Gamle Bilder: Bestum

Jeg lurer om det fins noen som kjenner igjen scenen hvor bildene ble tatt. Sannsynligvis er begge bilder tatt på samme sted - det ser jo ut som det er tilfellet. På baksida til det ene bildet står det skrevet "Bestum," så det fører meg til å tro at det kan være stedet hvor bildene ble tatt. Men det sier også Holmenkollen på kortet, vet ikke om Bestum ligger i nærheten.

Jeg vet ikke, derfor spør jeg...

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GB Pics - Katzen



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GB Pics - Katzen




GB Pics - Katzen

Earthquake!

Yes, that's right - we here in terra-not-so-firma Illinois had an earthquake last night, 3 something in the morning. It was strong enough to wake us up out of a sound sleep, and it also knocked a small picture frame off of its perch on top of the stereo. The picture frame didn't merely drop from its customary spot, but it was actually knocked two or three feet away.

Elevator Problem

Something that I have wondered about from time to time is the problem of where an elevator rests when not in use. I suppose that for a small building it's pretty much a moot point, but what about bigger buildings (say, 5+ stories)? The way I figure, there are three basic options:

1. When not in use, the elevator can go to the main floor (or, without loss of generality, the top floor) and wait until needed.

2. When not in use, the elevator can go to the middle floor (splitting the difference).

3. The elevator can remain at the last floor it went to until it is needed again.

All three options presuppose that each floor has an equally likely chance of having the elevator summoned to that floor. Of course, if the "population" of the building is not uniformly distributed, this would skew the chances accordingly. (You'd think, also, that people on the 2nd or 3rd floor would not be as likely to take the elevator as they would the stairs, but I continue to be amazed at the number of people who get on the elevator and press "2".)

So, what do elevator programmers do? Do they actually bother figuring out which floor is most likely to have people using the elevator, and use that floor as a resting place? Or, do they just make it go to the main floor regardless?

Just off the top of my head, I would think that the elevator should go to the middle floor, figuring that that position would result in a minimal average wait time for whoever is stuck waiting for the elevator.

Calling All Webheads

A few questions for those who monkey around with creating webpages:

1. Do you use any software for creating your webpages, or do you do HTML et al. on your own?
2. If you use software, do you have any favorites? What are its (their) advantages/disadvantages?
3. Any recommendations? Think - software vs. coding, in-house development vs. engaging a web designer, etc.

Here's the skinny: The webpage for my business is horribly out-of-date, and one of my immediate projects for the new year is to bring that baby into the 21st century. You can poke around and take a look, but please don't laugh - I already know it's a fairly plain-Jane site. I know the basics of HTML coding, but I haven't really kept up with the latest and greatest. I am trying to determine what the best solution would be - try and bring myself up to speed to do it myself, or hire someone to make templates for me. Of course, time and money are considerations for me in determining what is "best." Another fly in the ointment is that I need to include Korean and Japanese content, and rendering those characters is something I've not found a satisfactory solution to thus far.

Suggestions welcome and appreciated!

Tinkering around

Well, I'm trying out Blogger Beta; I guess it doesn't matter if I like it or not, I can't go back. Oh well - the only thing is that it wiped out Haloscan, so all comments from there have vanished into a black hole. I was thinking about changing the blog using elements from here, but I think that'll be a project for another day.

A Possum Adventure

A week ago Sunday, in the wee hours of the morning, some thoughtless driver ran over an opossum in front of our house. I saw the animal and at first thought it was a raccoon, until I looked more closely and saw the rat-like tail. As I continued looking, I saw some sort of movement, but I couldn’t tell exactly what it was. Then it dawned on me – unfortunately, it was a mother opossum, with a number of pups.

A cop stopped to examine the dead mama. He took a box and picked up the pups that had survived. I don’t know what he did with them, but perhaps he took them to someplace where they would be cared for; he left the dead animal in the road, and drove off with the living pups. I felt disgusted at the idea of someone being so careless, even ruthless, as to run over a helpless animal, and a mother with young at that. But I was heartened to see that her pups could nonetheless have a shot at life. I finished getting ready for church, and we left.

