I spent some time yesterday discussing the Hilary email situation with my younger sister. It started because she posted a bit on FaceBook about how you couldn't complain about her emails if you hadn't gotten all upset over Bush and Cheney (actually the RNC) deleting millions of emails back in 2007.
Here's the thing. I didn't hear about that. Which seems weird since that was when I read a lot of political blogs and news since work was really slow and there wasn't anything else for me to do. And I find it even harder to believe that the MSM didn't find that and run with it, given that by that point both houses of Congress were controlled by Democrats.
But in a lot of respects that's neither here nor there. Say those allegations are completely true, and then stipulate that there was classified info in the stuff that was on the RNC server. Whether people got outraged about it then shouldn't dictate whether they can get upset about now. If you don't like something when it's done by the other side, if you think them doing it is criminal, you can't just say well they got away with it, so we should too, because then so should any one who ever does that in the future, and you are saying that you will have no right to be upset whenever it happens in the future. Likewise, you can't say it's OK for your political team to have some sort of power, or be allowed to act some way if you know you'd hate it if any other team was in the majority in the future and did the same things.
Sunday, August 23, 2015
Saturday, August 15, 2015
Baby Names - some un-PC thoughts
Over the years, I've semi-regularly stopped over to read a blog called "Baby's named a bad bad thing". If you find some of the names we as a society are burdening some of our children with ridiculous, here is the place to go to read comments and snark from other like-minded souls.
We all want our children to be unique and special, but there are limits. Naming the poor thing something that no one can spell or pronounce is not "unique" and definitely not "special". It more likely borders on child abuse.
We have the proliferation of "y"s inplace of every other vowel when said vowel has a generic ə sound. Madison becomes Madysyn, Katherine Kathyryn, etc., etc., etc. You have the strange syllabic emphasis as in the (hopefully apocraphyl) tale of the woman who named her daughter "Female", pronounced to rhyme with tamale. You have the "African" names, which probably have never been seen by any African tribe or nation. You have children saddled with names like "Moon Unit" and "Pilot Inspektor".
You get the idea.
Today's OMG WTF were they thinking moment comes from I don't know where, because the new's outlet doesn't specify a state. The tale itself is horrific - an illegal immigrant nephew kills his aunt, his cousin, and her husband in brutal fashion, so bad that the crime scene folks say it's about the worst they'd ever seen.
But the sister of the husband, who has the sensible, handsome name of Michael is called this: Derquiasha. The mind boggles. I don't know her. She is probably a lovely woman. But I have absolutely no idea what her mother was thinking when she put that name down on the birth certificate. I won't say I have no idea how to pronounce it, I do, but it's probably wrong.
Years ago when I worked for H&R Block, one of the other preparers had a regular customer who, every year, had his electronic filing rejected because his daughter's name wasn't spelled the way Social Security thought it was spelled. This happened even when they got a new card for her from SS and copied the name exactly. It took at least two tries to file his return every. single. year.
One year the preparer asked him about the name. He said that his wife, who had walked out on them years ago never to be heard from again, had been "going through her African history phase" when the daughter was born. The tax preparer asked if the daughter liked the name and he admitted that she didn't. The final decision was that he would take her to the court house after the return came in and let her choose a new, legal name. I don't know but I bet it didn't have a "q" or an apostrophe in it.
We all want our children to be unique and special, but there are limits. Naming the poor thing something that no one can spell or pronounce is not "unique" and definitely not "special". It more likely borders on child abuse.
We have the proliferation of "y"s inplace of every other vowel when said vowel has a generic ə sound. Madison becomes Madysyn, Katherine Kathyryn, etc., etc., etc. You have the strange syllabic emphasis as in the (hopefully apocraphyl) tale of the woman who named her daughter "Female", pronounced to rhyme with tamale. You have the "African" names, which probably have never been seen by any African tribe or nation. You have children saddled with names like "Moon Unit" and "Pilot Inspektor".
You get the idea.
Today's OMG WTF were they thinking moment comes from I don't know where, because the new's outlet doesn't specify a state. The tale itself is horrific - an illegal immigrant nephew kills his aunt, his cousin, and her husband in brutal fashion, so bad that the crime scene folks say it's about the worst they'd ever seen.
