Ramblin' with Roger

NYT Connections keeps us together

27 years

I’m working on the premise that the New York Times Connections keeps us together. I mean my wife and me.

Here’s Connections’ answers for April 25: —

Body coverings: ENAMEL, HAIR, NAIL, SKIN
Masses, in idioms: CROWD, HAYSTACK, MILLION, OCEAN
Old-timey slang for law enforcement: COPPER, DICK, FLATFOOT, GUMSHOE
Starting with synonyms for “Throw”: CAST IRON, CHUCK E. CHEESE, HURLY-BURLY, PITCHFORK

On this particular puzzle, my wife found most of the first category, and we split the second. I got the third, because I’m old. She saw the fourth.

We see different things, and that works to our advantage. We usually get a reverse rainbow, identifying the hardest one first, mostly avoiding the ruses.

Likewise, when we do the New York Times news quiz each week, I’ll either know or remember the sports stuff. She reads a daily NYT summary and picks up tidbits that my sifting through various sources doesn’t catch, and vice versa.

So I know when she calls my name in the morning after daybreak, she’s asking for the time.

We’re more likely to do schtick together in the a.m. You know, the usual intentional malaprops. “Sam and Janet Evening” (Some Enchanted Evening), e.g., I could ask my wife for more groanworthy examples, usually generated by the situation, but the wordplay wouldn’t make sense to most people anyway.

The Zen of departure

I have finally recontextualized the departure thing. You know: she says either we’re leaving an event now, or a time certain. And then we don’t, almost as a result of her talking to someone. For a time, I saw it was a violation of a contract that SHE had initiated. “We should leave at 12:30,” and then we don’t.

I used to have a conversation with someone, but then she thought we couldn’t depart because of it. No, no – I’m just utilizing the time.

So now, I just sit quietly. If I have something to read (a newspaper, a magazine), I’ll do that. Otherwise, I’ve gotten quite proficient playing backgammon, hearts, and pinochle on the phone. I realize that she NEEDS to have those conversations, even when they’re unplanned, and that they put her own schedule off-kilter.

My wife’s calendar is very full. Her work schedule, ostensibly part-time (HA!), is extremely busy. She has a bunch of stuff involving her mother’s finances she has to deal with; my MIL’s mail now comes to our house. I generally sort out the solicitations, but there is still a slew of bills and other financial items for her to deal with.

Then we’ve been dealing with the Daughter’s art show and upcoming graduation. My wife was the magician who figured out how to pay for those four years of our child’s education.

So, it’s all good. 27 years. Who woulda thunk it?

The picture is of us with our only child. I used it for my blog 18 years ago, so it’s recycled. As NBC-TV ads used to note, “It’s new to you.”

May rambling: Not Wisdom

RJ wins another SDMA

What I Can’t Show You (John Green visits Koidu Government Hospital and sees the Maternal Center of Excellence for the first time), and Despair is Not Wisdom (Hank Green).

The FDA withdrew studies showing that the Covid and shingles vaccines were safe.

Gas Station Drugs: a world of questionable supplements and boner pills, and The Hadow Docket: a shortcut to the Supreme Court – Last Week Tonight with John Oliver

I Was Told I Had 6 Months to Live. That Was 20 Years Ago. — Here’s what two brain surgeries taught me about public health and care access.

I caught myself thinking: “Some of these research papers are awfully good for what might be a student’s first effort.”

Some white nationalists swoop in after natural disasters, trying to soften their image while offering help (Lesley Stahl/60 Minutes)

8647

Demand destruction vs fuel-superseding infrastructure: Will FOTUS Hormuz us into the full Gretacene?

AI

Silicon Valley Is Bracing for a Permanent Underclass. AI is pushing millions of employees to the edge of a cliff as most sectors are racing to replace jobs with AI. As a wise friend of mine noted, “We need programs and plans to ensure everyone is active, connected, engaged with society when millions have no work. Some countries will get this right, while others will slide into a dystopian abyss of depression, isolation, and anger toward technology that will not bode well for a peaceful, productive humanity.”

I got punished for paying off my car loan two years early

A rare archaeological site in the Sonoran Desert was bulldozed by a DHS contractor involved in building the latest sections of the border wall.

