Answers for maximumbob!

[featherynscale]

1. If money/job/travel to see friends and relatives were no object where would you want to live most?
If the United States manage to swing back to something a little closer to center (or even, dare we ask, left), I'm thinking of Seattle. If not, I hear the south of France is nice, and kittenpants is an evangelist for Hungary, which would also be good. Of course, I've never been to any of those places, so this answer is subject to change.

2. What is one hobby/interest/time-waster you really love to do but wished it didn't take up so much of your time?
I'd like to be able to spend more time with pastry. I <3 pastry. Thing that I currently do that takes up more time than it should, but is still stupid fun, though, is video games.

3. If you could go back in time and tell your younger self not to date a specific person in your past, would you do it? More than once?
I'm not sure. If I could be certain that I would still end up with the folks I'm with now, I certainly would. Just once, though. I haven't really dated all that many people, and the others were all either positive experiences or redeemably interesting experiences (as in, yeah, that was dumb, but I have a great story that came out of it!).

4. What is your favorite meal to cook for yourself?
Jalapeno poppers. Please note that this is neither a meal, nor something that I can actually cook. However, if I'm at home by myself, and there are frozen jalapeno poppers in the freezer, I will be more likely to bake and devour them than pretty much anything else. Meals that actually require actual cooking, I prefer chicken and yellow rice, with bananas foster for dessert :)

5. (Going to be my standard question for all these) What is your favorite charity/good cause to donate time/money/anything to?
I donate more often to the Red Cross than any other charity. This is probably more because they are easy and accessible to donate to than because they are particularly worthy. Things I'd like to support more because I find them particularly worthy include Heifer, Habitat for Humanity, PROMO, Planned Parenthood and NPR. I'm really remiss in this area, though. :(

Comments

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Have I got a deal for you: I'll keep the supply of frozen jalapeno poppers coming. You make pastry. Whaddya say?

So fabulously unproductive today, but at least I'm not cashing in a sick day. Ugh.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

Are you sick? :(

Myself, I'm not getting anything done, but that's because there's actually nothing to do today. All the Big Guys are gone, and with no executives, the life of the excutive assistant is untroubled by work.

[saffronhare.livejournal.com]

Blecky cold. A bit of a cough, and that 900# voice going on. People are leaving me alone, thank goodness. I'm getting lots of piddly little things done while I loiter on LJ, so the day isn't a complete loss either way.

[triadruid.livejournal.com]

Presuming you'd still have worked for Salt and moved to KC, #3 seems likely to be a no-lose situation, though certain positions might be reversed; so to speak.

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

The moving to KC actually might or might not have occurred. It was partially motivated by desire to get away from said individual's friends and enemies. But I might have gone anyway. As to the other thing, best not to speculate, really.

Red Cross

[rfunk.livejournal.com]

I don't really know anything, but I've been reading some not-so-good things about the Red Cross lately.

Re: Red Cross - In defense of...

[maximumbob.livejournal.com]

Yeah I have some problems with this article. Any organization has its demons, usually (or especially) in upper management. But the American Red Cross gets demonized quite often, for reasons which often elude me. Some points:

1. Myth: Very little of the donations given to the American Red Cross (or ARC) make it to the actual victims:

Fact: The ARC takes a 9% administrative fee from donations. This means that if you donate $100 to the ARC only $9 of it goes to pay for salaried employees, headquarter and local chapter building mortgages and upkeep, purchasing emergency response vehicles and maintaining same, communications and computer equipment necessary to respond to disasters such as Katrina and 9/11. $91 of your donation goes directly to supporting victims. I think if you were to check out most other mainstream charities you would find that 9% administrative costs are on the low end.

2. Myth: The ARC avoids opening shelters in low income or black areas.

Fact: The ARC pre-certifies all its buildings to be used as shelters in a disaster prior to the advent of an actual disaster. The ARC will inspect and arrange agreements with churches, schools and civic buildings to use them as shelters during the event of an actual emergency. One of the chief complaints I heard during Katrina was that the ARC was avoiding opening shelters in New Orleans to take care of evacuees prior to the storm coming ashore. There's a very good reason for this: the ARC realized that with the entire city being below sea level they could not guarantee the safety of anyone in a shelter anywhere in the city. In fact prior to Katrina the ARC had been asked to certify the Super Dome as a shelter and had declined due to the lack of infrastructure to support a large group of people there and the fact that, again, it is below sea level and there was a good chance of flooding isolating the Super Dome and not enabling the ARC to get there with additional supplies following a disaster such as Katrina.

3. Myth: The ARC will take donations you have given for a specific event such as Katrina and use those funds as they see fit, perhaps for emergencies elsewhere.

Fact: If you write on your check "For Katrina Relief" on it the ARC is bound by their charter to use those funds ONLY for Katrina victims. The ARC does, however, discourage earmarking for specific events. Here's why. Say Hurricane Alice hits Texas and the ARC estimates they need $200 million for the relief effort. Then say they receive $250 million in donations earmarks only for Alice relief. Then while that effort is under way, Hurricane Bonnie hits Miami. The ARC now has $50 million more than they need in Texas, but are absolutely precluded by their charter from shifting any of those funds to Miami to help Bonnie victims. They have to do additional fund raising for Bonnie victims and end up spending $50 million more than is really needed in Texas.

4. Myth: The ARC did very little in New York and D.C. after 9/11.

Fact: The ARC is THE ONLY aid organization that is STILL SPENDING MONEY on victims of 9/11 in NYC and in D.C. (mostly on psychological services for surviving first responders.) In fact almost all other aid organizations had pulled out of NYC more than two years ago while the ARC continues to spend funds there.

Now I admit, I have a bias here. My girlfriend is a salaried employee at the national headquarters in D.C. (and believe me, most of them don't make very much) and is currently deployed to Mississippi trying to reunite families that have been scattered all over the country and contact relatives of evacuees in the shelters who have been unable to let their loved ones know they are alive. I myself have recently been certified as a shelter volunteer and am working to get certified as a Disaster Relief volunteer so I can be deployed during events like Katrina and Rita. I recognize the organization has its shortcomings. But most of that article was crap in my humble (or not so humble) opinion.

Re: Red Cross - In defense of...

[maximumbob.livejournal.com]

Another thing of note. The Red Cross is mandated by its charter to respond to EVERY residential fire that occurs in the U.S. I was interested when Bush supposedly came up with that $2000 debit card idea for every victim of Katrina and Rita. The Red Cross has been providing pre-loaded debit cards to the victims of house fires all over the U.S. for years now, usually within 24 hours of the fire. They provide immediate shelter if the victims have no where to go, medications if the victims have lost theirs in the fire, money for clothes, replacement furniture, blankets, food and usually cash to help the victims through the first days of a personal disaster until they can get their friends and family support structure working for themselves.

Hungary?

[lexpendragon.livejournal.com]

Hungary?


What's Up With Hungary? I've Got Some Friends There, So I'm Curious.

Re: Hungary?

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

kittenpants once dated a Hungarian boy. She dumped the boy, but kept the culture. They have a lot of paprika, and furry nipple hats.

Re: Hungary?

[lexpendragon.livejournal.com]

Nipple Hats?

Re: Hungary?

[featherynscale.livejournal.com]

You'll have to ask her, I'm not sure I can do the answer justice.