English in Retrograde

I've noticed a very disturbing trend lately in our ability to write in the English language. Spelling, grammar and punctuation is woefully poor, and I'm not critical of just the younger generation here. Some miscreants are college graduates and journalists, people who should be more skilled in language arts than the rest of us.

I read news articles and columns on a daily basis.  Some of these contain so many errors in word usage and spelling that I find myself reading a sentence two or three times to try to parse it.  The comma seems to have gotten itself on the list of endangered punctuation marks, while the use of multiple periods, exclamation points and question marks has those three symbols in a Malthusian-like overpopulation explosion.

We all know that English isn't taught today like it was 100 years ago, and we also know that modern technology, with 'texting' as the new way to communicate, doesn't emphasize the rules of grammatical expression.  However, if we allow ourselves to disregard those rules in more formal communication, we will soon lose a huge base of knowledge needed for higher learning.

Am I being too critical?  Well, maybe I am, but when I see a misused, or a misspelled word in a sentence, or when I read a sentence that doesn't have clauses and phrases properly punctuated, it breaks my train of thought on the subject-at-hand.  And I am obviously not the only one who has this problem.

As an example, let me revert to that question I asked in the last paragraph.  Suppose I asked, "Am I being to critical?"  Does that give your mind a small pause?  The use of to instead of too is one of the most common errors I see, along with the misuse of there, their and they're.  Other winners are then and than, and where and were.  But, it doesn't matter which words are misspelled or misused, they all act to confuse and obscure the author's meaning.

I love to post comments at the bottom of a column, and it is a good way to open debate on the subject matter, especially when you don't agree with the columnist.  Much of the time I find myself chiding the writer for the errors cited above, but it seems to have little effect on future columns.  The deterioration continues unabated.

Here is  one more example that occurred recently in a column about bumper crops we harvested last year.  The article had a sentence that read, "It turns out that weather conditions in 2013 across all of North America were nearly ideal for growing just about every crop grown in the U.S., with the result that U.S. farmers were harvesting bumper crops of just about everything they grow in August and September 2013."

In reality, the farmers didn't grow the crops in August and September, they harvested them in those months.  To be concise, the end of the sentence should have read, "...with the result that U.S. farmers were harvesting, in August and September, bumper crops of just about everything they grew in 2013."  There are, of course, other errors in the run-on sentence, such as the use of three different tenses of the word grow, and the dearth of the comma; it is only used once in the entire sentence.

Well, maybe I am a nitpicker after all.  But, darn it all, I hate to see the English language mangled that way. 

Here's a recipe that I saw in an email this week.  I think they needed a proof reader for it:

 Yogurt Swirl

INSTRUCTIONS 1/4 cup uncooked rolled oats 3/4 cup lowfat plain yogurt 1/4 cup frozen berries 3/4 banana, sliced 1/4 6 oz. Kroger Frozen Fish Fillets 1 Tbsp. raisins or dried cranberries 1/4 cup whole grain cereal 1 Tbsp. walnut pieces Cinnamon, to taste (optional)
Mix the oats into the yogurt. Put the berries, bananas and dried  fruit on top. Add cereal and sprinkle with nuts and cinnamon.  Stir together and enjoy. If you like a thinner consistency, pour a  bit of skim milk over the cereal. Refrigerate any leftovers.  Serves 1.

An American Tragedy

What follows is a story that I have wanted to tell ever since my wife and I visited a lonely and deserted patch of scrub land in eastern Colorado last June.  There are many videos and printed accounts of this black mark on American History, but unless you are able to see what remains of Camp Amache, you cannot appreciate what a tragic and horrible place it was.

On February 19, 1942, two-and-one-half months after the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, which called for the rounding up, relocation and internment of all people of Japanese ancestry on the West Coast of the United States.  It didn't matter that two-thirds of those people were native born United States citizens. 

In all, 126,000 people were forced to pack whatever would fit into two suitcases and either sell or abandon everything else.  That included houses, cars, businesses, pets, toys and clothing, which were sold for pennies on the dollar, or just left up for grabs.

The people were put on trains or busses with armed guards and shades drawn, and were transported to relocation camps throughout the western states.  Most of the camps were in very remote locations, far from any population centers or cities.  They were built in less than three months and some weren't even completed when the detainees arrived for what would be a three year stay in what was essentially a prison with barbed wire fences, watchtowers and armed guards.

