Family: State of the union

In general, our Daughter seems to be fussier than she did before our Son was born, still, becoming upset whenever she is required to to anything.  This may just be part of being a child, of course, but I rather doubt it.

Meanwhile our son's behavior has taken a more active stance lately, and he seems to want to feed practically every hour, which of course is heavy burden on my wife.  I don't know what I can do about it; perhaps there's some book that will shed some light on the subject.

I'm still for all practicality no closer to shoving off and moving the family onto a boat than at any time before, sadly.  However I have been using www.sparkpeople.com To successfully remind myself to keep the goal actively in mind, and I have begun to contact organizations to find out how I might actually learn to sail.  I'm sure a boat is hardly a place for two small children, but I'm equally or more certain that its been done before.

Besides, American society on the average is not really somewhere I long to be - no offense to any of my friends, who I do in fact enjoy being with.  I go into "the public" and, judging books by their covers, I don't see anyone with whom I'd like my children hanging out with - and that goes doubly so for public, private, and church schools.

{started this on the bus - haven't had a chance to completely finish it yet.  More to come...}

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Health: Better Eyesight

When I was a child, our parents told my older brother and I that we should eat our carrots because it would improve our vision.  He and I somehow wound up carrying this idea to the extreme view that eating carrots somehow bestowed a magical power to the eyes, going so far as to enable us with night vision.  So that night there we were, two small boys in a dark room, armed with fresh carrots, happily munching away to kickstart our new superpowers.

Yeah, that didn't work.

However carrots HAVE been proven to aid one's eyesight, that much is true as long as you understand that one carrot stick just isn't  going to do the trick.  But try this recipe, from the Encyclopedia, for a delicious vision tonic:

Wash but don't peel two medium carrots (if you can get differing varieties get one each of the Chanteney and Nantes types).  Juice these, and then wash-don't-peel and juice one small beet (eating the greens later).  Blend these together with a half cup of unwhipped cream, half a teaspoon vanilla and half a teaspoon maple syrup.

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Health: A grapefruit note

My wife has a habit acquired from her mother or grandmother: When eating a grapefruit she will peel it completely to the point where only the prime, juicy contents of each slice are left for heavenly consumption.  It really is the most delicious way to enjoy a grapefruit, made even better only by chilling the fruit prior to eating.

Prior to our marriage I would only eat grapefruit sliced in half, removing the contents of each slice with a grapefruit spoon.  This method takes a little less time, regardless of whether you use your knife to free the flesh from the bitter skin before diving in with the spoon or not.  On the other hand, it seems a bit messier and a little more wasteful as you're always left with but a little of the flesh stuck inside.

Both of these methods, however, fail to truly capture the benefits of this fruit in their entirety, because grapefruit have a layer of bioflavonoids such as hesperidin and rutin stored within the bitter white rind just under the outer skin.  These bioflavonoids help maintain the body's small blood capillaries, and set the body's "fat thermostat" a little higher, making them especially useful in chemically "burning off" excess stored fat.

A great way to capture these elements is to peel the grapefruit lightly, leaving as much rind on as possible, and sending it through a juicer.

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Health: Thyroid Notes

My mother-in-law takes thyroid medicine and any kind of doctor-prescribed drugs (or any drugs for that matter - they're all the same) makes me sick to think about it.  In a recent juice book that I'm reading, The Encyclopedia of Healing Juices, I've found a few notes about the thyroid:

Extended consumption of cabbage can deplete iodine within the body, which will weaken the thyroid gland.  Kelp can offset this iodine loss.

Cranberry juice may help an underactive thyroid, again because of the iodine levels in the berry.  Don't go buying Cran-whatever juice and expect miracles, though - processed juices usually contain added sugars, are often diluted with water and/or other juices, and have usually been pasteurized, which kills the nutritional value of the juice.

Radishes are amazing in their effects on the thyroid.  They contain a sulfur component called Raphanin that regulates the thyroid gland - it both speeds up and slows down its hormone production.  A *very small* amount of radish juice is well-recommended wherever a thyroid condition is concerned.

