Musings of a Distractible MindMusings of a Distractible MindMix of personal musings, medical musings from a physician's perspective, and odd humor Articles
Farewell to Blogger
2006-11-13 17:23:00 My first post on this blog was on 5/21, so this is almost my 6-month anniversary. I am making the jump to WordPress due to my troubles with Blogg er Beta. There are also some cool features I can do on the new website - WordPress is much more customizable. As I say farewell to Blogger, I will take the opportunity to reflect on my experience in blogging. It has become a quite substantial part of my life and I have "met" quite a few very interesting people. Aside from the obsession I have had to fight, the experience has been wonderful. This is my 119th Post. Most of my posts have been, um, an outlet for my sillier side. I am glad everyone has enjoyed my humor - or at least you all have been quite polite. Here is a rundown of my oddities so far: 22 posts have been about animals 4 posts about beer 3 posts on random questions (hah, that makes 4) 5 posts on monkeys 4 on Pluto's demotion 4 on Stupid people Many posts (at least 10) on conspiracy theories... More About: Farewell , Logger , Fare
ONE MORE POST HERE
2006-11-13 16:42:00 Please, please, please re-direct any links to my new blog at http://distractiblemind.ambulatorycomputi ng.com. So far only 4 have done so. More About: Post , Here , More
Scandinavian shenanigans
2006-11-12 02:46:00 Minnesotans should be worried (Laundress, you can be worried too). There is big trouble afoot in Scan dinavia. People and animals are going nuts. Now, I know that Scandinavian s talk kind of funny, but they must really talk funny when they are drunk... Drunk Norwegian Breaks Into Prison OSLO, Norway - In a different kind of jail break, a very drunk young man surprised prison guards by breaking into their northern Norway jail. "You might say we were a bit perturbed to find this person on our turf," prison warden Geir Broen said on the state radio network NRK on Monday. Broen said the district prison in the Arctic town of Bodoe is rebuilding its outer fence, and that the man broke through a section of temporary fencing. The weak fence is of no help to real prisoners seeking a way out, since they are confined within the walls of the jail compound. The Norwegian, identified only as being in his 20s, was apparently was trying to find his way home after a Friday night party... More About: Dina , Nani , Shenanigans
Scylla and Charybdis
2006-11-08 15:02:00 "So, hon...what'll it be today.""What are your specials today?" "We just got a shipment of personal responsibility in. It's really healthy (not one bit of trans-fat) and real satisfying. There are some folks here who religiously have this one. Oh yes, and it's free of charge." "Sounds great. I'll...." "Hold on there, sugar! There is a catch to this one." "A catch?" "Yeah. You have to eat all of it. If you don't eat it all, then you have to pay $100, and it's a big plate! Plus you have to keep coming back every week and get it again or we charge you another $100." "$100??? How can you charge me for not eating it?" "It's our restaurant. Can't we do what we want?" "I guess so. What else is on the menu?" "Well, one of the standard American favorites is individual freedom." "Tell me about that." "Well, baby, you get to eat as much or as little of it as you want, and the taste...oh, honey, it is sweet!" "Sounds great! Ummm.... is there a catch?" "You guessed it, da... More About: Char
3 More Posts on this Site
2006-11-07 02:48:00 Please turn your links/bloglines to http://distractiblemind.ambulatorycomputi ng.com. Time is running out! Call now and you will get a set of Ginsu knives!! More About: Misc , Site , This , More , Posts
A Hideous Tail
