Discussion of the Month

October...and I'm still standing...taken from Elton John's song, I'm Still Standing. No, not from a lost love. Rather from the month of hurricanes - Charlie, Frances, Ivan and of course Jeanne. For me, Frances was the worse. Of course ya'll are way tired of hearing about those little monsters. So am I. It's time to regroup and look to the future.

October is a delightful month, especially in western Pennsylvania. The smell of Autumn in the air, the leaves changing color, the harvest, the Indian Summers and many other October-like things. In October I like to stop and smell the apple cider, and drink a little, too. It's a good time to regroup. Time to get back in touch with the person we are becoming. It's a time to remember one's priorities and goals. To take inventory and make any lifeline adjustments so we continue to progress in realizing our goals. Also, it's a good time to just enjoy the view.

In south Florida October is pretty much the same as September - hot and humid. I swear that September must be the hottest and most humid month of the year in south Florida. I think it's a culmination of all heat and humidity from the summer months collectively. The Florida earth is saturated with heat and humidity, it never cools down, at least not until maybe December and definitely January. I just went out and shut the shutters on the patio, the air felt so dense with humidity. Thank goodness for A/C.

It's that time of year again, school picture time. High schools in Broward have their pictures early in the school year because of yearbook deadlines. See my 2004-2005 school picture below. Of course for a bigger image, click on the picture. Go to http://jamesstabile.com/school/pic02.03.html for other school pictures.

   2004-2005

Update: Back to the month of hurricanes and Ms. Jeanne to be exact. Today is Saturday, September 25 about 8:00 p.m. hurricane Jeanne is presently visiting the east coast of Florida. I was in the dining room playing solitaire waiting for the lights to go out and I thought, "this would be a good time to write some more in the October 2004 newsletter." I hate hurricane Jeanne. It looks like it will make land fall around midnight somewhere around Vero Beach. Vero Beach is roughly 100 or so miles north of me. For the past two days we have been on pins and needles about this storm. The frustrating thing is the unpredictable nature of hurricanes. The path that hurricanes take depends on the weather conditions in it's general area. Fronts, highs, lows, other hurricanes all affect the path of the hurricane. So actually the path of a hurricane is not really unpredictable, it's the general nature of the weather conditions in it's environment that determines the course. But this waiting is still nerve-racking. 

There is always a chance that the hurricane will veer off the projected track right before landfall. Even if Jeanne makes landfall around Vero Beach, then why am I so concerned? Jeanne as well as the other three September storms, is a monster. The eye is about 30-40 miles in diameter. The hurricane strength winds extend well over 100 miles or so in diameter. Tropical storm strength winds extend maybe 200 miles in diameter. A monster. The entire state of Florida will be affected by Jeanne, as by her past 3 cohorts. My area is experiencing tropical strength winds, hurricane strength squalls in northern Broward County, this will be true as long as the hurricane continues on it's present track. 

I'm in the den working on the computer. The shutter on the window to my left is not 100% functional. Every time there is a gust of wind the shutter shakes and makes a terrible noise. When I hear it, I shake, too. I have a mattress propped up against the window in case the shutter breaks free and breaks the window. Come hell or high water, after this storm I will get estimates for new shutters. But let's pray for now.

I just heard on the TV, there are 17,000 residents in Broward County without electricity. Will I be 17,001? I pray not, but I'm expecting it. Also, there's a 8:00 p.m. to 8:00 a.m. curfew on Hollywood Beach. Due mainly to prevent looting and also for the safety of "sight seers". 

As far as evacuations, the barrier islands (the beaches) have mandatory evacuations. The area east of US 1, my area is under mandatory evacuations, but they don't force you to leave. All mobile homes are always under mandatory evacuations. During the last storm, the sheriff's department went mobile home to mobile home asking people to evacuate. If they resisted, the deputies gave them a body tag to attach to their body. Once the wind reaches dangerous speeds, the emergency responders don't respond until after the storm passes. I guess that was suppose to shock the people.

