18 years ago my wife and I brought a cute little baby girl home from the hospital, both of us clearly befuddled as to why these competent nurses would let two foolish kids leave with this baby, without any type of directions or manual....
Today, my wife and I dropped off a beautiful 18 year old woman at college after helping her move into her dorm room. This confident young thing has great plans to become an elementary school teacher, and is looking forward to her first foray into living on her own (still with our checkbook however).
The intervening 18 years seem to be a bit of a blur now, but on the whole as I look back on it, it was an experience I would not ever trade. Each phase had it's unique challenges and rewards, and those memories will be among my most treasured.
To all who have survived this journey, I commend you. Cheers to that journey, and to the new ones commencing.
Wednesday, August 19, 2009
Got Wingnuts?
How to properly deal with wingnuts? Clearly acknowledge them for what they are.......crazy.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Got Loans?
The behavior of our entitled elite never ceases to amaze me.
Jon Carroll, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting take on the behavior of our bankers now that the U.S. taxpayer has bailed them out;
Jon Carroll, a columnist for the San Francisco Chronicle has an interesting take on the behavior of our bankers now that the U.S. taxpayer has bailed them out;
last week the New York Times had a story about how banks, having been given emergency bridge loans to tide them over after the unholy mess they made of the entire financial system with their greed-driven mortgage loans, are now reluctant to lend that money back to struggling small businesses.Loans are not being made. Why? Let Paul Merski, chief economist for the Independent Community Bankers of America, a trade organization, tell you why. "There's not a lot of profit motive in a $35,000 loan stretched over six years."
Profit motive? Profit motive? The American taxpayers came in and saved your sorry asses, rewarding your bad behavior because every other option was even less good, and now certain struggling American taxpayers are asking for five-figure loans, and you guys are whining about profit motive?
Friday, August 14, 2009
Time to fight back?
Democrats never seem to learn that Republican leopards don't change their spots. Especially ones who have screwed up the last 8 years so badly that they feel cornered.
Liars lie and fear mongers lay on the fear. It's what they know and what they do. Partisanship is not in their vocabulary.
It's about time the Democrats figure this out and respond accordingly with accountability and outrage.
Paul Krugman has more.
Liars lie and fear mongers lay on the fear. It's what they know and what they do. Partisanship is not in their vocabulary.
It's about time the Democrats figure this out and respond accordingly with accountability and outrage.
Paul Krugman has more.
Got WebMD?
So, doctors must hate the Internet.
After tearing up my Achilles tendon, I naturally started to Google my brains out trying to get info on my injury and the proposed treatments. I was also looking for other folks who were blogging about this issue and documenting recovery times and the like.
Not surprising there was a lot of info out there, but it took some time to sort through it to find common themes and issues, as well as to sort through current studies along with older info.
To my surprise, there is a fair amount of controversy over the treatment of Achilles injuries, some doctors saying that non-surgical treatment is just as good and significantly less invasive than surgical treatments. Some very current studies also seem to support this.
Of course, armed with all this wonderful info, I attempted to have a conversation with my orthopedic surgeon about this. Have you ever seen folks get that tight little smile when you bring up an uncomfortable subject? Suffice it to say, he was not too keen on listening to my brilliant medical opinions based on a day of surfing the net. Now I don't necessarily blame him, and he was very professional about it, even strongly recommending that I get a second opinion to address my concerns, which I did.
Ultimately, because of the specific nature of my Achilles injury (it had detached from the heel bone), I selected surgery, and used this specific doctor because of his skill set in this area. Interestingly enough, he has been much more forthcoming and informational since my initial pushback on his treatment suggestions, and I feel that I'm getting the reasons behind things rather than just "orders from the doctor".
The bottom line is, you are the customer in this scenario and you should be as informed as possible when making decisions about your health and treatment. Doctors may or may not be appreciative of this, but ultimately it's your call. Use the internet. Talk to friends. Get a second opinion. Knowledge is power.
After tearing up my Achilles tendon, I naturally started to Google my brains out trying to get info on my injury and the proposed treatments. I was also looking for other folks who were blogging about this issue and documenting recovery times and the like.
Not surprising there was a lot of info out there, but it took some time to sort through it to find common themes and issues, as well as to sort through current studies along with older info.
To my surprise, there is a fair amount of controversy over the treatment of Achilles injuries, some doctors saying that non-surgical treatment is just as good and significantly less invasive than surgical treatments. Some very current studies also seem to support this.
Of course, armed with all this wonderful info, I attempted to have a conversation with my orthopedic surgeon about this. Have you ever seen folks get that tight little smile when you bring up an uncomfortable subject? Suffice it to say, he was not too keen on listening to my brilliant medical opinions based on a day of surfing the net. Now I don't necessarily blame him, and he was very professional about it, even strongly recommending that I get a second opinion to address my concerns, which I did.
Ultimately, because of the specific nature of my Achilles injury (it had detached from the heel bone), I selected surgery, and used this specific doctor because of his skill set in this area. Interestingly enough, he has been much more forthcoming and informational since my initial pushback on his treatment suggestions, and I feel that I'm getting the reasons behind things rather than just "orders from the doctor".
The bottom line is, you are the customer in this scenario and you should be as informed as possible when making decisions about your health and treatment. Doctors may or may not be appreciative of this, but ultimately it's your call. Use the internet. Talk to friends. Get a second opinion. Knowledge is power.
Thursday, August 13, 2009
Got Crutches?
Well, maybe I will be blogging a bit more now.
In an attempt to be somewhat athletic, during a scary electrical incident, I ruptured my Achilles tendon. It required surgery to repair and now I am looking at a month of time on crutches (no weight bearing on the injured leg), plus another month or so of being confined to a walking boot and a lot of physical therapy.
Oh, and I can't drive....for 2 months. Sigh......
In an attempt to be somewhat athletic, during a scary electrical incident, I ruptured my Achilles tendon. It required surgery to repair and now I am looking at a month of time on crutches (no weight bearing on the injured leg), plus another month or so of being confined to a walking boot and a lot of physical therapy.
Oh, and I can't drive....for 2 months. Sigh......
Got Blog?
It sure is hard to blog. I have a whole new appreciation for folks who dive into this and keep the ball rolling. There is a definite knack to doing this well and keeping it fresh and interesting.
For the last few months I've just been using this space as a way to get quick links to other blogs that I find useful or interesting. You can see the list on the right side of the blog under "Cool Places". Check them out, it's a nice mix of liberal discussion, gossip, and local foodie stuff.
For the last few months I've just been using this space as a way to get quick links to other blogs that I find useful or interesting. You can see the list on the right side of the blog under "Cool Places". Check them out, it's a nice mix of liberal discussion, gossip, and local foodie stuff.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
