The last 8 months
Nov - Started training to be in a half marathon
Dec - My dad had a heart attack, but he's doing great now!! Probably the best thing that's ever happened to him! and Christmas (STILL didn't get the Swiss Army knife I've been asking for for 25 years)
Jan - Con'd training for this dratted half marathon - WHO TALKED ME INTO THIS?
Feb - Can't believe my niece is six!! Where has the time gone?
Mar - Work, run, eat, sleep
Apr - Decided NOT to do the half marathon (someday though!). I have a COMPLETELY new respect for those crazy people who do this - you go!! 26 miles is a looooooong way
May - Gearing up for HeroesCon in Charlotte, NC in June!!! Can't wait for the geekfest!!!
June - HeroesCon was a blast!! Very excited about Light Children & the reception it got!
July - Hot, July 4th, hotdogs
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Slow Motion
This is a bit long, but it's worth it.
No clue what the last thing he's showing is though.
via videosift.com
No clue what the last thing he's showing is though.
via videosift.com
Cells are cool
Wow. I've been out of it for quite a while! Don't worry, you haven't missed anything because I would have blogged about it. But I have been on Facebook recently, so that's been something novel.
Here's a cool article about cells. Honestly, I'm not sure how anyone could believe in evolution after reading something like this.
Repair Shops for Broken DNA
Here's a cool article about cells. Honestly, I'm not sure how anyone could believe in evolution after reading something like this.
Repair Shops for Broken DNA
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
The Granola Bar is Back
I hate eating hard, dry oatbricks. oh wait. You mean granola bars.
But these things could make me change my mind.
Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch - Almond Crunch "granola" bars.
They seriously taste like nut toffee candy bars. Not one oat in them either.
The ingredient list: Almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sugar, corn syrup, salt. THAT'S IT.
Only 11 grams of carbs too, if you pay attention to that sort of thing.
But these things could make me change my mind.
Nature Valley Roasted Nut Crunch - Almond Crunch "granola" bars.
They seriously taste like nut toffee candy bars. Not one oat in them either.
The ingredient list: Almonds, peanuts, sunflower seeds, sugar, corn syrup, salt. THAT'S IT.
Only 11 grams of carbs too, if you pay attention to that sort of thing.
Monday, September 17, 2007
5:43
I ended up in the emergency room today - I AM OK, for any friends or family who I haven't talked to yet. :)
To make a long story short, I was having some chest pains. Not bad ones, but it was unlike anything I had ever really felt before, so I thought I better get it checked out. I mean, young people can have heart attacks too. And I would rather feel dumb for going in for nothing, than be dead for doing nothing. Suffice it to say that after the doc's assessment, I could have acid reflux, and I'll have to start limiting the hot sauce. :(
So I went on in to the ER. But let me tell you, it was nothing like "ER". First, I walked up to triage, and they asked me what was wrong. I said "I am having chest pain". They didn't seem that worried about it really. They asked me to fill out a form. I did. I sat down in the waiting room. Now writing this I realize that maybe they realized that since I wasn't passed out on the floor, that I really wasn't having a heart attack, but I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. So I was a little concerned that they weren't more concerned. But luckily, a nurse came out and called me within about a minute.
They asked me some questions and got me all hooked up to take blood and get an "EKG". Or maybe it was "ECG"....I guess it's ECG b/c it's Electrocardiogram, not Electro-kardi-o-gram. Like Chick-fil-A. But it seems like they kept saying "EKG"...I don't know...
Anyway, they took some blood. I hate going to the doctor because they NEVER tell you anything. They just do stuff to you. So I asked the guy, "What are you doing?" He said they were taking some blood to test for some enzymes your heart creates when it's having problems. I said "OK". Then he jabbed me - a necessary evil - and drew the blood. Then he said they would retest me in FOUR HOURS. Sigh. (By this time all the pain had gone away - go figure!) I was in for the duration.
He left, and I was like, OK, where's the TV? Nada. Didn't have one, which I guess would make sense in most emergency situations. I mean, if you're unconscious or having something ripped open or pieces of glass taken out of you, you're not really concerned with catching up on the latest with John & Marlena.
