(no subject)

Our 2006 jack-o-lantern A pumpkin corpse, carved into a ghastly semblance of life. Actually, it came out better than I expected. Sebastian drew "arms" and a "cape" over the back and sides, but you can't see them in the dark.

(no subject)

Our 2006 jack-o-lantern A pumpkin corpse, carved into a ghastly semblance of life. Actually, it came out better than I expected. Sebastian drew "arms" and a "cape" over the back and sides, but you can't see them in the dark.

Sebastian on the bulkhead

Sebastian on the bulkhead Taken in the back yard on 09/24/2006. It's been a while since I've posted a picture of him, so I'm overdue. I have a few others of him taken at the same time looking worried and sad, plus one of him looking happy and doing a karate chop. He's gotten much better at doing a fake smile for the camera, don't you think? :D

Sebastian on the bulkhead

Sebastian on the bulkhead Taken in the back yard on 09/24/2006. It's been a while since I've posted a picture of him, so I'm overdue. I have a few others of him taken at the same time looking worried and sad, plus one of him looking happy and doing a karate chop. He's gotten much better at doing a fake smile for the camera, don't you think? :D

Relief: Hearing and Vision

I mentioned this in passing in a comment a while back, but didn't want to post about it because it frankly bothered me.

Sebastian had his annual check-up last month. Overall he's quite healthy...but he failed both his hearing and eye tests. So we were told to book him more thorough tests at the RI School for the Deaf and at an ophthalmologist facility in Providence. The tests were today, and I took the day off to be with him.

When we got to the School for the Deaf, Sebastian got very scared for some reason. We'd told him there would be no shots and no pain, and that there would be nothing scary, but he was still very nervous; I guess that's understandable. The test itself went great. The guy who administered it was very friendly and handled Sebastian really well. It turned out that Sebastian has no hearing problems at all.

We went to Providence (which was close) to have a quick lunch before we went to the eye test. Teri suggested going to Smokey Bones, since she knows I love barbecue; I've never been there, and was pretty interested.

But the name "Smokey Bones" scared the wits out of Sebastian. I think he thought it was full of skeletons, or something. And to tell you the truth, "Smokey Bones" does sound exactly like the name of a villain in "A Pup Named Scooby Doo". Anyway, we barely managed to get Sebastian in the door before we had to leave again; he was crying and screeching in fear. We ended up eating a few doors down, at Uno's.

I hadn't realized that Smokey Bones was a chain, and that they don't have my favorite: burnt ends. By the way, so far my favorite burnt ends by far are the ones made at the Blue Ribbon, in Newton MA. But if anyone knows any good places for barbecue in the general area, please let me know.

Anyway, after lunch we went to the ophthalmologist, which happened to be near the hospital where Sebastian was born. We waited for a while, then were taken in by a slender young woman with an incongruous Aussie (or possibly Enzed) - accent. She did some preliminary tests, and then put in the eyedrops to dilate his pupils.

Boy, did he scream and cry. It was a bit of a struggle, but between Teri and the technician they managed to get the drops in. Then we went back to the waiting room for a half hour or so to let the drops take effect. Sebastian wore some disposable sunglasses to enhance the effect.

The ophthalmologist handled the test efficiently, and Sebastian was very co-operative. And the results were...his eyes are fine. One is slightly more farsighted than the other, but the difference is minor and certainly not something they'd prescribe glasses for; apparently it often clears up by itself. His vision is more than acceptable. Teri and I were both enormously relieved.

We can't help but wonder what was going on when he failed those tests on at his physical!

Relief: Hearing and Vision

I mentioned this in passing in a comment a while back, but didn't want to post about it because it frankly bothered me.

Sebastian had his annual check-up last month. Overall he's quite healthy...but he failed both his hearing and eye tests. So we were told to book him more thorough tests at the RI School for the Deaf and at an ophthalmologist facility in Providence. The tests were today, and I took the day off to be with him.

When we got to the School for the Deaf, Sebastian got very scared for some reason. We'd told him there would be no shots and no pain, and that there would be nothing scary, but he was still very nervous; I guess that's understandable. The test itself went great. The guy who administered it was very friendly and handled Sebastian really well. It turned out that Sebastian has no hearing problems at all.

We went to Providence (which was close) to have a quick lunch before we went to the eye test. Teri suggested going to Smokey Bones, since she knows I love barbecue; I've never been there, and was pretty interested.

But the name "Smokey Bones" scared the wits out of Sebastian. I think he thought it was full of skeletons, or something. And to tell you the truth, "Smokey Bones" does sound exactly like the name of a villain in "A Pup Named Scooby Doo". Anyway, we barely managed to get Sebastian in the door before we had to leave again; he was crying and screeching in fear. We ended up eating a few doors down, at Uno's.

I hadn't realized that Smokey Bones was a chain, and that they don't have my favorite: burnt ends. By the way, so far my favorite burnt ends by far are the ones made at the Blue Ribbon, in Newton MA. But if anyone knows any good places for barbecue in the general area, please let me know.

