Fuck.
The Universe keeps getting bigger. Well, technically the visible/observable Universe is still the same size but now we’re seeing more of it.
In other news, Neptune gets klepto…
Monthly Archives: March 2010
James Lovelock: Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change
In his first in-depth interview since the theft of UEA emails, the scientist blames inertia and democracy for lack of action.
Humans are too stupid to prevent climate change from radically impacting on our lives over the coming decades. This is the stark conclusion of James Lovelock, the globally respected environmental thinker and independent scientist who developed the Gaia theory.
More here…
Why I haven’t recovered…
It was a Saturday. I got really, really angry at a man who stole my parking spot. I was really angry, not sure I have been that angry before. When I confronted him I told him quite nicely that it was not polite but with a ‘coldness’ I have not felt before. On Sunday, early Monday I felt really bad like I was coming down with something like the flue. I also felt my arm go weak.
I think Wednesday I went to the Doctors. She thought it was chikungunya and sent me for some tests. But the fever was gone the next day so that was ruled out. But my arm was still getting worse. I took the tests and they seemed normal.
After a few days my leg was starting to go week and my arm was moving occasionally without my control. My Father said we should get myself admitted but I was hesitant. I finally agreed, and went to the hospital. I was fine except for a now quite weak arm and leg and I admitted myself the following Monday. On Tuesday they said I might have a blockage on a nerve in my neck and we would do a CT scan and find out where it is. I would then have to have an operation to get it out.
I was in the box for a really long time. It felt like three hours but maybe longer judging from the queue outside. The Doctors were quite abrupt me when I got back. I finslly found out that I had a stroke. Basically all that was wrong with me was wrong with me was my right arm and leg. Everything else was all right. I could even write, though not as well. They told me that I was going to be put on Heparin to treat it. They did not tell me about any of the side effects and I did not ask.
I was put on my first dose on Tuesday night and Wednesday morning I could not talk, my arm and leg were useless and my memory was off. The Doctors told my wife that was temporary. I’m still waiting for these ‘temporary’ effects to wear off. I was put on Warfarin after that.
The problem that Heparin and Warfarin have a side effect, and I’ll quote partway:
- sudden loss of balance or coordination
- sudden trouble walking
- sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body
- sudden confusion, or difficulty speaking or understanding speech
- difficulty seeing in one or both eyes
- hoarseness
It appears that my symptoms have nothing to do with my stroke and everything to do with the treatment I took after the stroke was diagnosed. And since I’m still taking it I haven’t got much better. Do you agree or disagree. Why. I really need to know.
It’s like a bomb, but smaller…
I am intelligent. I don’t know how intelligent but I took a test about ten years ago and it turned out I was in the top 10% of the highest 1% of the people who take the test. Although it didn’t stop me from noticing that I was taking the test in a Scientology doodah or wathchyoumightcallit. Good thing I managed to get out of there with only a copy of L. Ron’s master-work who’s name I have thankfully forgot.
I don’t feel neccasarily smart. I have no interesting quirks, I am not good at maths or science or business. And since my stroke I am without good speech as well. I used to draw and became quite good but I didn’t make anything of it and I was right handed so… I used to play the piano but I sucked at sight reading. I used to make model airplanes but a friend of mine laughed at me because he thought that my painting was crap. I thought it wasn’t but gave it up. I used to sing well but I was ashamed of my voice and stopped it, and now I’m not able to any more because I sound like an out-of-tune chipmunk. And because of my stroke induced amnesia I can’t remember anything else, but because of my anti-depressants I don’t care. 
I kinda forget the train of thought that made me write this, and all the other blog posts. It seems to be endemic, or if that doesn’t make sense then some word that does. I found out today that I will finally make the money I would have done had I stuck to my guns four years ago. Yup, that means I actually got paid 33% less than my last job. So, now I’m being paid almost at the same rate I was 4 years ago. Sigh. Even still, I’m glad I switched. I wouldn’t have been able to take so much leave to have my stroke any other place. Still, I can’t help thinking what I would have done with the money.
Oh, I was talking about how intelligent I am… uh, I’ve forgotten the reason why… 
Top 10 Atheism Quotes
Image via Wikipedia
Found these here. I like.
There are hundreds of great atheism quotes out there. Like most skillful turns of phrase, they all sound good. But there are many I disagree with, for example “All thinking men are atheists” (Ernest Hemmingway).
Or consider this Julian Baggini quote: “Goblins, hobbits… truly everlasting gobstoppers… God is just one of the things that atheists don’t believe in, it just happens to be the thing that, for historical reasons, gave them their name.” Actually, no. Perhaps we could say that God is just one of many things that naturalists don’t believe in, or something like that, but atheism is defined only by a lack of belief in gods.
There are hundreds of other atheism quotes to choose from, but these are the ones that strike me most deeply right now.
My 10 favorite atheism quotes
When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.
More here…
Related Articles
- Atheists and believers can get along | Julian Baggini (guardian.co.uk)
- Don’t Forget the New Atheists (atheistrev.com)
- Atheism is Not a Religion (godlessgirl.com)
- The Australian Book of Atheism – Edited by Warren Bonett – Scribe Publications (richarddawkins.net)
- The Australian Book of Atheism – Pre orders now taken (seantheblogonaut.com)
Everything I need to know…
…I learned again.
I am a stroke survivor.
Two years ago if you had asked me to say that it would sound like “Blah blah blah.”, or something similar. Actually it was more complex than that, but only just.
After almost 18 days of thinking that it was something else my right arm and leg were about 20% of the strength and control of my left side. Surprisingly my voice, thoughts and pretty much everything else was fine. When my stroke was discovered I was put on ‘medication‘ and all that changed.
I could no longer move my arm, and my right leg was down to 5%. I could no longer speak in sentences, only about 5 words at most. I couldn’t read, and being right handed I definitely could not write. I had a friend who said, quite rightly I believe that I was made worse by the medicine and not the disease.
I stayed about three weeks in the hospital and I needed help to get up the stairs. I couldn’t remember how to do the simplest thing and needed my wife’s help for everything. I couldn’t identify the letters on my keyboard. I’d take 10 minutes to type the word ‘the‘ on the keyboard and then find out it should have a capital ‘T’ and have to start over. Oh, and I didn’t know how to start over. I should thank my wife for putting up with me and my 1+ year old daughter. I definitely could not have done it without her help.
Me and my daughter.
Two years and I can walk, but my leg sometimes has a mind of it’s own, and I can move my arm, but not my hand. My memory is very bad, but I can still remember important stuff, just not what I’ve been watching when the commercials come on. Also anything in the last 10 years is a bit iffy. My voice is better but I can no longer sing or whistle. I learned to type with one hand and I’m up to 20 words per second. I think I was five times as fast before. I travel slowly since my balance is off but I haven’t fallen in a year, at least while standing.
My hand is improving; I can clench it okay, and almost relax it again. But I keep trying. Most of the people I’ve talked to said that if it’s not healed by six months it’s never going to but I don’t agree. It’s slow but it’s steady. I think another two years and I’ll be like new.
Huh?
Now someone else is doing it. I think that my assumption that this is a blog aggregator or some such may not be too far from the truth. Unfortunately, my stroke seems to have reset me to an earlier age, but if it’s not doing any harm I can ignore it.
Wait a minute…?
I had a moment of confusion over this search string.
This is really strange and at the moment when I search Google it, at least for now, this appears. Now I don’t normally I don’t need to figure out what this is but it is my text from my blog but the link comes second on Google… And the first link doesn’t have any text. And the automatically generated links are weird. So, is this a crazy online aggregator like Kottu or something else?
