Date: 2009-12-03 08:20 Subject: blog/note/status updates Security: Public

If it isn't already clear, I'm trying out a new system. I've found myself putting longer and longer remarks into my FB status update, so I've decided to go back to using my blog for anything that's longer than a quick status remark (i.e. 1 sentence).

I have FB and LJ set up to automatically transfer my blog posts into my FB notes. FB and LJ also now have a snazzy app link that will put a link to my LJ entries into my feed, but I don't like that because people have to leave FB to read the posts. For now, I'm denying the LJ-FB feed connection and just using the post-to-Notes functionality.

Date: 2009-12-03 08:06 Subject: pain update Security: Public Music: Funkadelic "Maggot Brain"

I wondered how the knee and ankle would feel this morning after last night's tweaks.

Well, it's not *too* painful but the ankle is definitely a little ginger this morning -- no signs of swelling or discoloration, though. Knee is fine.

Woke up with soreness in my right ring and pinkie fingers but that went away quickly, so it probably wasn't an arthritis flare-up. Although with lots of precipitation in the forecast, including snow Fri-Sun, it wouldn't be surprising.

Date: 2009-12-03 00:02 Subject: indoor soccer Security: Public

Tonight was the first night of our indoor soccer sessions. The club has purchased 2 hours every Wednesday night at the community college on their indoor pitch so there's no additional cost to us. We have two full sides -- an over 30 Men's team and an over 40 Men's team. For the indoor sessions, we split everybody up into three teams and play 10 minute games. At the end of ten minutes one team stays on and one team swaps out with the team that was sitting. It's a pretty good deal, especially for free.

Tonight's total:

1 shift in goalie relief (about 6 matches)
2 goals given up in net and about 5 saves
1 assist from goal
1 complete whiff on a shot right in front of the net while on a full run, which resulted in an awkward landing and a twisted knee
1 partially rolled ankle

I did a shift of goalie relief because one of the two goalies was a guy who always gets stuck in net when he's actually a field player and I could tell he was getting sick of being in net. I did ok for my first time in net since about 5th grade. I actually enjoyed it a bit, but it bugged me a little that the guy I relieved didn't even thank me or seem to appreciate it. Oh, well.

Date: 2009-12-02 13:09 Subject: treatment interruptus Security: Public

Today I finally resumed my UVB narrowband treatments for psoriasis. We're using a more aggressive protocol this cycle, so hopefully I'll see significant progress quickly. 150 mJ dose today.

I was receiving Xcimer laser treatments over the spring and summer but hit a snag when the insurance company suddenly stopped approving the treatments claiming the dermatologist's office hadn't submitted the proper paperwork for approval. The dr's office said they would take care of it. After a few months of waiting and calling both the dr and the insurance company for updates, I finally got a call a few weeks back from the dr saying everything was resolved (and approved) and I could return for treatments whenever I wanted. They even called me back after a week when I didn't call for a new appointment.

Date: 2009-12-02 07:43 Subject: Heart-melting parenting pride Security: Public Mood: glowing Music: kids playing Tags: kids, parenting, pride

G (the 5 year old) told her 4 year old sister this morning as she whisperingly invited her to climb into bed with her: "We're sisters, so we'll always be friends."

Date: 2009-11-28 10:01 Subject: Merry Christmas! Security: Public

Every year, my in-laws have their Christmas right after Thanksgiving when most everyone can get together without the constraints of other Christmas obligations, before the weather gets completely awful, and before some people take off for warmer climes for the season. We get presents for the young kids and the adults and older kids pull names and buy a smallish gift for one person instead of spending on everyone.

This year, Christmas is today, so Merry Christmas! :-)

Date: 2009-11-28 09:53 Subject: NaNoWriMo Security: Public

This is my official declaration that I will not succeed at NaNoWriMo this year. Found out about it 1 week in and was unable to set aside time to work on it consistently. I got less than 1000 words written. Once I realized I wasn't going to come close I abandoned all effort -- I'd rather spend that energy on something else and save the writing for next year's efforts.

