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August 27, 2003
Ouch... that's gonna leave a mark
Ouch... that's gonna leave a mark...
Yikes. Seriously. That had to hurt.
While using a drill above his head on Aug. 15, the six-foot
ladder he was standing on started to wobble, Hunt's nephew Ben Hunt
said. "The ladder started to 'walk' on him," Ben said. "He lost his
balance and threw the drill down - which is normal for us (construction workers)."
Then, he fell off the ladder face-first and onto the drill, which went
through his right eye and out his skull, just above his right ear.
According to Ben, doctors told him the drill pushed his brain aside,
rather than impaling it, which could have caused further - and most
likely vastly more extensive - damage.
Sometimes I feel bad that I sit at a computer all day and don't
do something more "active" like construction, working outdoors, using
my (non-existant) muscles... but then I read this and I think - eh -
this probably wouldn't happen to me in the office at my desk. Even with two computers on my desk -- living on the edge! Sheesh.
Amazing sometimes what humans survive. Hope the fellow gets away with
lost eyesight in the eye and some facial nerve damage. NO INSURANCE.
That's gonna leave a mark for sure... in his wallet.
Posted by gcrgcr at 11:02 PM | Comments (0)
August 21, 2003
Motivation... AJ starts kindergarten
AJ starts kindergarten on Monday. Tonight we went to an open house at the school so teh kids could find out what class they had, which friends they had in class, and meet their teachers.
AJ's teacher is Mrs. Donahoo (Don - A - Who). His two good buddies, Sam and Nicholas ended up all in the same class with eachother. There were no guarantees or ways to request this, so it just happened. This can be a good thing or not.
I remember when I went to college up at CSU. My best friend Kit and I
purposely set out to ensure we would not be in the same dorm. Part of
new experiences is getting outside you comfort zone. That is how we
grow. But, this is kindergarten - so I suppose I'll give the kid a
break. It will obviously be a new enough experience over all that
having his buddies there is probably going to add some stability during the new experience.
AJ is a great kid. The great thing about AJ, is he's really friendly.
No matter where we go, whether its a park we've never been to, a store
somewhere in a different state - AJ always makes friends. He asks kids
their names, do they want to play, etc. I'm sure he will do really
well.
We got home from open house and get this, AJ is very upset that he can
not go to school until Monday. I suppose that may change someday, but
for now I'll take it as a good trend.
Posted by gcrgcr at 9:01 PM | Comments (0)
August 20, 2003
Motivation... I've ramped the running...
I've ramped the running up as of late. I'd gotten a bit busy, and was only running 3 mile sets maybe twice a week, but over the past few months I've gotten up to 6 or 8 mile loops at least three times per week. The image here is my 6 mile loop. The hardest part about the running thing is just getting started. Every time. It maybe gets a teeny bit easier, but the alarm goes off at 6:30 AM and it is SO HARD to get up, change, stretch and go. It is EASY to stay in bed and snooze.
But... after you get going, man - as all runners know - it is awesome.
First of all, if you run early in the morning, you catch the initial
hustle and bustle of the day. In the neighborhoods I run through,
initially there is little or no traffic. Little by little this picks
up, as early risers head out to work, school, etc...
Also, there are the other excercise heads - lots of older folks out
walking, jogging, biking. Many other runners as well.
The sun continues its rise - the temperature starts to creep up, and
you start to loosen up and really feel good. Somewhere about mile 2 or
3 I'm already really happy I'm up and out.
My days tend to go alot better when I start out this way. I recommend
running to anyone. Not many people can explain the "runner's high"
enough to have folks who haven't felt it understand - but its an
"endorphin" thing I guess, and you just feel good!
So, anyway, for fun, I did the aerial view of my basic running route.
Click the image for larger view. Where the orange line and arrows start and end is my house.
Posted by gcrgcr at 9:07 AM | Comments (0)
August 19, 2003
Urban Legends, Hoaxes, and all
Urban Legends, Hoaxes, and all around Hocus PocusI
got an email from my Mom the other day, God love her... The message
started like many you may have seen forward to you by people you know:
Date: Mon, 11 Aug 2003 08:27:32 -0700
From: "Patty Dowdle" <snip>
To: "<LOTS OF EMAIL ADDRESSES>"
Subject: FW: You may have a computer virus
I found this computer virus on my computer at work and deleted it.
The eventual body of the message of course contained the payload:
Hi All - On July 29, 2003, a "teddy bear" virus (better known as
"jdbgmgr.exe" INFECTED our computer along with our address book. Since
you are in our address book, it is likely that you will find the same
virus. The bad thing is that neither Norton nor McAfee can detect it.
This virus apparently sits quietly for 14 days before damaging
everyone's systems. It is sent automatically by messenger and by the
address book, whether or not you sent emails to your contacts.
(Unfortunately, it is never revealed where or who it came from.) It is
transferred without an "attachment" file. Here's how to check for the
virus and how to get rid of it: (Brad did this last night on our
computer and got rid of the virus.) :
The message proceeds to step by step provide instructions on how to
delete the VIRUS file from your system. After several years as a power
email user, I can't believe I still get this type of message forwarded
to me. Hasn't everyone already seen at least one of these urban legend
/ hoax emails yet? I guess people still get bilked out of money by
Nigerian Funds scams via email. What is worse is that people who maybe
are aware of the "hoax" Nigerian Funds scam, still believe the Kenyan
Funds scam via email.
My advice - before forwarding any informational email of any sort, if
it is at all possible that it may NOT be true... check it out first!
Before you waste even 5 minutes of time, of the first 50 or so people
you can think of and address the message to - check it out.
This site, Snopes
has always had good data. It is a great hoax, scam, urban legend site.
It seems to detail myths of all origins and indicates their validity.
Many things are TRUE - and reviewing the evidence is very interesting.
Most of the time, checking with Snopes will provide ample proof that
the email you are about to blast to your loved ones is a colossal waste
of time. We all win.
I won't give away the status of the particular message my Mom forwarded
to me... I'll let you all check Snopes yourself.
Well there is your update. Post more later.
Tom
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Posted by gcrgcr at 10:07 PM | Comments (0)