OK, now it's personal...

I have MS.

No, you don’t know what that is. You may know the dictionary definition of it, but you can’t ever actually know the affects or the consequences. Most do not.

You may have it or be close to someone who does. Even then, they will hold out on you about certain things. No, not because they want to, there’s just too damn much.

It can never be fully explained because it is constantly evolving. Consistently messing up different parts of your life.

There is no cure.

This is difficult for some to accept. No colored porch-light or trendy colored ribbon will hasten a cure. There isn’t a “magic pill”, either - even to make the symptoms go away or get better. None.

Get used to it – I certainly had to. No, the tsunami just keeps on coming without end.

Oh, I’m on meds: IV injections, once per month – costing ~$14K each (yes, you read that right) in order to minimize ‘exacerbations.’

Oops! Minimize not eliminate. No, after 3,000+ milligrams of Solumedrol and 7 pills per day to treat the Trigeminal Neuralgia later…..the current exacerbation continues – although, thankfully, the TN pain has tapered greatly. No, never completely gone.

Example…when you wish to move from point A to point B, a hundred things *have* to go through your mind (What are the things in my way? What can I hold on to next? Will that hold me?- being just a small sampling). Every move needs to be planned out before you can even think of going mobile.

So what happens if there is nothing for you to hold on to? Well, one of two things: 1) you don’t go or 2) you go and hope your momentum will be stopped by something soon – as you play it off like you’re just being goofy.

I walk funny.

Wow do I walk funny. I know this. People ask me “why don’t you just use a cane?” Well, the 2 main reasons are that my hands are mostly numb so I really can’t tell where the cane is most of the time. And I can’t guarantee that I won’t fall more with a cane by tripping over it.

Eh, such is life.

So why am I talking about this here? Well mostly because I know no one reads this blog anyway and let's face it: blogs are mostly cathartic - political or not. But more importantly, I am really tired of people telling me “I look fine” as I’m sitting.

I swear, if I hear that just one more time, I’m going to….....what? Try to stand quickly so I can try to fall on them? No, my options are quite limited these days.

But know this: even though I walk like the drunkest man on earth, my brain has not been invited to that party and continues to be sober.

What, you thought I was going to say sharp? Nah, even though sarcasm is my weapon of choice, I don’t like it to be common knowledge. I still want some surprises. Oops.

Reality:

I know we will never see (I think) orange ribbons at any of those trendy Hollywood award shows. I understand that the disease, for the most part, is not fatal. I’ve always said that it wouldn’t kill me just piss me off even more….like the world needs that.

Isn’t it great though, that we finally live in a world without AIDS?

I mean….it must be gone. How many of those ribbons did you count at the last Hollywood pat-yourself-on-the-back show? It must not be a problem anymore.

Or perhaps it’s just not trendy anymore.

After all, that’s how you know people really care, right?

Kooky.

OK, so by now we all know how extrapolation works. You take a limited amount of data and assume what will happen if the trend continues the exact same way in perpetuity. I mean, really, the “science” doesn’t even need to be accurate, just show a perceived trend (see: global warming). But I digress….

One of the themes that is pervasive through all the shows I’ve been watching (see below) is the Big Bang. Now, I understand that I’m a bit of a heretic when it comes to this theory – not that I do not buy it, I just have too many questions to swallow it with my eyes closed.
For instance, as I was growing up I recall hearing about one of the possible ends to the universe – the Big Crunch. That was the accepted consensus – that after all that expansion, gravity would pull it all back together into a crunch. Now the consensus is that because the universe is constantly expanding, what is likely to happen after trillions of years...is that we will all be torn apart - all the way to the atomic level.
And you should all know how I feel about consensus.

I get that science moves on, discovers new things and evolves, but this is the complete opposite of what was firmly accepted not that long ago (I would have said within my lifetime, but I’m old now and it doesn’t sound as impressive). The thing that bothers me is that scientists (heretofore referred to as ‘they’) come up with new and exciting theories to justify the Big Bang.
Have you heard of the VSL? Neither had Einstein.
How ‘bout Hyper-expansion of space? No?
Dark matter? And to offset that, Dark energy?

