February 24, 2010 by vortmax.

See the photos here.

Posted in Home, Weather | No Comments »

October 1, 2009 by vortmax.

I have an iPhone.  It’s the 3G iPhone, because I’m not one of those “first adopters.”  I used to be one of those people that thought a basic cell phone was all I would need, but now I realize I cannot live without my iPhone and it’s connectivity.

Case in point:

Today I was on my way into work.  I had to take a little side trip, and while I was there I decided to check my checking account.  Fortunately, there’s an app for that.

I use my bank’s iPhone application to log in, check my balance, review my history, then pay a few  bills.  This took all of five minutes.

Afterwards, I wiped my butt, pulled up my pants, washed my hands, and walked to my office.

Isn’t technology grand?

Posted in Computers, Home | No Comments »

September 4, 2009 by vortmax.

I’ve been on corticosteroids (Prednisone and an inaler-based steroid) for about a year.  I have noticed my weight varying wildly since then, even ballooning up 25 lbs. from what I was when this all started.  I have since lost 12 of those lbs. by using the “Lose it!” iPhone application to keep track of my calorie intake.  I’ve leveled off of late, but that’s my own darn fault for not strictly adhering to my “Lose 2 pounds a week” calorie limit.

One behavior I tried to change long ago was eating late.  I told my wife (who is also trying to lose weight) that we shouldn’t eat after 9:00 p.m.   I find it easier to adhere to this because I can just have a glass of ice water and crunch on the ice to fool my body into thinking I’m “eating” something.  My wife, the sweet-tooth, has found this more difficult.

Now I have ammunition that backs up my point:

At the end of the six week study period, mice in both groups had consumed about the same amount of calories and performed the same amount of exercise. However, the mice who ate when they normally would have been sleeping hours posted an average 48 percent increase in body weight. The mice who ate on a regular schedule had an average increase of 20 percent of body weight. 

So, want that extra handful of M&M’s just before bed?  Wake up late and want a small scoop of ice cream?  Don’t do it!  Your waistline may thank you later.

Posted in Health, Home | No Comments »

August 30, 2009 by vortmax.

My wife has sent the following letter to President Obama:

 Dear Mr. President,

My name is Jennene and I have Rheumatoid Arthritis.

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is an autoimmune disease that causes chronic inflammation of the joints. RA can also cause inflammation of the tissue around the joints, as well as in other organs in the body. Autoimmune diseases are illnesses that occur when the body’s tissues are mistakenly attacked by their own immune system.  Patients with autoimmune diseases have antibodies in their blood that target their own body tissues, where they can be associated with inflammation.  This disease is chronic and make simple day to day functions difficult if not impossible.

I have lived with this disease for 43 of my 44 years. Growing up I had at least one operation every summer. Some summers I had more then one surgery. Normal summer activities such as swimming were curtailed because of the presence of holding pins and casts. Over the years, I have had approximately 25 surgeries. Most of these have been on my hands and face. I have artificial wrist and knuckle joints, several fusions and have had total facial reconstruction. I am sure there will be more surgery in my future. 

Although I have RA  I consider myself an “average” middle class American. I am married with a teenager, Curtis, who will be attending college in a few years. My husband of 16 years, Brad, works at the National Weather Center and I work part time as a Customer Service Agent at Southwest Airlines.  I graduated from the University of Kansas with a B.A. in History with concentrations in Music History had Harp. I was a Artist-in-Residence with the State of Oklahoma Arts Council.  I enjoy costume history and am a glass artist

Coping with my disease has brought with it some recognition. I was chosen one of the National Arthritis Foundation’s “Heroes overcoming Arthritis” for the foundation’s 50th anniversary. That same year my story was included in the report that the National Arthritis Foundation submitted to Congress. Recently I was the “Star of the Month” for Southwest Airlines “Spirit Magazine”.

I am fortunate. Since I work part time for Southwest Airlines, I have good health insurance through my employer. My insurance is fully funded by Southwest Airlines who uses United HealthCare to administrate the policy.  However, even with my insurance plan, our out of pocket cost for my care is over $10,000 a year. That figure would go up if I would have to have any surgery. Every year during the re-enrollment period I hold my breath for fear that my physicians and medications would not be included under my coverage. 

But what would happen if I was unable to work? I would be forced to rely on my husband’s healthcare plan. He works for the University of Oklahoma which utilizes the “lowest bidder” system. Currently his insurance is with Blue Cross and Blue Shield. If I had to use that carrier our out of pocket cost for my care would increase about $1500 a month. If I am unable to bring in any income, our out of pocket cost for an entire year to take up about half of my husband’s gross salary.  This  figure would skyrocket if there is an catastrophic event.  That is very very frightening. I cannot imagine what we would do. My husband makes too much for me to qualify for public assistance. 

