+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Do you hear what I hear?
It's gone! The ringing is gone. Yay!A few of the sites I had visited mentioned that stress may, in some cases, cause or contribute to tinnitus (1, 2). I hadn't really considered that, but in my case, maybe that was it. . . (more)
+ 0 - 4 | § ¶Short aural update
The ringing is still there, but it's a lot quieter now, so I guess it's going away on its own. This is a good thing.davidh
+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Best wishes to Aaron
Aaron (my roommate) is going to be having outpatient surgery tomorrow morning. I'm sure he would appreciate prayers for the operation, and for a swift recovery.davidh
Update, 1/21, 12:08pm: The surgery went well, and Aaron is doing fine! He should be up and about by tomorrow, and back to normal by early next week.
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Ring, ring. Who's there?
Since last Saturday evening, I've experienced a ringing in my right ear. It's not very loud, and when there's a normal level of other sound in the area (television, radio, people talking, etc.) it's not even noticable. But when it's really quiet, it's very noticable and very bothersome. It's a high-pitched whine, like how televisions sound when they've been left on with no signal coming in. (more)+ 12 - 4 | § ¶Amusing
Other people's grocery lists+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Peoria tied for second-best-mannered city
According to the Associated Press, Peoria, IL; Springfield, IL; and the Quad Cities, IL/IA all tied for second place in Marjabelle Young Stewart's annual list of the best-mannered cities in the US. Beating these three communities was Charleston, SC. The next Illinois city was Chicago, at eleventh place.YES! In your face, Chicago! We're more polite than you! Ha!
(This outburst brought to you by Irony. Irony: It's What's for Dinner.)
davidh
----
Update 1/15/2005: The 2005 list of winners has now been announced.
+ 1 - 3 | § ¶Another weird dream
Not quite so weird as the last one I wrote about, but still full of some interesting imagery. (more)+ 4 - 0 | § ¶Ten days to Psi Phi...
The first Psi Phi meeting of the semester is coming up in a week and a half. We're going to have a lot of things to get through this semester, including planning the Psi Phi Reunion, where as many Psi Phi alumni as are willing and able will converge on Peoria to... um, do something. Something which is yet to be planned. But we'll figure it out.I'm currently thinking that there should be stuff going on throughout the day, whichever day it is. Probably a Saturday, but maybe a Friday. Maybe even a whole weekend, Friday through Sunday, with the really important stuff on one particular day for those who can't stay the whole time, due to work or other obligations. There might be multiple goings on, such as trips to Culver's, movie marathons, etc. There should probably be a "main event", perhaps in the evening, where we look back over the past ten years. Maybe a look back at previous officers, or looking at where some of the traditions came from, or contests, or games. Lots and lots of possibilities, and we need to figure out what we're going to do.
Also, we'd like to have a 10th Anniversary T-shirt, hopefully with some ready to purchase at the reunion, but if not, then maybe we can just mail them out afterward. But we need ideas for the shirts. One idea which has been submitted is creating an amalgam of all the previous designs as a sort of background, plus "It's Continuing Mission..." as the main theme. I think that's a great idea, but I don't want to stop with just one, in case I'm the only one who likes it, or in case someone has another good idea. Also, I'm not exactly sure what a good way to put all the previous designs together would be, and if we end up with a poor implementation of the idea, nobody will ever want to wear the shirts, except when they're painting.
I'm also thinking of having some sort of... thing... that can be distributed as a sort of souvenir for those who make it. What kind of thing? Well, probably not a keychain or a pencil, but something customized and maybe even personalized. I'm certainly open to ideas on what sort of "thing" we could use.
And there's the issue of location. I have heard that Bradley may have large rooms available for campus organizations to hold things like this. Hey, they let us reserve Meeting Room 6 every week at no charge, so maybe the ballrooms in the Student Center work the same way. We'll definitely have to look into that. If there are costs, though, then we'll need to comparison-shop at other local meeting places, such as hotels or... well, that's about the only type of place I can think of that would have large rooms. I suspect Bradley locations would be cheaper for the club, but you never know.
