Wednesday, August 25, 2010

learning to run, step 1: learn to walk

So one time a couple of months ago, I saw a bus come early up ahead and ran to catch it.  I caught the bus at a traffic light.  But when I mentioned this offhand, everybody (= mom & dad) rightfully flipped out over it.  If I have any other head trauma, it's going to be worse than last time, way worse.  So have said all my docs since day 1.  (that must have been a nice welcome to my parents at my hospital, "Where's our son, he was just in a car wreck"... "He's in a coma in ward 4, and if he ever takes another head trauma, it's going to be way worse."  Okay, so maybe not since day one)  And I'm ever so slowly realizing that if I miss the bus, there are these things called "taxis".
But anyway, I made it a goal to get into running form.  So that's something we're working on much at my gym, A.S.I. (attending a gym owned by the hospital allows you to fool with such nonsense... safely)  We spent a whole day just on how the foot hits, rolls, and comes up.  Apparently, I've been doing it wrong the last few years, and would've had major skeletal system "issues" later in life.  "You're telling me I can't even walk right?"  (and I pay them for such abuse)
And on top of the ongoing work at A.S.I., I'm going to start training at the FIRST institute (Furman Institute of Running and Scientific Training).  (A.S.I. set that up) ("Furman" sound familiar?  That was my first college, back in the last century-- oh god does that make me feel old)  FIRST is a program designed to train folks to run marathons-- huh, maybe, that's an excellent goal, but I've got a lot of ground to cover first.  (wait, I've got a lot of ground to cover before I start running to cover a lot of ground?)  I showed up for my evaluation last week.  I was told to meet with a Dr. Moss.  I was like "Dr. ... Ray Moss?"  Weird how little snippets of memory come back.  I don't remember it, but Jeff 1.0 must have taken a class from him.
It turned out to be Dr. Ray Moss indeed, and he greeted us, and said "I already know your medical history, let's get down to work."  After watching me on a treadmill for about 10 minutes, he had my number PEGGED.  Wow.  Knees weren't coming up enough, right arm didn't swing.  And a lot more other stuff I can't think of right now.
He really brought home "Gotta learn to walk right before you can run."  So... we shall see... he's building a hanging harness for me to walk/run in while my gym and I try to mold my gait to make it look pretty.  But this is pretty sweet-- FIRST has never done therapeutic work before, apparently my gym sweet-talked 'em into it!


(by the way, just so I know folks are listening to these ramblings, please shoot me an email if you read this, I'm pretty sure you just gotta hit Reply)

whoops, my bad

In the last post about Google Voice<--->landlines, half of the link wasn't set right.  It all good now if you visit the blog post, but if you're getting this blog by email, I can't modify an email already sent, so make sure you click on "ON THIS JUICE", not "CLICK HERE FOR THE SCOOP".

THANK GOOGLE FOR FREE CALLS IN THE U.S. (& CANADA) (in 2010)

OH MAN this is so cool!  So when Google Voice opened, I had to sign up.  I blogged earlier about the many nice features that the Google Voice service provides.  As of today (8-25) (-2010), if you have a Google Voice account, to the right of your Gmail Inbox is a link that says "Call phone" and lets you put in a phone number to call.

So why is that special?  Isn't that what Google Voice, or for that matter, phones do?  Well, sorta... except this time, NO PHONES NEEDED!  The voice part of the call comes out of your computer speakers, and your computer microphone picks up your voice.  You can call either a phone (for free in the U.S. & Canada, at least free for 2010) or have a free video conference computer-to-computer!

So why is that special?  Because I only have a cell phone, which currently gets 1,000 minutes a month (with no additional charge, at least).  That's roughly half an hour total each day.  So even though I'm stingey with the length of my phone calls, I bump up pretty close to the limit every month, like above 90% usage.  So yes, I use the heck out of my Google Voice account... for 1,000 minutes a month and no more, since I'm using my cell phone to access Google Voice, I mean it is my only phone. BUT WITH THIS NEW HOTNESS, YOU ARE NO LONGER TIED TO A PHONE!!!  I just had Gmail open, and used MY LAPTOP to call my parents' home phone!  WHOA!  Then, for a coup de grace, my folks & I had a video conference!  PC-to-PC phone calls have been around for a while, a la Skype.  But the new hotness is PC-to-phone calls!  I don't believe this has ever been done before!  The PC-to-PC video conferencing, yeah, sure, that's Skype all over again.  But since home phones are unlimited minutes, this amounts to calling home phones AS MUCH AS YOU WANT!


Friday, August 20, 2010

Asheville vacation, cont'd

Didn't have at the time this video of us on Segways.  They were so easy and fun.  I can't wait until they cost less than a million dollars.  [Jeff Googles...]  Oh, they only cost "$6,000 to $7,000 depending on what model and what package is purchased."  Okay, cool.  Anyone know of a bank that does fourth mortgages?  Sheesh...

