8/30/2004

An interesting site…

So in my quest for more knowledge about broken knees, I stumbled on this.

sparta at 5:07 pm

Comments (0)

Things the doctors don’t tell you about broken bones….

(1) You will have chills and sweats.

(2) Your children, if you have them, will become their most annoying.

(3) Your pain meds will work in strange ways; sometimes working quickly and effectively - and sometimes not.

(4) You will get bored doing nothing…you may have thought you’d like to have a week of not running errands, cooking, cleaning, doing laundry, giving the kids their baths, putting the kids to bed, driving everywhere….but when you *can’t* do it for a week, then two, then three…suddenly you’d love nothing more than to go upstairs and clean a toilet! *sigh*

(5) Your cast will find some other skin somewhere to rub raw or scratch.

(6) Even a colored cast doesn’t make much of a fashion statement.

(7) Watching people grimace as they overhear your story about your break will get old, too.

To be continued…..

sparta at 5:06 pm

Comments (1)

8/27/2004

A happy note

Phillp tested for and received his orange belt today! Yay, Phillip. I was so proud of him - and you should have seen him break that board with his front snap kick. Wow!

sparta at 9:27 pm

Comments (1)

More info and so on on Chuck

Go here.

And here.

sparta at 10:08 am

Comments (0)

We’ve just lost a good friend….

Here is a picture at a friend’s website. His name is Chuck Yerkes - and tonight he was killed in a wreck. He rides a motorcycle, and some SOB apparently cut him off and there was a wreck. We don’t know all the details yet, but he is sorely missed already.

sparta at 1:04 am

Comments (1)

8/26/2004

Ow… ow.. .ow…ow….

Okay - here it is:

Pam’s broken knee/leg FAQ:

Q: What happened?

A: I broke my knee.

Q: Broke your knee?

A: Yes.

Q: I didn’t think you could do that. Do you mean your kneecap?

A: No, I mean my knee. You see, the top part of your tibia and the bottom part of your femur are also part of your knee. I have a crack in the top part of my right tibia, therefore, I broke my knee.

Q: How did you do that?

A: I was engaging in some no-contact sparring in Tae Kwon Do. I had finished one kicking combination, and was starting another, when I heard a pop and then a crunch - and then I was kissing mat.
Q: Do you need surgery?

A: No, not at this time. As long as all goes well with the healing process, there will be no need.

Q: So you’re in a cast?


A: Yes, it’s blue - Superman blue. Here’s its picture:

Q: How long will you been in the cast?

A: I will be in a cast for 4 weeks; then a brace for 4 weeks.

Q: What happens after that?

A: Therapy - lots of therapy I imagine.

Q: Will you go back to Tae Kwon Do?

A: Right now, I don’t honestly know…..

You may submit other questions if you don’t find them here - and I’ll try to answer them soon.

sparta at 11:16 am

Comments (1)

8/23/2004

Say what you want….

…but Alice Cooper’s a pretty cool guy. See this commercial from Staples.

sparta at 12:33 pm

Comments (1)

You’ve probably seen this before, but what the hey…

Go here. (Oh, and P.S.: I’m working on something very cool - which I hope to post today.)

sparta at 12:26 pm

Comments (0)

For those who watch Megas…or those who just want a new background….

I couldn’t find or load any Megas background images I could find, so I made my own! Find them HERE! Yay me!

sparta at 12:09 pm

Comments (0)

8/21/2004

Yay!

I got my testing papers last night! I can’t believe it! Master Lee said he could tell I’d been practicing (plus he’d caught me in the smaller classroom a couple of times) and he knew that my family had had some ups-and-downs and that’s why I myself hadn’t been to class as much as my son. He was so encouraging during class, complementing me on my form, punches, blocks, and kicks - it was great! Soooo - maybe next Saturday I can post that both Phillip and I are orange belts!!! :-)

sparta at 12:38 pm

Comments (0)

8/20/2004

Phillip plays the violin!

Phillip’s lessons prior to school have gone very well. He will be taking further lessons - just during school time (and some before school time). He’s doing quite well and is proud of himself - as he should be. But as with all things - little brother wants in, too! Mrs. Borkowski (the music teacher) has let John pluck some bass strings, which thrilled him - but not like today when she brought a small violin (still too big for him, but closer to his size) and helped him play it. He was in total heaven! She told me that based on his reactions and so on he’s ready to start a program. She has a number she’s going to give me of a lady who works with pre-school kids. Wow! Can we handle two violins in the house at once? I don’t know - I guess we’ll find out.

