Why Is This So Confusing?

 I can't imagine why understanding when to get a Covid-19 test and what kind of test to get should be so confusing, but to be quite honest, I am totally confused, and with the information and protocols changing almost daily, I feel I know less now than I did a year ago.  Am I the only one that feels this way?

First they said to isolate for 10 days if you had contact with someone who had Covid-19.  Now they say isolate for 5-7 days.  They make it sound like everyone should be testing all the time!  Take a test on consecutive days and get a negative result to make sure you are ok.

Viral test or PCR test?  A viral test will show current infection.  There are two types, the antigen test and the nucleic acid amplification tests.  (NAAT).  Use the rapid test (PCR) whether you have symptoms or not.  Take the test 5-7 days after exposure.  With all this information, who knows what to do?  Also, the rapid tests are not always accurate, so throw that problem into the equation.

My friend's granddaughters teacher came down with Covid.  My friend was with her granddaughter all day on Christmas day.  Her granddaughter has no symptoms.  Should my friend isolate or not?  I had lunch with a friend who tested positive about 5 days after I had lunch with her. (this was a while ago).  Was she contagious when I was with her?  She had mild symptoms and got tested.  Should I have isolated?  Tested?  I just don't know what's the right thing to do anymore.

My answer to all this is to lay low for the next month.  I will stay home as much as possible and always wear a mask in public.  I think January is going to be a bad month, so it's best just to stay away from people if you can.  I just ordered a box of N95 masks.  

A least people are being responsible.  I went to play pickleball with a group of 8 yesterday, and one woman who I did not know announced that she had been exposed to someone who had Covid, and she would leave if people felt uncomfortable.  You should have seen everyone take a big step away from her when she said that!  No one said anything, then I said that I felt uncomfortable, especially since I spend a lot of time with my 98 year old mother.  She understood and went home.  I think we all need to speak up more!  Ask if someone's vaccinated if you don't know them.  What's wrong with that?  It's your life, and let's protect ourselves and each other and get through this terrible mess.

The Barbizon Hotel for Women: What A List of Residents

I just finished reading about the history of Barbizon Hotel for Women in New York.  It was fascinating.  The hotel was opened in 1927, and was THE place for single women to stay while trying to get a career started in fashion, acting, publishing or anything else.  Strict rules had to be followed, including a dress code and specific hours women had to be home.  

The women's magazine Mademoiselle was founded in 1935.  Editor Betsy Talbot Blackwell had a junior editor program, very prestigious, where young women would come from all over the country as assistant editors.  They would stay at the Barbizon.  

Another group of young women who resided at the Barbizon were aspiring models.  Both the Powers Modeling Agency and the Ford Modeling Agency were started during this time, and young models all stayed at the Barbizon.

The Katherine Gibbs Secretarial School was very popular with young women, and those attending the school from out of New York, stayed at the Barbizon.

Then of course there were dozens and dozens of aspiring actors, writers and poets.  Any woman who came to New York to find fame and fortune, or a husband, stayed at the Barbizon.  It is no longer in operation.  Changing with the times, it finally started allowing men to stay, then ultimately it was bought by a developer and is now a pricy condo complex.  

Here is a list of some of the very famous women who resided at the Barbizon Hotel:  Joan Crawford, Cloris Leachman, Joan Didion, Ali MacGraw, Grace Kelly, Tippy Hedron, Lauren Bacall, Candice Bergen, Betty Buckley, Rita Hayworth, Cybill Shepherd, Jessica Savage, Sylvia Plath, Nancy Regan.

Now that's some list of influential women!!!

History of Women's Clothing Sizes

 We've all done it.  We've worn a size 12 forever, and now it doesn'tt fit.  What happened?  The answer is simple.  The growing obesity rate in the U.S. has made the size you used to wear, too tight.  So what do the manufacturers do?  In order to keep you happy in a size 12, they do what's called vanity sizing.  That's when manufacturers mark clothing with smaller sizes to appeal to customers.  

In the 1940's the government, in their infinite wisdom, funded a study attempting to define the average American woman, by measuring thousands of women.  The result?  Way too many measurements.