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Health: Juicing and Exercise

I started reading another juicing book that (apparently!) we've had in our possession for some time, called the Encyclopedia of Healing Juices, by John Heinerman.  I find it amazing that I've had it for quite some time now and never opened it up before, because despite having the word "encyclopedia" in the title, it's an incredibly interesting book to read.  It steps through a plethora of vegetables and fruits, listing the contents (vitamins & minerals) of each, telling what they're good for - and giving case examples occasionally, and describing how best to prepare each one.  I'm currently testing out the asparagus juice; it's supposed to keep your skin healthy and mine has been too dry for - well, ever since I can remember, regardless of whether or not I drink enough water.  I'm optimistic that it'll help, but then, I'm also ramping up on all other sorts of juicing, so it's not a controlled experiment.  In the future, I DO plan to get a vita-mix; I'm absolutely convinced those are the best blender-type juicers possible - I just haven't gotten one because they're so terribly expensive.  I should just go ahead and buy one as I'm sure I'd be happy with it.  There are some expensive purchases that make me feel really good months and years after I've bought them.  (Like my teapot; it's a zojirushi vacuum boiler/heater thing.  It was about $179 for a TEAPOT but it's been absolutely 100% worth it.)

I haven't done any bodyweight-only exercises for a while.  I did change things up a bit last night, though - my wife had brought down the mini-trampoline and put it in the basement for our daughter.  I remembered reading that bouncing on one of those is actually one of the best cardio exercises you can do, so I grabbed some handweights - some easy 2-pounders - and jumped through a large portion of a movie (Arthur and the Incredibles - thumbs up!).  It really did get the heartrate pumping FAST.  I'll keep this up, definitely. :)

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Family: My how they grow! Work: Cookies

It seems in general that the Daughter has become fussier since the Son was born.  She whines and cries when it's bed time, she complains when we have to leave the house - and complains when we have to go back home.  It's probably classic toddler reaction to a newborn, but it's so horribly OLD already.

Our son now fills the infant bathtub to a point where he can sit on his own (not that we let him) without falling over.  This is only weeks after his first bath.  If you want numbers, he's at 10.5 lbs, I believe, which is about 3 more than when he was born.  He fits rather nicely into the newborn outfit that was way too big just a couple of weeks ago, too.  No wonder they sleep so much - all that growing just wears them out!

We pushed our cookies application live just the other day.  It's actually just an update from a previous version, but it really does make a significant difference.  Feel free to send cookies around with www.bettycrockercookies.com - it's soft-launch for a few days so perhaps there'll be a bug or two, but it is publicly-accessible.

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Stressing Out

Well, stress got to me from all sides yesterday.  First off, I'm reading a couple of health books that have really opened my eyes to just how truly bad the food is that we eat, here.  And I'm not talking just Oversize Me here - it's about genetically modified foods, radiated foods, pesticide-laden foods, foods harvested too early and forced to ripen in storage via chemicals... Well, frankly that alone is enough to freak ME out. 

But then I came to the chapters about the medical industry, and how doctors and hospitals really don't exist to make people healthy, but only to treat the symptoms of their diseases.  Thus, they stay sick, continue buying medicines (DRUGS), and eventually die having given far too much money to the "health cartel".  This made me think of all the times I've been to the doctor. Most of the time, they've been USELESS: They use guilt and fear to convince patients they need such-and-such a test, and when the test is run it doesn't really tell the doctor anything they really needed to know. 

For example, ultrasounds.  Our son had two of them, and while I can see a little validation to give one time to prepare if the baby has a birth defect such as Downs Syndrome or a cleft palate, frankly, ultrasounds are POINTLESS and an easy way for the hospital to make a buck.  So what if they tell you how much the baby weighs or how long it is?  If one is a smart person and eats healthily, exercises moderately, and takes quality supplements, the odds of one's baby not being healthy are very low.  I gave in on the second ultrasound, for our son; it was done only about 2.5 weeks before he was born, and I absolutely regret it because it did, like I said, absolutely nothing to help him and everything to remove more money from our wallet.  Yay.

On top of all that, work was hectic-crazy yesterday with bugs popping up in the software, unexpectedly and at the last minute...

