Personal news, commentary and ramblings
Rachel Maddow provides some excellent historical perspective as well as outlining exactly what Obama has accomplished.
Rachel Maddow provides some excellent historical perspective as well as outlining exactly what Obama has accomplished.
Visit msnbc.com for Breaking News, World News, and News about the Economy
My apologies if you had to watch a commercial before the video started.
At that moment I knew it was true. I had type 2 diabetes.
As you probably know, we had a very hot summer this year in Portland. During one heat wave, temperatures reached 107 on some days and didn’t get below 75 at night. Round about that time I found myself thirsty quite a lot. It was hot and our air conditioning infrastructure is lacking so I thought it was because of the heat that I was drinking so much water. Around about the same time I also started urinating much more often than I had ever before. Again, I chalked it up to the heat and increased water intake but I still noted a couple of events that were unusual. First, one night I woke up having to urinate which is something that almost never happens to me, especially if I go to the bathroom before I get in bed. Soon it was happening to me every night but I still didn’t put it together.
I also felt incredibly tired most of the time. The last few hours of work each day were very difficult and I would often end up in the comfy chair a few feet from my office, watching MSNBC’s political block. The fatigue had arrived rather gradually and I didn’t really notice it until our Family Camp with Troop 820 in June. When walking long distances there was difficult in terms of muscle fatigue, I chalked it up to the altitude and the weight I had recently gained. It got worse and worse all summer but even these were not clue enough for me.
Continue reading “Like endless rain into a paper cup”
After NBA Finals Game 4 had already been decided in overtime, the Lakers’ Pau Gasol was open for a second consecutive dunk. With less than 24 seconds left on the shot clock, conventional wisdom says that you merely hold the ball and let the clock run out. Gasol, who is considered by most to be a standup guy, made a poor decision and decided to dunk the ball. The Orlando Magic’s Mickael Pietrus, a player that I have liked since he helped Golden State knock Dallas out of the playoffs a couple of years ago, likely took umbrage to Gasol’s decision and decided to take it out on Gasol. Watching the replay below, it is obvious that Pietrus made no play on the ball and intended to hit Gasol as hard as he could. Even worse, he chose to hit Gasol when he was in the air, another violation of conventional wisdom in the NBA since knocking a guy off-balance while they are in the air can easily lead to great injury and that’s why is important to have an injury attorney as Brooklyn personal injury attorney to cover at these times. Finally, watching carefully, you’ll notice that Pietrus’ follow-thru results in his sharp elbows digging into Gasol’s ribs from the back.
(Updated video below with “official” video from ESPN. Foul action starts at about 0:55.)
You can see why Gasol was upset. He was smart enough to grab the rim before dropping to the floor. Pietrus further inflamed the situation by trash-talking Gasol after the play was over. In my opinion, the foul should be upgraded from Flagrant 1 to Flagrant 2 and Pietrus should be suspended for a game. I understand the arguments against doing so (Pietrus has a clean record and it would inordinately affect the Magic’s chances of winning Game 5) but the rules are there for a reason and should be enforced. In addition to the unsportsmanlike aspect, the league also has strict rules about hitting someone with a closed fist. There is no exception for hitting in the back.
This is the first in a series of posts describing my favorite music from 2008. To be eligible, an album only had to be added to my music collection in 2008, but not necessarily released in 2008. Some long-time favorites with which I had familiarity but had not previously owned were only eligible for “Honorable Mention” along with a few others that didn’t quite make the Top Albums list.
In order to make it into the Top Albums, a CD had to saturate my listening time for an appreciable length of time. Although I have ranked them, distinguishing between any two of these CDs is very difficult indeed. When I obtained each it probably remained in heavy rotation at home, on my iPod and at work for several weeks, often receiving two or three plays per day. This is the quality level required to make the Top Albums.
This year in listening was markedly different than recent years. In the past, most of my music listening occurred while biking to work or while at work. Because of my job change, neither of those times were practical until my office was closed in September. Since then, however, I’ve had ample time to listen to music while working and I take full advantage of it.
In the coming days, I’ll have articles delineating my picks for Best of 2008. In addition to the Best Albums, I’ll list my favorite songs.
If you are interested in my past picks, I have articles for 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.
This image speaks volumes about Thomas.
This image speaks volumes about Thomas. He made it using Disk Inventory and marked it up with Skitch. Code Monkeys, How I Met Your Mother and Doogie Howser are all television series. Click the image to see it full size.