Eyesight blues

For those who know me and have known me, I've had glasses for years and years and years. As a matter of fact, the only people to have known me without glasses were my parents my older brother and sister and my little sister, Suzanne. That's because I've had glasses since I was 5 years old. I still remember to this day the test that I had when I was preparing for school. It was at Columbia Elementary school in Kaysville, Utah. I was looking at cutouts of hands, you know the ones where people draw a line around their hand and you're asked to point the direction that the fingers are pointing. On the ground, there were some footprints and they led up to the hands. When they asked me to point, I couldn't see the hands, so they asked me to move up the footprints until I could see them. Well, to make a long story short, I ended up on the closest footprints and still couldn't see the hand. I think that was the 20/200 line or something.

The only reason I'm bringing this up is because, as I mentioned before, I got some new glasses and they didn't quite seem right. I told my doctor (my wife's boss) and he invited me back in. I went in and I looked on the 20/25 line and, although it was a bit fuzzy, I could see. He tweaked it a bit, asked me to look at the 20/20 line and I could see a few letters, but I couldn't see any of them clearly. I guess that's the best I'll get. My eyes suck!

The other red white and blue flag

I didn't think that I'd ever wear this flag.

My wife works at an optometrist and picked out some glasses for me and they have the logo on them. Oh well.

Askamony

If you're a member of the LDS church, you've heard of the Testimony. if you've been to BYU, you've heard of the Thankamony and the Loveamony, but I have a new one for you, the Askamony. This is where people get up and ask the Elders quorum to move them in front of the entire congregation.

What the...

You fill in the rest after you read this:

Sheriff: Woman Sat on Toilet for 2 Years
By ROXANA HEGEMAN – 20 hours ago

WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Authorities are considering charges in the bizarre case of a woman who stayed in her boyfriend's bathroom for two years, spending most of her time on the toilet — so that her body was stuck to the seat by the time the man finally called police.

It appeared the 35-year-old Ness City woman's skin had grown around the seat, said Ness County Sheriff Bryan Whipple. The woman initially refused emergency medical services but was finally convinced by responders and her boyfriend that she needed to be checked out at a hospital.

"We pried the toilet seat off with a pry bar and the seat went with her to the hospital," Whipple said. "The hospital removed it."

Whipple said investigators planned to present their report Wednesday to the county attorney, who will determine whether any charges should be filed against the boyfriend.

"She was not glued. She was not tied. She was just physically stuck by her body," Whipple said. "It is hard to imagine. ... I still have a hard time imagining it myself."

Police declined to release the couple's names, but the boyfriend, Kory McFarren, agreed to be interviewed Wednesday by The Associated Press. He identified his girlfriend as Pam Babcock.

McFarren, 36, told investigators he took Babcock food and water and asked her every day to come out of the bathroom.

"And her reply would be, 'Maybe tomorrow,'" Whipple said. "According to him, she did not want to leave the bathroom."

McFarren told the AP that he wasn't to blame, and that it was solely Babcock's choice to remain in the bathroom.

"She is an adult; she made her own decision. It was my fault I should have gotten help for her sooner; I admit that. But after a while, you kind of get used to it," McFarren said.

Although authorities said they think Babcock was in the bathroom for two years, McFarren said he wasn't certain how long she stayed there. He said she had a phobia about leaving the room because of childhood beatings.

"It just kind of happened one day. She went in and had been in there a little while, the next time it was a little longer. Then she got it in her head she was going to stay — like it was a safe place for her," McFarren said.

But McFarren said Babcock moved around in the bathroom during that time, bathed and changed into the clothes he brought her. He said they conversed and had an otherwise normal relationship — except that it all happened in the bathroom.

McFarren, who works at an antique store, said he has been taking care of Babcock for the 16 years they have lived together.

McFarren called police on Feb. 27 to report that "there was something wrong with his girlfriend," Whipple said.

Police found Babcock clothed and sitting on the toilet, her sweat pants down to her mid-thigh. She was "somewhat disoriented," and her legs looked as if they had atrophied, Whipple said.

"She said that she didn't need any help, that she was OK and did not want to leave," he said.

She was reported in fair condition at a hospital in Wichita, about 150 miles southeast of Ness City. Whipple said she refused to cooperate with medical providers or law enforcement investigators.

McFarren said that his girlfriend has an infection in her legs that has damaged her nerves, and that she has no feeling in her legs. She may wind up in a wheelchair, he said.