But the sister of the husband, who has the sensible, handsome name of Michael is called this: Derquiasha. The mind boggles. I don't know her. She is probably a lovely woman. But I have absolutely no idea what her mother was thinking when she put that name down on the birth certificate. I won't say I have no idea how to pronounce it, I do, but it's probably wrong.
Years ago when I worked for H&R Block, one of the other preparers had a regular customer who, every year, had his electronic filing rejected because his daughter's name wasn't spelled the way Social Security thought it was spelled. This happened even when they got a new card for her from SS and copied the name exactly. It took at least two tries to file his return every. single. year.
One year the preparer asked him about the name. He said that his wife, who had walked out on them years ago never to be heard from again, had been "going through her African history phase" when the daughter was born. The tax preparer asked if the daughter liked the name and he admitted that she didn't. The final decision was that he would take her to the court house after the return came in and let her choose a new, legal name. I don't know but I bet it didn't have a "q" or an apostrophe in it.
It's amazing what you can learn from an X-ray
I had a visit to ortho last weekend because my knees still hurt from the five point landing I had when I tripped back two months ago. They took x-rays to make sure that I hadn't chipped anything (I hadn't) and while looking at the pictures, the PA commented that they showed that I'd had Osgood-Schlatter disease.
Since no one has ever mentioned that to me, I asked what it was. Apparently if your bones don't grow in sync with the soft tissue, the pull on the bones causes some very minor remodelling which shows on the films even much later in life.
As soon as he started describing it, I said, yes, indeed, I had had something like that. Starting when I was about 11 or 12, I had awful knee pain, especially after activity. Not that I was very good at it anyway, but I'd had to give up ballet lessons, because after one one hour class I wouldn't be able to straighten my leg for about three weeks. I saw the ortho at St. Joe's (who also looked at the UofM football team's knees) and he poked and prodded, maybe there was an X-ray, and told us not to worry, it was just growing pains, and he described it exactly that way, as the bones growing first and the connective tissue having to catch up. From then on, I always knew when I was having a growth spurt, even in my 20s, and during my last 1/4 inch just before my 31st birthday.
My knees have enough problems now, thankfully that's no longer one I have to worry about.
Since no one has ever mentioned that to me, I asked what it was. Apparently if your bones don't grow in sync with the soft tissue, the pull on the bones causes some very minor remodelling which shows on the films even much later in life.
As soon as he started describing it, I said, yes, indeed, I had had something like that. Starting when I was about 11 or 12, I had awful knee pain, especially after activity. Not that I was very good at it anyway, but I'd had to give up ballet lessons, because after one one hour class I wouldn't be able to straighten my leg for about three weeks. I saw the ortho at St. Joe's (who also looked at the UofM football team's knees) and he poked and prodded, maybe there was an X-ray, and told us not to worry, it was just growing pains, and he described it exactly that way, as the bones growing first and the connective tissue having to catch up. From then on, I always knew when I was having a growth spurt, even in my 20s, and during my last 1/4 inch just before my 31st birthday.
My knees have enough problems now, thankfully that's no longer one I have to worry about.
Saturday, August 08, 2015
The political silly season
is starting earlier and earlier each election cycle. I guess the hope is that we'll all be so sick of it by the time the actual election rolls around that no one will turn out except for those bought and/or dead votes.
Since we don't have the cable hooked up to the TV and I didn't remember anyway, I missed the GOP debate on Thursday, but I've read a lot about it since. It would seem that The Donald did what he does best, which is be supremely politically incorrect as well as extremely boorish. I'll have to find it and watch the debate to be sure, but from what I've read and seen about him so far, this is by no means hard to believe.
So boorish? It won't get my vote. But the un-PC is a good thing. Hopefully the rest of the candidates will realize that that's what fires up Trump's base (heck, I'd say most of the conservative base at this point) and start refusing to bow to the leftist media and the noisemakers on Twitter and other social media platforms. The noisemakers are just that, noise; their actual numbers are small and the more they attack dearly held positions on the right, the more folks get fired up to do something, anything about it. And that would include getting out and voting, if they are only given a candidate they can believe won't turn around the day after the election and throw his/her hat in with the business-as-usual crowd in DC.