After we came home from church, I happened to take a closer look at the carcass on the street. To my surprise and distress, I noticed that there was a pup still living, one that the cop had missed. It was writhing on the street, poor thing. By this time, it had probably been close to twelve hours since the mother had been killed, and here this baby pup was still clinging to life. How could I turn my back on such a pitiful creature who, despite all odds, was struggling to live? The mother instinct transcends species. I carefully picked up the pup and brought him inside. He was so tiny, only two or three inches long, hairless, eyes still shut. Not knowing what to feed him, and having no better idea, I mixed up some baby formula and attempted to give some of that to him, using an eyedropper. I wished that I had had a pipette, as its size would have been more suitable for the tiny pup, but the eyedropper was better than nothing, and it allowed the formula to come out easily without sucking, and without letting it run all over the place. It seemed like most of the formula went on his chest, but he managed to get some of it in his belly anyhow – just like with my own baby, the movement of the chin and throat told me that he was swallowing. Not certain what the appropriate feeding amount was, and not wishing to somehow overfeed him, I quit after dispensing about 0.05 ml in this manner.

Practically and legally, I knew that I couldn’t keep him. I had no idea what to do or where I could take him, but I figured that nothing would be open on Sunday anyways, so I decided to wait and see if the pup survived overnight before doing anything. We went out for the afternoon, and I wasn’t even sure that it would be living when we got home. Sure enough, though, by the time we came home in the evening, I could still hear the pup’s “ch-ch-ch” noises coming from the box we had him in. If he’s survived so far, then chances are good that he can make it with proper care, I reasoned. I racked my brains trying to think of who could take care of it, and finally googled around to come up with a few local possibilities. Armed with contacts and phone numbers, I was put at ease knowing that there were several possibilities to find help for my adopted pup, should the little fighter survive another 12 hours or so. I fed the pup after we got home, and once more before retiring for the night.

In the morning, I fed the pup breastmilk this time, figuring that if he was tolerating baby formula, then perhaps breastmilk would be even better. I then called several contacts, leaving messages about the orphan I had on my hands. Finally, I was able to speak with someone at the Fox Valley Wildlife Center, who said that they could take the pup. Needless to say, I was relieved to find a rehabilitator.

Of course, during all this time, my daughter kept on saying, “But I wanted to keep the baby possum – he’s so cute! Why can’t we keep him?” It seems that no amount of patient explanation will produce a satisfactory answer to this question for a four-year-old….

Guess Who??

What do you think of this watercolor? Have any ideas as to who the artist is? (I've purposely blurred out the name to give you the opportunity to guess.)

Monday Weigh-In - Week 8

I didn't get around to updating last week, but no loss (literally). It was nothing to write home about. This week, however, is better. Being past birthdays and other holiday celebrations helps:

Weight: 178.6 lbs.
Fortnight's net change: -1.0 lbs.
Total net change: -1.4 lbs.

My back is finally to the point where I can state that it feels normal. Muscle-toning exercises and visits to the chiropractor definitely helped. Now, I am free to concentrate on the task at hand without the distraction of a physical ailment.

Monday Weigh-In - Week 6

I don't understand it, neither can I explain it, but it's a keeper:

Weight: 179.6 lbs.
Weekly net change: -2.2 lbs.
Total net change: -0.4 lbs.

My back's still bugging me, especially with morning stiffness, but the stretches really seem to help. I'm just waiting for normalcy to return.

Monday Weigh-In - Week 5

Well, at least I did not gain as much as I did last week:

Weight: 181.8 lbs.
Weekly net change: +1.6 lbs.
Total net change: +1.8 lbs.

