Bag of Randomness for the First Day of December 2017

  • That vanity plate reminds me of that George W. Bush commencement speech, “To those of you who are graduating this afternoon with high honors, awards, and distinctions, I say, ‘Well done.’ And as I like to tell the C students: You too, can be President of the United States.” It’s a good line he’s used more than once. At SMU he ends it with “president” but in this other clip, he ends it with “President of the United States.
  • I’ve been thinking a lot about my upcoming back surgery, which will probably happen sometime early next year. I’ll be honest, I’m scared, for all the reasons you can imagine. However, seeing Tiger Woods play professional competitive golf yesterday was encouraging. His surgery was performed on April 19 this year, that’s roughly 225 days ago. I’m basically having the same spinal fusion surgery. He had his L5/S1 fused and I’ll have my L4/L5 fused. He’s just four months younger than me and we are both half-Asian, so he’s the best thing I can compare myself to. Granted, I’m not a professional athlete nor do I have his competitive spirit or mental fortitude. I’m still surprised out of all the places he could have had his surgery, he had it here at the Texas Back Institute.
  • I feel like Jeff Heath is the modern day Bill Bates minus the aw-shucks.
  • I think it’s stupid that the Cowboys have to play a Thursday night game especially since they already have a Thursday game on their schedule (Thanksgiving). But then again, I think the NFL having games on a Thursday night is stupid in the first place.
  • Unconscious Patient With ‘Do Not Resuscitate’ Tattoo Causes Ethical Conundrum at Hospital
    • Typically, DNRs are formal, notarized documents that a patient gives to their doctor and family members. Tattoos, needless to say, are a highly unorthodox—but arguably direct—means of conveying one’s end-of-life wishes. That said, this patient’s tattoo presented some undeniable complications for the hospital staff. Is a tattoo a legal document? Was it a regretful thing the patient did while he was drunk or high? Did he get the tattoo, but later change his opinion? On this last point, a prior case does exist in which a patient’s DNR tattoo did not reflect their wishes (as the authors wrote in this 2012 report: “…he did not think anyone would take his tattoo seriously…”).
  • Walmart takes down T-shirt about killing journalists
  • This picture is a bit surreal. That really is Cowboys coach Tom Landry speaking to Redskins QB Joe Theismann at practice, the one before 1983 Pro Bowl.
  • Closed toilet seat alerts Michigan man to early-morning intruder
  • New York City Has Genetically Distinct ‘Uptown’ and ‘Downtown’ Rats
  • U2’s new album is available today and they are the musical guest on SNL.
  • Jimmy Kimmel and Judge Roy Moore got into a Twitter spat yesterday:
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Bag of Randomness for Thursday, November 30, 2017

  • In yesterday’s mail, we received a sympathy card signed by all the employees from our vet’s office. It wasn’t formal or anything, and I suspect they do this for all their clients, but the gesture is appreciated.
  • Not to sound like Michael Jackson, but I think about a particular scene in Peter Pan a lot. Actually, it’s from the movie Hook. Peter is having trouble to fly and he’s told to think of his happy place, that one thought or memory that blocks everything out except that feeling of happiness. Mine isn’t really anything profound or substantive, like the birth of my children. Rather, it’s simply the one and only touchdown I ever scored and it was in the seventh grade. I wasn’t a good athlete (though I played with a lot of heart and hustle) so it was my one shining moment and my parents were in the stands to witness it. It was an away game in Breckenridge, Texas.
  • President Trump tweeting Prince Harry’s fiance, an American, is betraying her country for marrying into the royal family was shocking. Actually, he didn’t tweet that and as far as I know, he hasn’t commented on the engagement at all. But for a second, I bet you thought it was true because the man is unpredictable and shoots from the hip.
  • I seriously do not know who would win a hundred yard footrace between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The mental image of both men sprinting as fast as they can in their suits, huffing and puffing, and their hair starting to come out of place, is entertaining. However, I think Trump would have a better forty time.
  • A bit of presidential trivia – Abigail Adams missed her husband’s inauguration
    • When President Adams was sworn in on March 4, 1797, John’s mother was dying in Massachusetts. A particularly brutal New England winter kept Abigail away from Philadelphia (which was then the nation’s capital), much to the new Chief Executive’s dismay.
  • I was in the McDonald’s drive-thru the other day. When I got to the first window to pay, the cashier’s window wasn’t all the way closed, so I could hear her softly say into her headset, “Dana! Check out the guy driving up in the black truck, he’s fine as hell.”
  • Rolling Stone says U2’s “Lights Of Home” is the 5th best song of 2017.
  • I’m a sucker for the Adam Scott and Scott Aukerman podcast “U Talkin’ U2 To Me?” and they have a new episode about the new album. Here’s one thing that cracks me up about the podcast, how they refer to each member of the band –  Bonobos, Thedge, Adam Clay-2,000 lbs and Larry Mullen Sr.’s son.
  • The Economist – Parents now spend twice as much time with their children as 50 years ago
  • A Sharp Decline for Jimmy Fallon’s ‘Tonight Show’
    • The recent declines leave the host of “The Tonight Show” in danger of losing his position as the second-place late-night host. Mr. Kimmel’s show has averaged 2.4 million viewers a night, compared with 2.6 million for Mr. Fallon.
  • The picture on this Reddit post really made me stop and reflect how devastating Alzheimer’s and dementia is.
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