Fearmongering abounds before and after the bailout vote, but the sky didn't fall. Any day that both Pelosi and Bush get punched in the face is a good one for me and for America. Even though the American people spoke up and resoundingly said NO and the congress (with an election 2 months away) ACTUALLY LISTENED TO THE PEOPLE and voted no!!! and the system worked (albeit briefly) we are still not out of the woods yet. The canditates both have their wet thumbs in the air trying to find out which way the wind is blowing. Keep on your congressperson, don't let them waiver. Don't listen to Chicken Little. The sky didn't fall.. (not yet anyway).
Check out this article (thanks Mark P.)
Bankruptcy, not bailout, is the right answer
"Talk of Armageddon, however, is ridiculous scare-mongering. If financial institutions cannot make productive loans, a profit opportunity exists for someone else. This might not happen instantly, but it will happen."
update: another great article...
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Meralgia Paresthetica
Meralgia Paresthetica - It's a new one for me too, unfortunately. It's caused by compression of the lateral femoral cutaneous nerve, as illustrated in the photo. (courtesy of Mayo Clinic website: http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/meralgia-paresthetica/DS00914)About 6 weeks ago I started having tingling down my right thigh. Then it progressed to burning pain, and now shooting/stabbing pain. It happens when I stand, after about 5-10 minutes. This has made working my 12 or 13 hour shifts pretty miserable.
Apparently this is a condition that occurs in pregnant people - if you did not or do not experience this with your pregnancy, thank your lucky stars. It also occurs w/obesity and diabetes.
I have been bounced around from a few doctors while I tried to get this figured out. Thankfully, Dr. Google helped me find the answer. I was then able to seek out a care giver who knew about the condition and knew how to help me with it.
I have found a chiropractor, Dr. Sellers at Performance Wellness here in Austin. By chance, his wife also had this condition during her pregnancy. He said that construction workers also tend to get it b/c of the weight of the belt on their hip, compressing the nerve.
I think my treatments are working, a little right now - but I've only been to 3 sessions. He has to sort of dig into my right side to alleviate the tension in my muscle groups. It's painful, but I think the treatments are working. I'm occasionally having less pain with therapy and with walking/standing. I can almost walk 2 blocks now - something I haven't been able to do for a while. Today was bad, though, couldn't stay in Walmart more than 15 minutes.
Wish me luck - I hope my progress continues and that my insurance coverage doesn't run out before then. For anyone who thinks the US health care system doesn't need to be reviewed, I disagree. I get all of $1500 coverage (+$200 deductible) which may cover 14 or 15 visits maximum. [I have 22 weeks of pregnancy left, so I sure hope things get better before the end. This is a debilitating condition and I'm hoping I can work until the end of my pregnancy.] And Jack and I have really good health care coverage - a lot of people don't. I was able to find someone and go to them if I wanted, not a lot of people have that option with PPO's or HMO's. So I count myself lucky in that respect, not so lucky to have gotten it in the first place.
Have I mentioned this is going to be an only child?
I just have to get this out...
I am so pissed about this bailout... $2333 from every man woman and child in this US to pay to fat cats, greedmongers, swindlers, and utterly utterly terrible businessmen. I for one can think of a few things I would like to do with that money. No.... we wont have a great depression without this money. This money only buys time (at a horrible cost) for an INEVITABLE market correction. They are using fear to extort money from us.... it is economic terrorism plain and simple. Spending within ones means needs to happen both on the micro and macro level. We havent spend within our means in this country on any level in decades. Did anyone honestly think at the national debt and horrible lending practices would never come back to bite us on the ass?
Mark my words, this is a turning point in American history. The egregious abuses of our government against its own people are reaching a boiling point. How long will we sit and take it? Can anyone honestly say that either party is working for the people anymore... without laughing? I used to think that the lesser of 2 evils was a way to go, but there comes a time when you have to open your eyes and say.. how about no evils? Can we try that our for a while? Our government is an artificial institution created by the people and can (and in my opinion should) be changed or removed by the people. We give them their authority, and we can take it back. The system is broken. No one in congress (except Ron Paul) is talking about NOT giving these guys a bailout. What choice do we honestly have when 7% of America supports the bailout, yet both Parties support it? What kind of democracy do we live in?
If you want to socailize the whole country..go ahead... I am fine with that, I could care less.. I guarantee you executives wouldnt get gazillion dollar salaries in that system, and there might be more oversight (more than zero) . What I cannot stand is everyone else paying for the failings of your business, but you just get to walk away with the cash in the good times.