I looked around. I could barely see the monitor monitoring my vitals over my right shoulder, but I watched that for awhile. AGAIN, they don't tell you anything. At least I knew what the heart rate one was, I mean, I have seen the real fake "ER". But there were other things going on on the screen that I had no clue about. Luckily the room I was in was also the central hub for clean linens for the entire floor, so there were lots of other nurses and male nurses going in and out. So I found out that the monitor was also checking on how often I was breathing and the percentage of oxygen I was getting. (Yes, they had me hooked up to some oxygen, but it didn't really help me think better, like I thought it should. But I think it was keeping me more alert, because I hadn't gotten my second cup of coffee, and I felt fine.) Anyway, I didn't know you breathe about 20 times a minute, give or take.
And another "THING THEY DON'T TELL YOU" is this - This is important, if you're like me and can get worried about things that you don't know about. After the nurse drew the blood, he left the needle in me so they could "Give me medication later if necessary." Understandable. I mean, it saves time. So the WHOLE ENTIRE AFTERNOON I THOUGHT I HAD A STEEL NEEDLE UP MY ARM, like you have when you give blood. I tried to keep my arm very still. But I kept forgetting and then I would move it, and then I would worry that I had ruptured my vein, and why wasn't my arm turning blue? And why doesn't someone check on my arm? And it kind of itches, which I told to yet another nurse, and she said OK, but I never saw her again. And still I kept wondering why the nurse didn't tell me to keep my arm still when he first put it in. Ptt. Aren't you supposed to keep your arm PERFECTLY STILL when there's a needle shoved up your VEIN ??? Get this - I did not find out, UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY WHEN I WAS BEING RELEASED and when they pulled the needle out, that there was NOT a steel needle in my arm all day, it was actually a flexible plastic tube. So that's why no one told me I had to keep my arm still, because I didn't have to. FOR PETE'S SAKE.
This was rather amusing - I was in an open space, and in the "room" next to me (we were separated by just a curtain) there was a new nurse being trained. The trainer was saying "OK, here is where we keep the central lines, the chest-crackers and the rib-spreaders." I did NOT need to hear that.
Finally, what I presume to be a "candy-striper", even though she was not wearing anything remotely resembling candy, stopped in and asked me how I was doing and if I needed anything. I asked her for some magazines. (Remember - it was going to be FOUR HOURS.) She brought me some. In case you didn't realize this, Entrepreneur Magazine is a useless rag. Seriously, there was absolutely no useful information in there whatsoever. Everything was a summary of things we already all know. Like "Martha Stewart is rich." and "Google is taking over everything." and "Steve Jobs is cool and Bill Gates isn't." So at least that's one good thing that came out of all this - that I didn't miss anything by never reading that magazine.
The hours ticked by. I fell into a routine. The little squeezy thing that was taking my blood pressure went off about every 15 minutes. You know, you actually do get used to that. I mean, it's always a little alarming the first time because you wonder how it's not going to do permanent structural damage to your upper arm, but then you build up a tolerance. It's not that bad. I even kind of looked forward to it because it would mean I was 15 minutes closer to freedom, and then get to enjoy feeling smug because once again the machine would confirm that I have really good blood pressure - 105/60 ish.
In reality ER's are not very exciting. I had a clear shot of the nurses' station, and it reminded me of a construction site - a bunch of people standing around doing nothing, minus the hole.
I could hear the calls coming in from the EMT's out in the field. Nothing too interesting happening in my town today. Finally at about 5:20 a call came in. An elderly man was on his way in. He had flat-lined at home with the EMT's, but they were able to regain a weak pulse, so they were bringing him in.
The nurses scurried into the space next to mine to set up for his arrival. About 5 minutes after that they wheeled him in and started working. It was the complete opposite of any TV show I have ever seen about an emergency room. No yelling. No snapping at the nurses because they weren't moving fast enough. No misplaced instruments or shortage of O-positive. They just worked calmly to try to resuscitate the man. They worked on him for a good little while. Then at 5:43 they - unemotionally - made the call. Then they just walked out of the room. Not one person kicked a chair over and exclaimed "Why couldn't we save him?!" I guess I expected that. I expected someone there to be upset. Or blame themselves. Or slam his chart down. I am not saying they weren't caring people, I guess it's just that you have to distance yourself or you'd go crazy. They know they did all they could, and that was it. Honestly, we get more agitated at work when a server goes down, but we also know nobody's life is at stake if it does, so we let ourselves feel that stress, because we know it's not really THAT bad, in the grand scheme of things.
