Homemade Yogurt Is Easy And Delicious

I'm always looking for a do it yourself project, and my latest endeavor is a real winner. Homemade yogurt is thick, creamy and so healthy. No artificial ingredients of any kind, just milk. All this wholesomeness leads to a yogurt that can be made any way you like it. Thick or thin, it's up to you. Sweet or sour, it's also up to you. With a few batches under you're belt, you'll know exactly what you like, and your days of Chobani, Fage, Yoplait, Dannon, Liberte, and Stonyhill will be gone. It only takes a few minutes to assemble. I like to make it while I'm cooking dinner. That way I'm there to make sure the milk gets to the right temperature. Trust me, you can't make a mistake, and you'll be pleased with the results. I was getting all the supplies ready for yogurt making the other day, and Ron says, "What are you making?" I told him it was yogurt, and he asked me why I was always making something weird. (I think the last thing I made was preserved lemons). People who don't like to experiment in the kitchen wonder why anyone would bother making homemade yogurt when there are so many good products on the market. Those of you who like to experiment, as I do, understand why I do things like this. I must say Ron was right to think I was concocting something weird, as I had an electric heating pad and thermometer with my pile of ingredients. There are many ways to make yogurt, but here's what I did, on advice from a bridge playing friend of mine, Patricia. Homemade Yogurt 1 quart 1% milk ( I have not made it with whole milk, but I know it would be delicious) 2 T. plain yogurt, with live cultures (any brand will do) 3. Clean kitchen towels 4. Electric heating pad 5. Thermometer In a heavy saucepan, heat 1 quart of milk until 140 degrees. Many recipes say to heat it to 180 degrees, but having tried heating it to various temperatures, 140 degrees works fine. Remove from heat, and let stand until it has cooled to about 115 degrees. Take 2 Tablespoons of plain yogurt with live cultures and mix with 1/4 cup hot milk. Then add the yogurt mixture to the warm milk. Pour into glass bowl, cover with plastic wrap. Put the electric heating pad on high, place the bowl on the pad, then take two kitchen towels and drape over the top of the bowl and tuck in under the heating pad. Leave the mixture for anywhere from 5-12 hours. The longer the mixture sits, the more tart it will be. I left my last batch for six hours, and I had a sweet, delicious plain yogurt. The yogurt will appear very thin and watery at this point. You can refrigerate it as is, and it will thicken when it cools, or you can make more of a Greek style yogurt (this is what I did) by doing the following. Strain the yogurt over a collander lined with cheesecloth for about an hour. You will be draining out the whey, and what will remain will be thick, delicious yogurt, that will thicken more as it cools in the refrigerator. The other way to keep the yogurt warm for the necessary 5-12 hours is to put it in an oven, with just the pilot light on. (also wrapped in towels to keep warm). Either way, you'll end up with smooth creamy yogurt unlike anything you can buy at the store. This is not a cost savings, as one quart of milk only produces about three servings of yogurt. Be sure to save 2 Tablespoons of yogurt to start your next batch. Enjoy. I almost forgot to mention that my favorite way to eat yogurt is just plain, with a little honey drizzled over the top. I have been experimenting over the past few weeks since I first wrote this blog and have discovered the following. It is not necessary to heat the milk to 180 degrees. I think the yogurt comes out better when milk is heated to 120-140 degrees. I also like milk mixture kept in the heating pad for only about four hours. The longer you heat it, the more tart it becomes. Also, if you want thick Greek yogurt, pour the mixture into a colander and let it drain for about an hour, or more. Get as much of the whey out as possible, and you will have a thick yogurt.