I just got off the phone with Tommy. That was a nice break. I need to take another break and go out in the living room and get away from this noisy shutter. The worse should be from now (9:00 p.m.) till around 3:00 a.m. One good thing, this hurricane is moving around 14 mph, much faster than Frances. Tomorrow morning will be better, by Sunday night it should be much better. Then the clean up starts. 

A good thing, these hurricanes have been threatening us on weekends. I'm saving a lot of money, I can't go out Fridays and Saturdays. There's always a silver lining.

Now it's Sunday, September 26 around 3:00 p.m. Things are looking good. Jeanne has moved up through Orlando and over near Tampa. (See the projected path below.) I just came back from eating lunch and the grocery store. The weather is back to south Florida typical September weather. My specific area was sparred to a large extent. Businesses are opened. Throughout Broward county there is widespread power outages, about 60,000 residents are without power. FPL (power company) says it will take 3 weeks to restore all the power. County officials are assessing damages to the county. The northern part of the county sustained most of the damage. They had sustained winds up to 71m.p.h, gusts higher (hurricane strength 74 m.p.h. and higher). My local area had 40+ tropical storm strength winds. I still say, "if we had tropical strength winds, I can only imagine the intensity and destruction of hurricane strength winds.

Actually Broward County was ever so lucky with Jeanne. Our local channel 10 meteorologist said that if Jeanne had not made a tiny jog NWN right after it hit the western Bahamas, Broward County would have been in the eye of the storm. That would have been devastating. See the graphic below. As always, click on the image for a bigger picture. Also, notice that Jeanne has been downgraded to the status of tropical storm. It will now play havoc to an already drenched east coast.

Hopefully, as September ends so does the wrath of the hurricanes on the state of Florida. I would like to thank all of you for your concern and good thoughts and wishes. Even though we don't see or even in some cases don't talk to one another nearly enough, you are always in my thoughts and dreams. I know the feeling is mutual.

Have you viewed any of the new season's TV programs? I tried to watch the debut of Joey Thursday, 8:00 p.m. on NBC, but it conflicted with my usual summer viewing of Big Brother 5. I thought that I would switch from CBS to NBC to watch both shows, but after a few glimpses of Joey I decided to stay with Big Brother 5. I miss Friends, so I thought that the new Joey show would be a little reminiscent of Friends, but I was disappointed. In my humble opinion, the spin-off was terrible. It wasn't funny. I watch these types of shows for the pure comedic value, as an escape from the humdrum life of reality. I enjoyed watching Matt LeBlanc on Friends, as well as the other characters. I think that this will be part of the reason that the new show will not make it this season. Joey Tribbiani was one of six main characters in the previous show. Now, on his own show, he is basically the show. Too much for one person to pull off. Especially for an actor such as Matt LeBlanc. His character really gets old. Actually each of the characters of the Friends cast gets old after awhile. The diversity of characters was a main ingredient that insured the success of the original Friends. Good bye Joey Tribbiani.

I've been watching Big Brother since the first edition premiered on CBS in July 2000. This is the only "reality" show that I enjoy and watch religiously, when I'm home. I enjoy watching the dynamics of the group. Maybe that is because of my career and education. I enjoy the relationships, alliances and the behavior of humans in dilemmas. The show airs from early July till the end of September. Thirteen or so people of all ages, backgrounds and interests are confined in a house. Each week a cast member is evicted from the house. The house guests must compete with each other for food, Head of Household and special twists that come up in the house. The winner at the end receives $500,000. I believe that this years edition is the best so far.

Update: I tried watching Joey again, but didn't get through it. I think I'll find something else to watch on Thursday at 8:00, Big Brother 5 has concluded for the year. 

