Smoking

Smoking is a dirty habit, and a deadly one. Don't get me wrong, I don't mind if people smoke, I just don't like it to happen around me. I know a lot of smokers, too, and I don't complain when I go to their homes and they smoke. I made the choice to be there because I enjoy their company. And my friends are generally considerate enough not to smoke around me outside of their home, or in mine.

Anyhow, I digress...

Yesterday I was driving along...actually I was trolling for lunch...and passed by Miami Valley Hospital. Outside the emergency entrance, down along the street, were several nurses and doctors standing around smoking. Now, I don't get this. There is overwhelming proof that smoking is dangerous and yet these healt care professionals are out lighting up. These doctors and nurses are supposed to keep people healthy, yet they themselves smoke like chimneys? I just don't get it. Hypocrites.

A good friend of mine, whom I love dearly, is a smoker. I ask her a lot if she would quit. She complains of breathing problems, and thinks that she had a mild heart attack at one point. She could not go to the doctor because she has no insurance, so she is not for sure. Her response to me when I say she should quit is that the menthol in her cigarettes help her lungs to feel better and she breathes easier.

Excuse me?

That is some bullshit answer. I hate to see her smoke like she does, but there is nothing I can do. I think she realizes that her breathing problems are as a result of smoking for so many years. But, the nicotine addiction is just too much for her. To each their own. My grandfather smoked for most of his life and he died of asphyxiation due to emphysema. My grandmother smoked for most of her life, but she died of cervical cancer, otherwise there was nothing wrong with her. I guess every person responds differently to smoking. Again, to each their own.

Now that I have had cancer and survived, I am making a more conscious effort to limit my exposure to things like secondhand smoke, the nasty diesel dust from the vehicles at work and other possible carcinogens. I have too much to live for.

The Daily Coyote

Rx: Take one every few minutes until cuteness craving is satisfied.

This is a picture from the blog "The Daily Coyote". It is about a nice lady that takes in a baby coyote who's parents were killed. This is an absolutely adorable blog, and an absolutely adorable 'yote and I suggest you read it.

Nixtamalization

One of my favorite things to do is watch TV. I know this sounds like a lazy person, and you are right. I watch a lot of TV. My favorite things to watch are generally Food Network, BBC America and Cartoon Network.

The other night I watched my favorite program on Food Network called "Good Eats" with Alton Brown. This is a show that delves into the history of whatever chosen topic the show is about, and often the scientific reasons behind the way foods interact to make the chosen dish. Between acts, or as a segue to commercial, there are usually snippets of text on-screen that explain something in the program. That, and the show is usually funny as hell!

The episode I watched last was the second in a series about tortillas (The first was about a year back entitled "Tort-illa Reform". Get it? Hah!) This program went over ways to reuse tortillas that have been previously made and are now in "leftover" status. There were some great recipes, including a "Mexican Lasagna" using a spicy sauce, cooked chicken, Oaxaca cheese and leftover tortillas.

The last segment was a recipe for "Masa Tots", little balls of masa flour, with spices therein, then deep fried like tater tots. This was to demonstrate how tortillas could be turned back into its original, constituent parts...one of which is masa flour.

In a segue to commercial, the text on screen told how tortillas are made. Dried corn, or maize, is "nixtamalized" and ground into masa flour, then formed into tortillas.

Nixtamalized? What the hell is that?! That is a new word on me. I love words, and I try to learn a new word or two every day and find some way to work it into conversation. But "nixtamalized"? Good gracious.

I was watching while laying in bed, the light out, firmly intending on going to sleep after the program was over. But "nixtamalized" was floating through my head and I could not stop thinking about it. It eventually got the better of me and I had to find out what it meant.

I had been trying to do some work earlier in the evening, so my laptop was in my bedroom leaning up against the wall opposite my bed, plugged in and charging. It was only in sleep mode, so I got up, grabbed it and flipped it open. I went to my usual resource for words, the Merriam-Webster online dictionary, http://www.m-w.com/, intending to define the word.

It wasn't there.

I was hoping that they did not just make up this word. That would be unlikely. So, I googled it. There were plenty of entries. One of which was for Wikipedia, http://www.wikipedia.org/, another of my favorite...albeit with some skepticism...resources on the web.

In there I found an exhaustive explanation of the nixtamalization process, and I quote...

Nixtamalizacion, a Spanish loanword sometimes anglicised to nixtamalisation or nixtamalization, is the process whereby dry maize grain is soaked and cooked in an alkaline solution, usually limewater, to cause the transparent outer hull, the pericarp, to separate and be removed from the grain. This process has several benefits including enabling the grain to be more effectively ground; increasing protein and vitamin content availability; improving flavor and aroma and reduction of mycotoxins. In the Aztec language Nahuatl, the word for the product of this procedure is nixtamalli or nextamalli (IPA: [niʃtaˈmalːi] or [neʃtaˈmalːi]), which in turn has yielded Mexican Spanish nixtamal (IPA: [nistaˈmal] or [niʃtaˈmal]). The Nahuatl word is a compound of nextli "ashes" and tamalli "unformed corn dough, tamal." The term nixtamalization (spelled with the "t") can also be used to describe the removal of the pericarp from any grain such as sorghum by an alkali process. When the unaltered Spanish spelling nixtamalizacion is used in written English, however, it almost exclusively refers to maize.

