Eeks Abound

Part II: Adopt a kitten or two!

2011-10-11T10:46:00.004-04:00

I now have photos of this little beauties - still looking for a loving home or homes.

Felting Oops

2011-10-10T22:09:00.000-04:00

So I spent the last few weeks knitting this gorgeous sweater in Berroco Comfort yarn in color Grape Jelly. Totally gorgeous. I finished it, blocked it, and realized it was about 2 sizes too big. Whoops! But I didn't care, I was going to keep it as is.

I decided today that it was done being blocked, so I took it off the blocking board and threw it on my bed...unfortunately very close to my 'dirty laundry' pile ready for the washer. About an hour later I swiped all clothing items off of my bed and put them in the washer. Awesome! Except when I inadvertently felted this sweater to a point of no return :(. $90 down the drain, unless I could find use for baby body armor made of wool. The good news is that it felted beautifully. I'll keep that in mind for projects that I WANT to have felted.

Luckily I had already started my next knitting project, so I'm well on the way to recovery and wiping my memory of my stupid sweater that I ruined. Check out the pattern: http://blog.craftzine.com/archive/2009/01/owls_sweater_pattern.html

Mad Men

2011-10-08T12:32:00.001-04:00

Thank you to Jocelyn and Tim for telling me (long ago) to watch Mad Men. I just finished that which is available to me via Netflix instant (Seasons 1 to 4) and I am so very happy that I did. I am now depressed that I have exhausted the Mad Men resources on Netflix Instant, and I think on the entire internet. I do not have a TV. What do I do now?

Despair.

...oh, what's that now? Knit more? And watch more Dexter? I suppose.

Is there any other TV-on-the-internet that anyone recommends?

Adopt a cat or kitten!

2011-10-07T10:47:00.001-04:00

A coworker of mine has been fostering a stray cat and her three kittens. They are all ready for a new home. (They don't have to be adopted together).

Momma cat, Chloe, is probably about a year old and was recently 'fixed'. She is very affectionate and "does not have a bad bone in her body". She's probably one of the friendliest cats in the world, and she's healthy!

The kittens are also healthy and wonderful and they like to play and purr (awww how cuuuute).

I believe Chloe is a tabby, and the kitties are all black/white/fawn colored.

If you are interested, please please let me know! She cannot keep them much longer.

She is also entertaining the thought of sending the kitties to be barn cats. ...do you know anyone with a barn? See if they're interested.

Spaghetti squash!

2011-10-02T18:32:00.000-04:00

Spaghetti squash is in season! As are brussels sprouts! (Although I haven't seen any good fresh brussels sprouts at the Shrewsbury Shaw's yet). That's bull. Anyway, I bought a Spaghetti Squash on Friday and had some for dinner tonight. I can't remember what (fantastic) recipe I used last year, but for this year I just winged it. "Winging it" includes forgetting how long to bake the squash and at what temperature, and whether to slice and seed before baking or after. I also learned how to use the apartment oven. I've probably used it more than 15 times so far, but I didn't KNOW how to use it until tonight. Nothing got hurt. Huge relief.

Anyway, I don't know if I've ever mentioned it before on here but I love to cook. I cook a fairly elaborate meal (risotto, for example) at least once a week, and I cook meals 'from scratch' probably 5 days out of 7. It used to be 7 days out of 7 before I started grad school. Grumble. So tonight! I think my recipe was a hit. A hit with myself, since nobody else was here to shower me with praise on my abilities. I basically made a version of a tomato sauce recipe that I make when I don't have a lot of time, and added pinot grigio to it (mostly by accident, as I spilled my glass into the pot while tripping over Betty) but it worked out great so I'll have to do that more often. Add wine, not trip over my dog. Anyway, I then put the squash in the sauce, mixed it up, turned off the heat under the saucepan, and added some Pecorino. Mix, serve, eat. It was great. That wasn't really a recipe. Shrug. Do whatever you want, people.

If you've never had Spaghetti squash in your life I suggest that you try it this winter - it's pretty easy and pretty versatile. My only advisement is that it has an inherently sweet flavor to it (it's subtle, but there). THUS, you should either play into the sweetness and recognize ingredients that will suit it well, or your can play against the sweetness (as I did by adding Pecorino). I also used Pecorino over Parmesan because the consistency when it melts is more likely to mix in the sauce and become almost creamy whereas Parmesan can get stringy.

The end. Make some food and eat it.

Have I really not posted Betty pictures yet?

2011-10-01T21:41:00.001-04:00

Apparently I only put them on Google+. Shame on me. Here we go:

Puppies don't speak human. Argh!