Free Phone Calls Saved Incarcerated People and Their Loved Ones $622.5 Million

Young Boy Finds the First Ancient Greek Artifact Discovered in Berlin

New Musicals ‘Schmigadoon!’ and ‘Lost Boys’ Lead List of Tony Nominees

The Song That Puts You to Sleep (On Purpose) and The Cartoon That Shut Down Boston and Operation Mincemeat and The Part of Canada That Doesn’t Want You

MUSIC

Not Me No Way – Rebecca Jade, who won Best R&B, Funk or Soul Song at the 35th Annual San Diego Music Awards

This Is How We Walk on the Moon – Arthur Russell

Rounds by Jessie Montgomery, for piano and strings, inspired by poet TS Eliot

Moonage Daydream – David Bowie

Fly Me To The Moon (In Other Words) – Bobby Womack

Peg – Steely Dan

At The Ballet – Audra McDonald, Megan Hilty & Kelli O’Hara

All You Need Is Love – Peter Sprague, featuring Rebecca Jade

Suffolk Suite by Doreen Carwithen

If You Don’t Know Me by Now -Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes

Man On The Moon – R.E.M.

Coverville 1579: Cover Stories for Lesley Gore and Christopher Cross

Horses and Divorces – Kacey Musgraves and Miranda Lambert

This Year – the Mountain Goats

Favorite Songs By Favorite Artists (Series Four) #2: The Bonzo Dog Band and #3: Midnight Oil and

Bastards of Young – the Replacements

Moonshadow – Yusef/ Cat Stevens

Dream Walkin’ Mashup – Peter Sprague and Leonard Patton

Theme from The Love Boat – WDR Funkhausorchester

Everyone’s Gone to the Moon – Nina Simone

Common – Maren Morris featuring Brandi Carlile

Time – Tom Waits

I Wish I Was the Moon – Neko Case

Addicted To Love – Robert Palmer

Man On The Moon – Megan Moroney

Aloha Bossa Nova – Peter Sprague, featuring Allison Adams Tucker

Eclipse – Pink Floyd

Yikes! I’m going to need an absentee ballot!

library and school votes in ALB and statewide

I was going to be away starting on Tuesday, May 19, for the day. But I thought I could vote for the Albany school board, the library board, the school budget, and the library budget first thing in the morning, i.e., 7 a.m. But yikes! Because my travel plans changed, I’m going to need an absentee ballot! What is that process?

I need to go to the City School District of Albany headquarters, 1 Academy Park, Albany, NY, United States, 12207. This is the building northwest of Albany City Hall, south of Elk Street. And I need to go when the building is open, weekdays between 8:30 a.m. and 4 p.m.

Not incidentally, New York State voters: you should check to see if there are budget and or board votes on May 19.

My next issue is deciding who to vote for in the library trustees races. Other than Sarah Macinski, I still don’t yet know which three of the nine candidates to select. I was impressed with them as a collective. I’ve asked people whose judgment I trust, and they were in similar straits. This is actually a good problem to have. I’m voting for both budgets and both school propositions. There will be a ZOOM candidate debate for the school board on May 18 at 6 pm, but I will have to have voted by then.

I ALWAYS vote, dammit!

If you are voting at the polls in Albany on May 19, go to page 10 of this document for the location.

My wife said that she’s impressed by my commitment to voting. I probably said something like, “The franchise has not been available to everyone, and I’m certainly not throwing away my opportunity.” It’s also true that I believe local races are often more significant than larger races, yet participation rates are generally pathetic. It’s simple math: other people’s apathy gives my vote more impact.

ICE discussion Thursday, May 14

Off topic, except for the venue:

Come join the NYCLU Capital Region community for an annual meeting on Thursday, May 14, at 5:30 pm in the Large Auditorium at the Albany Public Library Main Branch, 161 Washington Avenue, Albany.

The Topic is Constitutional Rights & Immigration

Led by Lauren DesRosiers, Assistant Professor and Director of the Immigration Law Clinic at the Edward P. Swyer Justice Center at Albany Law School, alongside Diego H. Alcalá Laboy, Assistant Professor at Albany Law School, this session is designed to help participants understand their rights in encounters with law enforcement or immigration officials. Topics include stops and seizures, customs and border protection, protesting and filming, as well as practical tips for being prepared in a range of scenarios.

Refreshments will be provided. Free and open to the public.

RSVP here:

https://secure.ngpvan.com/1Z0zBn2w9UWcO07tOpbsVg2

How Do You Know What Is True?

without a soupçon of proof

“How do you know what is true?” I find this to be a fascinating question. In mid-autumn 2025, a couple of guys came onto my porch and knocked on my door. Looking through the front window, I assumed that they were from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

I could have ignored them, I suppose, but I’m always interested in conversing about issues of faith. Indeed, I’ve talked with Mormons before; I even have a Book of Mormon, which I suppose undercut one of the young men’s talking points. (I’ve TRIED to read it, but it hasn’t grabbed me.)

