The Blizzard of 2011, Part 2

The view from outside, before we started to clear the snow.

We are effectively snowbound, since the plows treat our street as third tier on the priorities.

The University is closed for the second day, which is pretty rare. Only "situationally critical" employees are in today, and they are mostly the snow removal crew.

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The Blizzard of 2011

The view from the living room.

... Or as one of the local radio announcer put it, it had better be; otherwise another is on its way.

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It's that time again! Arrrrrr!

Today is International Talk Like a Pirate Day (ITLPD) where we're all encouraged to talk like a pirate to whatever degree one's surroundings permit. I will be participating at our county's Heritage Days pretending to be a Lewis and Clark expedition member, so my opportunities will be limited.

The ITLPD website has a page on how to talk like a pirate in German, so I leave you with this:

"Eine steife Brise in den Segeln und immer eine Handbreit Wasser unter dem Kiel"

Most of the words are direct cognates of their English equivalent, so I won't bother translating.

---

I'm Still Around...

Just a quick update -- My surgery incision had been slow to close in one pesky spot where the toe meets the main part of the foot, but it is now closed. The problem of my 2nd metatarsal pushing down on a persistent blister seems to have been solved to where that lesion has all but closed over with normal skin.

Other than that, I have been pretty busy at work and rather tired when I get home, so I have had trouble motivating myself to update my blog on a regular basis.

I'll try to be a little more attentive to blogging....

Surgery Today

I report to Same Day Surgery late this morning for a 1:03pm session with my podiatrist. It should go well, and I will have some enforced leisure the remainder of the week and maybe into next week.

I think I will let them put me into la-la-land for this one. The nerve block will prevent any pain during the procedure, but I think I will pass on the sound effects this time around.

I may actually get a chance to do a little blogging this coming week.

Fighting a cold and other things....

Well, I was summoned by my physician a couple days ago to the clinic for a chest x-ray and an appointment a couple hours later. This x-ray was at 4:30pm, my appointment was at 6:30pm on Tuesday. I got there at 4:30, picked up the order and walked down the hall. While I was awaiting the X-ray guy I read the form. In the box marked "reason" there were two words: "Cough" and "SOB". I have been called SOB a time or two in my 56 years, but never by my doctor. After brief reflection I realized that it meant "shortness of breath".

The good news is that it is not pneumonia. I am on a 5 day course of azithromycin and a different kind of cough suppressant.

How did I get into this situation? Well, I was was over at the hospital that morning for a pre-op physical for surgery to reduce and straighten out a hammer-toe that is pressing down on the ball of my left foot and continuing to aggravate a blister that has never healed properly in a year and a half. The hope (no guarantee) is that this will relieve the pressure from on top and allow my foot to heal. The anaesthesiologist noted my cough and mentioned that if I were still coughing like that on May 5, they would reschedule.

Not only would most any other available day in the next two months be a problem, I really want to get fixed sooner rather than later. So I called my doctor's office and requested an appointment ASAP. The front desk said there were no openings for a week and a half, and I mentioned why time was of the essence. The front desk person sounded doubtful, but said she would talk to the nurse. About 3 hours later I got the call directly from the doctor.

Well that's probably too much information for some, and as soon as I hit "Publish" I'd better call my mother who is one of my two or three loyal readers.

Universal cellphone charger will ring the changes, say makers - CNN.com

Universal cellphone charger will ring the changes, say makers - CNN.com:

"BARCELONA, Spain (CNN) -- Cell phone makers Tuesday pledged to end one of modern life's chief frustrations --- and introduce a universal charger for handsets by 2012."

This is something that has been a pet peeve of mine, and I'm glad to see the industry take steps to mitigate it.

You There -- Out of the Jury Pool!

This week was my term of service on the circuit jury for my county. The last time I was liable for service I ended up serving on a jury -- two days of a trial for sexual abuse of a minor.

This time when I called in on Monday, jurors 1-152 were told to appear the next morning for jury duty. This seemed like an pretty high number just to get 12 jurors qualified. I went in, and it was pretty much "hurry up and wait". Well after the time that things should have been underway there seemed to be a flurry of activity in one of the side rooms, and after a while the presiding judge came out and addressed the jury pool with "good news and bad news".

The good news was that we would be going home for the day since the prosecutor had dropped the charges and would be refiling them probably within the day. In any case, this would no longer involve us. The judge then left without delivering the bad news.

The bailiff was able to get everyone's attention as they were putting on their coats and chattering away, and it fell to him to inform us that we still needed to call in every evening for the remainder of the week. That turned out to be good news in disguise, since no other jury trials were scheduled for this week.

