Super bug :(

Tough as I am, some third world, or perhaps extraterrestrial, super bug is trying to get the better of me. It started, very subtly, Wednesday night and then got progressively worse through Saturday. Yesterday I was convinced I was on my way back to the land of the living, but then super bug struck back this morning.

Given that I was sick all weekend I wasn't really looking forward to the beginning of the work week today. Despite that, I felt okay when I got up this morning. I even managed to shave and take a shower. That, though, is when the trouble started. As I was toweling off, I suddenly got very weak and I realized if I didn't sit down very quickly I was going to fall out. I quickly got out of the shower and took a seat on the only handy sitting surface in the bathroom. Before long, though, I realized that wasn't going to do it. I needed to lie down. Lacking the strength to get to the bed, I just sprawled out on the bathroom floor. It's sort of funny now, but it was quite scary at the time.

Of course Gumbo, the demon cat, came over to "help." Her help consisted of sniffing around my head and crying "MEOW" very loudly. Though I don't believe it to be the case, I'd like to think she was concerned for my well being. In reality I figure she was just seeing if I was going to be able to feed her or whether she should start thinking about what portions of me would be most tasty. Anyway, I eventually made it to the bed and rested for 15 minutes or so. After that, I was okay. Lectures today have been interesting though. I am not the most organized lecturer on the best day, but today I have no idea where some of my tangents have been coming from. Of course some of my students probably haven't even noticed a difference. Sigh.

Regardless, I'm hoping to be back at full strength soon. If not, would someone stop by my house and make sure Gumbo isn't snacking on my incapacitated self?

Is this guy for real?

I stole this from the guys over at Marginal Revolution, but I don't think they'll mind ...

I see that some guy at MIT has a list of rules for "How to Think: Managing brain resources in an age of complexity." Okay the title alone is enough to send me screaming for the hills. Curiosity, though, led me to investigate just what sort of things this guy supposes will help one think. For the most part, they're the usual bull: set goals, learn from mistakes, etc. Number 10 (keep it simple) I found to be rather interesting as it seemed to contradict some of his earlier rules (e.g., document everything obsessively), but all-in-all nothing really surprised me too much about his list. Mind you I think his rules are fine and dandy if you want to teach people to be organized, but I don't see how they help you "think." Still, I had no reason to blog about this guy and his rules until I saw the second of his two "practical notes" that followed his list of rules:

The second practical note: I find it really useful to write and draw while talking with someone, composing conversation summaries on pieces of paper or pages of notepads. I often use plenty of color annotation to highlight salient points. At the end of the conversation, I digitally photograph the piece of paper so that I capture the entire flow of the conversation and the thoughts that emerged. The person I've conversed with usually gets to keep the original piece of paper, and the digital photograph is uploaded to my computer for keyword tagging and archiving. This way I can call up all the images, sketches, ideas, references, and action items from a brief note that I took during a five-minute meeting at a coffee shop years ago--at a touch, on my laptop.

Is it just me or is this guy INSANE?!?! Who would do this? Further, even though I'm giving a great big "more power to you" to this guy, why in the world is he recommending this madness for others?!?! Though I've already yelled about it, I repeat -- this is an organizational tips, NOT a way to improve thinking skills!

Finally, the most ironic point -- remember rule #10: Keep it simple! Yeah, simple is the first thing I thought after reading that practical note.

Almost time!

Yeah I know all the other red-blooded sports fans are excited by March Madness right now, but I'm keyed up for baseball. More specifically, Cardinals baseball: 7 days, 3 hours, 30 minutes from now!

I'm not terribly optimistic about "our" chances this season and I will miss some of the departed veterans (So, Jim, Scotty, etc.). Further, with Tony still holding onto his job as manager, I suspect fans will see a steady diet of over-the-hill former stars rather than the young up-and-comers that the Cards appear to be blessed with. Plus, I have seen mention that Tony will start the season with his ridiculous "pitcher batting 8th" lineup. Sigh.

On the other hand, I didn't realize how excited I was about the season until I checked out the St. Louis Post Dispatch Cards page. Yeah they're "homers", but they managed to get me fired up about the season. Now to track down some peanuts and contact Charter Cable. Yep, I think I'm giving up the Dish and going with Charter because Charter (supposedly) offers the MLB package that Dish lost a couple of years ago. Wish me luck.

Pix

Finally, here are some pix from my recent trek. Sorry about the formatting; it's not my usual computer.

The old "camp house."

The old windmill above the "camp house."

The river.

A small fall.

Into the wild

Yes it is spring break, but the weather is not being conducive to rambles in the wild. According to the trusty forecasters, it's either going to be stormy or too warm for comfortable camping all week. I did take the opportunity to sneak off to the woods for a few hours yesterday.

The primary focus of my search was a reputed abandoned house in the middle of a large, unnamed wilderness area near me. According to popular lore, it was at one time a regular old private residence. Somehow or another the land was never ceded to the government so it remains a private property enclave within the national forest. The home has been long abandoned, but it still serves as a camper's haven. Supposedly some local Boy Scouts clean it up about once a year.