Authorities said they did not know whether she was mentally or physically disabled.

The case has been the buzz of Ness City, said James Ellis, a neighbor.

"I don't think anybody can make any sense out of it," he said.

Ellis said he had known the woman since she was a child but that he had not seen her for at least six years.

He said she had a tough childhood after her mother died at a young age and apparently was usually kept inside the house as she grew up. At one time the woman worked for a long-term care facility, he said, but he did not know what kind of work she did there.

"It really doesn't surprise me," Ellis said. "What surprises me is somebody wasn't called in a bit earlier."

Common Sense

I have to disagree with the website Obsolete Skills where it talks about common sense as an obsolete skill for the obvious reason. Those who have common sense tend to be better off than those who don't.

Local Politics

Yesterday we held city council elections for my city Warr Acres. I live in Ward 3 where you can see, if you visit the site today, that Phil Owens is the winner of our ward. Phil Owens is the eldest brother of one of my best friends growing up, David Owens. Something that's a bit funny about that is that my home owner's association, Wind Tree is in a lawsuit with Warr Acres and wants to resolve the situation. If I haven't mentioned it before, I'm the VP of the board for the association. We invited the incumbent, Walter Johnson and the other Ward 3 council member, Dean Johnson to the meeting. Dean Johnson returned our phone call to come and said he would come right off the bat. Walter Johnson, however, did not return our phone calls. Since I knew that Phil Owens was running for council and since he was a friend of the family, I called him up and invited him to our meeting. He said that he had heard about the meeting from Dean Johnson and that he had spokent to Walter Johnson about it and that Walter had said that he wasn't interested in going. I invited Phil and he said that he would come out.

The meeting was scheduled for last Wednesday (2/28) and we finally got a hold of Walter Johnson. He said (ready for this) that he was sick and couldn't come (yeah right). So Wednesday, I let everyone at the meeting know that when I invited Phil to the meeting, he had already told me that Walter wasn't coming. After that, everyone at the board meeting got behind Phil and in the end he won, but boy it was a close one. The final vote count was 136 votes to 132 votes. By the way, there are 4 members of the board of directors of Wind Tree.

Medicaid, a sign of what's to come with socialized medicine

I was watching Good Morning America (due to the fact that my wife likes the show) today and they were doing a piece on this little kid in New York who was dying from a heart condition. The condition (that I didn't pick the name up) has three different causes and there is a test that is administered by one single laboratory in the US. This laboratory had not applied "properly" for New York's medicaid program, however, and the kiddo couldn't get the test because, due to the paperwork hangups, New York wouldn't pay for it and his parents couldn't afford it. This was, according to GMA, due to the beurocracy in NY's medicaid program and according to NY due to the bureaucracy of the lab. Of course, since the media got into the picture, the problem has been solved, but my problem is that once this "holy" socialized medicine kicks in and this kind of crap becomes common place, will the media cover it or since it becomes common place will the media not care anymore?

New question for the Bethletard

To answer Clark’s question, as far as I know, no, there are no other physicists who read my blog. You are correct in noting the misnaming of my blog by calling it “a question for the physicists." I should have rightfully called it “a question for the physicist."

Before I get started I have a disclaimer. I just have to get these questions out before my head explodes and this is actually probably a lot easier to answer.

First question:

Does nuclear fusion in itself cause radioactive waste? My thoughts are that it doesn’t, but that it creates a great deal of radiation (e.g. the sun’s radiation).

Second question:

How much energy is required to cause fusion of lets say, hydrogen and what’s the marginal payoff (i.e. energy produced – energy used)? Is that marginal payoff greater than nuclear fission?

Third question:

How necessary is it to use nuclear fission in order to cause nuclear fusion? Is there any alternative to using fission, or is that what the particle accelerators are for?

A question to the physicists

If the big bang theory was the beginning of all, why scientists claim that the only producers of heavy metals are super massive stars?

