Miscellaneous rambling, and bragging about my kids.

what was the name of the song that they played in the end?

OMG – I had the same reaction. And isn't it a little anti-climactic when they end with "trouble swallowing". Of course if they went on to mention this could lead to severe weight loss, and death, if you end up not eating, it would fit right in.

The other scary thing in that commercial is that there are over 100,000 people in the US already taking it. Now, assuming that not everyone that needs it is taking it – that is a lot of maniacs out there…. 🙂

ROB

listen to "walking next to you" on this link

http://cdbaby.com/cd/acresmusic4

And scrubs rocks, the writers are all on strike, its not surprising their episodes aren't quite up to par. And if you hate it so much, then just don't watch it!

Just caught this on tv, and it is so worth blogging.

"Abilify may control symptoms of bipolar mania and reduce the risk of manic relapse…

Ok, so far so good, seems like a thing worth treating.

"When taking Abilify call your doctor if you have high fever, stiff muscles and confusion, as these may be signs of a life-threatening reaction."

Life threatening? That'd suck. But I suppose there are plenty of medications out there that, if you have a bad reaction, can mess you up.

"Or if you have muscle movements that can not be stopped, as these may become permanent."

Umm…that's not cool.

"High blood sugar has been reported in some patients taking Abilify. In extreme cases this can lead to coma, or death."

Watch blood sugar….check. Got it. I think.

"Elderly people with dementia should not take Abilify due to an increased risk of death or stroke."

Stop saying death! It's not good to say "may cause death" repeatedly when advertising your product!

"Some people feel faint upon standing. Other side effects include impaired judgement and motor skills, and trouble swallowing."

Look on the bright side, he didn't say "anal leakage."

My daughter, 5, is working on a reading game called Headsprout. It tries very hard to give her meaningful things to read, based on the sounds she's worked on, so you tend to get very simple stories about characters who have otherwise meaningless names like "Vee" and "San": "See Vee, see San, see San and Vee in the van on the sand." That sort of thing. Each character started out as a space alien, but in the later books they became animals.

It just clicked with me the other day when I was reading a book with her that one of the characters is a monkey. And his name is "Fling."

Somebody at Headsprout has a sense of humor. I will wait until my daughter is old enough before I explain to her what monkeys are famous for flinging. Maybe during a trip to the zoo.

So my son sleeps with about 5 stuffed animals in his bed. When he was younger my wife would wait until he was asleep, then go in and take them all out so he won't suffocate. I never really thought it was that big of a risk, but typically guilt would get the better of me and I'd go take them out before I went to bed, closer to midnight.

Lately I noticed that, when I went back into the room, the animals were already on the floor. I assumed my wife was doing it, when she'd come home late and I knew for a fact she went right to bed. Animals still on the floor. It then dawned on me that he was apparently doing it himself. Not in an angry, "I don't want to go to sleep so I'm throwing things" sort of a way, since I never heard a peep. He just knew that the animals don't stay in there to sleep, so he throws them out.

Recently I messed up his little brain when he woke up from a nap too early and I tried to get him to go back to sleep. Thinking that I would give him some things to play with as he drifted off, I laid his head down on the blanket and then started putting the animals in the crib with him. He sat right up, saying "Back! Back! Back!" and putting the animals back where they belong. Daddy's mistake, I had just given the signal that it was indeed time to get up. Didn't think that one through.

This has become something of a game in the morning, because I will pick up the animals from the floor and offer them to him. "Back!" he will say, and place the animals in their appointed positions. He cannot do the blanket or the large duck, but it is cute and helpful nonetheless. Once everything is back in place, he wants to get out.

I tried taking him out of bed first and letting him collect the animals (so I don't have to keep bending to get them), but he is too small to reach them back into the crib, so I would have to pick him up each time so he could fling them back into the crib. Work for Daddy, either way.

This morning it dawns on me — I have a 3 yr old. She follows me into the room this morning, where my son is standing in his crib waiting for us. "Give your brother back his animals," I tell her. And lo and behold, it works! She gets the animals, hands them to him, he puts them back. And I don't have to lift a finger.

Fatherhood is awesome.

Yeah, I plan to go back. But in the middle of christmas season after dropping a grand on a new tv, even a "cheap" $300 Tivo box is an expense I can put off for a few months. I'd like to pick up a high def DVD player too – that Bladerunner Final Cut is lookin' sweet.

I ended up switching back to Tivo. The comcast DVR is the pits, especially if you're switching from something as nice as Tivo. Besides, the new Tivo HD boxes are so cheap now.

You'll switch back when you click through 10 menus to record a show. Also, trying to fast forward though commercials you'll find you can't "time it" correctly because the box doesn't respond fast enough.

I love this song!! OMG It rocks!

And by that I mean the company.  I've upgraded to HD finally, but rather than invest all that money in a new TV and a several more hundred in a new Tivo unit, I decided to give the Comcast DVR service a shot.  Well, I have two Tivo units so I called up to cancel the one that would no longer be in use.  It was a long wait to talk to the first person, who then said "Hang on and I'll transfer you up" and another long wait, and I was beginning to get frustrated at how difficult they make it.  No amount of "Hey you can avoid the wait by going online" helps when they don't offer you a deactivate option online.

But then the lady gets on the phone and asks me why I'm cancelling.  I explain that I'm trying out the Comcast service, can't really afford to invest in a new box right now, and to tell you the truth I'll probably be back in 6 months. 

"How about we don't bill you for the next 6 months while you try it out?" she says.

Deal.

I like Tivo.