Happy birthday to me

Well, another year has gone by, and I've reached the ripe old age of 41. It's been an interesting year with some good stuff and some bad stuff. So, in general, a normal year. I was going to take today off work but then ended up with last minute travel plans, so I'm taking all of next week off instead.

I was talking to my mother and aunt about their trip to Vail next week and they kept saying they wanted me to go, and I realized that I really wanted to go. So, I am. I leave tomorrow afternoon and come back the following Saturday. I used to spend a week in Vail with my aunt almost every summer when I was younger. It's been years since I've been there and I'm excited to be going. Plus, this is the first time I'll have spent any time alone together with my mother and aunt as an adult, and that should be interesting. We've always gotten along well and I think it will be nice finally spending time together as adults. I don't know what's planned, if anything, but I'm really looking forward to the trip.

I don't know what's planned for tonight. Maybe dinner out, maybe some gifts. No matter what, I'm sure it'll be enjoyable.

Since so many other people seem to post what happened in history on their birthday, I'll do the same

• 1806 - The Holy Roman Empire went out of existence as Emperor Francis I abdicated.
• 1911 - Lucille Ball was born.
• 1914 - Serbia declares war on Germany; Austria declares war on Russia.
• 1945 - Hiroshima is bombed, killing 66,000 people instantly.
• 1968 - I was born.
  

Not a real auspicious day. An empire collapses, World War I begins, the first atomic bomb dropped on a city... At least Lucille Ball is in there to break up the bad stuff.

Great essay on marriage equlity

There's a very good essay in the WSJ written by one of the attorneys pushing to overturn California's prop 8 at the federal level. He makes some very good points, and takes on some of the anti-gay arguments that aren't, and have never been, valid.

By contrast, there is no legitimate state policy underlying Proposition 8. The occasional suggestion that marriages between people of different sexes may somehow be threatened by marriages of people of the same sex does not withstand discussion. It is difficult to the point of impossibility to envision two love-struck heterosexuals contemplating marriage to decide against it because gays and lesbians also have the right to marry; it is equally hard to envision a couple whose marriage is troubled basing the decision of whether to divorce on whether their gay neighbors are married or living in a domestic partnership.

If we were prepared to consign minority rights to a majority vote, there would be no need for a constitution.

It's worth a read and the entire essay can be seen here.

No comment needed

Overheard in the lunchroom

"I don't blog because my time and opinions are too valuable to give out for free. Once someone starts paying me to do it, then I'll start blogging."

I never knew undergraduate interns were in such high demand.

The dangers of walking while texting

It really was only a matter of time before we heard stories like this. I see people walking and typing on their phones all the time. Here in Seattle, walking and texting is nothing; I see people driving and texting, riding motorcycles and texting, and riding bikes and texting. This girl was lucky that she wasn't seriously injured, but I'm sure that's already happened somewhere else, and will happen again. People seem to forget how much concentration it takes to type a reply to a message. They seem to think their brains can easily handle doing multiple things at once when most people can barely handle doing one simple thing at a time.

I admit that I'm guilty of using my phone while doing other things. However, I do make a conscious effort to pay attention to what I'm doing when I'm walking, crossing the street, etc. If I'm walking and need to reply I simply step aside and type.

United Breaks Guitars

Like most people who fly coach, I've not enjoyed the whole flying experience for a long time. I avoid flying and see it only as a necessary evil. I've had some OK flights and encountered some employees who tried to make the experience very nice, but anymore most airlines are just airborne buses. Flying used to be a lot more enjoyable, but it's just not a pleasant experience. The lines for "security" are often ridiculously long, the flights are crowded, and then the airlines leave no leg room between the seats. Beyond that most of the employees are less than customer-service focused. They act as if the passengers are an inconvenience as opposed to the reason their jobs exist. One thing that baffles me is why the employees of the airlines don't at least try to make the experience better for their customers. I understand that the airlines are screwing them over in many ways, but I would think that the employees still need their jobs; if they didn't they wouldn't be there. But, it seems to me that if they piss off enough customers and drive their employer into bankruptcy, or out of business, that they'll lose their jobs. It seems that it's in their best interest to treat the customers better. Yet, somehow they don't.

Anyone who has traveled by air much has his/her horror story, but rarely can we do much about it. The band who made this video, Sons Of Maxwell, is an exception. They weren't happy that the United ground crew was throwing their guitars on the tarmac, or that when they complained they were basically ignored. After getting no resolve from United the lead singer, Dave Carrol, decided to write three songs about his experience and United, this being the first of them, and so he did. You can read the full story behind the song here.