I’m no physicist; however, I do have an interest in physics. I’ve learned recently that science shows that through supernovae from super massive stars, we get heavy metals (iron, lead, etc.). This is due to the extreme mass which creates enough gravitational force to continue fusion after the “fuel” (hydrogen and helium) is burned and contain the stars intact during the process since fusing heavier elements creates more energy therefore more outward force. Since scientists claim that the big bang created all, why is there no evidence, or debate for that matter as to why heavy metals didn’t exist before super massive stars could form and create those metals. Or even more so, why aren’t all the elements out there heavy metals? My question, though possibly flawed, is spawned from my recent knowledge and also from when I was in Junior High. At that time, I “learned” that the combined mass of the universe before the big bang was so compressed that it was as small as the period at the end of this sentence. If that’s the case why do they say that when this incredible “explosion” occurred that the only elements in existence after the big bang were “light” elements like helium and hydrogen? Am I crazy for asking that kind of question, or are they all wrong?

Mycoplasma Pneumoniae

Walking pneumonia (a.k.a. mycoplasma pneumonia or atypical pneumonia) is a term used to describe a mild case of pneumonia. It is a lung infection that is caused by the mycoplasma pneumoniae organism. Walking pneumonia is different from other types of pneumonia in that, even if untreated, walking pneumonia would not cause a person to be confined to a bed or require a hospital stay.

Yeah, that's what I have and that's what I've had for 6 weeks. Fun, eh?

Ricardo Montalban

Remember this Taco Bell commercial?


Fact:

The voice who does the end of the commercial is, in fact, Ricardo Montalban, not only the actor in the TV series, Fantasy Island and Kim Possible, but he was also this guy:

Don't recognize him? How about now?

Yeah, that's Khan, as in The wrath of Khan. Pretty funny if you ask me.

Yes...

I'm still sick. I've had a lingering cough that turned into a sore throat. I'm really really tired of it. I got put on Azithromiacin (sp? and I don't care to check it).

Today, we moved a family of elderly people. We went out of our ward boundaries and unloaded their house. This would have to be the first time I've been asked to move rocks. I won't go any further, but it was the worst move that I've ever been involved in.

I sure asked for it

Here's a pretty funny email conversation that my wife & I had today.
For those of you who don't know, we live in a condo association with monthly dues.

From me:

Alex,

Can you go pay the ho dues?

Thanks,

Ben

From Alex:

the Ho dues? since when do we owe anything to hos?

Executive Pay

I just looked at the sec.gov filing form supplemental to form 10-k called the "proxy statement". This venture brought me to an astounding discovery. The ceo of my company received in 2006 a complete compensation package of over $17 million. Too bad we don't get a free company party like all the other corporations out there on the gounds that it's wasteful spending.

Happy Birthday Alex

Alex, my wife puts up with a lot. I'm glad to report that she didn't have much to put up with this weekend. I'm glad that everything went relatively well for her birthday. The good news is that we were able to attend church and go to the doggie park today.

As you can tell, she's a bit sad today also. Always happens. I feel bad that I can't do more than love her. She's a really sweet woman and deserves better. I hope that she doesn't lose her good cheer. She means a lot to me. Well, 27 is now. Happy birthday love.

Farewell January and Hello Taxes

I just sent my tax return and it was pretty delicious. I'm looking forward to getting a few bills paid off (namely my wife's surgery which was a doozy). The good thing about tax returns is that they are money that has already been taxed and I was able to file with itemized deductions which helped our state taxes immensly.

The first month of the year is over, and I'm (believe it or not) joining a gym. We were able to get a sweet deal at work for about $14 a month which I'm paying for with part of my tax return. If you've heard of it, I joined "this city is going on a diet" and I'm on a goal to lose 85 or so pounds. I'm starting right now, so wish me luck.

Saturday Night bonus

I know that there's this crazy writers strike going on and most of you have probably seen Jay Leno and David Letterman since they've been back and strapped for content. What's funny is that if you stay up a bit later (which I have on occasion) you will see Conan O'Brien on the tube. Actually, I would say that the reason why I've been up late at all recently is because of my sickness that I've been dealing with. Anyway, Conan has gone as far as hooking up a zip line in his studio among other things to waste time (since he has nothing better to do). To get to the point, there's a game on his website that I thought you should check out. Enjoy!

just so you know..

what I was talking about yesterday. This is the commercial. I was at work when I posted which has youtube blocked (for obvious reasons).

Stupid Kia Commercial

Bet you didn't know that there's a no-fail way to know which side of the car the gas goes in. The next time you get into your car, look at the gas gauge. Notice that there's an arrow. Yeah, that arrow is pointing to the side of you should position your car when you fill up. That's why the Kia commercial about forgetting what side of the car the gas tank is on is stupid.

Funniest commercial ever!!

There are some commercials that are pretty funny. This is one of them.