There is this big hoopla about Michael Phelps and his gold medals. And it has gotten me thinking....
Not to take anything from him, he really is an amazing athlete (swim, eat sleep... that is all he does, and he is supposed to ingest 8000 -10,000 calories a day! Can you imagine?!?!?), but this has me thinking.... 8 gold medals is quite an accomplishment but what about the athletes who compete in mutliple rounds all games long just to get one medal -- like volleyball, tennis, soccer..... Are they lesser athletes because they will never have the opportunity to win that many medals in a single Olympics?
Saturday, August 16, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
Olympic Fever
I'll admit it.... I have Olympic fever....
The second ever black person, Cullen Jones, is on the Olympic swimming team this year. He learned to swim after he almost drowned at the bottom of a water slide when he was 5. He just won a gold medal as part of the World Record setting Men's 4x100 relay team.
Dara Torres has become the oldest person to win an Olympic medal at age 41
Why is the time that Bush has spent at the Olypmics ( 4 days total) the longest time he has spent in any country since he has been president......
I think it is interesting how instrumentals of popular hiphop songs have become the background music for the montages and feature stories during major sporting events -- I have heard Take a Bow by Rihanna, Superstar by Lupe Fiasco (a favorite -- it was also used heavily during the Superbowl) and Apologize by One Republic and Timbaland so far.
Gotta go.... more Olympics to watch!
The second ever black person, Cullen Jones, is on the Olympic swimming team this year. He learned to swim after he almost drowned at the bottom of a water slide when he was 5. He just won a gold medal as part of the World Record setting Men's 4x100 relay team.
Dara Torres has become the oldest person to win an Olympic medal at age 41
Why is the time that Bush has spent at the Olypmics ( 4 days total) the longest time he has spent in any country since he has been president......
I think it is interesting how instrumentals of popular hiphop songs have become the background music for the montages and feature stories during major sporting events -- I have heard Take a Bow by Rihanna, Superstar by Lupe Fiasco (a favorite -- it was also used heavily during the Superbowl) and Apologize by One Republic and Timbaland so far.
Gotta go.... more Olympics to watch!
Monday, August 04, 2008
Some of the best microwave-steamed vegetables ever!
I have been a big fan of the microwave steamed vegetables that they sell in the frozen food section and have been for a while. It is a quick and easy way to get something really close to fresh without having to worry about spoilage.
I have noticed that this segment has really taken off and there is more variety, especially since Bob Green tagged some as "Best Life" products.
The last time I was in the store, I noticed that Birds Eye had created another line extension of these vegetables called "Steam & Serve" that comes in a black oval serving dish. I decided to buy a couple varieties since they seemed a little different from what I normally buy. They are all medleys with a light sauce. The first one I tried was a variety called Beans with a Twist. It is a combination of green and yellow beans, carrots and cranberries (yes, cranberries) in an herbed butter sauce. Can I say that this medley is to die for! They have about 4 or 5 other varieties as well that are very good but this one is by far my favorite.
So, next time you are in the grocery store, think about picking one of these up!
I have noticed that this segment has really taken off and there is more variety, especially since Bob Green tagged some as "Best Life" products.
The last time I was in the store, I noticed that Birds Eye had created another line extension of these vegetables called "Steam & Serve" that comes in a black oval serving dish. I decided to buy a couple varieties since they seemed a little different from what I normally buy. They are all medleys with a light sauce. The first one I tried was a variety called Beans with a Twist. It is a combination of green and yellow beans, carrots and cranberries (yes, cranberries) in an herbed butter sauce. Can I say that this medley is to die for! They have about 4 or 5 other varieties as well that are very good but this one is by far my favorite.
So, next time you are in the grocery store, think about picking one of these up!
Sunday, August 03, 2008
Personally applied restriction
I am going through some financial challenges right now so in an effort to watch my budget, I decided to challenge myself to a little financial exercise this past weekend. --- Go all weekend without spending any money (except for gas.) And I did it, and without really any discomfort. I ate food I had at home. I actually went to a party that a friend had at her house and brought my contribution for the party from stuff I already had and didn't go to the grocery store.
It is easy to mindlessly spend money when you don't really need to --- a $1 here, $5 there --- and I just can't really afford to do that for now.
So, I am glad that I did it. It had taught me a bit about my spending habits.
It is easy to mindlessly spend money when you don't really need to --- a $1 here, $5 there --- and I just can't really afford to do that for now.