Jews And Boxing

When you think of professions that are dominated by Jews, you might think about doctors, lawyers, bankers or jewelers, but did you know that from 1910-1940 one third of all professional boxers were Jewish, and that in this time frame there were 27 Jewish world champions? Who knew? Names you may never have heard before, like Benny Leonard, light weight champion for 8 years, or Barney Ross, light weight champ for three years, were some of the greatest boxers of all time. The reason we have not heard of many of them is that with the exception of Max Baer, who was heavyweight champion, all the other boxers were in lighter weight classifications. Al Singer and "Dutch" Sam Ellis were great boxers, but in lighter weight divisions, and then, as now, the heavyweight division got most of the press. Boxing for many young Jewish boys from 1910-1940, was part of the Jewish immigrant experience. It was a way out of the ghettos of New York. My father-in-law, born in Fargo, North Dakota, saw boxing as a way to escape the cold, harsh winters of the northeast, and a way to make some money as a young boy. While still in his teens, and without his parents knowledge, "Fast Willie" used to box, and ultimately became a Golden Gloves champion in the fly weight division. Jews were not just dominant in the boxing ring, but in everything around the sport. Promoters, trainers and managers were largely Jewish. Ring Magazine was started by a Jew, Nat Fleisher in 1937, and Everlast Sporting Goods was started by another Jewish immigrant, Jacob Golumb. In addition to their dominance in and around the ring, Daniel Mendoza, a Jew, is considered by many to be the father of modern boxing, and Sam Elias, a boxer from the early 20th century, invented the uppercut. Just as immigrants have done for hundreds of years, the thousands of Jews who fled Europe at the turn of the century were looking for a way to make their mark in their new country. For whatever reason, they decided boxing was one way to do it. Fast forward 50-75 years, and look at the dominance, especially in the lighter weight classifications, of Hispanic males. They too have found boxing as a way our of poverty. Sports in America has always given poor and immigrant men and women an opportunity to achieve. Look at football, baseball and basketball and you will see many men, who without sports, might never have had such success. I think it's ironic that Jews were so prevalent and dominant in the sport of boxing. One thing that every Jewish boy learns early is NOT to fight. They are taught to work things out with words, not fists, yet for several decades, Jews were a force to be reckoned with in the boxing ring.

What Will You Be When You Grow Up?

What you select for your life's work, who selects it, and when it is decided, has changed in the past century. 100 years ago, if you were a boy, you were told by your parents (father) what kind of work you would do when you grew up. If your father was a farmer, chances are you would be a farmer. If your father was a tailor, you would most likely be a tailor too. If you were a woman, you were told you would marry and raise a family. Very few women went to college, and very few women were in the work force. In the 1940's and 1950's, things began to change. During the war and thereafter, women were needed in the workforce, and women had more opportunity. After women got the right to vote, they couldn't be stopped, and with each generation women advanced: they went from nurses to doctors, from lab assistants to scientists, from bookkeepers to accountants, from secretaries to lawyers. Today, over half the work force is women, and they hold some of the most important jobs in the country. Parents are no longer telling their children what they should be when they grow up. Children no longer blindly follow what their parents want for them. I remember several contemporaries of mine that were steered into professions they didn't want, but their parents did, and the children didn't want to disappoint their parents. I knew several unhappy doctors and lawyers who ended up changing careers midlife. Most career decisions were made long before the child even entered high school. Perhaps the dream for a father of having a son who became a doctor was really what he wanted for himself but might not have had the opportunity or ability to achieve. So, he wants it for his son. Few people know early on what they want to be. That's what college is for. That's why I always felt a liberal arts education was so important. Open up the world to a child and let him decide what direction he wants to go, but let him make it when he's old enough to make an intelligent decision. Of my own three children, only Brian went into the profession he had prepared for in college. Both Phil and David majored in something entirely different than what they're doing today. I find it fascinating to watch children grow and mature, and try to figure out their path in life. I wonder what direction my grandchildren will take. In many respects the old fashioned way of determining your career was easier. You were told early on what you would be and that's what you did. However, it certainly must have created some angry young men and women, who were denied an opportunity to follow their dreams. If you have a passion for acting you must give it a try, otherwise you will wonder your whole life what you might have become. It's ok to fail, but it's not ok not to try.

