Random Ramblings

Check out my new blog!

2010-11-15T13:06:00.001-08:00

Those of you who follow this blog (both of you...), check out my new blog over at keithneedsascooter.blogspot.com

For The Fallen

2010-11-11T08:38:00.001-08:00

FOR THE FALLEN.

With proud thanksgiving, a mother for her children,
England mourns for her dead across the sea.
Flesh of her flesh they were, spirit of her spirit,
Fallen in the cause of the free.

Solemn the drums thrill; Death august and royal
Sings sorrow up into immortal spheres.
There is music in the midst of desolation
And a glory that shines upon our tears.

They went with songs to the battle, they were young,
Straight of limb, true of eye, steady and aglow.
They were staunch to the end against odds uncounted;
They fell with their faces to the foe.

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old,
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

They mingle not with laughing comrades again;
They sit no more at familiar tables of home;
They have no lot in our labour of the day-time;
They sleep beyond England's foam.

But where our desires are and our hopes profound,
Felt as a well-spring that is hidden from sight,
To the innermost heart of their own land they are known
As the stars are known to the Night;

As the stars that shall be bright when we are dust,
Moving in marches upon the heavenly plain;
As the stars that are starry in the time of our darkness,
To the end, to the end, they remain.

LAURENCE BINYON

Clinician1

2010-04-09T14:54:00.001-07:00

Hey all, If you are an NP or PA, try Clinician1. Its free, and you can enter to win an iPad! :http://clinician1.com/contests/ipad

Win Free Sex!

2010-04-05T21:48:00.000-07:00

The greatest tabloid headline of all time. I'm just letting you know about about a chance to win a free sex toy.
Check out the way cool blog post on the LELO Lilly over at ToyWithMe.com, and learn how to enter to win one! (here's a hint - one way is by writing blog posts about the contest....)
In case you didn't know, LELO toys are high-end, expensive (but worth it), rechargeable, and generally of silicone, or bpa-free hard plastic. Check out the review here.

Prop 8 will probably pass.

2008-11-05T06:19:00.001-08:00

O.K. California...WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU? You have no problem electing a young, progressive president, but then at the same time you approve a dark-ages measure like Prop 8. WTF? We're going to have a state constitution that effectively says "All people are equal, except them queers"

Wow. What a year.

2008-10-28T19:01:00.000-07:00

Man. I though life had fallen on me like a ton of bricks last year. Its been nuts this year. Flying back and forth to Houston to visit Dad in his last days (one more trip in December for the memorial, then Mom is coming here for the Holidays...) Combine that with getting rid of one car (I bike commute 4 days a week now) as part of a commitment to lower our carbon footprint as much as possible. CFLs, buckets in the shower, compost heaps, vegetable garden, fruit trees, you name it, we are probably doing it, considering it, or have tried it and found it didn't work.

Now if only I could win the lottery, quit my job, and afford to insulate my house, replace all the windows and doors, install the solar electric system, repipe, rewire, rip out the lawn and sprinkler systems for more vegetable gardens....

I need a nap.

Road ID

2008-10-20T11:30:00.001-07:00

Hi all.

Those of you know me have heard that I started to commute to work on an electric bicycle. In the few months I've been doing it, I've almost wiped out several times. Once was a dropped chain causing the rear wheel to lock, another was a bee stinging me INSIDE my lip (don't ask...). Anyway, I've started thinking about what might happen if I do wipe out and I'm unable to call for help. Now I've found it - its called the RoadID, and its a little engraved plate with your information on it, that can be mounted on a wristband, ankleband, shoe, or even as a dogtag with your choice of image on the other side. Speaking as an ex-EMT (I'm now a nurse practitioner), I was taught to look for ID bands or necklaces, but not to look for wallets. For one thing, people are afraid of getting sued (there was $300 dollars in that wallet!)

I've got one on order, and if you run or cycle, you should consider getting one. Heck. I think I'm going to get one for my brilliant but no-common-sense 7 year old to wear all the time.
I'll put a link in the sidebar, if I can remember how to do it.

He is dead.

2008-10-03T07:46:00.001-07:00

My father, Lynn Elwood Anderson died this morning at about 7am Texas time. He passed peacefully in his sleep after a year-long battle with cancer. He fought valiantly for most of the year (he played golf about a month ago), and then went into a rapid decline. He is no longer in pain.