Actually, I have two excuses: one lousy and one good. The lousy excuse is that it's still the holiday season, with all its numerous sugary temptations. (And in two weeks, someone has a birthday coming up - yet another reason to celebrate :)

The good excuse is that my back has still been bothering me, and it's difficult to summon the motivation to exercise when your back is not in full form. I suppose that the back problems are really some lingering effects of pregnancy, aggravated by picking up and carrying around an infant. I've been seeing the chiropractor; his treatment and recommended back exercises have resulted in some improvement, but things are still not 100% normal. So yesterday I picked up a Pilates book; in addition to regular Pilates exercises, there are chapters specific to injuries and injury prevention, including some geared toward the lower back. I started those today, and they really seem to help. As my back improves and my muscles get stronger, it will be easier to exercise diligently and consistently.

Monday Weigh-In - Week 4

Definitely not a good week. It seems to require Herculean effort to stick to a diet during the Christmas season, and my discipline falls far short of that:

Weight: 180.2 lbs.
Weekly net change: +2.6 lbs.
Total net change: +0.2 lbs.

At least now the holidays are over, so I can redouble my efforts without distraction.

Monday Weigh-In - Week 3

Well, this week's results are not terribly impressive, but at least it's still going in the right direction:

Weight: 178.6 lbs.
Weekly net change: -0.2 lbs.
Total net change: -1.4 lbs.

Actually, I was certain that I had gained weight this week - I had a difficult time sticking to my plan, and cheated much more than I should have. Additionally, I had to skip exercise a couple of times because my back's been acting up. So all in all, I am glad that I managed to nudge the scale downwards a little despite my shortcomings.

To help with motivation in the forthcoming weeks, I have printed out a copy of the meal plan and taped it in a prominent place. I probably should also prepare some sort of visual motivation, but I have to think of something suitable for that.

1st Anniversary

Yes, it is true - according to my archives, it's been exactly one year since I started this blog. And, like an infant in its first year, there hasn't been a whole lot going on.

May the second year bring more growth and maturity!

Monday Weigh-In - Week 2

So far, so good:

Weight: 178.8 lbs.
Net change: - 1.2 lbs.

Right direction, and gradual enough for my circumstance, so I'll keep doing what I'm doing for now.

Monday Weigh-In – Week 1

I am going to initiate something that I originally had contemplated several months ago – posting my weekly weigh-ins, in the hopes that it would provide some additional motivation to lose weight. Just as I was considering this, I became pregnant, so the concept was rendered moot.

Now that the baby has been born and I have recovered to the point where I can begin a consistent exercise program, I have decided to take up the idea again. My plan to lose weight incorporates diet and exercise – nothing radical, no fad diets or anything like that.

The diet I plan on following is a modified version of the gestational diabetes diet I was on for the last couple of months of pregnancy to control my blood sugar. Rather than count calories, the diabetes diet utilizes exchanges of foods. I’ve modified it to reflect the nutritional and caloric needs of nursing mothers:

Diet/Nutrition for Nursing Mothers

Calories: 400 – 500 extra
Protein: 3 servings daily
Calcium: 5 servings daily
Vitamin C: 2 servings daily
Green leafy/yellow vegetables & fruits: 3+ servings daily
Other fruits & vegetables: 2+ servings daily
Whole grain & complex carbohydrates: 6+ servings daily
Iron-rich foods: 1 or more daily
Fluids: 8+ cups daily

Exchange Plan

Breakfast
1 fruit exchange
1 meat exchange
2 carbohydrate exchanges
1 fat exchange
1 milk exchange

Snack
1 milk exchange
1 carbohydrate exchange
1 fruit exchange

Lunch
2 meat exchanges
2 carbohydrate exchanges
2 vegetable exchanges
1 fruit exchange
1 fat exchange
1 milk exchange

Snack
1 milk exchange
1 carbohydrate exchange
1 fruit exchange

Dinner
3 meat exchanges
2 carbohydrate exchanges
2 vegetable exchanges
1 fruit exchange
1 fat exchange
1 milk exchange

Totals: Calories:
Fruit 5 x 40 = 200
Vegetables 4 x 25 = 100
Meat 6 x 75 = 450
Carbohydrates 8 x 70 = 560
Fat 3 x 45 = 135
Milk 5 x 80 = 400
1845

Nursing mothers should limit their weight loss to about a pound a week, so if this results in a more rapid weight loss, I’ll need to increase the caloric intake, probably by increasing the fruits/vegetables.

