Doc's Drugs are Special and I Don't Do Bored Well

This comes as no surprise to me, but I don't really enjoy not being busy. Thus while the last few days have been relaxing it was starting to make me a little more crazy. Today is my first work day since last Tuesday. Normally this would mean I went out of town, but in this case I was off for my regular Crohn's check-up that I had been avoiding for a while and then decided that gas was too expensive to drive anywhere for Saturday through Monday.

So I won't go into details on what exactly I mean by the "regular" Crohn's check-up. It isn't fun and takes about two days from the time I stopped eating until the drugs wore off. One of the multiple reasons I don't drink is actually from just how little I enjoy having my brain warped by the drugs given for the check-up, namely Versed (makes you forget) and Demerol (a good bit of it). Brian actually went along to drive me home and now is only the second person outside of my family and the various medical professionals to see me really loopy on drugs.

While I stated I don't like what the drugs do to me, I do find it amusing in a third-party sort of way. After the relaxing feeling of drifting off, I vaguely remember coming back to world and seeing Brian, who had been brought into the room, watching me with a somewhat quizzical expression on his face. I had a lengthy conversation with the doctor some of which I recall, thankfully the important bits, but not much. Why they even try talking to you at that point is beyond me. I also remember that looking around was like watching the world through a fish tank or like the cheesy TV sitcom wavy dream. I actually was lucid enough to call my Mom, which given Brian's look when I asked for the phone was probably not something he thought was a good idea.

I actually made it to the car in one piece and when we got to my apartment Brian followed me up to make sure I didn't kill myself on the stairs before leaving me to rest. I will be the first to admit that I didn't walk a straight line the entire journey. Besides eating and going to take a nap I really don't recall much after saying bye. Oddly enough I do know that I reorganized the cans of fruit nectar in my fridge at some point and did something that caused a few bruises on my legs, probably ran into a table or something. Thankfully the worst of the trip was over by mid afternoon when I woke up from my nap.

The rest of the weekend was uneventful to the point that I read 3 1/2 books, watched a lot of TV, walked several miles, cleaned the entire apartment and got laundry done as well as running a few errands and burning a lot of time playing Civilization 4. The only thing really worthy of mention was that Sunday I finally figured out that there are over 6 miles of nice hiking/walking/biking trails just down the street from my apartment that even include an underpass for the state highway. Too bad I didn't try this sooner. I picked up a map for the trails today so that will help in the future.

Hope you're not too bored after reading that.

I may not be a Colts fan, but Tony Dungy is amazing

I've had an immense amount of respect for Tony Dungy since his speech after the Super Bowl in which he showed no shame in professing his faith. Now, here's an article that shows yet again that Tony Dungy is one of the best professional sports role models out there.

'08 Candidate Trivia from MSNBC

Here's the link to the results of a survey of the current '08 candidates for President that asked about their "Personal Side". Favorite answer: Duncan Hunter, What is the last work of fiction you've read? "The Democrats' proposal to balance the budget." Good sarcasm, very important. I liked Huckabee's answers more than the others not that the questions asked are relevant to how I chose who to vote for but they are a nice, brief insight past their public persona.

Define "Success"

I'm not going to write the textbook definition of success since it really doesn't play into the following commentary. I want to know when we as Americans began to define success as too much of something. Too much time away from family, too much unnecessary consumer goods, too much fast food, too many activities for our kids, too much money in some places, too much government. Too much of way too much.

I ask the question as I look at my own schedule and see not enough time not working and see the same thing expected of every other "successful" person I know. Take Larry for example. Larry is a VP in Global Operations at a large local manufacturing firm. He likes his job, but it keeps him overseas over 80% of the time so he doesn't get to spend time with his family much and cannot commit to volunteer doing the things he wants to do. This is repeated in every major firm I work with. Do I notice more because it affects my ability to do my job, yes, probably, but it is still a major issue.

