Mikel's Blog

For a few weeks now I have not been able to even search for Wi-fi networks with my iPhone 3G. The AT&T store said there was nothing to do other than call Apple. Best Buy (I have their $15/mo iPhone warranty) said I would have to replace my iPhone by letting them keep it and they would ship me another one “in a few days.” Apple said that I DID need a replacement iPhone and could go through them directly if I wanted to.
After the 3.1 software upgrade through iTunes I now have my Wi-Fi back!
Here is a HUGE discussion and workthroughs many people participated in:
http://discussions.apple.com/thread.jspa?threadID=2044754&start=0&tstart=0
I will cross my fingers and hope the fix is permanent.

It seems our son has acquired the hunter/gatherer skills necessary for survival. Dude gets hungry and produces food seemingly at will, from nowhere. It took us a couple of days and the cat finding a stash to figure out that the groceries were disappearing quickly for a reason.

It seems the little shit has figured out that he can hide food: Between the cushions on the sofa, behind the entertainment center, under his bed, behind his TV, and I’m sure some places that we have yet to figure out.

To this point we have installed a padlock on the pantry and I am seriously thinking of an alarm buzzer for the refrigerator door. Between the cats and my son I somehow get the feeling I am about to partake in a losing battle. Maybe I will contact France for advice on losing gracefully…

While visiting Pop I get a call from Sandy…Allyson took a tumble while jogging and cut her elbow, scraped her hand and knee, and has a big strawberry on her hip…

I get home and realize the elbow needs help so we end up with 4 stitches. Poor kid has had a rough summer.

Last week started off hectic with Pop going into The Med Hospital in College Station. Mom and I rotated being there with him on Monday and Tuesday. Allyson was not feeling well on Tuesday as well. She was not eating and was sleeping a lot. She was also complaining of pain in her abdomen and sides. Later in the afternoon she started vomiting and complaining of shortness of breath. We figured she had picked up a bad bug when we visited Pop at the hospital the day before. I came home to check on her around midnight Wednesday morning. She was feeling very bad and appeared to have a low-grade fever. I gave her a dose of children’s Tylenol and stayed with her until around 3am. I then went to stay the rest of the night with Pop in his hospital room. Around 7a.m. I left to come home so Sandy could go to work. When I got home Ally was whimpering and her breathing was erratic. She was in pain and requested I take her to see a doctor so I called to make an appointment with her doctor that morning. As we were on the way to the doctor she pleaded with me to hurry and looked really bad so I took her to St. Joseph Emergency room instead. She was in a bed within 10 minutes. The doctor quickly ordered blood tests and started her with morphine after quickly assessing her condition. Her heart rate was around 150-160. We were possibly looking at an appendix problem. Sandy came to be with us and only a short time later the Doctor informed us Ally’s blood sugar was indicating that she was a diabetic. He also informed us that she needed special care because of her condition and recommended to make a call to Texas Children’s Hospital. We agreed that whatever she needed we would do and within a few more minutes a Doctor and staff were in an ambulance headed towards Bryan. Willie and Lupe came to get Brandon for us and we rushed home to pack a few things. I phoned Marc and he agreed to check in on our cats for a couple of days. Before we knew it the ambulance containing the doctor and her staff had arrived with the necessary medical equipment to keep Ally stable during transport. They told Sandy that there was a “Kangaroo Crew” airplane fueled and waiting for them at the local airport. As you can imagine we were overwhelmed by emotions and the events that were transpiring. I then said goodbye to them and headed to The Med to make sure Joni and Mom had Pop’s situation under control and I left for Houston. By the time I got to the hospital Ally was in PICU (Pediatric ICU.) From the moment of my arrival to the time we were discharged the staff at TCH made sure we were taken care of. They had Ally on a testing and treatment plan to get her stable from the start. They kept us informed of her progress by sharing test results. They also informed us that, in addition to the Diabetes, Ally was suffering from DKA and Pancreatitis. Ally had her fingers pricked every hour and had blood drawn 10-15 times per day at first. As her condition improved the tests were spread out but were very invasive as they needed the information. She had 3 IV inserts and was on 4 bags for the first few days. Her inner arms, outer arms, back of her hands and inner elbow areas were bruising badly but we knew it to be necessary. Her lipids were going crazy and her blood looked like strawberry milk and clotted so fast that some of the tests had to be repeated because the blood was clotted in the vials before the transport tubes reached the lab. It was painful for us to see our child in that condition. She didn’t do anything to deserve this condition. Guilt had set in, big time, by this point. Why had we not realized what was happening before now? What should we have done differently? The low point happened when, during a routine check, Ally could not respond to myself or the nurses. She had a blank stare on her face with her eyes wide open. I was more afraid at that point than I had ever been in my life. Luckily the doctors came in and within a few minutes she was normal. It would seem disrespectful if I ignored the fact that some greater intervention had just occurred. Prayer groups had started in churches across Texas, on many on-line forums throughout the world, from family and friends…even other families with children in the hospital. After a few more days in PICU, Ally was up and responding well. She started taking solid food again and was feeling much better. Her numbers were coming in line with a few exceptions. Her pain was subsiding and the main numbers that the doctors were watching was her triglycerides and cholesterol .The triglycerides were over 3,900 (normal is below 150 and over 500 is considered high risk) and the bad cholesterol was off the charts (seriously the results were: “unable to measure”) Allyson was eventually moved to a regular hospital room after a few days. Her recovery accelerated as treatments continued. The nurses and staff of TCH became like family. They treated Ally with great care. They also helped us by introducing Sandy and I to The Ronald McDonald House at the Hospital where we were able to nap, shower and eat snacks that had been donated. There was a couple of computers, a library and an outdoor garden area as well at the Ronald McDonald house. All free for parents of children in PICU. What a blessing. Throughout Ally’s stay we received special visitors. Randy and Kimm Knight brought us our initial snacks and special gifts to help. The Bryan Bass club got together and set Bill Ray down as well with more relief. The support from our friends was timely and touching. We also had special visits from many family members. We even had to curb visitor traffic a little so we could get some rest  . We realized just how fortunate we are to not only live in America; but that we are blessed with a network of people that were there for us through difficult times. I felt humbled and grateful all at the same time. Allyson is doing well and is home now. We are testing blood sugar levels and communicating with the doctors at TCH and our own pediatrician to come up with an accurate medicine schedule to enable her to have a normal life. She appears to not have suffered any long-term effects of the illness or treatment. She is even testing her own blood, logging her food and carbohydrate intake, and helping select meals that are appropriate. She has gained about 3, much needed, pounds since being released. She could use 10 or 15 more to be back to normal so her clothes will fit again. As I am writing this it is 5pm and time for another blood-sugar check and meal preparation. I will end here and continue to update soon. Mikel