2011-09-29T22:35:00.000-04:00

1. So, Betty is occasionally a hysterical barker. This started this evening during an encounter on the stairwell with a larger dog. The other dog couldn't have cared less about Betty, but Betty was in super anxious protective crazy dog mode and she decided to 'throw her weight around' which consists of acting like a doberman despite being SMALLER THAN A BREAD BOX. GET OVER YOURSELF, BETTY. I was also strictly told NOT to pick her up, but she started slipping out of her harness (I've since bought a new one) and I had to snag her to keep her away from the dog because she's stupid and despite the dog's docile manner, he could have easily made her his dinner.

Apparently puppies have to be trained when to bark and when not to bark. During training you are supposed to be patient and not frustrated. I am learning how to do this. So far I'm failing, and she's barking. This isn't me throwing my hands up in vain, this is just simple venting. I'm sure anyone that's adopted a puppy in an apartment building can sympathize with some permutation of this. In the meantime I hope my neighbors can be patient when they walk down the hall and my big bad pipsqueak is sticking her little paw under the door trying to 'protect' her territory. Despite the barking, she's still excellent. Today I took her to a birthday party for my 7 year old niece and she was great with the kids and the adults. She clearly favors the adults, but she didn't growl. There was only one child that made her nervous, and he was definitely too young to know proper handling with a pet. Regardless, I can't wait for doggy training on Saturday afternoon! I say doggy training, but really he's just going to tell me how to be patient and give me some tips. She just gets to think we're playing for an hour.

Also, I should mention that Betty likes wearing shirts. She also chases her tail and catches it. And barks at shadows and mirrors. She's learning.

2. Graduate school is a lot of work. (Yes, obviously). Vent vent vent.

3. I got a new laptop! It's a Dell something or other. It works and does everything I need it to and it's fast and wonderful. It also feels sturdy and starts and shuts down quickly. I'm enamored with it. This also means I gave my new iPad2 to my mother. I've gotten plenty of flack for the surrendering of such a 'beautiful machine' for basically 'no reason' to my mother for free, but I feel like it's the right choice. First, my mother is obviously happy with this arrangement. 2. Most of the times that I used my iPad2 I reflected on how I'd rather be using a PC/Laptop or my Android phone depending on what I was trying to do. Sure, the interface of the iPad2 is lovely and most of the setup is straightforward and fast - but I'm just not an iPad2 enthusiast. 3. I wouldn't dissuade any interested parties from purchasing one, it just wasn't the product for me. I rarely traveled with it - and when I did, I rarely used it. I was more prone to use a loaner laptop or my phone. I also get to teach my mother how to set it up in the coming days. Very exciting.

I want to punch myself in my own face.

2011-09-27T23:54:00.001-04:00

Step 1: Humiliate yourself in front of 40 of your classmates by sounding like a blabbering idiot.

Check.

Step 2: Leave your new puppy alone in the crate for three 3-4 hour increments in one day and then arrive home to a psychotic wonder ball.

Check. At least I hope this means she's feeling better. It seems more like puppy energy. I guess in comparison she's been lethargic the past few days. I had no idea. We're still getting to know each other.

Step 3: Have last minute reading to do for tomorrow night's class, even though you should have done it already. And now you can hardly keep your eyes open.

Check.

Step 4. Repeat Step 2 tomorrow.

Betty

2011-09-25T19:35:00.000-04:00

I've adopted another dog. I wasn't opposed to adopting so quickly, but I was definitely not anticipating that I would find a new dog right away. Especially a 'small dog'. Regardless, I now have Betty (the artist formerly known as KC). Betty is a 6 month old Chihuahua puppy that was picked up as a stray in LA, flown to Worcester when the LA pound was overcrowded, and who arrived at the Worcester Animal Rescue League just a few days ago. She weighs in at barely six pounds. So far all indications are that she is great. I've only seen her bark at one dog so far, and he totally started it. He tried to eat her when she got off the elevator. I don't blame him, really - she's the size of a sneeze. He probably thought she was a snausage.

I got her today at noon after putting a hold on her and meeting her yesterday. We already spent a few hours at Tufts small animal hospital ER due to this awful wheezing/convulsing action she had going on within an hour of leaving the Animal Rescue League. Turns out it appears to just be kennel cough. I have a 12 day antibiotics regimen for her. Guess how many pills constitutes 12 days of medicine? Three tablets, quartered. She's teensy.

Pictures forthcoming. She finally settled down and I don't want to ruin it by slinking around her snapping photos. I hope to have plenty of time for pictures. Chihuahuas live a long time!

Bye, Ed

2011-09-22T12:40:00.003-04:00

Short version: Ed bit a neighbor in the hallway and is back at the shelter.

Long version: I am upset, he didn't mean it, he was being protective, blah blah blah sad cry blah. He's a good boy. We're on good terms.

Amended: Also, let's all be thankful Ed doesn't have all his teeth (as previously mentioned).

Ed Part Deux

2011-09-21T07:46:00.001-04:00

Ok, so having a dog is a lot of work. Obviously, or a) people wouldn't always say "dogs are a lot of work" and b) I wouldn't have cried myself to sleep twice since Friday.

