The different OS activities are interesting. Minnesota has almost 3 million of its 5+ million people living in the 7-county "Metro area.â The state is small and compact, compared to CA and others, and its only society has about 300 members. It meets in Minneapolis and fortunately, is active and has a healthy bank balance. ~ The five-six raffle plants monthly are donated by members, and business is brisk. You buy tickets for a specific plant, so you don't risk winning the Dendrobium, Oncidium, etc. if you only want the Catt. One time, I donated extra plants from an EOoM order and a few other nice plants that weren't loving it here. ~ If the speaker isn't bringing their own plants, members can sell theirs. The sales are popular, even though plants are rarely blooming and may be small. ~ When the speaker brings their plants, members buy directly from the speaker at retail prices. ~ In late August, the society exhibits plants at the State Fair in St. Paul. ~ In September, the OS has a large, public sale of their own plants at a St. Paul garden center. One hour before the sale begins, participating members can buy each others' plants. It's a hit with members and the public, and sellers have extra $$ for the annual October weekend bus trip to Wisconsin and Chicago-area growers. (We have only a couple of commercial growers in MN, and it takes 6.5 hours to drive straight to Chicago.) ~ Occasionally, members pre-pay for a large order from, say, Ecuagenera. ~ The only time plants are given away is at the holiday dinner in December. Members pay for their meals. I haven't been to the dinner but understand these plants are blooming size and bought directly from a commercial grower. Arthur, it would be great to have 11 plants given away each month. Best, WhiteCat8 This post was edited by whitecat8 on Tue, Feb 4, 14 at 6:31

No my but my DH won an ATV with trailer and another time had 5 out of 6 numbers on the power ball. Didn't win nearly as much as he would have if he had all 6 numbers but still won about $3000. Me, I've never won a thing. Good thing I have DH. My daughter is fairly lucky. She frequently wins the small stuff on drawings and one time won a $200 scholarship. All she had to do was put her name in the hat. That was easy.

Here's another. Ten Georgia Republican legislators joined an effort Friday to oust their leader, House Speaker David Ralston, because of allegations that he abused his power to delay cases against criminal defendants he represents. The dissident lawmakers signed a resolution asking Ralston to resign after an investigation by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and Channel 2 Action Newsfound he frequently delayed criminal cases by claiming court dates interfered with his legislative duties. Ralston, a defense attorney, rejected calls for his resignation from the group led by state Rep. David Clark.He said he’s done nothing wrong. “People can take a look at it and sort through the fact from the fiction and see what’s there,” said Ralston, a Republican from Blue Ridgewho has led the 180-member state House since 2010. “If people want to drop the resolution, it’s certainly a free country to do that.” Ralston asked judges to reschedule court proceedings 57 times over a two-year period, using a lawthat requires judges to defer to his legislative duties, according to the AJC and Channel 2 investigation. Clark, one of Ralston’s committee chairmen, said he couldn’t stand by and watch while victims were being denied justice. Clark said he was especially disturbed by the case of a 14-year-old girl who alleged that a traveling evangelist raped and molested her. Ralston, who represents the evangelist, delayed that case in Towns County Superior Court at least eight times, citing legislative duties and sessions. “I can’t stay silent when something is being done wrong, especially when these victims are being hurt by our speaker, who has abused his power,” said Clark, who represents Buford and was named chairman of the Interstate Cooperation Committee last month by Ralston. “I’m hoping people have courage and the spine to do what’s right.” The House didn’t publicly discuss or take action on the resolution during its legislative session Friday. Resolutions require a majority to pass. The resolution sent two important signals: First, that there’s a faction of conservatives upset enough with Ralston that they were willing to risk retribution. Secondly, that the faction was not widespread enough yet to deal any significant damage to the speaker. Notably, aside from Clark, there were no committee chairmen who joined his effort. And Ralston’s leadership team — most notably Speaker Pro Tem Jan Jones, sometimes considered a rival — steered clear of making any public moves to oppose him. Instead, she joined a number of state leaders to praise Ralston’s decade-long track record. Former Govs. Roy Barnes and Nathan Deal — like Ralston, lawyers — both called the AJC separately to voice support for him. So did Gov. Brian Kemp, who said through a spokeswoman that he looks forward to continuing to work with Ralston, and Senate Pro Tem Butch Miller, who praised Ralston’s “diligence, perseverance and commitment.” Several members of the group that joined Clark’s revolt said they were disgusted by what they learned from the AJC/Channel 2 investigation. State Rep. Scot Turner, R-Holly Springs,said he had an “uneasy feeling” after meeting with Ralston to discuss the report. And he said he was unimpressed with Ralston’s answers to questions in an interview that aired Thursday on Channel 2. “I’ve spoken with a couple of the victims, and there is no sense of justice for them,” he said. “I felt compelled by a sense of duty to call for the speaker to put the gavel down and tend to those cases so justice can finally be served for hurting families.” State Rep. Ken Pullin, a first-term Republican from Zebulon, said he was particularly struck by the same alleged rape case that bothered Clark. “She should be able to have a day in court, and it appears Speaker Ralston is using his position to continually delay her case and others,” Pullin said. “His actions may be legal according to state law, but they’re not ethical or moral in my opinion.” While Ralston has held power for a decade, he once mounted a challenge to his predecessor for the speaker’s chair, one of the most powerful political positions in Georgia. In 2008, Ralston rallied House GOP colleagues who were upset with the hot-headed approach of then-Speaker Glenn Richardson, the first Republican to hold that position in the modern era. Richardson had carved out a reputation for being combative, particularly with members of his own party. He led the effort to overturn vetoes by Gov. Sonny Perdue and called on voters to oust Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle when the Senate blocked his tax-cut plan. Enter Ralston, who cast himself as a consensus-builder who would take a more conciliatory approach. He launched a coup attempt. “I don’t believe good leadership is grounded in fear or intimidation or fear of retribution,” he said at a GOP caucus meeting. His revolt was crushed — he lost 75-25 — and Richardson pledged to caucus members that he had “learned from the mistakes” he had made. But his tenure was short-lived. A year later, the House was thrown into chaos that began with Richardson’s admission he had tried to take his own life, and it ended with his ex-wife’s revelation that the speaker had had an affair with a lobbyist. Ralston then defeated two challengers to win the House’s top job." https://www.ajc.com/news/state--regional-govt--politics/more-georgia-lawmakers-call-for-ralston-resign-house-speaker/zTujQs2LY81rEGdjD8aFvL/