The Mind Of A Con Man

I don't care how savvy you think you are, a con man, who thinks differently than you or I, can out maneuver you, in other words, con you. I learned this lesson very early in our marriage. Ron had a growing accounting business in Century City and was looking to expand. My mother in law was in Las Vegas and met a young man that was just moving to Los Angeles and was looking for a job as a CPA. When Anita (my mother in law) got home and told Ron about the young accountant, Ron called him right away. They met, Ron checked out his credentials, and he started work. He was a wonderful worker, but about a month into the job, he told Ron he had to go to Chicago to visit his sick relative. He never returned, never called, just disappeared. How could this happen? He had said he was working at a firm in Chicago, and Ron checked him out. If you're a con man you think of everything, and apparently he had someone covering for him at the accounting firm, or perhaps the whole firm was ficticious. This was long before the internet, so things could not be checked out the way they can now. It was a cheap lesson, as it really didn't cost Ron anything, but I can't help and think about what could have been. Remember the movie The Imposter with Tony Curtis or the more recent movie with Leonardo DeCaprio about an imposter? Amazing how these men can con even the smartest people around. How about Bernie Madoff? Here's another story about an academic fraud by Diederik Stapel. It's hard to believe these things go on, but they do, and at the highest level. Stapel was a well respected researcher, working at several universities-Amsterdam, Groningen and Tilburg through the years. During the years when he was publishing research papers based on fraudulent research, he was overseeing many Ph.D students, and investigators combed through mounds of evidence to see if any of his students were involved in the fraud. Stapel made up research information upon which scientific articles were written and accepted by the scientific community. Stapel admits that his deceit was driven by ambition. He said he loved social psychology (his field), but was frustrated by the messiness of experimental data, which rarely led to clear conclusions. So he made up the experiments and the data to give the results he expected would be achieved. Every year, the Office of Research Integrity uncovers numerous instances of bad behavior by scientists, ranging from lying on grant applications to using fake images in publications. The once celebrated South Korean stem-cell researcher Hwang Woo Suk stunned scientists in his field a few years ago after it was discovered that almost all of the work for which he was known was fraudulent. The prominent Harvard evolutionary biologist Marc Hauser resigned in 2011 during an investigation by the Office of Research Integrity at the Department of Health and Human Services that would end up determining that some of his papers contained fabricated data. Who can forget the British scientist Andrew Wakefield who said his research showed that vaccinations could cause autism? His paper has since been retracted, but he did enormous damage to research on the study of autism. Frauds exist in every walk of life. The reasons for a persons deceit are generally the same: they want fame, fortune and recognition. It's unfortunate that we need to be so skeptical of everything today. I feel like such a cynic, but when you hear about these people, and we hear about them everyday, how else can you be? If you've been burned by a con man, as we have, you have to question everything.

Summer Pops Of A Different Kind

I love the summer pops on the bay in San Diego, but here's another summer pop you might enjoy. They're cool and refreshing, have no preservatives and no added sugar. To top it off, they're only 30 calories each. Summer pops are easy to make, and if you use your imagination you can make endless varieties of these cool treats. Cherry Ice Pops • 1 cup (about 8 ounces) frozen unsweetened cherries, thawed • 2/3 cup apple juice • 2/3 cup vanilla soy yogurt or vanilla fat-free yogurt Method: Combine cherries and apple juice in a blender and blend until smooth. Add yogurt and blend just until combined. Pour mixture into 8 ice-pop molds, insert sticks and freeze until solid, about 4 hours. (You can also use small, freezable containers like 4-ounce plastic or paper cups or plastic champagne flutes as molds: Fill containers almost full and cover tops with foil, then make a small slit and insert ice-pop sticks or small bamboo skewers.) Dip bases of molds briefly in hot water to loosen and unmold. For variety, change the cherries to strawberries, blueberries or peaches, and change the apple juice to cranberry or pomegranate juice. (to make them even lower in calories, replace the apple juice with the diet cranberry juice). Nutritional Info: Per Serving:30 calories (5 from fat), 0g total fat, 0g saturated fat, 0mg cholesterol, 0mg sodium, 7g carbohydrate (0g dietary fiber, 6g sugar), 1g protein Special Diets: •Fat Free •Gluten Free •Low Sodium •Vegetarian •Wheat Free