2006-11-06 21:50:00 OK, since my last post was so serious, I will ease up a little. OK, a lot. I want to discuss the serious issue of Wedgies. From the Wikipedia: Wedgie - The wedgie is a joke maneuver or prank performed to humiliate someone. It is inflicted when an individual, or group of individuals, grab the underwear of the victim from behind and pull up, causing the underwear to wedge between the buttocks. A wedgie could also mean when a person's undergarments get folded up and 'ride up' between the buttocks, causing discomfort and annoyance. Can be caused by bad posture, awkward sitting or tight underpants such as thongs. I was not aware, but there is a lot to know about wedgies. The history of the wedgie from The Wedgie Page is as follows: Wedgies are a part of the anals of our history. Its a male domination and coming of age ritual. They date back to the Egyptians and have been represented in cave paintings, hieroglyphics and Aztec frescos. Philip of Macedon encouraged h... More About: Tail
Disgraced
2006-11-05 19:14:00 Many of you know I am a person of faith, specifically a Christian. While I don't hide the fact, I am not interested in blogging as a ploy to persuade anyone to my faith. Obviously if I believe it, I think it is true, but that is not the purpose of what I do here on this blog. I just try to be myself in whatever shape that takes. Recent events, however, prompt me to comment as a person of faith. Please be aware that this post is simply a statement of my perspective and not an attempt to convince anyone one way or the other. I am delighted at the variety of backgrounds of people who come and read this blog, and want to continue in this way. I have no intent on starting a religious debate; I just think it is important for me to share my perspective on a recent news item. Everyone has undoubtedly heard of the situation with the prominent pastor Ted Haggard and the allegations of using a homosexual prostitute and buying crystal meth. While these ... More About: Grace , Disgrace
5 Posts and Counting (Random Questions)
2006-11-04 18:42:00 I have decided that I will change my blog to http://distractiblemind.com - (it does re-direct temporarily to http://distractiblemind.ambulatorycomputi ng.com, but just ignore that). I will do posts on both sites for the next 5 posts, then make the change.Please re-direct your links to that site.Thanks SO MUCH for your support.Rob (Random Quest ions ) More About: Posts , Count
It's the end of the world as we know it (and I feel fine).
2006-11-03 20:04:00 There have been some more signs of the apocalypse. Yes, we have animals going wild - driving cars, harming people, flying at police cars, etc; but now we have people going nuts. Indians protest as police accuse infant of robbery Hundreds of people protested in a remote village in eastern India after police arrived to arrest a three-month-old boy for robbery, police and witnesses said on Friday. The infant's name was subsequently dropped from a list of people accused of robbing bus passengers last week, according to Sunit Kumar, senior police officer in the town of Muzzafarpur in the poor and lawless state of Bihar. "We will conduct an investigation to find out how this happened in the first place," Kumar told Reuters by telephone. Villagers were angered when a police team arrived with a list of accused, including the boy. "How could our little Praveen be named an accused?" said Shakila Devi, the child's mother. Kumar said the boy may have been named by the complainant... More About: World , The World , Know , Fine , End Of The World
Cool site
2006-11-02 14:59:00 Check out the Whitney music box. Really neat program - combining visual with musical. More About: Misc , Cool , Site
Scary Cows
2006-11-02 04:54:00 My last post spoke about hairpieces and heart attacks. Well, now let's talk about hairpieces and cows. There is trouble afoot in Ohio: State Fair Has A Cow About Bovine Hairpieces - Associated Press COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) -- Three livestock exhibitors at last year's Ohio State Fair have been disqualified for allegedly outfitting their Holstein cows with hairpieces. State Fair inspectors said the three glued or painted hair from another part of the animal or from another animal to create straighter backs on the cows and enhance their appearance in the show ring. Kreg Krebs and his brother Kenneth of Fredericksburg, and Scott Long of Clayton, Mich., could be required to forfeit all winnings, said Department of Agriculture spokeswoman Melanie Wilt. The winnings had been withheld by fair officials. Wilt said state inspectors at the fair discovered the fake hair when the cows were leaving the show ring on Aug. 10. The men have 30 days to request a hearing in which they c... More About: Animals , Scary , Cows