Remember how Lehman Bros. didnt get bailed out and AIG did.. it was because Lehman Brothers was not deemed important enough to save... Essentially Lehman Brothers were penalized for being too little of a F*#k up!! AIG is rewarded for f*!#ing up so much they shake the foundations of the economy! We are truly in crazyland.
This wont help.. but I went to them anyway because there is nothing else I can do.
http://votenobailout.org/
"The very people who have spent the past several years assuring us that the economy is fundamentally sound, and who themselves foolishly cheered the extension of all these novel kinds of mortgages, are the ones who now claim to be the experts who will restore prosperity! Just how spectacularly wrong, how utterly without a clue, does someone have to be before his expert status is called into question?" -Ron Paul
Mark my words, this is a turning point in American history. The egregious abuses of our government against its own people are reaching a boiling point. How long will we sit and take it? Can anyone honestly say that either party is working for the people anymore... without laughing? I used to think that the lesser of 2 evils was a way to go, but there comes a time when you have to open your eyes and say.. how about no evils? Can we try that our for a while? Our government is an artificial institution created by the people and can (and in my opinion should) be changed or removed by the people. We give them their authority, and we can take it back. The system is broken. No one in congress (except Ron Paul) is talking about NOT giving these guys a bailout. What choice do we honestly have when 7% of America supports the bailout, yet both Parties support it? What kind of democracy do we live in?
If you want to socailize the whole country..go ahead... I am fine with that, I could care less.. I guarantee you executives wouldnt get gazillion dollar salaries in that system, and there might be more oversight (more than zero) . What I cannot stand is everyone else paying for the failings of your business, but you just get to walk away with the cash in the good times.
Remember how Lehman Bros. didnt get bailed out and AIG did.. it was because Lehman Brothers was not deemed important enough to save... Essentially Lehman Brothers were penalized for being too little of a F*#k up!! AIG is rewarded for f*!#ing up so much they shake the foundations of the economy! We are truly in crazyland.
This wont help.. but I went to them anyway because there is nothing else I can do.
http://votenobailout.org/
"The very people who have spent the past several years assuring us that the economy is fundamentally sound, and who themselves foolishly cheered the extension of all these novel kinds of mortgages, are the ones who now claim to be the experts who will restore prosperity! Just how spectacularly wrong, how utterly without a clue, does someone have to be before his expert status is called into question?" -Ron Paul
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
OK, nuf depressing posts. JK JB, It truly is something to be concerned about.
On with the Phoenix trip.
My friend from vet school, Gretchen, picked me up from the airport. I haven't seen her for over 3 years (since graduation) but we've been keeping in touch via Myspace. It was great to see her again. First thing we did was head to the Phoenix Zoo (the conference wasn't until the next day - don't worry, I wasn't skipping class....that comes later).
Here we are in a Meerkat observation cave.
We weren't sure what was up with this dude, but were fairly certain this is an abnormal growth on its chin....
On with the Phoenix trip.
My friend from vet school, Gretchen, picked me up from the airport. I haven't seen her for over 3 years (since graduation) but we've been keeping in touch via Myspace. It was great to see her again. First thing we did was head to the Phoenix Zoo (the conference wasn't until the next day - don't worry, I wasn't skipping class....that comes later).
Here we are in a Meerkat observation cave.
We weren't sure what was up with this dude, but were fairly certain this is an abnormal growth on its chin....
Had to get this picture with some really big long horns!
Then we killed Thursday at the conference. Thurs night they had a nice dinner reception for us and we found Cathy, amongst other vet school friends, and sat down to catch up. We spent hours telling job stories - sometimes hilarious, other times horrifying...
My new favorite phrase, which I have to get started using, came from Cathy that night....."Shut the Front door!"...instead of shut the f**k up. Apparently some language curbing has had to be done in the recent past. HA!
Friday afternoon we skipped class - naughty naughty - and went to see the Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright's winter home in Arizona. It was pretty cool but the tour guide was rather long-winded and loved to repeat herself. She also was pretty apparently IN love with Mr. Wright. She kept saying things like "he designs"...wrong tense, yeah? I THINK she new he'd passed away - she did mention it. Among other things she mentioned that it was his "desert masterpiece" a few times, that he "never paid his bills" and that pretty much everything from aerial photos to football stadium seating, to countertops, could be attributed to FL Wright's designs. May be a little exaggeration? Hmm, perhaps? 
I had a great time on the trip - went to see good talks during the day and catching up with friends at night.