Camp Amache was one of ten such prisons.  Located near the small rural town of Granada, Colorado, it was one square mile in size and housed 7,500 people -- twice the population density of New York City at that time.  It was a self-contained town, with schools, hospitals,  police and fire departments, a post office, stores, churches and its own cemetery.  To say that living conditions in the camp were harsh is an understatement. 

Initially, the men of Camp Amache, who would have volunteered to fight in the war, were not allowed to enlist.  Only after repeated complaints from the Caucasian American draftees in the military services about the able-bodied people in the camps not having to fight and die were the rules changed, allowing both males and females to enlist, and eventually forcing others, who protested serving while their families were interned, into service via the draft.

The men of Camp Amache served with distinction in the highly decorated 442nd Regimental Combat Team in the European Theater, while females served in the Women's Army Corps and the Nurses Army Corps.  Amache soldiers received 38 combat pins and badges and various other medals.  One, George T. "Joe" Sakato, received the Distinguished Service Cross and the Congressional Medal of Honor.  31 men died while fighting in the war, while 120 people died in the camp itself during the three year term and are buried in the camp cemetery.

Another injustice of the War Relocation Authority Agency established by Roosevelt's executive order was the fact that only 11,000 people of German ancestry and 250 of Italian ancestry were interned during the war, though they outnumbered the Japanese-Americans by a large factor.  Their camps were not as isolated, nor were they as harsh and restrictive as the Japanese camps.

I could go on, but there is plenty of information available on the Internet.  Just Google Camp Amache and take your pick of articles or videos if you care to explore further.  This particular video is short and informative for those who don't have time or don't want to learn more about those dark days in our history.

I have attached a few pictures that I took while we were driving through the site of Camp Amache that might give you an idea of what it looks like today.  Of course, only two of the original structures are still there, but the pads where the others were still remain as ghosts of the past.

The original layout of the camp. (To enlarge the print for reading, depress and hold the ctrl key and then either use your mouse scroll or keep pressing the + key.  To return to normal font, reverse the mouse scroll or depress the 0 key)

Pads are the only remnants of the huge camp today.

A monument is in the camp cemetery to the fallen heroes and their kin who died while held at Camp Amache.

A second Medal of Honor recipient received his posthumously.

If you are ever driving on Highway 50 near Granada, Colorado, you might want to take an hour or so and drive through Camp Amache.  Look for a small sign along the highway about one mile west of the town on the south side of the road.  The camp entrance is about 200 yards up that road, but it is not very well marked on the main highway and not visible from there at all.

Points and Discounts

 I know I've covered at least a part of this topic previously, but I think that it is important enough in these economic times to make it all inclusive.

If you have any interest in budgeting and saving as much of your hard-earned dollars as you can, this column might just be your salvation.  The savings my wife and I enjoy were stumbled upon over the course of 5 or 6 years, but combined, they all add up to a lot of dollars that go twice as far.

There are certain necessities that we all have to have in our modern lives.  They all cost money, and some cost a lot more than others, so choices must be made.  To name a few, gasoline to power our vehicles, food for our stomachs and techology to keep in touch.

What if you could save on all three of those at the same place?

Well, we do!  And the savings are substantial.

We try to confine our grocery shopping to one store, which I will designate with 5 asterisks, since most grocery stores participate in similar programs to the one I'm going to describe for you.  So, every time you see *****, just substitute the name of the grocery store where you shop.

We do buy some food at Walmart, but a lot of their food is imported, so we stay away from it.  We have another reason to favor ***** with our business, though.  They award points for shopping that can be redeemed at their gas pump.  Each dollar spent, except on alcohol and tobacco, is worth one point.  For every 100 points, a discount of ten-cents-per-gallon is given, and most months, we redeem about 400 points–$.40-per-gallon–for one tank of gas. Some months we only fill up once, so our gas for that month is all discounted, a savings of about $8.00.

Some of the grocery stores don't have a fuel center, but most do have a name brand gas station -- Shell, Exxon/Mobile, etc. -- that does honor their points, so it is usually possible to fuel up anywhere in the country with the discount points.

***** gives bonus points on gift card purchases, so we buy those for games, restaurants, department stores, other businesses and online shopping we use frequently.  Buying a $25 gift card is worth 100 points, or $.10/gallon on our next fuel purchase.

Now, as if that isn't enough, there are even more benefits.  Since we are loyal customers, ***** sends us weekly email ads that feature not only the specials, but are tailored to our most frequent purchases.  At least one item will be offered free of charge, and sometimes the item is worth up to $5.  We just load the coupon on to our card, and the next time we pick up that item, it is free.  Other coupons for frequently purchased items are discounted in addition to what the store discount offers any customer.

