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Tampa Bay Sounding
A P
ublication of T
ampa B
ay M
ensa
January 2009
Vol. 33, No. 12
Crewe Bulletin 3 LocSec’s Report 4 ExComm Minutes 6-10 Tampa Bay
Mensa Proctor Team 11-12 Surviving Spending 13-17 Birthdays and
Mensaversaries 18-19 The Tenth Story 20-21 Orphan’s Thanksgiving
23-26 January Calendar 28-34 February Calendar Preview 35 Reality
Check 36 Top Ten TV Shows 37-39 Fourth Friday Madness 41-42
Cryptopoem 43
Answers to December Puzzles 45-46 Suzaku 44
Inside The Sounding
January
Special Events This Month:
Fossil Dig Jan 10th
Gourmensans Go Irish Jan 17th
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Tampa Bay Sounding is the official newsletter of Tampa Bay
Mensa, American Mensa local group number 10-335. © 2008 Tampa Bay
Mensa. All rights reserved. All material in this issue not
copyrighted by individual contributors may
be reprinted in other Mensa publications, provided that credit
is given to the author or artist and to the Sounding. Prior written
consent of the editor is required for any other reproduction in any
form. Any
Mensa publication reprinting Tampa Bay Sounding material is
requested to send a copy to the editor.
SUBSCRIBE!: The subscription cost for local members is partially
remitted from annual dues paid to American Mensa Ltd. Tampa Bay
Sounding is available to other Mensans and to non-Mensans at an
annual subscription cost of $12.00. To subscribe, send a check,
payable to Tampa Bay Mensa, to the Treasurer: Kathy Crum, 7164
Quail Hollow Blvd., Wesley Chapel, FL 33544-2525.
ADVERTISING POLICY: The Sounding offers free classified ads to
Tampa Bay Mensa members for ser-vices, items for sale, jobs
wanted/available, personals, etc. Ads should be no longer than 50
words. Classified ads need to be renewed on a monthly basis if you
wish them to appear in consecutive issues. Tampa Bay Mensa and the
Sounding are not responsible for the content of ads. All commercial
ads are subject to the following rates: Full page - $60; Half page
- $30; Quarter page - $15. Members of Mensa pay half these
rates.
Submission Guidelines
Tampa Bay Sounding encourages submissions from all members.
Submissions must be signed, but names may be withheld or pseudonyms
used if requested. All letters to the editor will be subject to
publication unless the author specifi-cally requests otherwise. All
material submitted will be considered for publication, but nothing
can be guaranteed. Everything is subject to editing. Please keep
the following guidelines in mind:
• Articles, casual essays, opinion pieces, po-ems, short
stories, puzzles, and artwork are all encouraged.
• Personal attacks and bigoted, sexist, hateful, or otherwise
offensive material will not be published.
• E-mail submissions are preferred, either embedded or in
Word-readable attachments. Computer printouts and typewritten pages
are fine. If you submit hard copy, please make sure your printer
has enough toner or your typewriter has a fresh-enough ribbon.
Legible handwritten submissions will be con-sidered (but not given
preference).
You may send your submissions by either of the following
means:
1. E-mail—[email protected] (Please indicate “TBM” in
the subject header.)
2. U.S. Mail — Joshua Moore, 12016 100th Ave-nue North,
Seminole, FL 33772 (Telephone 727-398-0833) Unless otherwise
specified in the calen-
dar, the deadline for unsolicited contribu-
tions is the tenth day of the month.
Tampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830)
Tampa Bay Mensa
9091 St. Andrews Dr
Seminole, Fl 33777
A Publ icat ion of Tampa Bay Mensa
Mensa is an international society whose sole qualification for
membership is a score at or above the 98th percentile on a standard
IQ test. Mensa is a not-for-profit organization whose main purpose
is to serve as a means of communication and assembly for its
members. All opinions expressed herein are those of the individual
authors, and not necessarily those of the editors or officers of
Mensa. Mensa as an organization has no opinions.
Tampa Bay Sounding is the official newsletter of Tampa Bay
Mensa. Tampa Bay Mensa serves Hillsborough, Pinellas, Pasco,
Hernando, and Sumter counties.
Visit American Mensa at
http://www.us.mensa.org
For full instructions on
how to join
tbm-gm and
tbm-discussion, our
two Yahoo groups, visit
TBM at
http://www.tampa.us.mensa.org
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 2
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January 2009 Page 3
WELCOME TO TAMPA BAY MENSA!
* = new member; others are moves in, preferences in, or
reinstatements.
* Dustin Anderson
* Jason Brown
* Genevieve Corrada
* J H Carter Dvornik
Aaron Elkins
Allan Richard Escher Jr
Kerry Fitzpatrick
Richard Flynn
* James Gray
Tracy Jaramillo
Harry Mark Richter
* Heather Roy
John Stuart Turnbull
Douglas Woolley
Certified Accounting And Finance Professionals
We are currently scheduling meetings and topics for this new
SIG.
Credentials to Include:
CPA - Certified Public Accountants CFA - Chartered Financial
Analysis CFP - Certified Financial Planners CMA - Certified
Management Accountants CIA - Certified Internal Auditors
It will be open to those who currently hold any of the above
certi-fications and those who have completed the experience portion
of the qualifications and at least half of the testing required for
any of the above certifications. (CFAs - completion of level 1
testing.) This composition should allow for broad discussion of
current top-ics in these disciplines and may provide resources for
questions posed in your current profession.
Interested?
Please e-mail [email protected] for more information.
* * * * CREWE BULLETIN * * * *
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 4
LOCSEC’S REPORT Thomas George Thomas
I’m writing this after the December ExComm meeting, where we
selected Eloise Hurst to replace outgoing Member-at-Large Dana
Groulx. Eloise served previously on the ExComm in the early 80’s,
as Programs Officer and Tampa Area Coordinator, and as Honcho for
our 1988 Regional Gathering. After taking a break, she returned to
Tampa Bay Mensa in June 2007 and has dived right back into the
thick of things. In addition to her Executive Committee duties, she
will be serving as our new Circulation Officer in 2009. Welcome
back, Eloise!
Even with Eloise’s wonderful credentials, it was a difficult
decision for us to make, as there were other worthy candidates for
the position. I’d like to thank Sandra Davanzo, Christopher
Fleming, Tom Handcock, Melissa Stephens, Kay St. John, and Don Ward
for all expressing an interest in the position. Melissa has
accepted an appointment as the Tampa Area Coordinator, and we hope
that the other candidates will also accept appointments in the
chapter, and seriously consider running for one of the five
positions up for election this coming summer. Since I won’t be
running, at least one ExComm position will be filled by a
non-incumbent.
Speaking of the election, we also appointed the Tampa Bay Mensa
Election Committee for 2009. These volunteers are Erica Rogers,
Dana Groulx, and Jay Johnson.
This meeting was very productive, as we welcomed Gina Boogher as
our new Testing Coordinator, and she’s brought great enthusiasm and
energy to the job as she works to provide testing opportunities to
our backlog of prospects. And finally, we officially appointed
Joshua Moore as our new Editor, one month after he produced his
first Tampa Bay Sounding for us following the relocation of our
previous editor, Kimberly Nerviano, to Texas.
Along with other plans, we discussed the 2009 ARRR-R G!,
planning for our regularly scheduled picnics, new member
meet-n-greets, a winter testing promotion, and many other projects.
It’s important for us to keep on top of these, as we are
approaching another record year for membership. As we continue to
grow, we’ll need more people to run more activities throughout the
chapter, which will allow more members to meet near their own
neighborhoods. Already we’ve launched a monthly meeting in Brandon,
and hope others will do the same in their areas.
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January 2009 Page 5
RUN FOR NATIONAL OFFICE BY PETITION
Interested in running for a national office such as RVC? It's
not too late!
In accordance with Art. VI, Sec. (4) of the Bylaws of American
Mensa, Ltd., nominations for candidacy for office in American Mensa
may be made by petition. Each petition must contain the signatures
of 50 members of American Mensa in good standing as of Dec. 1,
2008.
Petitions must be submitted on official petition forms or via
the online petition process. In addition to the Petition Form, each
petition candidate must submit a completed Acceptance of Nomination
form and a completed Candidate Information Form. These documents
may be downloaded in PDF format, or you can start a members-only
online peti-tion; all petition information is available at
www.us.mensa.org/election. Forms may also be obtained by contacting
Howard Prince at the National Office.