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Politics: A Response from Norm Coleman on Health Care

The government of America really upsets me.  If it weren't for the existence of Ron Paul, I'd probably be gone already.  I wrote to Norm Coleman, one of my Senators, complaining about how the federal government should not be involved in managing health care in this country.  This is something that according to the Constitution should be left to each individual state to manage.  The federal level shouldn't enter into the picture at all because it does not deal with inter-state commerce.

I've summarized what his letter says to me, and will post his response in full thereafter.

Summary:

Thank you for writing to me.  I feel your pain.

Yes, our health care system is screwed up.  The government should do something, but I believe individuals should own and manage their own health insurance.

Government programs are still needed, and through these, we will redistribute wealth from those who have to those who need.  The federal government will be in charge, mandating the states' actions in "fixing" health insurance plans. 

In essence, I am working to put the government in control of all your options, but you can choose from these options.


Original:

Thank you for contacting me regarding the rising cost of healthcare in our nation and how it has impacted you and your family. I strongly share your concerns and I agree every American should have access to affordable, quality healthcare.

I believe significant changes are needed to make our health care system work. It is important to recognize that some of the best medical innovations and breakthroughs in the world come out of the US . However, I believe it is unacceptable that nearly 47 million Americans currently lack health insurance and for those who have it, continue to struggle with healthcare costs. I believe the federal government has a role in helping all Americans gain access to affordable, quality health insurance. That said , I believe individuals should own and manage their own health insurance.

Government should continue to care for the neediest through Medicare, Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Programs. For the rest of us, government should provide a health insurance tax credit and help folks buy into quality, affordable private health insurance plans - plans you and your family can keep even if your job changes.  The federal government should give tools to states to create a one-stop-shop to help people understand all of their insurance options and make good choices for their families.  States should also be given incentives to reorganize the private insurance market to create efficiencies and make sure no one is turned away.  The goal should be coverage for all without creating another federal government bureaucracy. I am currently working on a proposal to reach this goal

Please know that I am committed to work towards a healthcare system that will be more affordable and accessible to all.

Thank you once again for contacting me. I cannot express how important it is for me to listen to and find solutions for Minnesota families and individuals. I am grateful for your advice and I look forward to hearing from you in the future on this important issue.

Sincerely,
Norm Coleman
United States Senate

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Ron Paul is the ONLY common sense candidate

Well, I see I missed my reminder to post this last night, but better late than never. I've gotten a couple of replies to my "Do you know who Ron Paul is" question on Facebook -- all NO's, which really surprised me. He's a Republican candidate who is taking the internet by storm. Any time I've watched a conversation between candidates, he is the ONLY one who answers the question asked, and he does it in a straightforward, easy-to-understand manner.

ANYWAY, two nights ago he was even on the Tonight Show. You just really have to watch this. I truly CANNOT understand why someone wouldn't like him.

From Wikipedia: Paul claims the most YouTube views of all presidential candidates, over 4.4 million, ^[147] and the most subscriptions of all candidates, having surpassed Barack Obama on May 20, 2007.

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Family: Baby Patterns

Things are coming together, pattern-like.  My wife feeds him and then goes to sleep first while I continue to hold him - he stays asleep pretty much as long as he's held.  Then, once either my son is hungry or my wife needs to feed him again (I forgot about that aspect), I bring him upstairs and we begin the sleepless night as usual, putting him in his crib when he's not eating.  We use a pacifier sometimes, too, and that helps, as long as it's the right size; we have some new ones that are just a little bit too big and he spits 'em right out!  heh.

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Politics: Stores becoming the new police?

http://consumerist.com/consumer/unlawful-detention/walmart-tries-to-steal-shoppers-baby-298694.php

That is the worst "security check" by a store I've heard of.

As I read these kinds of articles, I've come up with some ideas on "combating" stores that check receipts.

1. Chew the receipt as soon as the clerk hands it to you.  Not enough to make it illegible, but enough to make it so no one else wants to touch it.  This is kind of like licking the last piece of pizza.

2. Bring some packing tape and immediately laminate your receipt.  Hey, so they can't write on it, so what?  Any rules against that?

3. Um, tear it into a few pieces?  Enough that you could tape it back together if you need it.

4. STICKY GLUE on the back of the receipt!  Evil, hidden pre-revenge!  When done, fold the receipt back to back so you don't glue yourself.