So what was this all about? I read the local afternoon paper later Tuesday and learned that this was to have been a first degree murder trial resulting from a shooting that occurred in the past couple years. The judge in this case had ruled that the defense could raise issues related to a Missouri law that allows deadly force when there is a danger to one's own life or the lives of others. (This is a fairly recent law that makes it a little easier for such people as battered spouses or other abuse victims to take action when they feel immediately threatened. My personal take on self defense or defense of others is that my threshold for acting is set significantly higher than what the law apparently permits. )

So I breathed a sigh of relief. It is doubtful I would have been selected for this particular jury for a few reasons. First, the defense would probably not have wanted me since I spent three years as a reserve police officer in Colorado. The prosecution would have probably dismissed me since I am one of those knuckle-dragging neanderthals who believe the Second Amendment to the US Constitution can be understood in plain English to guarantee an individual right to keep and bear arms. I don't know whether this was to have been a death penalty case, but I am opposed on moral grounds to the death penalty, so that too would have disqualified me.

Having said all this, had the trial proceeded, and I were picked a a juror, I would have listened to both the prosecution and defence as they laid our their respective cases and I would have followed the instructions of the judge in my delberations and done my utmost to render a fair verdict. I'm just glad I didn't have to serve this time.

Update on The Cyber Hymnal

The Cyber Hymnal, which has been having problems with the hijacking of its old domain name, is back up in a new location. If this is a resource that you have grown to love and depend on, then go ahead and change your bookmarks and links.

I'm guessing that the domain name registration expired and before the good folks at The Cyber Hymnal could get the name re-registered, someone snapped it up and it now seems to be an advertising vehicle.

Where is the Cyber Hymnal?

[UPDATE - 12/27/2008]
MB noted in the comments that the Cyber Hymnal is back. It's certainly good to see this important resource available again.

I ordinarily go to cyberhymnal.org to look up the words to hymns, but that domain name seems to have been taken over by a company that offers vacations, insurance, online dating, and so on. I wonder if someone forgot to pay the registration for the name?

That would be too bad, since they have been around since the mid 1990s providing an excellent reference for those interested in hymns and their history.

Weather Stuff

My sister texted me last evening and told me that my parents in Houston had their power back following the storm surge from Hurricane Ike. I had been able to talk with them the day before on their cell phone, but they were pretty much in the dark and without air conditioning.

Someone needs to remind me -- how did we live before cell phones came on the scene?

We have not been without our hurricane-related issues in Columbia. This past week we dealt with a Pacific storm system working its way east, and then the remnants of Ike curled their way up through Missouri. Saturday we had (depending on who's counting) up to 8 inches of rain, and over the past two days, we have soaked up the average yearly rainfall for our area.

We ended up with water in the basement, and when we went to get the portable sump pump, we found that squirrels had gnawed through the wire about two feet from the plug. So with a Walmart replacement plug we picked up late in the evening, we got it going on the sunken patio where several inches of water had accumulated. A couple hours later (early Sunday), the Ike remnants veered to the east and left Columbia dealing with the aftermath. And we are dealing with the odor from the the downstairs carpets. All-in-all, a trivial annoyance compared with what people in the direct path of the hurricanes have to deal with.

Annual Observances

Three years ago (on August 12, 2005) I started this blog. This will be the 757th post over those three years. So much for trying to do one posting a day....

It has been fun, and I have made many new friends in a virtual sort of way as well as reforged connections with people I knew 25-30 years ago, who are also blogging. To me that has been the most rewarding aspect of blogging.

Today is also my birthday. Since I an a computer system administrator, I do a lot of work using base 16, so my age in that system is 38. Determining my age in base 10 is left as an exercise for the reader....

Don't click that headline, security researchers warn | News - Security - CNET News.com

Don't click that headline, security researchers warn | News - Security - CNET News.com:

"A flood of e-mails pretending to be from MSNBC contain links to malicious software, security companies warned Wednesday. ..."

These are similar to the "CNN Top Ten" emails that started last month and are still trickling in. One thing you can do to protect yourself is to do a mouseover on the linked URL and compare what the text says to what the URL really is. In Firefox and Inernet Explorer, the actual URL will appear on the bottom of the browser window.

These spammers are getting sneakier. They include actual links to such CNN or MSNBC pages as the privacy policy or the unsubscribe page, but redirect the story links to other locations.

Starbucks identifies stores slated for closure. - Jul. 18, 2008

Starbucks identifies stores slated for closure. - Jul. 18, 2008:

"NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Starbucks Corp. released a list Thursday of the 616 company-owned stores it will shutter by the first half of 2009.

The closures accompany planned layoffs of 12,000 workers. Starbucks currently operates 7,087 stores in the U.S.

Store closures, will affect about 8.7% of Starbucks (SBUX, Fortune 500) stores, in 44 states, with California losing the most outposts. The chain will close 88 stores in that state. ..."

Columbia gets off without a single closing, but the St Louis metropolitan area looks like it took the brunt.

A few Kansas City stores are going to close.

