Author: cdwan

Got a CT scan of my head this afternoon / evening. I’ll omit the long-ish story leading up to it. Suffice it to say that I was concerned enough about still having a headache to go to a doctor and press the issue, and committed enough to sit through a four hour stint at the Friday evening emergency room.

The verdict:

1) CT scan is “negative” and “completely normal.” No slowly swelling brain, no slowly leaking blood vessels.
2) My blood pressure runs around 115 / 60, with a resting pulse around 60.
3) My eyes don’t, on a cursory examination, appear to have detached or swollen retinas.
4) I am not to do Judo, at all, until I have been free of symptoms for a week. The doc looked at redmed and asked “is that going to do anything? Can you control him? This is important.”

In an amusing and totally unrelated story, I got another message from the world yesterday. I was stone-cold out of gas when I drove into Providence to meet redmed. We had our meeting, then went for dinner. I got back to my car, and noted that it was already on “0 miles to empty.” This is not an analog gauge, this is a digital readout.

I made my way to the gas station, and put 18.2 gallons in my notionally 17.5 gallon tank.

I wandered into the food-mart to pick up a vanilla milk for the ride home. While I was paying, a man pushed through the door and asked if he could “borrow” a gas can. The woman said he would have to buy it, which he promptly did.

I interpret this as the world saying: “Look, we just want you to know that you were out of gas. You ran out of gas. We didn’t call you on it this time, but let’s not forget – somebody ran out of gas tonight. That somebody who was at the gas station at the same time as you. So, you get away with a warning tonight, but next time we’re calling you on it.”

I’ve been learning about concussions. Interesting stuff:

Grade 1 : The mild concussion occurs when the person does not lose consciousness (pass out) but may seem dazed.

Grade 3: The classic concussion, which is the most severe form, occurs when the person loses consciousness for a brief period of time and has no memory of the event. Evaluation from a health-care provider should be performed as soon as possible after the injury.

So that’s me, a “Grade 2” concussion. Apparently the headache can persist quite a while, but as long as it’s not accompanied by nausea, confusion, dizziness, fainting, or other badness, I should be fine.

And, in the most generic advice I’ve ever seen:

It is normal to feel frustrated, overwhelmed, lonely and worried. Sometimes a friend, or support group can help. Before your stress gets out of control, tell someone who can help.

This is true whether or not you’ve bumped your head.

After several concussions, your doctor may talk with you about changing sports.

After a few, your coach might well have the same conversation with you. Perhaps you’re not big enough to be a lineman, or quick enough to try inside sweeps at a competition.

On the way in from the boat to the main complex this morning, I saw an Osprey building a nest. He was carrying a large stick, and had to make a couple of passes to get it perfectly positioned.

In other news, the gig is going very well. It’s actually quite relaxing to take a boat to work. The people are smart and I’m able to give them exactly what they needed. Plus, my bed and breakfast rules.

Watch this. Seriously:

From what I hear, this is at a park in Thailand that provides brushes and easels to the elephants in order to help pay for their food and keep. Perhaps there is some aspect of animal training going on here, but no more so than in pre-schools for humans. Seriously, people, I’ve seen the crayon scrawls your three year olds bring home, proudly hung on the refrigerator. Representation, perspective, attitude (look at the head tilt), and ornamentation. All very clear.

I’ve always had a somewhat romantic view of elephants as gentle giants, long lived, and with long memories. They pass on knowledge from grandmother to granddaughter about the location of the reliable watering holes during severe draughts that may be decades apart. Looking in their eyes, I don’t see wisdom or cleverness as we understand those concepts … but there is certainly more there than the bovine stare of a giraffe … or the terrified prey mentality of an antelope.

The elephant drew an elephant, and finished it by showing that elephant holding high a brightly colored flower. It drew a relaxed and happy elephant, looking up at the colorful and transient beauty of nature.

What more evidence do you need?

I would like to sponsor a work of elephant art. I would pay the keepers in dollars, and I would plant a flower garden for the elephant to look at.

Good news first: I took third place in the “middleweight masters” (aged not less than 30 years, weighing not more than 178lbs) division of the UNH Wildcat Judo Invitational. This one marked a significant turning point for me because for the first time, I beat someone. My very first match of the day, I landed a classic “Osoto Gari” (the standard outside foot sweep) to put my opponent flat on his back. Ippon! Once someone else beat him, I was assured a place in the top three.

much more detail, including concussion time!

At risk of turning into a total jwz fanboy blog, I’ll just repost this. It’s a crossover reference to _earthshine_ and technolope‘s recent references to “living in the future.”

To paraphrase jwz: I, for one, will welcome our new robot overlords, when they bring that beat back.

This one is for capital_l:

A lamp that develops like a living organism: switch it on and it slowly starts growing by knitting its own lampshade at a speed of three rotations per hour.

I, for one, welcome our new domestically superior robot overlords.

Wow, response to that last post was intense. More than double my previous top number of comments. I was surprised and flattered by the honesty and soul searching that people shared.

Not much new to report. Spring may, in fact, be here … and work proceeds.

It’s time to get interactive here, people:

For two points: Tell me a deeply ingrained belief you hold, about which you think you might be wrong. I’m not talking about those idiots over there, those ones that we always make fun of. I’m talking about you. You, my beautiful and highly intelligent friend. What are you wrong about? I’m looking for things at the level of “women don’t deserve the vote” and “we can enslave those brown people because they don’t have souls.” What will your descendants cringe to admit that their grandparents believed?

For a single point, you may tell me what I’m wrong about. Please note that a long list doesn’t give lots of points. One point for one mistake, and that same point for many. You will not achieve a second point without picking on yourself.