Dazed and Confused

http://www.4children.org/news/703shape.htm

I have a six year old boy. He is NOT fat, in fact he is a little scrawny. But today I wanted to go for a run because tomrorow I will be doing an 8 km (5 mile) run known as the Shamrock Shuffle. The point was to take it easy today as I will be running hard in the AM.

At first I offred my boy the option to run with me. But then, since I figured 5 miles might be a little far for a six year old, I told him he could bike after me...and his bike has training wheels. This is an extremely flat course.

By mile three, Thomas was screaming and crying, begging me to stop and rest. And an interesting irony occured, an older guy was using the trail to finish up an "Ultra" race, which is well longer than a regualar marathon. He actually asked my boy to borrow his bike!

Too much television and too much gameboy....and too many computer games, I say! From now on....BOOT CAMP for the kids!

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The S&P continues an upward trend. Only democrats seem to be displeased.

I've had eye problems since I was a kid. Certainly I would have been able to excel on competitive swimming if my eye were better acclimated to chlorine.

This morning I again had to visit the emergecy room. The Doc diagnosed me with Irisitis, whoch is the internal swelling of the colored part of the eye. What brings it on is severe trauma to the eye...like getting sand it it, like getting an infection due to pollution.

It hurts.

IRISITIS

Irisitis is the inflmation of the colored part of the eye surrounding the black pupil. Symptoms include swelling, redness, lesions, pain and loss of function. It is common to find no external causes of irisitis. Often the iris, itself, produces an over concentration of chemicals resulting in inflamation. If left untreated, the drainage area of the eye may close due to adhesions being formed from the production of cells and sticky protein. Pressure inside the eye can elevate causing glaucoma. The adhesions may also stick to the lens of the eye and change the shape of the pupil resulting in cataracts. Treatment irisitits in its early stages is the use topical steroids in the form of eye drops.

I watched a PBS documentary about polar bears recently. People up in Ontario and other provinces have to worry about polar bears eating and foraging garbage up there. And human attacks are common.

lately environmentalists are lamenting that polar bears have to look for food a little to the neorth because the jet stream probably shifted. In any case, we "value" this species...it is sacred.

But here in the big city, we have another mammal around and we kill it with glee. It is commonly known as the Norwegiuan Rat (Rattus norvegicus), an amazing species that can jump up to 10 feet when poked or prompted.

We politically correct Americans can't understand why polar bears might be pests to the residents of Northern Alberta. But look at how we treat species that WE Americans consider pests! Are the Albertans so "heartless" for shooting the bears ??

Happy Easter. So on Easter we think about those who have passed on before us. So I was thinking about my dad.

I've been discussing buying a CNG vehicle with a friend out in California. It is the case now that CNG "per gallon" is inexpensive to run relative to the >$2.60 unleaded regualar gas.

Back in 1979 after the second oil price shock (Iran), a lot of my dad's friends had diesel Mercedes Benz, including my uncle Chuck. It was also the case that diesel fuel could be purchased far more cheaply than regular unleaded gas. So my dad had a "brilliant" idea. He would save lots of money by buying a diesel Cadillac, since GM's new diesel engine had just come out. The discount was like 30 cents per gallon.

So in the meantime, my dad had some heart attacks and he wanted a different car by 1984. The Cadillac had to have (under warranty) two different new engines put in. The car was a lemon and a nightmare.

So, since I needed a different car at the time and since my beautiful 1970 Olds Cutlass had just been totalled, he gave me the lemon. By 1984, diesel fuel, besides being hard to find (this is a rapid transit city, we don't live near truck stops). the price had increased to a $.40 cent premium...i.e., it then cost MORE to buy diesel than regular gas!

So, if I get a CNG it will be to reduce money to teeorists and for the environment. But the people marketing CNG should know better than to try to sell it based upon a price discount....as supplies and refinery issues could change the spread price, and substantially.