A Bloy and his Blog

Lifehacker asks the question, What books have changed your life?

Life-changing books are not just your favorite books… but books that altered your behavior, changed your mind, redirected the course of your life. Books as levers.

An interesting question worthy of pondering. Here are mine.

The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
by Douglas Adams
Douglas Adams’ wonderful novel (and subsequent sequels) became popular during my college years, when reading for me turned into a chore. It was hard to read just for fun — it was something I HAD to do to get good grades. The Hitchhiker’s Guide changed all that. It was the first book that made me laugh out loud. In addition to the humor, Adams includes many poignant life philosophies as well.

read the rest of: Life changing books

About 4:40am this morning, the sound of my alarm clock rattling on the shelf woke me up. As I drifted into consciousness, I wondered why the alarm clock was rattling. Then I realized the bed was shaking. First I thought maybe a big truck was driving by, but it continued much longer than a drive-by. As more of my brain cells began working I realized, it was an earthquake.

It was the third time in my life I’ve felt an earthquake (the other two times I was also in Wisconsin). While the tremors I felt this morning were fairly mild, it certainly is unsettling to feel the earth moving under you.

The Chicago Tribune has a nice interactive map of the earthquake (the epicenter was near West Salem, Illinois). You can also email the Tribune your location to be added to the map. Did you feel it?

Over the past month or so, I’ve had a sister, two coworkers, and a friend recommend that I try a neti pot to help with my sinus problems. I’ve heard of them before, but I couldn’t get past the idea of pouring liquid into my nostrils and letting it flow out the other side. With some symptoms of the endless cold I had caught still hanging on for dear life, I decided it was time for drastic measures. Several days ago I bought a neti pot.

When I got it home, I took the neti pot out of the box, read the instructions, prepared the solution, and hesitated. Did I REALLY want to pour liquid into my sinus cavities?

read the rest of: The neti pot

I really don’t like to write “complaint posts” but there is a good part to this story, so I’m going to indulge myself.

I’ve had this cold for three weeks now, and boy am I getting sick of it (pun intended). That’s three weeks of coughing, blocked up sinuses, and a runny nose. Several other people I know have had the same virus (they’ve been sick for a long time too). When it got to be three weeks for me I contacted my doctor’s office, to ask if I should come in and get it checked out. After the on-call nurse assessed me, she didn’t think I needed to come in (no fever or any disgusting symptoms I’d rather not mention here). But the good part of the story is I decided to go online and email my doctor about it.

read the rest of: Health Care 2.0 and the endless cold

It’s been pretty cold here in Madison for the past week, and this morning our first big winter storm of the season began.

Today I’ve officially gone into Winter mode. I put a batch of chili in the crock pot, and dug my humidifier out of the closet. While those shocks from static electricity are fun at first, it gets a little old after a few times. I also took my first pictures of snow for the season, from the warm side of my patio door of course.

Yes, winter has arrived.

I got a kick out of this. Yes, you can show affection and still be secure in your masculinity.

How To Give A Great Man To Man Hug

I took the bus to work today. Parking at the college is a BIG problem (too many cars for too few spots) and parking fees are going up in the fall. While the cost increase still makes parking there very reasonable compared to what the downtown lots charge, I decided I should start commuting by bus this fall. With gas prices currently going up and up, I thought, what am I waiting for?

So I hopped on the bus this morning. The choice is really a no-brainer. I can get a free bus pass from work, I save gas money, parking fees, and wear and tear on my vehicle. It’s also the right thing to do for the planet. If I want to be as much of an environmentalist as I think I am, it’s probably about time I did that.