I'm always looking for interesting Farmers' Markets, and I've just found a new one that you might want to check out. It's the San Diego Night Market, an Asian themed Farmers' Market held in the parking lot of the Zion Market just off Convoy Street. Other communities have started these ethnically themed markets. I hear the one in Los Angeles held at Santa Anita Racetrack parking lot is awesome. I plan to go there on Saturday night and check it out. They will have many booths with fresh fruits and vegetables, some I guarantee you've never seen before. They will have music too. Since this is the first night market they will not charge a fee, but I think they plan to charge a small fee in the future. I don't like that idea. Paying to get into a market? I'm not sure that's going to fly. For now, I will go and check it out, and probably have a fantastic grazing dinner of delicious Asian treats. Can't wait. SAN DIEGO NIGHT MARKET DATE: Saturday, September 28th, 2013 TIME: 5:00 PM – 10:00 PM LOCATION: Zion Marketplace East Parking Lot (Convoy St.)

Big Brother Is Watching

60 Minutes recently had an episode about how easy it is for the government to watch us, spy on us, keep track of us. When we read George Orwell's 1984 back in the 1960's, we believed his ideas were way off in the future. Techniques for watching our citizens have existed for many years, but with each passing year the techniques become more sophisticated and more all encompassing. Take a walk around London, and you're likely to have your picture taken up to 200 times per day. They have surveillance cameras everywhere, somewhere around 1.85 million cameras in the closed circuit television system. Although the idea of Big Brother snooping on us, listening in on our phone calls, intercepting our e-mails, watching us with all kinds of surveillance devices offends most people, the public is willing to put up with it if they think it keeps them safe. Fear and protection from terrorism lessens many people's desire for civil liberties and independent control over their own lives. Staying safe wins, hands down. A CBS New York Times public opinion survey taken after the Boston Marathon bombings is the latest evidence of this fundamental truth of human nature, the highest priority is usually staying alive. Everything else comes after that. 78% of American say surveillance cameras in public places are a good idea. (the bigger question is whether all this surveillance is keeping us safer). The American Civil Liberties Union, which opposes more Big Brother surveillance, argues that cameras that watch us everywhere don't deter crime. But it doesn't really matter, because if you feel safer with cameras most people are willing to give up invasion of privacy for protection. Our cell phones now contain GPS tracking systems, another way the government can, if it wants to, keep an eye on us. On the other hand, this tracking device could come in very handy if you are kidnapped or carjacked, as the police will be able to track your phone, if you have it with you. Social media and the use of Facebook have also increased government's ability to keep track of people. All that data, just asking to be taken. One of the scariest aspects of all this is that at the local level, all the way up to D.C., governments have been encouraging the good, old-fashioned snitch culture under the "See Something, Say Something" program, whereby neighbors turn in neighbors, for things like questioning the official version of 9-11 or for stockpiling food or owning guns. Citizens are being turned into the eyes and ears of the state, according to author Jim Redden, who wrote Snitch Culture. Kind of reminiscent of Nazi Germany. Where were the snitches in the Ariel Castro case in Cleveland? Oh, they were there, and called the police numerous times, but nobody was listening. The recent information from AP regarding listening devices used on phones of some of their writers, is just more evidence that we are being watched. It's a fine line between keeping us safe and protecting our constitutional rights.