Anyway, after lunch we went to the ophthalmologist, which happened to be near the hospital where Sebastian was born. We waited for a while, then were taken in by a slender young woman with an incongruous Aussie (or possibly Enzed) - accent. She did some preliminary tests, and then put in the eyedrops to dilate his pupils.

Boy, did he scream and cry. It was a bit of a struggle, but between Teri and the technician they managed to get the drops in. Then we went back to the waiting room for a half hour or so to let the drops take effect. Sebastian wore some disposable sunglasses to enhance the effect.

The ophthalmologist handled the test efficiently, and Sebastian was very co-operative. And the results were...his eyes are fine. One is slightly more farsighted than the other, but the difference is minor and certainly not something they'd prescribe glasses for; apparently it often clears up by itself. His vision is more than acceptable. Teri and I were both enormously relieved.

We can't help but wonder what was going on when he failed those tests on at his physical!

HP Letter

Here's the email I just sent to Mark Hurd, Chairman, CEO, and President of Hewlett-Packard:

Sir,

I recently read an ABC Radio Network memo listing HP as refusing to have any advertising run during broadcasts of Air America Radio programming. I don't know why this decision was made, nor do I question the right of the HP corporation to make that decision.

However, as a result of that HP policy, I too have made a decision: I will no longer purchase any HP products. As it happens I do own an HP printer, and will replace it with a non-HP printer at the first opportunity. Likewise, I will scrupulously avoid HP products in the future, and have recommended the same personal policy to my friends, family, and in the online communities that I participate in.

Decisions have consequences.

If I get any response, I'll post it here.

HP Letter

Here's the email I just sent to Mark Hurd, Chairman, CEO, and President of Hewlett-Packard:

Sir,

I recently read an ABC Radio Network memo listing HP as refusing to have any advertising run during broadcasts of Air America Radio programming. I don't know why this decision was made, nor do I question the right of the HP corporation to make that decision.

However, as a result of that HP policy, I too have made a decision: I will no longer purchase any HP products. As it happens I do own an HP printer, and will replace it with a non-HP printer at the first opportunity. Likewise, I will scrupulously avoid HP products in the future, and have recommended the same personal policy to my friends, family, and in the online communities that I participate in.

Decisions have consequences.

If I get any response, I'll post it here.

Small Point

It's late, and I should be asleep. HOW MANY TIMES have I started a post by saying that? Too many, I'll bet.

Anyway, this is a small point. I've often heard comments on the archaic, non-proportional representation of the US Senate. And when it's discussed in the media, they always bring up Rhode Island as an extreme example. It's so unfair, apparently, that RI gets the same number of Senators as California or Texas.

That point always struck me as bullshit. Rhode Island is the smallest state in terms of geography, but so what? Land doesn't get a vote - people do. So I kept making a mental note to myself to look up states ranked by population. And, inevitably, I kept forgetting to do that. Mental notes are easier to lose than physical ones, at least for me.

So finally I remembered, and just looked it up:

http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t2.html

Here's the interesting thing: RI is NOT the smallest state in terms of population. Wyoming is. In fact, RI is the 43rd smallest in terms of population. Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska (the biggest state geographically, which somehow seems ironic), and Vermont all have less population than Rhode Island, too. So does the District of Columbia, although of course they don't get any real representation anyway (sorry, DC; you're being screwed). California has the highest population, if you were wondering.

Anyway, I just saw an article saying that although the Republicans hold an 11-seat advantage in the Senate at the moment, the Democratic Senators represent 4.5 million more people than the Republican Senators. I just thought that was kind of interesting.

Damn, I need sleep.

Small Point

It's late, and I should be asleep. HOW MANY TIMES have I started a post by saying that? Too many, I'll bet.

Anyway, this is a small point. I've often heard comments on the archaic, non-proportional representation of the US Senate. And when it's discussed in the media, they always bring up Rhode Island as an extreme example. It's so unfair, apparently, that RI gets the same number of Senators as California or Texas.

That point always struck me as bullshit. Rhode Island is the smallest state in terms of geography, but so what? Land doesn't get a vote - people do. So I kept making a mental note to myself to look up states ranked by population. And, inevitably, I kept forgetting to do that. Mental notes are easier to lose than physical ones, at least for me.

So finally I remembered, and just looked it up:

http://www.census.gov/population/www/cen2000/phc-t2.html

Here's the interesting thing: RI is NOT the smallest state in terms of population. Wyoming is. In fact, RI is the 43rd smallest in terms of population. Montana, Delaware, South Dakota, North Dakota, Alaska (the biggest state geographically, which somehow seems ironic), and Vermont all have less population than Rhode Island, too. So does the District of Columbia, although of course they don't get any real representation anyway (sorry, DC; you're being screwed). California has the highest population, if you were wondering.

Anyway, I just saw an article saying that although the Republicans hold an 11-seat advantage in the Senate at the moment, the Democratic Senators represent 4.5 million more people than the Republican Senators. I just thought that was kind of interesting.

Damn, I need sleep.