All petition forms must be received by Feb. 1, 2009. Send
completed forms and petitions to Election Committee Chair Deborah
Henry at: Deborah Henry, 1182 Wildflower Ln., Maineville, OH 45039.
Legible scans of forms may be emailed to
[email protected].
Petition candidates should review the 2009 Code of Election
Procedures before beginning the petition process; the code is
available in PDF format at www.us.mensa.org/election.
Any questions regarding the election or the election process
should be addressed to: [email protected].
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 6
MINUTES FOR TAMPA BAY MENSA’S EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE MEETING —
OCTOBER 4, 2008
Jay Johnson, Scribe (Abridged by Thomas Thomas for main points.
Full transcript is on file
and available on request.)
The October 4, 2008 ExComm Meeting was held at the home of
Thomas Thomas.
ExComm Members present: Maxine Kushner, Theresa Hohmann, Maran
Fulvi, Dana Groulx, Ronan Heffernan, Thomas Thomas, Kathy Crum,
Sylvia Zadorozny. Absent: Barbara Loewe.
Other TBM Members present: Jay Johnson (Scribe), Kimberly
Nerviano.
The meeting was called to order at 6:14 pm by Thomas Thomas.
Reading of Minutes: General discussion, corrections, additions.
Motion: Accept the minutes as amended. Passed.
Officers’ Reports:
LocSec: Thomas Thomas: Working with National to follow up on
lapsed members. We ended up with 91 lapsed members and 4 rejoined
the past few months. This is a good response. Unless we discover
why they joined and what they expected we can’t know whether or not
we are meeting their expectations.
Discussion: Possibility of prospect survey.
We are getting better at contacting new members. Ronan called
members who joined within the last 3 months. Thomas would like to
set up a feedback page on the website where people can tell us what
they want to see more of or really don’t like about TBM; not a link
from the website because then we wouldn’t know if it was local
Mensans, or even Mensans that would respond. This would be a poll
saying go to this address that they would have to type in to get to
the survey to tell us how they feel.
Thomas plans to announce to the membership in the next Sounding
his candidacy to the RVC and a request for people to start thinking
about running for the ExComm next year. It is not too early to
start talking about next year’s election or we will end up with not
having enough people to fill the positions.
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January 2009 Page 7
Treasurer: Kathy Crum: Advertising income is up this year.
Thanks to all who advertise in the Sounding. Regarding the Sounding
postage, Kathy mentioned last meeting that the post office was
going paperless and since they weren’t sending paper anymore we had
to set up an online account. That has been almost impossible to do.
So postage for the last 3-4 months is estimated. The numbers are
close but certainly not accurate. It seems that we are still around
or right around budget for the postage.
Account balances are up from the first of the year by about
$750. The CD comes due next week. Kathy requested ExComm to keep an
eye out for at least 4% so she can roll it over. Because we are an
out-of-state corporation banks are difficult to deal with. This is
money we never touch; it is just a safety net so she can roll it
over for a long period.
Editor: Kimberly Nerviano: Kimberly has more people
contributing. Maran Fulvi is asking for submissions, especially
notes on events. Kimberly has some crosswords to put in and will
put the solutions in at the same time. Thomas is doing Sudoku with
his own variant, and if others have puzzles, great.
Kimberly is working with Ronan about timing for when we publish
what and coordinating with the web site.
Circulation: Thomas Thomas: After the Crewe List we were able to
put out the electronic version again so people got the October
electronic Sounding. Thomas will prepare the Statement of Ownership
for the Sounding. There have been a variety of concerns raised
about local groups and addresses including validation of addresses,
none of which affect us, as we are up to date. Our membership is
rising so the number that we’re submitting, mailing, is going up.
National validates the addresses but the post office has put in new
requirements of how recently the addresses have been validated. Our
permit requires us to do that kind of validation.
Last month the printing costs were high because of the Crewe
List but this month was much lower because we had a coupon rebate,
after spending nearly $1000 with the Crewe List the next rebate
will bring us down to about $300 real cost for the Crewe List.
Gifted Children: Theresa Hohmann: Working on plans for gifted
middle school was approved Monday. Currently there is an elementary
gifted magnet but in high school they did not have as many
services, social studies were not offered. At the high school level
they do nothing for gifted kids and Theresa has been working
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 8
with the Gifted Association of Pinellas and the superintendent
for a middle school gifted magnet and now we have three gifted
magnets.
For the children’s list Theresa got out an email to everyone
about the picnic, three people got back to her, and of those none
came.
The National Association for Gifted Children is having their
conference in Tampa and Theresa will be going to that. Catherine
Barney will be there, and Keri Guilbault is now the head of the
national Gifted Children Program; Dr. Deborah Ruf is speaking.
Friday is for teachers; Saturday is Parents’ Day. We have a table
there. Registration is $60 but Theresa will have a pass. All
sessions cost extra. Motion: Send Theresa Hohmann, the TBM Gifted
Children Coordinator, to the conference in Tampa, cap at $120.
Passed.
Membership: Maxine Kushner: Maxine has been waiting for the new
Crewe Lists and now that she has them she will send them out. She
will switch to envelopes, and would like to include a new member
coupon. Discussion: The coupon will not include a meal at a
restaurant, but we will reimburse the host for the kitty; guest or
spouse is ok. We will give two coupons to use any way the recipient
wants.
Testing: Thomas Thomas: Thomas removed Kevin Clark as Testing
Coordinator because we never heard back from him after repeated
attempts to contact him. Now Thomas is getting the phone calls and
emails, and the incoming volume of about one request per day
indicates we lost significant potential membership during that
time.
National has a database online. We can put it in when we contact
prospects and when we hear from them; it allows us to have a lot of
information and in future reference will tell national who needs to
be contacted and who does not. If someone doesn’t want to follow
through we can flag that. With Mensa Testing Day there has been a
lot of stuff going around regarding these names. Thomas contacted
those Jay Johnson culled for his area; she is contacting people
from Spring Hill to West Pinellas. Barbara Counts contacted people
in her area, and Thomas will ask Fran Orenstein if she is still
willing to test since she is busy with her new book contract. If
not we need to find a way to test South Hillsborough. Eloise Hurst
will help us get a space, we just need a proctor.
National sent a publicity packet for Mensa Testing Day, they had
doubled the number of media outlets, but it came too late
because
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January 2009 Page 9
the outlets need a month in advance. They provided a lot of good
information, including labels for the media outlets. Other promos
coming along, especially regarding prior evidence for military, and
they will announce it about two months ahead of the promo month. It
is possible national will consider professional tests such as
medical professionals as prior evidence. In addition, Melissa
Stephens sent out a promo piece from National to her toastmasters
groups.
WebSpinner: Ronan Heffernan: No report.
Program Officer: Maran Fulvi: We are expanding our programming.
We had a UFO speaker and a wine tasting. Jeremy, who coordinated
that event, is willing to do a series, and Susie Anderson is still
willing to continue as host; that will be every other month.
Gourmensans is going strong. We are looking to expand into other
types of events and to expand geographically. We have some interest
in the Brandon area. As we talk to people, when people ask ‘Do you
ever do X?’, that’s an expression of interest. Canoeing, bowling?
‘That’s a great idea, get in touch with our Program Coordinator and
give her the information, she can usually find people to do it.’ If
we get 3 people to do something we get a response. For the wine
tasting, Maran went through the special interests in the Crewe List
for people who had listed interests related to wine such as gourmet
cooking, food, etc., and put together an email list. She did not
include anyone who was not interested. Going forward she will be
using the Crewe List to promote events. 14 people attended and if
there were more it would have been a problem. Maran also thinks an
attendee should do a little write-up for the Sounding.
Discussion: Live Theatre, Avenue Q, community events. Yahoo!
List has only about 100 people on it, and many are former members,
so not reliable for announcing events. Members cannot be added by
us, they have to actually sign up. Discussions sometimes start on
tbm-gm and have to move to tbm-discussion. Some people complain
about getting too much email. Discussed ways to get more people to
sign up i.e. new member packet, Sounding, calendar. We need metrics
to see how people are getting it. Perhaps weekly blast of
events.
Scholarship: Thomas Thomas for Marilyn Wolf: Marilyn Wolf sent
information to schools on scholarships. Discussion: Scholarship
being offered was budgeted for 2008 but will not be offered until
2009. How should the accounting reflect this?
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 10
Someone stated that the budget is set up to show future
scholarship spending, the money is already there.
