"When one teaches, two learn" - Robert Half

We've officially entered Silly Season on this sexual harassment business. No one excuses bad, and especially predatory behavior. But this is reminding me of the Salem witch trials of 1693. A mass hysteria has built to an extent that seems to have pushed out common sense from the conversation.

• Megan Kelly was outraged that Pamela Anderson (yeah, that bimbo paragon of virtue) suggested a woman should expect trouble when she gets invited alone to a man's hotel room in the evening. 
• Angela Lansbury got flamed on social media for saying that women who dress provocatively shouldn't be surprised when men make advances.
• John Hockenberry made a woman "uncomfortable" when, after she appeared on his nationally syndicated NPR radio show he sent her several messages saying he'd like to see her again socially. If you don't know who he is, Hockenberry is a Eugene native, a 4-time Emmy award winner, and...wait for it...he's been confined to a wheel chair since an auto accident when he was in High School. And he makes you feel threatened???  What exactly is he going to do? Does the phrase "walk away" sound like it might fit here?

Geraldo Rivera (another celebrity of questionable character) said we're at serious risk of criminalizing courtship. 

I suspect most normal people have some common sense on this one. They do at the coffee shop in Veneta I frequent. They agree someone who advertises a product shouldn't be surprised when customers come a'knockin', that walking up to the fire puts you at risk of getting burned, and it's actions, not words that constitute a crime. 

I drove Sally in to church this morning because on the first Sunday of the month Pam uses the Kia to pick up a young lady with special needs, something done more easily if it's only the two of them. 

I like driving Sally. She's surprisingly peppy, small enough to be maneuverable, and has a charm not found in contemporary cars with their plastic interiors loaded with cup holders.

However...I sure wish I could get the carb sorted out. A month ago it suddenly started idling at freeway RPM' and I found the problem: a vacuum line had come loose. It probably should have had clamps from the beginning. It does now, and that fixed the problem.

It's doing the same thing now; idle RPM is way too high. If I blip the throttle several times I can usually get it to drop down, and it will drop down right away if I go under the hood and blip the linkage directly. But why? nothing seems bound, sticky. 

Tomorrow I'll get some carb cleaner spray and then try a stiffer return spring. 

My mom turns 95 on Christmas Eve and we're going up for the occasion. That's a Sunday this year and we plan to drive up Friday and back Monday, Christmas Day, when traffic should be light. 

Dad is about three weeks out from surgery to repair his broken hip and at 95 his recovery isn't going well. His frail body and tired spirit make a return to independent living a questionable outcome. As a practical matter, if he has to go into assisted living my mom has to make that same move. Dad goes back to the surgeon for a follow-up visit on the 21st to determine if the bones are mending and that will probably be the determining factor from a physiological standpoint. However, if he can't get far enough with his physical therapy to be able to get from sitting to standing and/or get around with his walker that, too, will be determinative.

So if we have the outcomes it looks like at this point, this Christmas will be challenging for them with a move to a new living situation. That alone is stressful when you're 95. 

Maranatha.