It doesn't matter where they happen, sleep studies suck. This one sucked less than the last one because the tech was young and cute and personable, and my arthritis wasn't acting up so laying in a strange bed wasn't painful. For all that, though, it's still lying in a strange bed hooked up to wires with tape pulling on your leg hairs.

For those of you, dear friends, who want a review of the Tempurpedic mattress, you'll have to look elsewhere. My pulmonologist, for all his many talents, does not know the difference between memory foam and regular old closed-cell foam rubber. It was not a comfortable bed.

There is blessing in that I was able to sleep with the CPAP machine. The delivery system wasn't a full face mask, it was like a scuba regulator for your nose. Large-ish and cumbersome, it took some getting used to but it wasn't unbearable. The machine was silent, which surprised me.

It was not a restful night, and I'm draggin' ass today. I hope they can learn something useful.

We'll know the results in a week or so.

Sleep study number 2, now new and improved with 100% more CPAP machine.

We'll see how this goes. I have a fantasy in my head that it'll be the best sleep ever, remembering the nightmare that was Somnitech and my previous sleep study, but realistically, I think the truth will lie somewhere in between. At least this one will be reviewed by a real doctor, a specialist in sleep disorders, AND I'll be on a TempurPedic mattress. Already it's better than the last time.

Film at 11...or, more accurately, 6:30am tomorrow when I get home.

I'm still waiting for an analysis of the money trail, the details of who precisely is making money from the climate change panic. Until that, this will have to do:

The allegations over the past week are fourfold: that climate scientists controlled the publishing process to discredit opposing views and further their own theory; they manipulated data to make recent temperature trends look anomalous; they withheld and destroyed data they should have released as good scientific practice, and they were generally beastly about people who criticised their work.

And:

The ignorance of the natural world displayed by the scientists is remarkably at odds with the notion that the science is "settled". Where's the Global Warming, asks NCAR's Tom Wigley. His colleague Kevin Trenberth admits they can't answer the question. "The fact is that we can't account for the lack of warming at the moment and it is a travesty that we can't... Our observing system is inadequate." Trenberth goes on further, and admits the the energy budget hasn't been "balanced". Wigley paraphrases him: "we are nowhere close to knowing where energy is going". It is climate experts admitting that they don't know what they're doing. (emphasis mine)

Read the full article here:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/11/30/crugate_analysis/

Dear Dr.'s office medical records staffer,

Let me get this straight: you won't fax my sleep study to the pulmonologist without my signature because you can't prove I am who I say I am...but you'll fax it directly to me, no questions asked?

(I suppose it would do no good at this point to remind you that the last time I requested records for another specialist you didn't even ask my birth date.)

I guess if I receive the fax then that proves I'm me, is that it?

I like your employer, Dr. Clark, but your office needs to nail down its procedures. I'm starting to get dizzy.

Patiently yours,

- Bill

Microsoft's own developers prefer to code the old fashioned way: with text editors rather than their own Visual Studio.

Snover joked that programming is getting so abstract, developers will soon have to use Microsoft's in-air motion sensor game controller for the Xbox, dubbed Project Natal, to "write programs through interpretative dance."

http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9141465/Microsoft_s_top_developers_prefer_old_school_coding_methods

Thank you. I was beginning to think I was the only one.

Hello friends!

I'll be in concert this evening, Saturday, November 28, from 7:00pm - 9:00pm at the Stone Bridge Coffee House. They have great gourmet sandwiches and terrific desserts so come early for dinner!

See you there!



Stone Bridge Coffee House
10914 E. Winner Rd.
Independence, Missouri 64052


About the Stone Bridge Coffee House

The Stone Bridge Coffee House is a new business in Englewood in Independence, Missouri. Owned by Russel Lawrence, it features terrific sandwiches and appetizers, as well as natural softdrinks and great coffee from Broadway Café & Roastery. Seating a maximum of thirty-six, it's a cozy and intimate venue - that also means you need to arrive early! The coffee house is at 10914 E. Winner Rd, in Independence, Missouri.

We're having Thanksgiving dinner just the four of us this year. A variety of logistical challenges - some related to Katie's dietary restrictions, other merely timing and miscommunications of one kind or another - has us at home. We'll go to Michelle's parents' house this afternoon for dessert. While were at it, we'll take a large portion of fresh homemade cranberry sauce to the Troop A headquarters of the Missouri State Highway Patrol. Gotta support the folks who are supporting us...and, well, having two trooper friends helps, too.

We did our meal a little different this year. Since it was just us, we got two turkey tenderloins and one drumstick. This was a natural turkey, not a Butterball or Tyson, and the difference was marked. The meat was darker, for one thing: the drumstick so dark and with an iron-y flavor that bordered on organ meat, rich and firm. (Pensey's Mural of Flavor for the rub.) The white meat was darker than your average commercially available bird, and nearly as flavorful as the dark meat. The juices made wonderful gravy, as you might expect. We'll never buy Butterball again.

I know that the affects of tryptophan are a myth, but the myth is making me awfully sleepy.

So, with the orgy of lip-syncing and commercial sponsorship that is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade done, dinner done, we're off to Blue Springs for pie, thence to MSHP headquarters to spread the cheer. A good night's sleep, then a day of house decorating, and the Christmas season will officially be here.

I haven't done any of the "thankful" stuff that's been going around - mostly on Facebook - because I simply don't feel it day to day. It gets buried under the daily worries and frustrations. So, let me sum up:

I'm grateful I have a job. The pay isn't as high as I'd like - or as high as my family needs, frankly - but our bills are paid, and no one is knocking on the door with foreclosure papers.

I'm grateful Michelle and I can cook. We had to learn how to accommodate our daughter, but damn, we do eat well. I finally grok gravy, can pan sauces be far behind?

I'm grateful I have in-laws that love our children and want to be involved in their lives as much as their advancing years will allow.

I'm grateful for my wife, and our children. The ways you enrich my life are immeasurable and priceless.

Note to self: It doesn't matter how hot the pan is, or how good the sear: if you want the inside of a 1-1/2" thick piece of meat medium rare, you have to butterfly the damn thing. This is much easier to do before searing, and when done so avoids burned fingers. Alas, I skipped that opportunity.

Also, flounder cooked in white wine and olive oil is very nice.


p.s. Yeah, I usually finish my steaks in the oven, but there wasn't time. The flounder and veggies - broccoli, carrots, green and yellow squash, sauteed with butter, salt and pepper - cooked much much faster than I anticipated.

Did you know the Earth's core is several million degrees?

When, o when will we stop listening to Al Gore? How much junk science do we have to swallow?

Article at Newsbusters.org

1. Pray and meditate upon my words, for therein shall ye find wisdom for this, my restored Church in these latter days. 2. By no means shall ye look behind the curtain. Or study history.

Addendum: Or even pay close attention to the leaders. Um...especially the paying attention part.

It was short, a Facebook toss-off aimed at a very specific audience, but there's more to it. That comment, and some pieces of the commentary that follows, is aimed at the heart of the American Restorationist Movement.

Let us begin with my general feelings on the matter of religion in general.

( 15 counties are now under severe weather warnings or advisories )