Old business:
Open Positions: Thomas Thomas: Our currently vacant volunteer
positions are: Circulation, Editor, Area Coordinators. Kimberly
will be relocating to Texas and will be giving up the Sounding.
Vicky Foust is canceling her Spring Hill dinner at the end of
the year. Response dropped off for Mike Aston’s events in Hudson.
There is no targeted promotion in West Pasco and Hernando counties
to get people to events. This is an area where people tell us they
want things, but no one officially coordinating in that area. We
could continue in the way we have been, which is trying to
coordinate from the ExComm, but in the past, area coordinators have
been more successful.
Maran offered to do the coordination. She can send out an email,
a teaser, here are some sample ideas, please respond, she will make
a note, and get back to people who are interested in doing, tell
them what she received. She can focus on it long distance and
facilitate people doing events.
Discussion: Make it clear we need coordinators. We may be able
to recruit as people meet each other. Coordinator should grow from
a known volunteer, we have had trouble with unknown appointees.
Fall Picnic: Discussion: Went well. Good location. Needed
sign-up sheet. Will anyone write article for Sounding?
Mega-Gathering: Discussion: Richard Manno has given up on idea.
With no driver, it will be removed from Old Business.
New business:
ExComm Calendar: Thomas Thomas: Suggested setting up regular
calendar of ExComm meetings and other events so people could
schedule around the dates. Strong opposition from other ExComm
members; withdrew the idea.
Next ExComm Meeting: December 14, 2:00 at the home of Dana
Groulx.
Motion to adjourn: Second, motion carried. (Time of adjournment
was not recorded.)
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January 2009 Page 11
TAMPA BAY MENSA PROCTOR TEAM Gina Boogher
I would like to introduce, or remind those who know of, our Team
of Proctors in the Tampa Bay area. As Proctors, we work together to
provided testing opportunities to the general public who are eager
to learn more about becoming part of the Mensa organization. Our
train-ing method relies heavily on the skill and experience of our
seasoned Proctors as well as the time commitment of those
interested in undergo-ing the certification process.
First up is Barbara Counts. Barbara is a delightful woman who
seems to be willing to help out in any way she can. I don’t just
mean as a proctor. She is a retired CPA who volunteers regularly
for her church and numerous other organizations. Barbara was our
Proctor Coordina-tor until late last year when she resigned to
diversify her time. She per-formed the role with such grace and
precision that no one was aware of what an undertaking it is. She
continues to be an integral component to keeping the program
functioning smoothly.
Next is Fran Orenstein. Fran has had four novels and a short
story published. She continues to write but considers herself
retired from a regular job. She came to Tampa Bay from Arizona by
way of South Carolina. Her flexibility is notable and welcome. As
the Proctor Coordinator in Arizona, she grew accustomed to testing
large groups of 20 or more. Fran extends an open invitation to hear
from neighboring members in South Hillsborough. If you live in that
area, give her a call at (813) 746-1831. Please leave a message
with your name and phone number and say “Mensa Test” to introduce
yourself.
Jay Johnson is so thorough in her duties as a proctor that her
re-cord keeping may become the model for us. Jay is very conscious
of her prospects’ possible intimidation of the test and works to
keep them calm. In addition, she welcomes those who pass with open
arms. Jay is our one woman show in North Pinellas, West Pasco and
West Hernando counties. She is also the Scribe for the ExComm
meetings and if you received this Sounding in the mail, she is the
person who drove it to the post office for delivery.
Sylvia Zadorozny is in the process of being certified. Sylvia is
one of the first to lend a hand when things get too deep. Thanks
Sylvia, for taking this on in our time of need. To list her
contributions to our group would take a Sounding the size of our
Crewe List. She is our current Deputy LocSec. If you haven’t met
her yet, we suggest you make the ef-fort. She hosts Games Nights
every second Saturday of the month. If you’re not a gamer, she lets
you come in, snoop around, meet a few folks, eat the fresh baked
cookies and leave. Trust me, I’ve done that.
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 12
We have two other members entering the Proctor Certifica-tion
Program. I asked these individuals for their assistance because of
their prior contributions to Tampa Bay Mensa, commitment to ethics
and confidentiality, and the need for Proctors in areas where they
re-side. Keep checking the Sounding for their continued success in
com-pleting the program. Thanks to them, our coverage of the Tampa
Bay area is complete.
And there is Thomas Thomas, also our current LocSec. I almost
forgot to list him. Thomas is so taken for granted that he is the
only Proctor that I forget to ask what he wants to do and just send
him lists of things we could be doing. He has been zipping around
the counties proctoring and meeting with people who come to our
testing sessions. He has also set up additional testing sites in
Hillsborough to keep up with demand. Thomas is a great sport and
gives of his time generously for our needs.
As for me, I have stepped in as the Testing Coordinator. Along
with Sylvia, I am at the mid point in the Proctor Certification
Process. It has been a pleasure working with this team while we
gear up our program for the New Year.
Our team has a busy month ahead of us in January. If you know of
someone who wants to be tested, please refer them to our web page
www.tampa.us.mensa.org and then click on testing opportunities.
Great bunch of folks-that’s all I have to say! Oh, and
Thanks!
Gina Boogher (Interim) Testing Coordinator, TBM
[email protected] January Testing Opportunities in
Tampa Bay Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 10:00 am (Hudson) Saturday,
January 17, 2009 at 10:00 am (Ruskin) (RSVP required by January
14th for Ruskin test) Saturday, January 17, 2009 at 3:00 pm
(Tampa/Westchase) Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 7:00 pm
(Tampa/Downtown) Saturday, January 24, 2009 at 10:00 am (North St.
Petersburg)
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Page 13 January 2009
SURVIVING SPENDING Steven K. Shapiro
When I started writing this article, I had lots to say about how
we are taught to spend, encouraged to spend, how we are an instant
gratifi-cation society, and how we have been taught to gratify
ourselves by spending, even if we don’t have the money. I hit the
delete key. I real-ized that I don’t have to actually say the
words. We all know this. Many of us are living it. But what can we
do about it?
Several years ago I started hearing this Dave Ramsey guy on the
radio. At first I thought him to be a first class idiot. A lot of
what he was saying went against a lot of what I had learned. But
the longer I lis-tened, the more it made sense. It made a lot more
sense when I went from just listening to him, to checking out his
web site and reading about the details of the things he was talking
about. His web site is a treasure trove of information. Sure he is
selling himself and his prod-ucts and commercializing what he is
teaching, but I have found that it is not necessary to purchase any
of his products to be able to put his teaching into action. Maybe
some people need these products, and I do not disparage them, all I
say is that I don’t think that it is necessary to buy anything to
be successful in doing what he is teaching.
I started by looking at what I owed. MY DEBT. I then put
together a budget to account for every penny of what I earned and
what I spent it on. I used my budget to be able to create savings
while I was reducing my debt. I also decided to eliminate my use of
credit cards wherever possible. Finally, I incorporated all of this
into accomplishing what Dave calls his ‘7 Baby Steps’.
The following are my thoughts on what I am doing and how I am
doing it. I have also included a link to Dave’s web site as he has
pages and pages of details that I couldn’t hope to provide in this
short article.
Debt
Debt is dumb. You’ll never get rich spending money. You get rich
by saving money. You save money by spending less money than you
earn. You have to decide for yourself about the tradeoff. What are
you willing to NOT have in order to have the money to put into
savings?
Budgeting
If you’re not in control of your money, your money is in control
of you. The only way to get control of your money is to know where
it comes from and where it goes. This is what a budget does. It is
a TOOL for finding out what happens to your money. A budget should
go down
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 14
to the penny if possible, but don’t go overboard. There’s no
need to hire a tax accountant and pay them thousands of dollars to
find out where your money is going. You can do this for yourself
with simple Excel spreadsheets; or use Quicken and sometimes even
your bank will have online tools that help to categorize all of the
money you spend via checks, electronic bill pays and debit card
purchases. Update it on a regular basis and keep it current.
Spending
Once you have your budget in place, you will be able to make a
spending plan. The first thing you will want to do is figure out
how to reduce your spending. When it comes to spending, you need to
deter-mine what is a NEED and what is a WANT. Even then there are
choices to make. You may NEED a cell phone, but do you NEED the
$395 prod-uct, or just WANT it? You may NEED a car, but do you NEED
a new one, or just WANT it? To be able to save more, you must
narrow your spending closer to the NEEDS and farther from the
WANTS.
