Wardrobe Maintenance

Now for the surest sign of a change of seasons: closet clean-out!

Every spring and fall as I exchange the linen for the cashmere, I sort through my wardrobe for stuff I haven’t worn. If an item has hung in the closet through its entire season, gathering dust, then it deserves a new home. I get to make room for “update items", new purchases that will make my outfits look 09/10 instead of 99/00.

Sometimes one or two pairs of shoes accompany the clothing. Occasionally, a “good buy” at DSW becomes a “fashion don’t.” But shoes generally have more staying power in my closet.

My hubby left an hour ago for a football game, while I am here in town, covering the patient service. I will use the time to edit my clothing and make my closet functional again.

And maybe I will find some time to shop…

Photos courtesy of PhotoXpress.com.

Wackaloonacy

Today I planned to write about the inexplicable hub-bub that has greeted Obama’s speech to schoolchildren today. I have listened to it while traveling and unable to blog.

As a schoolgirl, I remember reading interviews with Richard Nixon in Weekly Reader where he talked about studying hard. If there is any leader in recent memory that I would NOT want indoctrinating schoolchildren, Tricky Dick is the guy. I don’t seem to have been indoctrinated by his efforts, though latent effects would explain some of the behavior demonstrated this week…

I was going to write about this issue, but then I followed a link to Discover’s Bad Astronomy Blog. It links to the text of speech, and discusses the issues so eloquently, that I have nothing left to add.

So if you like what I write, follow the link…

The news about this story has been absolutely unbelievable. I can’t believe what is essentially a motivational speech has been spun as socialist. As initially tweeted by Terrified Tabetic (@ttabetic):

Overheard: "I am starting to suspect that some Dr. Evil managed to pour dumbfuck juice in the national water supply. srsly."

We all must do everything we can to combat ideologic fuckwittery.

So study hard and take responsibility for your education!

Signs of the Season

It is now, officially, in my mind… autumn!

Is it because school has started? No, my son has been back in class for more than 3 weeks. Besides, the stores start trumpeting their supplies and clothing as soon as the Fourth of July gear goes on clearance. No, back-to-school smells more of sunblock than apple cider.

Perhaps a sign of nature triggers my mood. Colored leaves? Not yet… Shorter days? Not enough to spoil evenings yet… Labor Day? Traditional, but not the real trigger…

What makes me feel that the season changed this week?

College football! Last night the first fans of the ‘09 season donned spiritwear, painted bare chests, and tail-gated. The smell of fall is a grilled brat and a cold bottle of beer. Right now, all things are possible… unless you are an Oregon fan, and I am not certain that their top-20 status will survive the match last night with Boise State.

My weekend will be filled with both live and televised gridiron matches. May everyone be so lucky!

Photos of bus and leaves courtesy of PhotoXpress. Football image from mutigers.com.

Trivial Actions Net Results

Yesterday proved highly productive. My output surprised me for a couple of reasons, mostly because a cold virus has taken possession of my nasopharynx. Tears and snot flowed all day long, leaving my cheeks and nostrils raw. Yet I got a lot of work done.

Another factor made the day inauspicious for work. Someone burned something in a microwave in the break area near my office. The halls reeked all day, and the smoke (when it penetrated the mucus) burned in my nose. I thought about leaving early; instead I shut my door.

Now, I do not entertain a lot of spontaneous visitors to my office. A colleague may discuss our daily trek to the cafeteria for lunch, or my lab personnel may drop by to chat about their progress. Overall, very few interruptions break into my time. I cannot believe the shut door was keeping inefficiency out.

Was it keeping efficiency in?

Wednesday mornings begin with a conference call. Today I put out my sign, “Conference Call. Please Do Not Disturb,” and shut the door. The difference this week? I left the door shut after the call finished. Just to test my hypothesis. And to deal with the burning odor that still permeates the hallway (what the hell did they have in that microwave?).

I do not feel quite as accomplished as I did yesterday. The tasks yesterday were all ready to be completed. Those today await the input of others; their completion is out of my control. I have managed to slog away a lot of tasks, though. I feel really good about today’s accomplishments. So what is it about that door?

The shut door signals a new mental status. I am isolating myself from outside distractions, minimal as they are, and I plan to get stuff done. When I look up from the computer, I do not see a conduit to escape; I see a barrier that seems to help keep me at my desk.

I wonder what other subliminal messages we send ourselves through seemingly trivial actions? I will continue testing my hypothesis and looking for other examples. After all, I am a scientist.

