The most recent 20 comments posted to Making Light by Bill Blum:

Renatus:

Ask her if she's talked to any other recruiters from the other branches-- Navy and Army have the highest $$-value college programs at the moment, but they're typically tied to specific conditions of enlistment. ( I was offered $30k for college by the Navy assuming I enlisted for 8 yrs active duty right out of the gate, and qualified for training in a nuclear-related specialty. Failure to complete qualification for that rating would have denied my chance at the $30k, *plus* I would have still been stuck with the 8yr active duty obligation. )

Other branches may not have the big promises-- but they might have less high-pressure recruiters. Have her talk to a Coast Guard or Air Force recruiter, see what sort of information she gets from them.

Rikibeth @ #699-

Nope, he was 1st diagnosed in Feb of 2008. He's been relatively well controlled for a preteen, according to his endocrinologist.

.... and verily, my son's prelunch blood sugar: 129.

Whoops. double post.

I spent this past weekend worrying about whether any of my kids would catch one of the various "stomach bugs"/illnesses going around our area--- what started as an apparent case of stomach flu in my oldest resulted in a field trip to the nearby children's hospital to deal with what turned out to be Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

I've got an entirely new appreciation for Big Medicine, caffeinated drinks, and the Child's Play Charity-- it's amazing how easy kids will ignore IVs, chest leads, and a pulse-ox meter if they have a game controller in their hand.

We're sitting in the room, waiting for lunch and the labs to see if his electrolytes are back within the realms of normalcy. Two nights in hospital are enough, in the kid's opinion.

I spent this past weekend worrying about whether any of my kids would catch one of the various "stomach bugs"/illnesses going around our area--- what started as an apparent case of stomach flu in my oldest resulted in a field trip to the nearby children's hospital to deal with what turned out to be Diabetic Ketoacidosis.

I've got an entirely new appreciation for Big Medicine, caffeinated drinks, and the Child's Play Charity-- it's amazing how easy kids will ignore IVs, chest leads, and a pulse-ox meter if they have a game controller in their hand.

Being approached by a librarian during a class trip to the public library, and asked if I liked robots, and if I'd ever heard of a gentleman named Asimov.

abi @#107: It's a boy-- Jeremy Malcolm Blum.

Wife was asking if I had thoughts on the middle name while we were in the hospital room pre-birth. I was watching Firefly on Hulu.

Specifically, I was watching the episode 'The Train Job':
Sheriff Bourne: But a man learns all the details of a situation like ours... well... then he has a choice.
Mal: I don't believe he does.


I believe strongly that even in the most dire circumstances, if it's the Right Thing to Do, you do it, without thinking twice-- and I sincerely hope to instill that in my son. Plus, I want to be able to call him Mal. :)

We watched the inauguration at home in between trips out to shopping malls for my wife to walk around and try and jumpstart contractions.

Water broke in a store at 2:40, we made it to hospital parking garage at 3:10, baby arrived at 5:17pm.

Change happens fast, in many instances.

(8lbs 13 oz., no epidural. My wife is fearsome.)

Charlie @#9-

You think that's a huge vehicle, search for pictures of Oshkosh fire-crash-rescue trucks. Large enough to get to any point on an airport within minutes, in spite of any fences that may be in the way.

My kids are quite fond of the nearby ladder truck at Station 5 here in Springfield OH.

I worked as a temp one summer at an ambulance manufacturing company-- I have a deep appreciation for exactly how many nooks and crannies there are in your standard rig.

Tobias Buckell seems to be having a heck of a morning, heart cath and all.

And of course he's twittering.

Carrie @#16, I agree--- this is the McCain I knew, liked, and voted for in the 2004 primaries.

I'm quite proud of the students I work with-- shirt and TIE to go cast their votes today.

I'm feeling..... enthusiastic. Hopeful, even.

This is an odd feeling.

TPM's map in one browser window, Daily Kos scoreboard in another, TV alternating between channels... Twitter and meebo open, and a cold beverage.

All I need are chips and salsa, and that would require walking away from the news feeds for a bit, and I'm not quite prepared to do that.

I read that as contraterrine, and wondered what the antithesis of an earthenware cooking dish would be...

Today, I realized that I have an inordinate fascination with bacon.

Wow, I haven't seen footage of that crash in a while.

I was approaching the intersection from camera left, heading south on Edwin C Moses, trying to turn right and head to the gas station. Had both kids in the car, so I wasn't in a position to go out and physically help, but I did dial 911 on both my work and personal cellphones, after pulling into the gas station about 50 yards west of that intersection.

Fire drills at my employer are always a blast-- trying to convince students to take them seriously is frequently a lost cause.

Thankfully, the computer labs are set up so that I can just lock the keyboard/mouse of all 100+ computers at once-- gives them no excuse to stay in the building.

Lettuce not forget, the classic tome for culinary jobseekers..... Richard Bolles' "What Color is Your Patachoux?"

Serge@494:

I've never had good luck with Intervideo on any PC--- I use VLC or PowerDVD. Former's free, latter's not-- but seems to be the bundled software of choice with many add-on DVDROM drives of late.

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