More New Restaurants For You To Try

It seems like everyday I see or am told about another new restaurant. A while back I was driving a group of women to Oceanside and we started talking restaurants. There are so many new restaurants in Oceanside, and many of them are good. I had mentioned Privateer, a new pizzeria on Coast Highway which we tried in May and loved. It's pub like in that it has a big bar center stage, then lots of tables for eating and drinking. The bar has many local brews on tap, and the pizza is delicious, nice and thin. Privateer also has lots of wonderful side dishes, like brussesl sprouts, asparagus, and interesting salads. Mary (a passenger in my car) mentioned Pizzeria Venti, which I have not tried, but will try to get to soon. Petite Madeline, which is not new, is worth a try at breakfast or lunch if you're in the area of Mission and Coast Highway. It's a French Bakery and restaurant. Lots of delicious looking cakes and pastries, but just a good place to try for morning coffee and a croissant, or a light lunch. In Leucadia we have a new winery and tapas bar. It's called Solterra, and it's on Coast Highway, just a block north of Leucadia Blvd. The business consists of two separate buildings, one to house the huge casks of wine (you can smell it as you approach), the other is the dining area and bar. Again, I have not yet eaten there, but was in to check it out around 5pm one afternoon and am excited to try it. They have many, many wines by the glass, half bottle and bottle. They have many tapas items (small plates), both hot and cold, like olives, marconna almonds, charcuterie plates, clams, some small salads and lamb chops. The hostess told me that some main courses will be added to the menu soon. I can see going there with a group of 4, ordering between 8-12 small plates and some wine, and having a wonderful dinner. Prices of tapas items range from $4-15. My friend Judith, from the Y (I told you I get all my best information at the Y) said she was there after it first opened and it was so busy that they couldn't get in. Go early on a weekday night and let me know. Also from Judith, I learned that a new sausage and beer place has opened on Coast Highway, just about a block away from Solterra, called Regal Seagull. Sausage lovers, you must try this. They serve about seven types of sausages with lots of different toppings. They also serve more traditional bar food like pretzels with dipping sauce and wings. The long bar takes up most of the restaurant, but there are about a dozen tables along the front windows. They serve many local beers on tap, which is definitely the new trend in San Diego. This is the third restaurant/bar to open recently in North County where beer is the main event. For those of you who didn't know, craft brewed beer from San Diego is very highly rated. In fact, we are known as the largest producers of local beer in the country! We also have a growing wine region in Temecula, with over 30 wineries to date. So it makes sense that restaurants are opening and taking advantage of our local products. Great restaurants abound in the Napa/Sonoma region, so why not here in San Diego? Also, all over Europe and England, pubs and bars have combined great beer with great food. Now we're trying to do the same. I hope you like some of these new finds. (unfortunately I am not a beer drinker so I can't comment on the quality of the beer, but I do love my wine, and I've had some good local ones).

