The Ballad of Lucky the Fish

I'm only about 75 pages into the 1000+ page health care bill, so it might be a while before I can post about my thoughts there. In the interim, I give you the tale of 3 fish that touched our lives and our hearts last week.

St. Joe's church carnival, last Wednesday. Three kids with a penchant for games of chance but without the skill to procure stuffed blue bears or Hannah Montana posters find their way to the Fishbowl Toss. A seemingly simple game, but plenty of players had come and gone before them with nothing more than a frown and a dollar less in their pockets. Nevertheless, the fearless 3 made their way to the table and offered the barker their fare.

First up was young Molly, who took aim with the first of her five table tennis balls and barely reached the table that held a baker's dozen of small fishbowls. The second ball was somewhat more on track, but careened to the side harmlessly. The third toss was wildly off-line, yet somehow struck the side of the backboard, caromed back toward the fishbowls, and landed squarely into the middle bowl of the second row. Winner, winner, chicken dinner.

Next up, Owen, who had no problem reaching the table but couldn't get the bounces to go his way- until the last throw. Soft toss, one bounce, nothing but bowl. Winner number 2.

Then Brendan, who after watching his siblings hit paydirt thought he was in for a fish for sure. Alas, despite his best attempts, he was unable to find the bottom of the bowl with any of his tosses, so he went away empty handed- at least for the moment.

After they finished, Molly and Owen walked over to the side of the booth to claim their prizes. The kindly folks in the booth offered to hold the fish for a while while we rode some rides, but the excitement of winning was just too much for the young champions. They each were handed a large plastic bag- the contents of which being about a quart of water and a solitary goldfish- and were delighted to have them (...for about ten minutes, at which time said bags were handed off to the closest adult).

Back to Brendan, who initially dealt with his defeat at the fins of the fish well, but after seeing the spoils unto the victors decided that this game of chance was worth further investment. He proudly stepped up to the booth for a second go-around, offering yet another 8 bits to the fish peddler. Upon seeing the desire for victory in his eyes, she took mercy on the boy, and decided it was her and God's will that a fish be unto him, balls be damned. So after the last ball tossed landed harmlessly between two fishbowls, she proclaimed "It's good enough- you win!" Fish number 3, now proudly secured.

We walked around for a bit more, stopping to chat with several friends and acquaintances, some with fish of their own. After a bit though, a situation developed that demanded attention. It seems one of the first-to-be-acquired fish had risen to the occasion quite literally, and was now resting in a permanent state of quiescence at the top of his bag. The suggestion was made that we simply trade this fish back in to the fish peddler for one that seemed perhaps a bit more alive. A valid suggestion, to be sure, but the fish booth had been depleted of its stock. We waited patiently for reinforcements to arrive, but before they could, tragedy struck.

It was now apparent that Brendan's fish was also in full horizontal recline. Down to one fish, and with no replacement options in sight, the command decision was made to abandon the first two fish in the nearest trash receptacle and head home with the lone survivor.

After some protest by the shorter members of the family, I proclaimed that this fish belonged to no individual now, but to the family. "He shall belong to all of us, and he shall be called "Lucky", for he has survived the afflictions which have befallen his brethren".

Lucky came home and was transferred from his plastic-walled home into a luxurious 14"x16"x8" tank. He was offered the finest flakes in the house, and devoured them readily. All turned in for the night, with dreams of Lucky and prayers for his comrades.

But in the morning, before the rise of the sun (or the sons), Lucky's luck ran out. He was found motionless, floating along side a few uneaten Goldy Flakes, as peaceful as the morning itself. Molly was downstairs with me, just in time to witness Lucky make his final passage into his porcelain grave.

We still think of Lucky sometimes, and talk of the time we shared together. His tank has been cleaned and put away, waiting for perhaps a new friend to come along. There won't be another Lucky though- at least until next year's carnival.

A bitter pill

I feel obligated to post something on the current debate over health care reform, but feel uninformed enough at the time to do it. After about 45 minutes of searching online, I finally found the actual text of the bill before the House, and I plan to look it over this weekend. Should you care to do the same, you'll find it here. Hope you've got a lot of free time this weekend- the bill is 1018 pages long.

I realize that most bills are quite lengthy, and that most congresspersons don't read the bills they vote on for that reason. This one better get their full attention, because if the media is right, the content within could radically change our system.

More to come...

How to build a running playlist

Just redid my running playlist tonight- long overdue, as I've been listening to a playlist I made for the last FinkBowl and not a true running playlist. While I won't share the entire 157 songs that made the cut, I will share what I feel makes a good playlist specifically for running, with some examples of songs on my current list.

1) Length- Thanks to digital technology, gone are the days of 12-18 song mixes you burned onto a disc, or *gasp* recorded onto a cassette (that you'd have to flip half-way thru a decent run). A good list needs to not be your whole catalog but should have enough songs for variety. This way, you can familiarize yourself with the tunes without getting sick of them. I think anywhere from 100-300 would work.