The good news: Ed is an awesome dog. He was great through the night last night (awful the night before, however) and right now I am proudly sitting on my couch ALONE without batting him off of it. This is a breakthrough. I don't want him to think he's king of the place. On that note - to potential visitors this weekend (and always, actually) it's really important upon coming to my apartment that you completely ignore the dog's existence. Whether he's growling, or happily wagging his tail trying to give you kisses. He's the last in the pecking order in this household and it's important that we keep it that way. Humans that comply with this very difficult task (he is adorable, and very affectionate) will receive a human treat in the form of an alcoholic beverage or baked treat. I'm finding training people to be just as difficult as training the dog, so I'm hoping these incentives will keep compliance. Or you could just ignore him to respect the house rules. Both the incentive and respect motivations are acceptable in this establishment.

So yeah. I keep giving him Kong bones with treats inside and after going to the vet I feel like an asshole because he's missing a canine and 2-3 of his molars. Missing a canine! And I'm giving him toys that are all about using his teeth! I'm a jerk face. Except that he loves the toys and loves me and he's cute. He's also smart. Which is on the one hand very wonderful, and on the other hand very difficult. For example, the daily couch battle. When I say "no" and prevent his hopping on the couch, he waits until he thinks I'm not paying attention, and sniffs around the room to find other pieces of furniture that he can use to leverage his pipsqueak body over my head and onto the couch. He can jump like a...dog that can jump. He can easily jump on top of my kitchen counter, he just hasn't realized it yet (thankfully). I hope he can't read this. I did say he was smart.

Ed

2011-09-18T21:12:00.000-04:00

Today I went on a beautiful 25 mile ride through Danvers, MA for Reason to Ride 2011. What a perfect day! The ride was fun, and it felt great to be out in early fall.

So!

I started my MBA at WPI
and...
I got a dog.

That's actually a lot of stuff for a 30-day span.

There was a lot of back and forth about the dog adoption. Eddie (the artist formerly known as Bandit) is a rescue dog from the Worcester Animal Rescue League. I communicated with the office about the dog for weeks and it was not until our last phone call prior to paperwork that I was told that he had behavioral problems. It turns out he had been picked up by Worcester Animal Control as a stray in March, and was adopted twice (most recently in July) and returned within a week or two each time. It was reported that in family situations he would 'choose' a favorite child, and would then shun the rest. And by shun I think they meant growl and be a little beast. I never saw this behavior in him when I visited, nor did the adoption staff/kennel staff report ever seeing any behavior of that sort. Regardless, I had to speak with a dog behavior trainer and commit to bringing the dog to training in order to adopt. We had our first training yesterday and it was great! Eddie is adorable and smart and delightful. I didn't see his "behavioral issue" until later last night when a friend stopped by my apartment. As soon as my friend entered the apartment, Eddie freaked and was growling and trying to run at him. Luckily I was smart enough to follow the trainer's counsel and keep Eddie on a leash during this process so I could control him. After less than a minute of this he jumped up on my friend and wanted to give him kisses (which I don't allow, but which is also the opposite of growling and being a nut). After that they were best friends. At the time I was horrified and overwhelmed and essentially ended up crying myself to sleep, wondering what in the world I was getting myself into.

Waking up today with a fresh start, I have better perspective of the ordeal and I'm still up for the challenge. It's not like I didn't know what I was up against. I knew the dog had issues. He's not a puppy anymore, but he's not old either - he's about 5 and a half per his dental records. That's 5 and a half years of who knows what kind of life. Patience is a virtue that I do not have, so I hope this will help. It's also super weird to always feel like there's a stranger in my house. I'm hoping that will wear off soon.

I know most people just care about pictures. Spoiler alert, he's adorable:

Adolescents of America, I need your help

2011-09-12T18:33:00.001-04:00

So, is it totally normal for Clearasil Cleansing Pads to burn the skin off your face in sheets and sting for 20 minutes? Or is this clearly (Ha! CLEARly. CLEARasil. Tee hee) a sign that I should not use this anymore? I've never really considered myself a wimp. Are tears part of the deal, or no? The tears from the pain, not the tears from having a breakout at age 27 after years of having this shit locked down. I know the latter tears are totally justifiable.

Augustography #5

2011-08-05T21:03:00.001-04:00

The PMC kickoff! 2 days, ~200 miles. Begins tomorrow at 6am. I am pumped up and thankful to be doing the ride for the third time.

Augustography Take 1

2011-08-01T23:54:00.177-04:00

You know what I love most about blogging? Returning from an unintentional 6 month hiatus. Whoops.

So, first and foremost - a huge thanks to Mike D for inviting me to partake in Augustography - a 30 day challenge of photography blog bliss. More details on Mike D's blog! I am obviously cutting it close here for day one of challenge, so I thought I'd offer an equally-fitting, poor quality, last minute photograph of an apartment craft. Next time I'll be better. Sob sob.