Since we don't have the cable hooked up to the TV and I didn't remember anyway, I missed the GOP debate on Thursday, but I've read a lot about it since. It would seem that The Donald did what he does best, which is be supremely politically incorrect as well as extremely boorish. I'll have to find it and watch the debate to be sure, but from what I've read and seen about him so far, this is by no means hard to believe.
So boorish? It won't get my vote. But the un-PC is a good thing. Hopefully the rest of the candidates will realize that that's what fires up Trump's base (heck, I'd say most of the conservative base at this point) and start refusing to bow to the leftist media and the noisemakers on Twitter and other social media platforms. The noisemakers are just that, noise; their actual numbers are small and the more they attack dearly held positions on the right, the more folks get fired up to do something, anything about it. And that would include getting out and voting, if they are only given a candidate they can believe won't turn around the day after the election and throw his/her hat in with the business-as-usual crowd in DC.
Saturday, July 18, 2015
I'm not dead yet
Things have been fairly quiet here lately. We have a boat picnic to go to tomorrow, so should see some friends we haven't seen in ages.
To fill more of the post for the few folks who stop here, some photos I've taken lately.
First, a butterfly that was wandering around the back steps and the raspberry bushes:
We're pretty sure it's a Great Spangled Fritillary.
And then some of our sleeping kitties. Especially amusing is the fat fuzzy one's hind toes which can be seen in the upper photo.
It is rather disturbing how much dreck in the carpet doesn't really show to the naked eye, but when you take a photo using the flash it pops. Just proving why I want to tear the whole thing up. It's crap carpeting anyway, and I know the wood underneath is in fairly decent condition. Worst comes to worst, and we can buy a few cheap area rugs, but anything to make it easier to clean up the cat hair and hair balls.
To fill more of the post for the few folks who stop here, some photos I've taken lately.
First, a butterfly that was wandering around the back steps and the raspberry bushes:
We're pretty sure it's a Great Spangled Fritillary.
And then some of our sleeping kitties. Especially amusing is the fat fuzzy one's hind toes which can be seen in the upper photo.
It is rather disturbing how much dreck in the carpet doesn't really show to the naked eye, but when you take a photo using the flash it pops. Just proving why I want to tear the whole thing up. It's crap carpeting anyway, and I know the wood underneath is in fairly decent condition. Worst comes to worst, and we can buy a few cheap area rugs, but anything to make it easier to clean up the cat hair and hair balls.
Saturday, July 04, 2015
New cat
Last weekend we got a new cat, and after only a week she seems to be getting on with the other cats without much growling and no bloodshed.
She's about 6, and has come to us rather severely overweight. Today she tried to get into the bay window which apparently involves standing on the Wii board, climing onto the paper shredder and then into the window. This morning she fell off the paper shredder. Twice. So when she tried to get up later you could see her spending time calculating whether it might not be easier leaping over the rabbit cage. Thankfully she figured out it wouldn't be, and this time she didn't fall.
The weather is iffy today, and the husband had to work, so we're going over to the parents' place for the barbeque tomorrow when the weather is better and no one is tired.
On the shoulder front, it still hurts like the dickens. I am really, really looking forward to being able to sleep for more than 5 hours at a stretch.
She's about 6, and has come to us rather severely overweight. Today she tried to get into the bay window which apparently involves standing on the Wii board, climing onto the paper shredder and then into the window. This morning she fell off the paper shredder. Twice. So when she tried to get up later you could see her spending time calculating whether it might not be easier leaping over the rabbit cage. Thankfully she figured out it wouldn't be, and this time she didn't fall.
The weather is iffy today, and the husband had to work, so we're going over to the parents' place for the barbeque tomorrow when the weather is better and no one is tired.
On the shoulder front, it still hurts like the dickens. I am really, really looking forward to being able to sleep for more than 5 hours at a stretch.
Thursday, July 02, 2015
The "T" in "PT" stands for....
supposedly, therapist.
Terrorist or torturer work just as well.
I got home from PT and a visit to the DMV to get my new handicapped tag and took a six hour nap.
This morning I woke up after only 5 hours sleep, having taken 800mg of ibuprofen right before I fell asleep, because I was in too much pain to stay asleep. It took several hours before I could move the shoulder. I know it's improving, but the work to get it there isn't fun at all.