My nurse/doctor came back in to tell me I was OK. Whew. My second set of tests came back negative for bad heart enzymes, so that was good news. It was probably just acid reflux. Purple pills may be in my future, but hopefully not if I lay off the ice cream and hot sauce (not usually enjoyed together, but you should try Toad Sweat the next time you break out a pint of vanilla). Then he said someone would come in to unhook me from everything. He left. The dead man was still in the "room" next to me. And then his family came in. I just saw them pass by a crack in the curtain. It was his wife and son. I just heard her weeping. "I can't believe he's gone."
When I walked out of the hospital into a clear, cool, beautiful evening, I was thankful I was alive and OK. God had seen fit to cause me to be OK. But that man wasn't so lucky today. This morning he woke up, ate his breakfast, and had his day like he always did. But I couldn't help but wonder where he was then. Where he is now, and if he had ever wondered that himself.
To make a long story short, I was having some chest pains. Not bad ones, but it was unlike anything I had ever really felt before, so I thought I better get it checked out. I mean, young people can have heart attacks too. And I would rather feel dumb for going in for nothing, than be dead for doing nothing. Suffice it to say that after the doc's assessment, I could have acid reflux, and I'll have to start limiting the hot sauce. :(
So I went on in to the ER. But let me tell you, it was nothing like "ER". First, I walked up to triage, and they asked me what was wrong. I said "I am having chest pain". They didn't seem that worried about it really. They asked me to fill out a form. I did. I sat down in the waiting room. Now writing this I realize that maybe they realized that since I wasn't passed out on the floor, that I really wasn't having a heart attack, but I DIDN'T KNOW THAT. So I was a little concerned that they weren't more concerned. But luckily, a nurse came out and called me within about a minute.
They asked me some questions and got me all hooked up to take blood and get an "EKG". Or maybe it was "ECG"....I guess it's ECG b/c it's Electrocardiogram, not Electro-kardi-o-gram. Like Chick-fil-A. But it seems like they kept saying "EKG"...I don't know...
Anyway, they took some blood. I hate going to the doctor because they NEVER tell you anything. They just do stuff to you. So I asked the guy, "What are you doing?" He said they were taking some blood to test for some enzymes your heart creates when it's having problems. I said "OK". Then he jabbed me - a necessary evil - and drew the blood. Then he said they would retest me in FOUR HOURS. Sigh. (By this time all the pain had gone away - go figure!) I was in for the duration.
He left, and I was like, OK, where's the TV? Nada. Didn't have one, which I guess would make sense in most emergency situations. I mean, if you're unconscious or having something ripped open or pieces of glass taken out of you, you're not really concerned with catching up on the latest with John & Marlena.
I looked around. I could barely see the monitor monitoring my vitals over my right shoulder, but I watched that for awhile. AGAIN, they don't tell you anything. At least I knew what the heart rate one was, I mean, I have seen the real fake "ER". But there were other things going on on the screen that I had no clue about. Luckily the room I was in was also the central hub for clean linens for the entire floor, so there were lots of other nurses and male nurses going in and out. So I found out that the monitor was also checking on how often I was breathing and the percentage of oxygen I was getting. (Yes, they had me hooked up to some oxygen, but it didn't really help me think better, like I thought it should. But I think it was keeping me more alert, because I hadn't gotten my second cup of coffee, and I felt fine.) Anyway, I didn't know you breathe about 20 times a minute, give or take.
And another "THING THEY DON'T TELL YOU" is this - This is important, if you're like me and can get worried about things that you don't know about. After the nurse drew the blood, he left the needle in me so they could "Give me medication later if necessary." Understandable. I mean, it saves time. So the WHOLE ENTIRE AFTERNOON I THOUGHT I HAD A STEEL NEEDLE UP MY ARM, like you have when you give blood. I tried to keep my arm very still. But I kept forgetting and then I would move it, and then I would worry that I had ruptured my vein, and why wasn't my arm turning blue? And why doesn't someone check on my arm? And it kind of itches, which I told to yet another nurse, and she said OK, but I never saw her again. And still I kept wondering why the nurse didn't tell me to keep my arm still when he first put it in. Ptt. Aren't you supposed to keep your arm PERFECTLY STILL when there's a needle shoved up your VEIN ??? Get this - I did not find out, UNTIL THE END OF THE DAY WHEN I WAS BEING RELEASED and when they pulled the needle out, that there was NOT a steel needle in my arm all day, it was actually a flexible plastic tube. So that's why no one told me I had to keep my arm still, because I didn't have to. FOR PETE'S SAKE.
