{"id":1200,"date":"2013-02-16T20:16:17","date_gmt":"2013-02-17T03:16:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/hultquist\/?p=1200"},"modified":"2013-02-16T20:17:34","modified_gmt":"2013-02-17T03:17:34","slug":"cosmic-events-and-sunflowers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/?p=1200","title":{"rendered":"Cosmic events and Sunflowers"},"content":{"rendered":"

Stay away from the one and plant the other.\u00a0 Watch the flowers follow the sun and make intricate geometric patterns.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
Spiral seeds of a Sunflower’s face
above the trace of an asteroid’s path<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Saturday, Feb 9\u00a0 Got the week\u2019s doings completed without saying anything about today, so will review here a little.\u00a0 I was recovering most of yesterday.\u00a0 Took my last dose of codeine cough syrup about 7:00 p.m.\u00a0 Sad to hear last night of another friend’s brother’s death.\u00a0 It’s no fun to get old.\u00a0 I have a friend in Idaho, a few years older, who has lost 13 friends or relatives in January this year.\u00a0 I worked a lot on receipts, bills, and checking health charges and insurance payments.\u00a0 What a continued mess.\u00a0 Found an Aug 2012 annual physical for John was posted with the wrong code.\u00a0 Took me a 1\/2 hr on the phone, mostly waiting to find out why the bill was wrong (in my opinion).\u00a0 Such has happened a lot to us over the past 3 years.\u00a0 I hope you all will check your medical paperwork and not just accept it as correct and pay the bill, when you may owe nothing!\u00a0 I was correct, but it took awhile to solve.\u00a0 The code was submitted incorrectly as a visit, not a routine physical, and a co-pay was charged (my first clue something was wrong).\u00a0 Not only that, but only a portion was credited and then most of it was counted on my deductible and we owed it (always happens at the turn of the year, when we have to pay $250 before they pay the bill).\u00a0 Yet with both Medicare (1st<\/sup>) and Group Health (2nd<\/sup>) coverage, we have been fully covered on annual physicals, with no co-pay.\u00a0 Next, I called my doctor’s office.\u00a0 The accountant indicated she knew it had not been coded properly, and she had resubmitted (I noticed that last year to alert her, when I figured the Medicare paperwork had not been filed).\u00a0 John and I always have ours the same day, and mine came through all right.\u00a0 Turns out, Medicare just finally reimbursed them for his IN FULL (in January).\u00a0 [Both Medicare and Group Health premiums have gone up for 2013 compared to last year, including the deductibles and co-pays.\u00a0 So we are paying a little under $6,000\/year for insurance and, on top of that, co-pays and medicines that are not covered.\u00a0 Then there are many hours trying to keep all of these things on track.\u00a0 Dental coverage is entirely separate, so more cost there.]\u00a0 The rest of the day besides bills and sorting receipts from stacks around the room, was spent on working on the annual greetings I have been trying to get out before Valentine’s Day. \u00a0(I did not make it).\u00a0 Today, I finished one link of the story about John’s WTA work in 2012.\u00a0 I have worked on it for a couple of days, mixing its time with other life\u2019s activities.\u00a0 Actually, it’s not yet finished.\u00a0 I’m waiting for John to proof it and make additions or deletions.\u00a0 Almost done for my proofer outside of this house, my valuable asset.\u00a0 She is back east so won’t see it until tomorrow.\u00a0 We just finished a late dinner.\u00a0 Then we had one dog go out for her evening run (to potty), and she noisily encountered a skunk by the back fence and came back in smelling awful.\u00a0 It was an indirect or in-the-air hit, apparently, with no noticeable fluid on her.\u00a0 The others were out with her, but they escaped the cloud of mist.<\/p>\n

Sunday, Feb 10\u00a0 This was a not-too-much-to-do day.\u00a0 Mostly worked on web pages for the 2012 greetings.\u00a0 A little kitchen and other clean-up by us both.\u00a0 More tomorrow.<\/p>\n

Monday, Feb 11\u00a0 The day started early with a trip to town to drop off John’s computer to fix the missing sound problem that began with a power outage several months ago as well as to drop off my Subaru for a mileage-triggered major maintenance, oil change, and tune-up.\u00a0 At 4:30 p.m. came a phone call from our mechanic.\u00a0 My car had its 60,000 mile required maintenance and the bill totaled $914.98.\u00a0 Almost $550 was labor \u2013 drive belts being the big deal at 60,000. \u00a0Such things have to be priced into the cost of ownership \u2018cause you don\u2019t want something to go wrong when traveling at 70 mph on the interstate. \u00a0Now it is supposed to last another 60,000 miles.<\/p>\n

