Month: February 2019

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.009

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • As an RN, my day looks like this: Wake at 0500 (or 0400 if working out). Out the door at 0620. End my shift and leave at 2000 or 2030 (8:30pm). Walk in the door and decontaminate and change. Inhale food. Watch approximately 15 minutes of news then bed. Repeat x3 days.
  • The flu season has not yet peaked.
  • The Grand Canyon has a new Junior park ranger. She’s 103. I’ve only seen the Canyon once and it was identical to the movie Vacation. We were driving to Oklahoma in the winter. My sister and I begged to detour to see it. We litterally pulled in, got out of the car and looked for fifteen minutes and left because it was so cold.
  • Netflix is usually a wasteland of straight to DVD films, but we stumbled upon this one by accident. The Way with Martin Sheen. Excellent.
  • I’m in search of a small (pocket sized) penlight that has a low lumen level for eye exams. Every one I’ve used so far doesn’t survive being dropped or dies within a month or so.
  • I’m fasinated by how massive the diet industry is. People literally are desparate for someone to tell them what to eat. And what they seem to really want is the magic bullet – “Eat this super food for 12 days and loose 25 pounds!”
  • I’m not making fun of a sad mental health issue (well, I guess I am), but if you’re going to end it all by jumping off a building… make sure it’s tall enough. The end outcome may not be what you wanted. Pro tip, five stories isn’t high enough.

Song of the day: Kid Rock “Bawitdaba”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.008

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Wrapping up... So weather isn’t getting more extreme, the models are wildly inaccurate, Tuvalu isn’t sinking, the troposphere isn’t warming, and we had a 19 year pause in warming. The business of science is to be skeptical. At minimum all this should make folks think hmmm, maybe there’s more factors here than we originally thought. I’m open – please change my mind. What exactly is the crisis?
  • Was listening to an older podcast with Tim Kennedy. The obesity epidemic in this country has gotten so bad the military doesn’t have a large enough pool of people to select from for special units. This seems like sort of an issue, no?
  • Same podcast I learned that Josef Mengele, the angel of death Nazi, died of old age and a stroke on the beach in Brazil. That’s disconcerting. I’m going to have to watch his show now – Hunting Hitler. I had no idea that we actually don’t know if Hitler died in that bunker as we’ve been taught.
  • I sincerely hope the current North Korea summit goes well. The last thing we need right now is to get in a pissing match with a nutcase.
  • Some interesting thoughts from Tim Pool. There are more people and states in the country that identify as conservative. However there are more registered democrats than republicans. Trumps approval ratings are up and the view people have of America is up. I don’t see AOC’s rantings, the open borders thing, or Bernie being a positive thing for securing Michigan, Ohio, or New Mexico. Very early still.
  • A friend introduced me to this game – Geoguessr. Be careful, it’s addictive.

Song of the day: Sugar Ray “Fly”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.007

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Continuing… The earth has warmed – this is not debatable. The warming has been roughly eight tenths of a degree Celsius. And shockingly, this is more or less what greenhouse gases demonstrate in laboratory conditions. What has not happened is the model predictions of runaway exponential temperature increase. So, change my mind – where is the crisis?
  • The new skis are the bomb. Very happy with my choice. Volkl M5 Mantras. Of course, calf deep powder didn’t hurt. The ski is a touch beyond my skill level, which is a good thing.
  • To the best that I can tell I have been in ketosis. Yesterday’s test was after two fried eggs with cream cheese and avocado, followed by four hours of hard skiing. Ketones were 1.5 mmol/l. (suggested range is 0.5 to 3)
  • As an RN, time management is everything. I’m not good at it and it drives me nuts. I’m going to make a full press effort to tame this beast. The conventional wisdom says to implement hourly rounding. The theory is that if you’ve addressed pain and toileting, you’re less likely to be interrupted by call lights. Hmmm. We’ll see.
  • I can’t find anything I agree with AOC on, but she gets social media. Politicians on both sides need to figure this shit out or she’s going to clean their clocks.
  • For the tech dorks, a great blog on security. In my mind I’m still a tech guy, but most teenagers have surpassed me at this point.
  • It’s shocking to me how primitive vehicles are in terms of software, connectivity and interacting with mobile devices.
  • Hard not to laugh at this meme of Senator Klobuchar emerging from a team meeting.