In the 1950's the government tried to classify the woman's body yet again.  Marilyn Monroe, with her 35 inch bust and 22 inch waist might have worn a size 12 at the time.  Today, those same measurements would put her in a size 6.

In the 1970's the government updated its standard again, this time including non-whites and non-military personnel.  The hour glass figure is what most women were going for.

But we're all so different.  Today, vanity sizing is still prevalent, while many brands (Chicos) use their own catalog sizes.  A size 12 dress can vary dramatically according to the manufacturer.  The goal is to keep customers happy, and that means to keep the sizes small.  We all know it's a game, but there's something about still wearing a size 12 that makes a woman happy.  Even though I know I'm fooling no one, it makes me happy!

Washington Post

What To Do About 3 Million Stray Dogs In Morocco

 There are millions of stray dogs in Morocco, running in packs, terrorizing school children, and often attacking people.  What is often done now will not reduce the dog population long term.  Poison, bullets and starvation are the methods mostly used today, but there are other ways to reduce the population of stray dogs that will actually reduce their numbers.  

Sterilization, vaccination and release is the best approach to reducing the number of unwanted dogs.  Dogs that are sterilized are not going to reproduce, and over time, the number of unwanted dogs will diminish.  This is the humane thing to do.

Ferrol cats are also a problem.  There is a program used in other parts of the world that could also be used in Morocco.  It is called TNR, trap, neuter, release.  This is similar to the program suggested for dogs, but because the cats are more difficult to catch, they must use humane traps to catch them.

Many humans are hurt by the packs of wild dogs that roam Morocco.  Sterilization and vaccination are the best way to reduce their numbers.

Shame On Kelloggs

 I love capitalism, but I hate corporate greed.  On October 5, 1,400 Kellogg's workers went on strike when their contract expired.  They wanted better health care benefits and higher pay, especially for the lower tier wage earners on their two-tier wage system.  Today is December 17, and the strike has not yet been settled.

Why do I talk about greed in this dispute?  Here are a few facts.  During the past two years, workers at Kellogg's, and millions of other essential workers, kept us fed.  They often worked 12-15 hour days, many workers worked 50-70 straight days without a break.  They worked incredibly hard to help keep America fed during the pandemic.  The CEO earned $12million last year (salary and compensation), other executives earned $300,000 or more.  Profits for Kellogg last year were $1.4billion, yet here we are, not giving the worker bees their fair share.

To top off this bit of corporate greed, Kellogg is planning to ship several hundred jobs to Mexico, where the average hourly wage for workers is 97 cents.  Additionally, Kellogg says it plans to replace striking workers with new hires, with many, including President Biden, saying it is an existential attack on unions and workers.

According to the news this morning, it appears a contract may be approved.  Membership is ready to vote, and if it passes, workers will return to work after Christmas.

Next time you reach for that box of Corn Flakes, Raisin Bran, or Rice Krispies, think again.  Do you want to support a corporation that earns $1.4 in a year and doesn't take care of its essential workers?  I don't.

Where is Peng Shuai?

 Peng Shuai is one of the most famous female tennis players in the world.  On November 2 she accused 75-year old Zhang, a former leader within the Chinese Communist party, of pressuring her into sex.  Peng claimed the assault occurred after Zhang invited her to play tennis with him and his wife.  She posted this on social media, and within hours, her post was taken down.  Days later, Peng Shuai disappeared.  She has not been seen in public since.

A post, presumably of Peng recanting the charges she originally made, was forthcoming, but most experts feel it is not Peng, or that she is being forced to make the statement.  The world tennis association is trying to figure out what to do.  On December 1 the WTA suspended all tournaments in China over the country's censorship and failure to investigate the allegations.  The WTA said they cannot in good conscience send more WTA players to a country capable of the censorship it's applying to Peng.

Is this a political issue or a sports issue?  Of course it is both.  Tennis is big business throughout the world, and China stands to lose millions, maybe billions of dollars over the incident.  However, control of content on social media is of utmost importance to the Chinese.  Everything is subject to censorship, and if you're famous, even more so.  