In other news - Phillip got the teacher he wanted for 3rd grade - I guess we’ll see how things go.

sparta at 11:44 am

Comments (3)

This is just so sad it defies description

I don’t know if all of you have come across this story, but it truly a sad, sad situation. How does a person get to a point that they are literally fused to a couch. Now, I know from reading the article that she feared injury again, but come on. Don’t you think the one sister who did occasionally go over would bring a doctor with her?? Don’t you think that sister might have tried to get some kind of medical guardianship and check her into a hospital for depression at the very least?! I just can’t fathom how you let someone live like that regardless of what they say or threaten. Sorry - just had to vent on that.

sparta at 11:39 am

Comments (0)

8/17/2004

I’ve said it before….

…and I’ll say it again. A Kerry presidency could be the worst thing to happen in a long time. David Limbaugh asks an interesting question in his article with regards to the Swift Boat vets’ claims. I have an answer: doing nothing, just like they were told to do (or they decided to do) because they want their boy in office. This article at Benador Associates voices what I’ve been asking for months. And set of book reviews by the Claremont Institute makes some very good points. And here’s an older article by David Limbaugh.

Well, I could come up with a list of article a mile long, and I’m probably preaching to the choir about all this anyway……

Of course, blogs like this are the media’s worst nightmare, aren’t they? So I’m happy to have spread this information if for no other reason than to make the head of the man in charge of the L. A. Times (or N.Y. Times or Washington Post; any one would be good) go red and explode. Their noticeable absence means only one thing: they’re Kerry’s men. Look, if a group of men came forward and said they had served with Bush, and Bush lied about this mission and filed false reports and so on….it would be front page news for days. They would have the bloodhounds out in full force - they’d dig Bush’s jock strap from 1970 out of a landfill in order to prove the truth; they would shout out every little finding at the top of their lungs! And the personal questions to Bush at press conferences would be unrelenting! Yet, strangely, here’s this man who wants to be President - and these allegations are put forth - and there’s not a peep - not a page - not a query - not a sniff (from the hounds, that is) as to what the truth really is. I find it disturbing - but not unexpected. We’ve known for quite some time where their loyalties lie. (Which is why I access multiple news sites, and none of them are CBS, NBC, CBS, CNN, or any of the newspapers. Kerry is the one who made his time in Vietnam such a centerpiece - and then is upset because his activities and performance are questioned…. Well, I know, Mr. Kerry, that it’s been a long time since you’ve been to a job interview, but let me refresh your memory. See, when you claim to have worked at a particular company and held a particular position, the company you’re interviewing with kinda has the right to ask what position you held, where, and what **specific** duties you performed….and if later it’s discovered that you lied, they also have the right to fire you. The really “sucks-to-be-you” point against you is that you have been very public about your comments and a senator for many years with all your statements on record. We can go back and trace what you said…and we are smart enough to deduce what you meant, too. It would be like your former boss having a transcript of all your sales calls - and then him giving them over to your potentially new employer. Yikes!

Well, I’ve gotten off on a bit of a rant - and we’re starting to head off on a gravel road, so to get things back on track, just let me say: voting for Kerry will “make history”*, but not the way you want.

*”Make History With Us.” is a campaign slogan of Kerry-Edwards.

sparta at 1:40 pm

Comments (3)

8/15/2004

Another couple of reasons the midwest drives me a little crazy….

Okay - so I’m in Target shopping yesterday…. I was looking at the DVDs when I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a dwarf had walked in. He looked like a rather pleasant fellow, actually, and I felt a bit embarrassed when I also noticed - by feel and by sight - that everyone around me was staring at him. Sure, I noticed he was “different” - but he’s a dwarf, not an alien with tentacles coming out of his head. Still embarrassed for the idiots around me, because they were too stupid not to be, I re-focused my attention on the DVD I was looking at. He had gone to the DVD section at the back, but then suddenly, he was standing beside me.

“Excuse me?” he said.

“Yes?” I answered, smiling.

“Could you hand me a copy of Kill Bill 2, please?”

“Sure. There you go.” I answered, handing him a copy.