Wal-Mart Gets Something Right
2006-10-31 19:55:00 Much has been said negatively about Wal-Mart - and much if it is deserved. They have driven out competition through aggressive marketing tactics, etc. They have pretty much put an end to the "mom and pop" store. I also really hate that little smiley face that dances around and lowers prices. The most recent thing they have done, however, could have real big positive effects. Effective last month, they are charging only $4 for a long list of generic prescriptions. Our local Wal-Mart has begun doing this and the response has been huge. Patients are all wanting these generic medications if possible. Other pharmacies (like Kroger) have matched these prices. Overall, the savings to patients will be great, making more drugs affordable for more people. I have done my best to try to use medications from that list when possible. I am well aware that this is a ploy to get more people into their stores to buy other things - that is the same ploy many of the chain pharmacies ... More About: Medicine , Gets , Right
You are what you wear
2006-10-30 04:54:00 Halloween is coming. As a parent, this has caused great stress in the past. Figuring out what consumes to wear for the kids was a very time consuming task for us. My wife is very creative, and hence she wants to do a "good job" on the kids' costumes. This makes us very frantic just before Trick or Treating. Here are some sad stories about wearing abnormal things: Man in Chicken Suit Cries Foul Over Abuse To Steven Turnage, it was bad enough todress up in a chicken suit and stand alonga city street in 105-degree heat. Having passers-by shoot bottle rockets at him has him crying foul. "People don't take this costume seriously," said Turnage, who wears the suit to promote a fast-food restaurant. "They need to understand that there's a human underneath that suit. It's getting to the point where this is really a dangerous situation." One rocket nearly hit him in the eye and another burned part of his suit. Police have heard Turnage's complaints but haven't ... More About: Wear
At the Movies
2006-10-29 14:06:00 A friend of mine recommended I get the movie Danny Deckchair. We watched it last night and I have to say that I highly recommend it. It is a very nice romantic comedy from Australia with enough silliness to make it not just a "Chick Flick." Here are some other less-known movies that I would recommend: Mystery Men - With Ben Stiller. Very funny (and odd) movie about some non-mainstream superheroes. What's up Tiger Lilly? - by Woody Allen. This was one of his very first movies. He takes a cheesy Japanese movie and dubs it with a plot in English that has nothing to do with the original script. The main character is named "Phil Moscowitz" - a common Japanese name, and they are after the famous egg salad sandwich recipe. The Frisco Kid - with Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford. This gem is about a polish Rabbi who has to cross the US during the wild west days to bring a Torah to the San Francisco Jews. He meets up with a rough cowboy (Harrison Ford - well before Star Wars) who fee... More About: Movies , At The Movies , The Movie , The Movies
Should I Change?
2006-10-28 13:00:00 I have mentioned that I was getting frustrated with Blogger Beta and set up another blog site. Now I need to know from as many people as possible if I should make the change. The benefits of changing include:Getting away from the frustrations of Blogger Beta, although these have gotten some better over the past few weeks.More plug-ins and widgets on WordPress that are kind of fun (like the polls).The look and feel of the other site is different. I kind of like the full-screen rather than the limited width of Blogger.The disadvantages of changing are:I am just getting a regular flow of people here (Random Questions) and that will inevitably decrease when I change.Blogger has improved some already.Most of my readers are in Blogger as well, so profiles are more easily seen.Everyone would have to change their links.I may be changing just because I like to change and not because things are really that bad (I have a tendency of doing that).So I want to know if this is a good idea, OK ... More About: Change , Should , Chang , Chan