p.s.: I now know where my future support donations will go. Please consider doing the same when the time is right for you.

I get quite a few questions about HDTV so I will attempt to share some knowledge on the subject.

HDTV or High Definition Television was introduced around 1998. A picture, to be considered High Definition, must have at least 720 lines of resolution that is progressively scanned. Confused yet? Let me explain.

An image is either scanned (viewed on the screen) interlaced or progressively. For an interlaced picture the image is displayed on odd frames only, and then 1/60^th of a second later the image is displayed on the even frames. Progressively scanned images are scanned in sequence (top-to-bottom). If that still doesn’t have you confused then you could always try to understand the Kell factor to measure the resolution of a device…

Maybe we should start off slow. First off, you need three things to have HDTV: A monitor that can display the image, a cable that can transmit the image, and a source. To choose a monitor that can display the HD signal is the easiest part of the equation. Just go and get a TV that is labeled as High Definition. Be aware that you can get a High Definition display that maxes at 720p resolution. This is OK but not the best. For those wanting the BEST picture chose a TV that is capable of 1080p. The second part of the equation is also very easy, once you know that it is necessary. Cables that transmit HDTV are: HDMI (High Definition Multimedia Interface), DVI (Digital Video Interface), and Component (three jacks that are broken down with a blue, a  green, and a red connector for the video transmition and often include two more cables for audio in a red and white.) Finally, you will need to subscribe to, or connect to a High Definition source. Some examples are: Blu Ray, HD-DVD, cable companies and satellite company’s programming that is broadcast in high-definition, or OTA HD signals.

What about 1080i???? Some sets are capable of transmitting up to 1080i. This is also a High Definition image as well. Although some people prefer the 720p over 1080i signal, any monitor worth it’s weight that can produce a 1080i signal can also produce a 720p signal.

A few more points. You DO NOT have to spend tons of money on connector cables. Don’t listen to the Best Buy salesman and blow your money on a $100 HDMI cable. You should be able to get a good quality , HDMI cable for under $30. Also: There are many different HDMI versions. 1.0, 1.1, 1.2, 1.3, 1.3a, 1.3b so on and so forth. The only thing you will need to worry about is that your cable is 1.3. the 1.3, 1.3a, 1.3b differences are for manufacturers and testing and should provide the end user with no noticeable quality differences in picture and sound. ALSO: HDMI is the way to go. Component is still an analog connection and DVI requires a separate method of transfer for the audio.

HDTV is here to stay, in fact, the screen resolutions are going to increase further. Expect to see 2K, and 4k resolutions in the future. For now though it is a safe bet to educate yourself and move away from analog sets. Once you start enjoying HDTV there is no doubt in my mind that you will stop watching non-HD.

Stay tuned…

Chillax

–verb (used with object)

A combination of chillin’, and relaxin.

Origin:
2009; ME relaxen < L relaxāre to stretch out again; loosen in a cool, calm and collected manner; ME chile, OE ci(e)le, cele coolness; akin to gelid, cool, ;equiv. to re- re- + laxāreto loosen, deriv. of laxus slack, lax,  

When he noticed that I was mentally and physically exhausted from my marathon study and exam session, Brandon suggested I “chillax” for awhile.

SUCCESS!!!

After spending from Friday evening to Sunday morning studying, with only a few bathroom/sleep breaks, I was able to pass the General Lines exam today. I was previously working from a temporary license. I have to say that the exam is pretty intimidating. The wording of the questions was quite different from the study courses and practice exams. If anyone out there is thinking of taking it the advice I would give is: Know the material, inside and out!

Now WHO ALL WANTS TO BUY SOME INSURANCE?!?!?!?

Well tomorrow is the big day for my first attempt at the State Exam. Although it is reported that first timers pass 55-75% of the time, I only know of 1 person to get it right the first time. I’m gonna hit the books hard for the next 14 hours and hope to pass it. Stay tuned…

I have to say that I am impressed with Windows 7. It works well. The only stumbles have been an Office 2007 update (the same one that crashed Vista), Trend Micro, and when the computer goes into sleep mode it will wake up and require a restart for my network adapter to work again. These are things that I am confident will be worked out by the release.
There are a few noticeable differences like the window preview option when you hover over the folder or ie icon to switch quickly between windows and the show desktop is part of the taskbar to the right of the clock. All other software programs that I have tried work flawlessly and the system seems more responsive.

Well I went and checked it out. Great Film!!! Characters were portrayed flawlessly. Definitely worth a trip to the theater.
One thing: Unless the next series has to do with alternate universes I fail to see how ‘truth to the storyline’ will be maintained. We’ll see.