There is yet one more great discount I enjoy due to my shopping at *****.  I purchased a cell phone from i-wireless at the store for $20 on a no-contract basis.  I pay only $5/month for the service, and I get 20 to 40 minutes of phone time free every time I shop. So far, I have never had to purchase a single minute, so I have a cell phone with service via the Sprint towers for just FIVE DOLLARS PER MONTH!  Oh, and the phone card I purchase at ***** to keep the service also gains me points (sometimes doubled or tripled) toward those gasoline purchases.

I figure that every dollar I spend at ***** benefits me at least two ways, and sometimes even more, so I am getting extra value every time I walk into the store.  All those points, discounts and free coupons add up to a heck of a lot of savings for my loyalty to that one business.

If you aren't taking advantage of these great benefits at the store where you shop, maybe it's time you looked into it.  ***** in my case, is Kroger, so if you have that chain in your area, you might start there.  I'm not advertising for the store, but they are the one that I happen to use for all those values.  Check with your favorite grocery chain and see what similar programs they offer.

Here is a list of stores that Kroger Company operates, all of which may have similar point and gas discount programs.

Grocery Retail

The Kroger Co. operates grocery retail stores under the following banners:

• Supermarkets - Kroger, Ralphs, Dillons, Smith's, King Soopers, Fry's, QFC, City Market, Owen's, Jay C, Pay Less, Baker's, Gerbes, Scott's Food & Pharmacy, Harris Teeter
• Multi-department stores - Fred Meyer
• Dillons Marketplace, Fry's Marketplace, King Soopers Marketplace, Kroger Marketplace, Smith's Marketplace
• Price-impact warehouse stores - Food 4 Less, Foods Co.

Disaster Preparedness

As you are probably well aware, the Southeast got hit by a weather event this week.  I know that other parts of the country have had their own share of disasters this winter, but we in the CSRA–Central Savannah River Area, for those who don't know–are not prepared for an ice storm in February like the one we experienced.

I learned quite a lot from the storm and its aftermath and I want to share some of that with you in this column.  When you are suddenly thrust from the 21st Century lifestyle back into the 19th Century in less than 24 hours, it is traumatic to say the least, and can be fatal in some cases.  Getting prepared up front, before disaster strikes, is essential.

What follows is my list of problems associated with the storm and methods to combat them.  Some of them are tied to others; electricity to food and communication, for instance.  Lots of these tips can be used in other disasters, such as tornado or earthquake.

1) Loss of electricity

The first thing I learned is that those solar lights that I wrote about back in November of last year really do work!  I only had one light, my prototype that I had used originally to test their efficiency.  It has been stuck in the ground out back and ignored, but I lost power Wednesday night and didn't get back on the grid until yesterday afternoon.  Some here are going to be without power for several more days.

An investment of $20-30 in solar lights of the kind you see decorating sidewalks and driveways in your neighborhood, will pay off when you lose your lights.  Buy a good set of large lights, not the mini lights, and see if you can find reference to the lumens on the packaging; the higher the number, the better the lighting.  The lights probably won't provide enough light to read by, but they sure will keep you from stumbling over your furniture in the dark of night.  The light will last through the night, and can be further enhanced by placing the light next to a mirror, making two lights out of one.  When not in use, and daily during the power outage, place the lights outside to charge.

Any electronic devices that must be recharged, cell phone, iPad, laptop PC, reader, etc., will only last until the battery runs down.  Communication is essential in an emergency, so invest in a car charger for each of those devices.  If the outage lasts several days, you will definitely need to recharge your technological world. 

2) Communication

Medical emergencies seem to occur during times of stress, so keep some lines of communication open.  A dead cell phone is of no help when time is a factor.  If your land lines are down, you still need to be able to dial 9-1-1. 

A battery-operated radio is good to have, or you can buy one of those crank-type radios. I personally prefer my little MP3 player, which has an FM radio built in.  It holds a charge for a long time, and the headphones or ear buds enable me to hear other sounds that might be important.  Once again I'll stress the importance of having a car charger for any device like this though.  Your car battery is a ready resource during a power outage.  You also want to make sure you have a full tank of gas or diesel in the car so you can keep that battery charged.  (Sorry, electric or hybrid cars are at somewhat of a disadvantage in this respect)

During our just-completed storm-related outage, one of our local stations kept us well informed on what was happening, where roads were hazardous, what stores and restaurants were open, where to go for public shelter and all nature of information on the duration of the power outage.  The service was invaluable - I mean priceless!

