King of the Sea

Worth a read.

Dawn of a New Day?

Two amazing things happened yesterday.

1. The Sun came out for the first time in about two weeks. Granted, it was still cold outside, but at least the Sun was out.

2. Possibly even more amazing - the Pens won their third straight game last night against the Devils. So what, you ask? Well, consider this - the Pens have been so bad over the last few years that the last time they won three games in a row was 2004.

Also, consider that the Pens finished next to dead last in the league last season (they managed to top St. Louis by 1 point) and they're led by a bunch of "kids" this season. Here's a quick "who's who" of the team, along with their respective ages:

Sidney Crosby: 19 (3 Goals, 9 Assists, +4 in 8 Games)
Evgeni Malkin (Rookie): 20 (4 Goals, 2 Assists, +4 in 4 Games)
Jordan Staal (Rookie): 18 (4 Goals, +1 in 8 Games)
Michel Ouellet: 24 (4 Goals, 3 Assists in 8 Games)
Marc-Andre Fleruy: 21 (5-3-0 with 2.66 Goals Against Average and 92.3% save percentage)

Yeesh.

Yet the win last night moved Pittsburgh into first place in the Atlantic Division - 1 point in front of New Jersey.

Do I think the Pens will continue this level of play? I'm not really holding my breath. Nonetheless, the outlook for the future is pretty good.

Just check out Malkin's goal from last night. I scared the cat when this happened:

What's on my mp3* player

Just in case you wanted to take a peek at the soundtrack of my daily life (and I'm sure you do):

The All-American Rejects; misc
Barenaked Ladies; misc
Beck; The Information
The Black Keys; Thickfreakness, Magic Potion
Buckcherry; 15
Christina Aguilera; Back to Basics
The Exies; Head For the Door
Fall Out Boy; From Under the Cork Tree
The Flaming Lips; misc
Franz Ferdinand; You Could Have It So Much Better
Gavin Degraw; misc
Godsmack; IV
Goldfrapp; misc
Green Day; American Idiot, Shenanigans
Hinder; Extreme Behavior
Hot Action Cop; misc
Incubus; misc
Jet; Shine On
John Mayer; misc
Kaiser Chiefs; Employment
The Killers; Sam's Town
Megadeath; misc
Modest Mouse; misc
Nada Surf; Live In Brussels
Nelly Furtado; misc
Nickleback; All The Right Reasons
Of Montreal; misc
Panic! at the Disco; A Fever You Can't Sweat Out
Pink Floyd; Dark Side of the Moon, Echoes
Queens of the Stone Age; Lullabies to Paralyze
R.E.M.; misc
Rancid; misc
Rob Zombie; Educated Horses
Sean Paul; misc
The Shins; Oh, Inverted World
Steriogram; misc
The Strokes; First Impressions of Earth
Ram Jam; misc
Vince Guaraldi Trio, misc
The Violent Femmes; misc
Weezer; misc
The White Stripes; misc
White Zombie; misc

* What do you call these things, now, anyway? Many folks just refer to them as iPods but, obviously, iPod is a brand, not a product - mine is actually an iRiver Clix. It's like calling tissue paper kleenex or a circular saw a Skil Saw. Of course, those are pretty common things. And should you really call them mp3 players any more? Most of my music is actually in a different format (wma, I believe) and almost all of these players are multi-media capable - mine can show videos, plays flash games, records dictation, etc. So, what do we call them? Portable media devices? Blech. For now, it's an mp3 player and you can all deal with it.

If you see the Sun, tell him I'm looking for him.

Two weeks ago, Liz and I decided we'd better get our yard work done because the forecast for the next few days wasn't particularly pleasant. As it turns out, that was the last time we've seen the Sun in a couple weeks. Since then, the weather has been quite bleak, gray, and dreary. So, if you happen to see the Sun, can you take a picture and send it my way, so I can remember what it looks like?

Liz and I went down to a wedding in Madison a couple weeks ago. Liz's friend, Jen (her roommate in college), was getting married. The wedding was fine, but Liz and I didn't know much of anyone there. Liz knew a few folks from college, but that was about it. So, we spent the evening drinking and dancing knowing full well that we'd never see any of those folks ever again so we wouldn't have to worry about embarrasing ourselves.

This last weekend, Liz and I actually got out and "partied" a little bit - as much as two engineers can, I guess. We went out to the new comedy club in town on Saturday with some of Liz's friends from work. It was a total riot - I'm sure it didn't hurt that we were all drinking quite a bit, either. Around 1:30 (bar time in Minnesota is a pathetic 1 AM), we wandered off home where Liz and I had a pizza before bed. It was a good night.

So, the next day, nursing rather mild hangovers, the two of us sat around watching the Packer game until the TV station decided to cut away in the middle of the fourth quarter to show the Viking game. I suppose, it kinda makes sense - far more than when they cut away from a game that had just been tied up in the final seconds and was going to overtime, a couple weeks ago.

Anyway, there isn't a whole lot going on this week. Mom and Sis are coming up this weekend and bringing along the boys. They usually come up each year around Halloween and, as always, I'm looking forward to them coming to visit.

Okay, so I'm outta here.

The "Boom" Video

I don't care if you're a hockey fan or not, you gotta watch this. And...uh...while you're watching, keep in mind that this kid was a rookie last year in this video - a 6'2" 220 pound rookie that scored 52 goals in his first year.

Enjoy.

Da Bears

I bet Ditka blew an artery watching Monday Night Football. If you missed it, consider your life incomplete. What an absolutely amazing game. Sure, the Bears showed some definite chinks in the armor, tonight...but they also showed that they the turn the ball over 6 times (losing the turnover battle by -4), lose time of possession by a 2 to 1 ratio, and still score 24 points and win the game. Honestly, I don't know if that makes the Bears weaker or scarier than they already were.

