Message Forum

Lowell,

Have you been contacted for the booster shot trials for other strains for the Pfizer vaccine?

02/26/21 07:51 AM

#20412

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tulip_mania

Steve,

Only 100???

You seem to be the epitome of the wildcatter -- a speculator by nature. Boom or bust. Feast or famine. I'm not -- at least in this stage of my life. I have accumulated what I need, and and my goal is achieve a moderate amount of growth -- enough to maintain the annual payout I need, adjusted annually for inflation, until age 100. You're the hare; I'm the tortoise.

I have watched a couple of webinars on Bitcoin and blockchain sponsored by financial service organizations, and I still don't see what the big deal is. I understand the benefit of blockchain tecnology, and I see lots of big companies "investing" in Bitcoin, but I think a lot of it is FOMO -- fear of missing out. Jumping on the bandwagon.

The big guys don't want to be accused by their peers of being too conservative, like me, except that I don't mind. I take my risks in other ways. Example -- a few years ago, I was driving on a long stretch of a two-lane highway in West Texas and pulled into the opposing lane to pass two cars at the same time!!!

By the way, are you familiar with Tulip Mania?

02/26/21 08:31 AM

#20413

Lowell Tuttle

Steve, patients of Houston Methodist, hospital, specialists, lab, outpatients, pcp's, etc...who are over 65 are contacted by email or text when a time is ready for them to come in. You have to choose a facility and time from a menu of options. Susie (who worked there 31 years,) chose Methodist Willowbrook and is scheduled for #2 in the next few days. I was contacted, but my choice of the local Willowbrook unit was way into the future so I went downtown by the Astrodome and did it. It was quite amazing procedure. I did no chasing, though, I did have to remember my "My Chart" user name and password.

A friend commented to me I was part of "white establishment priveledged processing," but my imagery was a very diverse crowd, perhaps a little better off than the average citizen, but very diverse.

Last night on the news here, Methodist announced there were starting 50-65 age groups with some sort of minimal health issue. Biden will smile.

I got pfizer.

Now I realize your booster comment was an attempt at humor. I missed the boat on that one...still trying to figure it out.

I did see my electric bill analysis for the next month estimated at 275.00 up from 225.00 in January and 175.00 in December. My buds who own Boomer exploration getting gas from two wells in the Louisiana toe were happy the $$ were coming in again...at a million a piece they have a ways to go...but they were draggin about 25,000 a month out before Covid.

02/26/21 09:13 AM

#20414

In another milestone for gender equality (or equity??), there is a bill in the California legislature to make it illegal for stores to have separate sections for boys toys and girls toys.

Next up -- no separate sections for men's and women's undergarments. Two side benefits. 1) men won't feel like pervs when they walk past the bras, and 2) men will have more choices for their man-bras.

02/26/21 10:41 AM

#20415

Steve

I am in the Maderna trial and I got both shots of my vaccine in August and Sept. At this time no mention of a booster. I may find out more when I go in for my next visit in on Mar 8. My trial goes for 27 months.

02/26/21 10:48 AM

#20416

US citizenship test for immigrants.

My grandfather Vito Sparacio teased me when I was a boy about the fact that he had to pass a test to become a citizen, and all I had to do was to be born.

During the Trump administration, some idiot decided to remove any citizenship test questions referring to the first amendment to the Constitution. Huh?? Freedom of the press? Freedom of religion?

I became curious.

There is a pool of 128 multiple choice questions, and they are available to the public with answers. The test consists of up to 20 questions drawn from the pool. You only have to be correct on 12 of them. (I guess they stop as soon as you answer 12 correctly.) So, 60 is a passing score on a set of questions, the answers to to which are readily available in a list online.

All 128 potential questions with answers: https://civicsquestions.com/new-citizenship-test/

Oh and if you are 65 or older and have been a legal resident for 20 years, you only need to be correct on 6 of 20 fill-in-the-blank questions. Here is one, with acceptable answers.

George Washington is famous for many things. Name one.
- “Father of Our Country”
- First president of the United States
- General of the Continental Army
- President of the Constitutional Convention

I suspect that the Biden administration will add "Slave holder" and either delete "Father of Our Country" or change it to "Parent of Our Country".

There is a reading test also. You have to be able to read one out of three sentences correctly. They give you almost all the words that will be in the sentences, and you can't be failed because of your accent, which obviously gives a lot of latitude to the person giving the test. Here are some sample sentences:

Sample Reading Sentences:

Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves.
Alaska is the largest U.S. state.
Citizens can vote.
George Washington was the first president.
Lincoln was the President during the Civil War.
The President lives in the White House.
The President of the United States is elected by the people.
The White House is in Washington D.C.
There are 100 senators in the US Senate.
Washington is on the dollar bill.
Washington is the father of our Nation.