Question: if the Big Bang is so right, why does it need so many theories and unprovable hypotheses in order to make it work?

Reality:
I saw and heard one physicist say that if you don’t buy the Big Bang theory, then you are considered a ‘kook’ by the scientific community.
Like Copernicus, Keppler and Galileo?
Yeah, I’ve been called worse and associated with worse.

Scale

As a massive geek, one of the perks of being incapacitated is endless viewing of SciChan/DiscChan/NatGeo space & astrophysics shows. They tend to throw out little nuggets that I happen to find infinitely interesting.

I while back I mentioned that space is HUGE (I won a Pulitzer for that one). Just how big?

One astronomer put it thus:

First, start by thinking about how many people are on Earth. Alot, huh?

Well, as big as the Earth is, you can fit a million Earths in the Sun.

Now look at the period of this sentence.

If the Sun was the size of that period, then the Milky Way would be the size of the United States.

!!

Reality:

More to the point, as another astronomer put it, the size and scope of space is really beyond human comprehension.

Pretty much.

More ridiculously absurd nuggets to follow.

Dream a little dream.

Sadly, probably the ONLY Ferrari I have a chance of owning.

Reality:

Even sadder, it will still take me close to forever to save for this gimmick.

Sigh....

Sick.

Everyone in the stadium knew what was coming.

And it did:

Reality:

At first, even I thought "too far."

Fast forward to the 1 minute mark to watch the goal, watch from the 1:50 mark to see the skill.

I don't get it.

Late to the party to be sure, but as one comedian I heard said:

"It's like he cheated on the girl next door with Marilyn Manson."

You decide.

Reality:

Now I've never been a head-over-heels fan, but I always thought she was attractive.

Looking at the pics, however, its like having your favorite food every day of your life and then one day deciding to have [insert least favorite food here].

Take care of it yourself!!

Totally swiped from Big Geek.


Reality:
Sometimes, he's just got a thing.
(BTW, that is futbal he's watching Fred)

You really want science?

I am so tired of the Goreistas telling me that the Sun (that large H-bomb hovering in our sky) plays only an insignificant part in our climate change.
After all, it has nothing we can tax or regulate, so it has to be insignificant!


Reality:
That ball of fire produces more energy in one second than ALL OF HUMANITY SINCE ITS EXISTENCE. Whether your are a creationist or an evolutionist.
~98,000,000 miles away and it still can kill you.
But hardly any affect to our climate. Sure.
Idiots.

Inactive

Well apparently shut down due to inactivity is real.


Reality:
Maybe its time to rethink the "I'll get to it when I get to it" approach.
Eh..

Section 21+

I miss Monty.




Reality:
I only meant to watch the first 2 minutes, 'cause it cracks me up.....but I ended up watching until the flagrant violation.

Believe.

I don't believe in ghosts, but this is difficult to explain away....
Keep your eyes on the far doorway.



Reality:
I guess we see unexplained things everyday.

Power, redefined.

Wow, still in the reader, huh? Ok, welcome back.
First, a primer.
This used to be the fastest production car in the world:

0-60 mph: 3.2 seconds
Top speed: 240 MPH
“It” is the McLaren F1. Produced by the same McLaren that sponsors Formula One cars (duh) and aptly named the “F1” – hey, these guys are engineers not highly paid creative guys.
It even looks like its speeding standing still, doesn’t it?

Meet its successor to the top speed throne – The Bugatti Veyron:

0-60 mph: ~2.5 seconds.
Top speed: 253 MPH

“So what” you say, “its not THAT much faster.”

That is until you realize that if you are in a drag race to 200 MPH, and you are driving a Veyron, you can give the F1 a head start to 120 MPH and you’ll still beat it to 200!!

Whoa.


Reality:
As an extra added bonus for you enviro types:
The Veyron has a 26.4 gallon gas tank.
Which means, if you run it at full throttle, the tank will run dry in just 12 minutes.
Suck on that, treehuggers.

Jeremy said it best:

[ "(This is) the greatest piece of engineering ever. No, I'm sorry, this is the greatest car ever made and the greatest car we will ever see in our lifetime." ]