As for exercise, I shall start off with 15 minutes daily on my ski machine, 6 times a week. I also need to incorporate some muscle-building/toning exercises, but I’m still in the process of developing a program for that.

My starting weight is 180.0 pounds (five of which I have put on in the past three weeks :( due to my affinity for sweets). I was 165 when I became pregnant, but my ultimate goal is to get back 140, which is what I weighed when I started grad school a “few” years ago.

So, we shall see how it goes. The key is discipline – not so much for the exercise part, but for controlling what I put in my mouth…

Best Laid Schemes

I have never been a big fan of planning – for me, it seems like no matter how detailed or vague any plans that I happen to make may be, reality has a way of interfering with said plans and rendering them virtually useless. Truly,

The best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men
Gang aft a-gley.

Anyways, when I started this blog at the end of last year, I fully intended to be at least a semi-regular poster: the plan was at least once a week. The reality, however, was that this was the year that I would be facing a blessed event which, along with being self-employed, has required my time and attention, leaving little left over for blogging as I had intended. My apologies.

However, the time of my confinement (don’t you just love old-fashioned language?) will soon be over, and hopefully once the dust settles, I can resume my original plan and intent for this blog. There is so much to say and examine, and I prefer to take the time to do something right the first time, rather than present to the world a half-hearted attempt at these important issues.

So bear with me. Soon I will find my voice.

Where Have You Been?!?!?!?

I know, I know - it has been over a month since I last posted (although I did manage to change my "Current Quote" to make it more timely). I offer herewith an apology, and an explanation of my particular extenuating circumstances to my legions :) of followers, who hopefully are subscribers to this blog and will consequently be informed that I have posted something new.

First of all, we have moved our business from a two-room office to a three-room one. Business has grown to the point where we believe that the extra space will be worth the extra rent, and with two classrooms now instead of only one, we will be able to avoid scheduling problems and hold concurrent classes. As anyone who has moved knows, packing and relocating (albeit merely across the parking lot, and not across town) is not necessarily something that can be done in a day.

Then, at the end of March I attended a professional conference in San Antonio. The conference was beneficial, as I was able to garner numerous tips, ideas, and resources to help me with the business. The major drawback was that we had to take a week out of our schedule (three days of conference activities, not to mention driving between Chicago and San Antonio - over 1200 miles one way) to attend, which meant that we had to do all our moving before the conference. Not ideal timing, but that's just the way things worked out.

Throw in the mix preparation for an interview (which was the reason why we ended up driving rather than flying).

On top of everything, I have been dealing with morning sickness. Not the severe kind with vomiting or anything unpleasant, just a general kind of blah feeling and extreme fatigue. As any pregnant woman (or her husband) can tell you, the physiological changes a woman's body undergoes during the first trimester produce, among other things, a fatigue that goes beyond anything that a college student pulling an all-nighter would ever experience. You are completely drained of energy - there is nothing left over for the things that must be done, let alone the things that should be done. The first trimester of being pregnant is like having a sleeping potion running through your circulatory system 24/7. I've kept this bit of news under my hat for a while, since a year ago I unfortunately suffered a miscarriage. This time, however, things appear to be going well; my first visit to the doctor last week confirmed this with a healthy fetal heartbeat - once a heartbeat is detected, the risk of miscarriage drops to less than 5%. So we thank God for this good news, and trust Him to keep this baby safe and sound.

So there you have the Reader's Digest version as to why I seem to have dropped off the face of the earth for the past month. As I move into the second trimester, I should regain most of my energy and will be able to return from zombieland.