Interesting Facts About Left-Handed People

I recently discovered a new website called randomhistory.com. As you know, I am a wealth of useless information, and with this new website I'll have many more useless facts to store in my brain and give to you. All of the information I will give here is from randomhistory.com, from the article called 56 interesting facts about left-handedness and left-handed people. References for the article are from well respected books and journals. Only 10-12% of the world's population are lefties, with women a little more likely to be left handed. Throughout history, left-handedness has been seen as many things, most commonly a mark of the devil or witchcraft, or someone with magical powers. Among Eskimos, every left-handed person is viewed as a potential sorcerer. In Morocco, lefties are considered to be the devil or a cursed person. In witchcraft texts in medieval Europe, it was the left hand that was used to harm or curse another person. The Incas thought left-handers were capable of healing and that they possessed magical powers. Many artistic representations of the devil show him to be left-handed. Tests conducted by St. Lawrence University in New York found that there were more left-handed people with IQ's over 140 than right-handed people. Many of our greatest intellectuals have been left-handed: Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin and Benjamin Franklin were all left-handed. Left-handers are more likely to become alcoholics, schizophrenic, delinquent and dyslexic. They're more likely to have Crohn's disease, colitis and mental illness. Left-handedness runs in families. In the British royal family Queen Mother, Queen Elizabeth 11, Prince Charles, and Prince William are all left handed. The gene LRRTM1 is a strong contributing factor for left-handedness. Scientists discovered the gene while doing research on dyslexia, and believe it is inherited from the father. Finally, there are many references to left-handedness in religion. Maimonides (1135-1204), the Medieval Jewish philosopher, listed 100 blemishes a Jewish priest could not have, and being left-handed was one of them. The right hand is mentioned positively 100 times in the Bible, while the left hand is mentioned only 25 times, all negatively. Both the Jewish and Christian traditions are strongly right-handed in their practices. For Catholics and other Christian denominations, the priest must present the communion wafer with the right hand and the communicant must receive it with the right hand. In many Islamic countries, it is considered "unclean" to eat with the left hand and. Eating with the left hand is forbidden in Saudi Arabia. Even the word "dexterity" shows a right-handed bias. In the animal world, cats, rats and mice show an equal amount of right and left-pawedness. Interesting facts I thought. Oh, one final fact. The connections between the right and left sides of the brain are faster in left-handed people, which means that information is transferred faster to them, and they may be more efficient in dealing with multiple stimuli. Here's a short list of some of the famous artists, writers, leaders, scientists and philosophers who were left-handed: Leonardo da Vinci, Benjamin Franklin, Albert Einstein, Henry Ford, Alexander the Great, Thomas Jefferson, Aristotle, Hans Christian Anderson, Bill Gates, Helen Keller, Julius Caesar, Mozart, Beethoven, Nietzsche, John D. Rockefeller, Babe Ruth, Mark Twain, Gandhi, Albert Schweitzer. I noticed that list include just one woman, Helen Keller, yet there are more women lefties in the world. Why is that? It's because historically men have been the world leaders, the recognized writers, composers, philosophers and scientists.

Happiness And Good Health

I'm always telling you about my mom, who at age 90 continues to take courses that expand her mind. Her latest class is through Osha, and it is given by a professor named Mark Millstein. He is teaching a course in the new discoveries in neuroscience. His lecture last week was on the correlation between happiness and health, and how, through various activities, we can change our level of happiness. What this means is that if you activate the left prefrontal cortex more aggressively, you will create more gamma rays and I think more blood to that area of the brain, which will produce greater happiness. This has been tested by neuroscientist Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin. By learning what stimulates the left prefrontal cortex we can encourage or even train people to be happier. Similarly, by learning what calms the activity in the right prefrontal cortex we can discourage or train people to reduce stress. The world's happiest man is Matthieu Richard, a French genetic scientist. He turned his back on Parisian intellectual life 40 years ago and moved to India to study Buddhism. Now it seems daily meditation has had other benefits-enhancing Mr. Richard's capacity for joy. He was studied by Richard Davidson at the University of Wisconsin (as part of a meditation study). The scans showed that when meditating on compassion, Richard's brain produces a level of gamma waves never reported before in neuroscience literature. The scans also showed excessive activity in his brain's left prefrontal cortex compared to its right counterpart, giving him an abnormally large capacity for happiness and reduced propensity towards negativity. Research into the phenomenon known as "neuroplasticity" is in its infancy and Richard Davidson has been at the forefront of this research. Stimulating the left prefrontal cortex brings more blood to that area, thus producing happiness. Some of the things that stimulate the left prefrontal cortex are exercising, dancing, playing a difficult game like chess or bridge, learning a new language and meditation. Doing something like Soduku or crossword puzzles that you've been doing for years, does not stimulate the left cortex in the same way as learning a new task. So how does happiness relate to health? The research is just starting come in, but apparently those that are happier, are also healthier. The interesting thing is that if you are not particularly happy, you can change that, by doing the activities that contribute to a more stimulated left prefrontal cortex. Scientifically, I'm not exactly sure what doing these activities does to the brain, but the brain scans show additional activity in this are when certain types of activities take place. Unfortunately my mom did not take a lot of notes during the lecture, but she did tell me a few other interesting facts that she learned. She was told that brain was three times smaller than it is today 5 million years ago, and today, the prefrontal cortex is six times larger than it was 5 million years ago. Neuroscience is relatively new, yet a fascinating field. Some of the stuff they're discovering sounds like science fiction, yet researchers are realizing these crazy ideas are really science fact. I can't wait for more information from mom's next class. It will focus on sleep and why so many sleep centers seem to be opening. Is there a correlation between sleeplessness and computer use? Stay tuned.