I suspect that the Biden administration will add these:

Donald Trump is evil.
Anyone who voted for Donald Trump should be disenfranchised.
All conservatives and Republicans are bad people who deserve to be ostracized from society.

They might have to find synonyms for disenfranchised and ostracized.

Check out this prep page. https://civicsquestions.com/new-citizenship-test/

The reading test with vocabulary: https://civicsquestions.com/reading/

I had always thought that the typical naturalized citizen improved the U.S. gene pool. Now I think they can be even stupider than the average native-born American. But since most will become Democrats, at least they will raise the average IQ of Democrats! (That's a version of an old Aggie joke that I couldn't resist!)

TAKE A SAMPLE TEST

The Washington Times published a set of questions so you can test yourself. (And remember that the article was written last year.) https://www.washingtontimes.com/quiz/2015/feb/19/us-citizenship-test-part-two/

By the way, I got the last laugh on my grandfather. As I have mentioned, I am also a dual citizen with Italy because Grandpa Vito was still an Italian citizen when my mother was born. So, she was an Italian citizen when she was born, so I was an Italian citizen when I was born. So all I had to do to become an Italian citizen was to be born!

As Warren Beatty said in Bonnie and Clyde, "Ain't life a grin?"

02/26/21 10:55 AM

#20417

Lowell,

I wasn't being humoruos, I just confused you with Wayne being in the test cases. Well, you may think that is humorous.

02/26/21 11:09 AM

#20418

Steve,

How do you "make think"?

02/26/21 12:51 PM

#20419

Wayne, way to give Steve some of his own!

My second dose was supposed to be March 2, but they postponed to March 9 because of weather, reduced supply, sun spots, or something. Unfortunately, or fortunately, I will be in the Bahamas on March 9. It took several tries, but I was able to pospone my second dose to March 19. Then I'm scheduled for a colonoscopy four days later! If I have to something enter my body (aside from food, drink, candy, and pills), I think I'd choose a hypodermic needle over a colonoscope!

02/26/21 12:58 PM

#20420

Steve

You confused me with Lowell! How funny. I think I am better looking. I have a curent picture of me instead of a high school picture posted.

02/27/21 12:01 AM

#20421

Janalu Jeanes (Parchman)

Hi Lance,

It sounds like you are in a cheerful mood as you post today!

I enjoyed the paintings from the art gallery selections. Such fine work! I wish I could paint like that! My favorite painting was the little girl lying in the field, enjoying the fresh air and nature's lovliness drifting by overhead. How wonderful that would be---just experiencing the peacefulness, bird's twitterings, floating clouds and fragrances! I remember doing similar things when we lived in our first house on the edge of town. I was around 5 or 6 years old, and there was a large field of tall grass across the street from our house. My friends and I would walk out into that field and press down the grass until we had formed little rooms of our 'house.' Then we would sit in one 'room' and pretend to cook with our little pots and pans, we would lay in another 'room' with doll blankets and our dolls beside us, looking up at the clouds and waving 'wheat colored grass/straw,' then we would go out the front pathway to our bikes, to ride down the gravel edge of the street, to the grocery store for our 'groceries,' or so we pretended. We had to stay on the gravel to avoid riding in the street, which was verboten! Those days are great memories to have! Days with no worries...other than staying on the gravel!

Hope your healing incisions are feeling much less annoying. Spring is on the way soon!

02/27/21 07:23 AM

#20422

https://www.vrbo.com/1196277?adultsCount=2&arrival=2021-08-07&departure=2021-08-14&unitId=1747037

Lance said: Hope you both have a sunny time while in the Bahamas next week! Will you be visiting Atlantis on Paradise Island?

David responds:

I don't think so. We're visiting the family of Martha's nephew -- brother of the one who died with COVID-19. They live in St Petersburg, FL, but they own a home on Green Turtle Cay, which seems to be very isolated. We'll snorkle and fish. Mostly, I think we'll look at the ocean and relax. I've never snorkled, and I have hardly ever fished. Not sure what else we'll do, other than worry about whether our son is taking good care of the house and Becky the Dog.

The nephew rents out the bottom half of the house on VRBO. The listing below only shows photos of the bottom half.

02/27/21 09:04 AM

#20423

Documentary on Clarence Thomas during Black History Month supposedly on Amazon Prime.

Note the box under the five stars: "This video is currently unavailable in your location."

To paraphrase, I'm shocked! Shocked!