Check out Facespooks.co.uk - appear in your own movie!

2008-08-29T12:24:00.001-07:00

Report

More bad news

2007-08-30T18:35:00.000-07:00

After a hi-res CT scan last night and a meeting with a surgeon today, my dad has told me that he also has multiple tumors in his liver, and that there is no surgical option. He will have a minor procedure tomorrow morning to get a biopsy and to place a stent to open up a duct that is being blocked by the tumor. Hopefully this will improve his liver function, and make him better able to withstand Chemo, that they are talking about starting next week.

Chemo is a palliative measure at this point. It may prolong his life and give him a better quality of life for longer, but it is unlikely to cure him. We can hope.

Bad news

2007-08-27T11:40:00.001-07:00

This past Wednesday I learned that my father has a 4cm mass in or on the head of his pancreas. This was discovered while he was on a business trip to Norway. The good news is that he lives near MD Anderson Cancer center in Houston, one of the best in world. The bad news is that pancreatic cancer patients have a less than 5% chance of living past 5 years, even under optimum conditions. In worse cases, the prognosis can be a little over 4 months. My father may not live to see Christmas.

Keith Anderson

Snow!

2007-01-12T10:23:00.001-08:00

SNOW! It snowed in Redlands today! It snowed in "Sunny and 72" Southern California (and Redlands is not up in the mountains...) What's up with that? I'll have to see if I can remember how to host pictures. It was purty...

OK, OK, it was about an inch of fluff that rapidly turned into slush. All over SoCal there were people doing 20 on the freeway because they heard snow was slippery. Never mind that it melted as soon as it hit tarmac, and was no worse than any other rainy day.

Keith Anderson, NP

Long time no post.

2007-01-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Hmm. Six months since my last post again. Drat. Well more later on numerous topics - Lasers, autism, other toys, new coffee maker. Busy time.

Also, check out the Epocrates search bar on the right. Look up your medications!

Dell Home Systems XPS M2010

2006-08-31T12:20:00.001-07:00

Dell Home Systems XPS M2010

OH MY GOD! I'm in love. Never mind that the thing costs 9 grand (totally tricked out, that is...) and weighs over 20Lbs! DualCor, 20" monitor, removable bluetooth keyboard for cryin' out loud! Its my ultimate laptop. Will somebody buy me one? Please? Please? I'll be your friend...

Joe Haldeman Diary, April-May 2003

2006-08-21T20:37:00.000-07:00

I just found the funniest commentary on the Iraq war. It was written and posted in April of 2003, by Joe Haldeman, Hugo and Nebula award-winning science fiction author. I'll post the text, and then a link to the actual site, so you can see the rest of it:

I just got this delicious observation from Steven Utley, by way of Michael Bishop and Greg Frost:
"This is the Vietnam II Preflight Check.
1. Cabal of oldsters who won't listen to outside advice? Check.
2. No understanding of ethnicities of the many locals? Check.
3. National boundaries drawn in Europe, not by the locals? Check.
4. Unshakable faith in our superior technology? Check.
5. France secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
6. Russia secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
7. China secretly hoping we fall on our asses? Check.
8. SecDef pushing a conflict the JCS never wanted? Check.
9. Fear we'll look bad if we back down now? Check.
10. Corrupt Texan in the White House? Check.
11. Land war in Asia? Check.
12. Rightists unhappy with outcome of previous war? Check.
13. Enemy easily moves in/out of neighboring countries? Check.
14. Soldiers about to be dosed with our own chemicals? Check.
15. Friendly fire problem ignored instead of solved? Check.
16. Anti-Americanism up sharply in Europe? Check.
17. B-52 bombers? Check.
18. Helicopters that clog up on the local dust? Check.
19. Infighting among the branches of the military? Check.
20. Locals that cheer us by day, hate us by night? Check.
21. Local experts ignored? Check.
22. Local politicians ignored? Check.
23. Local conflicts since before the USA has been a country? Check.
24. Against advice, Prez won't raise taxes to pay for war? Check.
25. Blue water navy ships operating in brown water? Check.
26. Use of nukes hinted at if things don't go our way? Check.
27. Unpopular war? Check.
Vietnam II, you are cleared to taxi."
Actually, I think it would work better with just the first ten, or the strongest ten. Once you start committing analogy, though, I guess it's hard to stop.
Joe

Joe Haldeman Diary, April-May 2003

2006-08-21T11:08:00.000-07:00

What has to be one of the funniest short pieces that I've seen in The Onion in a long time.