Terrorist or torturer work just as well.
I got home from PT and a visit to the DMV to get my new handicapped tag and took a six hour nap.
This morning I woke up after only 5 hours sleep, having taken 800mg of ibuprofen right before I fell asleep, because I was in too much pain to stay asleep. It took several hours before I could move the shoulder. I know it's improving, but the work to get it there isn't fun at all.
Tuesday, June 30, 2015
Post-Op Day 26
I had my three week check up today, and was cleared to drive. I probably could have done it earlier; as I suspected since it wasn't written on my instructions, my doctor was leaving it up to my discretion. But it's only in the last few days that moving my arm as you have to to drive hasn't been painful.
My mother and husband are happy that they don't have to drive me everywhere anymore.
So now it's off to job hunt in earnest, second shift and/or part time so I don't have to drop any of my classes for this fall.
My mother and husband are happy that they don't have to drive me everywhere anymore.
So now it's off to job hunt in earnest, second shift and/or part time so I don't have to drop any of my classes for this fall.
Tuesday, June 16, 2015
Post-Op Day 12
I had my first post-op PT session yesterday. It wasn't as not-fun as I'd thought it might be, but it was not-fun. I've lost some range of motion, though not as much as my PT guy had expected (probably because I'd already started doing some very gentle stretching on my own), and stretching it out hurts. My PT guy has requested the op notes from the surgeon's office, which required me signing a release because his name wasn't specifically in their files. Damn HIPAA, because he didn't need a release what with being one of my medical providers for this particular issue, but many providers have gone overboard on requiring patient releases because of that damned law. He agreed that unless the op notes showed something very different from my understanding of what was done, avoiding using the sling as much as possible is the better plan. I just find that the sling is actually more uncomfortable than no sling most of the time.
On a much lighter note, this means that there is a good chance I'll be able to drive by sometime in early July, so I can start job hunting again.
As it is, I'm sitting on the sofa listening to the sirens go by on the main road and watching my cat in the bay window as he loses it every time a bird goes by. He has this hysterical little a-a-a-a noise he makes when they tease him. My husband has today off, so we're going to get caught up on dishes and laundry, most of which require the pushing, pulling and/or lifting I still can't do so, surprise, we've gotten a little behind. Once that's done, I'm going to make liver and onions and bacon with mash for dinner. Which reminds me we need to order more Beef Roast seasoning from Penzey's.
On a much lighter note, this means that there is a good chance I'll be able to drive by sometime in early July, so I can start job hunting again.
As it is, I'm sitting on the sofa listening to the sirens go by on the main road and watching my cat in the bay window as he loses it every time a bird goes by. He has this hysterical little a-a-a-a noise he makes when they tease him. My husband has today off, so we're going to get caught up on dishes and laundry, most of which require the pushing, pulling and/or lifting I still can't do so, surprise, we've gotten a little behind. Once that's done, I'm going to make liver and onions and bacon with mash for dinner. Which reminds me we need to order more Beef Roast seasoning from Penzey's.
Saturday, June 13, 2015
Post-Op Day 9
I took the steri-strips off today and the incisions seem to be healing nicely. There are some very diffinite lumps under them which would be where the stiches are tied. Hopefully they will absorb properly, unlike the stiches when I had my deviated septum repaired last year. I'd rather not have my surgeon have to make incisions in the incisions to remove them.
I'm definitely doing better, though I'm still using the sling, though not around the house (I'd like to keep my balance, thank you), and I'm being very careful about trying to remember to NOT "push, pull, or lift" with my left arm. The doctor didn't say I should stop using the sling, but she didn't say I had to continue, and there is nothing in the post-op instructions about it, just the no "push, pull, lift" bit. Since I think the sling can actually make things worse, I'll keep it handy, but not use it if I don't obviously need it.
I have my first day of PT on Monday, with a re-evaluation, so that will be interesting. I can tell that the shoulder is a lot more frozen/stiff than it was before surgery. I don't think PT will be fun.
At least I feel that I can now start job hunting, since I should be driving well before the beginning of the fall semester. It just needs to be a second shift/weekend position.