3) Food and water

We had plenty of warning that an ice storm was imminent, and there is a good maxim to keep in mind when you have time to prepare: "There is strength in numbers!"  A freezer will keep food frozen for at least 48 hours if you don't open it,  However, another factor that can add time is a full freezer.  Items tend to keep each other frozen in proximity.  So, when you know an outage is on the way, gather all freezer items in one section as close to one another as possible.  Even if the freezer isn't completely full, placing everything like that will definitely help.

For the duration of the outage, try to confine food items to non-perishables.  If you have a gas stove or a barbeque grill, you can do some cooking, but there is nothing wrong with good old PB&J, sardines, canned tuna or SPAM for a few days.  make sure you have plenty of these items stocked for emergencies.  If you do cook with the BBQ grill, please don't ever bring it inside the house or garage.  Do the cooking in an open space, like your patio or deck to prevent fire or propane explosion.

It is pretty nasty to have nothing but clothes and blankets to keep warm while the power is out, but one nice treat that you might not even think of is a hot shower.  Even with an electric water tank, a 40-gallon one will keep water hot for up to 48 hours.  It will still be warm for several days after that, too.  If you can stand drying off in a cold bathroom, try the shower - you'll like it!

Make sure you have plenty of bottled water available in case you lose your water supply. Fill a bathtub or laundry tub with water and keep a bucket handy.  That water will serve for drinking as well as for flushing toilets.  You might not like drinking water from the tub, but it's better than nothing if you don't have any bottled water left.

4) Travel

First and foremost, confine travel to absolute necessity.  Do not drive or walk in any hazardous area and that includes on icy or snow-packed roadways.  Downed power lines are always dangerous, and falling trees and limbs are a problem in winter weather. if you must drive, give emergency vehicles the right-of-way, even if it means pulling completely off the road to allow them to pass.

If you are out on the road, and you get stuck, that full tank of gas night help you to keep warm until help arrives, but be careful of carbon monoxide poisoning in heavy, drifting snow.  Try to make sure your tailpipe is clear of the snow to allow proper venting.

These are my tips for you, and I hope they have been helpful.  I know that I was ignorant of several of them.  You learn a lot when you're suddenly without the conveniences of life. 

Procrastination's Penalty

This column is for all of you who are 50-years-old or younger, but it is especially for my daughter and son-in-law, which I'll explain a couple of paragraphs from now.

As you all know, my wife and I are road trippers, and our favorite destination is the American Southwest.  When we lived in El Paso, we were already in that area, so we were happy as could be.  Now that we live in Georgia, we have to drive for at least three days to get to the places we want to visit, but that's life and we adapt.

One of my biggest regrets in life has been that I didn't start my road trips early enough to be able to do all the activities they entail; hiking, climbing, exploring, SCUBA diving and other physical things. 

Oh yes, we have visited the Grand Canyon at least five times, but we've never been off the rim.  I've looked down on the hikers traversing Bright Angel Trail and wished that I could be among them, but my aging legs and my deteriorating heart just won't allow it.  Most of all, I can't take the chance on a medical emergency occurring on the floor of the canyon.

Several years ago I planned out a trip itinerary for my daughter and her husband to go out to some of the best spots we had visited, like Moab, Utah, Bryce and Zion Canyons and, of course, Grand Canyon.  They were all ready to take the trip, and I think even had the hotel reservations confirmed, when it all fell through.  I can't recall the exact tipping point, but I do know that gas prices went up steeply a few weeks before they were going to start out, and that had a lot to do with the cancellation.

That trip has never been made, and now both are a few years older.  No, they aren't by any stretch of imagination decrepit, but we all tend to lose mobility a little at a time.  Next thing you know, you're past your prime and some of the things you thought you could do are beyond you. 

I don't want anyone to miss out on something like I have, due to -- let's put it out there -- geriatrics.  I certainly don't want my kids to have the regrets that I have for waiting too long to do the things you want to do to make life fulfilling. 

Maybe you don't have the same travel aspirations that I do, so I might be barking up the wrong tree.  All I can do is encourage you to do whatever it is that "turns you on" in life while you're still young enough to enjoy it to the fullest.  If it isn't travel, then it has to be some form of activity that you always wanted to try.  Don't put it off...  Life is too short to wait until the end before you experience your dreams.