Laid-Off Zoologist Goes On Tranquilizing Rampage

SAN DIEGO-Twelve San Diego Zoo visitors and two employees were brutally sedated Monday, when laid-off zoologist Dr.

2006-05-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

OK folks. I just joined LinkedIn (check out the button on the sidebar). Joining gives you access to gobs of other people, and you can search by lots of different criteria (name, education, profession, location etc.)

Give it a try.

Dakota's anti-choice law

2006-03-07T17:41:00.000-08:00

So. South Dakota's govenor signed the new anti-abortion bill into law. I recommend the Lysistrata solution. If the men of South Dakota are worried that women will want to end unplanned pregnancies, then the women should remove the problem. No sex, no unplanned pregnancies. Case closed. See how long they last.

Life reassessment

2006-02-26T13:59:00.000-08:00

The main reason I haven't been fencing recently is that my wife and I have been re-examining out lives, in an effort to simplify. If you have been following this blog, you will have seen that my son is autistic. My wife and I recently attended a 4-day parent training for an autism therapy program called Relationship Development Intervention (RDI), developed by a man called Dr. Steve Gutstein.
RDI is the first therapy system that actually seems to treat autism. The most common therapy system for autism is called ABA, or Applied Behavioral Analysis. ABA tends to use behaviorist theories to get kids to behave well (no rocking or head banging, or whatever) by rewarding them for positive behaviors (sit in the chair for 5 minutes and I'll give you a cookie...) It turns out this does not teach the kids to think for themselves, so they still freak out if faced with a new situation. Dr. Gutstein actually thinks that ABA only teaches the kids to be more autistic.
RDI, on the other hand, attempts to recreate the parent-child, master-apprentice relationship, so that the kid can learn how to deal with new situations, by seeing their parents do it. You can read all about it (including a paper that should be published soon, that demonstrates autistic kids getting better - that is no longer testing as autistic) here.

Anyway, part of the process is to see what can go from your lives to make way for time with your child. We got rid of basically everything for a while (hence the no fencing) to see what we could really do without, and what we needed. Time for ourselves (as adults), especially exercise, was definitely a needful thing. I have also learned that there is an fencing group starting up at the gym for the university that the hospital I work at is a part of. They also meet at a time shortly after I get out of work. I'm really hoping this works out.

I passed!

2006-02-10T21:11:00.000-08:00

WooHoo! I passed my national certification exam! I was a little nervous there. I know I usually do well on multiple choice exams, but the questions were tricky, and the testing environment less than perfect. Anyway, I'm now Keith Anderson, APRN,BC, NP. That's: Advanced Practice Registered Nurse, Board Certified. What a mouthful. Thats nothing... If I include all the degrees as well, its: Keith Anderson, APRN,BC, NP, BA, BSN, MSN.

Ain't I a little full of myself this evening?

Bibilical interpretation?

2006-02-09T11:11:00.000-08:00

Earlier this week, I heard a story on NPR about a Baptist preacher from Kansas called Fred Phelps, (the link is to a Wikipedia article on the man) who preaches that homosexuality is an abomination, that everyone in the US is going to hell, and that sodomy should be a capital offence. Thats right, if two men or two women have sex, or even (in some states) if a married couple engage in oral sex, they are "guilty" of sodomy, and Fred wants them put to death. In the spirit of equality, I'll provide a link to his website, but be warned - Fred and friends refuse to use anything but the derogatory term "fag" to describe homosexuals, and the language on the website can get pretty extreme. If you want more information, check out his website here. There are links to plenty of anti-Fred websites at the bottom of the Wikipedia article.

My usual response to anyone that rabid is to quote the "open Letter to Dr. Laura:"

Dear Dr. Laura, Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's Law. I have learned a great deal from your show, and I try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind him that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some of the specific laws and how to best follow them.

a) When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?

b) I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?

c) I know that I am allowed no contact with a woman while she is in her period of menstrual uncleanliness (Lev 15:19-24). The problem is, how do I tell? I have tried asking, but most women take offense.

d) Lev. 25:44 states that I may indeed possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?

e) I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself?

f) A friend of mine feels that even though eating shellfish is an Abomination (Lev 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this?

g) Lev 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle room here?

h) Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev 19:27. How should they die?

i) I know from Lev 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?

j) My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them? (Lev 24:10-16) Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws? (Lev. 20:14)

I know you have studied these things extensively, so I am confident you can help. Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging. Your devoted disciple and adoring fan.