5. Note what color marker is being used on the way in, and create a little Rembrandt with your receipt on the way out.

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Family: Daughterisms on swimming

The Daughter just loves to swim - although, don't most kids?  Some friends and neighbors of ours have lent our daughter the innertube-swimsuit that their youngest used to use.  It's an older style that looks like a tiny innnertube actually sewn into a child's swimsuit.  We've tried those modern ones that look more like a surfer's suit, but frankly they suck:  If they're too large, they ride up on the child.  With this one, it's difficult for it to actually be too large.

Currently the Daughter is fascinated with "swimming like Ariel" - specifically, swimming with me holding her (not in the tube), jumping out of the water as we move along (imagine a dolphin jumping through the air), and singing Ariel's trademark tune.  When she's not doing that, she's grabbing my nose and "stealing it" (still!) or pretending she's a crocodile.  Jumping from the side of the pool has kind of chilled out a little bit, but she's really INTO having me toss her into the air as far as possible.  It's good exercise for me, but having to catch her just before she hits the water so that she doesn't go under isn't the best thing for the back.

For the first time (this Wednesday) she actively wanted to go underwater, so I held her as she plugged her nose (that is, *whole face*) up and dunked her for a split second.  She grows up so quickly.

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Microsoft Word Sucks, part 8000

As if MS Word didn't suck enough, Microsoft went and changed all sorts of little details that makes it that much worse. I submit for the moment the self-indulgent MS Office logo that has now replaced the "File" menu:

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UT2004: So, progress delayed again...

I haven't been working on any UT2004 stuff for a little while now - mostly, you can blame BioShock for totally sucking me in and MAKING me play it.  Also, however, the family situation at home makes this LAN party a non-probability.  So, I haven't been driven by a deadline either.

Argh.

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Firefox: Plug-ins/Extensions I love

Before installing a lot of Plugins, I recommend FIRST installing MR Tech Local Install and restarting the browser. It will remove the 4-second delay in installing plugins/extensions.

Adblock: (Sweet; I rarely see ads any more. When it's installed you just right-click an ad, say "adblock this image" and put a wildcard * at the root of whatever ad server it's coming from. From then on, all ads from that server never show up.)

Add N Edit Cookies: just what it sounds like.

All-in-One Gestures: use the right-click to make symbols to do crap in Firefox. I really only use this for "Back" "Next" and "Minimize" but it's pretty nice.

All-in-One Sidebar: Me likey. Just get it.  It dumps all your downloads, bookmarks, and add-ons/extensions into the sidebar.  Keeps everything organized.  Plus, it gives a side area to stick buttons into.

CoolIris Previews: Shows you a preview of a site when you hover over a link to it (I've since turned on the feature that only shows the preview when I hold CTRL down as I roll over the link) I also use this to send links to people. I use it more than Google's Send By Gmail ability just because it's faster. I ALSO like CoolIris's ability to highlight a word, right-click it, and choose "CoolIris -> Search Dictionary, Images, Google, or Wikipedia. Nice.

dotCOMplete: You know that shortcut of typing a web address name and hitting CTRL+ENTER to automatically add the "www." and ".com"? Well, with this you can hit CTRL+ENTER 1,2, or 3 times to add the ".com", ".net", or ".org" instead.

DownloadHelper: Lets you save movies from YouTube and similar sites

DownThemAll!: An auto downloader

FoxFilter: Basically a nanny extension; if I try to hit a site with questionable stuff in the description, it asks me if I really want to go there.

Full Screen Homestar Runner . Oh, yeah.

FullerScreen: Just get it & hit F11.

Google Browser Sync

Google Toolbar for Firefox

IE View Lite: Right-click a page or link and request it to be opened in IE.

Image-Show-Hide: Click its button to toggle images on/off

Link Alert: Wow, I've come to just assume this is built in! It (almost always) shows a little icon next to the cursor whenever I point at a link, telling me whether it's off-site, or the type of link ( i.e. PDF, etc.)

MR Tech Local Install: Lots of little details can be tweaked with this.

Save Session: Saves the current tabs & auto-reopens them next time you start your browser. This is somewhat not necessary if you install Google Browser Sync

Tab Clicking Options: Lets you middle-click a tab to close it, or whatever the heck you want to do with tabs. Useful.