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No movies this month. Back to work and 4 hurricanes have taken up my time this month. Hopefully I will see a movie soon. Summer and vacations are my times for the movies. There are several movies out that I would love to see. Come to think of it, we have this Thursday off work, September 16, for Rosh Hashanah. Maybe I will go to the show on Thursday. I'll let you know.

Update: I did manage to get in a movie this month...Paparazzi. Good movie, very entertaining and only 84 minutes, just my type of movie. As the name implies, the movie was about how the paparazzi invaded the privacy of a rising young actor Bo Laramie (stage name). Cole Hauser played the young rising actor. He did a fantastic job. He has a subtle stage presence, he did not get in your (the audience's) face, but he did get into the face of his paparazzi intruders. Dennis Farina played the Colombo styled detective. I wasn't thrilled with his performance. Maybe it was due to the way in which the detective handled the case and the eventual outcome of the movie. You will have to see the movie to understand what I am implying. I would never give away the ending of the movie. One thing I will say, I feel that the death of Princess Dianna inspired the movie. I may even go as far as to say that Dianna's death was almost vindicated with this fantasy movie.

Health & Fitness 

Former President Clinton is now at home recuperating from open heart surgery. Doctors report that the former president was in very bad shape before the surgery. During the surgery the true extent of his medical condition was exposed. His four arteries were dangerously blocked. He was very lucky, he could have had a major heart attack at any time. They say that he may not have been aware of his symptoms. You may say, "how could someone not be aware of physical symptoms." Good question. People experience different symptoms of an impending heart crisis. I read that most women do not experience typical symptoms until they have their first heart attack. Some symptoms may not be recognized because they are explained by other conditions, gas, indigestion etc. Do you go to a doctor every time you have a pain. No, but we need to be more aware of our physical bodies and changes in our "normal" condition.

A lady at work died from cancer 5 or 6 years ago. She had a pain in her left shoulder and went to her doctor for a routine physical. The doctor discovered kidney cancer. A year later she had liver cancer and died about 6 months later. I guess we need to discover that fine line where we are inquisitive about a "pain" or symptom, but do not jump to conclusions about "normal" or "growing" pains. 

Grandma Shacklock went to her doctor every 4 weeks. Her doctor wanted her to wait for 6 weeks or 2 months between routine visits but she demanded monthly appointments. I remember we would say that Grandma's survival was directly related to the visits to her doctor. Grandma had a lot of ailments during her 80+ years on this earth, but she was committed to keeping herself healthy, I guess.

Back to former President Clinton, he had several risk factors that explained his heart condition. He was overweight. He did lose weight and exercised, but during much of his life he was fighting the battle of the bulge. He swears by the "South Beach Diet". He had lost his weight by strictly adhering to that particular diet. Some say that the diet could have contributed to his condition. Personally, I think that any diet that does not include a well balanced and moderate intake of all food groups and a physical fitness component is doomed to failure and perhaps may contribute negatively to one's health.

Former President Clinton exercised, but I'm wondering if that exercise really started when he became a political player. And how stringent was it followed. Was it consistent. I remember when he was campaigning for president, the TV crews would be covering him jogging and then towards the end of his run he would end up at a McDonald's, he loves Big Macs. His diet was not sound, too many fats and sugars. Other contributing health risk factors, alcohol and smoking cigars. Of course he did other things with cigars some of which could have been very detrimental to his political life. Does the name "Monica" ring a bell? I digress. 

While I am speaking about one of my political heroes, I must make the point that William Jefferson Clinton led a life on the edge. A life comprised of risks and serious misjudgments. Of course many "famous, powerful" people lead such lives. Human behavior is complicated to say the least. I hope the former president has developed a more subdued, noninvasive lifestyle. 

