I seem to be having some bad luck with the cold this year.
It started in the fall with the regular, 'I don't like the cold' comments occasionally. It really started coming together though a few weeks ago when I was vacuuming. I noticed that there was a small cloud forming in front of the vacuum. I quickly deduced something must be wrong. I found the culprit clog and at the same time decided I needed to empty the container and clean the filter. So, I opened my balcony door, walked out, and proceeded to bang the filter against the rail to clean it. Well, being as smart as I am, when I stepped out, I thought I better close the sliding door so the dust cloud couldn't work its way back in to my apt. Mind you, this was about 3 weeks ago, it was about 20 degrees outside and I was dressed in a t-shirt, pajama pants, and slippers....that's all. Oh, and being as smart as I am, in the winter I have a board that's angled into the sliding door and once the door is mostly closed, it's impossible to open again without moving the board. The board is on the inside where if you go out and close the door, it's impossible to move. So, after I got done with the filter and turned back toward the balcony door, I did what most people would do and began to cuss and panic slightly. I knew I could climb down from my balcony and get to the door of the complex, but had no idea if anyone was home or if anyone would actually come to the door to let me in. By the time I had rung a few buzzers to get in, I was beginning to think about which houses on a Sunday would be best to approach in my pj's. But, all was well, just as my toes were starting to get cold, someone from inside let me in. I thanked them and headed toward my apt door, which in the 5 or so yrs I've been living here has very rarely (maybe 3 or 4 times) locked itself with a deadbolt that's kept open most of the time with a little thumb trigger that's pressed in, but like I said, occasionally, pops out and the deadbolt locks. So, my keys are inside, the deadbolt is locked, and I'm outside in the hallway in my pjs. Longer story short, I finally got in my apt after finding a spare set of keys in my car.
Most recently, the cold attacked again today as I was continuing to forge a very sculpted, sleek body first by conditioning via my swimming schedule. I always get into the hot tub first to get my powerful muscles warmed up so they don't cramp up or tear as I pull all 210 lbs of sinewy muscle and bone through the water at record pace....or something similar. Today I walk into the spa/swimming area just behind an elderly gentlemen and I notice there are 4 women in the hot tub and strangely, there is no one in the pool. I pardon myself as I walk in between the women. As I'm sitting there, each one of them go over to the pool and dip their feet in the pool, testing the water. I'm thinking to myself that I hope they don't get in...then I'll have to share lanes and I'd rather not. But, none of them get into the pool, they're just sitting around chatting. Well, I'm warmed up and I walk in between all of them a second time as I step into the pool. It's cold on my feet and I go ahead and dive under the rope into the second lane as I hear one of the women say, 'Wow, how can he do that?' HOLY SH@%! The water is freezing. I decide to tough it out and act like I knew it was going to be this cold. I swam under water the length of the pool as I usually do, just to see if I still can. By the time I get to the other side, I'm already starting to feel my toes....they're cold. I'm thinking that if I swim a few laps at a good pace, I'll warm up. Wrong! After swimming a couple laps I was actually colder and felt like I was swimming at boyscout camp in Humbolt in the fall. I remember swimming for my merit badge....had to swim a mile and the pool must have been about 65 degrees. Everyone's legs didn't function when we finally finished. This is what it was starting to feel like. I jumped in the hot tub to warm up and then when I walked into the locker room, saw the sign that I had missed because the elderly gentlemen had opened the door just before I got to it. It said they planned to keep the pool at 'about 75 degrees' until the heater was fixed, but it wouldn't affect the hot tub or spa. I don't think it was quite 75 degrees. Either way, I survived and I'm sure I'm a stronger person for it.

Bobby Jindal has some really interesting ideas. First, his story of the bureaucrat that keeps rescuers from hurricane Katrina survivors stranded on rooftops is apparently a great analogy of how government is bad. Pretty sure given a couple minutes I could come up with a better analogy. I wonder if the depositors of the almost 40 banks that have failed during this fiscal debacle believe that the FDIC is a bad idea or if that doggone bureaucracy stood in the way of losing their money held in those banks?
Another interesting take is that the spending going on with this stimulus bill is increasing the size of our gov't....as examples, Jindal gives new cars, high speed rail, and volcano monitoring. States this is wasteful spending and as a logical conclusion to the increasing size of gov't insinuation.....apparently the gov't is now making cars and high speed trains? I wasn't aware I guess.
I hate to bring this up now, but according to most economists an economic stimulus plan is one that SPENDS money. No doubt tax breaks will help those that have had to cut back on spending...and guess what? Everyone who gets a paycheck will see their first tax break in one month! They will be able to spend more than they can today. Everyone that makes less than a quarter Mill will receive a tax break....they will be able to spend more.
What I think he was saying was to tax people so we can have a strong military, but cut all other spending since that will rid us of the bureaucracy that keeps us from saving the people on the rooftop. And, this is really admirable thinking, but if it could just be delivered by someone that doesn't smile like Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory, it would be so much more palatable.

I can’t believe someone else commented on my blog besides someone in my family! It’s surprising that Anonymous would be paying attention to what is on my blog being an insider to the Clinton administration and all; but I’m not complaining.
Well, Sara, I’ve been making it to the gym regularly but I’m sure I’m still not eating as well as you are…er, I guess I’m probably eating much more than you that is. I did it again there. Still wondering if I can do that?
Aren’t there supposed to be some hot chicks at the gym? Oh, well, they probably wouldn’t be too impressed with my ability to dog paddle around the pool. Although, I do look damn good doing it.

