Tuesday, July 09, 2013

But it's a dry heat

There are moments when I hate that saying.  There are moments when I understand the attempt at rationalizing a logical conclusion from it.  I have the advantage of living for extended periods where it is regularly 90 plus degrees with humidity over 90% almost every day, and in the desert where it's 100 degrees or more most summer days, but the humidity is usually less than 20%.

The thing is, when it gets to 105 or higher, it no longer matters that the heat is "mercifully" dry.  You suffer anyway.  The only difference is that you would suffer more if it was that hot and very humid.  Having seen a cassette tape melt into the dashboard of my car convinced me when it gets above a certain level, it no longer matters if it's dry or wet.

I was thinking about this today because lately my doctors have been talking about my "dry" weight.  When I got out of the hospital last month, after three days there, my weight was more than 14 pounds less than when I'd been admitted.  That is because they severely limited my fluid intake, and pumped me full of lasik (a water pill).  They wanted me to maintain the dry weight and I've worked hard to do this.  But yesterday was a little wild.

They say to weigh yourself once a day, at the same time, in the same clothing, and before or after eating, but always either before or after.  Yesterday I did a little experimenting.  I weighed myself several times at regular intervals during the say. My weight fluctuated from yesterday morning's check to this morning's check by more than six pounds.  I'm not sure if I should be worried, or just amazed.

* * *

Before the internet, we'd watch television coverage of a "big" trial and listen to the legal 'experts' talk about how well or poorly the attorneys were doing with the case.  Now we have FB and Twitter and millions of self-appointed legal experts.  It's easy to say you think the prosecution in the George Zimmerman case are doing a weak job of convincing jurors.  I've sat on juries three times and the one really consistent thing about what I have observed is that the jurors I've served with do not give much credibility to someone who told more than one version of an event.

I've heard several lawyers say that they believe Zimmerman will be found guilty.  I've heard just as many say they believe he will be acquitted.

I think that only six women sitting in the jury box know what will happen and they don't know it yet.  Until they go into deliberations and reach a decision, the rest is informed guesswork by the true legal experts and a lot of less informed guesswork by the rest of us.

* * *

Random ponderings:

It's going to be hard for the Redlands teacher who had a baby with one of her underage students to argue it was a "fling" when the kids was in the room when she gave birth to their child.

Paula Abdul as a guest judge on "So You Think You Can Dance"?  Does she need the work, or the visibility?

That a 21 year old woman would try to hire a hitman to kill her husband, and end up getting arrested because the hitman was actually an undercover cop isn't surprising.  But that they videotaped her discussing the hit while she was in a Batman costume sure is.

Which of the late night talk-show hosts will be the first to tell this old chestnut?  "Where doe the Lone Ranger take his trash?"  "To da dump to da dump, to da dump dump dump."

How many more glitches will pop up in the systems of Obamacare?  Now they can't charge smokers higher "penalty" premiums because the system can't handle the smokers who are older.

How long before people realize that while Chris Kaman is a major defensive downgrade from Dwight Howard, offensively it is a good move.  He can play the high post and let Pau Gasol be a low-post scoring machine.  They will need to play better team defense and can't gamble as much without Howard in the post on defense.

Does anyone think fining a hospital only $22,000 for nearly removing the organs from a woman who wasn't dead yet is enough of a sanction?  They were literally moments away from cutting her open when she woke up in the nick of time.

Will Jim Carrey's pseudo-apology to assault rifle "fans" accomplish anything?  Most of them who were bothered by his comments weren't going to change their choice to go or not go to see "Kiss-Ass 2."

* * *

An unsung hero has died.  Masao Yoshida was a manager at the Fukushima nuclear plant who led the attempt to minimize the damage from when it suffered meltdowns.  Without his efforts, the tragedy's impact would have likely been much worse.

They say the cancer of the esophagus that took his life did not have any connection to the accident.  Would they admit it if it had?

* * *

This Date in History:

On this date in 1540, King Henry VIII annuls his 4th marriage, to Anne of Cleves (handy to be able to grant your own annulments).
On this date in 1776, General George Washington ordered that the Declaration of Independence be read aloud to members of the Continental Army.
On this date in 1810, Napoleon annexes the Kingdom of Holland.
On this date in 1850, President Zachary Taylor dies and Millard Fillmore becomes President.
On this date in 1868, the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution is ratified.
On this date in 1877, the first Wimbledon championships begin.
On this date in 1922, Johnny Weissmuller swims the 100 meter freestyle in 58.6 seconds, setting a new world record and breaking the "minute" barrier for the first time.
On this date in 1944, U.S. forces capture the island of Saipan.
On this date in 1981, the video game "Donkey Kong" was released.

Famous Folk Born On This Date:

Ferdinand II, Holy Roman Emperor
Emperor Reigen of Japan
Elias Howe
Jan Neruda
Clarence Campbell
David Diamond
Ed Ames
Susan Cabot
Lee Hazlewood
Donald Rumsfeld
Brian Dennehy
O.J. Simpson (split end on the prison football team)
Chris Cooper
Lindsey Graham
Jimmy Smits
Kelly McGillis
Kevin Nash
Courtney Love (nominee for mother of the year??)
Scott Grimes
Fred Savage

Movie quotes today come from "Analyze This" from 1999 because it was an answer at last night's trivia game:

Boss Paul Vitti: I wasn't really gonna whack you.
Dr. Ben Sobel: Paul...
Boss Paul Vitti: Okay, I was gonna whack you. But I was real conflicted about it.

#2

Dr. Ben Sobel: Let me get this straight: you flew all the way down to Miami and kidnapped me from my hotel room in the middle of the night just because you couldn't get an erection?
Boss Paul Vitti: Don't that prove I'm motivated?
Dr. Ben Sobel: You know, you can take a pill for that.
Boss Paul Vitti: Nah, you start with the pills, the next thing you know you're putting in hydraulics. A hard-on should be achieved legitimately or it shouldn't be achieved at all.
Dr. Ben Sobel: Hmm, I think Mark Twain said that, didn't he?

#3

Boss Paul Vitti: I can feel the juices rushing back to my balls as we speak.
Dr. Ben Sobel: Well, that's something I never thought I'd hear another man say to me.