February 22, 2010. Monday.
Situation: Work in the early afternoon, and when I get home, Moi and Mway are ready to take a nap. I first call my automated probation officer, then I go up for a nap myself. I actually do fall asleep, and it is five when I wake up. Moi has already taken Mway out, and she says it is starting to sleet or rain. I take my pill of penicillin; Mway, although she’s just been out, is nevertheless pacing around and giving me the eye. I step outside in my bedroom slippers; it does not seem to be doing anything very hard. I feel weak – I haven’t had anything to eat since Sunday noon except two cans of nutrient-enriched liquid shakes – but I decide to take Mway out anyway.
State of the Path: Parts of the sidewalk are showing on the way to the coop; muddy paw prints appear at the start of the path. In the walled garden, a bag of trash is split open, with papers spilling out. Just before the pig pen, the path is no longer muddy, but the foot prints in it are gray with slush and ice. Walking through the sumacs, I spy a rabbit running across the snow. Mway doesn’t see it; instead starts running toward the clearing, but doubles back when she sees I’m heading toward the creek. In the snow in the field, there are lots of paw prints, urine, and feces; weeds seem to stand out more. Down by the wigwams, parts of the path are bare with brown grass, and under the maples, the snow is gone. Under the oaks along the creek, it’s also bare and muddy. And, as she runs ahead of me, Mway leaves some new muddy foot prints on the patch coming back up through bug land.
State of the Creek: The stream is entirely visible the length of the path. Though the creek is still banked in snow for the most part, there are large portions of the bank that are bare, showing leaves, branches, and other debris that got caught up in roots from the rain a few weeks ago. The water behind the log and barrel jam is still and has scum on top of it.
The Fetch: By the time we reach the clearing, I realize there is no longer any sleet or rain coming down. The clearing is still covered with snow, and I position myself near the exit so I can toss the stick within the packed down area of snow. Mway is full of energy. After the first toss, the stick ends up more in the unpacked snow, but it is shallow enough that the snow does not hinder Mway in any way. By the time we get up to about four or five fetches, I think Mway is going to keep on going, but as soon as I think that, she runs past me and heads off way ahead of me back to the house.
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Census estimates show 1 in 4 US counties are dying
By HOPE YEN and JOHN RABY, Associated Press Hope Yen And John Raby, Associated Press – 1 hr 48 mins ago
WELCH, W.Va. – Nestled within America's once-thriving coal country, 87-year-old Ed Shepard laments a prosperous era gone by, when shoppers lined the streets and government lent a helping hand. Now, here as in one-fourth of all U.S. counties, West Virginia's graying residents are slowly dying off.
Hit by an aging population and a poor economy, a near-record number of U.S. counties are experiencing more deaths than births in their communities, a phenomenon demographers call "natural decrease."
Years in the making, the problem is spreading amid a prolonged job slump and a push by Republicans in Congress to downsize government and federal spending.
50 million 'environmental refugees' by 2020, experts say
WASHINGTON (AFP) – Fifty million "environmental refugees" will flood into the global north by 2020, fleeing food shortages sparked by climate change, experts warned at a major science conference that ended here Monday.
"In 2020, the UN has projected that we will have 50 million environmental refugees," Cristina Tirado, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, said at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS).
"When people are not living in sustainable conditions, they migrate," she said, outlining with the other speakers how climate change is already impacting the amount of food we have -- food security -- and food safety, or the healthfulness of that food.
Top-Paying Companies
by Milton Moskowitz and Charles Kapelke
Senior account execs at Salesforce.com take home an average $318,323 total compensation annually. Which other Best Companies to Work For offer big paychecks?
1. Salesforce.com
Average total pay: $318,323
For: Senior Account Executive*
Best companies rank: 52
Salesforce.com goes to extremes to reward the top performers who have helped drive its growth. No wonder this online software provider tops this year's list of best payers.
The sales force gets hefty bonuses. The biggest earners get to enjoy goodies like "Breakfast at Tiffany's" -- a $5,000 shopping spree offered during last year's sales incentive trip to Hawaii. Since Tiffany doesn't have a store in Kauai, Salesforce.com hired local carpenters to recreate one, shipped in $1 million in merchandise from surrounding islands, and hired a violin player, chef, and even Miss Hawaii to add ambience.
Following is an abstract of a recurring event of most of 2010, which I refer to on January 22 but did not have or take the time to mention much in my journal. I include the abstract here, as a framing device, because the event has some sort of relation to the journal’s central action.
Court of Common Pleas
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania vs. Sisyphus A. Gregor
Conditions of Accelerated Rehabilitative Disposition Program
Condition #8 “The defendant will report regularly to his Probation Officer, as directed. Your reporting date is the [22nd of the month].
Each month you will phone the CALL-TRACK number. When you call the automated system, you will be asked to enter your social security number, then state your name. The questions are answered by pressing the appropriate key to respond “yes” or “no.” If your answer requires clarification, you will be prompted to respond.
1. “Has your home address changed in the last 30 days? If your answer to this question is “no,” press 1! If your answer to this question is “yes,” press 2!” [Defendant presses 1.]
2. “Has your phone number changed in the last 30 days? If your answer to this question is “no,” press 1! If your answer to this question is “yes,” press 2!” [Defendant presses 1.]
3. “Has your employment status changed in the last 30 days? If your answer to this question is “no,” press 1! If your answer to this question is “yes,” press 2!” [Defendant presses 1.]
4. “Have you had any contact or been arrested by any law enforcement agency since your last call? If your answer to this question is “no,” press 1! If your answer to this question is “yes,” press 2!” [Defendant presses 1.]
5. “Have you made your required payment toward fines, costs of restitution since your last call? If your answer to this question is “yes,” press 1! If your answer to this question is “no,” press 2!” [Defendant presses 1.]
6. “Are you in compliance with your recommended counseling? If your answer to this question is “yes,” press 1! If your answer to this question is “no,” press 2!” [Defendant presses 2.]
“You have answered “no” to this question. At the tone, please state your current status within the program.” [“I believe I answered this question incorrectly last month. I wish to make it clear that I have not yet taken what’s called, let’s see here -- the DUI Counter Measures Class -- but I am in the process of contacting the person, the officer in charge, I believe her name is, uh -- who schedules this class, and hope to schedule this class soon in the future.”]
7. “Please be advised that any information provided by you which is found to be false will be considered a violation of your Conditions of Supervision and may result in your return to this Court for this violation. Do you understand this requirement? If your answer to this question is “yes,” press 1! If your answer to this question is “no,” press 2!” [Defendant presses 1.]
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