Thursday, August 19, 2010

yay, celebrate like a bearded hippie... well, like me. :-)

Posted: 19 Aug 2010 06:39 AM PDT

Globe and Mail

US withdraws military from Iraq
The Guardian
After seven-and-a-half years, the final US combat troops have pulled out off Iraq – two weeks ahead of Barack Obama's 31 August deadline. However, around 50000 US service personnel remain in the country in an 'advice and assist' role,...
US troops leave Iraq: A local's viewBBC News
Time to tally cost as US combat troops exit IraqSydney Morning Herald
ANALYSIS-Will Obama keep US troops in Iraq beyond 2011?Reuters
AFP -TIME -The Australian
all 1,677 news articles »
BUT "around 50,000 US service personnel remain in the country in an 'advice and assist' role, primarily responsible for training Iraqi security forces."  What happened to "the final US combat troops have pulled out of Iraq"?  Oh yeah, right, we also left some fighter planes, and jet fuel, and bombs, and all the stuff we'd need as if we were in a war, which I'm telling you we're not, so look away now please.  We may continue to choose to bomb a few targets, but that's part of operation Promote Peace and has been on the books for years, nothing to worry about.  Even though the soldiers are here, just as they were yesterday, I'm telling you that today, they've been instructed NOT to kill people.

We'll see... it may be legit, it may be politics-- only time will tell.  Not that I'm a skeptic or anything.  

And to the servicemen and women, THANK YOU.  It is a habit of Jeff 2.0's to thank every public service person I run across-- firemen, ambulance crew, police, and armed forces.  I believe everyone should get into this habit-- it's their job to watch your back, even though in some cases it may be hazardous to their health.

Thursday, August 12, 2010

that was cool-- a trip back to Asheville

So I've got a week's break from schooling, and we took a 2-day trip up to Asheville, where I grew up.  It turns out, I like Asheville!  It was a very cool trip.

We took a Segway tour for a couple hours, which was very cool!  The only time any of the three of us had ever been near a Segway was on the last vacation in Hotlanta.  There was a Segway dealer, and we only went as far as trying them out in the store.  But this time, we were zooming along streets & sidewalks.  And the coolest part for me was something else-- so our tour guide was in front, then me, then dad, then mom.  So when I wanted to say something to dad, I would turn my head until I was looking over my left shoulder.  One time, I did that, and that caused my to accidentally veer left some... until I hit a curb.  BAM!  Everything came to a sudden stop, throwing me off.  Now here's the cool bit-- my reflexes actually kicked in.  I fell sideways, but the important thing is that I threw out my hand & prevented (another) head injury.  3 years ago, I didn't have that reflex, I'd just fall like a timber tree.  But I was able to react correctly, and get up laughing after a minute.  Whew!  Sweet...

Then we drove by the house I'd grown up in, 42 Springwood Dr.  We'd visited once before in the last few years, but only to look at the driveway.  But I wanted to see the inside, so we did a reverse lookup to get the phone number, and it was disconnected.  Phooey.  "Well guys, why don't we just knock on the door and ask?  The worst they can do is say no."  So we drove up and knocked, and the guy was the one who bought the house from my folks 6 years ago.  Surprisingly, he immediately knew who we were and invited us in.  It was just cool to say "... and I think there was a table here..." and be right!  Slick!  I'm realizing more and more that although 3 years ago, I'd say I'd lost all my memories from pre-May of '07, I didn't lose them, they were just submerged to slowly resurface over time.

And we had dinner at The Fiddlin' Pig, a really cool new restaurant that features live bluegrass while you eat barbecue.  Cool!  And they had a dance floor, which only the kids were using.  It was a good chuckle to watch one girl do only ballet moves to bluegrass, and one 2-year-old who thought that "dancing" meant "run very fast in large circles."  Heh.

And it was very cool to see that right of the heart of downtown, they've made into a nice park with a stage for concerts, and water fountains shooting water straight up for the kids to run through... called Splashville!

Saturday, August 7, 2010

well, it's official now, I've moved

That was a big move, big indeed.  How big?  Well, my new address has the same state as my old address, so nope, I didn't change states, I like South Cackalacky, even though we were the first state to secede.  (everybody makes mistakes, it's how well you learn from them that counts)  So not the state then, the city?  No, no, same city, love this city.  Street address?  No, no, exact same street address as before.  So what DID change?  


Well, where before my street address ended in "apt. 2E", it now ends in "apt. 2C".  Yeah, that's just across the hall.  Big whoop, right? Why did I pack up all of my furniture and clothes and stuff just to move across the friggin' hallway?  Well it is a big whoop for me since this apartment has only one bedroom, and half the bedrooms equals half the cost.  I can dig THAT.  Now the cool part about this studio is that the balcony is RIGHT ON MAIN STREET.  I CAN DIG THAT TOO.  Christmas parade, I've got front-row seats, on the deck if it's warm or through the bedroom window if it's cold.  It's just like Navin R. Johnson once famously (or not) said, "Things are going to start happening to me now..."

Friday, August 6, 2010

a quick (well, 3:56) chuckle

Someone just sent me this, and it's always good to share a laugh: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QsIMAYphxY4  (BTW, when they refer to Kevin Bacon randomly, it's a reference to this game, which led me here)

Monday, August 2, 2010

good comic: Rubes Cartoons

I loved the Far Side growing up.  I've found one that's somewhat similar: Rubes Cartoons.  You can read up to 8 at a time here.

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In between Q & S is Arrr!

My pirate name is:
Captain Jack Kidd
Even though there's no legal rank on a pirate ship, everyone recognizes you're the one in charge. Even though you're not always the traditional swaggering gallant, your steadiness and planning make you a fine, reliable pirate. Arr!
Get your own pirate name from piratequiz.com.
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