"Operate Technology"

Time to open up and catch up on our Rink Rats Mail bag:

Dear Rink Rats:

My wife occasionally has to travel with her boss overnight to operate technology at meetings. She makes the travel arrangements. I noticed a couple of years ago that she booked one room with two beds. When I asked her about it she said it was for the purpose of cutting costs. She says this is a way that he is able to give her a pay raise each year. She claims she would never cheat on me, nor would he cheat on his wife of 33 years.

He is a frugal man, so I accepted that explanation. However, I recently came across an email that showed a room reservation for a single king-size bed. When I asked her about it, she said it was the only room type available, and that there is nothing going on between the two of them. She said there is plenty of room for them to stay on their own side of the bed. Apparently it wasn’t the first time this happened.

Should I accept her explanation? Your thoughts?

Signed,

Moron from Glen Falls, New York

Dear Moron from Glens Falls, New York:

Are you kidding? I would ask your wife what she means by “operating technology”; time to get off the Space Shuttle and get real.

 Sincerely,

RR.

Dear Rink Rats:

What genres do you especially enjoy reading? Which do you avoid?

Also what books are currently on your night stand?

Sincerely,

Max from Sudbury, Ontario Canada

Dear Max from Sudbury, Ontario:

I love self-help. I need self-help. I own them all. None are working. I enjoy short stories, because they are short. I enjoy biographies, history, and anything by Ernest Hemingway.

I avoid romance novels because I generally get angry at handsome men. I do not want to know about how to make crafts.

“Orr My Story” by Bobby Orr, always read a hockey book during the Stanley Cup playoffs. John Steinbeck’s “Of Mice and Men”, always like to re-read Nobel Prize winners. “Truman” by David McCullough, what Harry Truman accomplished in his life was simply amazing.

Sincerely,

RR.

Dear Rink Rats:

Can you recommend a summer reading list.

Sincerely,

Avid Reader in Claremont, CA

Dear Avid Reader:

Here is my summer 2015 reading list –

“The Fictional Woman” by Tara Moss

“The Royal We” by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan

“The Wright Brothers” by David McCullough

“The Stranger” by Harlan Coben

“The Last Summer at Chelsea Beach” by Pam Jenoff

“Leaving Orbit” by Michiko Kakutani

“The Sixth Extinction: An Unwanted History” by Elizabeth Kolbert

An interesting list if I do say so myself. Enjoy.

Sincerely,

RR.

SUMMER ATTRACTIONS - Teddy ... Roosevelt's home reopening after $10 million rehab, " in Oyster Bay, New York -  Sagamore Hill, the Long Island mansion that was Theodore Roosevelt's home and 'Summer White House,' is set to reopen [July 12, with public tours starting the next day] following an extensive four-year, $10 million renovation by the National Park Service ... Every one of the ... 10,000 books and dozens of 'trophies' from his hunting expeditions, were removed from the 28-room, Queen Anne Shingle style mansion and then painstakingly repaired and replaced exactly where he left them.

THE WEATHER CHANNEL  - “May was wettest in US records: On average 4.36 inches of rain and snow - mostly rain - fell over the Lower 48 in May, sloshing past October 2009 which had been the wettest month in U.S. records with 4.29 inches. ... NOAA climate scientist Jake Crouch calculated that comes to more than 200 trillion gallons of water in May."

COLLEGE CHRONICLES – STANFORD PRESIDENT STEPPING DOWN in summer 2016 to return to teaching and research -- End of an era for Stanford: Departing president transformed the school over last 15 years.  In his 15 years at the helm of Stanford, President John L. Hennessy has more than doubled the university's endowment, seen its undergraduate program displace Harvard as the most selective school in the nation and fostered a symbiotic relationship between campus brains and Silicon Valley.