Questions about Random Questions
2006-10-26 22:00:00 I have recently noted (in my obsession with my stats) that I have been getting a ton of people coming to my blog via a Google search for the words "Random Quest ions " (because of a previous post entitled "Random Questions." Now I am not really sure why you would do such a search, but it has been very curious to me that this has gone on (From the Google search of "Random Questions"). I sent an e-mail to the folks at Sitemeter, and they said that I was #1 on the Google search for "Random Questions." When I looked, I had somehow slipped to 4th. So what I figure has happened is that the more people coming to my site via that search, the higher I go on the "Random Questions" Google search. This becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, as the ranking gives me more hits, and the hits give me a higher ranking. Being totally consumed by these stats, I figure it is a good thing to be high on the list for "Random Questions." That is why I am using the term "Random Questions" so frequently in ... More About: About
Publish or Perish
2006-10-26 12:49:00 In the academic world, this phrase refers to the need to be publishing articles in Journals to be able to keep one's job as a professor. Grant money often depends on a person's ability to be "productive" in their research and produce concrete results. There is even pressure to not just get "ordinary" results, but something "exciting," causing people to falsify those results to get the money and recognition they need. To some extent, I feel that way about blogging. I have been doing this for about 6 months now and have had modest success with some regular readers. But if I now have a fear that if I don't continue to put out regular blog entries, I will lose my readers. I find myself obsessing on the numbers of my site meters, hoping to pump them up by some wonderful new post (that is even at the back of my mind on this post). The funny thing is that I went for 44 years without ever blogging and did just fine. I did not know any of these people I now blog for and still don't... More About: Publish , Peri
Whatever You Say...
2006-10-25 00:16:00 From Monty Python's Life of Brian: Brian: 'Look, you've got it all wrong! You don't NEED to follow ME, you don't NEED to follow ANYBODY! You've got to think for yourselves! You're ALL individuals!' The Crowd (speaking in unison): 'Yes! We're all individuals!' Brian: 'You're all different!' The Crowd (in unison): 'Yes, we ARE all different!' Man in crowd: 'I'm not...' The Crowd: 'Shhh!' I think it is important to follow instructions, but there are two stories recently that highlight the extreme of this: Driver obeys navigation system, no matter what An 80-year-old German motorist obediently following his navigation system ignored a motorway "closed for construction" sign and crashed his Mercedes into a pile of sand further down the road, police said Monday. "The driver was following the orders from his navigation system and even though there was a sufficient number of warnings and barricades, he continued his journey into the construction site," a... More About: Ever
A Round by any other name is not so Grand...
2006-10-24 22:54:00 Yes, it is time for Grand Round s. Bob Coffield at Health Care Law Blog has done a bang-up job on GR with Grand Rounds 3.5: A visual Tour. The problem for me is, between reading this and Pediatric Grand Rounds, I don't have much time to see patients. Oh well, they can wait.... On a brighter note, once more there is nothing about monkeys in Grand Rounds. More About: Name
Grand Rounds, Jr.
2006-10-23 19:09:00 Get out of your Tree! Pediatric Grand Round s are now ripe and ready for your edification at The Wait And Wonder. Moreena highlights the scary parts of medicine - doctors who are clueless at times - but overall gives a very positive spin on our grand profession.I am happy to say that there are no posts about monkeys. At least there is one area where these evil critters have not taken over. More About: Rounds
Watch your head!
