Saturday, March 31, 2007

the wee hours

Medical Marijuana

Okay, I’ve done it.  I’ve sent away for my Medical Marijuana packet from the Nevada Department of Agriculture.  I’ve already discussed it with my doctor and he’s fine with me using it if I have my MM card.  I’ve explained that marijuana relieves certain pain that other medications don’t.  For instance, when my Carpal Tunnel gets really bad, I get a horrible aching in my upper arm.  Nothing has ever been able to get rid of it, other than marijuana.  Not Advil, not Hydrocodone, not Oxycodone, regardless of the dosage.  Marijuana is the only thing that has ever worked.  However, I want to do this completely legally.  My pain management doctor does drug testing, and I don’t want to be worrying about what’s in my system.  I’m tired of the expense (it’s the end of March and I’ve already exhausted my insurance prescription coverage) and the side effects of pharmaceuticals.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad that they exist, and I would still need to have meds around (right now, you’d have to pry my Enablex from my cold dead hands), but pot doesn’t have ANY side effects, except for sleepiness.  None.  Not urinary retention, not constipation, not dry mouth (maybe bad breath), and with a vaporizer, it isn’t even hard on your lungs.  No one has ever died from using pot.  No one.  Water is more dangerous.  I agree that driving after smoking/ingesting pot is dangerous, as is driving after drinking.  I wouldn’t do either.  I’m perfectly happy to not break any laws or endanger any lives in my quest to be pain-free.

Thanks to the tip from Nancy regarding a new study showing that cannabis is less harmful than substances that are sold at your local 7-Eleven.  “Alcohol Worse Than Ecstasy, According To Proposed ‘Matrix Of Harm’ For Drugs” Science Daily — A new study published in the Lancet proposes that drugs should be classified by the amount of harm that they do, rather than the sharp A, B, and C divisions in the UK Misuse of Drugs Act.  The new ranking places alcohol and tobacco in the upper half of the league table. These socially accepted drugs were judged more harmful than cannabis, and substantially more dangerous than the Class A drugs LSD, 4-methylthioamphetamine and ecstasy.

(bolding mine)

the wee hours

Idiots of the Day - PETA & Burger King

“MIAMI–Animal rights advocates praised Burger King for its new commitment to begin buying eggs and pork from suppliers that do not keep their animals in cages or crates.” Whoo, that sure sounds good, doesn’t it?  Better treatment for animals and probably a better product for Burger King.  However, I fail to see why anyone is fawning over this announcement.  Sure, it’s a positive step, but let’s take a look at the details.  “Burger King Corp. has already started purchasing 10 per cent of its pork from suppliers that do not use sow gestation crates, according to a letter sent to PETA. The company said it will double that amount by the end of 2007.” Whoo hoo, a whole 20%.  However, that’s a remarkable achievement compared to this - “Burger King also said it will start getting 2 per cent of its eggs from hens that are not confined to small cages. That percentage should more than double by the end of 2007.” Wow, a whole 2%?  That’s incredible.  But, when they’re going to DOUBLE it to 4% by the end of the year, that’s when they really had me in the palm of their benevolent hand.  Who could ask for more than that?  Maybe they’ll even TRIPLE it by the end of 2008.  Damn, that’s just embarrassing, for both Burger King and PETA.  That said, on the way home from a zillion errands yesterday, I had a small bag o’ Burger King fries and they were delicious.  It’s been months since I last had any fries.  I’m thinking of possibly doubling my intake of fries by the end of 2007.  C’mon, who here applauds my efforts?

the wee hours

I’m SO Excited - The Fantasy Baseball Draft Is Today!