BIG DAY FOR DEBT-FREE COLLEGE PUSH: Since two trios of lawmakers introduced Senate and House resolutions seven weeks ago "supporting efforts to ensure that students have access to debt-free higher education," the idea has certainly picked up steam. Education Under Secretary Ted Mitchell said federal officials are talking and thinking about it. The Senate resolution has 20 co-sponsors to the House's 42, up from an initial three dozen combined. And the issue is popping up on the presidential campaign trail, too. In Iowa, Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton said she wants to "try to move toward making college as debt-free as possible." Gov. Martin O'Malley pulled no punches, telling supporters in an email, "every student should be able to go to college debt-free." And Sen. Bernie Sanders introduced a bill to make public college tuition-free.

SYLLABUS - Nearly 90 percent of teachers say that poverty is a barrier to effective learning and 91 percent of teachers say they've spent their own money to buy classroom supplies. More than half said they've used their own money to feed students, a poll conducted by Public Opinion Strategies and Communities In Schools.

BIRTHDAYS THIS WEEK – Birthday wishes and thoughts this week to:  Tim Allen (62), Jim Belushi (61), Michael J. Fox (54), Boy George (54), Eric Heiden (57),  William Hippler …famous Finance Professor,  Marvin Kalb (85), Dick Vitale (76)

THE SWAMI’S WEEK TOP PICKS –

Chicago Black Hawks win the Stanley Cup in 5 games.

Golden State Warriors win the NBA Championship in 6 games.

Women’s World Cup: 1). Germany, 2). U.S.A., 3). Japan

Season to date (57-24)

WORDS OF THE MONTH –

Bafflegab -  \BAF-uhl-gab\

noun

1. Slang. confusing or generally unintelligible jargon; gobbledegook: an insurance policy written in bafflegab impenetrable to a lay person.

“Victor had no eye for shape or form…He judged the tone and rhythm of the plans by how the architects could sing their wares, what bafflegab they used.”

tormenta, noun

storm - Una tormenta means a storm, even though it looks rather like the English word ‘torment’.

La tormenta can also be used metaphorically, to refer to a storm, for instance in politics:

“La noticia provocó una tormenta política sin precedentes.”

The news caused an unprecedented political storm.

MARKET WEEK – Dinosaurs rule the earth again after Universal's "Jurassic World" debuted to with $204 million at the domestic box office this weekend, and a total of $511 million worldwide.

DRIVING THE WEEK – Jeb Bush announces his presidential bid this afternoon in Miami before heading to early primary states ... House GOP will take another shot at TAA but odds are low ... FitBit starts trading Thursday after an IPO it hopes will raise close to $500 million ... Industrial Production at 9:15 a.m. expected to rise 0.3 percent ... Housing Starts Tuesday at 8:30 a.m. expected to be up 3 percent to 1.1M ... FOMC announcement Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. expected to reflect better news on employment and growth keeping the central bank on track for its first hike this fall ... Yellen presser at 2:30 on Wednesday ... Consumer Prices at 8:30 a.m. Thursday expected to rise 0.5 percent headline and 0.2 percent core ... Index of Leading Indicators 10:00 a.m. Thursday expected to rise 0.4 percent ...

A last-ditch effort to reach a compromise between Greece and its creditors ended in failure Sunday, nudging Athens closer to defaulting at the end of the month. Representatives of the Greek government, including Minister of State Nikos Pappas, arrived in Brussels on Saturday with a new set of reform proposals from Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras' government to present to the European Commission. By Sunday, the response was negative, as the Greek delegation left the talks after just 45 minutes, according to EU sources. ...

The two sides still disagree on budget savings worth €2 billion, or 0.5 to 1 percentage points of GDP, the spokesperson said. At this point in the talks, the Commission is operating as the central negotiator for Greece's international creditors, including the International Monetary Fund, which withdrew its technical negotiators in frustration last week.

Next week: Summer Travel Series begins and Ten Questions.

Until Next Monday, Adios.

Claremont, CA

June 15, 2015

#VI-2-264

CARTOON OF THE WEEK – The New Yorker