Tuesday, Feb 12\u00a0 Morning brought a trip to a new edition of an old local restaurant chain, Copper Kettle, for a coffee klatch with Emeritus Professors from Geography.\u00a0 The oldest is 86, I think.\u00a0 He actually led the discussion (first mentioning trips to the 3 Gorges Dam in China and the new Lock(s) at the Panama Canal, he and his wife made some time ago).\u00a0 We talked about lots of things but mostly about the cost of education, and a need for funding current \u2018scholarships\u2019 as our State and University seek to adjust to a new business model \u2013 meaning higher costs and less funding.\u00a0\u00a0 This led to the old GI bill, and on and on, for almost 1.5 hrs.\u00a0 John and I were the only ones not filling up on coffee.\u00a0 There were 6 guys and one other gal joining us, the wife of the most recent retiree.\u00a0 We have decided to meet every second Tuesday morning of the month. \u00a0Now that the weather is better, it might work for a while. \u00a0We left home at 9:00 a.m. and did not return home until 4:20.\u00a0 From the meeting, John and I headed to Yakima, for some necessities, having lunch there.\u00a0 Tried making two stops at places we normally do not shop.\u00a0 The first we went to turn in our $8.00 coupon on a special ConAgra brand bread flour the web said was available at Wal*Mart.\u00a0 It was not.\u00a0 Did our run to Costco as well, getting meds for two neighbors and for another friend in town, and greenhouse grown tomatoes from Canada (a big industry in B.C.) for another.\u00a0 On the way back to Ellensburg, we stopped by the new Cabalas store to pick up two knives John ordered for in-store pick up, saving $5 on shipping.\u00a0 Well, they weren’t in as expected, so sadly, we will have to drive back to get them, and only have 2 weeks to pick them up.\u00a0 Jeez.\u00a0 So much for planning.\u00a0 Well, he wants to go to a nursery and see if they have a yellow Plum tree \u2013 maybe that should be a Ylum tree! \u00a0On the return trip we detoured through EBRG for me to pick up my rejuvenated Subaru.\u00a0 After John did the animal chores, we carried some medicine and some cat food to our neighbor.\u00a0 For dinner, John made chicken, biscuits, and fried cauliflower.\u00a0 No work yet today on annual greetings; maybe yet tonight.<\/p>\n

Wednesday, Feb 13\u00a0 John saw two eagles this morning, in trees by the road.\u00a0 They visit the area when the cows give birth, using the opportunity for easy meals of placental expulsion (aka afterbirth).\u00a0 I’m still not feeling well yet.\u00a0 We did go and I played music and ate at the Noon Food Bank soup kitchen.\u00a0 John drove his truck to town, dropped me off for an hour, and ran errands:\u00a0 (1) BiMart for \u201cgeneric Round-Up\u201d at a good price, and seed starter pots and (2) gasoline station to fill gas cans for the old 1980 pickup.\u00a0 That\u2019s why we drove a PU \u2013 not wanting to carry gas inside one of the cars.\u00a0 He also went by the grocery store and got some stuff, namely used his $8 coupon for Wesson Soybean oil rather than flour we cannot get.\u00a0 On by the bank and then to pick up John’s computer that has been being fixed finally after taking in early Monday morning.\u00a0 He will be thrilled to have his “right arm” back.\u00a0 I know the feeling.<\/p>\n

The computer sound problem was only partially resolved.\u00a0 The output for the powered subwoofer and paired speakers seems to have died. There is still a port for a lesser set of speakers.\u00a0 So our 8 year old motherboard is now connected to 20 year old speakers rather than 10 year old speakers \u2013 progress?\u00a0 The operating system is Windows XP and Microsoft is abandoning it next spring, having tried before and gotten a lot of blowback.\u00a0 The company is pushing a new Windows 8 and MS-Office 2013 that cost a lot for things we don\u2019t need.\u00a0 John is investigating \u201cOpen Source\u201d systems and software.\u00a0 Ideas are here:<\/p>\n

Open Source<\/a>
\nUbuntu<\/a>
\nLibre Writer<\/a><\/p>\n

We are very dependent on our computers for Web things and keeping in touch but don\u2019t need fancy phones, high costs, monthly fees, and such for things we don\u2019t use. \u00a0I skipped exercise again today; just not up to it yet.\u00a0 But, I did get a fair amount of work done on the 2012 greetings.<\/p>\n

Thursday, Feb 14 \u00a0Happy Valentine’s Day.\u00a0 Will be going to Rehab for music, and likely drop off something at the Geog Dept. at CWU.\u00a0 John did not go along.\u00a0 He is easing back into outdoor chores as the temps come up and the footing dries out.<\/p>\n