Photo courtesy of PhotoXpress.

Upgrades and other lies

I live by my BlackBerry. I have a lot of duties that take me off of my main campus, and away from my desk even when I am there. My BlackBerry lets me keep up with patients, family, lab, and administrative messages. I can communicate by phone, email, text, or tweet just by thumb typing.

Until a few weeks ago, all was electronic bliss. Then I noticed that my calendar was funky. Appointments I entered on the BlackBerry wouldn’t show up on my desktop. I started re-entering appointments on the computer, then deleting them on the BlackBerry. Annoying, but doable. I let my IT guy know, and he said it was probably the result of a ….

Key spooky music here:

SERVER UPGRADE

Everyone seemed to have some sort of synchronization issue; so far, I was the only calendar complaint.

He waited a few more weeks, then suggested that I wipe my device and reassociate it with the server. Now, wiping a BlackBerry requires reinstalling a bunch of software and tracking down registration codes. It is not to be done lightly, but I was game.

So last week we did the deed. I almost have everything registered again, but now I have a new problem. When I delete emails on the BlackBerry, they do not delete on the desktop client. The settings clearly state to “delete on handheld and desktop.” I am at a loss.

So I beg my administration to quit upgrading. It rarely seems to improve anything.

The photo was taken from Wired.com via Google Images. Since their web address shows prominently, I have linked to them, and I am giving them credit for the image, I hope that they will not complain about my probable copyright violation…

Another Sad Farewell…

The senator from Massachusetts may be the top news story, but another sad passing has my attention. The last episode of Reading Rainbow airs today.

My kids moved out of its target audience years ago, but I was still depressed to learn that LeVar Burton would no longer lead children on adventures. No more children reviewing books. No more junior book club.

As reported on NPR this morning, the demise has been expected for several years:

the funding crunch is partially to blame, but the decision to end Reading Rainbow can also be traced to a shift in the philosophy of educational television programming. The change started with the Department of Education under the Bush administration, he explains, which wanted to see a much heavier focus on the basic tools of reading — like phonics and spelling.

John Grant (who is in charge of content at WNED Buffalo, Reading Rainbow's home station) says that PBS, CPB and the Department of Education put significant funding toward programming that would teach kids how to read — but that's not what Reading Rainbow was trying to do.

My daughter discovered this show shortly before her 4th birthday. Field trips and other diversions explored the themes suggested by the book of the episode. Nothing was off-limits; shows explored slavery and parents in prison, as well as animals and farms. Episodes often sent Jen and I traipsing to the library or Barnes & Noble, looking for a book we saw on the show or one with a similar theme.

No, this show was not about how to read; it was about the joy of reading, of losing yourself in another world. As John Grant noted in the NPR interview:

Reading Rainbow taught kids why to read," Grant says. "You know, the love of reading — [the show] encouraged kids to pick up a book and to read.

For many children educational television may support those first building blocks of reading- the alphabet and phonics on Sesame Street come to mind. Very few children’s shows encourage reading the way Rainbow did. Even though I had not turned it on in years, I am sad to know it will not be there for my grandchildren (not that I feel old enough to be a grandmother, even though it is biologically feasible at this time).

Guess I will just buy them books.

Rainbow courtesy of PhotoXpress.

Of Cats and Health Care

For the past week I have neglected my blog while providing hospice care to Denver the Wondercat. The big guy finally succumbed to uremia, at home among his loved ones.

People may envy our cat’s death. He lived to the ripe old age of 18 years (about 97 in people-years). He lost his appetite the final 7-10 days of his life. He remained active until the final 4 days when he lost some strength. He was mostly unconscious the final 2 days, but he did not appear to suffer. We left him asleep Sunday night, and he was dead  Monday morning.

If you are an older adult in the US, you may wish to discuss such end-of-life issues with your physician. Would you want dialysis or feeding tubes or other sorts of care? If you don’t talk about it now, it may be left to others later – and you may not get what you want! Your loved ones may want to keep you alive with any treatment possible, or they may wish to withdraw therapies that you would prefer be continued! Efforts were underway to encourage this sort of conversation between physician and patient by actually paying doctors for the time these discussions take. Of course, this provision has now been dropped from the reform bills after being dubbed a “death squad.”

Your doctor will still discuss your wishes with you, even though Medicare does not cover this “luxury item” for the elderly. All of us will die one day, and we should consider our wishes while we can express them. Because we can’t all be as lucky as Denver the Wondercat.