Odds and Ends

Today would have been my mother's 91st birthday.

It's snowing.

Took my last Arimidex this morning. Start Femara tomorrow. Googled Femara this morning and am not happy that side effects seem to be equally as bad. Forgot that weight gain is side effect for both drugs so being fat is totally not my fault.

Read all my old entries today (somebody's gotta do it) and see a trend toward cutting and pasting, then commenting on mostly political news. This is not supposed to be a political blog. I hate politics after 30 years of government employment.

My very favorite quote is, "Opinions are like assholes. Everybody's got one." Or maybe its tied with, "Farts smell so deaf people can enjoy them too." That may not be PC but I still find it ROTFLMAO funny.

Had surgery a week ago. Now have nipples. See new internist Monday for high cholesterol and triglycerides (another bonus from Femara to add to my list) Have to remember to check if Arimidex could be contributor. Nothing is ever my fault.

Saw geneticist this past week to find out if I am at risk for ovarian cancer also.

Thank God for Prozac. I am becoming one of those people who talk about nothing but their health issues. Must Find More Interesting Things To Write About...

Received my copy of Sherlock Holmes, Volume One, that I bought off of eBay this week. Complained to my husband that it smelled like old people. He thinks it smells like mothballs so I guess the two are synonymous in my mind. Anyway, it's in a plastic bag with cedar chips to hopefully eliminate the odor. I've heard burying items in clean cat litter also helps. Hey, this turned into a helpful hints post. Maybe there's hope for this blog yet.

Honeymoon Over Already?

I was reading the comments on yesterday's Obama post at MamaPop: http://www.mamapop.com/mamapop/2009/03/it-took-us-a-co.html

I was expecting fawning devotion and was surprised to see dissenting opinions of our POTUS. Where is all the pre-election love? I can't wait to see the reaction to his announcement to send 4000 new troops to Afghanistan.

Nicholas D. Kristof

Excellent opinion piece on the hazard of being narrow-minded.

Death Spiral?

In business there is a phenomenon known as the death spiral, in which the measures intended to rescue a company or industry not only fail to stem the losses, they actually accelerate the decline. In the case of newspapers, the loss of readers and advertisers led to cuts in content and features and greater irrelevancy, which led to more lost readers and advertisers, which led to still more cuts, which led to ...

Which leads to the present, potentially fatal predicament for newspapers, or at least the one you're reading now.

What is the lesson for the rest of the business world?

No business or industry is exempt from challenges and competitive threats (what business hasn't been upended by the Internet, or the economy, or both?). None is promised, much less guaranteed, perpetual survival. What matters is not the nature or severity of those challenges, but how well prepared the company or industry is to evade, counter or adapt to those threats. Newspapers weren't; now they're facing the consequences.

By Bill Virgin, Seattle PI columnist. Full article: http://www.seattlepi.com/virgin/403824_virgin17.html?source=mypi

Just got a cold feeling in the pit of my stomach that the above could be applied to the United States and our economic situation. Is China going to own us before this is over?

Dangerous Breeds

IMPORTANT

If you are an owner of a dog that belongs to a 'dangerous breed' category and you also have a small child please take this as a warning. Don't leave your dog with the child unattended under any circumstances.

Only a moment was enough for this to happen.

Legalizing Marijuana in California

In response, retired Orange County Superior Court Judge James Gray, a longtime proponent of legalization, estimates that legalizing pot and thus ceasing to arrest, prosecute and imprison non-violent offenders could save the state an additional $1 billion a year. "We couldn't make this drug any more available if we tried," he says. "Not only do we have those problems, along with glamorizing it by making it illegal, but we also have the crime and corruption that go along with it." He adds, "Unfortunately, every society in the history of mankind has had some form of mind-altering, sometimes addictive substances to use, to misuse, abuse or get addicted to. Get used to it. They're here to stay. So, let's try to reduce those harms and right now we couldn't do it worse if we tried."

Complete article: http://news.yahoo.com/s/time/20090313/us_time/08599188495600

Okay, dude. Forget about right and wrong. We're losing the battle so let's just throw in the towel. What a selfish, ignorant response this is. Thank God he's retired.