Saving
My goal is to have my money work for me so that I don’t have to
work for my money. The more I save, the more interest it earns. The
more I save, the more I can invest and have even more money work
for me. In fact, the more I am willing to put into risk-free fixed
rate invest-ments, the higher the interest rate that they are
willing to offer me. However, without a savings plan, I will never
have enough money to work for me.
Savings doesn’t have to start out big. In fact, most savings
start out small, with a small initial amount and then by adding to
it little by little on a regular basis. You must also have the will
power to say that what-ever you put into savings is UNTOUCHABLE. If
you put it into savings, you must do so with the agreement to
yourself that it is not available. I can already hear you asking:
“Steve, what about an EMERGENCY!!!? Well, you know that there is
going to be an emergency. There always is. You may not know WHAT it
is, but you know that at some point in time, there is going to be
an emergency where you need to get a hold of some cash . . . fast.
Well, that should be part of your budget. An emergency fund that is
in ADDITION to savings. So now you ask: But Steve, what if its NOT
ENOUGH? What if I need MORE? I am sure that you can al-ways
envision the ultimate catastrophe. However, based on your years of
experience, and the emergencies you have experienced in your life,
what is a reasonable amount? Set this amount aside and do your
best. If you NEED (not want, but need) to dip into savings, make
sure you have a plan to repay it.
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January 2009 Page 15
There are many ways to set aside money for savings. Some people
use the ‘envelope’ method, where each week they put an amount into
an envelope until they reach their goal. Others setup many separate
sav-ings accounts at their bank and put money into them in a
similar man-ner. Whatever it is that works for you, start doing
it!
Credit Cards
I have learned to hate these things. They are too convenient.
They make it too easy to get into debt. Don’t have the cash? Just
charge it! (I remember back to an old ‘Flintstones’ episode with
Betty and Wilma). I have an agreement with myself that nothing goes
on a credit card that I am not prepared to pay for with my
discretionary income. Basically, if I don’t already have the cash
or will have it in my next pay check, I just don’t use it. Lately I
travel quite a bit for my employer. I use my credit cards for my
travel expenses and as soon as I return, I fill out my ex-pense
reports and am reimbursed. I don’t wait till the end of the month
when I get my statement. I go online and pay it off immediately so
that I am not tempted to spend the money elsewhere and let that
balance stay on the card.
So now I hear you asking about all those wonderful ‘rewards’
points and ‘frequent flyer miles’ etc. that you get by using your
credit card. I say no problem. Use the credit card all you want to
pay for things, just be sure to pay it off immediately so that you
don’t carry a balance and don’t have interest charges. Remember, if
you carry a balance, those ‘rewards’ are depreciated at your
interest rate of your balance. So if you carry $1000 average
monthly balance on your card for a year, at a rate of 20%, you are
spending $200 / year for that ‘reward’. So how much have you
actually been ‘rewarded’?
Baby Steps
I like these the best. Once I understood what they were and how
to use them, I can’t recommend them highly enough.
1. $1,000 to start an Emergency Fund
2. Pay off all debt using the Debt Snowball
3. 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings
4. Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax
retire-ment
-
5. College funding for children
6. Pay off home early
Build wealth and give!
Step 1. Earlier I talked about savings and creating a separate
emer-gency fund. Start with $1000 as a guideline. If you think you
need more, then by all means, make it more. You need to adjust it
to your life so that it works for you, but do not be without
it.
Step 2. I love the debt snowball. I don’t know why I never
thought of it. In the past, I just paid a bit of money across all
of my outstanding debts and it never seemed to help. This works.
It’s for credit cards, car loans, furniture loans, and all the rest
of your ‘signature’ type loans. Here is how it works in Dave’s own
words: “The math seems to lean more to-ward paying the highest
interest debts first, but what I have learned is that personal
finance is 20% head knowledge and 80% behavior. The principle is to
stop everything except minimum payments and focus on one thing at a
time. Otherwise, nothing gets accomplished because all your effort
is diluted. You need some quick wins in order to stay pumped enough
to get out of debt completely. When you start knocking off the
easier debts, you will start to see results and you will start to
win in debt reduction. So list your debts in order with the
smallest payoff or balance first (excluding the house). Do not be
concerned with interest rates or terms unless two debts have
similar payoffs, then list the higher interest rate debt
first.”
So I made a list of those outstanding signature debts, smallest
to highest dollar amounts. Using my budget, I cut back on as much
as I could so that I could put as much as possible into paying off
this first debt (I still made the minimum payments to the other
debts). Once it was paid off, I took all the money I was paying
towards this debt that no longer existed, and applied it to the
next debt. It took me about 9 months to get them all paid off. It
could have taken less time if I had been able to work a part time
job or find some other source of income, but I could not. If you
have that option, then that will only increase the speed at which
you get them paid off.
Step 3. This is the step I am currently working on. Depending on
your job, 3 to 6 months of expenses in savings may not be enough.
If you are self-employed, you might want to consider having a full
year of ex-penses saved in the bank. Also, bear in mind, that this
is for the ‘loss of job’ emergency. You don’t have to have half a
year’s salary in savings, but half a year’s EXPENSES. And if you
lose your job, I am pretty sure
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 16
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January 2009 Page 17
that a lot of those WANT expenses are going to get zeroed out
until you are employed again. This emphasizes the importance of
Step 2. If you have a lot of mandatory expenses, that is to say,
paying off signature loans, then it is not so easy to remove them
in an emergency. So get that car and those credit cards paid off
ASAP so that you can reduce this ex-pense even further.
Step 4. I have a 401k with my employer and he does a very
generous matching funds. While I cannot afford to invest 15% of my
income (yet), I can invest the max that he will match. Basically if
I invest 3%, he will match it with 2% and that’s found money in my
opinion.
Step 5. When I moved to Florida, I opened a Florida Prepaid
College plan for each of my kids as soon as they qualified. Back
then my car was paid for and the total cost of the Prepaid College
plan for my kids was about what I had been paying towards my car
payment. Dave recom-mends against a Prepaid College Plan and
recommends other invest-ments for this purpose. You will have to
decide for yourself which plan is best for you.
Step 6. When I was making mortgage payments, I used a mortgage
amortization calculator I found on the web and I realized that by
being 1 payment ahead and by paying an extra $100 or so on the
principal each month I could cut the duration of the mortgage in
half. I have seen sev-eral other techniques that people have used
to shorten the duration of their house payments. You will have to
decide for yourself which plan is best for you
Step 7. I sure am looking forward to this step as it
accomplishes my original goal: Have my money working for me rather
than me working for my money.
You can see for yourself what Dave has to say by checking out
his web site at:
http://www.daveramsey.com/
Meanwhile, we are embarking upon a brand new year, so maybe one
of your resolutions can be to become debt free.
Steve Shapiro [email protected]
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JANUARY BIRTHDAYS
1 Margaret Argudo, Jerry Merchant
2 John Wallace Hamilton, Mary Anna Muka
4 Dustin Anderson, Betty Sue Taylor
5 Lawrence Jay
6 Col Rick David Craig
7 Federico Agnir
8 Ronan Heffernan
9 Stanley Pleban
11 Russell Brown, Helen Martin Parramore, Robert Sidney
Quinn III
12 David Bruce Goodrich
14 Robert Luckenbach
17 Marvin Ivey
20 Jay Johnson
21 Jim Perry
23 Theresa Hohmann
24 Brett Husselbaugh
25 Louise Catherine Kelly, Michelle Kurtz
26 Melissa Stephens, Kristie Woeckener, Robert Young
27 Richard Averitt, Gary Posner, Marsha Patterson Raymond
28 K E Schneider
31 Leslie Shade Jr
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 18
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January 2009 Page 19
JANUARY MENSAVERSARIES*
41 Years Mary Sanchez 35 Years Daniel O'Neal III 34 Years Jerry
Merchant 31 Years Lee Miele 29 Years Benito Enriquez, Kenneth
Kaplan, Bruce Perry 25 Years Bonnie Wilpon 24 Years James Bailey 23
Years Anne McFarlane 22 Years Grant Clifford Logan 17 Years Karen
Hamlin 16 Years Ryan Kennedy 15 Years Ron Austin 14 Years Sean
Dobes 12 Years Patrick Bastien, Nelson Crowle, Steven Michael
Graves, Roger Preslar, John Stuart Turnbull 11 Years Dave Bryant 9
Years Martin Jenns 8 Years Devlon Buckner 7 Years Ruby Leah Agnir,
Maj Alvin John Bedgood, Paul Happel, Thomas George Thomas, Thomas
Vena, Brittian Walker, Robert Waltz 6 Years Susan Gardner, Barbara
Jean Rambow, William Michael Schneikart 5 Years James Joseph
Dowling, Helmuth Grimm, Michael Hankinson, Jim Hawkins, Frank
Ridgway, Robert Young 4 Years Warden Beebe, Chris Lettre, Robert
Pressner 3 Years Lauren Bylsma, Suzanne Joyce Fahy, Elizabeth Lynn
Hapner, Jay Johnson, Corey Holt Merenda, Gerald Thackham 2 Years
Ethan Hall, John Hurayt, Stephen Paul Morrill, Michelle Nicely,
John Wesley Parker, Margaret Rubino 1 Year Joyce Valentine Brook,
Jimmy Buford, Dana Gosnell, Robert Pace, Anitha Reddy, Thomas
Sawyer, Lawrence Schear, Joyce Stroot, Kyle Walker
* Years are for continuous membership - members who let their
membership
lapse start from the date of reinstatement.