Behold the Paper Lantern bloom:

As much as I would enjoy claiming this brilliance for my own, I got the idea for this decoration from Design Sponge. This is a close-up of a 16" white paper lantern covered in red and blue tissue paper discs. Neither the solid red one, nor the multicolored one are completed. I'm a wizard when it comes to running out of supplies mid-project. They are hanging underneath the breakfast bar because I lack a ladder and/or furniture tall enough to allow me to hang them from the ceiling near the bay window. I've decided to nix the blue/red combo in favor of 3 or 4 of the straight red ones. And by "decided" I mean that my opinion vacillates wildly each day. What do you think? Do you think I should put more emphasis on purchasing furniture rather than spending hours each week decorating my living room with tissue paper crafts? That last question is rhetorical. Hush.

I'm especially embarrassed by this horrible cell phone photograph because I spent the past four days having a marvelous time in Chicago! A great 4-day vacation. I laughed so much that my face still hurts!

The trip to Chicago started out a bit rocky when the flight out was canceled on Thursday morning. My friend Kevin and I had both taken Thursday and Friday off from our jobs anticipating our 7:20am flight to enjoy a full day of Chicago. Instead of getting to Chicago around 9am, we landed closer to the 4pm range. This turned out to not be horrible (aside from the 'but-we-already-woke-up-at-5am-what-do-we-do-now' general feeling of malaise). We were able to peruse some stores near Bradley airport and traveled very leisurely to the terminal for our flight. The flight out was extremely uneventful given that the last time Kevin and I were on the same airplane it was hit by lightning during a turbulent landing. Kevin slept through that entire ordeal. I did not.

Once in Chicago we hoofed it a few blocks to our hotel. Fairmont Chicago, Millennium Park, actually. We had a very smooth arrival and were able to check in quickly and get ready for a nice evening of exploration. Once we were settled we consulted the concierge for restaurant recommendations and finally settled on a place called EPIC Restaurant. Guess what?! It was epic. Kevin and I enjoyed a salad and entree. The salad was so great I ended up doing some late night googling to find a perfect knock-off recipe which I promptly tried today, with slight alterations:

(Serves 2 as side salad)
1 heirloom tomato, sliced
1 avocado, sliced
2 strips thick cut bacon, diced
1 small shallot, minced
1/2 c extra virgin olive oil
1 T champagne vinegar (although I did an experiment with a higher end white wine vinegar and it was fine)
1 t lemon juice
1 pinch salt
fresh ground pepper to taste
oregano

For shallot vinaigrette:
In small bowl, combine minced shallot, lemon juice, vinegar, and salt. Let sit for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, slowly add evoo while whisking to emulsify. Add pepper to taste.

Add the dressing over the remaining ingredients and dig in. Totally great.

Oh wow, I almost forgot! On the way to dinner we witnessed what we think was a car/pedestrian accident, although it also could have been just an instance of a man falling down and hitting his head, or it could have been a man getting hit in the head by a projectile. All we saw was a car fleeing the scene leaving behind a man stumbling in the road. The man later collapsing on the sidewalk, and fireman and other first responders arrived near immediately to tend to this man. We didn't see what actually happened, but I know we both hope that he is well.

On a lighter note, after dinner we found a Howl at the Moon (dueling piano bar chain that crosses our nation) a few blocks away and stopped in for some brews and some awesome DUELING PIANOS. The crowd was a bit odd given that it was a Thursday night and Kevin and I were clearly vacationing tourists, but we had a great time. It DID take them three hours to play my request, though. I'm glad we waited! Once we decided to depart a bit after midnight we realized that Chicago was victim to serious torrential rain and what seemed to be violent thunderstorms. We were probably only outside for a few seconds prior to jumping in our cab, but my sweater and dress were still soaked through with rain the next morning. That's some serious rain. That's what I call "movie rain" because I always thought it only existed in the movies.

Friday was filled with Bloody Marys at the top of the Hancock building, Lunch at Gino's East, Navy Pier, and a visit with JOCELYN! Friday was great because we got to cross a bunch of things off of my Chicago tourist 'to do' list. We rode the Ferris Wheel at Navy Pier which was great. I am afraid of heights, so this was something I had been afraid to do on previous trips. I can be a really big baby sometimes. Curses, wimpy Eileen. I had finally resolved to ride the wheel this time after learning that the Ferris Wheel was invented for the Chicago World's Fair! 1893, I think it was? Anyway, go read Devil in the White City and get excited about Chicago. Although the Ferris Wheel on Navy Pier is just a knock off, it was still a great, scenic way to see the city and the lake.

