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Snowpocalypse
viaWe just got hit with back to back blizzards. Yesterday’s and today’s mornings were spend snowblowing four foot drifts off my driveway and sidewalks. Our banks are getting high, but thankfully we don’t need machinery like this, yet.
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Neil deGrasse Tyson’s top five shout-outs for 2010
I love Neil deGrasse Tyson, and everything he does to teach science. Today he tweeted out his “Top five shout-outs for 2010”, and I couldn’t agree with him more.
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What I read in 2010
I always feel like I don’t spend enough time reading. My Amazon wishlists grow much faster than I can read. I have 18 unread books on my iPad, and 7 or 8 paper books I need to read.
Looking back on the year I ended up reading 21 books. Some that have been on my “to read” list for years, and others that just recently came out. I am not going to give reviews of them because I mostly find reviews worthless. All the books I read this year were good. Some were great, others just good, but none of them were bad. Here is the list in no particular order:
- Columbine by Dave Cullen
- Andromeda Klein by Frank Portman
- The Accidental Billionaires by Ben Mezrich
- Shootin’ the Sh*t with Kevin Smith by Kevin Smith
- SuperFreakonomics by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J. Dubner
- Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency by Douglas Adams
- Bonk by Mary Roach
- Welcome to Your Brain by Sam Wang and Sandra Aamodt
- Spook by Mary Roach
- What the Dog Saw by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Bedwetter by Sarah Silverman
- When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth by Cory Doctorow
- Hitch-22 by Christopher Hitchens
- Open by Andre Agassi
- How We Decide by Jonah Lehrer
- The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson
- Storm World by Chris Mooney
- Bad Astronomy by Philip Plait
- Have a Little Faith by Mitch Albom
- Shop Class as Soulcraft by Matthew Crawford
- The Grand Design by Stephen Hawking
One of my goals every year it to try and read more. We will see this time next year if I accomplished that.
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Christmas in a hospital
So last weekend my Mother-in-Law had a heart attack. The Wife headed down to our hometown as soon as she heard the news. I have been home alone holding down the fort by myself, taking care of the pets.
It was scary at first, and still is. She is going to need either bypass surgery, or a transplant since she also has a heart valve problem. The bad part is they don’t have heath insurance. I was kind of surprised when I heard they didn’t, because my Father-in-Law always preaches that it doesn’t matter how much you make, you need a job that offers health insurance. I guess he new job doesn’t. My in-laws are great people, but money is something they don’t have. They live in a 30-year-old trailer house, and don’t have much for material possessions. Sometimes I admire their lack of wanting many material possessions.
For a while there it was a little shaky on how her surgery was going to get done, and paid for. Because of her valve problem surgery can’t be done at the St. Cloud hospital. Their doctor wanted it to be done at the Mayo, but without insurance couldn’t get them into the Mayo. Luckily enough he pulled some strings and got her into the University of Minnesota Medical Center. They also were informed that there are many programs, and charities that will cover most of their medical expenses. We are so grateful on how great the St. Cloud hospital is. I have heard how great they are from other people, now we know it’s true. I may have to find out what charities are covering the expenses, and send them some money every Christmas.
Yesterday she was life flighted to the U of M Hospital, and they have been doing more and more tests. I haven’t heard yet what kind of surgery she is having yet, but it sounds like Christmas will be spent at the hospital. It will be a tough Christmas, but this is what Christmas is all about. Spending time with family no matter where they are at.
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What Is The Most Efficient Checkout Line?
via consumerist.comThis is an interesting video. I always thought I was full of bad luck and always picked out the slowest checkout line. Turns out with a little math, you can figure out that you are far more likely to pick a slow line.
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Ben Folds/Nick Hornby – “From Above”
via youtube.comI love this Ben Folds video, plus it’s one of my favorite songs off his album he made with Nick Hornby.
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The History of Video Games by Jonathan Mann
This video is full of awesome, and brings back so many memories of my childhood. It is song #709 in Jonathan Mann’s “Song A Day” series.
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Jimmy Eat World: “Coffee & Cigarettes” (Live on Conan)
via punknews.orgI’ve been a big fan of Jimmy Eat World since the mid 90s, but I didn’t care much for their last two albums. I haven’t checked out their newest one, but I might have to. I kind of dig the song they played on Conan the other night.
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This is why I love math
via leo.tumblr.comI just wish I hadn’t forgotten more than I know.
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Metrodome roof collapse
via youtube.comEverybody else is posting the video of the Metrodome roof collapsing, so I might as well too. It’s a pretty amazing video. I remember them having problems with too much snow on the dome back in the 80s, but I don’t think it was ever this bad. We will see if they can get it fix by next Monday night.