Tuesday, November 17, 2009

Fight for Preemies

Today, November 17, is the March of Dimes "Fight for Preemies" day. Support the March of Dimes and help us find ways to prevent premature birth. Premature births have increased 31% since 1981 -- why???!?!?!?!

Our Sophie Arielle was born at 32 weeks, 5 days. We're so very lucky and blessed that she spent a mere 22 days in the hospital, and nearly four years later, she's a happy and healthy little girl.



So many other families aren't that lucky. Many preemies spend a lot longer in the NICU, and have lifelong health concerns as a result of premature birth. And sadly, many preemies never come home.

Support the March of Dimes, for Sophie and for all babies born before their time.

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Monday, November 02, 2009

A politician without principles??

I know, it shouldn't be shocking. Elected officials routinely sell out their principles, and their constituents, on a regular basis. They do it for money, for votes, for power, for any reason at all, basically.

Still, it can be disappointing. And this week, I'm disappointed in Rep. Artur Davis (D-AL), who announced today that he will not vote for the healthcare reform bill pending in the US House of Representatives.

Rep. Artur Davis announces he'll vote against health care bill

Davis has been a member of the Alabama delegation in the House since 2002. We don't actually live in his district; by less than a mile, we're represented by the moronic Spencer Bachus. Still, we've always been supporters of Davis. He's been particularly good to the Jewish community, speaking at our synagogue and to other Jewish organizations. Since his predecessor, Earl Hilliard, was a borderline anti-Semite, this was a welcome change.

In June, Rep. Davis announced he would run for Alabama's governorship in 2010. We attended his "kickoff" event in downtown Birmingham, and were invited to stand on stage behind Davis as he gave his speech.

But after today's announcement, I'm done.

I know what he's doing. He's giving up his principles (he has talked of supporting a public option in healthcare reform in the past) so that the inbred, Fox News-watching hicks who make up the majority of this state will vote for him. I know it, but I don't like it.

Alabama is one of the states that would benefit the most from a true healthcare reform, and a public option. We have a ridiculous amount of people -- mostly children -- in this state without health insurance.

But apparently, Mr. Davis doesn't care. In fact, he apparently cares more about his own political future than he does about what's best for his district, his state, and his nation.

And that's a shame. And what makes it even more a shame is that I doubt it will work. Maybe I'm wrong, but I don't think Alabama will elect an African-American as governor. Not yet, anyway.

In any case, if he wins the governorship, he'll have to do it without my vote. Because I'm done with Artur Davis.

Before I "unfollowed" Rep. Davis on Facebook (and Twitter!), I posted this to his Facebook page:

Rep. Davis, I've been a supporter of you for a long time. My family and I were on stage behind you when you announced your run for governor in Linn Park.

But with today's announcement that you won't vote for health care reform, I am done with you. Will no longer support you, will no longer donate to your campaign, will no longer follow you on Facebook, and I certainly won't vote for you.

You are well aware that the healthcare bill pending in the House is the ONLY version of healthcare reform that will come up for a vote this year, or probably next year. So by refusing to vote for it, you have explicitly endorsed the status quo, and you'll be on the wrong side of the most important vote of your Congressional career.

Is this healthcare bill perfect? No. In my mind, the public option should be even STRONGER. But it is a thousand times better than our current healthcare system, which wastes hundreds of millions of dollars every year, dooms children and adults alike to early deaths, and benefits no one except for insurance companies and pharmaceutical firms.

You have sold out your principles in an attempt to be "moderate" and a "conservative Democrat," so that the people of Alabama will elect you governor.

In doing so, Mr. Davis, I guarantee you that you've lost at least one vote, that, until now, was about as reliable and rock-solid that you could have asked for
.

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Thursday, October 29, 2009

Biggest one in four counties.

As has been stated on this blog in the past, I'm a Star Trek geek. I was beyond excited in 1987 when Star Trek: The Next Generation made its debut, and I faithfully watched all seven seasons.

I've been having great fun reading Wil Wheaton's new book "Memories of the Future (Volume One)," which recounts his experiences working on the show, and also takes a light-hearted stab at some of the cornier scenes, episodes, and dialog. It's sort of an "MST3K" treatment of Next Generation, but with 30% more love.

And, I've really been enjoying the companion podcast to the book. I listen to it while on the treadmill or elliptical at the gym, and frequently, I have to cover my mouth and fake-cough to keep from laughing out loud in the crowded rec center.

This happened yesterday. I was listening to episode #8 of the podcast, as Wil discusses the episode "Justice." This episode (in case you don't recall) takes the crew of the Enterprise to a very horny planet where everyone runs around mostly naked, giving each other sensual massages, using barely-concealed euphemisms for sexual activities, and just in general having a Very. Good. Time. (This was pretty daring for 1987 TV.)

Anyway, Wesley Crusher accidentally violates one of their laws and is sentenced to death, the Enterprise finds a mysterious alien which acts as "God" to the people on the planet, blah blah blah.