I've always wondered how people who are so rabid about the bible being the absolute word of God can on the one hand have no problem with the idea of stoning someone to death for sodomy, yet have no problem eating pork or shellfish, and would never consider selling their willful daughters into slavery...

All things in moderation...

Certification test done

2006-02-06T17:05:00.000-08:00

Well, that was brutal. The questions were about as hard as I expected, but glare from the fluorescent lights combined with the black text on a white screen for 2 1/2 hours gave me a pounder of a headache. That and the Fort Knox-like security (sign in, sign out, empty your pockets into this locker, give me 2 forms of ID....) makes a body feel a little paranoid.

Its over now. Just a 2 week or so wait for the results.

National Certification test today

2006-02-06T09:50:00.000-08:00

Well, if you've actually read this blog (don't worry, I probably wouldn't either...), you will know that I'm a nurse practitioner working in orthopedics. Today I have to take a test through the ANCC to be nationally certified. This is useful to me for several reasons:

It will allow me to apply for a Universal Provider Identification Number (UPIN) that will allow me to bill Medicare if I ever work in the outpatient setting.
If I ever move to another state, it may be required to work as a nurse practitioner.
My boss says I need to have it.

It is also a major pain. I haven't been in school for over 5 years, an this test is entirely on "what the book says to do" rather than on "what actually works in real life." I've been in practice long enough that the later is what I actually use. I've also worked in ortho for 5 years - I've had to really study to be able to remember what serology test turns positive first in hepatitis B infection (Hep B surface antigen), or that acute myelogenous leukemia (AML) is the most common leukemia in adults. I deal with bones and joints. Not primary care. Wish me luck.

Some Reasons Gay Marriage is Wrong :-)

2006-01-29T12:19:00.000-08:00

Just passing this on. I got it in my church's monthly newsletter. It makes so much sense, I had to share it...

Some things are so illogical that we must laugh at them or we will cry over them. The homophobia of some parts of America falls into this category. Here, for you to laugh (or cry) about are Some Reasons Gay Marriage is Wrong:

Being gay is not natural. And, as you know, Americans have always rejected unnatural things, such as eyeglasses, polyester, and air conditioning;
Gay marriage will encourage people to be gay, in the same way that hanging around tall people will make you tall;
Straight marriage has been around a long time and hasn’t changed at all. Hmmm, so women are still property, blacks still can’t marry whites, and divorce is still illegal?
Straight marriage will be less meaningful if gay marriage were allowed. The sanctity of Brittany Spears’ 55-hour just-for-fun marriage would be destroyed;
Straight marriages are valid because they produce children. Gay couples, infertile couples, and old people shouldn’t be allowed to marry.
Obviously gay parents will raise gay children, since straight parents raise only straight children.
Children can never succeed without a male and a female role model at home. That is why we, as a society, expressly forbid single parents to raise children.
Gay marriage will change the foundation of society; we could never adapt to new social norms. Just as we haven’t adapted to cars, the service-sector economy, or longer life spans.

I hate Redlands Unified School District!

2006-01-11T17:00:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally heard back from RUSD. They denied our request to have the School psychologist's report removed from my son's file, but we have the right to appeal. They did put our letters into the file, so anyone who looks can see why we think the psychologist is wrong (18 pages worth of why she's wrong...) At this point, I'm not sure where to go. We could hire a lawyer and go the "my lawyer can beat up you lawyer..." route, but that costs time and money. We could also just drop it, and work on maximizing the services we can get.

The Inland Regional Center (a California thing) has determined my son to be eligible for services through their system. This is interesting, because Regional centers are obliged to cover autism, but not asperger's syndrome. So they think he's autisic too...

I know that the school psychologist is not licensed as a clinical psychologist, educational psychologist, or marriage and family therapist in the state of California. To me that means she can't diagnose. Ah well, the battle continues.

Roast your own coffee for cheap!