Song of the day: Rebelution “Inhale Exhale”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.006

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Continuing from yesterday… There has been NO warming of the troposphere since the ’50’s. This is the exact opposite of what the models predicted. Usually in basic science that means go back to the drawing board, ’cause maybe we don’t understand what’s going on. Convince me this is wrong.
  • Shockingly, I haven’t seen any of the Oscar nominated movies. Meh.
  • I made a poor decision and drove to the mountain yesterday so I can ski the next few days. Looks like they’re going to close the road and I’ll be stuck. Work will not be happy with me.
  • I started following Dr Rhonda Patrick. I’ve never taken any supplements, but I’m now doing a daily vitamin B12, D, and Magnesium. I figure it can’t hurt.
  • Stealing from today’s Daily Stoic, I particularly like this line from Marcus Aurelius, who wrote, “You’re afraid of death because you won’t be able to do this anymore?”
  • It’s still hard to believe we’re going to have a Tour this year without Paul Sherwin.
  • Speaking of cycling, I’m more and more convinced this country needs more of Rule 5. Chopper will explain it to you. Oddly, Australia is not a country I would have thought needed this.
  • Day five, no Instagram story. Maybe tomorrow.

Song of the day: Matisyahu “One Day”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.005

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Extreme hot weather, and the number and intensity of hurricanes, tornados, and wildfires, has not increased. Please change my mind that this is not true. Because if it isn’t… how is climate becoming more “extreme”?
  • The first bendable phones will be pricy gimmicks. The bendable screen technology however, will fundamentally change how we interact with all devices – not just phones.
  • I have new skis, and it looks like I won’t be able to get to the mountain because there’s too much snow. This is a cruel irony.
  • Delirium Tremens, or the DT’s, are a serious thing. Dealt with two of ’em yesterday. Trust me, you don’t want to go down that road. If you currently have a drink every day… it may be time to take a break.
  • I stumbled on a video showing the trek to the Everest base camp last night. I don’t think I’d ever do it, but it is intriguing.
  • I started using a grocery list app. Why did I not do this before?
  • I’ve never understood why the first planetary outpost should be mars? Trialing technology on the moon seems far more practical than waiting for ~ a year+ travel time to mars. Cool to see a private company getting the ball rolling.
  • Still haven’t done an Instagram story. Can’t get past the awkward, self-consiousness of talking out loud to my phone. Maybe tomorrow.

Song of the day: Portugal. The man. “Woodstock”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.004

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • My new favorite way of thinking critically about things is a statement from Scott Adams. When you read or hear something that doesn’t jibe with your point of view, ask yourself – what would it take to change my mind?
  • Sympathy level for Hoda Muthana… zero.
  • Something Tim Ferris said got me doubting I was in ketosis. Per my new monitor I’m at 1.3 mmol/l this morning. Not definitive and needs more data, but I feel better that I’m on the right track. Next up, blood lipids.
  • A patient had an odd skin blemish on the forehead that turned into a melanoma that metastasized in the brain. I will be making an appointment with a dermatologist today.
  • Yo, politicians and journalists who were early to jump on the Smollett issue – if you aren’t publicly apologizing or admitting you were wrong, you’re an intellectual fraud and a blindly biased hack.
  • My new skis are ready today. I’m giddy like a little schoolgirl.
  • A week until I hit Hawaii where it’s currently 72, which is not the same as the current 14. Damn global warming.

Song of the day: Dirty Heads “Swim Team”

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.003

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Socialism and open borders vs build the wall. It’s going to be an interesting 2020. Who can scare their base enough to turn out?
  • I fucking hate drama. Don’t have time for that. I deal with real drama every day at work – new paraplegics, brain tumors, spinal surgeries, etc… if you don’t fall into one of those type of categories, then your drama is bullshit. Life shouldn’t be that complicated. Pet your dog, work hard, go for a run, eat more salads, try to be a good person. If someone or something is causing things to be difficult – cut it out of your life.
  • I’ve been wanting to post to Instagram stories for several weeks now, but have been too chicken. As the saying goes, I have a face for radio. Tomorrow. Definitely going to do it tomorrow.
  • I love watching the media flail around and eat their own. It’s still shocking to me that so many of them can’t see the bias. Every day you need to be exposing yourself to different opinions or you’ll be stuck in an echo chamber.
  • I ordered a ketone monitor today. Need to decide if I should be worried about my blood lipids.
  • If you haven’t seen it, watch Idiocracy. We’re moving closer and closer to it every day.

