ursangnome

Wow. This morning has been a complete disaster.

I could not have made this up if I were writing a script.

Why is it, why, that when I have tried so hard to get the habit of keeping my phone charged that the one day in months that I fail, it is the day I need it to not have failed? I have had this danged thing charged and ready every day for months. I got the habit of frequently checking, to make sure I don't need to charge it. I've stayed on top of it.

Of course, today, when she really needed me to get the phone call *now*, it was dead, and I don't get the message for over an hour.

Even worse, it was dead, but charging, at the time. I'd checked it, as I do every morning, noted it had died, and plugged it in. It just hadn't gotten enough charge for me to reboot it, so it'd take calls. As my father used to say, almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades. Fail is fail, no matter how close you were.

Dueling... Tesla coils?



And, Willard Wigan does some some tiny, No, I mean *really* tiny, sculpture

I hate (hatehatehatehatehate!) when those all-too perfect job opportunities come around. You know the ones - the job in the good location, that marries your personal background and skill sets with things for which you have a driving passion. The ones that make you want to reach through the monitor, grab the HR person by the lapels, shake them and say, "Forget those other losers. You want ME! That's MINE now!"

I always (without fail, every time) get optimistic. I get worked up and dream nice dreams. And, of course, because most applications don't work out, invariably those hopes are dashed, and I feel like crap until the next one comes along, or I land some other not-entirely=-perfect gig and stop looking for a while.

(Un)Fortunately, I would prefer dashed hopes to the self-fulfilling prophecy of not making the attempt. Full steam ahead!

Dear Recruiter,

I know this isn't your fault, that you didn't write the system. So, I'm not mad at you, personally. But, let's be clear - unless I'm entering into an agreement with you that has some financial bindings relevant to taxes, health insurance, or the like, you're not getting my SSN. Not even the last four digits. No, I'm not giving you digits of my driver's license either.

As if my name were not unique enough, you have my address too. Ain't nobody else of that name living here, I assure you. But, if you still need a unique ID, you can build one out of random digits. The SSN is not an appropriate handle for you to use. Stop asking.

If need be, I will lie like a rug, and give you a fake last-4. I will then hope your database gets hacked. You'll get in trouble with the feds for misuse of SSNs, and I'll get incorrect data into the Identity Theft networks. No skin off my nose.

So, My Lady accomplished something pretty phenomenal during Arisia.

Unfortunately, it seems that some yutz at the con forgot tho wash his hands, or something, and passed around a bug that has laid My Lady low. To that yutz: You are on my crap list. Really, you screwed it up for goodness knows how many people. Thanks. Jerk.

Reference: America's Health Literacy: Why We Need Accessible Health Information from the US Department of Health and Human Services. Some of the data dates to 2003, but somehow I don't expect them to have dramatically improved in the intervening time....

Given the following descriptions of health literacy:

Proficient - Using a table, calculate an employee's share of health insurance costs for a year.
Intermediate - Read instructions on a prescription label, and determine what time a person can take the medication.
Basic - Read a pamphlet, and give two reasons a person with no symptoms should be tested for a disease.
Below Basic - Read a set of short instructions, and identify what is permissible to drink before a medical test.

12% of Americans are Proficient
53% of Americans have Intermediate proficiency
21% of Americans have Basic Proficiency
14% of Americans have Below Basic Proficiency

Which means that for over a third of Americans, you cannot expect them to be able to read and understand instructions on a prescription label!

The Boston Run for you Lives sounds like a really cool thing. In order to take part, you have to be ready to run 5 kilometers, about three miles, get over, under, or through a dozen obstacles, all while being chased by zombies.

Now, there are competition runners, but for your typical health jogger, you can imagine a 5k race as running for a non-stop half hour. These days, if the weather is good I walk about 2 and a half miles to get to work, and the same back. So, while I get my 10,000 steps a day, I've never in my life been a runner. If I want to take part in this, and not just end up a zombie myself, I'm going to have to train.

Luckily, Tufts allows alumni to use the gym, for reasonable rates (even on parking), and there's an indoor track.

The, "never been a runner," thing has been looming over me, though. I am not in great cardiovascular shape. I did my research, spoke to my brother, who back in his day was a cross-country track star type, and settled on Couch to 5K as a program. The starting workout is simple: 5 minutes brisk walk warmup, for 20 minutes alternate 1 minute running with 1.5 minutes walking, then a 5 minute walk cool-down.

I honestly didn't expect to be able to make it through on the first try. I expected to get halfway or three-quarters through and have to sit down. But no - while I was puffing like and old steam locomotive, I got through it on my feet.

I admit, having My Lady there was a darned good motivator for the first run. As far as the general public is concerned my shame has an off switch I can flip at will, but I didn't really want to embarrass myself in front of my wife. Not that I don't do that on a regular basis, but curling up without a breath in my lungs just isn't all that... manly and macho, you know?

So, now if I can do that three times a week or so, I may well be able to get through this. Of course, I'm going to have to add some upper-body work into the mix, as I'm sure there'll be fences or the like to climb. But, one hurdle at a time...

Moxie seems to be on a rompage. It's like a rampage, but, well, more romp-y. We are not doing laps around the living room to see how fast she can run and high she can jump. She seems to not feel any need for any physical obstacle to jump over, mind you...

Edit: The kitten now seems capable of 14" vertical leaps, and nearly 3' horizontal bounds - during which she bears a striking resemblance to a fluffy, calico Superman.

So, there's a Pirate Party in German politics.

And yesterday (Talk Like A Pirate Day), news came out that they won 15 seats in the German Parliament. 15 of Germany's 130 seats in parliament are now filled with... Pirates!

I kid you not:

http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/news/2011/09/german-pirate-party-boards-berlin-state-parliament.ars

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/german-pirate-party-elect-15-236842

Preface: I've managed to have steady work for the past year, but for a year before that, I was (like so many) unemployed.

I have a good enough job - nothing special, but it pays the bills. The place has it's problems, some of them, in my professional opinion, are kind of serious. I'm in the temp portion of a temp-to-perm engagement. At this point I think, but am not sure, they'll convert me into being a permanent employee.

But, until recently, to my mind there was a really big question if they'd convert me. So, like any intelligent being in a world of 9% unemployment, I started shopping around, just in case.

So, of course, now it looks like I may have two different things to choose from:

1) Current job - work with good, pleasant people, but a fairly dysfunctional organization. Convenient to home. Won't exactly pop on the resume, isn't a major personal growth/learning opportunity. Isn't really interesting, or in a field that lights my personal fires.

2) New Job - don't know the people or organization beyond the interview process. Commute to downtown. Would look a darned sight better on the resume, is a major growth and learning opportunity. Is apt to be pretty darned interesting/cool, and is in a field that has a major place in my heart.

The pay scales are probably about the same. So far, this looks like a no-brainer. The difference is that Job 1 is a permanent position, while Job 2 is a six-month position filling in for a woman going on maternity leave.

My Lady, bless her heart, says she's confident that after six months, I'll find something else. I, however, don't share her confidence - the period of unemployment stung pretty hard. I'm outright scared of the risk, and find I'm having a hard time weighing it rationally.

I don't really like it, but I'm left hoping that one employer or the other will make the decision for me.