Date: 2009-11-28 09:49 Subject: Black Friday Security: Public

I spent yesterday doing light projects around the house.

- Finally hung the curtain rod and curtain in my office.
- Painted the corner in the dining room (still needs some touch-up and a second coat, but at least it's not a completely different color any more!)
- Cleaned up the office some: moved some boxes and the printer, eliminated dust bunnies, changed position of monitor and laptop, etc. still lots more to do
- made a couple of grocery runs for milk and for veggies to make the southwestern chicken salad for dinner (bbq rotisserie chicken, corn, black beans, baby greens, cherry tomatoes, avocado, tortilla chips, shredded cheese and a little ranch dressing)

Also took care of the girls while Mom did a couple of hours of Black Friday shopping in the morning -- I'm very thankful for the magic of Play-doh. :-)

Date: 2009-11-10 23:12 Subject: self-serving return to LJ Security: Public Tags: dvd, facebook, games, music, nanowrimo, twitter, wishlist

It has been months since I posted anything here. For a while I got totally enamored with Twitter, but that interest quickly waned, and I've since kept my Twitter account primarily for fitness journaling and on-the-road travel tweets. Facebook has garnered most of my online attention. I don't do quizzes or games, since they expose your account too much to potential attacks, but I update my status a lot and follow what other people post. I have on occasion considered returning to LJ to blog about some thing or other that's on my mind, but just haven't made the time.

But now the holidays (and birthday) approach, so it's in my interest to post my annual wishlist. Hopefully this will re-establish LJ visitation in my online routine and I'll begin posting stuff once again, but I'm not expecting it will. Especially since I signed up for NaNoWriMo and haven't found time to write a single word yet!

( Anyway, here's my list, in unranked order. )

Date: 2009-09-08 22:18 Subject: Doctors, doctors everywhere, but how do I get one to see me?? Security: Public

We moved to Rochester last year and finally bought a house in December. In March we started looking for physicians for my wife and me. We got a few recommendations here and there but every doctor that looked even remotely promising wasn't accepting new patients. Eventually we got a tip from our pediatrician that her husband, whose practice is within walking distance of our house, was taking new patients and that we should tell his office that she sent us. I tried calling to set up appointments, but they said they were booked and new patients needed to call back on May 1 to get appointments. OK, fine. I set an alarm for 9AM, May 1 on my phone and waited. And waited. And waited.

Finally May 1 came and I called. When I got through there was a message on the voicemail service saying "as of May 1, Dr. K is no longer accepting new patients." WTF?! I called back and took the options to speak to a secretary. When I spoke with her, I mentioned that Dr. K's wife had referred us and voila! suddenly we were in. I was able to get a new patient appointment for the end of June and another one for the end of July. We were told that if we had any really pressing health issues that we could get a regular appointment sooner than that by calling in, even if we hadn't had the new patient appointments yet.

My wife took the June appointment and it went well. We both liked Dr. K (I went to a follow-up appointment with my wife). However, I had unexpected travel for work and had to cancel my appointment at the end of July. When I called to cancel it, I knew it would be painful but when they told me the next available appointment would be the middle of September I was crushed. You see, back at the beginning of the summer I was helping my wife move some things and I did something to my right arm. Not sure what, but grabbing just about anything in my hand bigger than a utensil and lifting it with my arm causes pain around my elbow, and my grasping strength is severely limited.

I have some other issues, like sinus/sleeping/snoring concerns, but the arm thing has been really bugging me. It's not a constant intense pain, and obviously I've been able to live with it, so I've felt like it doesn't warrant an "urgent" appointment request. Instead I've been living with it all summer. I thought it might be some kind of muscle strain and it would go away after a week or two or taking it easy, but it hasn't. Now I'm concerned it was a muscle tear, torn tendon, or something similar that will either never heal properly or will require surgery. Yeah, I'm probably catastrophizing, but it hasn't healed on its own yet, so what am I supposed to think?

I'm totally jazzed that next Monday I FINALLY get to see the doctor! I have been making a list of my health concerns/issues on my Blackberry so that I don't forget anything. Assuming I actually make it to the appointment, I will have been waiting over 6 months to see the doctor. That is ridiculous and IMO unacceptable.