Our night out with Jocelyn and Tim was also extremely awesome, and easily the highlight of our day. We had a delicious blueberry lemonade cocktail at Jocelyn's home, and then ventured on to The Bad Apple for dinner. This night was a whirlwind. All I really know is that everyone laughed a lot, and I think we all had fun. We were taught about the value of the 'cattoo' (cattoo = tattoo of your cat's face on your body). If that's not a conversation starter, I don't know what is.

Saturday was a special day for me since I FINALLY GOT TO GO ON THE ARCHITECTURE TOUR on the river. I've wanted to do this for years. Unfortunately at least half of my visits to Chicago over the past few years have been during the off-season and these tours haven't been available. I was so glad to finally have the chance. I found it very interesting and highly enjoyable. Well worth the wait. Following the tour we had a leisurely lunch by the river, and then met Jocelyn for the Sox vs. Sox game. Another great time. We even stayed for the fireworks after the game. Nothing like a 10 to 2 win (BOS) followed by fireworks at the park. I pretended they were celebratory. In fact, I tried to take credit for the win by dubbing myself 'good luck' and my father suggested I stay through the end of the series because "The Sox need me." He didn't want to pay, though - So home I came!

We ended our little trip with a leisurely visit to Jocelyn's home. Tim made us all a magnificent brunch of french toast, bacon, and mimosas - followed with salted caramel bacon brownies. Wait, what? Dessert to follow brunch? Yes. This was followed up with a marathon of Apples to Apples, some knitting, some horrible snippets of terrible movies, and of course some laughs.

I can't believe I had such a perfect trip!

Regardless of the fun that was had, I am ever so grateful to be home safely. And just in time for riding the PMC this weekend! I wonder if the rules will allow double posting on Monday to compensate for being on a bicycle for 200 miles in 2 days...

Mine.

2011-02-24T16:48:00.001-05:00

Almost forgot to post a pic. It's still in the box because I'm afraid to touch it until I'm feeling better. It requires minimal assembly.

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Patient Zero

2011-02-23T17:03:00.001-05:00

For some people, it is enough to simply know that you are "coming down with something." I do not work that way. If I feel I may be falling ill, I need to find my patient zero. This can be difficult.

Today the process involved feeling disgusting at 3:45 - that rare hit by a train feeling of soreness, tiredness, a cough, headache, and body temp problems. I immediately traced my activities of the past 24 hours. Perhaps dinner with 7 children under 7? Let's start there.
Next, I called my mother. Although she wasn't at this dinner, she knows everything about everything (as all mothers do) and upon being asked the question "so do you know any sick children?" She immediately identifies my patient zero. Small boy, sudden fever today, present at dinner last night. Grrrreat.

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Thursday night revelation

2011-02-10T20:15:00.000-05:00

I can never run for public office. Why? Because a few years ago I attended a cousin's (lovely) wedding. At this wedding, each table in the dining area was equipped with a disposable camera. It was requested that a picture was taken of each person seated at each table using the designated disposable camera. This was a beautiful idea, except that I had one mixed drink too many and decided to make my picture memorable:

I took out a makeup compact, made a 'line' of salt, and mock-snorted the white line with a rolled up 20 dollar bill. On film.

This picture, although staged, would inevitably destroy a public office campaign.

I was so proud when this photo was spotlighted in the newlywed's thank-you notes.

Curses, younger Eileen. Curses.

Oh, Today

2011-01-26T19:47:00.000-05:00

A few snippets from today:

4 people saw my underwear.
I had 1 glass of wine, and it tasted like miracles.
I cut my own hair.

And that about sums it up! I'm ready for the weekend. :)

I almost forgot!

2011-01-20T22:55:00.021-05:00

On my way to Las Vegas last week I went through one of the naked scanners! That's what I call them, anyway. It wasn't a big deal - you just stand in a clear cage with your arms over your head. The part I thought was crappy was walking out of the cage and having to wait for the TSA agent viewing the scan to radio down to the two TSA security women who wouldn't let me pass until they received clearance from the voice on the radio. First, they confirmed on the radio that I am, in fact, female. Luckily this was consistent with my scan. Phew. And also, they thought I had stashed something in my upper inner thigh (wtf?) so I had to get a pat down anyway. For some reason I found this process fascinating. Further x-rays have confirmed that I am all flesh, and my right leg is not dangerous to national security.

Chiropractor

2011-01-19T22:10:00.000-05:00

Today I went to see a chiropractor for the first time! Now that I've had two significant back spasm events in less than 2 months, I figured enough is enough: time to get a diagnosis. Mr. Chiropractor is health professional #3 that I've seen for my "lower back pain." The first two were MD's and they threw medication at the problem (with favorable results in the able-to-walk-and-function category) but really no explanation for WHY I'm having these problems.

This afternoon I had an appointment at the Chiropractor recommended to me by my sister and her husband, and within the first 15 minutes of my appointment we were looking at x-rays of my spine. Go figure. Some people call chiropractors 'junk science' and 'junk medicine,' and here this guy is the third health professional that I've seen for this issue, and he is the FIRST health professional to say, "Hey - let's check out your lower back!" That's such common sense! It's alarming. Now here is where it gets kind of yucky...