2005-12-22T16:36:00.000-08:00

Wow! I just discovered that its really easy to roast your own coffee at home! There are several websites selling coffee roasters for about $100-$200 (www.morebeer.com is one of them). I thought about that, but then I did a little poking on the internet, and I found that you can do it with a hot-air popcorn popper! I found the right kind at my local Goodwill, and paid 4 whole bucks. I then bought a pound of green Ethiopian Yirgacheffe beans from MoreBeer (I was going there anyway for brewing supplies). Roasting took 15 minutes (including all the setup, the cleanup and stringing the extension cord outside and rolling it back up again when I was done). I had to do the roasting outside because the one downside to a popcorn popper is that it smokes like a chimney. Small price to pay - NOTHING compares to the coffee you roast yourself! For more information, also check out SweetMaria's.

my2way

2005-12-13T10:52:00.000-08:00

While I'm on the subject of music, what is up with The Cure? I'm pretty sure they're not together anymore, but how could they have had hits? Their music is great in the technical sense, but who else could write a tender love song ("I will always love you") that leaves wanting to slit your wrists?

Keith Anderson, NP

TSO

2005-12-12T17:22:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah. Check out Trans-Siberian.com Their show Rocks!

Keith Anderson, NP

whoa!

2005-12-12T10:59:00.000-08:00

Man. A 7 month hiatus. Got to stop doing that. Still brewing, not fencing so much. Just surviving right now. My son has been diagnosed as autistic by the folks at UCLA's autism center (and they should know...). We are currently beating our heads against the school district (their psychologist seems to think that her one Ph.D in school psych trumps the 3 Ph.Ds and a Masters of the UCLA team.) If we don't fight it, she gets to say that he is high functioning, and deny services. It may also screw us up when we go to the local regional center, because they too can pick and choose who to believe, and then they can deny services too. My wife (the pitbull) has determined that we have the right to have documents removed from our son's file if they are "inaccurate." Think just plain wrong is pretty inaccurate don't you? We've written to the school district twice now, with no answer. We may have to actually retain a lawyer, a thought that gives me the heebies.

Meanwhile, I brewed my first all-grain batch of beer in November, an oatmeal stout. For you brewers out there, its now in secondary with 3 vanilla beans. I plan to bottle around Christmas, to be ready by new years (the forced-carbonated stuff - the regular bottled stuff won't be ready until a few weeks after that.)

I think the next batch will be an all-grain version of the Scottish ale that was my first brew. My brew buddy and I both really liked that one.

Thats all for now, more later, hopefully less than 7 months next time.

HomeBrew!

2005-05-10T08:24:00.000-07:00

Wow! My buddy and I brewed out second batch of homebrew on Saturday. (An American Amber, using a kit from Beer, Beer, and More Beer, using Chico yeast scrounged from the local microbrew). Primary ferment was pretty sluggish, but I put a blow-off tube on just for principles sake. Good thing I did. The carboy has all its head-space full of krausen, and the tube is full of chunks. If I had just used an airlock, I would have been cleaning krausen off the kitchen ceiling, and trying to persuade my wife to let me brew again. The Beer Gods have smiled upon me once again.

Sorry for the Pause

2005-03-29T08:15:00.000-08:00

Man! What a month!
Sorry to have been away for so long, but I've been busy. My 3 year old son was diagnosed with Aspergers syndrome, (more about that later) and I took up homebrewing. My car was damaged in a hit and run (We're all fine, thanks for asking), and my family room carpet was waterlogged by a leak after the torrential rains we've been having here in SoCal. All this while trying to maintain my fencing and work full time. *sigh* I'm tired.
Now that things are calming down, I'll try to post more regularly.

More info on fencing

2005-01-25T12:39:00.000-08:00

I hope I have piqued your interest in fencing. For more information, I strongly recommend that you check out a few websites:
United States Fencing Association (USFA)

Fencing101

Lastly, for those of you in Southern California, here is the Salle (French for "room") at which I fence:

Salle MacBean

Electronic scoring

2005-01-21T11:20:00.000-08:00

All three weapons are now scored electronically at pretty much any event above the club level (and a fair number of club events are as well). That is not to say there is no room for interpretation. Remember that two of the three weapons have right-of-way, so even when one person's scoring light comes on (indicating a touch to valid target), that person still may not be awarded a touch, if they did not have right of way.