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It's good to hear that we are all rallying around Dad during his time of need. It's good for me to talk to all of you, it gives me a better perspective about things. It's amazing how illness and disease are treated with our contemporary advances in medicine. Some one should let Dad's primary care doctor know about some of these amazing advances in the treatment of heart and pulmonary patients. In the end, medicine can do only so much. The attitude and the will of the patient is the most crucial ingredients in the eventual recovery of the patient. Even a few extra days, weeks, months or years, whatever the case may be, should be the objective and contained in the prognosis of all doctors concerning even the most terminally ill patients. 

The important thing that I have learned from Dad's experiences over the last few weeks - don't give up. As in Petula Clark's song, "Round Every Corner", it's true that around any corner, there may exist an answer. Don't give up until you round every corner.

Politics

The 2004 presidential campaign is becoming one of the most disgusting political campaigns in history. I'm not a student of presidential campaigns, so, I can't really make the previous statement with any degree of certainty. I do believe that this year's presidential campaign is certainly among the bitterest in history. The mud continues to fly. From the Bush attacks on John Kerry's military behavior, awards earned and statements after he returned to the United States to the Kerry attacks on Bush's National Guard record or lack of a record, this campaign is sinking fast. Why don't the candidates talk about the issues? That is the important part of this contest. Where do the candidates stand on the issues?

I will say that the president has been in office for 4 years and his success or lack of success speaks volumes. As he puts forth his goals for his potential second term, why do they include many of his goals for his first term? What has he been doing for the last four years? I will tell what he has been doing, public relations. 

George W. Bush and his Republican colleagues collectively make a great sound bite. They seem to be really interested in helping all Americans. They seem to be faith based and God fearing people. Take a closer look. What have they done in the last four years? They have instituted tax relief for Americans, giving the biggest relief to the 2% wealthiest Americans. They have taken us to war - twice. Afghanistan and the terrorists responsible for 9.11, a good move, but they have all but retreated from the war on terrorism. Instead the have unilaterally declared war on Iraq, ignored the United Nations and have lowered the reputation of America throughout the world. They have lied to the American people, including the American congress about the reasons for the attack on Iraq. They have recklessly, indecisively and imprudently conducted the reconstruction of Iraq. Directly related to the war in Iraq, the administration has allowed other terrorists to infiltrate and occupy much of Iraq. Directly related to the war, over 1000 American military are dead. Directly related to the war, the United States deficit has risen to extreme levels. 

During the Bush administration, American jobs have been lost, American business interests have been squandered. American jobs have been relocated to foreign soil. Why? Because the business and corporation leaders have determined that such un-American practices will make bigger profits, for who? For themselves. President Bush is the first president since Hubert Hoover to preside over an economy that lost an outrageous number of American jobs. 

With all of this, the President and the Republican administration has tampered with one of all Americans' constitutional rights, freedom. The rights and freedoms of the American people have been seriously undermined by this administration.

Why does a seemingly majority of the American people support the president? The president appears to be one of us. He is a master of deceit. He speaks in a manner that most Americans understand. He makes promises that he knows that he will not keep. He tells the American people that everything is fine. He tells the people what they want to hear. In short, he does not take the responsibility of the office of president seriously. He's a "player" and we are his game.

Now John Kerry is no American savior. He has his limits, but he is truly trying to convey his message to the American people. John Kerry is truly concerned with the middle class and it's survival. He is genuinely concerned with the guarantee of all the constitutional rights and freedoms of all Americans. John Kerry is not a "player". He is a healer and a sincere, empathetic leader. He will defend and decisively lead the United States at home and abroad. John Kerry is a true American leader.

The important thing about this pending presidential election as well as all elections, vote. All eligible Americans must seek the truth about the candidates, decide who will best lead America and then vote for their choice. It's our American heritage at stake. We are a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Vote.

The 2004 Presidential Debates are upon us. See below. This truly is my time. You can be sure that I will be eagerly and attentively watching the debates.

First presidential debate:
University of Miami
Coral Gables, FL
Thursday, September 30

Vice presidential debate:
Case Western Reserve University
Cleveland, OH
Tuesday, October 5

Second presidential debate:
Washington University in St. Louis
St. Louis, MO
Friday, October 8

Third presidential debate:
Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ
Wednesday, October 13

Good TV viewing!

