I was the kid next door's imaginary friend.

Quotation #23513 from Michael Moncur's (Cynical) Quotations

Emo Phillips
US comedian

Memories of Russell's Birth

Russell asked Barbara and me to tell him something we remembered about his birth. It was 25 years ago, so I had to think a little bit before the memories started flowing back. And so many of them....

Here are, in no particular order (which is why I am going to use the HTML unordered list option) some of the memories I have about Russell's birth.

• We lived in Euless, but I was working on the other side of Dallas, and Barbara was concerned about not being able to find me when it was time for Russell to be born. This was way before cell phones, so we rented something called a Baby Beeper. Russell asked me if we knew the sex of our children and I told him I couldn't remember. I suppose we had a good clue Russell was going to be a boy since I rented a blue beeper instead of a pink one.
• I had gone to visit a client with a co-worker after getting the beeper. We were returning to the office and were stuck on Central Expressway in Dallas. I managed to get off the expressway (I imagine at 3 in the morning, it would have lived up to the express part of the name) and I was able to find a payphone at a service station. As it turned out, it was a false alarm. Barbara was as surprised as I was that the beeper went off.
  
• Russell was our third child, the first to be born in the hospital that was just down the road from where we lived. Our two previous children were born in hospitals in Fort Worth.
• James (then aged 4 and Rachel aged 2) were given a special tour of the maternity ward before Russell was born. As I recall, they both got to wear miniature surgical gowns. They assured us that if we were not able to get to the hospital on time, they now were trained enough to help deliver the baby. Luckily, their services were not required.
• A few weeks before the due date, I was asked to substitute as the teacher for an early morning church class (seminary). After finishing my teaching assignment at the church, I drove on to work in Dallas. I recall just getting settled in at my desk when I my beeper went off. Barbara had gone to the doctors for her weekly checkup and the doctor asked her how long she had been in labor. The long and short of it was that the baby was going to be born then, not on his due date.
• I rushed home and we were off to the hospital. Barbara must have got James and Rachel off to some friends.
• As I recall, it was an easy delivery. At least easy for me. This was new at the time, but at the hospital we were put into a room that more resembled a nice hotel room. Towards the end of the labor, it more resembled a television studio with the bright lights. I was impressed to the see that the bed came apart in the middle so Barbara did not have to change beds at the last minute.
  
• We were so happy and thankful when Russell popped out to see that he was a perfectly healthy baby.
• We hadn't really decided on a name yet, but after Russell was born, the decision was more urgent. All of Barbara's brothers have Russell as a middle name, since that was my mother-in-law's maiden name. We decided that we would name him Russell after his maternal grandmother's family and Walker after his maternal father's family. Barbara's youngest brother goes by Russell but his first name is Thomas, so we joked that we could call our baby Tom. We never did that of course.
• After making sure everyone was fine, I went and retrieved James and Rachel from their friend's home. Rachel refused to go to the bathroom anywhere but home, so I didn't dare wait too terribly long to get her. They were very happy to have a new baby brother.
  

Some people are too stupid

Man tosses gas bomb in fight, sets own cars ablaze

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ns8HcQ2E

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Religious Belief Linked to Desire for Aggressive Treatment in Terminal Patients - NYTimes.com

Talk about counter-intuitive. This is exactly opposite of what I would have thought. Then again, that is what counter-intuitive means....

"“People think that spiritual patients are more likely to say their lives are in God’s hands — ’Let what happens happen’ — but in fact we know they want more aggressive care,” said Holly G. Prigerson, the study’s senior author and director of the Center for Psychosocial Oncology and Palliative Care Research at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in Boston."

Real-life Spider-Man rescues eight-year-old boy from ledge

From my lovely and talented daughter-in-law Sarah Jane.

My son John would require either one of the Mario brothers, Zelda or Winnie the Pooh.

 

 

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Real-life Spider-Man rescues eight-year-old boy from ledge

via SCI FI Wire by Wire Staff on 3/24/09

A Bangkok firefighter dressed up as the comic-book superhero Spider-Man rescued an eight-year-old boy who had climbed onto a third-floor window ledge, the BBC reported today. The man used his unusual disguise in order to coax the boy, who is autistic, from his dangerous perch.

Efforts by the teachers to convince the pupil back inside had failed. But a remark by his mother about his passion for comic superheroes prompted fireman Somchai Yoosabai to rush back to the station, where he kept a Spider-Man costume in his locker.

 

 

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I don't care what is written about me so long as it isn't true.

Dorothy Parker
US author, humorist, poet, & wit (1893 - 1967)

THIS IS NO LAUGHING MATTER

On his way to work, a driver swerved to avoid a box that fell from a truck. Seconds later, a policeman pulled him over for reckless driving.

