the seat and dunked in the river. This was called a witch duck. If she was a witch, she would drown. If she was pure, she would not drown and would survive.

In the City of Virginia Beach, where I lived for six years when I was in my twenties, one of the major streets is Witch Duck Rd. In colonial times, this road wound its way down to the river where the witch duck was. I don’t think I need to explain what was at the end of Pleasure House Road.

My Thoughts on Gun Control

With all the hype and hysteria that accompanies gun control these days, we need to think about the situation before we jump to conclusions.

For what it's worth, I think North Carolina does it right and I wish more states would copy what they do. To purchase a handgun, you need a purchase permit issued by the county Sheriff following a check of police records. Gun show and internet sales still require the permit and delivery of the gun to the purchaser must be through a licensed gun dealer.

To get a concealed carry permit, you have to undergo 8 hours of classroom training (which includes about 2 hours of legal training) followed by range certification. Then you have to undergo an interview by the Sheriff's department, a full background check, fingerprinting and a mental health background check.

The Manchin-Toumey Amendment to the Senate Gun Control Bill sounds a lot like this doesn't it? But this amendment was in fact an attempt to water down the requirements of the bill in the Senate to make it more palatable to moderates. But, the Senate Gun Control Bill goes so much further, I believe it to be unconstitutional. It seeks to control the types of gun you can buy. (Automatic weapons are already banned unless you have a federal permit.) It seeks to control the quantity of cartridges your gun can hold. It seeks to ban certain types of rifles because they look like military rifles, not because of the way they operate. There's also this thing about a federal registry of gun owners.

Two other things to consider:

One size does not fit all. Why should the rancher in Texas or Arizona be limited to a long rifle with 6 cartridges? If he is confronted with a smuggler trying to cross his ranch who is armed with an illegal automatic weapon, he should at least be able to defend himself with a modern AR-15 with a 15 or 30 round magazine.

Also, if there are abundant concealed carriers in an area, it is a big deterrent. There are armed people with training who can legally act in self defense or to prevent the loss of life or injury to others. Why is it that the 3 cities with the tightest gun control, Chicago, Detroit and Washington DC, have the highest rates of gun crimes? It is because of an unarmed citizenry. Only the criminals have guns.

If there is going to be gun control, it needs to be at the state level. Let the state's citizens decide the level of gun control that is needed in their state and then enforce the existing laws.

Ivory Soap....And Witches?

Sometimes you just have an unusual train of thoughts while in the shower. Sometimes it’s a brilliant idea that later goes away because you don’t have time to write it down before leaving for work. Yesterday, I was thinking about how long this particular bar of soap had lasted. I started thinking about the soap we used when I was a child and how quickly a bar would be used up.

We were an Ivory house. Ivory Snow for the laundry. Ivory Flakes for hand washing “unmentionables.” And, then there was Ivory Soap. 99 and 44/100% pure. So pure that it floats! Actually it floated because it was whipped with air. It was about 35% air. That’s why an Ivory Soap bar the same weight as Palmolive or Dial was 50% bigger and had a score line so you could break it in half and actually hold it in one hand.

So pure that it floats! That led me to think of witches. In Colonial Virginia, witches were ducked. They had a seat on the end of a long pole. A suspected witch was strapped to the seat and dunked in the river. This was called a witch duck. If she was a witch, she would drown. If she was pure, she would not drown and would survive.

In the City of Virginia Beach, where I lived for six years when I was in my twenties, one of the major streets is Witch Duck Rd. In colonial times, this road wound its way down to the river where the witch duck was. I don’t think I need to explain what was at the end of Pleasure House Road.

Blessed by My Fathers Influence

Those of you who are able to spend time with your fathers today are blessed. The presence, or lack thereof, of a father in your life is profound. Take the time to honor your father and celebrate Fathers Day.

My father's untimely death at the age of 54 profoundly affected the course of my life. I was working at a job I hated in a place I hated. I was assistant general manager of J. M. Fields Department Store in Parsippany, NJ. My dad, after being laid off as what would now be called CFO of Industrial Machine Service, a custom machine manufacturer, had started his own bookkeeping service. After six years, he had computerized the business and grown a client list of 34 businesses. Plus, he did personal taxes for the owners and was a certified tax practicioner licensed to represent clients before the IRS. His services also included payroll service. He was quite ahead of his time for 1974.