We just had two stores open in Columbia over the past couple years, so we feel like we're a part of the larger world around us. We were not barbarians, though -- my favorite coffee shop remains Lakota Coffee Company and I really don't feel the need to switch my loyalties, even if I spend an inordinate amount of time at the Barnes & Noble coffee shop (which serves Starbuck's)

What's Shakin'?

Well, that's a loaded question...

I am a light sleeper and tend to wake up for anything out of the ordinary. Early this morning it was several seconds of vibration in the bed.

I immediately thought "the dog needs her flea drops", but I quickly ruled that out as I didn't hear the jangle of the dog tags. Besides, the dog is not allowed on the bed....

How about cats? No cats on or beside the bed.

How about earthquake? Did the New Madrid Fault finally do its thing? By this time the vibration had ended and I decided to go back to sleep.

Upon waking at 6:00am, I did my usual morning things and ended up at my laptop where I checked the news.

It really was an earthquake, 5.4 magnitude, with an epicenter about 130 miles west east of St. Louis and felt up to 450 miles away. The time was 4:36AM. [oops -- 130 miles west of St. Louis would have been just about in our backyard!]

See "Illinois Earthquake Felt in Boone County" for additional information.

[Update] The US Geological Survey revised the earthquake's magnitude downward to 5.2.

All-in-all an interesting way to start off the day.

Blogger Implements delayed posting

Or not...

If the delayed posting worked, then this will have a time stamp of 5:00pm.

[UPDATE] Finally! Blogger has implemented delayed posting (you have to go to draft.blogger.com to try it out). This has been on my wish list for some time.

What President Am I?

I saw this over at The Kruse Kronicle. Mike is Eisenhower. So what was I to be?

Which Great US President Are You Most Like? created with QuizFarm.com

You scored as Theodore Roosevelt 26th President, in office from 1901-1909 Born: 1858 Died: 1919 Theodore Roosevelt 76% Abraham Lincoln 74% George Washington 62% Ronald Reagan 53% Thomas Jefferson 52% Franklin Roosevelt 52% Dwight Eisenhower 50% Lyndon Johnson 50% John Kennedy 48% Harry Truman 45% Woodrow Wilson 38%

Colorado police seek links in shootings - CNN.com

Colorado police seek links in shootings - CNN.com:

"COLORADO SPRINGS, Colorado (CNN) -- Police were searching a home near Englewood, Colorado, early Monday as they looked for clues in deadly attacks at religious institutions during the weekend.

The two shootings, the first at a Christian missionary center in Arvada and the second at a Colorado Springs megachurch, left a gunman and four victims dead and six wounded, authorities said.

Arvada Police Chief Don Wick said there is reason to believe the shootings are related."

News like this is horrifying at any time, let alone in a season where we eagerly anticipate the Prince of Peace.

An armed security guard ended the shooter's rampage, potentially saving many lives Sunday. Personally I am very conflicted about this. Armed guards at churches just don't quite seem right, yet the death toll could have been much higher if one were not present yesterday. The only thing we can do is leave it where it is -- in God's hands.

STLtoday - No charges in MySpace suicide case

STLtoday - No charges in MySpace suicide case:

"ST. CHARLES -- The St. Charles County prosecutor said this morning there will be no criminal charges filed in the case of the teenage girl who committed suicide after being bullied on the Internet.

County Prosecutor Jack Banas announced his decision at a news conference called to discuss the Megan Meier case. . Megan, 13, of Dardenne Prairie, hanged herself last year. Her parents said her suicide was the result of harassment via her My Space web page.

Her parents said an adult neighbor created a teenage boy who pretended to be interested in Megan before he began bullying her. The neighbors admitted to police that they created the account. ..."

I ordinarily don't weigh in on local or state controversies, but this is just over the top. For an adult to be involved in the cruelty just underscores the fact that there IS a dark side to the Internet, and we have seen it here in Missouri.

A new law in the Dardenne Prairie jurisdiction makes it a misdemeanor to engage in internet harassment. It may be a start, but it seems inadequate in this case. I suppose there will ultimately be an accounting for this, but it will be in a different jurisdiction....

Global cellphone penetration reaches 50 pct | Technology, Media & Telecommunications | Reuters.co.uk

Global cellphone penetration reaches 50 pct | Technology, Media & Telecommunications | Reuters.co.uk:

"HELSINKI, Nov 29 (Reuters) - Worldwide mobile telephone subscriptions reached 3.3 billion -- equivalent to half the global population -- on Thursday, 26 years after the first cellular network was launched, research firm Informa said.

Since the first Nordic Mobile Telephony (NMT) networks were switched on in 1981 in Saudi Arabia, Sweden and Norway, mobile phones have become the consumer electronics sector with the largest volume of sales in the world."

Hmmm. Good news? Bad news?

Of course, this does not mean that 50% of the population of the Earth has a cell phone. Some have more than one, or use a personal phone and a work phone. In fact, 59 countries have a penetration of over 100%, which means the average number of cellphones/user is greater than one.

Life has certainly changed on the past 25 years....