Wednesday, June 10, 2015
Post-Op Day 6
I saw my doctor yesterday about the fall. She checked out the arm, and the verdict is that I didn't seem to have done any damage to it, so I don't need to go in on Friday for my post-op check, and I'll go back in three weeks, which will be after 2+ weeks of physical therapy. So I think the take-away from this is that, if it doesn't hurt, I might as well do it.
So I've stopped wearing the sling around the house, which allows me to move the elbow and hands much more easily, as well as keep my balance better. I saw my GP today about the increase in my idiopathic peripheral edema, and the best advice she can give is that all my labs and other tests look fine, so I really just need to lose weight. Even if I don't lose weight, if I get more active the swelling should improve, which I did notice after walking to the local mini-mart. So I guess I need to find my Reeboks and start taking a daily walk as well as using the Wii.
I can already move almost as much without pain as before the surgery, so PT should now actually increase my movement and strength rather than have to just focus on keeping the joint from freezing. All told, so far at least, this is going much, much better than I feared it might.
So I've stopped wearing the sling around the house, which allows me to move the elbow and hands much more easily, as well as keep my balance better. I saw my GP today about the increase in my idiopathic peripheral edema, and the best advice she can give is that all my labs and other tests look fine, so I really just need to lose weight. Even if I don't lose weight, if I get more active the swelling should improve, which I did notice after walking to the local mini-mart. So I guess I need to find my Reeboks and start taking a daily walk as well as using the Wii.
I can already move almost as much without pain as before the surgery, so PT should now actually increase my movement and strength rather than have to just focus on keeping the joint from freezing. All told, so far at least, this is going much, much better than I feared it might.
Tuesday, June 09, 2015
Post-Op Day 5
I tripped over my own damn foot yesterday evening and made a five point landing inluding my face (didnt break my glasses and don't seem to have a black eye, but a bruised and swollen cheekbone) and of course extended the operated shoulder and landed on the elbow since it was in the sling. I go see the doctor after lunch to make sure I didn't do anything too horrid.
Ouch.
Ouch.
Monday, June 08, 2015
Post-Op Day 4
Quite sore this morning, but the sling loosened overnight and I think I shifted my arm in ways it wasn't really happy with. Today will be a take it very easy day.
Sunday, June 07, 2015
Post-Op Day 3
Still stiff and sore which is hardly a surprise. I got to take off the bandages to find that in addition to the three ho;es I also have a 2+ inch incision. I was able to get most of the orange sterilizing stuff off, though I probably wont get all of it until I can do a proper bath or at least sponge bath which I'm still too tired to deal with. I'll try for that later today or tomorrow. Right now Im going to relax and watch Amazing Stories on Netflix.
Saturday, June 06, 2015
Post-Op Day 2
Damn, but I want to stretch my left arm. I've found that ibuprofen does indeed work quite well on the pain, which is more ache and sore and stiff than pain, though I did add half a percocet last night so I could sleep. I get to take all the padded bandages off tomorrow, so ice will have a little more effect, and I'm supposed to be moving everything from the elbow down, just no pushing, pulling, or lifting with the left arm.
sore
sore
Friday, June 05, 2015
Quick up-date : post-op day 1
All things considered I'm feeling pretty good. I woke in a sling rather than an immobilizer so that in itself was good news. The percocets aren't doing anything ( or at least anything noticable) so i'm switching to ibuprofen. 800mg half an hour ago seems to be having more effect than the percs do after the same time lapse.
i am realizing just how much you use your shoulders to get out of chairs. I'm also giving up on capitals when typing one handed.
i am realizing just how much you use your shoulders to get out of chairs. I'm also giving up on capitals when typing one handed.
Thursday, June 04, 2015
Today's the big day.
Bathed, dressed, and ready to head off to the hospital in a few minutes. Yay!
Of course I haven't had enough sleep, but then it's not like I have to do anything myself, except lie there asleep.
I wonder how long the nerve block is going to last. It can be up to 24 hours. I would just like to avoid pain as much as possible.
Of course I haven't had enough sleep, but then it's not like I have to do anything myself, except lie there asleep.
I wonder how long the nerve block is going to last. It can be up to 24 hours. I would just like to avoid pain as much as possible.
Tuesday, June 02, 2015
Two more days
I hope.