So, I am glad that I did it. It had taught me a bit about my spending habits.
My grand re-entrance delayed.....
So I had big plans to retroactively post all the blog posts that I have been saying for the past couple months but my plans were foiled temporarily a computer virus. But after consulting a number of personal technophile friends and then some experts, I had to go to the great folks at Bleepingcomputer.com for help. There they provide a great service free of charge which has really helped me twice already.
Not only are they a wealth of knowledge about everything having to do with your computer, they are a real helpful resources when your computer gets "sick" with something that typical antivirus/antispyware programs can't cure.
Basically, to start the process you have to post some logs to a forum and then one of their experts picks up your case and starts working with you. Now, the solutions and steps they have you go through are not for beginners and require a lot of back and forth, posting logs, running programs to get to a complete fix but it is a godsend. So I am back and blogging! Thanks to the folks at Bleepingcomputer.com!
Not only are they a wealth of knowledge about everything having to do with your computer, they are a real helpful resources when your computer gets "sick" with something that typical antivirus/antispyware programs can't cure.
Basically, to start the process you have to post some logs to a forum and then one of their experts picks up your case and starts working with you. Now, the solutions and steps they have you go through are not for beginners and require a lot of back and forth, posting logs, running programs to get to a complete fix but it is a godsend. So I am back and blogging! Thanks to the folks at Bleepingcomputer.com!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Doing without one of the world's greatest inventions!
I have long said that air conditioning ranks up there as one of the top inventions of mankind, behind fire and the wheel. Well, last week, mine went out! I luckily have 2 units in my house, one for the front of the house and one for the back of the house, so I am not completely without AC but the back of the house is where I spend most of my time.
I have a home warranty and it does not seem to have done me any good... They sent a guy out who was literally in my house for about 10 minutes. He came in, told me that it looked like my motor was dying because the drain pipe was backing up. He looked around unsuccesfully for the model number for the fan and then told me that we would have to have the office figure out what size motor it was and call me back.
Well, after not hearing from anyone for 2 days, I called back the repair company and they told me that the warranty company was supposed to call me because they were denying to cover the repair since it happened due to neglect. Then when I didn't hear back from the warranty company I called them on Monday. I was told by a rep that 1) they were still evaulating whether or not to replace the motor or the whole unit and that 2) I was in the queue to call back that day. So, on Wednesday, when I called back again the woman on the phone told me that when I called on Monday that they told me that the repair would not be covered. Okay..... does that sound like what I just told you the guy said?? Then she put me on hold and said that she went to ask the guy about his note. She said that he swore that what he had written was what he had told me and practically accused me of lying! I told her, why would I bother to call back if that is what someone told me!? Why would I waste my time if that was my understanding??
That really rubbed me the wrong way and this experience, combined with past one has led me to really reconsider having this home warranty in the first place. Basically, it seems that unless you have all new everything, they will try to find a way to get out of covering what ever you call them for.
I guess I will call back the company that came out to see how much they would charge me to replace the fan motor......and try my best to stay cool!
I have a home warranty and it does not seem to have done me any good... They sent a guy out who was literally in my house for about 10 minutes. He came in, told me that it looked like my motor was dying because the drain pipe was backing up. He looked around unsuccesfully for the model number for the fan and then told me that we would have to have the office figure out what size motor it was and call me back.
Well, after not hearing from anyone for 2 days, I called back the repair company and they told me that the warranty company was supposed to call me because they were denying to cover the repair since it happened due to neglect. Then when I didn't hear back from the warranty company I called them on Monday. I was told by a rep that 1) they were still evaulating whether or not to replace the motor or the whole unit and that 2) I was in the queue to call back that day. So, on Wednesday, when I called back again the woman on the phone told me that when I called on Monday that they told me that the repair would not be covered. Okay..... does that sound like what I just told you the guy said?? Then she put me on hold and said that she went to ask the guy about his note. She said that he swore that what he had written was what he had told me and practically accused me of lying! I told her, why would I bother to call back if that is what someone told me!? Why would I waste my time if that was my understanding??
That really rubbed me the wrong way and this experience, combined with past one has led me to really reconsider having this home warranty in the first place. Basically, it seems that unless you have all new everything, they will try to find a way to get out of covering what ever you call them for.
I guess I will call back the company that came out to see how much they would charge me to replace the fan motor......and try my best to stay cool!
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
I am not a hypochondriac....