I hope this column inspires you to take action, and the sooner, the better.  Get out there and DO IT.

Note: Valentines Day is next Friday.  How about sending your sweetheart a Singing Valentine, with four tuxedo-clad men singing two love songs and delivering a card and a rose from you to her house or place of business.  Just click on the link and follow the instructions.  Believe me, You'll be glad you did. 

Three Rules You Can Live With

In a recent column, I related an earlier experience in finding missing money that I hadn't even known was "missing."  I urged you to visit the same website where I found the treasure to learn whether or not you had some unclaimed money.

One of my respondents volunteered that he and his wife were doing some genealogy on their families and came across a hit on an insurance policy on her late father that had gone forgotten.  It set off a memory about mementoes from her father's estate which included a poster-size, embossed policy certificate.  That turned out to be the proof needed to claim the dormant funds. No, it wasn't a million dollars; in fact, the total sum was less than a thousand, but it was missing money that the daughter was entitled to, and she promptly took the necessary steps to claim it.

Having the story related to me brought an idea that will be the topic of this column.  We have an obsession with privacy that sometimes inhibits our disclosure of sensitive facts to those who need to know.  If a person is named as the beneficiary of an asset upon the death of the owner of that asset, they must be made aware of the bequest. 

The rights of passage are done through the making of a will or a trust, but many of us neglect to take that important step.  A spouse usually knows about the assets of their husband or wife, but the children of the marriage are too often left out of the process, and have no idea what they are entitled to when one or both parents die.

Rule Number One: Make a will, or some instrument to make certain your wishes for inheritance are carried out.

I leave it to you as to how you do that, but unless you have a very small estate, you should at least consult an attorney.  Online wills are fine for estates under $100,000, but larger ones need more work and expertise.

There is nothing to prevent you from advising your children, or any other heir, about your assets.  If you love them enough to leave something, you should also trust them enough to keep your confidence.  They should know if they are secondary beneficiaries on insurance policies or any other financial account, such as a bank account or mutual fund.

You don't have to tell them the worth of the asset, but provide them with the account number and the holder of the funds.  It will make it so much easier to deal with in the event of your sudden demise.

Rule Number 2: Make a list of all of your and your spouse's financial accounts with account numbers. 

You needn't show amounts in the accounts, they will change anyway.  Give a copy of the list to each designated primary and secondary beneficiary, and advise them to keep it in a safe and secure place, such as a safe deposit box.

If you have a "broken" family, that is, not all members get along with you or with each other, you might want to make different lists for each beneficiary showing only the accounts wherein they are entitled.  It is unfortunate that there are many families in this category,  When the separation is dire, you might want to forego Rule 2 and just make the will in Rule 1. 

Rule Number 3: If any life events change, make sure you update the will and the lists.

Life events include any births, deaths, marriages, divorces, adoptions and separations. They also include any changes to the accounts listed, or any new accounts added. Any of these events might call for a revision in beneficiaries, so make certain that the will and your lists are changed accordingly.

There you have it.  These three rules, when properly executed, can ease the burden that loss of a loved one brings.  They also will prevent the loss of property to the state that rightfully belongs to your heirs.

Safety Tip: 9-Volt Batteries

Do you have any 9-volt batteries in your home?  Of course you do.  They are most frequently used in our smoke detectors, but they have several other uses, too.

Storage and disposal of these batteries is very critical, as the position of the terminals so close to each other can easily cause a short, and that in turn can start a fire.  Since they are usually stored in a drawer in the home, this can lead to tragic consequences.

Most batteries have the positive and negative terminals at opposite ends of the unit, but the 9-volt is unique in that it not only has both terminals on one end, but they are less than an inch apart.  The battery is also thin and tall, so it is unstable in the sense that it tips over easily when not in use. It also has the danger of contacting a piece of metal that will conduct between the battery terminals to cause a short.

There is a very easy method to protect your battery from any accidental short that could cause a fire.  Simply buy a roll of 1/2 inch wide electrical tape and place a strip of it over the terminals to keep them from being exposed until you need to use them.  And after you have used them and they are "dead" --  a very deceptive term, because no battery is ever completely dead -- tape the terminals again before recycling them. 

In case you think this warning is unnecessary, just Google the term "9-volt battery fire" (without the quotes, of course) and see how many hits you get.  But if you want to see a very graphic video about the danger, here is one that will do the trick.  Don't fret, there are no charred human remains, but the house certainly did get "toasted."