Been extremely busy the last week and a half. In addition to learning and practicing my new job, I needed to study and take the mid-term for my last graduate class (Tuesday night) and shuffle in study time for the Series 66 - Uniform Investment Adviser - Combined State Laws Exam and then take it Friday morning. It was fairly important that I do well on it since it’s now a part of my job description. I did indeed pass and I can now call myself a Registered Investment Advisor (although I can’t print it on a business card since it’s been deemed to possibly imply to clients that the SEC believes you’re ‘qualified’). All it really means is that I’m registered in the states or with the SEC and that clients can now more easily bring litigation against me (or maybe it just means they have a better chance of success in litigation?).
The night before my exam I got a call from a former co-worker and she asked if I wanted to go riding after my exam since it was going to be a very nice day out. I had informed her that if I passed, I would have the rest of the day off. So, as soon as I got out of the testing center I called and said I’d be over. I rode on a horse named, Ginger. She’s a well behaved horse and this is why she was chosen for me since I don’t have a lot of experience riding horses – I think the last time was when I went bareback in Guatemala. Ginger was smaller than Takota (the horse Corie rode) and we kept falling back and I had to get her to trot to catch up. Trotting on her, due to the length of her gate, was something akin to being on a wooden trampoline with a mind of its own. Cantering was oh so much better. Anyway, my butt was fairly sore yesterday and my back was killing me but I still made it to the gym, sis. Have you joined yet?
Now, in the next 3 weeks I have to finish a 40 page paper on Blue Nile’s possible strategic moves in their competitive space. Well, I guess I need to start it before I think about finishing it. So, I’m actually glad my sister and family will not be making it up for Thanksgiving. Anyone know what Blue Nile might need to do strategically?

Well, I had already paid for an annual membership at 24hr fitness prior to heading down to Texas to visit my favorite sister and her kids. So, game on sis. I had actually discussed some of my baseline measurements with my Mom on the plane. I should just say observations I s’pose. If my Mom reads this, she’ll be happy to know I made it the length of the pool under water. However, I found that the reason for this was that I tried it prior to working out. I can’t do it once my heart rate is elevated. I can cover 25 yds doing the breast stroke in 28 seconds and 50 yds in 64 seconds.
I’ll check my weight on my Wii within the next few days.

I also wanted to put some history down so when I express my consternation with Sara’s comments, it’s clear why. I was in a motorcycle accident in September of 1998 in which I broke my left radius and on its way out of my body it took my ulna with it. I had multiple rib fractures on my left side and broke the metacarpal on my right thumb. So, I’m intimately familiar with osteoclasts and osteoblasts (the little cells in animals that break down bone and build it back up). From the time I could use my right hand after the accident until late 2003 I worked in the biomedical field doing research in both organ transplantation and immunology. I took premed courses prior to my accident that included physics, chemistry, organic chemistry, biochemistry, etc. I believe 6 hrs of biochemistry….this includes lots of different little pathways and ‘stuff’ that occur in the human body. I love my sister and in many ways she is markedly more intelligent than me, but I find it absolutely remarkable that she felt the need to explain to me that our bodies ‘continuously change out their cells and stuff.’ She did however go on to make my point for me which is that without stem cell research, lung tissue once damaged, stays damaged. It’s only going to be when we learn how to turn on and off different bits of machinery in lung cells that we will figure out how to cure instead of treat something that has been incurable since lungs first appeared in animals millions of years ago. This is why I conclude that Dubya has turned back the clock in medicine and probably contributed indirectly to the deaths of many people that suffer from horrible diseases.

Once again they didn't feel comfortable enough to put Palin up there to grease the republican spin machine. She's very much a liability to that campaign now.

Wow, I'm watching the presidential debate. McCain keeps attacking Obama, Obama then defends himself well, and then Barack goes on to explain his plan for whatever McCain attacked or something that is of concern to most listeners. The commentator brought up negative ads and attacks and both candidates say they're bad and then McCain actually attacks Obama more. Right now Obama is stating that one of the reason's we need to fund education is that a nation cannot and never has kept the best military in the world without educating its people. Certainly even more pertinent now I would think. Warfare is now so much more dependant on technology, information, and even PR.
More later on my Sis's comments.

Why won’t science catch nature in my case? Well, maybe it’s the stock market these days that has me down, but I doubt that’s the reason. Actually let’s examine first that the progression of science has abated and particularly medical science. Yeah, I don’t really have any evidence that it has slowed, but it’s a pretty logical deduction (or is it induction?) Thanks to George Dubbya, the U.S. has the EPA acting like a going concern instead of relying on science to make decisions, the bioethics committee is made up of religious conservatives posing as doctors, and his other ‘appointments’ to various panels and committees has the science community in preservation mode instead of growth and the future. The field that has been hit the hardest in his move to make the U.S. and the world a more ‘moral’ place has been the medical field, particularly research regarding stem cells. Stem cell research is where the answers will be revealed as far as both treating and curing disease - far more easily than what you would think of as traditional medical research. In this area alone, my guess is it’ll take 5 to 10 years to catch up to where we once belonged. (The very last part of that phrase is from a Beatles song I believe, and the meanings may even be similar) I'm going to check on that and get back to you.