Scoring for foil is done with the use of a lame (there should be an accent over the 'e' and it is pronounced lamay), which is a vest made of a metal mesh that is worn over the regular uniform, just covering the torso. The fencer also feeds a cord with two wires up his or her sleeve that plug into a socket inside the bell guard of the foil. Those 2 wires, plus a third clipped to the lame, connect to a socket on the end of a cable wound on a spring loaded reel at the end of the strip. As the fencer moves down the strip, cable feeds out, and it rewinds as the fencer retreats. The reels are connected to a scoring box. So, when fencer A touches fencer B, a button on the tip of his foil is pressed, opening a circuit. If the button is depressed against B's lame, a new circuit closes, and the box registers a valid touch. If the button presses against another part (not lame), the box registers a "white light" or off-target touch. The fencer's bell guards and (at higher levels) the floor of the fencing strip are grounded, so a touch to either place registers nothing. The director has to keep an eye on both fencers and the box, in order to determine who touched who, and who had right of way.

Epee is a little simpler - no lames, as the whole body is target. This time depressing the button on the tip of the epee closes a circuit that is open normally. No white lights, as nothing is off-target. I believe that epee was the first weapon to be scored electronically, possibly even back in the late 1800's.

Saberist have to wear lames (they cover the torso and arms, and there is a glove piece that covers the forearm of the weapon hand that is called a manchette). As the mask is also target, they have a little wire that attaches the back of the mask to the lame making it part of the same circuit. The system has to be a little different from here on. Saber stikes with the edge of the blade as well as the tip, so a simple button won't work. Originally, there was a device built into the guard of electric sabers called a capteur, that had a spring loaded ball bearing in it. It was designed to only complete the circuit if the touch was strong enough to move the ball bearing, and was in the correct orientation (in other words you had to hit hard enough and with the edge or tip, but not the flat, of the blade.) This was great in theory, but in reality, the capteurs would jam up, or be too sensitive, or one of a thousand other problems. Because of that, the fencing organization did away with capteurs, leaving just the blade. What this means is that the sabereur now holds what amounts to an electrified stick that he had to touch his opponent with above the waist. Touches made with the flat of the blade count just as well as tip or edge touches. Not being a sabereur, I can't comment on what this has done to the sport.

In his book "Magnum Libre D'Escrime" ("The Big Book of Fencing"), Dr. Rudy Volkman makes a comment that "Someday some one will hold a meet at which there are absolutely no problems with any of the electrical equipment. I suspect that the news of this event will be buried back on page eleven of the newspapers, however, with the first ten pages taken by the news that Hell has frozen over."

Electrical scoring is both a boon and the bane of many a fencer's existance. It has helped end squabbles along the lines of "You didn't touch me! Yes I did!" However, the failure rate is such that fencers can be penalized for showing up at the strip without at least 2 complete
sets of weapons and body cords in working order.

That being said, there is nothing sweeter than stepping in and attacking an opponent who way outclasses you, hearing the telltale "BZZZZT!" and looking over to see your light is the only one lit.
-Keith

Fencing Primer #3

2005-01-18T19:56:00.000-08:00

Saber
The third and final weapon of the three is saber. Saber is the lightest and fastest of the three weapons. It is a right of way weapon and the target area is the entire body from the waist up, including the mask. It's blade has a triangular cross-section, and the guard extends from the bell around to the pommel, thus protecting the knuckles. Unlike foil and epee, saber may attack with the edge of the blade as well as the point. Cuts are also allowed with the back of the blade, but only the third or so closest to the point. Saber is derived from the Hungarian cavalry saber (hence the target area - thats the only area of a mounted cavalryman you can hit without hitting his horse, which was considered bad form...), and the Hungarians did dominate the sport for many years. Saber is the only weapon of the three that the US has medaled in at the Olympics in many years (Peter Westbrook took bronze in '84, and then Mariel Zagunis took gold and Sada Jacobsen took bronze in '04, the first time women's saber was offered as an olympic sport). Saber was also one of the last weapons to be scored electronically. That will be my next topic - electronic scoring.