I was relieved. Now I get it. This is similar to how people make hominy: corn is cooked in an extremely alkaline solution of lye...LYE of all things!...to make large, funkadelic, mutant white kernels of hominy. My grandparents loved the stuff. Too weird for me.

I was going to blog this last night, but I didn't because I was tired. I'm kinda glad I waited because Shari over on "My So-Called Japanese Life" blogged about Wikipedia and how recently a few more institutions of higher learning are now disallowing Wikipedia as a reference.

This, in my opinion, is a good idea. Since Wikipedia, in and of itself a good idea, is written by everyone on the internet, there is a big risk of getting ahold of bad or incomplete information or information that is interpreted incorrectly. Wikipedia can be a great resource, though. Just like I found out what nixtamalization meant, one can pretty much find out everything they want to know about from there. You have to take it with a grain of salt, however. There have, in the past, been bullshit articles posted with lots of disinformation as proof-of-concept that the articles can be manipulated and twisted to give people false impressions or make people look really, really stupid.

For the casual user, a quick search is harmless. For academics or business users that need to find information about a subject quickly, Wikipedia can give you a good idea of what a subject is all about. You must look into it further with the references that are given at the bottom of nearly every article. Even the referenced data can be interpreted incorrectly or not at all. Some subject pages on Wikipedia don't have a single reference!

In the end, if a subject is important and you have to know all about it, Wikipedia is a great starting point. But ONLY a starting point. Look at the references, check them out, go to the library and look at the books on the subject. Research that depends on a single resource is flawed research, and research the depends exclusively on Wikipedia is definitely flawed and dangerous.

No Parking

My friend Chris sent me this today, and I liked it so much I had to post it here...


This is something that I find fascinating, and it is more common than one would expect. I am not sure why people don't secure their wireless, whether they don't care or just can't because the instructions on how to do so are difficult to understand. And it can be, as there are numerous options. In my neighborhood, I can see several access points. Thankfully, most are secure, but a few are not. If a wireless network is unsecure, that can leave any computer on that network vulnerable. Now-a-days, even if you use WEP encryption, you are not fully secure. There are several ways to get the encryption keys, easy enough even for the most inept script kiddie. Another danger with unsecure networks, and this is a biggie, is that naughty people may do bad things over the connection like kiddie porn and threatening emails. If the traffic gets traced, it comes back to the owner of access point. Not good.

My wireless network is probably the strongest in the neighborhood. I use a Cisco 1231 b/g wireless access point (all of my network equipment...router, switch, access point...is real Cisco stuff. I am a CCNA after all!) I have two antennas, a high-gain yagi directional antenna on the roof pointed to my parent's house, and a smaller omnidirectional in the ceiling of the hallway. I'm pretty sure every wardriver in the Greater Dayton area has been to my neighborhood to get on my juicy 6 Mb DSL.

I use WPA for connection authentication, and TKIP for data encryption from the computer to the access point. You have to know the pre-shared WPA key to get access, then the TKIP encrypts the data so a sniffer would see gobbledygook rather than your data. At least it is pretty well protected, for now, since encryption methods are being cracked all the time. For even better security, you can apply MAC address filtering, thus only allowing connections from any physical network card which you have registered with your access point. I have not done this because I have lots of wireless devices and work on computers at home, and it would be a chore to track all of that.

I plan on implementing a RADIUS server on my network so I can dump the "pre-shared key" on WPA, and implement 802.1x. This will allow me to set up logins on a server, and the computer or device will have to authenticate by an appropriate username and password. This is also known as WPA-Enterprise and is usually used in large companies. I was working on this before I came down with cancer and have not gotten back to it.

I am implementing a wireless solution at work using a centralized Cisco controller, with all the fancy-schmancy security features. This is a great solution, albeit expensive. I have had great success with it so far, and I am excited to get more access points installed. I have also learned a great deal about wireless and its associated security functions, and I am really eager to learn more.

So, if your wireless is open and exposed to God and everybody, GET IT SECURE!

Jerk

I was a jerk this morning.

I left work to go to speech therapy. My speech therapist is a very nice, younger lady whom we will call "J". I pulled into the parking lot behind the doctor's offices (same building as my E, N & T doctor, Dr. S) and tried to maneuver into a parking space that was close. There was one that I wanted, but I was not in a good position to pull into it. I drive a full-size car, so maneuverability in tight areas can be tough.

