News Flash

I just heard that a man was arrested for sexual FB contact with a 13-year-old girl who turned out to be a 45 year old woman.  Time flies when you're having fun.

Humor me...

....Though I watch a lot of TV, including those shows which include comedians, I find some fairly amusing, but only 2 things  have made me laugh this long and dreary winter. (1) The show called "Rake" starring Greg Kinear is funny, especially when it features a Rottweiler.  (2) I can't help it, but I have to laugh every time they show News Anchor Schauble ducking under the desk during the L.A.  earthquake.

Times 3

    If you ever visit a neurologist, or I suppose other doctors of a related specialty, you might get the impression  that the doctor is friendly and interested in you.  That is a possibility, but be aware that what you interpret as casual small talk may well be part of the intake examination.  In other words, "ORIENTATION x 3"  which  tests your awareness of 1) Self, 2) Time and 3) Place.  All those seemingly spontaneous queries about your family, what's happening in the world today, and what you think about today's society are noted and rated.  A good score is x3.  Common core, you might say.
   Here is a quick assessment:
      What is your name?        Correct answer-- x1
      Who are you and where are you?      Correct answer--x2
      Who are you, where are you, and who is the President of the United States?   Correct----x3

Insult to Injury

   I've posted before how depressing, and yes a bit humiliating, it is to have to rattle off your date of birth at least once for every medical visit or procedure you undergo.  You might as well have a chip placed in your body which could be scanned at every visit.  More aggravating is when, after the obligatory date of birth question, you are asked how old you are.  I feel like saying you do the math, it's not that difficult, but so far I've just answered the question.  Grrrr.

Little Mystery, Big Headache

   It was a cold and rainy morning, a week ago.  I was at the computer when he got up at the usual crack of dawn to prepare for his morning duties.  I saw him leave, and I went back to bed and fell asleep.  I woke up a short time later, and looked out the front window to see both cars in the driveway, with the trunk lid of my car wide open.  He must be getting something out of the trunk, I thought, and peered out to see what was going on.  I could see nothing more from the window, so after waiting a while, seemed like a long while, I put on my coat and reluctantly went outside, reluctantly because I didn't know what I would find.  I walked around both cars, peering inside, but saw no body slumped inside either vehicle.  The birdfeeder, I thought, or the garbage cans (though it was not a garbage input or output day).   I walked around the house, calling his name, as I'd been doing ever since I saw the raised trunk.  Nobody there, garbage cans and birdfeeder in usual positions.  Maybe inside the basement?  I had to go back inside as the basement door was locked.  I go back in the house, down the cellar steps, calling out as loud as I could, but no response, and nobody in the basement.  Back upstairs, I go outside to look at the situation.  Did someone ask to borrow a tire jack, thence the wide-open trunk, and then did he go with them to help?  Did he go willingly?  I went back inside, pacing the floor, and trying to decide what to do; the time is not yet 9:00 a.m.  I notice the bedroom door is closed and I look inside.  He's sound asleep in bed.
      Retracing the scene, turns out that in fumbling for his key to unlock the front door, he'd inadvertently activated the remote trunk control and the trunk flew open without his noticing.  Not by him anyway.

Ouch!

  I was there for a follow-up visit.  The doctor, looking at my chart, said to me,   "There are 3 conditions which are the most painful that people ever experience:  the first is kidney stones, the second childbirth, and the third a  heart attack.  And you've already had two of the three."   He smiled though.

FYI, linguistically speaking

     Almost all of the dramatic or perplexing things happen now in my dreams and this is no exception:  I was in a lecture hall and the professor was asking questions from that superior stance that they often take, so everyone was pretty much intimidated, with answers not readily forthcoming.
   I had already answered one of his questions, the answer being "raison d'etre" though I cannot recall what it was in response to.  I was racking my brain over the second question.  He asked what "cyber" meant.  Nobody knew:  I thought I should know, but couldn't answer, and finding that answer  became a matter of sublime importance, which preyed on my mind throughout the night.  I think I was still dreaming but when I woke up this morning, the question was still on my mind, niggling away.
    It is now six o'clock in the morning and here's what I found out:
         Cyber is a prefix coined by a group of scientists in the early 1990's.  It is taken from the Greek word, kybernetes, meaning statesman or governor, and is defined as "the science or study of control or regulating mechanics in human and machine systems, including computers." 
         All we really need to know is that cyber means "of or relating to computers or the Internet."  However, the full explanation lies in the stuff of which dreams are made,  in my dreams anyway.