Beyond the lack of customer service that companies like United display, I don't understand why these companies still don't seem to realize that their bad reputation can be very quickly spread on the internets. One disgruntled person can spread his story to thousands of people overnight, and that does have a direct affect on who does and doesn't frequent a business. That direct affect on the business can eventually affect the jobs of the people who are pissing off the customers in the first place. But then again, how could I expect a group of people like airline employees who treat customers like crap to comprehend higher-level thinking such as that?

The new meaning of "economic stimulus"

Just when I think the crazy can't get any more crazy, we reach new lows. And, not surprisingly, it's from the state in which I was born and raised: Oklahoma (no jokes please).

Sally Kern, the anti-everything that's not white, straight, and christian Representative nut job from OK, has decided that the current economic woes in the US are due to our "greater moral crisis". Because we promote "abortion, pornography, same sex marriage, sex trafficking, divorce, illegitimate births, child abuse, and many other forms of debauchery" and Obama didn't recognize National Prayer Day, it's everyone else's fault that the countries economy is in the toilet. I guess all that fornicating is what has led us to this point.

I guess it doesn't matter that republicans are the ones lately being caught with their pants down. Nor does it matter that the current economic problems began under the leader of the compassionate conservative movement, GW Bush.

You can read much more about it on Jonathan Turley's blog. It's really sad that as the conservative movement melts down due to their actions, they continue to look for anyone other than themselves to blame for their failed policies. Sally Kern is a walking joke and it's really pathetic that she's in such a position of power.

Heterosexual privilege

A group of straight identified students at Earlham College put together a list of what they see as straight privilege in their daily lives. In other words, as straight men and women go through their day, what things do they take for granted that gay men and women cannot assume to happen, or ever count on happening? The list is based on an article written by Peggy McIntosh regarding white privilege. It's an interesting list, seeing things straight people can simply take for granted but gay men and women may not ever enjoy in their lifetime.

I won't re-type the entire list but to give an idea, the first three items are:

I can be pretty sure that my roomate, hallmates and classmates will be comfortable with my sexual orientation.

If I pick up a magazine, watch TV, or play music, I can be certain my sexual orientation will be represented.

When I talk about my heterosexuality (such as in a joke or talking about my relationships), I will not be accused of pushing my sexual orientation onto others.

You can see the entire list here.

I would suggest that homophobes who scream about gays getting equal rights means that they get special rights should sit down and read through that list. Of course none will because it helps destroy their argument.

Gay marriage debate flow chart

That about sums it up. Click the image for the full-size version.

Radioactive Kitty

We had a little scare recently with our oldest cat, Truman. He's about 12 years old, which isn't really ancient in cat terms. He's been losing weight over the last several months and we just assumed it was old age. But, he kept getting skinnier and skinnier, and then we found a lump on his shoulder. So, I schlepped him to the vet worried that he had a big problem.

As it turns out, the lump was nothing other than a little spot under his skin. But, the weight loss was a concern. The vet was able to visibly diagnose hyperthyroidism and then confirmed the diagnosis with blood work. She was pretty convinced we had caught it in time and that with treatment Truman would be OK.

The treatment is what turned Truman into radioactive kitty. As in humans, the treatment is an injection with ¹³¹I, a radioactive iodine isotope. We dropped him off on Thursday and they had to keep him until Saturday, when his radiation levels fell below a state-mandated level. In reality the amount of radiation is not enough to harm anyone, but they want to limit the lifetime exposure in humans and don't want to add to the total too much.

In any event, the iodine is supposed to shrink the malformed tissue in his thyroid which means the good tissue can take over the function again. According to our vet and the vet who did the treatment, he should respond well. They both seemed to think that he was a great candidate. If/when responds he should put back on some weight and have a lot more energy. I'm hopeful that he'll respond. We should see some changes pretty quickly.

As for the radioactivity, we have to make sure we flush his litter for the next two weeks, or store it for 80 days. We're definitely going to flush it since I have no desire to keep a collection of kitty roca for 80 days until we can safely dispose of it. We're also not supposed to spend more than an hour a day of physical contact with him for the next two weeks. I've not checked yet to see if he glows in the dark. That would be a nice bonus if he did...