2006-10-21 18:41:00 I have previously written about falling dogs as a risk we all have to face in life, but I was unaware of other things that are falling and causing significant damage. The first story comes from Germany: German cottage destroyed by meteor Fri Oct 20, 10:28 AM ET A fire that destroyed a cottage near Bonn and injured a 77-year-old man was probably caused by a meteor and witnesses saw an arc of blazing light in the sky, German police said on Friday. Burkhard Rick, a spokesman for the police in Siegburg east of Bonn, said the fire gutted the cottage and badly burnt the man's hands and face in the incident on October 10. "We sought assistance from Bochum observatory and they noted that at that particular moment the earth was near a field of meteoroid splinter and it could be assumed that particles had entered the atmosphere," he said. "The particles usually don't reach the surface because they disintegrate in the atmosphere," he added. "But some can make it to the ground. We ... More About: Watch , Head
Wellness
2006-10-19 18:46:00 My older brother, who is an ecologist (a limnologist, to be specific), once told me that he was sick of hearing people talk about the "balance of nature." He went on to point out that the natural world is in a constant state of flux - anything but balanced. Scientists believe, for instance, that when trees came into existence, they caused nearly 95% of the species present at the time to go extinct. This is not to say that you should not be responsible with the natural world we live in (he is, after all, an ecologist), but it points out the fluid nature of things; the only constant is change in our temporal world. There is a school of thought in certain circles that embraces the idea of wellness much in the same way that certain naturalists embrace the balance of nature (see http://www.wellness.com/ and http://seekwellness.com ). Much of these ideas are put forth my more alternative practitioners (such as Andrew Weil, MD) in the guise of mainstream medicine. Wikiped... More About: Wellness , Ness , Well
You've got Questions? We've got Answers
2006-10-19 11:21:00 The Answers to our quiz from yesterday:The 100 Years War lasted 116 years.Panama hats are made in Ecuador.We get Catgut strings from Sheep and Horses.The Russians Celebrate the October Revolution in November.A Camel hair brush is made of Squirrel Fur.The Canary Islands are named after Dogs.King George IV's first name was Albert (very good, jmbree!)A Purple Finch is Crimson.Chinese Gooseberries are from New Zealand.The 30 Years War lasted....30 years.So how did you score? Grade yourself on the following scale:If you got 10 correct - Go away now! You are one of those people who really annoy me.If you got 8-9 correct - You are a friggen' genius and are clearly having your IQ lowered by reading this blog. Go read Clark Bartram's Blog... now there's a smart feller.If you got 5-7 correct - Stand up, jump up and down, spin around three times, and shout the words "Bowling Pin" at the top of your lungs.If you got 3-5 correct - Treat yourself to a bowl of Campbell's Chunky Soup. I... More About: Questions , Quest
Elementary, my dear blogees
2006-10-18 17:11:00 OK, here is a quick quiz I want you to take: Questions:1. How long did the Hundred Years War last?2. Which country makes Panama hats?3. From which animal do we get catgut?4. In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution? 5. What is a camel's hair brush made of? 6. The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal? 7. What was King George VI's first name? 8. What color is a purple finch? 9. Where are Chinese gooseberries from? 10. How long did the Thirty Years War last?Seems obvious? You would be shocked at how many people could not answer these questions correctly.I will post results tomorrow. More About: Menta , Gees , Element
Ground Rounds...er...Grand Rounds is up!
2006-10-18 00:18:00 Open wide!The Ever-entertaining Kim at Emergiblog, ER nurse extroardinarre, serves up a very full edition of ground rounds. The meat of the matter is that you should not grill me about the contents. Just flip on over to her website and dig in. If you don't you'll be in a pickle to ketchup with all of the content. Lettuce enjoy her wonderful job (although no one from the Mayo clinic had input).And you can get a cup of Joe while you are at it! More About: Ground , Grand , Round , Rounds
More Drunk Animals
2006-07-06 04:03:00 Tahoe bear swills beer with pizza snack 1 hour, 23 minutes ago A bear cub drew a crowd of spectators at a Lake Tahoe neighborhood as it munched on barbecue-chicken-and-jalapeno pizza in the back seat of a vintage red Buick convertible. It also apparently washed it down with a swig of a Jack Daniel's mixer, an Absolut vodka and tonic, and a beer taken from a cooler, the vehicle's owner said. About 30 people watched the cub lumber around a parking lot in upper KingburyGrade on Sunday before it homed in on the Buick and the spicy pizza on the floor. The bruin was unfazed by the car's horn the blew nonstop as the cub pressed the seat into the steering wheel. "The bear was loping along in the parking lot and then decides to get inside the car," said resident Jerry Patterson. "People were screaming at him, the horn was going off,but he was completely unaware. He did what he wanted to do and the people didn't matter."Go ... More About: Animals , Drunk , Anima , More |
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