It's obvious to anyone with a brain that our health care system has problems, but I haven't heard about anything in the health care reform act that would have helped me in this situation. And moving to a public option, or government-run health care, presumably will mean longer waits for anything that isn't urgent care, not just for new patients.

Date: 2009-05-09 23:01 Subject: Introducing the kids to Star Wars Security: Public Mood: happy Tags: kids, parenthood, parenting, star wars

The girls are 3.5 (M) and almost 5 years old (G) now and from time to time I have thought about how and when I would introduce them to Star Wars. We try to limit their TV time (they only watch PBS Kids) and we have a variety of kid-friendly DVDs for them. Their bedtime is 8pm, so getting them to watch a 2+hr movie isn’t really going to happen after dinner. Plus, G is our “sensitive” child who gets tense and nervous when things get exciting (“scary”) on screen.

Well, with Star Wars Day this week, I got inspired. I went digging through the moving boxes we hadn’t unpacked yet until I found the Star Wars box set. I pulled out Ep IV and planned to introduce it to them that night. I made dinner and got the girls ready for bed with extra time to start the flick. I even used the promise of a new movie to motivate them. We sat down to watch it while I heard my wife telling her sister on the phone that she didn’t think it was a good idea, especially right before bed, but since she wouldn’t be getting up with them if they had nightmares, she was just gonna “let it go.” I figured we would watch as much as they could tolerate and then just stop for the night.

( details behind the cut )

I hope this experience will be helpful for other parents wanting to get their kids started on the road to geekdom, but unsure of how and when to start. I'm also curious to hear other people's stories about the first time their kid(s) watched the movie.

[cross-posting to geekparents]

Date: 2009-04-28 01:49 Subject: exercise update Security: Public Location: W hotel in Montreal Mood: tired Tags: exercise, onehundredpushups, onehundredsitups, running, twohundredsitups

Ran my normal course around the neighborhood today before it got ungodly hot. Also finally got back on the onehundredpushups wagon that I fell off of a month ago.

onehundredpushups week 3 day 1 = 14+18+14+14+20(max out)

The max out set for this week is at least 20 and I had to really push to eke out that 20th. But it's been over a month since I did week 2 and this is the first time I strictly observed the rest period between sets (60 secs for today). It makes a big difference.

I also discovered that my ad-hoc adaptation of onehundredpushups to onehundredsitups has been undercut by the official twohundredsitups program. I'll be taking a look at that and trying it out soon (and abandoning my old onehundredsitups program, which is now a month on hiatus anyway).

Date: 2009-04-15 10:22 Subject: Chargers 2009 schedule breakdown Security: Public Mood: bouncy Music: The Church "Tristesse (acoustic version)" Tags: football, nfl, san diego chargers, schedule

The 2009 NFL schedule was just released yesterday. Here is a breakdown of the Chargers schedule from Bill Williamson, AFC West blogger for ESPN.com. He makes some interesting points, but I think he misses a lot of details. There are a few nasty things, but overall I think this is the most favorable schedule the Chargers have had in recent memory. Let me break it down for you:

Chargers Regular Season Schedule (All times Eastern)
Week 1: Monday, Sep. 14, at Oakland 8:30 p.m.
Week 2: Sunday, Sep. 20, BALTIMORE, 4:15 p.m.
Week 3: Sunday, Sep. 27, MIAMI, 4:15 p.m.
Week 4: Sunday, Oct. 4, at Pittsburgh Steelers, 8:20 p.m.
Week 5: Sunday, Oct. 11, BYE
Week 6: Monday, Oct. 19, DENVER, 8:30 p.m.
Week 7: Sunday, Oct. 25, at Kansas City, 1 p.m.
Week 8: Sunday, Nov. 1, OAKLAND, 4:05 p.m.
Week 9: Sunday, Nov. 8, at N.Y. Giants, 4:15 p.m.
Week 10: Sunday, Nov. 15, PHILADELPHIA, 4:15 p.m.
Week 11: Sunday, Nov. 22, at Denver, 4:15 p.m.
Week 12: Sunday, Nov. 29, KANSAS CITY, 4:05 p.m.
Week 13: Sunday, Dec. 6, at Cleveland, 4:05 p.m.
Week 14: Sunday, Dec. 13, at Dallas, 4:15 p.m.
Week 15: Sunday, Dec. 20, CINCINNATI, 4:05 p.m.
Week 16: Friday, Dec. 25, at Tennessee, 8:30 p.m.
Week 17: Sunday, Jan. 3, WASHINGTON, 4:15 p.m.