But another officer had seen the carton in the road. The policemen retrieved the box and found that it contained tacks. "Nonetheless," the first trooper told the driver, "I have to write you a ticket." Amazed, the driver asked why. The trooper replied, "Tacks evasion."

Kim :)

The greatest mistake is trying to be more agreeable than you can be.

Walter Bagehot
English economist & journalist (1826 - 1877)

It is amazing what you can accomplish if you do not care who gets the credit.

Harry S Truman
33rd president of US (1884 - 1972)

Quote of the Day

"The first thing I do each day is get down on my knees and pray,
'Lord, take me where you want me to go, let me meet who you want me to
meet, tell me what to say, and keep me out of your way.'"

-- Father Mychal Judge

Very bad joke - G rated

Bob Hill and his wife Betty were vacationing in Transylvania. Driving in a storm, they had a wreck. Both were hurt, especially Betty. So Bob carried her to a nearby farmhouse. A hunched man, Igor, answered the door, and called to his master, a scientist. The Hills were taken to the lab downstairs, where they were placed on tables. Despite the scientist's best efforts, both died. Disconsolate, the scientist went upstairs to play his piano. Igor, cleaning the lab, noticed that both Bob and Betty were moving. He ran upstairs. "Master, master," he exclaimed. "The Hills are alive with the sound of music!"

Quote of the day

Even monkeys fall out of trees in Japanese is which is read saru mo ki kara ochiru.

Are Facebook applications safe? - Tips from The Kim Komando Radio Show® & Web site

I decided when I opened this Facebook account that I wasn't going to accept very many applications. Click on the link to read the entire article to see why.

"Facebook lets any developer create and distribute applications. It does nothing to verify or approve the applications. So, the applications don't necessarily adhere to Facebook's standards."

Quote from today's sermon

I actually do pay attention to the sermon at church, even if I am trying to keep John quiet. This quote stuck with me.

"Rosa sat so Martin could walk; Martin walked so Obama could run; Obama is running so our children can fly!"

Quotes for Sunday

The truth is rarely pure and never simple.

Oscar Wilde, The Importance of Being Earnest, 1895, Act I
Irish dramatist, novelist, & poet (1854 - 1900)

All programmers are playwrights and all computers are lousy actors.

Unknown
Quotations by unknown authors

I am amazed she got away with it as long as she did

Ex-Calif. bookkeeper accused of embezzling $10M

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=8MZSzFXb

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Quote of the day

I have noticed that the people who are late are often so much jollier than the people who have to wait for them.

E. V. Lucas

Farewell

For laid off workers, so hard to e-mail goodbye

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_11704/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=YG6tljfH

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Not a well thought out plan

Man uses debit card to buy drink in alleged holdup

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=kwXVYkr5

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I thought you should see this story

Florida woman calls 911 3 times over McNuggets

http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_7735/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=I3V9jDo7

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What’s a Hulu? The Origins of 8 High-Tech Names

I was delighted to find out where Toyota got the name 'Prius.'

While developing the world’s first mass-produced hybrid vehicle, Toyota believed the Prius was going to be the predecessor of the cars of the future. So to name their groundbreaking car, they turned to the Latin word, “prius,” meaning “[to go] before,” the root of our modern word “prior.”

The Best Wireless Carrier Shortcuts - Solutions by PC Magazine

Now here is some very useful information. There are other tips in the article like how to send free text messages (free to you, not them) and deleting a voice-mail message while you are listening to it. I hate burning up my minutes and my time listening to someone's voice-mail greeting though.

"Skip over someone's voice-mail greeting. Tired of your aunt's 'Macarena'-backed voice mail greeting? Chances are, when it comes to her and anyone else whose greeting you're sick of, you already know their carriers. Here's how to skip ahead and get right to the important part: leaving a message.

AT&T: press #
Sprint: press 1
T-Mobile: press #
Verizon: press *"

PC World: 4 Ways to Save Money on Software

I didn't know there was an open-source alternative to Quicken and Microsoft Money. I might have to check it out.

I have installed and used the open Office suite before. Another alternative to MS office is Google. I have been using the Google documents for a couple of years now. Perfect for keeping track of stuff at work and at home.

I downloaded the Stanza reader to my iPod touch a couple of weeks ago, and it has quickly become my most used app. I downloaded some of their free books from my iPod touch. I also downloaded the desktop client which I used to add some pdf, text and html files to my iPod.

I will have to check out Gliffy. I used Visio years ago to make flowcharts, but that was before Microsoft bought them out and priced the software out of my range. I could always use MS Word to make flowcharts, but it is very frustrating.