I am urging you to press forward towards Health Care reform. The system we have now is a very scary prospect for people like me. I am not asking for free hand outs. I want health care that will enable me to treat my disease without bankrupting my family. Recently I went to a town hall meeting. I was appalled at the level of misinformation and outright lies that a lot of people there believed.  I was saddened that people have chosen to believe that latest email chain and media lies.  I am concerned that their artificial anger will frighten the members of Congress and cause these members to de-rail much needed reform. I am also worried that there are members that know that something needs to be done and simply don’t care.

The healthcare system we have now must be fixed. We must break the insurance company monopolies be allowing them to compete over state lines. Something need to be done to limit frivolous malpractice lawsuits.  I also believe that allowing Pharmaceutical companies to advertise on TV is harmful and does little to help patients.  Overall, THERE MUST BE A PUBLIC OPTION! 

How we patent medications needs to be re-examined. For example, I take Embrel which is a very expensive medication for my RA. It has a price tag of over $1300 a month. Recently, it came to a point that it would be eligible to be a generic drug. At that point,  the drug company re-patented the drug for psoriasis and the the wait to become generic begins again. This needs to be reformed.

Please not back down on this issue.  This is too important There are too many Americans like myself and my family. If there is anything that I can do personally to aid the progress of Health Care Reform, please contact me. I have done much public speaking on the subject of my disability. Perhaps my story and I could add something to the debate at hand.

Sincerely,

Jennene

Posted in Politics, Home | No Comments »

August 23, 2009 by vortmax.

I took the VoteMatch quiz and came out with the following result:

Where do you stand?

Posted in Politics, Home | No Comments »

August 10, 2009 by vortmax.

Clicking around, one stumbles upon some interesting tidbits.  I found this on a USA Today commenter’s profile:

The Two Wolves

One evening an old Cherokee told his grandson about a battle that goes on inside people. He said, “My son, the battle is between two ‘wolves’ inside us all.

One is Evil: It is anger, envy, jealousy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.

The other is Good: It is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion and faith.”

The young grandson thought about this for a minute or two and then asked his grandfather ….. “Which wolf wins?”

The old Cherokee replied simply ….. “The one you feed!”

Posted in Home, Blogroll | No Comments »

May 9, 2009 by vortmax.

I had been looking for any reason not to like this film.  I read the reviews on RottenTomatoes, especially seeking out the negative ones (Roger Ebert gives it a “meh” with 2.5 stars).  I hate remakes, and this had the initial stench of being yet another non-original remake that overdid the special effects.  But having seen every Trek film in the theater, and being able to identify every original series episode in twenty seconds (me and my college roommate competed to see who could name the episode first), I vowed to see it with an open mind.

To say it exceeded my expectations is an understatement, it blew them away completely.  This film is a must-see for both the trekker* and non-trekker.

* - Yes, I use “Trekker” not “Trekkie.”  I’m proud of my nerdiness.

Posted in Home | No Comments »

March 17, 2009 by vortmax.

And a Happy St. Patrick’s day to you!

On this day the local pub, O’Connel’s, serves green beer en masse to the college throngs.  I, being somewhat of a connoisseur, refuse to partake of the dyed cheap beer.  Instead I prefer something a little more refined.   “Guinness” you may say?  Nay!  I prefer and recommend Murphy’s Irish Stout.  It’s sweeter than Guinness and much easier on the stomach.

So go to your local pub and order a pint.  If you like stout, you’ll love Murphy’s.

And don’t forget to pinch someone for not wearing green!

Posted in Home | No Comments »

February 13, 2009 by vortmax.

The Valley Fever test was negative.  Thus the diagnosis of Hypersensitivity Pneumonitis is the only one left.

I’m down to half a pill (5 mg) of Prednisone now.  I’ve gained about 10 pounds.  I want to say it’s all water, but I know better.  I’m out of breath when I climb a flight of stairs, but nowhere near as much as before I saw the doctor.  Am I relapsing, or am I just flat out of shape?  Only one way to determine that:  Get in shape!

I get another CT scan on March 16 and go back to the doctor on March 24th.  My goal is to lose these 10 pounds by then. Five weeks, two pounds a week.  I think it can be done.

Posted in Home | No Comments »

December 4, 2008 by vortmax.

I used to work as a cashier at Kroger when I was in high school.  It was my first “real” job and taught me a lot about money management (namely how to get it honestly).  I also learned the value of education in that I could calculate change before I even entered the customer’s cash payment into the register.

Now, I like to mess with cashiers by giving them odd amounts that will result in desirable change.  Today, I ordered lunch at the Flying Cow Cafe here at the National Weather Center, and given a total of $5.64.   I didn’t have 64 cents, but I did have change for 14 cents, thus I gave the cashier $6.14.  The cashier took my money, stared at it, looked at me, then entered 6-1-4 into the register.  The till opened and $0.50 appeared on the screen.  She literally stared at the screen for a good 3 seconds before depositing my cash, then stared another two seconds at the till before getting two quarters and handing them to me.

A good cashier will just enter the money and get my change without hesitation.  A great cashier will see what I did and comment about my mathematical skills.  A run of the mill cashier will do what happened above.

Kids, learn math.  You will eventually find out that you will use it every day.

Posted in Home | No Comments »