I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat. So I'm bundled up (it's June, damnit, it's not supposed to be in the 40s at 7am!), have had my coffee, and plan to spend the rest of the day drinking copious amounts of Camomile tea to try to head this thing off.
I do NOT want to have this surgery put off. I've already had to start taking the percocet in the evening if I'm going to have a hope of getting some sleep. I'd like to not have to start taking multiple doses a day before hand.
Which reminds me, I've got a nearly full script of tramadol to get rid of, since I see no point in keeping a med that doesn't do what it's supposed to while giving me a nasty headache and an upset stomach.
I woke up this morning with a scratchy throat. So I'm bundled up (it's June, damnit, it's not supposed to be in the 40s at 7am!), have had my coffee, and plan to spend the rest of the day drinking copious amounts of Camomile tea to try to head this thing off.
I do NOT want to have this surgery put off. I've already had to start taking the percocet in the evening if I'm going to have a hope of getting some sleep. I'd like to not have to start taking multiple doses a day before hand.
Which reminds me, I've got a nearly full script of tramadol to get rid of, since I see no point in keeping a med that doesn't do what it's supposed to while giving me a nasty headache and an upset stomach.
Friday, May 22, 2015
Time to prep
So, school news first.
On Monday I was able to check the grade for Finance, and since I managed to get an A on the final, that was an A for the entire course. I got an email from my Accounting prof to let me know that I had been given a 95 on the project (a few minor issues, but as he said at the last class, if anyone got everything right about it, they should be up teaching the class rather than taking it), and a 92 on the final (which meant I got to drop the exam with the 87), for an average of 95 something, and another A. I finished the Quickbooks review, took the exam, and when I checked it Tuesday morning, I'd alsso managed an A in that class. That left Statistics, but I had to wait until after the last day of class to see the uploaded grade in the unofficial online transcript. Sadly, that was only an A-. Awwww.
Now I get to concentrate on prepping the house for surgery and getting younger child through her Geometry, Algebra II, and some grammar before the start of school in the fall. I was able to get an unofficial copy of her high school transcript, and they've double counted some stuff, and not given credit for other stuff, but when I added in her home school stuff, she's not doing too badly, and if we get through all the stuff for the summer, she'll be in great shape for next year.
I need to do a fair bit of work to get the house ready for surgery, and of course now that classes are done and I don't have anything else to procrastinate from, it's much harder to find the will power. Typical. I tried the pain med I was given for pre-op, and I'm not taking that one ever again. The nausea and headache were/are terrible, and there's no real pain relief.
I've got an appointment with elder child and her ortho in a little bit to see if her upper spine curve is behaving, or if it's why she's having so many shoulder and neck issues lately. If it's the problem, I hope we can still use Children's.
On Monday I was able to check the grade for Finance, and since I managed to get an A on the final, that was an A for the entire course. I got an email from my Accounting prof to let me know that I had been given a 95 on the project (a few minor issues, but as he said at the last class, if anyone got everything right about it, they should be up teaching the class rather than taking it), and a 92 on the final (which meant I got to drop the exam with the 87), for an average of 95 something, and another A. I finished the Quickbooks review, took the exam, and when I checked it Tuesday morning, I'd alsso managed an A in that class. That left Statistics, but I had to wait until after the last day of class to see the uploaded grade in the unofficial online transcript. Sadly, that was only an A-. Awwww.
Now I get to concentrate on prepping the house for surgery and getting younger child through her Geometry, Algebra II, and some grammar before the start of school in the fall. I was able to get an unofficial copy of her high school transcript, and they've double counted some stuff, and not given credit for other stuff, but when I added in her home school stuff, she's not doing too badly, and if we get through all the stuff for the summer, she'll be in great shape for next year.
I need to do a fair bit of work to get the house ready for surgery, and of course now that classes are done and I don't have anything else to procrastinate from, it's much harder to find the will power. Typical. I tried the pain med I was given for pre-op, and I'm not taking that one ever again. The nausea and headache were/are terrible, and there's no real pain relief.
I've got an appointment with elder child and her ortho in a little bit to see if her upper spine curve is behaving, or if it's why she's having so many shoulder and neck issues lately. If it's the problem, I hope we can still use Children's.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)