You Gotta Know When to Fold 'Em

First of all, my apologies to my legions of fans :) who might have been wondering where I've been for the past week. For various reasons, my energy has been on the low side lately, and consequently there hasn't been much left over to devote to blogging. I hope to be somewhat more active this week.

Anyhow....

Unfortunately, I had to unsubscribe to one of my email lists that I had been a part of for the past couple of years (insofar as "lurking" constitutes participation). There were several factors affecting my decision to throw in the towel, not the least of which was that the list just wasn't as helpful as I had imagined or hoped it would be. The topic was broad enough that people could have truly benefitted from others' experience, but often it degenerated into narrow niches that were interesting or provided helpful resources only to those who were in similar situations (and to tell the truth, Google would have been just as much a help in those cases). I got tired of deleting the seemingly endless off-topic postings and the requests for help for situations that were simply too narrow in focus to be applicable to the big picture. (Ironically, the forum owner would on occasion remind participants to avoid wasting bandwidth by top-posting, primarily on the grounds that many people have to "pay out of their own pocket to download the messages from this list" - funny, what about all that bandwidth being wasted on off-topic postings? "Just hit the delete key" isn't a real solution, since the messages would still have to be downloaded in the first place.) So I decided that it just wasn't a helpful resource for my particular situation, and I figured that I'd be better off cultivating my own resources.

But the straw that broke the camel's back was the general tenor of the list. Although it seemed at times to be fairly congenial, the true nature came forth whenever someone (usually a newbie) dared to question the commonly-accepted wisdom of the list. Any opinion deviating from the unstated assumptions of the list's philosophy was roundly swarmed by the veterans of the list. Perhaps it was some sort of psychological group-think tactic subconsciously employed by the list's members; I don't know. But it generally produced one of two effects: 1) Either the deviant would be cowed into submission/lurking, or 2) after a protracted engagement (which had the natural side effect of both positions retreating deeper into their trenches), the deviant would unsubscribe in defeat.

I myself made the unhappy choice once to voice an unpopular opinion on the list. Mind you, I had been laboring under the evidently false impression that a discussion list would actually be open-minded enough to discuss issues at least somewhat germane to the list's stated purpose of being. But my opinion was heretical enough to bring on the group-think swarm, and instead of discussion, there ensued all the typical comments of those who dearly hold to their own opinions yet are unable to back them up with reasoned discourse, and can't tolerate anyone who could possibly be so stupid as to think differently - ad hominem attacks, fallacious reasoning, etc. So I retreated to lurker status, hoping that I could nonetheless still glean useful information from the list. Time has proven that last desire to be nothing more than wishful thinking.

Most recently, I saw this same group dynamic in effect yet again. An individual joined the list, posted some unpopular comments, and was promptly swarmed by the list veterans. (Maybe the newbie was indeed a troll; I don't know. But if that had been the case, the proper, effective treatment would have been not to feed the troll.) After a juvenile exchange between the newbie and the veterans, the newbie resigned - mission accomplished, I'm sure, as far as the list veterans were concerned. The postings subsequent to the newbie's unsubscription reflected the triumphant exultation and self-congratulatory back-slapping of the list's regulars, including the following childish riposte: "Ding dong, the wicked witch is dead."

That was it for me. I just couldn't justify continuing membership on a list of junior-high kids masquerading as adults, so I finally bid farewell to that list. It's a shame, too, because the list has great potential, although the practical outworkings of the list fell far short.

The irony of the whole situation is that the vast majority of members on that list would pride themselves in being cosmopolitan and open-minded about a wide variety of issues. But true to liberal form, open-mindedness and tolerance are esoteric ideologies that are easily parroted but rarely practiced in real life. Tolerance was never extended to those who dared to think differently and question the group consensus, and as such was an utter sham.

So, I'm glad I've put that behind me. One less list to clutter up my mailbox.

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