Reminds Me Of College

I have a lot of good memories of college and a few not so good memories (long hours of studying, stress of tests, the living conditions, etc.).  Like many college dorms, the dorms I lived in while in college did not have air conditioning.  A few days ago the air conditioning in our house went out.  The temperature here has been in the mid to upper 80s and quite humid.  Of course we called the service people right away but it took them about 30 hours to arrive.  In the meantime we had the windows open and fans going as our house became more and more humid.  I think the humidity reached the 80s, and so did the temperature on the main level.  It was probably 5-10 degrees warmer upstairs where our bedrooms are located.  Our poor kids basically slept in their diapers only it was so hot.  To their credit, the repair people did come the next day, just a bit later than we expected.  He was working on the unit around 10 pm at night and was able to fix the problem.  We had a part on the compressor that went out.  By the next morning the house felt like normal.

We've been watching the US Open this week which is probably my favorite tennis tournament.  A young player named CiCi Bellis won her first round match.  She is 15 years old and is the youngest player in nearly 20 years to win a match at the US Open.  The player who won in 1996 who was younger was non other than Anna Kournikova.  This is the first time I've heard Anna's name on SportsCenter in over a decade.

Learning To Crawl

I've been around a lot of babies throughout my life because of my job.  One of the things that I honestly don't think I've seen before having kids on my own is how they progress from starting to crawl to full crawling.  Our kids haven't started full crawling yet but everyday they seem to get a bit closer to doing so.  It is fascinating to watch them progress each day through these steps.

Our hospital recently got absorbed into a much larger hospital system.  This comes with many benefits but also has costs.  We have to do yearly health screenings to be part of their health insurance (we had to do this in the past too).  I find this moderately irritating because they screen for stuff that per guidelines I shouldn't be screened for and I go through it every year.  But the point of this rant is that one of the downsides to joining a larger company is that things that used to be simple are now much more complex.  Case in point.  I need to schedule my wellness screening.  In the past they would just send out an email giving a few available dates to get the screening.  Now you have to register online and I cannot figure out how to do this (keep in mind I am at least somewhat tech savvy).  I've spent probably 20 minutes trying to figure this out today and keep running in circles.  Making matters worse is in the past I would just call someone and get an answer but now I don't even know who to call and even if I did the chances of me actually talking to someone on the phone is rare.  It is very frustrating.

The US Open started today so I will be putting my TV shows on pause for the next couple of weeks.  It is probably my favorite tennis major.  Sadness that Kirilenko is out already.

ESPN Sucks

I enjoy almost all sports but am not die hard into any one particular sport.  There is always a story or drama or something to talk about with sports.  I could do a completely separate blog about sports stories that annoy me but I don't have the time or motivation. The topic of ESPN, however, is an exception.

There is no other way to say this: ESPN sucks.  The only show I ever watch on that channel is PTI, and that's just because I like Wilbon and Kornheiser.  Not a day has gone by since he was drafted that I haven't heard about Johnny Manziel.  We hear about how he is doing in practice.  We hear about how the coaches have a conference scheduled to talk about him.  We hear debates about if he is going to be a starter in Cleveland.  We hear about how he spent his weekend in Vegas.  And on, and on, and on.  The real question is does anyone outside of Cleveland give a shit?

What makes this super irritating is that Manziel won't even be a good NFL quarterback.  I'm not a scout and I've never even seen him play a game.  I have seen countless highlights of him on ESPN, however, so I'm familiar with his style of play.  Two things lead me to my conclusion.  First off, he was drafted by Cleveland.  I am 30 years old, and not once in my lifetime can I think of a time when the Browns were relevant.  They have to be one of the most incompetent teams in the league.  Secondly, running around looking like a chicken with its head cut off might work in the college game, but it won't work in the pros.  How often do you see NFL quarterbacks doing stuff like that and being successful?  Rarely.  So why feed us this garbage, every single day?  We're not stupid.  Find something interesting and relevant to discuss.

And don't even get me started on the absurd number of little league games they show in August.  Are there really that many people out there interested in watching other people's kids play baseball?

Trees...I Had No Idea

Last week my neighbor's yard was covered in tree limbs that he had trimmed.  Apparently our city was coming around and picking up limbs from trees from people's yards.  I have periodically trimmed my trees, mostly to reduce low limbs that I have to dodge while mowing the lawn.  The thought hadn't occurred to me that maybe I should trim my trees too, but after seeing my neighbor's newly trimmed trees I thought that I should do the same thing.  Minutes later my yard was also covered in tree limbs.

Then yesterday Sarah pointed out that one of our trees in the front yard doesn't look as good this year as it did last year.  We took a clipping to a local nursery and was told that it was suffering from a fungal infection.  They recommended an anti-fungal spray to help restore the tree.  I had no idea trees required periodic maintenance.  I thought once they were planted and established they pretty much took care of themselves.  Shows what I know.

Carrot Monster?

I heard rumors about this some time back but never saw any evidence of it (I don't watch Sesame Street.) until Sarah pointed out this picture on one of the girls' diapers:

I realize that we have a major child obesity problem in this country (It isn't uncommon for me to see a kid in clinic who weighs more than I do) but this is ridiculous.  It doesn't even make sense.  His name is cookie monster, so why would he even want a carrot?  If they want to create a character who has a story that is based on he/she enjoying fruits and vegetables, then fine, so be it.  But leave cookie monster out of it.

I Understand Now

The above picture is the Pacers' star player Paul George on a stretcher.  He broke his leg during a team USA basketball scrimmage.  A scrimmage.  Not the championship game.  Not even a regular game.  A scrimmage.  He is expected to miss the entire upcoming season.  Any chance the Pacers had this year is completely down the tubes.  We are really going to miss Lance's scoring now.

These days you frequently hear about players skipping out on national teams due to injury fear.  I used to scoff at this, reasoning that soccer players do it all of the time and that they should want to represent our country and dominate basketball throughout the world.  I must say that now that my team has been affected I understand the reservation to play these games now.  I would trade in even competing for a NBA championship over winning the FIBA championship any day of the week.

A Prostate Exam? Really?!?

I randomly came across this story on Sports Illustrated tonight about a man who is planning on undergoing a prostate exam at a minor league baseball game to raise prostate cancer awareness.  This story is so off-base it irritates me.  First off, the man is 45 years old.  The recommended age to begin screening for prostate cancer in a white male at average risk is 50.  This point is minor.  The major flaw in this "promotion" is that the American Urological Association, the American College of Physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians, and the various cancer societies recommend against prostate exam for screening for prostate cancer.  Instead, they recommend checking the prostate-specific antigen lab test (PSA) if screening is going to be performed or to not screen at all.  These types of "promotions" do nothing but confuse people and probably push agendas.