I had heard the rumors for a few years and I even had an approximate location. Last week, though, I got some more detail and decided to seek it out. After a few false starts and wrong turns, I found it. It reminded me a whole lot of the abandoned bus in "Into the Wild" (book or movie). In fact there was a legal pad inside where visitors could sign in and record their thoughts. Someone had written a tribute of sorts to Alexander Supertramp -- dated long before the movie. Basically it's an old block house with several metal bed frames where you can spread your sleeping bag and crash for the night. There were beds enough for 5 or 6 campers, but plenty of floor space if you needed more room. Though I usually camp solo, I do want to try a night there. I am a little worried that the creaking of the rusty old windmill might remind me too much of too many horror films, but I'm willing to give it a shot.

After finding the house, I explored a bit more and found some nice waterfalls I hadn't been to before. I also ran across a beaver, though he was in the river and away before I could get my camera out. Speaking of that, I did get some okay pix, but I'm not able to post them right now.

Anyway, ... All-in-all, the trip was a big success, but I was a little disappointed in the end. I was trying to get to one rather famous set of falls, but I didn't make it. I got to within 1/3 of a mile, but the going was getting really rough and it was getting late. I found myself near a relatively easy way out of the canyon and I took it. I guess I'll save those falls for another day.

So what's on tap for the rest of spring break? I'm still toying with a trip to MS, but I don't know if that'll happen. Other than that, I plan to donate blood tomorrow and maybe get a tetanus shot. Do I know how to live it up or what?

Real mail

I saw a story in the paper this morning about how the USPS and HBO are offering free greeting cards in an attempt to encourage people to start writing and send real mail again. Now I'm a HUGE fan of real mail, so this interested me enough to dig a little deeper. What did I find?

Well first off, it's true. Click here (and select the "customize and send" path) and they'll send you a free card that you can write in, address, and send to a dear friend -- postage paid! Heck, you even get to select from a few card designs and messages. Finally, you can select a photo to be printed on the inside if you wish. It seems like a good deal.

So what's the HBO connection? Well they're producing a big series on John Adams and evidently old John and Abigail were famous for letter writing. Yeah it's a commercial ploy on both (USPS and HBO) parts, but I like it. As I said, I love real mail and I'm kind of ashamed I don't send more of it. Still, I have good intentions and those count for something, right?

Anyway, follow the link above and get a free card to send to someone you love! As for me, it's now Spring Break so, "Peace out, y'all!"

Happy Birthday!

Yes my birthday was a couple of days ago and (most of) my blog pals ignored it! Of course I do realize that most of you have no reason to know when my birthday is. Still.

Anyway, I just wanted to gush about a present I received: two tickets to this!

Great news

I know blogging has been light of late, but I couldn't wait to share this bit of news:

Members and supporters of Free the Hops,

HB196, the Gourmet Beer Bill, passed the House yesterday. The fact that
it passed is entirely due to all the hard work you put in to contacting
your house representatives - we passed the BIR by one vote over the 3/5
majority needed, then passed the bill by 6 votes - if you had not all
worked so diligently to speak to your representatives, this may have had
a very different outcome!

The next step is to go to the Senate. We will be discussing this with
our lobbyist to work out a timescale for this to happen, and what you
can do to help pass the Senate bill, which may not happen for another
few weeks.

Thank you again - we are one step closer to Freeing the Hops!

For those of you who have missed my earlier rants on this topic, ... AL is one of the very few states that still prohibits the sale of beer with 6% or higher alcohol content. I won't even go into the logical (to me) arguments against this law, but Free the Hops is an organization that has been working for the last several years to change the law. I honestly figured it was hopeless because two groups were against the change.

First, the beer distributors in the state. Because of prohibition-era laws, alcohol has to go through a crazy distribution system. Evidently the distributors did not want the hassle of dealing with small volumes of specialty beers and there was some talk that the big companies were applying pressure because they felt threatened by the competition. Recently I learned a deal (hope it's not one we regret) had been struck with the distributors. That left the moralists.

I still think this group is the biggest obstacle and I've already read quotes such as, "This will just make it easier for teenagers to get drunk and kill themselves in car crashes." I'm not convinced we'll be able to get the bill through the state senate. In addition to the political unpopularity of passing a law that would "make it easier for teenagers to get drunk," the Senate currently is going through a phase where they seemed determined NOT to pass any bill! It's basically one guy who is pissed that the Republicans took away a sweetheart earmark for his district at the last minute last year because he stabbed them in the back on a power-sharing agreement. Regardless, he's stalling almost every bill as revenge. Once the logjam is broken, I doubt the beer bill will be at the top of the heap.

So while I'm not convinced that we have "won", I am encouraged that the distributors have seemingly dropped their objections and the House at least has seen fit to pass this bill. Now there's just one more hurdle. I hope that can be passed before someone realizes many of the supporters' claims are just as silly as those of opponents. For instance, one of the "selling points" for this bill is that it would increase tourism from people who are used to being able to buy these beers in their home states. C'mon, does anyone really believe that? Still, if it works I'll give a sound bite about the economic impact of such a law. I'm not above pandering.