And, in other football news...

I don't mean to defend T.O., but what the heck is it with all the announcers on TV taking pot shots at the man any time they play a highlight of him? "There's T.O. - fuming on the sidelines. Boy, doesn't this get old?" "We've all seen this a thousand times before, T.O. showboating in the endzone. So humble, just like Barry Sanders."

For the first time in years, T.O. has actually been mostly normal in Dallas this year. Sure, he showboats a little when he scores three touchdowns in a game, but I've seen defensive players showboat when they hit a running back for a one yard loss, even though their team trails by 27 in the fourth. T.O.'s three touchdowns against a poor, non-divisional (heck, non-conference) opponent has been shown and commented on about a billion times over. Meanwhile, did anyone even take note of Torry Holt's 154 yards and three touchdown performance against the division rival and leader, Seattle Seahawks? Heck, while T.O. was busy racking up points in a laugher of a win, Holt nearly carried the Rams to a first-place-claiming win all by himself. Yet all the reporters can talk about is T.O. and how he's a pariah everywhere he goes. I don't defend T.O. He brings most of it on himself. But, to the media: let it go, already.

What I Do For a Living

So, perhaps it was just fate that, after being frustrated about having no real skills except making fake things, I'd stumble upon this article in Newsweek. It's a lengthy read - if you want to read it, go ahead. Regardless, I'll paraphrase.

Across the nation, hospitals are looking at the care they give to their patients and trying to find ways to improve that care. They're finding that anything from reporting medical errors to serving fresh fruit to treating terminal patients so that they're comfortable in their final days can all have dramatic effects on patients' quality of life. How does this tie in to what I do?

Well, one significant project I've been working on is designed to help track the number of medical errors that occur in our hospitals. Not only do we track how many occur, but we try to find trends in where those errors are occurring so that we can target those areas and prevent the errors from occurring in the future. In addition, as new procedures are put into place to try to prevent those errors, we can track our progress to make sure that it's actually working.

Another project that I'm beginning to work on deals with patient deaths at the hospital and, with that, medical errors that may or may not have played a part. Also, it has a small bit to do with making sure that terminal patients are getting the comfort care that they require.

So, while what I do isn't nearly as exciting or glamorous as what's listed in that article, what I do lays the groundwork for things like that.

At least I feel a little better, now.

Just Thinking

You know, sometimes I just feel useless. I mean, my dad can build a house with his bare hands (and a nail gun, I suppose). My mom can kill pretty much anything that moves, haul it home, clean it, and cook it for dinner. My sister plays the piano, helps kids every day, and still finds time for her two at home. Me? I can't do any of that stuff. When the toilet in the house runs too long, I need to either consult a book or call my father to figure out what's wrong. My version of making my own food is driving to Wendy's. And I'm terrified that, if I try raising kids, they'll turn out to be total nutjobs. What do I do? I create stuff that doesn't really exist. What I create essentially boils down to a way to send electrical impulses through a box. Turn the power off and all that I've created vanishes.

Sometimes, I feel useless.

About Freaking Time

Pack release Ahmad Carroll

Fall is here

Temperatures are falling. The days are getting shorter. Football season is well underway and, maybe more importantly, hockey season is starting soon. Yet none of this really made me realize Fall was coming until I had to make a trip to LaCrosse to do some training for work. For anyone that doesn't know, the stretch of 10-15 miles on I90 just west of the Mississippi is absolutely gorgeous. The trees are turning colors, making it even better. So, now that I've taken that drive, I can safely say that Fall is upon us.

This weekend, I finally decided to reformat my computer. It'd been far too long since I'd last done it and, over time, I'd accumulated quite a bit of garbage. So I took most of Saturday backing up files and installing updates. All in all, it went well and, now, my computer is far cleaner than it was.

Liz and I also went out with the Barbers to go pick apples at one of the nearby orchards. The apple picking was good and went very fast. The most fun, though, was watching little Owen (he'll be three in January) running around looking at all the farm animals (chickens, pigs, rabbits, kittens, etc.) He's adorable.

Aside from that, I haven't really been up to much. Going to work. Hitting the gym. Sleeping (some). Trying to eat more. I did pick up a book that was very good and found some new tunes to listen to.

I recently finished reading Cryptonomicon, by Neal Stephenson. It's a long novel (about 1,000 pages), but really a great story. Also, Stephenson's writing style reminds me of that of Douglas Adams, of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame - kind of flatly blunt so that you can't help but laugh. Given that I was going to be spending plenty of time on a plane, I picked up another of Stephenson's books, Snow Crash. Meh. The writing is still good and the style lends itself to very involving imagery, but the story isn't nearly as compelling as Cryptonomocon. So, as I near completion of this book, I really don't know what I'm going to read, next. Any suggestions would be welcome.

In terms of music, Nate recommended some tunes by The Flaming Lips and Nada Surf. It seems pretty good, but, admittedly, I haven't listened to all of it, yet. I was also recommended Goldfrapp. Very cool stuff. Kinda European Electronica, I guess I'd call it. It's not normally a genre I'd listen to, but it makes my wife dance every time I turn it on, so it can't be all bad. ;)

So I see the Packers just forced a second fumble inside the 5 yard line in tonight's game, so perhaps I should pay more attention. But, of course, that's the joy of having a laptop - to pay more attention, I need only look up. :)

Okay, so I'm off to watch some football and vegetate.

O'Doyle rules!