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 20
THE TENTH STORY
(RVC COLUMN FOR REGION 10) – JANUARY 2009
Maggie Truelove
I recently read a letter to the editor in a Region 10 newsletter
which bemoaned the lack of appropriate activities for him to
attend. He mentioned several problems: diet restrictions which made
the restaurants gatherings impractical, long distances to drive at
night to attend events, and a general lack of interesting events to
attend. He did raise some valid points, which I thought were worth
discuss-ing here.
Diet restrictions and restaurants: He felt that there were many
members with diet restrictions for whom the restaurants didn't work
and suggested that house parties past meal hours would be better.
The problem here, as always, is finding someone willing to
under-take the cleaning and fixing of refreshments as well as the
liability of strangers in the house. (He didn't mention one problem
I observed throughout the years - the unwillingness of Mensans to
RSVP about attending said party, which makes it even harder to plan
refresh-ments.) He made a good point about this; if 50 people in a
good sized group each offered to host a party once a year, there
could be a house party nearly every weekend of the year somewhere
within the confines of the group's area. An excellent concept!
Long distances to drive at night: Now our 50 house parties would
also run into this problem. How many of the 50 parties would be
within a reasonable driving distance for each member? Certainly not
all of them! One way to ensure that an occasional party is close
enough would be to VOLUNTEER TO HOST ONE! Yeah, that would work! Of
course, another help for this is to set up some sub-groups, each
with an area coordinator, with regular events within that smaller
area each month. Some of our Region 10 groups already have some
sub-groups. Perhaps more of us should consider moving in that
direction. Perhaps with more events closer to home, more members
would participate. We don't know until we try!
Lack of interesting events: Back in the 1980s, here in Central
Florida Mensa (my home group), we had a monthly speaker/program
meeting. We usually had interesting speakers. These were generally
well attended. We could often find free venues, such as the
clubhouse at an apartment complex or the meeting room at a
busi-
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January 2009 Page 21
ness. But then the free venues dried up, so the speaker chair
position dried up as well - and it is hard to bring in a speaker to
speak in someone's living room! But if a local group could find
access to an appropriate free venue, returning to holding program
nights could be something of interest. I am sure there are other
interesting types of activities out there. Perhaps some of you
would like to share ideas with Region 10? If you would like, you
could send them to me, and I would certainly include them in an
upcoming column in the several months I have left as your Regional
Vice Chair.
Hope to see you at SmartiGras at the end of January or at
Valen-Time in the middle of February. We'll be there.
Maggie Truelove, RVC 10
407-855-9078
[email protected]
3333 Honeysuckle Lane,
HITTING THE LINKS Are you a Mensan golfer who would like to play
golf with other Men-
sans? If so, I am canvassing the Chapter for members interested
in
forming a golf Crewe to play at least once per month (scheduled
and/
or impromptu). If you are interested in such an event, email or
phone
me.
Please provide me with info such as your average/handicap,
formats
you may be interested in, courses you've played – or desire to
play,
and/or anything else on your mind.
I hope to announce something scheduled shortly after the first
of the
New Year.
See you on the links.
J.R. Hurayt
[email protected]
727-391-7138
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 22
INTRODUCING GENERATION Y! Were you born between 1976 and 1990?
You should totally check
out the Gen Y SIG!
Inspired by the success of Gen X, the Gen Y SIG has been
growing
by leaps and bounds in the past few months. While our Yahoo
group (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Gen-YMs) has remained
our main gathering place, we've expanded to Facebook, and
sev-
eral local groups are enjoying monthly Gen Y get-togethers.
We'd
love to see Gen Y events flourish in Tampa Bay Mensa!
In the coming months, we will be launching a web site and
send-
ing a newsletter to every Gen Y aged member in American
Mensa!
You too can join in the fun! Join the Yahoo group, and chime
in!
We'd love to hear from you! If you would like to write
something
for the upcoming newsletter (anything, really!), email it to
[email protected]. Fame has never come so easily!
We would love to have a Gen Y coordinator in every local
group.
TBM currently does not have a Gen Y coordinator. The duties
of
being a Gen Y rep aren't really hard, labor intensive, or even
that
time consuming. Basically:
- plan an event or two every month.
- Do a little write up about your upcoming events, and/or
submit
calendar entries for what you're doing, to you local
newsletter.
- Go to the event. Have fun.
- Maybe set up a local Gen Y Yahoo group.
- Be the contact listed for your area when we have a website
and
send out newsletters.
If you're interested, email your LocSec Thomas Thomas at
[email protected] and let us know!
- Marie P.
-
ORPHAN’S THANKSGIVING Sylvia Zadorozny
"Mensa is family" is one of those sayings you hear at Regional
Gatherings or read in the Mensa Bulletin. But for those of us who
don't have much other family nearby, our Mensa "family" can be
especially appreciated at this time of the year. A few years ago I
began Tampa Bay Mensa's Orphans' Thanksgiving with this in mind, as
a place for us "orphans" to gather with our surrogate family and
celebrate a traditional family holiday.
right to left: (foreground) Maran Fulvi and Mindy Singer,
(background) Gina, Don Davis and Eloise Hurst (standing)
This year's Orphans' Thanksgiving turned out to be a real
gourmet (and gourmand) FEAST, thanks to all who came bearing
goodies to share: Michael Aston, Eloise Hurst, Dan McCarthy, Thomas
Thomas, Maran Fulvi & mom Ronnie, Don Davis, Elaine
Somoza-Paralusz & her brother & friend visiting from New
Jersey, Mindy Singer & husband Steve, Debbie Kazor, Carl Hammen
& his son John, Liz Rafaloski, Melissa Stephens, Cornelia
Biggers & her husband, and, of course, me. Even my cat Freddie
made a late appearance and got a little leftover turkey. Our
fabulous spread included a raw vegetable tray, honey-
January 2009 Page 23
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wheat pretzels with cheese, a spicy homemade dip, a big fancy
salad, warm rolls with butter, an enormous turkey, lots of
stuffing, homemade cranberry sauce, a butternut squash dish with
peppers, vegetable korma, a sweet corn casserole,
garlic-cheese-mashed potatoes, fresh green beans, sweet potatoes
with marshmallows or almonds, homemade key lime pie,
double-chocolate brownies, caramel-apple-nut pie, pecan pie,
pumpkin pies, a couple of other pies, sugar cookies, fresh-brewed
coffee, and an assortment of fine wines. (Is your mouth watering
yet?)
The 30 pound turkey
As guests arrived, we watched a pair of mute swans swim
gracefully on the lake behind my house. The beautiful white birds
had arrived only the week before, but they must have been
accustomed to humans, because when they saw us with food, they
ventured up on the lawn looking for a handout. A couple of us
tossed them bits of a roll, so the birds got to eat before the rest
of us began dining. It's just as well they went back down to the
lake before the turkey was brought out, though--the 30-pound turkey
was just about their size, and they might have wondered if we were
trying to fatten them up.