Google AdSense

2005-01-15T21:26:00.000-08:00

Google pulled the plug on my AdSense account. They said that I clicked on ads from within my blog, which is a no-no. I may have - I can't remember. I'm still trying to figure out how everything works. Anyway, no more adbar. I don't think I'd made more than a few bucks anyway, and its not like it cost me anything. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. Maybe I'll see if anyone else is offering a similar service.

I think I'll try a new blog template as well, just for ha-has

my2way

2005-01-13T11:34:00.000-08:00

BWAHAHAHA! Bow down ye puny mortals! I now possess a Gmail account! A full gigabyte of storage. Nothing can stop me!

Keith Anderson, NP

Fencing Primer #2

2005-01-11T14:11:00.000-08:00

Epee: The Weapon of the Gods!
OK, so maybe I'm a little biased. Epee is generally the second weapon a fencer learns, but the rule is no longer hard and fast. Some people go straight to epee or even saber, but the generally recognised course is foil -> epee -> saber. Epee is the heaviest of the three weapons, with a blade that is triangular in cross-section and a larger, deeper bell guard that covers the whole hand. It is, like foil, a thrusting only weapon, with points only being scored with the tip. However, the whole body is target area, from the top of the mask, to the soles of the feet (yes, it's been done, I've seen video - the guy on the right kicked up his front foot to lunge, and the guy on the left dropped his tip and nailed him on the sole of the foot). There is also no right of way in epee! If both people land touches within 1/25th of a second of each other, they both get a point (1/25th of a second after one person touches, the scoring box locks out any further touches). In epee, you parry less and counter-attack more, bearing in mind that if you are down a few points, scoring double touches will win the bout for your opponent.

Epee is supposed to be a tru(er) representation of rapier dueling - I want that guy dead, and I'm willing to die (or at least take a hit) to see that happen. Foil, on the other hand, represents dueling with small swords in a more enlightened time when a mere nick (first blood) was enough to satisfy honor. This explains the right of way - I'm not going to risk taking a wound when all I have to do is nick the guy - I'm going to block before I attack. What is weird about this is that in epee, the most common target is the weapon hand and arm, which is much less likely to yield a lethal wound, while foil only attacks the torso, where all the vital organs are. Go figure.
Next time:
Saber

Fencing Primer #1

2005-01-10T14:25:00.000-08:00

Foil: Foil is generally the first weapon a beginning fencer learns. It has a rectangular cross-section, and a round guard. Points may be scored by thrusting with the tip only (in competition there is a button on the tip that completes a circuit). The valid target area is the torso only (front and back) from the shoulder seams in, and down to the groin. Foil is also a right-of-way (ROW) weapon. This means that if one fencer has initiated his attack by extending his or her arm AND threatening valid target, the other fencer may not counter-attack until somehow dealing with the incoming attack. This can be by parrying (blocking) or simply moving out of the way. Note that the arm must be extendED, not extendING to constitute an attack. If one fencer sees the other starting to move and gets his or her arm straight first, then he or she gets ROW.
It seems complicated, but really it isn't. The hard part is learning to spot who had their arm out first. Oh, and footwork. That's hard too. Oh yeah, point control can be a bitch too... OK, maybe it is a little complicated, but then so are the rules to football. Its still fun.
Next primer:
Epee: The Weapon of the Gods!

Fencing Friday

2005-01-08T19:33:00.000-08:00

I went to open floor fencing last night. What a Blast - I'm still sore! Managed to fence 4 or 5 bouts to 5 points in an hour. Got my ass kicked most of the time (no surprise there), But I did manage a few sweet single light points (I was fencing epee). I've noticed that if I fence foil for a week or two and then pick up an epee, I can't hit anything for the first three bouts or so. Then I nailed somebody in the mask and pulled a sweet disengage to touch on the bicep of someone else. Still lost both bouts, but I made them work for it. I have about 4 decent bruises to show where I walked right into attacks though.