Friday, Feb 15\u00a0 A little bird flew into the back window this morning and knocked himself out.\u00a0 I held the dog to keep her from leaving the house to get him, and yelled for John, who came and rescued it.\u00a0 It was still moving a little, so he brought it in and held it until it got its senses back and could be released.\u00a0 It seems to have recovered.\u00a0 If there is long term harm to them when that happens, we don\u2019t know.\u00a0 Others we know do the same thing and we hope for the bird\u2019s full recovery.\u00a0 We have been working this morning on a Blueberry soil pH story with a link from the 2012 greetings.\u00a0 A friend wanted to know about our Blueberries so John is working on an explanation.\u00a0 We are not in a good location for them so there are procedures he has to do to prepare the soil for them and then manage the water so as to not undo all the preliminary work.\u00a0 I am still working on other pages.\u00a0 We left before noon today for the Chocolate Valentine’s Day party at the Adult Activity Center.\u00a0 It was from noon to 1:30 but did not include lunch.\u00a0 There was sherbet punch, cookies, chocolate cake of two varieties, cupcakes of many types, cookies, and candy.\u00a0 They had a chocolate fountain with pineapple, bananas, cantaloupe, apple slices, and pretzels.\u00a0 Further across the room were chocolate-dipped strawberries our neighbor (around the block) made.\u00a0 She won one of the 3 prizes for desserts contributed by participants.\u00a0 All present could vote on their favorite, or the wackiest, and some other category.\u00a0 There were probably 50 people there.\u00a0 They had some games and gifts for everyone.\u00a0 After practicing (we found them unsatisfactory) on what we might take, we went empty handed, deciding not to enter the contest.\u00a0 It was a sunny, warm day today, and John took along a book titled \u201ce<\/em>: The Story of a Number.\u201d \u00a0The number starts out and just goes on and on<\/p>\n

as shown here: 2.718 . . .<\/a><\/p>\n

The number shows up in many math situations and also in nature associated with spirals.\u00a0 Just stick – spiral sunflower – into an \u2018images\u2019 search box on Bing or Google and have a look.\u00a0 So John read in the car while I exercised for 50 minutes.\u00a0 That was about all I could manage after laying off a couple weeks with my cold.\u00a0 This afternoon John did the normal chores plus cut some dead trees for corral rails and moved some of the larger rocks out of the raised soon-to-be drive to the hay barn.\u00a0 The bulldozer work last fall resulted in a lot of \u201cfinishing work\u201d for his attention. I worked on more of my web pages for the annual greeting that I hope to finish and distribute this weekend.\u00a0 Making good progress; finally it’s coming together.<\/p>\n

Saturday, Feb 16 \u00a0Got some computer chores and postal mails completed.\u00a0 John’s taking the last of the small apples to the deer but at a spot 100 yards from the house.\u00a0 We are trying to discourage their attachment to the house area.\u00a0 There are 12 minutes left on my landline phone we’ll use today to call Cousin Ethel (93) in PA.\u00a0 I’m scheduled to go to Briarwood Commons at 2:00, to play music, on the way, picking up my friend, Lois (w\/ macular degeneration that has happened to Ethel also), and then the residents will feed us afterwards.\u00a0 I\u2019m back, and they had chicken noodle soup with turkey, rolls, and several desserts.\u00a0 My favorite was a cookie with white chocolate chips and pecans.\u00a0 They appreiciate us as much as we appreciate the attention.\u00a0 When I got home, I made the long distance call to Ethel, but ran out of minutes too quickly.\u00a0 Used a card and we talked another half hour.\u00a0 Nice to visit with her.\u00a0 John worked on everything up to the last couple of sentences while I was in town.\u00a0\u00a0 Then, while I was proofing and he was outside with cat feeding duty, he alerted me to a bright pink cloud over our blue roofed pole building.\u00a0 The sun was just going down but still peaking over the Cascade Mountains about where Mt. Rainier is with respect to us.\u00a0 \u00a0I grabbed my camera and ran out and almost missed the photo \u2018op\u2019 but here it is (less pink than it was).<\/p>\n

\"Bright<\/a>
Cosmic Event on the Naneum Fan – 2\/16\/2013
(same week an asteroid exploded over Russia)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Hope your week was great.<\/p>\n

Nancy and John<\/p>\n

Still on the Naneum Fan<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Stay away from the one and plant the other.\u00a0 Watch the flowers follow the sun and make intricate geometric patterns. Saturday, Feb 9\u00a0 Got the week\u2019s doings completed without saying anything about today, so will review here a little.\u00a0 I was recovering most of yesterday.\u00a0 Took my last dose of codeine cough syrup about 7:00 … Continue reading “Cosmic events and Sunflowers”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1200","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-random-issues"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p72iNf-jm","_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1200"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1202,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1200\/revisions\/1202"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1200"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1200"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/rocknponderosa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1200"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}