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 24
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January 2009 Page 25
Dan McCarthy, Sylvia Z wearing turkey hat, Carl Hammen, and
Debbie Kazor
Since this was Thanksgiving, we used the fine china (instead of
the usual disposables of games nights). Not everything fit in one
room, so guests were directed to a back room to fetch their plates
and glasses, then the kitchen for their silverware and drinks, and
then the lanai to fill their plates with food--I began to think I
should have provided a map to help everyone find everything. In
order to accommodate the crowd, I'd moved a sofa and coffee table
out of the living room and arranged three table groupings, plus two
tables with food out on the lanai. We actually did manage to fit in
quite nicely, but if this event grows much larger, I'm afraid I
might have to impose an attendance limit. (Buying a larger house
not being in the budget.)
During the evening I heard conversations on a wide range of
topics, from the inevitable "This is all so good, I wish my stomach
were bigger," to various names for hookahs (Mike Aston had brought
a pretty one to show and share), to how a key lime tree is growing
too far north but doesn't seem to realize it! Finally, towards the
end of the evening when there were only a few of us left, Thomas
brought out a new party game for us to try.
-
John Hammen going back for seconds
Thank you to everyone who came to be part of our TBM
Thanksgiving "family". It was a wonderful way to spend the holiday
(and sure beat sitting home alone with a Swanson's frozen turkey
dinner!).
COUPON EXCHANGE! Those who possess Entertainment Book for St.
Petersburg, I am
interested in Coupon D-15 for Paul's Chicago Pizza in Safety
Harbor.
In return I will give you any coupon of your choice.
Contact Papan
(727) 483-9552
[email protected]
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 26
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January 2009 Page 27
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 28
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
1 12:30 PM
Lunch Bun
ch
2 3
4 5
6 7 7PM
Read
ing Grou
p
8 12:30 PM
Lunch Bun
ch
9 7:30AM
Breakfast G
ather-
ing
10 8:30A
M
Fossil D
ig
7:30PM
Gam
es Night
11 12
13 7PM
Tu
esday N
ight
Trivia
14 15 12:30 PM
Lu
nch Bun
ch
16 7PM
Buzztim
e Trivia
17 10A
M, 3PM
Men
sa Testing
7PM
Gou
rmen
sans
18 19
20 21 7PM
Read
ing Grou
p
Men
sa Testing
22 12:30 PM
Lu
nch Bun
ch
23 6PM
Fou
rth Frid
ay Mad
ness
24 10A
M
Men
sa Testing
25 2PM
Fo
ld, Stap
le, and
Mail
26 27
28 29 12:30 PM
Lu
nch Bun
ch
Check Event Calendar updates at http://tampa.us.m
ensa.org
30 31 7:30PM
Rotatin
g Gam
es Night
January 2009
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THURSDAY, JANUARY 1
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Lunch Bunch
Location: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 11810 North Dale Mabry,
Tampa
We meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria (next to Barnes and Noble
Bookstore) in Tampa. For directions, descriptions, and/or
encouragement to attend, call:
Jim Perry (813) 837-3473 [email protected]
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 7
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM Reading Group
Location: Perkins Restaurant, 612 N. Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa
We meet twice per month (on the first and third Wednesday). Our
meeting location is Perkins on Dale Mabry, just north of Kennedy.
Bring along books you'd like to exchange or give away.
Ronan Heffernan (813) 732-2310 [email protected]
January 2009 Page 29
JANUARY 2009 CALENDAR Maran Fulvi
Calendar Editor
Mensa events are open to all Mensans, their spouses, and
accompanied guests. A party at a private home is a private
event,
and who may or may not attend is at the complete discretion
of
the host. While kitty amounts are mandatory, hosts often
spend
far more than the specified amount. Donations in excess of
the
kitty amount will be appreciated.
Please e-mail your calendar event notices to
[email protected], or visit
http://tampa.us.mensa.org/cal for complete instructions.
To have event announcements sent directly for your email, sign
up
for the tbm-gm group at Yahoo!
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/tbm-gm/
Your deadline for the following month’s calendar is the
10th of the preceding month.
Hosts: Please remember to mention any special concerns about
your location, such as limited access for the handicapped,
smoking
restrictions, or presence of pets.
Guests: If you have special needs or restrictions, it is prudent
to
discuss them with your host before attending an event.
-
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 30
THURSDAY, JANUARY 8
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Lunch Bunch
Location: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 11810 North Dale Mabry,
Tampa
We meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria (next to Barnes and Noble
Bookstore) in Tampa. For directions, descriptions, and/or
encouragement to attend, call:
Jim Perry (813) 837-3473 [email protected]
FRIDAY, JANUARY 9
7:30 AM to 8:30 AM Breakfast Gathering
Location: Village Inn, 13105 Walsingham Rd, Largo, FL
Breakfast Gathering at the Village Inn at Walsingham Road in
Largo 7:30 AM on the 2nd Thursday of every month. Gather for food
and conversation.
RSVP to Lori Puterbaugh (727) 399-2419
SATURDAY, JANUARY 10
8:30 AM to 2:00 PM Second Saturday Fossil Dig
Location: Vulcan Quarry
I am chronically late, so please do not be offended by the
warning, but you MUST be on time. We will enter the mines at 9am.
Anyone not there at that time will not be allowed in.
Child members, or member's children, must have a parent or legal
guardian present to participate. I will have waiver forms for
everyone to sign before we go in. To reach Vulcan, take I 75 north
to Exit 301, Brooksville/ Rt 98. Go ten miles to Brooksville and
follow the signs for Rt. 98 north. Go another ten miles north of
Brooksville on 98 and watch for the CEMEX/ Vulcan signs on the left
side. Wait by the highway entrance.
You will be driving in, so you will have access to any coolers
you may bring. I would suggest bringing snacks and PLENTY of water.
It gets hot, so dress appropriately. You might want to bring
sunscreen. Please RSVP by email by the Friday before so I
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January 2009 Page 31
can have a good idea of how many are coming. I have scheduled
this to coincide with the Tampa Bay Fossil Club dig so that we may
have some experts there who can answer our questions. I do not
bring tools, but you may wish to bring a hand shovel.
RSVP to Theresa Hohman [email protected]
7:30 PM to 11:59 PM Games Night
Location: 651 Timber Bay Circle West, Oldsmar ($2 kitty)
Sylvia Zadorozny (813) 855-4939 [email protected]
TUESDAY, JANUARY 13
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Tuesday Night Trivia
Location: Barnacles of Tampa, 926 Providence Rd, Brandon
Join us for Buzztime Trivia every second Tuesday at
Barnacles.
Tuesday is when the rest of the national NTN-SIG plays (join the
SIG at [email protected]).
Tuesday features Buzztime's Brainbuster and Showdown games.
Barnacles is a full restaurant and bar, so you can socialize
even if you don't play trivia. They even have Karaoke later in the
evening for anyone interested!
See Barnacles of Tampa online at www.barnacles.com
Thomas Thomas (813) 994-3981 [email protected]
THURSDAY, JANUARY 15
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Lunch Bunch
Location: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 11810 North Dale Mabry,
Tampa
We meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria (next to Barnes and Noble
Bookstore) in Tampa. For directions, descriptions, and/or
encouragement to attend, call:
Jim Perry (813) 837-3473 [email protected]
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 32
FRIDAY, JANUARY 19
7:00 PM to 12:00 AM Buzztime Trivia
Location: Prime Time Sports Grill, Carrollwood
Buzztime Trivia (formerly NTN Satellite Trivia) is a nationwide
contest held in assorted restaurants and bars in our region.
Three short rounds of five questions each are interspersed with
breaks for conversation and socializing.
We meet in Carrollwood at Prime Time Sports Grill which puts the
trivia games on a BIG screen! Look for the table with our mascot,
Owlbert. Come join the party!
Thomas Thomas (813) 994-3981 [email protected]
SATURDAY, JANUARY 17
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Mensa Admission Test
Location: Hudson
Are you or anyone you know interested in joining Mensa? Go to
www.tampa.us.mensa.org and click "Testing Opportunities" to see a
list of upcoming tests.
Contact information is on the website.
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Mensa Admission Test
Location: Ruskin
Are you or anyone you know interested in joining Mensa? Go to
www.tampa.us.mensa.org and click "Testing Opportunities" to see a
list of upcoming tests.
Contact information is on the website.