Religion & Spiritualism

The Jewish religious high holy day, Yom Kippur, fell on September 25 this year. That was the same day hurricane Jeanne was forecasted to visit south Florida. South Florida has a substantial Jewish population. During the hurricane preparedness reporting on Friday, September 24 and the next day, Saturday, the emergency news reports included pleas to the Jewish community. Ordinarily the high holy days are days of simple, back to basics type living. They are days of reflection and atonement. No TV, no radio, no driving and many visits to Temple are prescribed for those holy days. This year rabbi's were on the TV newscasts informing their congregations to act prudently regarding the hurricane over the high holy days. The usual practices of the day were to be suspended in the exercise of safety. Jews were being told to disregard these usual practices for safety sake.

This information seemed very appropriate to me. As true with all religions and their practices, religious exercise must be conducted in the best interest of the people. This must be the number one priority at all times. In other words, the religious practices do not in themselves guarantee salvation. Salvation is achieved by living life in this human world as a thinking, well informed and caring individual. The person and how he or she deals with the conditions in his or her world is the main ingredient in a successful life and a successful afterlife.

The following is an excerpt from Equifax Credit Watch a product of Equivax. It discusses the major problem of Identity Theft.

"By subscribing to Equifax Credit Watch™, you have taken an important step in decreasing your chances of becoming a victim of identity theft. But you may not be doing everything you can. Take the following quiz and find out how you rate.

1. Do you carry your Social Security card or military ID with you?
2. Do you carry your insurance card (or your spouse's) with you?
3. Do you have your SSN or driver's license number pre-printed on your personal checks?
4. Is your SSN used as an identifier for you, either at work or at school?
5. Do you provide your SSN over the phone to someone who asks, if they sound legitimate?

If you answered "YES" to any of these questions, you are increased risk for identity theft. Now, answer the following questions.

1. Do you check your monthly credit card statements carefully to verify that each transaction is yours?
2. Do you use a secured mailbox for incoming and outgoing mail?
3. Do you believe people would dig through your trash looking for information about you?
4. Do you shred your personal financial information (including credit pre-approval letters, bank statements, utility bills, cancelled checks, etc.) before you throw it away?
5. Do you protect your ATM and online banking passwords at all times?

If you answered "NO" to any of the questions above, you are leaving yourself vulnerable to identity theft. Take steps to change your answers today!

It happened to Rob

I originally signed up for Equifax Credit Watch as a professional courtesy - a colleague of mine has the service and strongly suggested I sign up, too. And now I'm so glad I did.

I was going through my e-mails one Monday morning and had an Equifax Credit Watch alert. Knowing that I wasn't out shopping for anything over the weekend, I was mildly curious to see what the alert was.

My curiosity turned to alarm when it was for a new wireless account, which I did not open. I called the cellular provider and was told the account was opened in Las Vegas. I immediately closed the account. Relieved I was able to minimize any damage, I went about my week.

Three days later I received another Equifax Credit Watch alert. Another wireless account was opened in my name. And again, because of the alert, I was able to close this account, too. And it seems the identity thief got the message, because there's been no more suspicious activity.

I don't know what kind of damage would've been done if I hadn't found out about these new accounts so quickly. I feel safe knowing Equifax Credit Watch is monitoring my credit file and will alert me to new activity so I can respond immediately. And I'm relieved to know that I'm not as vulnerable to identity theft as I was - I can't imagine NOT having this protection. I'm comfortable that my identity is being guarded so I can live my life and not have to worry about that, too. Thanks, Equifax!

Rob H - Cincinnati, OH"

Bottom line - be informed and aware of your financial dealings at all time. Be proactive in your approach to your finances and your credit standing. Take charge of all aspects of your business life. 

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