I guess I'm going to have to include a primer on fencing in the next few posts, and I'll include a few links for anyone that is interested. I have too much other stuff to do right now (yes, even on a Saturday night.) Sigh.
-Keith

Blog reformating

2005-01-07T14:25:00.000-08:00

Well, I have the ad bar and the search bar at the top now. Please use them to search or to click through to a sponsor. I need the cash. If you are interested in total joint replacement, I suggest you search for : total knee (or hip, or shoulder, whatever) arthroplasty, or look for the major manufacturers - DePuy, Stryker-Homedica-Osteonics, Zimmer, Encore, etc. Most of them have very educational websites. You can also look at the American Association of Hip and Knee Surgeons' website. They will help you pick a surgeon.
-Keith

interesting ads

2005-01-06T16:26:00.000-08:00

Interesting. Google looked at the blog and came up with nursing and NP educational stuff (Cool!) and lawyers trying to file lawsuits about a certain drug beginning with V and ending with X. Lets try something else. Has anyone seen the movie "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind?" I loved it. What about "Hero?" The cinematography was stunning. "The Matrix Reloaded" was kind of Blah. I rented from blockbuster, but I'm thinking about trying netflix. Any comments?
-Keith

Email posting

2005-01-06T14:07:00.000-08:00

I just received a comment about posting by email. If you are blogging on blogspot.com (I think it is now blogger.com), there is a section under setting where you get to set up a secret email address based on your signon that lets you post by email. Since you can send emails from practically anywhere these days (cellphones, pagers, RIM Blackberries, a laptop in Starbucks) you could (if you wanted to be obsessive-compulsive about it) post every few minutes throughout the day and night.

2005-01-05T21:33:00.000-08:00

Signed up with Google's AdSense program. Take a look down at the bottom of the page. There is a banner ad there. Click on something, I get paid. Not a lot, but every bit helps. Supposedly Google is going to make the ads relevant to what I talk about, so lets check it out. I should be able to talk about Bextra, Celebex, Vioxx and Mobic (all excellent choices for osteoarthritis, unless you have other health problems), and I should start seeing ads for Pharmacia and Pfizer, or online drug stores, or the national arthritis foundation. We'll see what they come up with next time the site is crawled.

There is also a Google search box down there too, so If you want to do further research on something I'm talking about, please look it up.

my2way

2005-01-05T13:13:00.000-08:00

California's new controlled substance prescibing law is KILLING ME! What was supposed to make life easier (NP's can write for Schedule II drugs, no more triplicates), is, in fact, making my life miserable. Turns out that ALL controlled substances have to go on a new "secure" prescription, and no one wants to buy them for me (but I can't buy my own...) Fun, Fun, Fun.

Keith Anderson, NP

A word on Recalls

2005-01-04T10:26:00.000-08:00

I wanted to comment on medical device and drug recalls. I work in orthopedics, specializing in total joint replacements (mostly total hips and total knees). When Sulzer had to recall a batch of total hips, it rocked the orthopedic world. Lawsuits flourished, and I believe that Sulzer ultimately had to spin their implant wing into a separate company to stop the payouts taking down the whole company (this is heresay, and I don't know if it is actually true - do your own research).
Then came Vioxx. While there are at least 2 other COX-2 inhibitors on the market (Celebrex and Bextra, and if you believe the drug reps, Mobic as well), it forced us to change our practice. The increased heart attack risk from Vioxx has tainted the other COX-2s, and people are getting paranoid. The thing to remember is that all drugs have side-effects (anyone who says otherwise is lying, clueless, or selling something). Many of those drug side-effects are at least potentially lethal. The question to ask yourself is: "Do the benefits outweigh the risks?" Stay informed, research your medications (google is my search engine of choice), and talk to your healthcare provider. Remember that if you think your medication is causing a side-effect, tell your healthcare provider or pharmacist to report it. The FDA keeps track of these things through what they call ADRs or "Adverse Drug Reaction" reports. It is through this process that the FDA gathers information. From this data they can add or change warnings, notify healthcare providers about new findings, or order recalls.

my2way

2005-01-04T08:26:00.000-08:00

Hi all. Just testing to see if I can post by email. Things could get interesting if this works. The joy of wireless conectivity means I could post from practically anywhere. The possibilities are mind-boggling.

Keith Anderson, NP

Hello all!

2005-01-03T20:27:00.001-08:00

Hi folks. This is my first attempt at a blog, so we'll see how things go.
A little about myself -
I'm married (12 years!), just turned 37 in December, and I have one son, aged 3. I work as a nurse practitioner in southern California (in orthopedics), and I fence (no, not chainlink, the kind that involves a foil, epee, or saber, lightning speed and cat-like reflexes... more on that later)
Anyway. I will sign off this first entry, and be back soon. Maybe tomorrow.