The first thing I notice is that there are ZERO divisional games in the last month. I can't remember the last time that happened. Frankly, this is rather shocking. (I just looked it up. Last time no division games in the final month was in 2000, the year they went 1-15, before they picked up LT and Brees.)

They only have back-to-back road games once the entire season.

They don't play New England OR Indy.

They have to play CHRISTMAS NIGHT in Tennessee?! WTF is that?

For the first time since 2002, the Chargers play ZERO teams coming off a bye week. In 2008, the Bills and Dolphins had bye weeks just prior to playing the Chargers, who lost both games. In 2007, the Raiders had a bye before the Chargers game. In 2006 it was the Rams and Steelers. In 2005 it was the Jets, Eagles, Raiders, and Steelers. In 2004 it was the Saints. In 2003 it was the Broncos. (For those who don't know me, I believe that the NFL's completely mysterious method of scheduling bye weeks is patently unfair and could easily be tweaked to guarantee fairness by ensuring both teams have a bye the week before they play each other. Ideally, these post-bye-week matchups would always be divisional games, to minimize the advantage of the extra week of planning for either team. But I digress...)

In addition, a number of favorable things occur for the Chargers:
Wk 3, Miami goes to SD on a short week following a Monday nighter vs. Indy.
Wk 5, they get a bye immediately after the physical sunday nighter in Pittsburgh
Wk 6, Denver comes to town after hosting New England, which will be a media circus because of McDaniels' ties to the Pats, and hosting Dallas in Week 4
Wk 7, KC is coming off the hellish streak of @Philly-NYG-Dallas-@Washington (holy crap, did KC get screwed!)
Wk 8, Oakland comes into SD after facing the Giants, Eagles and Jets (who will be featuring Ryan's new defensive schemes)
Wk 9, the Giants come off a road game at Philly
Wk 10, Philly has just wrapped up a Washington-NYG-Dallas slate
Wk 11, Denver comes off a Baltimore-Pittsburgh-Washington run (of course, the Chargers are coming off NYG-Philly themselves)
Wk 12, KC has to come to SD, this time following a matchup with Pittsburgh
Wk 14, Dallas plays at the Giants the week before
Wk 17, Washington plays at Dallas in Week 16 and has a monday nighter vs. the Giants in Week 15

In other words, a lot of teams should be beat up and beat down when they play the Chargers this year.

Date: 2009-04-15 09:05 Subject: Properly hard-boiled eggs Security: Public Mood: helpful Music: Metallica "Where the Wild Things Are" Tags: chemistry, cooking, eggs, hard boiled, yolks

My wife, a trained chemist, can be rather particular about certain things. One of them is hard-boiled eggs. Most people "overcook them" by boiling them for 3 or more minutes and then taking them off the heat to sit in the water they were boiled in until the water is cooled off. This long period in hot water is what causes that sulfurous greenish sheath around the yolk. Here, according to my wife, who makes awesome hard-boiled eggs, is the "correct" way to hard-boil an egg:

1. Place egg(s) in pot
2. Cover egg(s) completely with water. Temperature of the water doesn't matter, but warmer water will boil sooner, so is preferable.
3. Bring water to a boil.
4. Immediately remove pot from heat and let eggs sit/cook in the water for 15 minutes.
5. Remove egg(s) and place them in a cold water bath to halt the cooking process.

You will end up with beautiful golden yolks that taste fantastic, with no trace of a sulfurous smell or taste.

