Where to begin?

How to explain the 180-degree turn in my life over the last six weeks? Things that were no longer are, and things that were not suddenly have become.



Cryptic? You betcha. Paranoid, me?



You have no idea.



Seems safest to begin at the beginning, with one of the two scheduled items for the new year. Dad had been to the doctor last Sep or Oct, and they saw something they didn't entirely like. So I recommended he go talk to one of the guys here, world-renowned for that particular part of the anatomy. The long & short was scheduled surgery for early January. So Pop goes in, figuring on a 3-5 day stay in the hospital, then 4-6 weeks recovery.



So here comes the first curveball, and it's a doozy. He's in for a few days, and if anything he seems worse as time goes on, not better. I'm there every night till 9-10PM, my brother's there all day (including, heroically, staying by himself there for Shabbos so dad would have company.) Sunday night he is in terrible pain, and Monday they tell us they're taking him in for emergency surgery in an unrelated area. I am now running all kinds of insane, paranoid fantasies in my head that he's not going to survive.



Happily, none of them came true. The second surgery went well, and Pop was quickly on the mend. He's home and recuperating now, and while he's looking older (and thinner) than he did before, he's mostly himself again. I think he's getting a little depressed, but he's been on the shelf for a long time, so I don't blame him.



So, that was stress enough, without...

Today

is the fast day known as Asara B'Tevet (Literally 10th of the month of Tevet). Naturally, as a day without food, I chose today to provide small holiday gifts of homemade fudge to co-workers and friends here.



Some days I'm just not that bright, you know?

I don't normally

do what the sports & politics geeks refer to as liveblogging, but I am sitting with the laptop and the MNF game on. All I can say from the half attention I am paying is that so far it ain't exactly a barn burner.



The Bears have fallen mightily since last year's Super Bowl appearance, and other than knowing there was an adult situation a few years back, I don't know the first thing about Minnesota. Seems so far to be a game full of dopey penalties and zero offense. Even Devin Hester can't save this game for me right now.

Saw this

the other day, and thought given the previous announcement that it was good timing:



Researchers discover why pregnant women don't topple over



I'm glad to see them putting my tax money to good use, but I'm not quite sure I see any practical application to the information. Sure, now I get how Mrs. Skinny manages to stay upright, but I still don't think it's getting me out of washing dishes or changing nappies when the time comes.



Still, it keeps the science folks out of trouble.

So...

I have dropped at least one hint, (and to one Alabama Marsupial, several) that something's up chez skinny. Terry thinks it's a medical condition, which, in effect, it is.



Say Hello to my leetle frien':







I know, I know, it's a little grainy and out of focus. I think I used the wrong F-stop or something.



So indeed, there is another small parasite headed our way come the spring. The ex-utero two have taken to calling it Little Matzah Ball, which is appropriate since we are due right around Passover.



This particular gestation has not been without its issues. I was planning to say something here a while ago, but we had a disturbing last 3-4 weeks, courtesy the medical establishment. One of the zillions of tests required in this nation before you are considered fit to reproduce came back as positive for a genetic disorder known as Trisomy-18 (you can read about it from the dedicated folks over at the Trisomy 18 foundation).



When the midwife describes said disorder as "incompatible with life", it certainly does make you pause a bit. Unlike its cousin, trisomy 21 that's involved with Down's Syndrome, children with this genetic anomaly generally don't survive the first year if they make it that far. Needless to say, we were not prepared for that particular development. What followed is standard - more tests. Amnio for the Mrs, prayer for me. Thanks to the piece of crap lab the insurance insisted we use (thanks for nothing, Quest Diagnostics! I hope some marketing jerk is reading this and tells everyone I think you people suck!), we had to wait three full weeks for results.



Which were negative. Which in this case is a good thing. So we are, happily, one of the thousands of people out there who got a false positive from one of these dopey blood tests. I'm glad of the results, but I can't say the last month has been fun. When you and your spouse begin discussing the euphemistic "options" if the worst happens, most people are not in a great place. Happily it's all moot, even if I have not enjoyed much lately.



Anyway, that's the big news around here. Work has increased, but not my paycheck. The children grow up, and I grow out. Life continues, and thankfully the Lord agreed with me on this particular question.