He took 2 x-rays, one from the side, and one from the front. The x-ray from the side was gorgeous - no visible wear and tear, no discs out of whack, nothing of concern. He pointed out all of the great things about my spine and seriously boosted my spinal self esteem. And then for the other x-ray... distinct scoliosis. I didn't need him to point out the problem (but he's a nice man and he did anyway) - my right hip is lower than my left, and my spine curves to the right at my lower back. This explains the nerve pain that shoots down my right leg, and the back spasms. Not a good situation.

The good news? The curve is considered mild, and although the cause can't be determined and is officially "unknown" it is probably adult-onset. I was never flagged for scoliosis growing up in school, or even in yearly physical exams as an adult.

The bad news? Oh hi, scoliosis. If left unchecked I will be a very uncomfortable older adult.

I left the office with a shoe insert for my right foot, and strict instructions to always sit on 'both cheeks" instead of the sitting-on-leg pose that I adopted as my signature move long ago. I also have a series of follow up appointments later this week and I imagine for weeks to come. We'll see if it helps. I'm just happy to have seen the issue with my own eyes.

I put the shoe insert inside my slipper when I got home.

I'm wearing it now.

I'm sitting on both cheeks.

So far, so good.

Promotion!

2011-01-14T11:40:00.001-05:00

I've been here less than a year, and I got promoted! Effective this past Monday. I'm thrilled.

Now on to the next milestone!

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THANK YOU ADAM!

2011-01-12T10:47:00.000-05:00

Dear everyone on the internet: Adam is the best. Adam enabled me to get to work today by digging my car out COMPLETELY. Thank you, Adam! I will get you a present! What's your favorite type of beer for mid-January?

More on CES! As promised.

2011-01-11T23:30:00.001-05:00

Ok, so yesterday my friend Tyler asked me what I thought of the 3D TV that doesn't require glasses, and here's what I told him:

I had two reactions.

First: OMG HOW COOL and BEAUTIFUL!

Second: (As I stepped off of the designated 'standing place') Hmm, this isn't 3D anymore. It's blurry weirdness that makes my eyes hurt. And also, I wouldn't have markers in my house to indicate where people should sit/stand to properly view the TV.

I really wanted to love it though. Of the 3D items, I was the biggest fan of the 3D gamer laptops. This is interesting since I'm not a gamer, and I don't wear contacts and don't like doubling up on glasses. Regardless, Toshiba had COD 3D on a laptop which was pretty cool and I believe Samsung had the 3D driving game that was awesome. Oh! There was an HD video camera live demo that was really neat. ALSO the Nexus S at the Samsung booth was clutch. I played with it for a while and I wish it was MINE RIGHT NOW. Samsung also had the largest, thinnest TV I've ever seen.

I also saw some unbelievable cameras. Casio makes a camera with over 10,000 worldwide landmarks and GPS capabilities built in so that you can always know where your photo was taken - as well as know how far away you are from a popular tourist spot. Pretty smart, Casio. Panasonic had a great camera too.

Ok, time for me to highlight some small-time brochures that I took:

SimpliciKey was just one of the companies that offer wireless entry to your home. I love this concept since I often try to use my car key fob to unlock the front door of the house. Whoops.

Bayer gave me a $25 voucher toward the Bayer CONTOUR USB, the first meter with plug & play diabetes management technology. You better believe the Bayer panelist mentioned aspirin at least once. Also, I do not have diabetes - so if anyone thinks they're interested in this product, please just shoot me a message or leave a comment and you can have it!

Beltone (www.beltone.com) has state of the art hearing aids that have bluetooth to connect to TV stereo systems so hearing aid wearers don't have to amp up the volume and annoy everyone else in the room (this would be a huge problem solver for my dad). I grabbed a brochure for his benefit - I'll just have to remember to give it to him.

M-EDGE not only gave me a pack of screen protectors for my Kindle, but also a $10 voucher for customizing my own e-reader cover - something they're rolling out in a short time.

Speck http://www.speckproducts.com makes excellent cases and bags for i-devices, etc. They were offering beer, and they gave me a free ipod touch case.

Verizon was pushing bitbop, a $9.99 subscription service to streaming and/or downloaded TV on your mobile phone. I don't like the $9.99 monthly price point, but I liked the quality of the demo. Shrug.

Sifteo https://www.sifteo.com/ was cool! I had seen this online before, but I loved the demo they had at the show. They're cubes for playing video games, essentially. Small and cute and functional and puzzle-ish and I WANT THEM. I'm on the waiting list for the Early Access Program. Phew.