Fogged up glasses = escaping breath. I use first aid tape to get the top of my mask closed all the way across. Of course this means it hurts when I eventually remove the mask after I get home because of the tape pulling at the delicate skin below my eyes. Meanwhile when I go out on top of the usual wearing of masks below the nose inside crowded stores, teams of completely uncovered workers on construction sites, uncovered outdoor dining creating curbside gauntlets and the pulling of masks completely down in order to use phones - whenever and wherever the phone user happens to be at the time - I see a lot of people with masks that fit so that their noses look like they are sitting in a row boat. As in open on top and with large gaps on each side of the nose, with only the tip of the nose covered. And often just barely at that. Apparently the point of view such behavior demonstrates is not in fact a latter day development, a condemnation of how things have become because I read in the spring about how there was the same problem in 1918. That is that Americans were actually told to distance and cover back then as well and because - same as now - there was a significant component that didn't cooperate a deadly pandemic developed. With one specific large outdoor political rally in particular that was held right after the looming problem had become recognized being considered a major contributor to the initial establishment and spread of the virus. Individuals taking seemingly careful precautions and becoming infected anyway shouldn't be a source of mystification when it is thought about the totality of what is involved with exposure. Because the death dust is out there being blown around to settle on every body and every thing that is within reach of each cloud of exhalation. So that a friend with medical training was taking a shower every day after coming home from work, early in the unfolding of the pandemic. And we have probably all seen the comical pictures of random people in China walking around in protective suits with jugs etc. covering their entire heads - a hysterical response, except was it really? For my part I managed to be moving around inside a crowded Cost Co during peak afternoon hours yesterday and then fall asleep on the living room couch afterward without bathing. Except for washing my face when I got home. While I was at the warehouse store standing in front of a display reading some product labeling an arm came around from behind me and grabbed a container of the goods and disappeared. I did not look to see how much face covering was employed as they walked away. For one thing I did not want to turn and present my face to the air where they had just been. But when they came up to me at the display they were right there, like maybe a foot away. In other news a research entity was granted a million dollars this past week to find out just how long the COVID virus remains viable on surfaces. And the body of a COVID victim that was for some reason kept around for a month was discovered to have still infectious particles in the lungs.