ToCyrillic : Transliterates English to Cyrillic: ???? ???????!

Web Developer: Install this one.

Yoono: Bookmark synchonization done RIGHT.  Plus, there's bookmark online sharing/ social bookmarking-suggestion, and an "add to BUZZ" feature that I finally figured out and LOVE.  It lets you create your own Digg-like "what's cool" feed.  There's no "signup" page - just download the extension & restart FF; it'll prompt you to create an account if you don't have one

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UT2004: Upcoming LAN party means upcoming progress

I'd like to invite a couple of friends over for one last LAN Party, considering now that Practice Target is home and especially since Winkyboy 2.0 is soon to be launched.  The time is right, y'know?

Thus, I intend at the very least to have ONS-SEA-DeepSix ready by September 10th or so.  Three weeks, thereabouts.  I doubt that I'll have the SeaBass ready by then, if ever, but we'll just see.  I might release it in an alpha state with simple speed and damage modifications to the sub and torpedoes.  At least that way it will get out in the world and not be mired to my hard drive.

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Thoughts: We gotta get out of this place

I really wish I lived in the Land of the Free.  I mean, I live in America, but we are really just slaves here ourselves - we just don't know or admit it.

I have a house for which I am a debt slave as long as I will ever live there.  It's easily the best house I've ever lived in and I will not-so-humbly admit that it's a fine house indeed. But like all those fancy cars that "rich folk" drive - well, at least the vast majority of them - I own this house as muc as they own their cars.  It is to admit that the bank which truly owns such things and we are but renters of the property.

I'd like to leave, but getting out of here seems difficult and intimidating. I'm currently favoring the dream of living on a sailboat, preferably one with a solar-powered motor for emergencies.  I don't suppose that solar power has quite reached the commercial stage of being able to power a boat motor, but I wish to be free of commerce and free of boundaries.

I suppose the first order of business however is to learn to sail. That will be difficult enough as I don't even know where to begin with that, either.  But it is a stepping stone on the path.

I dream about this because I imagine how delightful a life could be if my only responsibility would be to find fish enough for the family to eat for the day, much the like Mexican fisherman from the story in the Four Hour Work Week.  That story stands out quite well in my memory.  The basic point of it is that a vacationing businessman observes a fisherman in his work and suggests he embark on a corporate path to build a fishing company that would finance a life in which he could retire... to fish at his leisure.

More later.  Bus has arrived.

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Family: Enough with the Nose :)

So, the "I've got your nose" game continues to this day in full force at the same fun level for the Daughter.  Not so, for me, but at least she's happy.  In addition to just swallowing the captured nose,she also goes for the ears, and as I assume inspired by the Little Mermaid, the voice as well.  That's fairly creative of her.

There is also a bevy of new things to do with said captured body parts; she finds particular glee in squishing them, grinding them, and hiding them in some new place where "I'll never find them again."

Most of the time these escapades simply boil down to a tickle session for her, which I believe is what keeps them going so strongly.

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Games: Hilarity ensues for the Special Forces

Just now while playing TacticalOps 2.2 over our lunch hour, playing on the custom map I built that mirrors our current offices, SPAM was following me as I shot the window out and jumped up on the ledge, prepping myself to make the diagonal jump to the window-washer waiting one floor below and one office over.  SPAM, obviously, thought we were in the office DIRECTLY above the window-washer and followed through without stopping on the ledge like I did.

The most hilarious thing I've seen in months, I couldn't stop laughing even when Mr. Clutch came and riddled me full of bullets from behind.  Could NOT. STOP. LAUGHING.

Good times.

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Family: Friends: Long time no see

This past, wet weekend (it is STILL wet this Monday morning), the wife, daughter, and I met with a dear friend from my high school days.  We hadn't seen her for almost three years  - it's amazing how time really passes us right by. My friend is now headed off to Japan for a years' worth of work, so we won't be seeing her again for a while.  With all luck, we'll be able to see her again before she comes back, but money and babysitters will determine whether or not we can actually travel there or not.

S, I seriously will miss you; I've always found our chats so valuable to me.  Have fun in Japan!

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