Friday, June 5, 2009

The Captain's Utility Belt


Now that I have one more thing on my belt, I started thinking about all of the stuff I regularly carry on my belt or in my pocket.

  • Cell phone

  • Pager

  • Gerber multi-tool

  • Insulin pump

  • Pocket knife

And when I'm at work, add:
  • Flashlight

  • Two-way radio

Oh, and I always have my wallet and keys on me. Not quite Batman level, yet, but I'm getting there.

Becoming a Cyborg


Well, I had my insulin pump put on this morning. So far it's seems to be working all right, but it's definitely going to take some getting used to. I'm still very conscious of its presence and I keep worrying that I'm going to pull the tubing out or accidentally push the wrong button. Changing clothes after work was interesting. I could have suspended it for two minutes while I did so, but I decided to leave it on to see how that was. I set the pump down on my dresser, but then had to be careful not to accidentally step too far back. Maybe next time, I'll just disconnect it. We'll see.

Tonight should be interesting as I'll have to learn how to get comfortable sleeping with the thing. Tomorrow, I get to disconnect it for my shower and reconnect it afterward. In fact, since this thing is my new constant companion, I'll have to learn how to do everything with it. Damn thing will be closer than my shadow.

Still, I'm sure that I will eventually come to really love it.

Sunday, May 31, 2009

Type 1 Diabetes and Life Expectancy

It's probably because I have type 1 diabetes myself, but the fact that Sonia Sotomayor having it has been raised as a concern irks me. By all accounts she manages her condition quite well. Even if she has a life seven to ten years shorter than average, she is only 54 and should put in a lot of decent years on the bench. This is not even close to being a valid reason to question her ability to serve on the Supreme Court. Of course, other attacks on her have been much worse.

Weekly Music Video

This goofy song always makes me smile.

Todd Rundgren - "Bang on the Drum All Day"

Weekly Secret



PostSecret

Comic Book Economics

Admit it. You've been sitting around thinking to yourself, "I wish their was some serious discussion about the economics of comic book worlds." Well, your wish has come true. Ecocomics has you covered. Highlights include:

Tragically, most mutants use their powers to either save the world or terrorize it. At least this is the popular depiction in Marvel Comics. Imagine what Magneto could do if he worked in construction. For one thing, all of those New York City public works project would have their completion dates moved up from 2018 to roughly five minutes from now. But instead, he spends his time sinking Russian submarines and making asteroid bases to live in. For the love of God, the man has the power to build himself a high-tech home in space. He could repair the Hubbell telescope with no trouble whatsoever.

And:
Regardless, someone in the Canadian government was still there to provide funding for Weapon X, whatever its intended purpose may have been. And I'm sure they had to receive progress reports such as: "We created a supersoldier with a healing ability and an indestructible skeleton. And he was really cool. But then he killed all of the scientists and the guards... and he's living in the woods now. So... we need more money."

And:
Norman Osborn started as a weapons and chemical designer. But like all wealthy industrialists do in the comic book world, he decided profit margins weren't enough. And as such he began riding around on a bat-shaped glider in a green and purple outfit and started throwing pumpkin bombs. It truly boggles my mind when i consider the amount of research and development that must have gone into the creation of pumpkin-shaped explosives. Some poor R&D guy had to sit in front of his computer screen, working on plastic explosive casings while dealing with Norman standing over his shoulder and shouting, "No, it needs to be MORE ORANGE!"

It simply boggles the mind that an industrialist who had made millions designing lucrative compounds, weapons, and technology would then perform an engineering about-face and decide that the best means of long distance transportation would be a halloween-themed glider that uses foot-grips to secure the rider. That's right, Norman Osborn expects a commando to be secured to a glider flying 800 miles an hour by the same technology that keeps boots connected to skis. Not to mention the fact that Norman Osborn decides that he is the best person to use this new technology. A company of hundreds spends millions of dollars to create a new series of weapons only to have the company CEO steal it all and fly around new york wearing a Halloween costume. In this economic downturn, it seems truly tragic for a company to nearly go bankrupt because their fourth-quarter profits were spent "trying to kill Spider-Man."

Check it out and be enlightened.