Fun Facts About the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

 

Governor Maura Healy and Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll

In November 2022, Maura Healy became the first woman elected as governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. She is also the first gay person to be elected as governor. In 2014, Healey was also the first gay person to be elected as a state attorney general in the United States.

She is the state's 73rd governor and took the oath of office on January 5, 2023.

Together with Lt. Governor Kim Driscoll, it's also the first time women hold both of the top jobs in state government. Both women are members of the Democratic Party.

The Friday Five Good Things

 

Five good things that happened this week.

1. We tried a new Chinese food place. We ordered a day ahead to beat the rush. The food was delivered by Door Dash because no one felt up to going to pick the food up

2. New Year's Day began at midnight with New Years wishes to and from the Eldest. She went to a light show at the Philadelphia Zoo

3. After spending the day in the ER with the Young One, the good things were  all her test results were normal and the prescription for the Prilosec was a zero copay

4. Made plans with Teague for a play day at the end of the month. 

5. We watched two fun movies. Glass Onion: A Knives Out Mystery and Bullet Train

How was your week?

On this twelth day after Christmas, or Ephiphany depending on your reckoning

Postage Stamp Cancellation Marks

 

Christmas cancellation mark to coordinate with the Holiday Elves stamps

This past month I've seen people questioning the USPS cancellation marks and especially the dreaded Sharpie marker through the stamp.

A friend's husband worked at the USPS as a postmaster and big boss of a mail distribution center. I had asked her to ask him why stamps sometimes have a Sharpie line drawn through them. He said:

Envelopes are put into the machinery upside down. The first thing the system scans for is the postage stamp which should be located in the upper right corner of your envelope. If the stamp isn't found there or it's in a different location, the envelope is kicked out of machinery. The envelope sits around until a human can come and take a look at it.

 If for some reason the stamp(s) didn't get a cancellation mark over them (a hiccup in the  machine), a clerk has to take the dreaded Sharpie or grease pencil and scribble over the stamp. This is to prevent the stamp from being used again.

Title 18, U.S. Code, Sections 471 and 1720: Once a postage stamp has been used, it is a federal crime to:

1. Remove, attempt to remove, or assist to remove cancellation marks from postage.

2. Reuse a stamp whether cancelled or not.

So like it or not the cancellation mark and Sharpie scribble have a definite function. Maybe it's best to embrace the marks as part of the artwork.

It might be fun to think that each mail clerk has a distinctive way of marking through the stamp similar to the way railroad conductors had distinctive ways to punch railway tickets.

On this eleventh day after Christmas, or Twelfth Night of Christmas depending on your reckoning

Whatcha Doin?

  

On this tenth day after Christmas, or eleventh day of Christmas depending on your reckoning, I'm starting to take down Christmas decorations. Whatcha doin?

T Stands For We Had Us A Day

 

It all started with the Young One not feeling well and complaining of stomach cramps on top of the my cold that made its way through the family. She called in sick to work.

Of course, getting sick always happens on a weekend or a holiday. Because New Year's Day fell on a Sunday, Monday was considered the official holiday. That's why you didn't get mail delivery yesterday. 

The Young One has IBS and by mid-morning the Young One was feeling worse. Trying to drink water or eat a little food cause her more pain. We checked on the urgent care offices that accepted her health insurance. The closest office was closed for the holiday. Say, what? A closed office defeats the purpose of not clogging up hospital emergency rooms with non-life threatening illness or injury.  One office had an opening at 6pm and the other didn't have any appointments until the following day.

There's an urgent care office about 5 miles down the road. It wasn't one of the offices listed, but it was open. A note on a whiteboard at reception noted the wait time to be seen was 4 hours. Because of the Young One's complaint about abdominal pain, the receptionist said that if it was decided an ultrasound was needed, we would be sent to the Emergency Room of the small, community hospital associated with the urgent care office.

Since it sounded like the Young One would end up in the ER anyway, we decided to leave and just head to the hospital. The wait time to be admitted to the exam room was about a half an hour.

Lots of people trooped in and out. The triage nurse, the care nurse, and someone from the billing department. Triage and care took the Young One's history and complaints. The first thing was lab work. The care nurse inserted an IV lock so if more bloodwork was needed or an IV was to be given, the Young One wouldn't have to be stuck with the needle a second time.

While the labs were being run, a Physician's Assistant came in to do a work up. It was decided to give the Young One a cocktail of Maalox and Lidocaine to settle her stomach. Because she was also dehydrated, an IV drip was started along with some other pain medication.

The afternoon wore on and the medications made the Young One feel a lot better. In between, I was texting Himself updates and since it looked like I wouldn't be back in time to feed the fur babies, I also told him he would have to take care of the babies.

An hour after the IV drip was empty, an Emergency Room Physician came in to poke and prod. Lab test were all normal. The next test was to see if  she could eat and drink something without pain and to keep the food down. If she passed the food test, she would be discharged.

The nurse fetched the Young One some graham crackers and ginger ale. More waiting and updates to Himself. I didn't think of taking pictures of the ginger ale and graham crackers. So the drink reference is the description  along with the picture of the IV drip.

Another hour or so later, the Young One wasn't having issues with the food. The doctor would call in a prescription for Prilosec to be taken twice daily for a month along with instructions to follow up with primary care and the Young One was sent home.

I told the Young One I love spending time with her, but not for 6 hours in the hospital. I had another hour to wait at home until I could go pick up the prescription at the pharmacy.

Today, we are both dragging. She call in sick to work again, and I see a nap in my immediate future.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

Second on the Second

 On this eighth day after Christmas, or ninth day of Christmas depending on your reckoning

From 2. Janurary 2015, a Friday Five Good Things

Five good things that happened this week.

1. Visited Himself's side of the family at the annual  Gathering

2. Had brunch at Lambie's and a fabulous visit. Her Christmas decorations were still up.  She has such a knack for decorating, and her house should be featured in a magazine.

3. Had the The Brother and his wife over. They gave us a gift card to The Cheesecake Factory. We spent the card on a date night. I took home a slice of Chris' Outrageous Cheesecake   and I didn't share!

4. Each day, I display an affirmation card. The card chosen for New Year's Eve was Dream. I thought it was perfect. Rather than looking back, look forward as I start The Good Things journal for 2015.

5. Between all the leftovers from the Brother's visit, eating out, and our tradition of having Chinese food for New Year's Eve, I haven't cooked all week!

How was your week?

It's your turn to play. From Elizabeth: Now it's time to share your Second on the 2nd.  The rules are quite simple and everyone is welcome to join the fun look back.  All you have to do is bring back a post that you are especially proud of, or perhaps one you shared before anyone knew your blog existed.  Any post, any genre, any artistic endeavor is acceptable.  Join hosts Bleubeard and Elizabeth to see what else is being served up the Second Time Around.

2023

 

On this seventh day after Christmas, or eighth day of Christmas depending on your reckoning