02/27/21 10:34 AM

#20424

Kurt Fischer

I did something interesting yesterday that many of you have already done, but others are waiting to do.

I retired.

Last year I was made to understand my company wanted to consolidate my position with the other compliance guy, but we agreed not to do it until after the audit was completed. I've spent the prior three years in a long good-bye training the other person. So it was time.

Now I have the opportunity to figure out how to spend my time. It looks like my initial plan to rake the leaves in the backyard and pick up dog poop is going to get rained out on Monday, so I'll need to adjust my plans.

For those of you who have retired, did you keep track of the number times you were asked whether you were going to travel and where? There seems to be a popular conception that retirement automatically sets in motion some form of perpetual travel. Smile and wave.

I've paid into Social Security for 56 years and worked fulltime for 49 years, so I guess it's time.

Anyway, chapter two....

02/27/21 10:40 AM

#20425

Wayne,

I have to make myself think every day, otherwise I would just vegetate. I tried vegetate once, but I am more of a red meat guy.

02/27/21 11:29 AM

#20426

I am annoyed about the $1.9 trillion so-calle COVID bill passed by Democrats in the House last night.

It is just a profligate spending bill with far less than half actually related to COVID, and the Democrats are simply following the playbook -- Never let a good crisis go to waste. My favorite unrelated element is $140 million for a tunnel in Silicon Valley. Gee, I wonder how that got in there??

When did it become so easy to talk about a trillion dollars? $1.9 trillion dollars is equivlent to more that $5,000 per man, woman, and child. My wife and I will watch the mail for our $10,000.

What would a stack of 1.9 trillion $1 bills look like?

How many bills	Thickness per bill in inches	Height in inches
1	0.0043	0.0043
100	0.0043	0.43
1000	0.0043	4.30
10,000	0.0043	43
100,000	0.0043	430
1,000,000	0.0043	4,300
1,000,000,000	0.0043	4,300,000
1,000,000,000,000	0.0043	4,300,000,000
1,900,000,000,000	0.0043	8,170,000,000

	divide by 12	680,833,333	feet
	divide by 5,280	128,946	Miles
5 times around the earth, or half way to the moon.

02/27/21 11:40 AM

#20427

Damn, Kurt! I was still planning on touring the Fossil facility.

Congrats on retirement! If you run out of leaves on your lawn, I live at 3413 Melanie. Are you available for planting? We lost a lot of our landscape elements in the deep freeze.

02/27/21 10:24 PM

#20428

Early Pioneer Settlement of New Plymouth in Green Turtle Cay, Bahamas

Lance, your comment caused me to check out some opportunities in and around Green Turtle Cay. We'll probably check out the Albert Lowe Museum. Here's a review from vacationer on Trip Adviser.

This museum is a fascinating glimpse into the past of New Plymouth located on Green Turtle Cay in the outer Abacos. This community, pioneered by Loyalists in the late 1700's who fled the American colonies after the Revolutionary War, features quaint New England style housing, and is rich in Bahamian, American and English history. Withstanding the isolation, numerous hurricanes and many economic hardships over the last 230 years this historic community is a treasure. The Albert Lowe Museum is a glimpse into the past of this unique community that share's its past history with visitors to this beautiful "out island" in the Abacos. It is well worth the time and nominal charge to catch a glimpse of "island life" over the last two centuries. We have found this small but "rich in history" museum to be one of our favorites!

02/28/21 08:12 AM

#20429

Kurt Fischer

David:

Your fabled visit to the Fossil facility... It might not happen on my watch (a bit of a pun).

In these strange times, I visited our offices only twice since last March, once before the end of the year to clean out my office and the other time on Friday for the retirement handover. The floor I'm on normally seats around 400 and on Friday there were three of us there. One guy actually working, one guy who was there to accept my equipment and one guy who was there to retire. As TS Eliot might have said, "This is the way the world ends, not with a bang, but a whimper."

02/28/21 08:28 AM

#20430

David,

How bout that Tech Basketball team?

02/28/21 09:17 AM

#20431

Steve,

I remember this from my days of selling pumps in Odessa

Description of the perfect roughneck.

6ft tall

28" waist

48" chest

20" neck

4" bull plug as a hard hat.

Also

carries a 36" pipe wrench with a 36" cheater bar to tighten 1/4" bolts

02/28/21 01:11 PM

#20432

Wayne,

Did you know Bill Champion with Lufkin or Joe Cook with Cook's Engine Service in Odessa? They were investors in some of my drilling prospects. I let them trade equipment for an interest in some wells.

I spent my share of time at the hospitality suite run by Boots and Coots at the Permian Basin Oil Show.

02/28/21 03:07 PM

#20433