Some odd stuff has been happening to me health-wise lately....
First, around the end of June/beginning of July, I started experiencing some extreme bloating --- I mean, EXTREME. It didn't really respond to regular antacids or OTC medicine like Prilosec. Let me elaborate a little more on what this was like. I was so uncomfortable that I had trouble sitting up straight. My posture was suffering, I had to adjust the seat in my car because I was started to have lower back pain. Sometimes I would feel slightly better but didn't want to eat much because when I did, I felt even more full and bloated. I was starting to think that something was seriously wrong with me. Now, I am not one to have a fragile digestive system. I have traveled around the world and eaten many things in many places with little consequence but there is nothing more humbling than having prolonged gastro-intestinal distress. It just saps the energy out of you.
Finally, I decided to go to my doctor. I have had a bit of trouble finding a good internal medicine doctor here. A couple years ago I went to a female doctor that was highly recommended and conveniently located and on my first visit she told me that this was my annual exam just to get a baseline and if I had any other particular issues that I wanted to discuss I would have to come back for another appt! Needless to say, that rubbed me the wrong way and I never went back. So last year, I asked my GYN to recommend someone and she recommended another female doctor who was part of a popular practice. I had gone to her once last year for an annual exam so I made an appt to go see her to figure out what was wrong with me this time. The visit was not fulfilling or comforting at all. I told her everything that was going on -- I was practically in tears --- and she basically asked me some questions, pressed on my stomach and asked if I had any sharp pain. Then she prescribed a medication for acid reflux, told me to take something for gas if I needed it and said to let her know in TWO WEEKS if I wasn't feeling better. Well, I left there feeling pretty upset. But, I figured that if she didn't think that this was anything life-threatening that I would go ahead and try some other things to try to improve my situation in addition to what she prescribed me. I did, with a combination of the medicine she prescribed, from Gas-X, and some probiotics that I started taking too, start feeling better later that day. But I am not really any closer to understanding why it happened in the first place. In my doctor's defense, she did give me about 2 weeks of free samples of the medicine she prescribed, which ended up to be about $50 worth, given my insurance coverage...
Then.....
A few days ago, I woke up in the morning with a crick in my neck, like I slept wrong. A day or so later it was still sore. Then, the next day the muscle soreness turned to more of a sharp stiff pain. And then, the next morning, my throat started feeling weird. By about mid day, I started to feel like there was a lump in the back of my throat, literally. I was feeling very uncomfortable and worn out. I considered going to the doctor again, although not very excited about it. That night I came home and washed my hair and took some Advil (previously, I had been taking Aleve) and I almost immediately I started feeling better. It was all really strange but after about 12 hours of taking Advil, I was almost completely back to normal. Again, really odd.
So, I still don't know why either of these things happened. I am normally pretty boring and regular from a health perspective and pay a lot of attention to my body. Anytime anything is out of wack, I notice it. I am not completely sure what it was trying to tell me with these two things but I decided that maybe I need to rid myself of some toxins or something. So I started an herbal cleanse -- it can't hurt and I have already felt a difference in my sleep.
First, around the end of June/beginning of July, I started experiencing some extreme bloating --- I mean, EXTREME. It didn't really respond to regular antacids or OTC medicine like Prilosec. Let me elaborate a little more on what this was like. I was so uncomfortable that I had trouble sitting up straight. My posture was suffering, I had to adjust the seat in my car because I was started to have lower back pain. Sometimes I would feel slightly better but didn't want to eat much because when I did, I felt even more full and bloated. I was starting to think that something was seriously wrong with me. Now, I am not one to have a fragile digestive system. I have traveled around the world and eaten many things in many places with little consequence but there is nothing more humbling than having prolonged gastro-intestinal distress. It just saps the energy out of you.