I worry about our censorship of social media.  There's a fine line between freedom of expression and speech, and censorship.  Blatant falsehoods should be removed and allegations should be investigated.  This is an ongoing problem for the free world, and it's getting harder everyday to control.  We'll just have to wait and see what happens to Peng Shuai next.  Hopefully world pressure will force the Chinese to release Peng.  I'm not hopeful that this will occur.

A Day in LA: Van Gogh and Pizza

Beyond Van Gogh will soon open in San Diego, but I was looking for a fun outing in the fall, so I got a few friends together and we bought tickets for the show in Los Angeles.  What a great day we had, although, as usual, things did not go according to plan.

We were planning to drive in two cars to comfortably accomodate six of us.  At 9am in the morning I got a call from Sharon.  Her dog was quite sick, and she need to take her to the vet right away, and would miss the trip.  We scrambled to find someone to take her place last minute, but had no luck.  Then, just a few minutes before our departure, we got a call that Sue had been in a minor car accident, and could not go.  So, although our group got smaller, we did not lack in enthusiasm for the day ahead.

Our first stop was lunch, just a few blocks from the Van Gogh venue in Hollywood.  We ate at L'Antica Pizzeria da Michele.  You would miss it if you didn't know it was there.  It's off Sunset one block from Las Palmas, on a shabby looking street with nothing much to see.  But once you enter the doors of the restaurant, you are transported to an Italian bistro.  It is light and airy, bustling, and very inviting.  The restaurant originated in Naples in 1870, and their tradition of authentic Neopolitan  pizza and pasta is still alive in Hollywood.  Pizzas are big (12 inches) and delicious.  Appetizers are wonderful too.  They include things like burrata and eggplant, gnocchi fritto, and zucchini blossoms stuffed with ricotta.  Great salads and pastas round out the menu.  We enjoyed a modestly priced Italian wine to accompany the meal.

Then it was off to Immersion Van Gogh.  The exhibit consists of a walk through empty rooms where paintings are projected all around.  The images move and swirl around the walls and floors and ceilings.  There are 300 Van Gogh works in all, and wonderful recorded symphonic score to accompany the visual images.  It is truly a beautiful sensory experience.

Although the gift shop (of course there's a gift shop) has some lovely items, we all thought the prices were, well, quite pricy.  No one bought anything.  We did stay to watch the program twice.  It was that good.  It's only about 30 minutes long, and you can't see everything the first time, so I recommend watching it twice.  You won't be bored.  I hope you have a chance to see it when it comes to San Diego in January.

Ecuador's Chernoybl

 Texaco's 30 years in Ecuador was like a war on the environment.  Decades after drilling in the Amazon, the oil production waste Texaco left behind continues to sicken Indigenous communities.  The allegations by Indigenous Ecuadorians for environmental justice  say Texaco (later acquired by Chevron) deliberately dumped more than 18 billion gallons of toxic waste into hundreds of uncovered, unlined pits that now dot over a million acres.  Texaco has admitted to dumping 15.8 billion gallons.  There was better technology at the time that may have prevented some of the environmental contamination, but Texaco chose not to use it.

Texaco saved billions of dollars by dumping its oily waste into unlined pits and leaving it there.  They dumped on sites next to homes, adjacent to drinking water wells, and uphill from rivers and streams locals relied on for bathing and fishing.  Indigenous residents say the contamination decimated the natural environment.  Crops no longer yielded harvest, fish stocks vanished, as did the lush foliage of the rainforest.  The effects on the local residents showed shockingly high rates of cancer, miscarriage and other diseases associated with oil contamination. 

Decades later, little as changed.  Residents still suffer from high rates of respiratory illnesses, diabetes, and other oil-related health conditions.

I learned about this when I listened to a podcast about Steven Donziger, the American attorney who led the legal team that sued Chevron in Ecuadorian court, and won.  Yet he so far has served 800 days under house arrest.  How he ended up under house arrest is a Kafkaesque story that no one would believe.  I urge you to google Steven Donziger and hear his story.  You won't believe it.  It appears his arrest is retribution for his lawsuit against Chevron (formerly Texaco) that he won in court after court.  How he ended up under house arrest is truly terrifying.  