This was rather amusing - I was in an open space, and in the "room" next to me (we were separated by just a curtain) there was a new nurse being trained. The trainer was saying "OK, here is where we keep the central lines, the chest-crackers and the rib-spreaders." I did NOT need to hear that.
Finally, what I presume to be a "candy-striper", even though she was not wearing anything remotely resembling candy, stopped in and asked me how I was doing and if I needed anything. I asked her for some magazines. (Remember - it was going to be FOUR HOURS.) She brought me some. In case you didn't realize this, Entrepreneur Magazine is a useless rag. Seriously, there was absolutely no useful information in there whatsoever. Everything was a summary of things we already all know. Like "Martha Stewart is rich." and "Google is taking over everything." and "Steve Jobs is cool and Bill Gates isn't." So at least that's one good thing that came out of all this - that I didn't miss anything by never reading that magazine.
The hours ticked by. I fell into a routine. The little squeezy thing that was taking my blood pressure went off about every 15 minutes. You know, you actually do get used to that. I mean, it's always a little alarming the first time because you wonder how it's not going to do permanent structural damage to your upper arm, but then you build up a tolerance. It's not that bad. I even kind of looked forward to it because it would mean I was 15 minutes closer to freedom, and then get to enjoy feeling smug because once again the machine would confirm that I have really good blood pressure - 105/60 ish.
In reality ER's are not very exciting. I had a clear shot of the nurses' station, and it reminded me of a construction site - a bunch of people standing around doing nothing, minus the hole.
I could hear the calls coming in from the EMT's out in the field. Nothing too interesting happening in my town today. Finally at about 5:20 a call came in. An elderly man was on his way in. He had flat-lined at home with the EMT's, but they were able to regain a weak pulse, so they were bringing him in.
The nurses scurried into the space next to mine to set up for his arrival. About 5 minutes after that they wheeled him in and started working. It was the complete opposite of any TV show I have ever seen about an emergency room. No yelling. No snapping at the nurses because they weren't moving fast enough. No misplaced instruments or shortage of O-positive. They just worked calmly to try to resuscitate the man. They worked on him for a good little while. Then at 5:43 they - unemotionally - made the call. Then they just walked out of the room. Not one person kicked a chair over and exclaimed "Why couldn't we save him?!" I guess I expected that. I expected someone there to be upset. Or blame themselves. Or slam his chart down. I am not saying they weren't caring people, I guess it's just that you have to distance yourself or you'd go crazy. They know they did all they could, and that was it. Honestly, we get more agitated at work when a server goes down, but we also know nobody's life is at stake if it does, so we let ourselves feel that stress, because we know it's not really THAT bad, in the grand scheme of things.
My nurse/doctor came back in to tell me I was OK. Whew. My second set of tests came back negative for bad heart enzymes, so that was good news. It was probably just acid reflux. Purple pills may be in my future, but hopefully not if I lay off the ice cream and hot sauce (not usually enjoyed together, but you should try Toad Sweat the next time you break out a pint of vanilla). Then he said someone would come in to unhook me from everything. He left. The dead man was still in the "room" next to me. And then his family came in. I just saw them pass by a crack in the curtain. It was his wife and son. I just heard her weeping. "I can't believe he's gone."
When I walked out of the hospital into a clear, cool, beautiful evening, I was thankful I was alive and OK. God had seen fit to cause me to be OK. But that man wasn't so lucky today. This morning he woke up, ate his breakfast, and had his day like he always did. But I couldn't help but wonder where he was then. Where he is now, and if he had ever wondered that himself.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Tron is coming back
OK. I need to calm down. "They" are apparently making a new sequel to the amazing, awesome, extra-hip 1982 movie Tron!!Seriously.
new Tron movie
Wednesday, September 12, 2007
Shooting star
I saw one tonight. It was a big one. What made it even better was that I was walking with a friend, and she saw it too.
yeah
yeah
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