The draft is today and I’m a dolt.  I’m the commissioner and I made the draft on the last day possible (if we want to start our league at the same time as MLB), but I forgot that we had hockey tickets.  Normally, that would be fine because most hockey games are at 7p, but this is celebrity/has-been game and it’s at 1:30p, before the Wranglers game.  The draft is at 3p.  Oh well, I’m pre-ranking, so that should be fine.  I’m excited that we have a phone with internet access now, so I’ll be able to at least check in on the draft before we come home.  I don’t think the Windows Mobile browser is capable of using the draft program, but you can be sure I’m gonna see if it is.  Although, in general, the baseball draft isn’t nearly as important as the football draft.  Your football season could be decided on two key players, your QB and your RB.  In baseball, you need a more well-rounded team.  I’m actually pre-ranking heavily toward the Dodgers, even though I know that won’t get me the best possible team, but I like having players to watch and I plan on watching as many Dodger games this season as I can.  Plus, I’m looking to get two players from last season who are both cute and good - Joe Mauer and Derek Jeter.  Apparently Joe isn’t having a great pre-season, but I think he’s just saving up his good stuff until he’s on the LV Marauders.  I’ve already been through three name changes.  I can’t decide which team name I want etched on the virtual first place trophy.

But, before I get into baseball, there’s still hockey.  Ugh, it’s Maple Leafs nail biting time again.  Will they or won’t they make the playoffs?  You can be sure that in either case, they’ll make it as hard as possible on their fans.  I have to admit, they’ve been fun to watch this season when they’ve been healthy.  I like lots of the youngsters, and that oldster, Darcy Tucker.  I’ve kind of missed Tie Domi this season, but with the publicity over the past six months, I’ve discovered that my beloved first favorite hockey player may very possibly be a jerk.  And, I know for a fact that both he and his wife are ingrates.  I discover that someone has been impersonating both of them for more than six years, and it’s probably someone close to them, and do I get a thank you? No sirree, bob.  I didn’t expect a million dollar reward (it would’ve been nice though), but a brief “thanks” would’ve been nice.  I guess they were too busy trying to damage each other.  Anyway, my point was about the Leafs.  At the beginning of the season, I missed him, but I’ve enjoyed watching Kyle Wellwood, Carlo Colaiacovo, John Pohl, Ian White, Alexei Ponikarovsky, et al., play the game.  I think their prescence bodes well for a good Leafs future.  I still wish they could’ve gotten Sidney Crosby though.  They just were quite bad enough last season.

update - damn, I didn’t expect to be proven right immediately.  This is from this morning’s news:  “Former Leafs’ tough guy Tie Domi was “like a beast” as he screamed obscenities at his 11-year-old son Max’s peewee hockey coach at a North York arena last night. ”

Wednesday, March 28, 2007

terribly early in the morning

Carlo Learned to Dance from Sanjaya

He’s 6 days old today.  My camera takes crappy video.  Here are some slightly better pictures of Bunny (she’s the white one) & Carlo.

She wasn’t enjoying posing much, as you can tell by the second picture.

Sunday, March 25, 2007

late at night

The Plethora of Flashing Lights and Emergency Vehicles

Well, I found out what happened early Saturday morning right behind our house.  I can’t believe we didn’t hear it happen.  I would imagine it would’ve been pretty loud.  It’s such a quiet street that it’s a little spooky that someone was driving fast enough to kill themselves, although since the car was a ‘65 Thunderbird, it didn’t have an airbag and he probably wasn’t wearing a seatbelt either.

From the Las Vegas Review Journal:  Las Vegas man, 27, dies after single-car crash in northwest

A 27-year-old Las Vegas man was killed when he lost control of the 1965 Ford Thunderbird he was driving and it left the road, colliding with a wall in the northwest valley early Saturday, Las Vegas police said.  The crash happened at 5:13 a.m. at Tule Springs Road and Jo Marcy Drive, near Durango and Grand Teton drives, police said. The Thunderbird was heading north on Tule Springs, and the driver lost control while making a right turn onto Jo Marcy, sending the car off the road and into the wall.  The driver along with the passenger, Matt Mors, 18, of Las Vegas, were taken to University Medical Center.  The driver died a short time after arriving at the hospital, police said. His name was withheld by police.  Mors was listed in serious condition.  A preliminary investigation indicates speed and alcohol contributed to the crash, police said.  The crash remains under investigation.