How is it that I (and probably you) never heard about this disaster, worse than the grounding of the Exxon Valdez and the sinking of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico?  I don't know how this escaped my attention, but I am so happy to hear about it now.  Unfortunately large corporations put profits above all else.  We need to punish companies that do this.

Milton Hershey School

 Did you ever hear of the Milton Hershey School?  Well, neither did I, until I was listening to a podcast one day about children living in poverty.  The Milton Hershey School was mentioned, so I had to learn more.

The Milton Hershey School began as a dream shared by chocolate magnate Milton Hershey and his wife Catherine.  Unable to have children of their own, they decided to use their wealth to create a school for orphaned boys.  That was in 1909.  It has evolved into one of the premier independent private schools for children of all races, Pre-K-12.  About 2,000 children attend the school each year.

Admission is restricted to low=income individuals without intellectual or behavioral problems.  Students live in group home with children of the same gender and similar age, with houseparents.  The houseparents are a married couple who act as surrogate parents, helping them learn life skills and good character.  The school is free for students and is funded by a trust containing most of Hershey's fortune, valued at $15 billion, making it the wealthiest private school in the U.S.

The school helps develop leadership skills and build character, and much of their learning is by doing.  They have a opportunity to travel internationally and gain worldly experience and global awareness.  What an awesome opportunity for the kids who attend the Milton Hershey School.

If you're interested in seeing how amazing the school is, go to UTube and view a 2 minute video that will tell you much more.  I was so impressed I spent a long time reading about the school and it's history.  It was a K-12 school until recently, when the Catherine Hershey School opened for Pre-K children, ages 4-5.  I never knew it before, but the Hershey's used their wealth to change the lives of so many people.  So impressive.

How Long Can We Live?

 A French woman, age 122, recently died.  She was the oldest known woman alive, but scientists now think we can and will live much longer.  In 1990, there were 95,000 centenarians in the world.  In 2015, there were 450,000.   By the year 2100, scientists predict there will be 25million centenarians!  In fact, the first 150 year old human is probably alive today.

There are many reasons why people are living longer, but I am more interested in what society is going to do with all these old people.  Who will care for them and how will this affect society?  It is a huge problem.

Why does an organism get old and die anyway?  Not all organisms do.  Nothing in biology indicates the inevitablity of death.  Microbes have been dug from beneath the earth that have been alive for 100 million years.  A grove of aspen trees in Utah has been alive for 14,000 year, and the hydra, a type of jellyfish, does not appear to age and can revert to juvenile stage, then mature and revert again, potentially forever.  

Medical science has increased lifespan throughout the world and will continue to do so.  But what are we going to do with 25 million people worldwide who are 120 years old?  It's a good question to contemplate as we age and understand the challenges for society that an aging population creates.

Starship Technologies Deliver Food At UCLA

 In the middle of the pandemic, UCLA began a safer, contactless way for students to receive meals and drinks while on campus.  Thanks to a partnership between ASUCLA Restaurants and Starship Technologies, food delivery is getting safer and more interesting.  

UCLA joins a roster of dozens of colleges and universities that are using Starship robots.  Since its launch in 2018, more than 1 million orders have been completed by the delivery robots.  As you drive around campus, you are likely to see several robots moving along the sidewalk, probably to a dorm or office building.  They travel at 4mph, go up and down stairs or ramps, or even grass.  I read that the delivery cost is only $1.99!  I think that might just be an introductory offer, as my good sense tells me these robots are VERY expensive.  Companies are not only getting into the autonomous car business, but now the autonomous delivery business.

My mom and I went to the UCLA Conference Center's restaurant Paleia, for dinner.  The dinner was excellent.  On the way home, I took a wrong turn.  Lucky for me.  I discovered the robots moving along the sidewalk to deliver food to a dorm.  