The last time I was home, he had brought up the subject of my joining the family business. He had grown the business to the point it would support expansion. Also, since a bookkeeper / business consultant needs to know everything about a business, he thought it would be easier for me to gain their trust since I would be there for the long haul. We had pretty much decided to do this later in the year after tax season was over.

Unfortunately, he died on April 28th of that year. He had completed the quarterly reports for all his clients gone home. He suffered a massive heart attack and died before he got to the hospital.

My mother wanted me to take over the business. After a couple frank discussions, I convinced her that with only 2 years of accounting in college and not knowing his clients, I was not prepared to run this business and that the best thing was to sell the business, which we did, to a pair of CPA's who were looking to go out on their own. The money was put aside for my mother's retirement.

I went on to work for Binswanger Glass for almost 37 years. No regrets. I've had a good career with a fine company. But, at a time like this, I sometimes wonder what might have been. For one thing, I would not be here and I would not have all the great friends I have here.

But, I will always be thankful for the influence my father had on me. He has influenced my principles, my politics and my work ethic. If not for him, I would not be the person I am now.

The Department of NO Energy

Following the second Arab Oil Embargo in 1976, the Department of Energy was founded in 1977. The primary goal of the DOE was to ensure a that the United States would never again be at the mercy of a foreign power for the energy necessary to power the US economy. This would be a 3 prong effort:

1.   Develop the energy technologies for the future
2.   The expansion of nuclear energy and disposal of radioactive waste.
3.   Ensure the domestic flow of energy

Somewhere along the way, something went wrong. Billions of dollars have been spent over 33 years and none of these goals have been accomplished.

1.   There has been some development in new energy, but nothing yet that can replace fossil fuels. Wind, solar and waves can produce a small amount of power, but will never be able to be a primary supplier. Ethanol has been a bust. It takes more energy to grow the corn, distill it and then transport it to the end user than it provides. It also raises the price of corn and thereby inflates the cost of food.

2.   The last nuclear plant built in the United States, the River Bend Plant in Louisiana was started in 1977. Coincidentally (?) the very year the DOE was formed. Also, the Yucca Flats facility for the storage of nuclear waste was scrapped after more billions of dollars. The only form of electricity that costs less than nuclear to produce is hydro, but there has been no political will to approve more than a token number of new nuclear plants. The US only obtains 20% of its power from nuclear compared to 88% in France.

3.   There can be no case made that the DOE has insured the domestic flow of energy. In fact, it seems that they have fought all new uses of fossil fuels and nuclear since the onset. Under Clinton, the Department of the Interior grabbed up all the oil shale properties in the west and turned them into protected wilderness. They also banned drilling for oil in the Anwar area of Alaska, even though new drilling tecnologies have a very small footprint. They have banned all offshore drilling off the east and west coasts and the coast of Florida. The Department of the Interior and its Secretary Ken Salazar are currently in contempt of court for sitting on permits to drill for oil in the Gulf of Mexico.

In the meantime, there is instability in the Arabian (Persian) Gulf and the price of gasoline is ticking higher every day. This could not be a worse time to have an energy problem. The economy is shakily trying to get back on its feet and this could be a body blow.

Congress needs to take a new look at what the goals of the DOE should be and get them back on track. So far, this has been a horrible failure.

On Air Fresheners -

What has happened to "Vanilla Essence?" I've looked everywhere for it.

OK, my kitty litter box is kept in the closet under the stairs. My aging cat has forgotten that she is supposed to cover it up after going and  I can come home to an unpleasant surprise. The vanilla essence scented oil is perfect. I always come home to a pleasant aroma like something is cooking in the kitchen.

But, I can't find it anymore. I've been to Walgreens, Harris Teeter and Lowes Foods to no avail. I don't want florals. I don't want the smell of water (neither mountain nor clean.) And, the one that everyone stocks is clean linen. Why would I want my house to smell like laundry? If I did, I could just go around throwing Bounce sheets behind all the furniture. What? Some of you do that???

I WANT MY VANILLA ESSENCE!