Lots of books have been written, speeches given and trainings taught about balancing work and life but it doesn't seem that anyone is paying attention. Those that try seem to forget that balance also needs to exist for their kids. How does keeping your kid busy every weekday evening and Saturdays doing 3 different sports and other activities benefit the kid? With the hundreds of thousands of youth in sports programs there is very little likelihood that they are going to go anywhere with the sport. I recognize the need for fitness, but time spent with friends outside will do that too. Parents end up stressing themselves out too as they can't keep up with the schedule that they set for their kids and their intense work schedule.

This is the definition of insanity. No wonder we have issues with stress and poor health. The hardest part of it is that it has become a cultural challenge that no one pays attention to or looks to solve. Look at other issues from gas prices to the cost of housing, if we used just a little less it would have a much greater impact in the cost to the consumer.

Now I have to be my own worst enemy and work more.

New Bowling Record

Two posts in one day, what a switch.

Anyways, I play sports for the amusement of others and have generally given up on attempting to be good at any of them so I rarely take an interest in my scores. This last weekend I played in a bowling tournament/fundraiser with Brian and some other folks for his football team. I had actually considered just paying in and not bowling but figured that was lame and decided to bowl.

My first game was my typical mid-80's and I actually threw the ball correctly, if slowly, each frame. The second game started out the same and no one really paid attention when I bowled other than to see if it was their turn. At the fourth frame I got a spare, no big deal. The fifth frame was a strike that went unnoticed. The sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth were also strikes. No one noticed. I will admit that I was let down that no one was paying enough attention to notice the streak but figured that if they did it would end so I didn't say anything until after the ninth frame. At that point Brian looked up and saw my score and gave me this slack-jawed look of surprise and didn't really seem to know what to say. He'd seen me bowl before and had no reason to expect it. Of course now that folks were paying attention I did not throw either a spare or strike in the tenth frame and had a typical high-70's third game.

My score in the second game was 180. While it's no 300 game, it's still the highest score I have ever gotten in a bowling game by far. I think my previous high was 125. The best part is that the grip and throw I was using for that round was nowhere near a standard throw. My "normal" throw is this weird backhanded slow throw that feels natural for me and seems to work well enough. No one has been able to replicate it despite trying. The ball goes slowly down the alley with a backspin that changes past the midpoint to a forward spin reaching a max speed of a whole 10 mph, about half of what most of the guys were throwing.

I took a picture of the scoreboard for the second game on Brian's camera and will post it when I get the picture from him.

Victory in Shoes

I honestly cannot say I love shopping. I don't mind the occasional pilgrimage to Best Buy, REI, or a bookstore, usually Barnes and Noble, but I don't shop for fun. The most intense shopping is when I am on a mission for a particular item.

As of yesterday I completed the longest mission yet, replacing my trail shoes. This has been an 8-month saga that began when I noticed that my trusty Nike trail shoes were starting to get cracks in the side of the toe box. Considering that I've had the shoes since early college and they've got uncounted miles of every type of foot travel possible from work wear to hiking the Rockies that's not really a bad run for shoes. Replacing them was supposed to be my birthday gift to me but that didn't happen.

My original goal was an exact replacement which meant light hiking stiffness with Gore Tex lining and a sturdy exterior material. After months of fruitless searching in which I relearned all to well how hard it is to find shoe to fit my feet (all but flat arches, wide front, narrow heel) I was ready to give up. In any problem solving process if you cannot find a solution restating the problem often helps. This is exactly what I did. After some serious thought I realized that what I needed was not an exact replacement, but a shoe with a moderately stiff sole with trail hiking lugs and good venting for coolness during warm weather hiking. For times its wet I can either use the Nike shoes that are still usable or wear waterproof socks.