Accessory Workshop www.accessoryworkshop.com was pushing their tyPad II, which is an integrated iPad case/keyboard. It's spill proof and generally pretty awesome. They also make the tyPillow. Oh, is that an ipad holder integrated with a lap pillow? Of course it is! Because that's necessary in this world. I'll use it while I wear my snuggie?

Holy CES

2011-01-10T04:00:00.004-05:00

Dreams come true, America! And by America, I mean the 20-50 Americans that hit my site per day, most of whom I know. MY America. XOXO

So I’m composing this on my flight back from Las Vegas, and it is currently 0400 EST. Yes, this is a red eye flight, and I foolishly imagined that I would be asleep for the duration. Hilarious, considering that I’ve only managed to sleep on one red eye flight in my entire life and it was after a particularly trying customer visit in the grand state of California. This trip was certainly exhausting, but not nearly to that level. Not even an iota.

I could go into detail about my aching lower back, blistering feet and other geriatric sufferings of my Las Vegas debut, OR I could gush about ALL OF THE COOL SHIT I SAW. And stuff that I learned! Taxi drivers in Vegas are amazing. I love trivia and history, and they apparently loved to tell me all about it. I got some dirt on Howard Hughes, plenty of facts about different hotels and their management and who is struggling financially and who isn’t, and who is a dirty scumbag, and who has the biggest sign, and who owns land and who doesn’t…I was so happy. Anyone that knows me knows that I love FACTS. AHHH! I also got to see some of the big casinos and stroll around (and gamble, mayhaps) and that was pretty awesome. I freaking loved Encore. I want to live there. Everything is bright red and crisp white. Le sigh.

Ok, Ok, so CES:

First and foremost, I scored a seat for the digital health summit that took place from 0830 to 1730 on Friday. There were what felt like a dozen sessions, and no breaks in between. The room seated 200, but there was a line out the door, and probably another hundred or so people standing in the back of the room. What did this mean? No getting up from the coveted seat. For any reason. For hours. Bleugh. Aside from that, it was actually pretty neat. The keynote right in the morning was Colonel Ron Poropatich with the US Army’s Telemedicine and Advanced Technology Research Center (TATRC). He had valuable insights into the industry, and got our attention with some really compelling facts: more people have access to a mobile phone than to running water in the world. 6 billion cell phones is the number he used, I believe.

He focused a lot of time on proving the concept that mobile personal health is possible, and absolutely necessary for our military. In fact, he said that smart phones for all soldiers has already gotten the OK from the powers at be – as in, distributed with standard gear like boots and uniforms – although this probably won’t go into place for some time. They’re even working on smart phones that are flexible and integrated into the armband of the uniform itself. It sounded like the technology is already there, it’s just a matter of making sure it would have meaningful use. A great example he used of having a smart phone in Afghanistan was to say that a soldier has to come up to speed very quickly (or even immediately) with medical information in the event of any sickness or injury outside of an area with immediate medical professionals – wouldn’t it be excellent if he or she could access life-saving medical how-to on a smart phone in the middle of Afghanistan? I hardly need to stress the many applications for this, but it was really fascinating.

Oh! Also that mobile technology is being used to help soldiers with PTSD or other duty-related syndromes or disabilities to make sure that they are able to get back to their lives on our mainland. Some examples were tracking moods of returned soldiers via simple, weekly or monthly text messages asking simple questions in reference to life events to make sure that soldiers in a “red zone” (unhappy/emotionally distressed) can get the help that they need. They track all of this data over time and it really allows the arms of TATRC to reach patients (soldiers) regardless of geographical restraints. I wish I had a copy of his presentation. Very compelling indeed.

Some other awesome facts thrown out by panelists throughout the day were that there are more mobile phones in the world than toothbrushes, and that with the aging baby boomer population there are literally not enough physicians to treat them! The physician shortage was well into the tens of thousands. I want to say the 40,000 range. This will necessitate mobile health. I think especially telecommunications. Oh and I almost forgot! Another great (and terrifying) factoid was that the average amount of time that a person has a chronic illness prior to the actual day that they are diagnosed with said chronic illness is 10 – 13 years. Shut the front door. That is astounding.

The same presenter did a little trick where he asked everyone who has a yearly physical with their PCP to please raise their hands – this was everyone- then he asked everyone to keep their hand raised if his or her physician listened to heart and lungs during the exam – again, almost everyone – and THEN he asked which of us in the room had asked our physician about his or her last hearing test. All of the hands in the room went down. This guy’s point? There are no standards to ensure that your physician is up to par. There’s no ranking for a “good” physician in that capacity. I found this striking.