Look for a Little Matzah Ball this spring, coming to a Skinnydan nowhere near most of you.

Leftovers

Turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, apple pie, chocolate chip cookies were consumed.



Effluvia from sick child were cleaned up, sheets, PJs, towels were washed.



Guest room was slept in so sick child could stay in my bed.

Oh Dear

This leaves a bit to live up to. All you riffraff will have to go read something more appropriate for your education level.

An American Hero

Pilot of plane that dropped A-bomb dies



Oh, I know all the AP wants to talk about is the suffering the bomb did, and I see an implication of callousness in Tibbets from the author. But anybody who knows a damn thing about war in general, WWII, and the Japanese behavior prior to and during the war understands that the bomb was frankly the lesser of two evils.



There's no minimizing of the suffering here, but let's get real - how would the Japanese civilians have fared during a genuine invasion of the Home Islands? How many Allied troops would have been killed? How long would it have dragged on? Add to that Japanese behavior towards civilians in Manchuria, Korea, Burma, etc., and it's a little hard for me to to see moral injustice on the part of the US.



Rest in Peace, General.

Caught this little gem

over at CNN:



Warmer temperatures tied to wildfires, scientists say



Apparently it's again tied to global warming. What's conspicuously absent, however, is any discussion of our forestry and land-management policies. This stood out to me a bit:

Those plants grow back quickly after a fire, and several species of wildflowers only grow in areas that have burned, Rocca said.

Swetnam said smaller, surface fires are good for forests because they destroy shrubs and other brush without hurting trees.

What I sense is missing is a discussion of how the controlled burns of past eras have been banned, thanks largely to the environmental movement. I can't claim to know a ton about it, but I've heard folks talk about it on the radio.



So I'd only ask this - is it possible that the environmental horror we're now supposedly doomed to suffer has been caused in part by enviromentalism? I imagine there are some who are crying over the destruction of so many trees. Yet the same types have argued that we can't manage things properly because of the trees. So now we've lost the trees, billions of dollars, people's entire existences, and actual lives.



Yep, smart policy there.

The heavens opened

officially on Thursday. Someone lost their job, and it was a long time coming. Four years or more of incompetence and indifference came to a head, and the head on the block was theirs.



I suppose I should have more sympathy, but they brought it on themselves. I didn't care much for this person personally, but I for one could've managed with them if they put the slightest effort into their work. My interactions with them were peripheral, but the few direct efforts I had to deal with did not impress me. This person was full of buzzwords and superior attitude, followed by lack of action and complete ignorance.



Others I talked to felt bad for this person, but I can't bring myself to. Be sure your sin will find you out, and you can bet it did. I wonder why it took so long, but other people have more patience with this kind of thing than I do.



The upshot of all this is more work for me. I fully intend to try and force the issue to bring with it commensurate title and financial rewards, but I need to be patient about that kind of thing here. I also feel there's some tension and not a little confusion reigning right now, so I think I need to let certain things said to me kind of slide off my back. With any luck things will smooth out in a few weeks, and we can make some progress.



I see this as a tremendous opportunity, despite the immense additional workload it will bring. Things couldn't possibly have been worse, so we have nowhere to go but up.

Storm Clouds Are Brewin'

But they are hopefully bringing a healthy rain that will wash away several years' worth of grime.



I can't really say anything more about it right now, but it explains (somewhat) my parsimonious postings of late.



Other, equally weighty news is also in the offing, but there's no reason I can't say anything about it. I'm just being coy. Call it snottily smug if you must, but it amounts to the same thing.



Updates will follow in their appropriate time.

Interesting bit of History

up for grabs:



Rare Magna Carta to be sold at Sotheby's in NYC



I've never liked the popular impression that this was a constitution in the sense to which we understand it today. A la the reporter's comment "The Magna Carta established rights of the English people and curbed the power of the king."



What it established (and no, I haven't read it in ages) was the rights and privileges of a select class of people vis-a-vis their feudal obligations to their lord, and the limits of his authority. As a foundation document laying the groundwork for basic rights of man, perhaps, but hardly a declaration of freedom for all citizens. I'd personally consider it akin to limiting the power of central government, and providing more autonomy to the other rich, violent jerks keeping the average citizen impoverished and beholden. And yes, I oversimplify, but it's a blog folks, not a dissertation.