Probably most of the alumni who are going to be found have been found. Of the--what was it, 17?--letters I sent out, I only got two responses. Maybe some people wrote back with snail mail and their letters will be waiting for us when classes resume. I thought I found Joe Grabowski, one of the three co-founders (with Christy McVety and me)... the "Joe Grabowski" I found lives in the same city as our Joe did. I called him a couple of times, and this Joe's roommates said he was in the age range out Joe would be in, and I left a message for him, but he never called me back. I may give him one more call this week, but if it's not him, I don't want to be rude by continuing to call back again and again.
There are probably more issues to consider, but these are the big ones for now.
davidh
+ 0 - 4 | § ¶Open letter to WMBD
[Originally sent to WMBD General Manager Kevin Harlan]I saw in TV Guide that Friday night's Joan of Arcadia was going to be pre-empted from its 7:00pm timeslot this week for the St. Jude Telethon, and shown at 1:35am instead. However, when 1:35am rolled around, instead of showing Joan, there was an infomercial in its place! Being pre-empted for the telethon, I can understand; at least that was advertised, even listed on your own website's schedule. But an unannounced pre-emption in favor of an infomercial? That's quite unprofessional, in my opinion.
I was very much looking forward to this episode, which I've heard was supposed to be rather pivotal to the character development and story arcs that have been progressing throughout the show. I am afraid that by missing this episode, I may be missing out on things next week.
Please consider showing this week's Joan of Arcadia sometime this upcoming week (and let me know when it will be on!) so that I can get caught up before next Friday's new episode. And in case this was an accident, please review your procedures for showing re-scheduled network shows so that the next time there's a move like this, the "regularly scheduled" infomercials aren't shown again.
Thanks,
David Henderson
+ 2 - 2 | § ¶When you have nothing to blog about...
...the only thing you can do is blog about nothing. So I think I will. . . (more)+ 2 - 2 | § ¶Another day, another blog entry...
The building I work in requires a security badge to get in (and to get out, if you stay as late as I usually do). Unfortunately, my badge expired on December 31, 2003, as I found out when I tried to come in to work last Friday (1/2/4). But fortunately, I was allowed in on Friday, and I was given the steps my supervisor can take to get my badge renewed for another year (or longer, so we don't have to go through this again next January).When I came in on Monday, though, I learned that although the steps had been followed, the badge was still not renewed, so my supervisor had to come down and escort me into the building. We stopped in the security office and got things taken care of... or so we thought.
Apparently, there is some paperwork which has to be filed which proves that my employer has insurance that covers me (in case a computer falls on me, for example), in order for the company I work for (i.e. that I am contracted out to) to give me free access to the building. That paperwork seems to have an expiration, so that needs to be renewed before I can get my badge renewed. This means that I have to have my supervisor come let me into the building each day until things get resolved. A bit frustrating, but there's nothing I can do about it, so I guess I'll just have to go along with it.
davidh
+ 0 - 4 | § ¶Weird dream...
Three days of blogging in a row? This is starting to be a trend. Anyway... I had a weird dream this morning. I seem to have remembered more of it than usual (I can usually remember the "final scene" or whatever, but the rest of the dream sort of evaporates when I try to think about it). (more)+ 3 - 1 | § ¶Possibilities of Departure
As I officially learned last night, there is a chance that my roommate, Aaron, will be moving down to Alabama to be with his girlfriend of just over one month, Melissa, after he graduates from ICC this May. I say "officially", because I accidentally learned of this last week from another source; apparently, he's been thinking of this for a while now.Personally, I don't think this would be a good idea. (more)
+ 0 - 4 | § ¶In the last week, I have...
...acquired a new bookshelf (from Ed) for the living room, and nearly filled it with books (DS9 relaunch, New Frontier, The Lost Era, and Gorkon on the top shelf; some Trek hardcovers and nearly my entire audiobook collection on the second shelf; some Trek trade paperbacks, Stargazer, and miscellaneous items on the remaining shelves) which had been piling up in various places; and...watched CSI:CSI Season 2 (which includes some of the first steps in Grissom's "family medical history" storyline, Greg's first field experience, and the backdoor pilot to CSI: Miami, which I had previously only seen part of) and Smallville Season 1 (which I found to be quite exciting, but I want to see the resolution of the cliffhanger NOW!) on DVD, including all commentaries and special features; and
...put away several of my older Puzz3Ds (trying to disassemble them into as large of units as would fit together back in the respective boxes) to make room for new ones that I have not yet put together; (more)