3:00 PM to 5:00 PM Mensa Admission Test
Location: Upper Tampa/Westchase
Are you or anyone you know interested in joining Mensa? Go to
www.tampa.us.mensa.org and click "Testing Opportunities" to see a
list of upcoming tests.
Contact information is on the website.
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM Gourmensans Go Irish
Location: Four Green Fields, 205 W. Platt St. Tampa FL 33606
Come and savor the Irish favorites and libations. Entrees range:
$12-14. Platt St. is one way street from west to east.
Look for the Irish Flag. There is a parking lot behind the pub
and also on the corner of 3rd St and W. Platt.
Papan (727) 483-9552 [email protected]
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January 2009 Page 33
WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 21
7:00 PM to 8:30 PM Reading Group
Location: Perkins Restaurant, 612 N. Dale Mabry Hwy, Tampa
We meet twice per month (on the first and third Wednesday). Our
meeting location is Perkins on Dale Mabry, just north of Kennedy.
Bring along books you'd like to exchange or give away.
Ronan Heffernan (813) 732-2310 [email protected]
7:00 PM to 9:00 PM Mensa Admission Test
Location: Downtown Tampa
Are you or anyone you know interested in joining Mensa? Go to
www.tampa.us.mensa.org and click "Testing Opportunities" to see a
list of upcoming tests.
Contact information is on the website.
THURSDAY, JANUARY 22
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Lunch Bunch
Location: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 11810 North Dale Mabry,
Tampa
We meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria (next to Barnes and Noble
Bookstore) in Tampa. For directions, descriptions, and/or
encouragement to attend, call:
Jim Perry (813) 837-3473 [email protected]
FRIDAY, JANUARY 23
6:00 PM to 8:30 PM Fourth Friday Madness
Location: Olive Garden, 6700 U.S. 19 N., Pinellas Park
Come party on down with us every fourth (not necessarily last)
Friday at the Olive Garden Italian Restaurant from 6pm to whenever.
This is just southeast of Gandy Boulevard. RSVP to:
Phoebe McCann (727) 546-4030 [email protected]
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 34
SATURDAY, JANUARY 24
10:00 AM to 12:00 PM Mensa Admission Test
Location: North St. Petersburg
Are you or anyone you know interested in joining Mensa? Go to
www.tampa.us.mensa.org and click "Testing Opportunities" to see a
list of upcoming tests.
Contact information is on the website.
SUNDAY, JANUARY 25
2:00 PM to 6:00 PM Fold, Staple, and Mail
Location: 651 Timber Bay Circle West, Oldsmar, FL 34677
Come help us Fold, Staple, and put Mailing labels on next
month's issue of the Tampa Bay Sounding. You can even get your
newsletter early! Please call if you need directions. Hope to see
you here.
Sylvia Zadorozny (813) 855-4939 [email protected]
THURSDAY, JANUARY 29
12:30 PM to 1:30 PM Lunch Bunch
Location: Piccadilly Cafeteria, 11810 North Dale Mabry,
Tampa
We meet at Piccadilly Cafeteria (next to Barnes and Noble
Bookstore) in Tampa. For directions, descriptions, and/or
encouragement to attend, call:
Jim Perry (813) 837-3473 [email protected]
SATURDAY, JANUARY 31
7:00 PM to 12:00 AM Last Saturday Rotating Games Night
Location: TBD ($2 kitty)
-
Sun
Mon
Tue
Wed
Thu
Fri
Sat
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3 4 7P
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Reading Group
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Lu
nch Bun
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Tuesday Night
Trivia
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Break
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Gathering
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Fossil Dig
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Gam
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Reading Group
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Buzztime Trivia
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Fourth Friday
Mad
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Rotating Gam
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Night
February 2009
January 2009 Page 35
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 36
REALITY CHECK Don Orblom
[Reprinted from M-Pact, newsletter of Triad North
Carolina Mensa, August 1999; John Parker, Editor]
Zen, peanut butter and jelly.
Some times the smallest things can be the clue for understanding
the larger complexities of life.
One evening, I was doing one of my classes on self esteem, and
was looking for an example to use that would show how we get set in
our thinking. I came up with the idea of peanut butter and jelly
sandwich making. I challenged someone to describe how to make such
a sandwich, "the right way."
I chose a volunteer and they proceeded to explain how to make a
sandwich. Of course, when they were finished, several others
protested. Of course, they knew "the right way" and that wasn't it.
I listened in awe as people insisted that, almost came to blows, in
fact, that no! You must use crunchy not smooth peanut butter. Not
wheat bread, but white. Not grape jelly, but strawberry jam. No,
no! you put the peanut butter on one slice of bread and the jelly
on the other, then press them together. And it must be cut across.
No, from corner to corner. No, you don't cut it, because it just
makes it easier for the jelly to leak out. No! First you put butter
on the bread.
And the winner was a man who made his sandwiches on a flour
tortilla and rolled it up so that it wouldn't leak. But, I'm not
sure that really isn't a peanut butter and jelly burrito.
The point is that each of these people had a "right way." A way
that was so "right" that they never questioned it. Yet, how many
ways can be "right." Apparently, several. And if that's true of
peanut butter and jelly, how true can it be for other things? How
many "right" ways are there for everything and do we even
acknowledge their existence? Do we try them? Or do we insist that
our "right way" is the only "right way" and go on doing things the
way we've always done them?
Personally, I like my way. I'm sure you like yours. Shall we
fight? Shall we try something new? Can we accept there are more
than one way to be right? Or maybe we should just go get a
hamburger instead.
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TOP TEN ALL-TIME FAVORITE TV SHOWS
This month we have Linda Terrell and Maran Fulvi present-ing
their Top, ahem, ‘Ten’ All-Time Favorite Shows. Linda is a for-mer
writer for fanzines and has a long involvement with working with
fictional characters, especially KITT, We are both disappointed
with the weak caricature they present as Knight Rider 2008 now.
Linda and I wonder how the producers of the new show could have
missed the point that a big part of the success of the old Knight
Rider was not the handsome yet clumsy Hasselhoff, but the clever
and dry witted voice of KITT, William Daniels. Val Kilmer as the
new voice is flat and dead, worse than annoying. But perhaps the
adolescent boy to whom this new series is obviously aimed has
dif-ferent standards. Something must be working there because
Knight Rider persists while two of my current favorites have been
cancelled. The comments along side each pick are Linda’s own.
My Top Ten All Time Favorite TV Shows Presented by Linda
Terrell
“All time favorite, number one show which I am watching again
after 52 years: The Buccaneers, with Robert Shaw and Peter Hammond
Yes, That Robert Shaw. "Quint" when he was a pirate, a delight-ful
swashbuckler out of England in the footsteps of Richard Green's
Robin Hood. Shaw pretty much played himself in this against Peter
Hammond's Frank Burns trying to be Hudson Lowe. Two fine actors
scene-stealing from each other. I was then and still am, madly in
love with Peter Hammond's character, Lt. Beamish, Royal Navy. I
even manage to track down the actor and speak to him by phone last
year! He'd gone on to a notable directing career starting with the
old "Avengers" ("It's not the old Avengers! It's the Black and
White Avengers!" Yes, Sir!) The Carol Burnett Show. (Best
Comedy-Variety show. Evah.) The Danny Kaye Show (Next Best
Comedy-Variety Show. Mostly.)
January 2009 Page 37
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Doctor Who/Torchwood (Wonderful writing. Great derring-do and a
bit of derring-don't.) The Gray Ghost Tod Andrews (Mosby's Raiders,
Confederate swashbuckling, and probably couldn't be shown now.)
Disney's ZORRO Disney never got better than this (well, ok, The
Swamp Fox with Leslie Nielson, but it wasn't weekly.) Knight Rider
(Anyone else still in love with KITT? I adore Wil-liam Daniels.)
Monty Python's Flying Circus (and just about everything else they
did) The Huntley-Brinkley Report (Such chemistry! Straight news, no
tittering or sniggering.) Twilight Zone (THE best
sci-fi/fantasy/chiller.) 77 Sunset Strip (Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Yum.)
The Man From U.N.C.L.E. (My first mad teenage crush.) Barney Miller
(The most realistic cop show. Had precinct sta-tion-life perfectly
according to my stepfather who was one of Boston's Finest, and from
my visits to Station 16 in that city.) Voyage to the Bottom of the
Sea (Outrageous! But I loved Rich-ard Basehart's Admiral Nelson.)