Song of the day: Alice Merton, Funny Business

Cool, Daily Life, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.002

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • Listened to a fantastic podcast about twitter and general journalism group think. The interviewee is a journalist I wasn’t familiar with, Tim Pool. Following him now.
  • Our debt is now $22 trillion. The debt service alone is greater than the federal budget of Canada and Mexico.
  • I find it odd we’re willing to dump billions of dollars in aid to foreign countries… but not do the same for failing cities like Detroit.
  • There’s a guy who walks a three legged dog through my alleyway every morning. There must be some deep meaning there.
  • We had a bonfire in the snow last night with my nephew. I was kinda grumpy about it because the temp was in the teens. We ended up having a lot of fun. Sometimes the simplest things are the best.
  • For the aforementioned bonfire, we used a Solo stove. Can’t speak highly enough about these. Great product.
  • This is now the third patient I’ve had that decided to kill themselves via a gun… and ended up paralyzed instead. I can’t imagine mentally making the first decision, let alone the emotional weight of waking up and finding yourself even worse off. That’s heavy.
  • It’s hard to describe how happy it makes me to spend time cross country skiing with my dog. Putting the little skis on him is a pain though.

Song of the day: You know why – Trent Cantrelle

Cool, Lists

Notions Of Cool V.001

A random list of things and shower thoughts that an old guy (who still thinks he’s 20) finds cool or worth pondering.

  • YouTube has ruined my attention span. 3-5 minutes max. Beyond that and I’m fast forwarding or moving on.
  • Filed under toxic masculinity, the Kelly Turnbull series by Kurt Schlichter is worth a read. An almost comical parody of the left that’s too much at times, but Turnbull is a good modern day Dirty Harry.
  • Biolayne is a meathead, bodybuilder, powerlifter who has a PhD. Great channel for breaking down the science behind diets, etc…
  • I just re-watched the Matrix trilogy. The first one… amazing. The next two, meh.
  • Greta Van Susteren is a journalist that never connected with me back when she had her own big time show. Stumbled on her Twitter and she’s surprisingly balanced.
  • I went skiing yesterday and was scared to go down through a new route in the trees because it was foggy and I couldn’t see. I’m still mad at myself for being such a sissy boy. What was the worst that could happen?
  • Ann Coulter is correct. Trump signing the spending bill was the death blow to his presidency. He just gave Pelosi all the power.
  • I wasted an hour debating to buy a small carry-on wheelie or a minimalist travel backpack. I’m still paralyzed. I rarely travel.

Song of the day: Legalize The Herb (no, I don’t smoke other than the occasional cigar)

Government, Politics, Solving the wrong problem

I Just Don’t Care


You see Bob, it’s not that I’m lazy, it’s that I just don’t care.

Peter Gibbons

I don’t care what your cause is. Saving the whales. Education. Transportation. Border walls. Healthcare. Wars. Infrastructure. Climate change. Everyone has their hot button interests. I’m sure they’re all worthy in some way. There’s just one problem. WE CAN’T PAY FOR ALL OF THEM.

As someone once said, eventually you run out of other peoples money. Whatever topic is your burning issue, the one that gets you to fire up the Facebook meme machine… great, more power to you. Advocate the hell out of it. But what I do want you to do as a responsible citizen, is tell me what you’re going to cut to pay for it.

You don’t get to just add spending any more. You want to fund research for the mating habits of the snowy plover? Great! Tell me what existing program is less important that you’ll cut funding for.

Could you imagine? We freeze local, state, and federal funding at it’s current point. Every single program, existing and proposed, has to compete for a fixed number of dollars.

Sorry, I’m under the weather and may have had too much cough medicine. I nodded off and had a weird vision of government. Carry on.