I miss you guys!!
Saturday, September 20, 2008
While the Rx is away.. the Jack will... talk about sad boring shows on PBS
For the first time ever I am recommending not watching Bill Moyers this week. Not because the quality of the show is going down, it still remains top notch, but because I am now in a deep depression after hearing the true story on why we have these financial woes and what real economists (both candidates, Bernanke, Paulson, and anyone else trying to sell you something are excluded from this category by the way) say is in store for the future of America (short term and long term). I will spare you the details, go ahead, have a nice weekend, have fun, take a walk or hike, bake a cake, plant a tulip bulb, hug your loved ones. . . just don't watch Bill Moyers unless you want to be sad the rest of the week... maybe longer.
Update: Because I am so depressed (partially because my wonderful wife is away on business) I will not totally spare you the details.. here are some short quotes... Misery loves company...
GRETCHEN MORGENSON: The ugly thing about this is this is privatizing gains and socializing losses. So when things are going well, the managements make out, the shareholders make out, the counterparties are fine. All the private sector people do well. But when something goes wrong, when decisions are made that turn out to be bad decisions, the U.S. taxpayer has to take on the problem.
And there's something very wrong about that. Because all of those people that made all that money are running off here into the distance with the money, carrying it in their bags. And the United States taxpayer is on the hook.
KEVIN PHILLIPS: And I think what we're seeing with the actions of the Federal Reserve Board is the people who are the arsonists, the people who pumped it all up, who blew up the bubble are now racing to show up in firemen's hats and say, "We're gonna solve it. We're gonna take care of all this. Oh, and by the way, we're gonna keep pumping in the gasoline that we pumped in before that made a good flame." But, you know, nobody knows that.
Update: Because I am so depressed (partially because my wonderful wife is away on business) I will not totally spare you the details.. here are some short quotes... Misery loves company...
GRETCHEN MORGENSON: The ugly thing about this is this is privatizing gains and socializing losses. So when things are going well, the managements make out, the shareholders make out, the counterparties are fine. All the private sector people do well. But when something goes wrong, when decisions are made that turn out to be bad decisions, the U.S. taxpayer has to take on the problem.
And there's something very wrong about that. Because all of those people that made all that money are running off here into the distance with the money, carrying it in their bags. And the United States taxpayer is on the hook.
KEVIN PHILLIPS: And I think what we're seeing with the actions of the Federal Reserve Board is the people who are the arsonists, the people who pumped it all up, who blew up the bubble are now racing to show up in firemen's hats and say, "We're gonna solve it. We're gonna take care of all this. Oh, and by the way, we're gonna keep pumping in the gasoline that we pumped in before that made a good flame." But, you know, nobody knows that.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
My Parents are in town... we did some fun stuff.. Ikea, Rudy's BBQ, walkin Lou in the park by the new house, and campus touring. Rx is away at a conference and has the camera so no pics. As I suspected, my mom totally loved Ikea and now wants to come back to Austin to visit Ikea (and maybe us too if there is time). Unfortunately there are so few stores in the US, Austin is lucky to have one. For my parents in MO the nearest one is 6 hours away in Chicago or 7 hrs in the twin cities or 11 hours to Dallas. Its Ridiculous. For more on how awesome Ikea is check out this post.
Monday, September 15, 2008
Hurricane update.. and rant...
I get bored when Rx works overnights... 
Mmmmmmmm...
Anyway...
Hurricane update: After a 100% chance of rain was predicted for Austin for Saturday we got a total of 0.00 inches. Although I am certainly thankful we dodged a bullet that affected millions in this state, I just cant get over those weathermen clowns. Evidently they don't know the meaning of 100%. They did the same thing a week ago when a front came through, and we saw a total of 0.000 inches. That seems to me to be the definition of incompetence. There is no recourse for them either.. How bad can they screw up and still keep their jobs? If they played reruns from last year's weather for a month would anyone notice? It would seem to me that making 2 100% predictions in 2 weeks and having them totally be 100% wrong would warrant firing.
Since they have shown that a coin flip can do as well or better than them at weather prediction, I have resorted to just looking at maps and determining what will happen myself. I use weather underground. It is a more manageable site than weather.com. Thank you and good day.
Mmmmmmmm...Anyway...