FURTHERMORE, he gave an example about the importance of home tracking of medicine. Did you know that it’s estimated that somewhere around 1/4 to 1/3 of all patients diagnosed with hypertension actually have what he lovingly referred to as “white coat hypertension”…they’re just terrified of the doctor. Remarkable, this guy. And lastly, to stress the point of trending and individual medicine over time, he used the example of his wife. His wife naturally has low blood pressure of 90/60 (in fact, most women have lower blood pressure than men) and over the course of many years her blood pressure increases to 120/80. If each reading at the doctor’s office is seen as a static number compared to our “average” acceptable blood pressure of 130/80, than she’ll always be told that her blood pressure is fine. In reality? She has undiagnosed hypertension. This could all be resolved with proper patient trending. We’re all individuals, after all. Gosh, I really go crazy about this stuff. I LOVE IT.

Another excellent point that was made was concerning meaningful use of digital health. One of the panelists stressed the point that there’s no purpose to digitizing an existing process if it’s not going to optimize it. To say it a different way: if a process is “broken” when done manually and produces mistakes, digitizing the existing workflow will not alleviate those issues. The process needs to be reevaluated for digital optimization. This is 99 parts “duh” and 1 part “oh my God” as I relate it to my current position in Healthcare Tech. I’m going back to work this week with new eyes.

Some immediate CES regrets: I didn’t take enough pictures. Or notes. Gah. My friend took a few pictures of me being a SUPER NERD, but I don’t know how to share them here. I’ll have to contact him. One picture is of me with 3D glasses (duh!) and in the other I was at the Casio display regaling myself with piano songs I learned in third grade. Luckily there were headphones.

Products that struck me: Motorola Xoom looks slick, and got the most buzz of the tablets at CES – BUT—the actual Honeycomb OS was not loaded on any of the devices for a test drive or real demo. Motorola employees could only click play on various “demo” videos that weren’t interactive. I was disappointed in that regard – and a little suspicious. How do you not roll out Honeycomb for debut at CES? C’monnnnn.

It is TOTALLY OBVIOUS that Android took CES be storm. Additionally, a slip from a Blackberry employee indicated that the new Playbook (which I was totally impressed with – especially it’s bridging capability with BB phones) will be able to support Android in some capacity. When my friend and I pressed further on that front we were stonewalled, but the demo of the playbook and the bridging was pretty cool, and bridging maintains the encryption that is paramount to RIM. High five.

Oh! Also, with Sprint 4G everywhere (and I assume boosters set up all over the Convention Center) my phone was the fastest and most power efficient that I’ve ever ever ever ever ever experienced. Christmas for nerds.

I think by far the best picture quality TV that I saw was the new AQUOS by Sharp. My mind blew apart, it was gorgeous. Who knew what a difference yellow could make. I think Samsung had the largest and thinnest TV that we saw… I don’t quite remember because of the sheer sensory overload!

I got to play with Kinect! And I saw robots and got some free stuff – namely a $60 ipad case for the ipad I don’t yet own, and a $20 ipod touch case for the ipod touch I don’t yet own. YES. Speaking of cases for Apple products, the big thing this year was that everything was bejeweled with Swarovski crystals. EVERYTHING. And not just apple products – I saw a SERIOUSLY blinged out Wii console, too. BUT WHY? The same reason they make a machine to put photographs on acrylic nails: BECAUSE.

Let’s see…

OH! 3M made a touch screen surface type thing (MUCH smaller than Microsoft surface, by the way…) that can operate independently with up to 60 different contact points. That’s 60 fingers. I was able to touch an image of a skeletal hand and rotate it in all directions, flip it around, make it larger and smaller, manipulate its position on a number of axes, and ultimately move it across other connected touch screen surfaces and even over other testers’ images. Imagine this in a hotel lobby as an interactive map of some kind – 10 people could actively engage at the same time. And I think a hotel lobby is probably the lamest application for this kind of cool technology. This stuff blows my mind apart, it really does. I think that was one of my favorite things that I got to play with.

Honorable mention goes to the folks that made the keyboard PC. Apple makes plenty of Computers-in-a-monitor, but nobody’s really making keyboards that are PC’s. This model was super lightweight, Cheap ($100)?, and could connect to a monitor or a TV to enable PC access on the go. Kind of a nice trick for a vacation or something.

I also really liked MuRata’s display. Apparently MuRata makes a lot of awesome components for some of the most popular consumer devices on the market, but they don’t actually make any products directly for the consumer. They got smart and decided to showcase their technologies at CES by building robots using their own components. There were two robots – one that could balance itself on a bicycle (WHAAAAAAAAT) and ride around on a narrow balance beam (WHAAAAAAAAAAAT) and another one that could balance itself on a unicycle and do all that the bicycle robot could do, in addition to the ability to recognize and follow objects. I don’t remember the explanations of all of the components, but the demonstration was really smart on their part. The part that got my attention right off the bat was when the presenter said “I bet you’re wondering who we are! We’ve been around since (I don’t quite remember…1940 maybe?) and last year we made 6 billion dollars. Oh hi, so I guess you’re pretty established. BRILLIANT on their part to produce something appropriate for CES. Truly.

More on this later. So much more. I'm zonked.