If you think this is a good idea, you might want to check Starship Technologies on the Frankfurt and Stuttgart stock exchange, symbol DAI.

I'm Back

 On November 19, my mom and I left on a Crystal Cruise to the Caribbean.  It was everything we expected, and needed, and more.  First,  there were five other women from Ocean Hills on board that I knew, which mad it all the more fun.  Additionally, my bridge friend Liz, a travel agent specializing in bridge cruises, was also on board with over 20 clients.  With all that, we were never without dinner partners or cocktail parties.  

I felt extremely safe.  Starting with a rapid covid test before boarding, to crew members (all vaccinated) masked at all times, to buffets where only the staff serves the food, to contact tracing watches which were worn at all times, I never felt uncomfortable.  

Our ship had 560 passengers, where capacity is 950, so nothing was overly crowded.  Hand sanitizers were everywhere, temperature checks were done before entering restaurants, and when we disembarked in port, we always wear a mask.  We were the first cruise ship to stop at Key West in 18 months, and were they ever thrilled.  There must have been 100 businesses that came out to greet us with cheering, bands, and signs of welcome.  We loved it.  They were so happy to have us back.  

The entertainment on the ship was the best I have ever seen on Crystal.  The highlight was a comedian from New York named John Joseph.  I haven't laughed so hard in years.  We also had lectures by Roger McGinn, co founder of The Byrds, who had some wonderful stories to tell.  

My mom kept up with women 25 years younger than her, and even solved her hip problem.  After months of suffering, mostly at night, with a sore hip that kept her up, her pain disappeared.  Why?  The only thing we can deduct is that the extensive walking she did on the ship was just what her hip needed.  She is so happy, and plans to continue walking as much as she can at home.

Now, I must tell you about the blue watches that everyone was required to wear all the time while on the ship.  They are for contact tracing.  Each one is specific to you, so if you have more than 15 minutes of contact with anyone who tests positive, they can track you and tell you.  Fantastic.  I think they will be standard equipment on cruise ships, at least for the foreseeable future.

Great trip, great food, entertainment, lectures, and lots of relaxation all add up to 5 pounds.  It was worth it.

LA Hotspot: Birdie G's

 Bergamot Station in Santa Monica, California, has long been an artist hangout.  Lots of galleries of young artists to visit, meet the artists, and maybe even buy something.  Now it is also a dining hotspot.  Birdie G's is at 2421 Michigan Avenue, and is a wonderful spot for drinks, dinner or brunch.  The indoor dining area is spacious and attractive, but the outside space is amazing too.  This restaurant was never set up for outdoor dining, but Covid-19 required people to get creative.  The people at Birdie G's created a large outdoor space, mostly covered with heaters, and very inviting.  We sat outside and loved it. 

The star of the restaurant is of course the food.  Being part of the Rustic Canyon Family of restaurants (Rustic Canyon is one of the best restaurants in Santa Monica), you know it's going to be good.  Jeremy Fox, an award winning chef, is in charge of the kitchen.  The food is comforting, seasonal, and locally grown.  The menu has influences from the US and Eastern Europe.

The items on the menu seem to be all over the place, with hors d'oeuvres from matzo and butter, to a pickled, fermented and marinated relish tray with five onion dip.  My favorite starter was the button mushroom carpaccio.  Thinly sliced button mushrooms topped with slivers of parmesean cheese and spices and olive oil.  Delicious.  The cornbread in a little cast iron skillet with honey butter was wonderful too.  But my favorite dish was the kugel.  Yes, kugel!  Ricotta cheese, pecans and sage brown butter made this a fabulous dish that I can't wait to order again.  Oh, yes, they also have matzo ball soup on the menu. 

The rest of the menu consists of a few steaks, a lamb with Persian spices, and striped bass paprikash.  We never got to dessert.  We enjoyed a simple glass of wine, but for drinkers, there is a full, spectacular bar.

If you find yourself in Santa Monica in the late afternoon, try Bertie G's for a drink and eclectic dinner.  Or, try it on a Sunday for brunch.  You will be happy you did.