The most hilarious part of the podcast happens as Wil describes Wesley's initial reactions to meeting the gorgeous, mostly-naked Edosians. I was never one of the "I hate Wesley all the time" TNG fans. Clearly, a lot of his dialog and "I saved the ship again" plot points were ridiculous. But more than hating Wesley, I wanted to BE Wesley.

And in 1987, this is about exactly how I would have reacted to meeting a group of mostly-naked, sexually-charged women, too:

[Click to play audio clip, MP3, 40 seconds]

Good stuff. If you're a Trek fan, or a Wil Wheaton fan, go buy the book and listen to the podcast!


Not much else going on. Busy Halloween weekend ahead, hopefully the weather cooperates for trick or treating on Saturday night. Right now, there's a possibility of rain. Boo!! Sophie and Raya really want to wear their matching Wonder Woman costumes!!

R & I are going to a grownups Halloween party on Friday night, while Sophie has a sleepover at Bubbe & Zayde's. Can't remember the last time we've been to a kid-free Halloween party!

Raya joined the cult of iPhone last weekend, hooray! Still trying to convince her we need a 27" iMac for home. I've got to run down to the Apple Store today to pick up some work stuff. I'll probably stop by and drool on the iMacs a bit more. :)

Gators looked sloppy but still beat Mississippi State last weekend. Georgia game this weekend, hopefully Tebow can get back on track!!

"Crazy Larry" Langford convicted yesterday in his corruption trial. Shock surprise. Instantly removed from office, so at least Birmingham is done with him!

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Wednesday, October 14, 2009

"Hey, I don't need your charity titters.....

....now, say hello to my girlfriend, Charity Titters."

Another rainy day here in Birmingham.....what else is new? Poor Raya is still fighting with her kidneys. I'm hopeful that things will turn around quickly, hopefully a nephrology visit tomorrow brings good news.

In happier news, I think the Great Rzeszut Mouse Battle of 2009 has been won. (By me, not the mouse.) I'm nervous to jinx myself by saying this, but it's been three consecutive days now with no evidence of rodent activity in the kitchen. All of the baseboards are still sealed with steel wool and duct tape, with no signs of chewing or biting.

As you can imagine, duct tape along the bases of our cabinets looks fabulous, though I did manage to get some black duct tape, which makes it sort of blend in.

Work is work. Got a virus infected computer on my desk now, the second time in about 3 months that this particular PC has gotten hit. I wonder if the people in this particular lab use this PC for their porn surfing.

Set up new printers yesterday, a new laptop, argued with a faculty member who ordered a desktop with Windows Vista even though I told him it was unsupported, etc., etc. The usual crap.

Going backwards in time a few days, had a pretty fun weekend. Raya wanted to stay off her swollen feet as much as possible, so I took Sophie to the "Temple Trails" program at TEE on Saturday. It was originally supposed to be in Homewood Park, but the rain made that impossible. (For the same reason, we skipped the Race for the Cure on Saturday, too.)

So we were inside for Temple Trails, which was fine. Stories, songs, and a really cute craft project called "Shabbes Shiners" -- basically, flashlights substituted as kid-friendly Shabbat candles, and Sophie decorated the wooden "candlestick" holder with paint and glass marbles. Pretty cool.

Saturday night, of course, we watched the Gators beat LSU, Tim Tebow back from his concussion in the Kentucky game. Not the prettiest win ever, but I'll take it, especially on a Saturday night in Baton Rouge. Always tough for visiting teams to win in "Death Valley."

Sunday, Sophie and I headed out for some retail therapy at Target and Home Depot. New jeans and a new dress for her, some random stuff for me, including new earphones and a water bottle to support my newly-acquired "going to the gym" kick. We'll see how long I can make this last.

Lunch at Red Robin, mouse-proofing the kitchen in the afternoon, a run to Publix, and some NFL games pretty much finished off the weekend!!

This coming weekend, Sophie's got another fire station birthday party (at least it's a different fire station!). And, if the weather holds, and Raya feels up to it, maybe a trip out to the pumpkin patch.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

I hate it when....

....strangers talk to me on the elevator. Proper elevator etiquette is: you stare straight ahead, or play with your cell phone, or look at the ceiling, or your shoes. Avoid eye contact!!!

It's worse when this happens in the elevator in my work parking garage. Because most people walk out of the parking deck and walk in the same direction for a block or two.

So now, are we supposed to walk along together, continuing whatever inane conversation the other person initiated in the elevator? Usually, I adjust my walking pace accordingly so that I'm either well ahead or well behind the other person within a few steps.


Another rainy day here in Birmingham. I'm starting to wonder if we're ever going to get to use our sukkah.

I'm also wondering if we'll get to "Race for the Cure" this weekend. Saturday's forecast currently includes a 70% chance of thunderstorms. Yikes!

Sophie was happy to see the rain this morning, though. Because rain (and puddles) means she gets to wear her new rain boots again. Very exciting.

Raya's at the doc this morning for some lab tests. A couple of things going on -- possibly a stomach bug, and a possible recurrence of the minimal change disease she's been fighting with for over two years. I say "recurrence," but it's never completely gone away. Poor thing, I hate that she has to deal with this crap.