My Personal Journal

Things are going better than expected, as we approach the one year countdown. Ron will be released from all supervision on October 8, 2014. He was released from Taft on July 27, 2011, so you might wonder why, with three years of supervised release, he is not finished until October 8. That is because from July 27-October 8 he was in a half way house, and under different supervision. When he finally came home, on October 8, he became the responsibility of the department of probation. In the meantime, Ron has been left pretty much alone, goes about his business, and no one bothers him. The inconvenience is not being able to travel, and having to get permission for any travel out of San Diego County, and frankly, for being accountable to someone for what you spend your money on, how much you work and how much you earn. It's something he's learned to live with, and not complain. Complaining is something he NEVER does. When he hears about this friend going on a wonderful trip, or that someone is off to visit grandchildren, he just listens, but never complains. We have both learned to enjoy the relatively simple life we have, enjoy our small circle of friends, and appreciate what we have and where we live. If health permits, we will have time to travel in the future, to go to Colorado to see our grandchildren, or to LA to see our other grandchildren (and their parents), David and Tracy, and mom, whenever we want. Last month I told you that things from Ron's 19 months at Taft surface occasionally and remind him of that time. There were a number of unwritten rules that every inmate learns quickly and follows completely. Here are some of those rules: 1. First and foremost, were the shower rules. Privacy was of utmost concern. Ron often described the bathroom and shower area as like that of a nice health club. The difference was, that no one ever walked around naked, went to the showers naked, or looked at another man. This was not done. Although they had a row of double showers, only the showers on one side were used. The other side was closed off, so that when you showered you had complete privacy. When leaving the shower, always look down. That was the rule. 2. Respect each person's space. This refers to waiting in line, and not crowding, getting really close to each other. This was of great importance, and to this day, when we're waiting in line for something and people start pushing and getting really close, Ron feels extremely uncomfortable. 3. The TV room. This was where fights, if any occurred, would happen. Control of the TV channels was by seniority, so in the 19 months Ron was there he never chose the program. Thus, he had to endure Swamp People, Jerry Springer and other enlightening shows. The men that had been at Taft the longest controlled the TV's. Seating was also by seniority. Those who were there the longest sat up front. Each inmate brought in their own chair for watching TV and newer inmates sat in the back. There were also two other rooms (other than the main room) for watching. These were called the black room and the brown room. One room was for Hispanic inmates, one was for black inmates. Ron was friendly with everyone, and was often invited to watch TV in the black room. It was by invitation only. I don't know what the Asians, Hawaiians, and Caucasians did. I guess they just used the main room. 4. While sitting at dinner, if you wanted the salt that was across the table or made you reach across someone else, you must ask for someone to pass the salt. The same thing applied to handing something to someone, like a newspaper. If you were obstructing someone else while reaching for it, you would always ask to have it passed to you. Their rules were all about respect. These men have a need to feel respected, as they aren't respected by the people that work in the prison. It's their way of keeping a bit of dignity. Also, seniority is the basis on which you get the best seat in the TV room and the best bunk location. Ron never got a great seat for TV or a great bunk location. Thank goodness he wasn't there long enough to earn that.