This change significantly widened the range of choices and lowered the bottom end of the price range. After focusing on Nike since that is my tennis/running shoe of choice and buying a pair at the outlet mall that did not work out, I finally broadened my search in the return trip to the outlet mall. After almost two hours of trying on lots of shoes I ended up with a pair of Adidas trail shoes that meet the standards and are comfortable after a day of wear. The best part is that in purchasing the shoes I was able to use a gift card I won at the state meeting we had so there was no net cost to me besides the driving which probably adds up to the same cost as the shoes with the two trips to the outlet mall as well as two expeditions to REI in the initial search.

I hate shoe shopping.

On a separate note, here's some tips for increasing fuel economy from MSNBC.

Spidey 3

I actually waited until today to see Spiderman 3. I know it's hard to believe that I was patient enough to see a movie I have been anticipating for a while after opening day but I actually had work to do Friday and didn't really today not to mention company was easier to recruit today than Friday.

Was it good? Yes. Was it better than the first two? That's a much tougher question. The formula for the storyline is similar and the cadence of the film is a bit slow in the beginning with the end being loose enough to allow for another sequel. I think the first was excellent in its initial scope and the depth it brought to the comic movie genre especially in character development. With this in mind, its hard to rate 3 as "better" given that I expect character depth and good plot development from the Spidey franchise now. I think that the second bad guy really wasn't needed and really seemed rather ancillary to the main plot line except to build for the finale.

3 is a fitting member of the franchise especially in continuing the faithful representation of Parker as a true dork who happens to be a superhero with all of the awkwardness of a dork despite his abilities. He's a lot easier to relate to than say Superman to the point where things he does in the movie are so painfully dorky that I can't help but empathize with him. Of course it may take a dork to feel kinship with another dork especially in those awkward moments where what you saw happen in your head before an event has nothing in common with what actually happens and seems much less like a good idea when in action. Yet he is a dork with a good looking girlfriend, can't quite relate there...

If you have yet to see it, go, you'll enjoy it especially if you liked the first two.

The reviews will continue with Shrek 3 coming out in two weeks and two months until Transformers opens. The new Transformers toys come out for the movie on June 2nd. Optimus may end up with his movie double as a neighbor in my office. We'll see.

Happy May Day

No, I honestly do not celebrate May Day or International Workers Day as some would call it, but it seems apt that MAYDAY is what a number of unions are calling for as their membership declines. Growing up the son of a white collar automotive engineer I certainly have a somewhat jaded perspective on the UAW and unions in general. While I understand the historical roots behind unions and why they were necessary at the time I think that they need to move beyond their historical mode of operation to something more applicable in the modern world. The continuing expectation that you can make $25+ per hour plus benefits working a line job doing the same thing every day without a high school diploma is nuts. Same also on many teachers unions who reject the idea that raises should be tied to student achievement or that seniority is not the only item of relevance in promoting teachers and spend their money campaigning in political elections. As a government entity the education system has no business advocating one candidate or another.

Enough on unions, how about them Lions? Wide Receiver number 4, big surprise. Funny that I was at camp and a cohort with a smartphone only had to shout over "When are you firing Millen?" for me to know that they drafted Calvin Johnson in the first round. Admittedly he is an outstanding athlete, but what good is a great WR without a Quarterback that can get the ball to him with an offensive line that can give the QB time to throw at all. Barry Sanders was an outstanding Running Back, but that still didn't get the Lions anywhere. The rest of the picks were okay although more offensive line would have helped and Drew Stanton is an interesting question mark especially with his past injury record. If there was a real o-line that wouldn't be an issue, but... I still have faith that they'll win at least one game. They are playing Green Bay on Thanksgiving so I can pray for victory that day.

Not much exciting is happening here beyond the occasional rant that I don't get time to write up for posting. Lots of work as usual. Evening meetings, expectations that I can miraculously recruit many new parents for leaders from folks I don't know, quality time at camp (always a plus) and a random trip to the outlet mall on the state line. I'll post again soon.

Until then, don't do anything I wouldn't do and if you do name it after me (thanks, Matt).