2) Song tempo- Obviously a big factor. Songs that are too fast will throw off your pace, and too slow will just bore you. Sometimes you've got to pick alternate songs from your favorite artists to fit the tempo criteria ("Cracklin' Rosie" over "Sweet Caroline", Neil Diamond, "The Way You Move" over "Hey Ya", Outkast)

3) Song length- Pick shorter over longer- you want to keep moving, not get bogged down by a long guitar solo or a bunch of "wiki-wiki-wiki-wikis". ("White Lines" by Grandmaster Flash over "Jam On It", Newcleus)

4) No Radiohead- A great band, but I've yet to find a Radiohead song that's acceptable to run to.

5) Good starts- Songs that get going quickly work great. I consider them either 'take-off songs', that start a little slow and rev up, like "Portions for Foxes", Rilo Kiley, or "Paint it Black", Rolling Stones, or 'blast-off songs' that come hard right out of the box, like "Panama", Van Halen or "Monkey Wrench", Foo Fighters.

6) Slow but steady starts- Some songs start slow, but because they have at their base a driving beat, they build and become motivating. Pick these over similar songs that start slow and build but don't really have that driving beat. ("Where The Streets Have No Name" over "Bad", U2)

7) Good memories- As long as the tempo and length are adequate, some songs that may not exactly rock can work if they generate some emotion or memories. I've always liked "Rain on the Scarecrow", John Mellencamp and "Around the Way Girl", LL Cool J, so when they come on I get lost in 3:40 worth of memories, which gets me that much closer to the finish.

8) Bang your head- Nothing helps you bust through "the wall" better than some loud metal or hard rock. Nine Inch Nails, Metallica, Kiss, or Jane's Addiction would all be acceptable choices. Might I suggest "Jesus Christ Pose", Soundgarden? Or if you're a little more daring, try "Unsung", Helmet.

9) Classic songs- There are some songs, like Talking Heads "Once In A Lifetime"and Springsteen's "Born to Run" that belong on any running playlist by virtue of their pedigree alone.

10) New blood- Classics are fine, but find a few new songs that fit criteria #2 and 3 to keep your playlist from developing that not-so-fresh scent. Perhaps "Percussion Gun", White Rabbits, "Around the Bend", The Asteroids Galaxy Tour (which you might know as the "iPod Touch commercial song"), or "The Good Old Days", The Lodger.

There you go. Now go open up your iTunes, pick a bunch of songs that fit this list, go to the iTunes store and buy 10-20 new songs, then sync your iPod, strap on your shoes and hit the road. No more excuses.

Stuff you should hear

I never got around to doing a "Best of 2008" post back in January, probably because I was too busy playing all the new Wii games the kids got for Christmas. But if I had, I'd have submitted as my nomination for the "Best Podcast of 2008" the "Stuff You Should Know" podcast from HowStuffWorks.com. (I assume you can get the podcast from the site, but I get it and all my other podcasts directly thru iTunes.)

The podcast is a free download, a twice weekly production offering up presentations of articles that can be found on the website. The articles address questions on various topics, such as "Is spontaneous combustion real?", or "How do credit default swaps work?". The information is decent, but the hosts are not experts in any of the fields they present, so sometimes facts are a little off. And the hosts admittedly lean a little to the left, so depending on what topics they choose, the information they present can have a definite liberal bias.

What makes the podcast so great though is the rapport between the two hosts. Their style is at its worst funny and at its best hilarious. They are both smart guys, with a great fund of pop culture knowledge that they stir into their discussions. The end product is usually one with a little bit of education and a lot of humor, and at just about 25 minutes a show, the perfect length for the ride to work. Check it out- you might learn something, and you'll laugh even if you don't.

Maybe someday I'll be able to work from home

Had my first real experience with e-medicine the other day. Saw a patient on Monday who had a nasty boil on his leg that I drained. He called 2 days later, saying it looked worse. We asked him to come in right away, but he declined saying that he was at work, about 30 miles away. He instead asked if he could just send pictures, because he had a very good digital camera and wanted to just e-mail some shots to us. Given that the alternative was him likely not getting his leg looked at at all, I said, "Sure".

I'll spare you the photos, but they were of good quality and showed that his leg certainly looked worse. With that knowledge I advised him that if he couldn't come down to us, he should get himself to the nearest clinic/ER near him.

There's obviously a good big of hands-on stuff that I do, but I'd guess that the majority of the information I gather for each patient encounter is either historical or visual . I can see a day soon when most of that information is gathered without me being in the room. But as long as the FDA says I'm the one with the prescribing power, I've got job security, baby.

It must be summer

Must be summer if I'm home alone again. Kids and Erin are off for a short trip to upstate New York. They were at Niagara Falls yesterday, stopping at Corning today to tour the glass factory, then will be heading home. No definite plans for the rest of the summer, but more of these short trips are likely.

Must be summer if the Mets are swooning again. Went to the game on Sunday in Philly. Took the boys, which was fun, but was treated to a miserable offensive performance by the Flushing nine. Looking more and more like it's time to rebuild and start anew.

Must be summer if things are slow around the office. Not too busy these past few days, which in some way is good because it allows me to catch up on the pile of paperwork on my desk (not to mention the neglected blog you're reading now). But for any small business, too many "not too busy" days in a row make you a little concerned for the bottom line. Fortunately it seems swine flu may be back again in the fall- job security, baby!