In any event, it's yours for a piddling $30 mil.

Ya know what?

People really like chocolate.



The kids' school does an annual chocolate sale to raise money. Given the cost of tuition, I find that a little ridiculous, but OK. Sell $500 worth of sugary crap, earn a prize worth about a buck-fifty on the open market. For the last two years, I have resisted bringing any to work - I feel like it's annoying people.



It seems people like being annoyed.



I left a box of 40 bars (at $1/each) upstairs in the kitchen here at the office at about 9AM. When I last checked it at about 2PM, there were five bars left. More importantly, the box (when full) was mostly almond, which I dislike. Of the 5 remaining bars, none were almond, so I guess the huckster company behind all of this (part of Reader's Digest, apparently) knew exactly what they were doing.



On top of all that, my dad took three bars last week back home to my brother's kids. Oldest niece called up that night placing an order for another 36 for her and her friends. So pop is picking up another box at the kids' school right about now. Any leftovers will be brought back here tomorrow.



I have to wonder - would people normally buy all this crap, or do they soothe their consciences about eating candy by saying it's going to a good cause? Either way, I've got a pocket full of singles and my kids are in line for a cheap, lead painted Chinese toy that will break the first day.

Every time

you think you've seen it all, here comes more silliness:



Glamorous politician wants law to allow 7-year itch



Leaving aside that I don't find a fifty year old, twice divorced libertine to be glamorous, these are the kinds of crazy things that come out of people's mouths when they're interested in attention more than substance. I don't know if she's serious about marriages only legally lasting seven years. I don't much care if she is. Clearly, though, there are a lot of nutballs in the world, and unfortunately too many of them get elected.



I don't suppose we could institute a seven-year lifespan on politicians, could we?

Laugh of the Day

Dan Rather sues CBS, Viacom for $70M



Ole' Dan thinks he got the shaft from CBS for their "intentional mishandling" of the aftermath of the story he chose to run, despite the holes in it the size of a National Guard jet.



What's the Frequency, Kenneth, indeed.

Oh, and By the By...

Shana Tovah to all and sundry. May we all be blessed with a happy, healthy, and sweet new year.

More Conversations

Less peculiar, but more welcome. Got an email from Mrs. Skinny's cousin, who is over in Afghanistan doing the police-type work he used to do in the Great Northwest. He's just looking for Taliban instead of more home-grown ne'er do wells.



Cousin is, as the rest of that particular branch of the family tree, one of the most decent people I've ever me in my life. Well educated, well read, and a lot of fun to hang out with. I should think of him every day, but I don't, which is sad. He's certainly risking his life, though he said I need to look out for myself far more than he does. He travels around with a troop of Polish airborne guys, which he claims is like riding around with a legally armed motorcycle gang.



All the same, I worry about him, and hope he stays safe. It's worse for people with husbands and fathers overseas I grant you, but he's still family and he's a long way from home. Mind you, he says he's in great shape - toting 50 lb. packs around 7,000 feet above sea level is one solution to staying fit, but I'm not sure we all need to head to Downtown Kandahar just to get healthy.



Anyway, I've got a small piece of my heart over in harm's way, so add a thought or prayer for him if you've a mind to.

Strange Conversations

I'm just back in the office after an offsite meeting, the door is closed, and somebody knocks.



There is New Executive Recently Promoted, doing a tour of the building. NERP asks for a brief tour, then says "how do you know when all this stuff is ready for you to take?"



Well, here's a pretty how-de-do.



So I explain briefly about Records Managers and how they feed things to archivists, and see to it that records make it through their life cycle, and end up in the archives when they're ready.



Mind you, I've been asking about getting an RM here for 5 years, so it's a little shocking to have such a conversation out of the blue. I don't know if this will lead to anything, but I'm glad somebody took an interest for five minutes.

Science!

Toddler Study Proves Humans Outsmart Apes



"In other Sciency-type stuff, Apes clearly still lead by a wide margin of intelligence over reporters and headline writers."

Don't you Hate When that Happens?

Study: Wrong fish used to save species



You're all set with a 5/8" fish, and it turns out you needed the 1/2".