I went further into the lot, pulled in, backed out and went to the space I wanted. I pulled as far to the left as I could so I could turn into the space easily. Another driver entered the parking lot and pulled up pretty much nose-to-nose with my car, obviously wanting by...on the proper side.

I made a somewhat rude gesture, as if to say "Can't you see I am trying to get into this space?!" I managed to get into the space awkwardly, and had to back in and out a few times to straighten up. Had the person backed up, went around on the right (there was plenty of space) or just plain not been there, I could have pulled in just fine. I mumbled a few "choice" words under my breath about the other driver, and went on my way.

On the way across the parking lot, the lady driver from the offending car spoke to me, and said "Good morning!" I said "Good morning!" back as pleasantly as I could and smiled at her.

I didn't realize until I got to the elevators that the lady was none other than MY SPEECH THERAPIST! Now I really felt like a prick; she is one of the nicest people I have ever met. She has such a disarming quality about her personality. And she has the prettiest green eyes, almost a yellow-green.

I did not want to go to my appointment, because I didn't want to face her. I was afraid of the possibility of confrontation, which is new and different, too. I did go to my appointment, and it was ok, no problems and no mention of anything that happened in the parking lot.

I may have explained it to her, in not so many words, that my jaw has been hurting me quite a bit lately. Every time I move my jaw, a sharp pain jolts from my cheek up to my ear. Quite painful, actually. On the way to work this morning, I sneezed and nearly lost control of my car because of the severe pain.

One thing that I have noticed since the cancer is that I have mellowed out. Back in the day (cliche, no?) I would have just stopped my car and flipped the bird and maybe even kick the door of the offending car in and start a fight or something. I used to be in a perpetual bad mood, but now I don't really talk out loud to other drivers as I am driving along or make commentary on how stupid every other driver is. You know how it is, you are driving along and another driver does something stupid and you holler to no one in particular a few choice words. I find that I don't really think bad thoughts about other drivers, or other people, anymore either.

I am coming to think that getting cancer may be a blessing in disguise. I don't need any more blessings like that, thank you very much! I would like less painful, less invasive blessings, if you please.

Update: I am now 227 lbs., loss of 71 lbs. so far.

Birthday

My birthday fell on Thanksgiving Day this year. Pretty cool, that. It is always nicer to have a big to do, like a huge dinner, than just cake or pie. I don't like having a big deal made of my birthday, and generally refuse presents...especially of my parents since they tend to give me lots of stuff throughout the year. Like food and clothes and such.

I don't ask for anything, either. This is the status quo. Mother will take me shopping and try to coerce me into getting a new shirt or pants or lazy shirts or drawers and such. Again, I usually refuse and most of the time she just goes ahead and buys whatever she thinks I would look good in. Her choices are perfect for me, I must say. If someone asked if my mommy picks out my wardrobe, I'd have to say yes.

She grouses at me for not wearing jeans and sweatshirts and such. Instead I usually wear some kind of patterned button-down shirt and khaki-style pants. This is what I wear to work. She always says that I'm too dressed up. I say I'm comfortable, end of story.

I did get clothes for my birthday...at least a few days in advance. Since the cancer, I have lost about 70 pounds, and none of my old clothes fit very effectively. With the exception of sweaters, sweatshirts, socks and drawers, I have had to get all new clothes. I tried wearing my old pants to work, but the belt had to be cinched so much, the waist was all bunched up. And it looked really, really stupid. Thankfully, it is getting cold for wintertime which means that my oversize sweaters (I prefer them really big) can cover a multitude of sins. But I now have a few pair of properly fitting pants and shirts, so I will not have to wear any of my old clothes unless I am desperate, or I start eating like I used to.

Really, the "official" birthday gifts were...
Mother's gift was tickets for me and Dad to go see the Columbus Blue Jackets play the Detroit Red Wings in Columbus. (Jackets won!) I like to go see them play at least once a season, it is always a good time. Mom and Dad go up for the New Years Eve game, and stay overnight at a nice hotel.

Father's gift was a new PDA/cell phone. My old cell phone, that I bought off eBay since my contract wasn't up for renewal, went flaky. I wasn't about to pay full price for a new phone, especially since I needed a fancy-schmancy PDA/Phone combo. Dad's contract was up for renewal, so he suggested we get a new phone off his renewal. He's perfectly happy with his old Motorola phone, since it is without all of Verizon's VCast garbage. So he funded the purchase of a new PDA phone for my birthday, and we scammed Verizon and switched the phones around when they were not looking! So Dad has his same phone, and the new PDA phone is on my account. I feel so evil. Well, the truth is, Verizon doesn't care. As long as you pay them plenty of jing every month, they don't care what you do.

So, I have had a happy birthday. Being able to spend time with my parents, and the big Thanksgiving meal, was the best gift. I'm glad, too, that I was here to enjoy them.

The Help Desk

The help desk policy at my company...