Hurricane update: After a 100% chance of rain was predicted for Austin for Saturday we got a total of 0.00 inches. Although I am certainly thankful we dodged a bullet that affected millions in this state, I just cant get over those weathermen clowns. Evidently they don't know the meaning of 100%. They did the same thing a week ago when a front came through, and we saw a total of 0.000 inches. That seems to me to be the definition of incompetence. There is no recourse for them either.. How bad can they screw up and still keep their jobs? If they played reruns from last year's weather for a month would anyone notice? It would seem to me that making 2 100% predictions in 2 weeks and having them totally be 100% wrong would warrant firing.
Since they have shown that a coin flip can do as well or better than them at weather prediction, I have resorted to just looking at maps and determining what will happen myself. I use weather underground. It is a more manageable site than weather.com. Thank you and good day.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
what's lou begging for this time???
Scroll down to find out....
We tried out the Church's chicken just up the road tonight... MMmmmm.Friday, September 12, 2008
Surprise care packages
Yesterday the doorbell rang and I found that the UPS delivery person had left a package on my door step.....
I didn't realize how chunky Prissy has gotten! Look at her face, like "what?!, me?"
Oh well, we can be fat together! I'm now almost 17 weeks (just finished month 4) and I'm starting to definitely show!
I look fatter in this picture (i hope) :) i debated a while deciding whether or not to put it up. Oh well, have to get used to fat pictures soon enough. Anyway, there's the bump. Now I get to start waddling - yay!!
To my pleasant surprise , Bonnie had sent me the cutest little onsies!! I love this "freshly squeezed" one...that's hilaaarious!
Apparently Bonnie would also like to see this little one be a Wisconsinite yet, because she included our Bucky Badger in the mix.....GOOOOoooBadgers!
I have no idea why the picture is sideways - sorry about that.
In addition to that care package... Jack's Aunt, Sister Joan Kottenstette, has decided to send us a little package on a weekly basis of poems, readings, and things she has come upon over the years. It is such a sweet and thoughtful thing for her to do, and I enjoy getting her notes - they're very fun to read and reflect upon.....
of course Priscilla wasted no time hopping into the emptied box.....
I didn't realize how chunky Prissy has gotten! Look at her face, like "what?!, me?"
Oh well, we can be fat together! I'm now almost 17 weeks (just finished month 4) and I'm starting to definitely show!
I look fatter in this picture (i hope) :) i debated a while deciding whether or not to put it up. Oh well, have to get used to fat pictures soon enough. Anyway, there's the bump. Now I get to start waddling - yay!!Thursday, September 11, 2008
Sunday, September 7, 2008
Friday, September 5, 2008
Lou
Louie is doing this new thing (well not all that new) where he likes to play with his toys exclusively on his back. Check this out to see what I mean:
Thursday, September 4, 2008
foxs news
I watched both acceptance speeches (I regret wasting my time doing so by the way). I didnt really care about the speeches though, at the end I was just curious to see just how 1 sided fox news is. Immediately (seriously not 2 minutes) after Obama's speech, a Texas congressman was on with a "rebuttal" or "the other side of the story" as the newscaster said. He said that Obama did a good job of "reading from the little screen there" but it was all rhetoric. I am currently writing this 15 minutes after McCain's speech... I will let my readers guess what happened:
either a) they quickly cut fairly and balancedly to a democratic rebuttal of McCain's speech, or b) they watched the balloon drop for 15 minutes then had a commercial break.. then kept rolling until another commercial break... the whole time spouting"commentary" that would make Joseph Goebbels blush.
Update: Apparently I am not the first to point out the different standards at fox news... I thought I was on to something...
Hint: Its B
either a) they quickly cut fairly and balancedly to a democratic rebuttal of McCain's speech, or b) they watched the balloon drop for 15 minutes then had a commercial break.. then kept rolling until another commercial break... the whole time spouting"commentary" that would make Joseph Goebbels blush.
Update: Apparently I am not the first to point out the different standards at fox news... I thought I was on to something...
Hint: Its B
It took P diddy to tell me the truth!
I didn't know it was this bad....gas prices are even affecting P diddy!! Is this the endtimes? Watch this "blog # 12 post" if you dare....This guy is the embodiment of megalomania.
(warning: contains F word... and atrocious grammar)
Based on this insightful, empathetic "blog" I would recommend that everyone go back and watch posts 1-11 and see if you can resist being sucked in by the gravitational pull of P. Diddy's ego.
(warning: contains F word... and atrocious grammar)
Based on this insightful, empathetic "blog" I would recommend that everyone go back and watch posts 1-11 and see if you can resist being sucked in by the gravitational pull of P. Diddy's ego.
Monday, September 1, 2008
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