Finally, I decided to go to my doctor. I have had a bit of trouble finding a good internal medicine doctor here. A couple years ago I went to a female doctor that was highly recommended and conveniently located and on my first visit she told me that this was my annual exam just to get a baseline and if I had any other particular issues that I wanted to discuss I would have to come back for another appt! Needless to say, that rubbed me the wrong way and I never went back. So last year, I asked my GYN to recommend someone and she recommended another female doctor who was part of a popular practice. I had gone to her once last year for an annual exam so I made an appt to go see her to figure out what was wrong with me this time. The visit was not fulfilling or comforting at all. I told her everything that was going on -- I was practically in tears --- and she basically asked me some questions, pressed on my stomach and asked if I had any sharp pain. Then she prescribed a medication for acid reflux, told me to take something for gas if I needed it and said to let her know in TWO WEEKS if I wasn't feeling better. Well, I left there feeling pretty upset. But, I figured that if she didn't think that this was anything life-threatening that I would go ahead and try some other things to try to improve my situation in addition to what she prescribed me. I did, with a combination of the medicine she prescribed, from Gas-X, and some probiotics that I started taking too, start feeling better later that day. But I am not really any closer to understanding why it happened in the first place. In my doctor's defense, she did give me about 2 weeks of free samples of the medicine she prescribed, which ended up to be about $50 worth, given my insurance coverage...
Then.....
A few days ago, I woke up in the morning with a crick in my neck, like I slept wrong. A day or so later it was still sore. Then, the next day the muscle soreness turned to more of a sharp stiff pain. And then, the next morning, my throat started feeling weird. By about mid day, I started to feel like there was a lump in the back of my throat, literally. I was feeling very uncomfortable and worn out. I considered going to the doctor again, although not very excited about it. That night I came home and washed my hair and took some Advil (previously, I had been taking Aleve) and I almost immediately I started feeling better. It was all really strange but after about 12 hours of taking Advil, I was almost completely back to normal. Again, really odd.
So, I still don't know why either of these things happened. I am normally pretty boring and regular from a health perspective and pay a lot of attention to my body. Anytime anything is out of wack, I notice it. I am not completely sure what it was trying to tell me with these two things but I decided that maybe I need to rid myself of some toxins or something. So I started an herbal cleanse -- it can't hurt and I have already felt a difference in my sleep.
Friday, July 25, 2008
It's not just black folks.... or Americans for that matter!
It's not just black folks who get a little too creative with their childrens' names. Check out this story from the USAToday about what a family court judge did in New Zealand!
Ugh!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2008-07-24-New-Zealand_N.htm
Ugh!
http://www.usatoday.com/news/offbeat/2008-07-24-New-Zealand_N.htm
Code words.....
So the latest thing that the pundits have been talking about it that, although Obama is ahead in the polls overall, when folks are asked clarifying questions, it seems that there are no specific issues that people are uneasy about Obama's position on, they are just trying to decide if they like his in general, if they think he will make a good president.
Key findings show that many don't think that they can relate to "his background and values." Okay, background??? You mean the fact that he is black???? And he has pretty traditional values --- married, 2 kids, worked his way through school, believes in giving back to society.......
I guess we knew it would come down to this. He is a professional, intelligent, compassionate, well spoken, diplomatic candidate with a great 3-point shot! What more do you want, people!?!? But I guess that all matter but so much.
The bottom line: Enough people just need to decide that they are comfortable enough with having this black man for president.
See the Wall Street Journal article http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121684823498078481.html?mod=djemalertNEWS
Key findings show that many don't think that they can relate to "his background and values." Okay, background??? You mean the fact that he is black???? And he has pretty traditional values --- married, 2 kids, worked his way through school, believes in giving back to society.......
I guess we knew it would come down to this. He is a professional, intelligent, compassionate, well spoken, diplomatic candidate with a great 3-point shot! What more do you want, people!?!? But I guess that all matter but so much.
The bottom line: Enough people just need to decide that they are comfortable enough with having this black man for president.
See the Wall Street Journal article http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121684823498078481.html?mod=djemalertNEWS
Thursday, July 24, 2008
An oilman goes green?
Who would have thought that environmentalists' biggest ally would be a good ol Texas oilman!
But that seems to be the case. T. Boone Pickens, legendary oil tycoon has decided that our dependency on oil -- namely foreign oil -- is out of control. Our dependancy on foreign oil has grown since 1970 from about 24% of our total consumption to 70%!!!
And he has decided that we need to take advantage of wind and solar power to break this dependency and has used his own money to fund a plan for how to do just that. He even has commercials running on network TV.
Take a look at his plan at www.pickensplan.com
But that seems to be the case. T. Boone Pickens, legendary oil tycoon has decided that our dependency on oil -- namely foreign oil -- is out of control. Our dependancy on foreign oil has grown since 1970 from about 24% of our total consumption to 70%!!!
And he has decided that we need to take advantage of wind and solar power to break this dependency and has used his own money to fund a plan for how to do just that. He even has commercials running on network TV.
Take a look at his plan at www.pickensplan.com
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