One of the guys was from Utah (no surprise) and the other from Arizona. The one who did much less of the talking was the one who asked, “How do you know what is true?”

Part of it is observation. If I let go of a pencil, it falls. Some of it has been drawn from what I’ve read. When I was a kid, I absorbed the entire Encyclopedia Americana, plus its annual updates. And, as often noted, I received the World Almanac almost every year from 1963 to 2018, and devoured a lot of random statistics.

823 years!

This is why I was so quick to debunk that Internet myth that a particular calendar pattern happens only every 823 years. There’s a LOT of stuff online I don’t trust. When someone states something as fact, and I haven’t seen it, I often ask where they saw it. When they say, “On Facebook” or “the Internet,” I’ve been known to press for more information; what site on the Internet, for instance.

There’s someone I’ve known IRL, and a person I know indicated that he died. But I’ve seen nothing like a news article or an obituary, something I could use to verify. I’m loath to share faulty information. When I hear a famous person has died, I wait until I’ve seen the news in two or three historically reliable sources. It’s one of the reasons I’ve subscribed to GroundNews: to see other, diverse sources.

But I’m also willing to recognize that our understanding of information changes.

When my father painted my ceiling to reflect the planets in the Milky Way, there were no moons around Mercury and Venus, one around Earth, two around Mars, 12 around Jupiter, nine around Saturn, five around Uranus, one around Neptune, and none around Pluto. The inner planets would be the same, but Jupiter has at least 95, Saturn has 274(!), Uranus has 28, and Neptune has 16. Pluto is no longer considered a planet, but the largest of its five moons, Charon, is half Pluto’s diameter.

This doesn’t mean science was”wrong,” but that more information has been gleaned. I get frustrated when the result of additional knowledge is presented as “they were lying to us” without a soupçon of proof.

Uh-uh

As an information specialist – my title for a time – I’m discouraged when misinformation or disinformation is readily disseminated. This is not new – I read about Bob Denver’s “recent” death in 2012 when he passed away in 2005.

But the algorithm is far more robust now, and that was before the onslaught of Artificial Intelligence. I find information nearly every day that is reductive at best, summarizing other sources, often poorly. And sometimes it’s just wrong to conflate people with the same or similar names.

When I was first online in the late 1990s, I took it upon myself – now it sounds ridiculous – to “correct the Internet.” Now it’s nigh unto impossible, and it frightens me how resilient BS can be. Neil deGrasse Tyson gives us pointers on what to believe on the Internet and what not to believe.

It’s not a new problem, though. “There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there always has been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding its way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that “my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge.” -Isaac Asimov, scientist and writer (2 Jan 1920-1992)

The proximity of the cemetery

DelSo wrote a blog post called “Tea with My Dad” about a meeting that took place in Dublin, Ireland, at Deansgrange Cemetery, where he’s resided since 1984.

In response to a comment of mine, she asked, As a child, were you comfortable with the proximity of the cemetery? I know there are people who find them frightening, but I think they’re very peaceful – and so interesting.

The cemetery in question for me was Spring Forest Cemetery in Binghamton, NY. Yes, I was comfortable because it was quite open and lovely.

Shortcut

It was where we cut through to get to Ansco’s baseball field. I mean, we COULD have gone down to Elm Street and walked across, but 1) it would have been longer, and 2) what would have been the joy in walking on concrete?

We also used the cemetery paths for sledding. The northernmost part of the facility, as well as the adjacent Mygatt Street, was downhill from Prospect Street, past Cypress Street, before leveling off at Spring Forest Avenue.

As I showed in this post about Binghamton’s First Ward, especially the eastern half, the cemetery was a dominant feature of the neighborhood. I went past it when we walked friend Karen home on Mygatt Street, on my way to my grandma Williams’ house on Maple Street. My piano teacher, Mrs. Hamlin, also lived across from it, on Elm Street.

Only occasionally did we think of it as a place full of dead people. I knew my maternal grandmother’s maternal grandfather, Civil War veteran James Archer, was buried in the northeastern corner, as were his wife Harriet Bell Archer; his children Morgan Archer, Edward Archer (and his wife Elizabeth), and Lillian Archer Yates; his grandson Ernest Yates (and eventually Edward Yates). But except for Ed Yates, I didn’t know any of them. I DID know Ernie’s widow, Charlotte, their kids, and grandkids.