Date: 2009-04-09 09:28 Subject: Jbmeuld rianedg Security: Public Music: Scorpions "Still Loving You" Tags: brain, cognition, linguistics, reading, scrambled letters

Dunno how accurate the "facts" are in this, but it's an interesting read nonetheless. Seems to me that much of the "brain power" is derived from contextual clues. The brain parses the words and creates semantic bindings that in turn have a predictive power, much like you can often predict the final words of a song verse you've never heard before (although some might say it's just because the songwriter is uncreative and cliched). For example, even if you can read the following, could you immediately read "jumbled reading" as my subject? I doubt it.

if yuo can raed tihs, you hvae a sgtrane mnid, too.
Can you raed tihs? Olny 55 plepoe out of 100 can.

i cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it dseno't mtaetr in waht oerdr the ltteres in a wrod are, the olny iproamtnt tihng is taht the frsit and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it whotuit a pboerlm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Azanmig huh? yaeh and I awlyas tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt! if you can raed tihs forwrad it.

If you can read this, your brain is 50% faster than those who can't

Date: 2009-04-04 21:59 Subject: LoudQUIETloud: a film about the Pixies Security: Public Location: bed Music: The Garden of Delight "The Seal" on last.fm Tags: black francis, breeders, dave lovering, documentary, frank black, joey santiago, kim deal, loudquietloud, movie review, music, pixies

Last night I was trolling my instant viewing queue on Netflix for something short to watch and found that "LoudQUIETloud: a Film About the Pixies" was available. Clocking in at under 90 minutes, it fit the bill, so I fired it up. I expected it to be a restrospective piece about the band, but it's actually a travelogue of sorts for their 2004 reunion tour. The only Pixies album I own is "Doolittle", but it's a brilliant piece of work and I've always been intrigued about trying out more of their recordings, so I was hoping to learn more about the band and check out some of the tracks I've never heard. I got both in spades.

( Review behind the cut )

In all, I found it to be a revealing, highly enjoyable flick with some fantastic-sounding performances. If you have even a passing interest in the Pixies, I recommend checking this out. If you've not heard of the Pixies but like alt-rock, this isn't exactly a perfect intro to the band, but may be enough to whet your appetite for a band widely considered one of the most influential bands on the late '80's college music scene.

Date: 2009-04-02 23:19 Subject: The things I did today Security: Public Mood: satisfied

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Date: 2009-03-22 13:13 Subject: exercise update Security: Public Tags: exercise, fitness, onehundredpushups, onehundredsitups

onehundredpushups week 2 day 2 = 14+16+12+12+29(max out)
onehundredsitups week 1 day 3 = 11+15+9+9+23(max out)

Date: 2009-03-22 01:03 Subject: The Stuff of Nightmares Security: Public Mood: sad

( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. )

Date: 2009-03-19 10:01 Subject: exercise update Security: Public Music: Led Zeppelin "Four Sticks" Tags: exercise, flexibility, hundredpushups, onehundredpushups, onehundredsitups, stretching, training

Yesterday, after dinner, we took a nice stroll over to the house we almost bought last year. We spent a good chunk of time and money on inspections, estimates, etc. and rather than throw out all of that paperwork, we figured the new owners might find it useful, so we gave it to them. We took the girls and the stroller. All told, it was about 1.5 miles probably, including one very big hill. It was a nice walk -- looked like it was going to keep raining, but it never did.

Last night was a onehundredXups night:

onehundredpushups, week2 day1 = 14+14+10+10+25(max out)
onehundredsitups, week1 day2 = 10+12+8+8+25(max out)

This is the week that I should start to see some improvements in my pushup totals.

I also have been getting some passive stretching on my hamstrings with my wife's help. My hamstrings have been so tight/shortened for so long, I can't remember the last time I could touch my toes without bending my knees. My flexibility has never been great, but lack of attention to my hamstrings has put them in a terrible place. Everything is so tight in there that stretching the hammys also makes my calves uncomfortable. I wish sometimes I had a personal trainer who just worked with me on flexibility.