And then he looked at me, catching my gaze quite purposefully, as he said, “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” I said, and off he went toward the checkout. I didn’t think about it again until this morning - but the way he said “Thank you” was, I think, for more than my handing him the DVD - it was for not gawking and staring at him. And I realized that all my life I have been around “different” people at one time or another, for various reasons, and so - I don’t find dwarves or people with Down’s strange or unusual or their presence anything to stare, gawk, or comment upon. For all that this place wants to appear cosmopolitan, they’re really not there yet. In California, a dwarf doesn’t even show up on the radar.

Another thing that gripes my monkey about this place is that there will be no more matinees during the weekdays until next summer. After all, school’s back in session and all adults have 9 to 5 jobs right - so who’d want to see a movie during the day? AUGH! I would! and so would a lot of people who either work from home - or work 2nd shift or the night shift! That’s who! Grrr… Now, to be fair, I’m sure that the larger cities have theatres open…downtown Chicago might have a few, but if *this* town wants to be hip - they’d have the theatre running normal hours…like first showing at 10:00 a.m. and last showing at something like 10 p.m. Come on - there have to be some people willing to work that late - college students come to mind. Ah, well - if you can’t beat them to your will…I guess the next step is moving.

How are all of you? You never call any more….and you certainly never send me flowers….or expensive gifts….or tributes of any kind….

sparta at 11:11 am

Comments (3)

FREE NASA!!!

It has come to my attention that the poor guys at NASA are slaves to the “protect your ass so you can keep working” treadmill. Recently they managed to pour over all the results and data regarding the latest shuttle disaster and find … NO ONE AT FAULT! This is a huge CYA maneuver.

So, in light of this, I think that all of the private companies seeking space travel should band together and BUY NASA from the government. This would be good for several reasons:

1. Those poor engineers could work with less red tape. I didn’t say -no- red tape, but less.
2. The people within NASA who don’t know what the hell they are doing would be weeded out. And CYA might still exist, but to a lesser extent. When actually profit is on the line - there’s gotta be someone accountable.
3. It would give the U.S. Treasury a bit of a boost. Cash for the purchase, and now their isn’t that agency to fund any longer.

So, what do you all think? Discuss, argue, debate…..

sparta at 6:51 am

Comments (4)

Oh, yeah - the U.N.’s the way of the future all right…(rolls eyes)

I don’t know you’ve all seen this story yet, but if this is an example of U.N. protection - other areas of Africa should be very afraid. In fact, all of us should be concerned. Bosnia/Yugoslavia also comes to mind. Funny that the people the U.N. are supposed to be helping or protecting end up getting slaughtered right under their noses.

It’s disgusting. Anyone who thinks that the U.N. will ever become the center of a one-world government is off their rocker. They couldn’t run and protect a lemonade stand, let alone the entire world. The U.N. should be DOWNgraded…immediately. They are largely useless and becoming more irrelevant.

sparta at 6:45 am

Comments (0)

8/14/2004

I hate losing things AND the new server.

Okay - those are meant to be separate things. The new server is up - so the comments should still come up quickly, etc. Yay! I love my sys admin. Literally. :-) Also, I seem to have lost our (Phil’s and mine) Cub Scout membership cards. UGH! I hate losing things. Has anyone seen them?

sparta at 1:20 pm

Comments (2)

8/12/2004

So where are they now?

The Russians believe they have found evidence that aliens saved us back in 1908 from total destruction. Um…okay…so where have they been for the last nearly 100 years. Don’t you think - if you’d saved a planet from being smooshed - you might check in on it to see how it’s doing? Just a question; I mean, I would think you might want to pop back in - once those beings were a bit more “space saavy” and say, “Hi. We saved you a few years back. How are you doing? Can we have some Pocky? or some Snickers bars? Maybe some fuel for the ol’ space ship. It’s a long way home, you know? Is there a bathroom for Zleeps?” Come on. I think the Russians are really pushing it here.

sparta at 9:59 am

Comments (1)

8/9/2004

Better than McDonald’s

Found this link to a story out of London. All I can say is that any of those jobs has to beat working at McDonald’s.

sparta at 6:11 pm

Comments (4)

8/4/2004

Spent the day at Cub Camp yesterday….

It was fun - not fun in the same way as last year - but fun. I did get an arrowhead prize for archery (yay) - and it was nice to spend that time with Phillip. I was, of course, exhausted at the end of the day - and very glad I only have 2 boys (and only 2 at home on a full-time basis). In other news, I bought a scratch-off lotto ticket and won $25…which I then used to buy DQ for the family. Gotta love that.

sparta at 10:59 pm

Comments (2)