Everything Else: Fury, Rin Tin Tin, Lassie, Sky King, Roy Rogers,
Gene Autry, I Led Three Lives, Yancy Derringer, The Ed Sullivan
Show (I remember it when it was "Toast of the Town"), Steve Allen
(which was on opposite Ed Sullivan), Alfred Hitch-cock Presents,
Dobie Gillis, Robin Hood, Sir Lancelot, William Tell, Meeting of
the Minds, Bewitched, Wild, Wild West, Adams Family, To The Manor
Born. And so many, many more.” Thanks, Linda, for the very
interesting list. One of your choices is on my list as well, John
Barrowman, yum. This list leans toward older shows many of which
are showing up on other lists as well. Is it just nostalgia or were
those older shows simply better than new ones? Maran Fulvi has one
answer.
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 38
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January 2009 Page 39
My Top 10 All-Time Favorite TV Shows Presented by Maran
Fulvi
Maran says: “My favorites TV shows change regularly. I'm al-ways
interested in who's doing something new and interesting with the
medium, and doing it well. So rather than try to give you my Top 10
of all time, here is my list of 10 favorite recent shows: Damages
(FX) Rome (HBO) Mad Men (AMC) Battlestar Galactica -TV series
beginning in 2004 (SciFi) The Riches (FX) Dexter (Showtime - 1st
season rebroadcast on NBC) Lost (Fox) The Daily Show with Jon
Stewart (Comedy Central) Slings and Arrows (Canadian series aired
on Sundance in the US) Charlie Jade (Candian/South African
co-production aired on SciFi in the US)
As I compiled my list, I couldn't help but be struck by the lack
of programs from the major broadcast television networks. It's
amazing how much innovation and creativity is possible when
writers/directors/producers don't have to chase after the largest
possible audience or kowtow to sponsors.”
That is a provocative idea, Maran. So what do you readers think?
Could it be that the older shows were more independent and were
able to bring better material to the medium than the new shows on
the majors that are subordinate to profits? Is it money that drives
the new programs or could it be that a less discerning audience
really doesn’t care about quality? Reviewers seem amazed when a
well-written program off the majors gets audience and critical
recog-nition as Maran suggests, while Nielson ratings indicate
people only want more reality shows. If you have an opinion send it
to [email protected] Be seeing you, Jay Johnson
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 40
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FOURTH (NOT LAST) FRIDAY MADNESS NOVEMBER 28, 2008
Phoebe McCann
First of all, I hope this comes out in time (before
Christmas/Channuka/Kwanza) for you to see this reminder, those of
you who won't see it online. There WILL be a "day after Christmas"
(Boxing Day) meeting; same time, same place, AND THERE WILL BE
PRESENTS!!!
As sometimes happens the day after a holiday (Thanksgiving), we
only had ten people but it was still a lively group. I FINALLY
found out whether or not Miley Cyrus and Hannah Montana are the
same person or just a Multiple Personality problem. I knew THO-MAS
THOMAS would know as he is one of the most all-encompassing music
people I know. Miley and Hannah are indeed the same. Hannah is a
Disney character portrayed by Miley. Would-n't SYLVIA ZADOROZNY
make a wonderful Disney character with her shy, quiet character and
cute little grin? She reminds me of a little bunny although she
doesn't have buck teeth.
Turns out ERNST HALL is also a music person. I had asked one and
all if anyone had heard the Beatles album from way-back-when
called, "The Baroque Beatles." Nobody had but Ernst said he'd found
that nearly all types of music sound good when played in the
classical style especially with classical instruments. We talked
about Carl Haas, may he rest in peace) and PDQ Bach. If anyone has
a copy of the Baroque album/tape/CD or whatever, I'd gladly pay
(within reason). I know husband DAN McCANN has heard it be-cause we
heard it together but because he isn't musically oriented, so he
doesn't remember where we heard it.
MARAN FULVI brought a guest, SID SIMPSON. I learned a lot about
blindness from Maran that night. She informed us that very few
visually impaired people use working dogs which surprised me. She
also said the two main forms of blindness are RLS blindness and
Macular Degeneration. RLS is not as common as it once was because
the cause is known now and premature babies are no longer kept in
pure oxygen as long as other means of treatment are possi-ble.
Macular Degeneration is, I think she said, more common in the
elderly. More about that later.
CARL HAMMEN and wife, DEBORAH KAZOR, were in at-
January 2009 Page 41
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Tampa Bay Sounding Page 42
tendance. Deborah STILL hasn't received the email I sent her
about the real-life horse whisperer.
I didn't think to ask CRISTINA GONZALEZ if she was new or a
transfer in but we haven't had her in our group before and she's
not in this year's Crewe List. I apologize, Cristina, I didn't get
much of anything about you for this write-up. Hopefully, next time
you come, I'll do better. Corner me and tell me about yourself,
okay?
I said I'd have more to say about blindness, right? This is a
true story. I often make the rounds of yard sales looking for
books. I found a sale that was inside a house. Two VERY elderly
(older than I am) women were talking about blindness and one said
to the other, "I just found out that my husband has that terrible
form of blindness that old people get."
Her friend said, "Oh, dear! What could that be?"
First lady said, "It's called, 'Immaculate Regeneration.'"
Well, that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. See you next time!
Don't forget... holiday party... good food, and presents!
Phoebe McCann
(727) 546-4030
[email protected]
The theme word/phrase for this month's Suzaku™ is SUPER
BOWL.
Dolores Puterbaugh, Ph.D, LMFT, LMHC, PA
1208
Licensed Mental Health Counselor Licensed Marriage & Family
Therapist
801 West Bay Drive, Suite 436 Largo, Florida 33770
The Wachovia Bank Building
727-559-0863
[email protected] balancedlifestylecoaching.com
Services Include:
• Individual counseling
• Family & couples counseling
• Anxiety, depression, grief, stress, anger
• Children’s behavior problems
• Personal growth/development
• Consulting/Coaching services
• Presentations for organizations
Memberships: Clinical Member of American Association for
Marriage & Family Therapy; American Counseling Association;
Mensa; TNS
-
January 2009 Page 43
CRYPTOPOEM
Sylvia Zadorozny
"GLOVED AR GLB GLOVE-THUMB,
YARNBKD UHH GCNBGLBK!"
GLAD AD GLB DCRN
IB DARN AR VAGGBR-IBUGLBK.
ILBR AG AD MCHF,
AG FCBDR'G VUGGBK ILBGLBK
VAGGBRD UKB ICCH,
CK VUFB CY YARBDG HBUGLBK.
GLAD AD GLB DCRN
IB DARN AR VAGGBR-IBUGLBK:
"GLOVED AR GLB GLOVE-THUMB,
YARNBKD UHH GCNBGLBK!"
-- VUKAB HCOADB UHHBR
-
SUZAKU © 2009
Thomas George Thomas
Suzaku™ (from Japanese sousaku: search) is a compound puz-
zle. The first step is to solve it as a traditional sudoku
puzzle, us-
ing letters instead of numbers. The second step is to search
for
words in the solved sudoku. Start from any letter, moving
up,
down, forward, backward or diagonally in any direction,
chang-
ing direction as needed without reusing the same square for
a
word. Although there are nine letters in this puzzle, words can
be
longer if you can find them. (If you need a hint, the theme
word/
phrase for this puzzle is on page 42.) For extra credit, score
the
words using their associated number values to try to find
the
highest word points.
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 44
-
January 2009 Page 45
ANSWER TO DECEMBER’S SUZAKU
SU DOKU
http://xkcd.com
“This one is from the Red Belt collection, of 'medium'
difficulty.”
-
Tampa Bay Sounding Page 46
ANSWER TO DECEMBER’S CRYPTOPOEM
There was an old man of the coast,
Who placidly sat on a post;
But when it was cold,
He relinquished his hold,
And called for some hot buttered toast.
--Edward Lear
ANSWER TO DECEMBER’S CROSSWORD
Elementary Greek Carl S. Hammen
-
Tampa Bay Sounding (USPS 305-830) is published monthly by Tampa
Bay Mensa at 9091 St. Andrews Dr, Seminole, Fl 33777. Periodicals
postage paid at St. Petersburg, FL. Postmaster: Send address
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Corporate Dr. West, Arlington, TX 76006-6103.
2008-09 TAMPA BAY MENSA OFFICERS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE
January 2009 Page 47
OTHER CONTACTS
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