Hallowhat? Hallo Fatso!

I know, it is getting old, but the things we do in the name of a "holiday" still amaze me. When will we get off of this "candy collecting by kids" kick to celebrate a holiday? In a culture already fraught with obesity and diabetes issues, how can parents continue to allow kids to collect and eat tons of candy. The entire holiday season itself if full of activities that promote overeating, drinking and deserts. When will this nation realize that inactivity, overeating, high fat and sugar diets are literally killing us? The CDC has published reports that the major causes of heart diseases in the US is LIFESTYLE! Hello, quit making a holiday out of collecting candy and stop using the holiday season as an excuse to overeat. Oh yeah, I forgot, everyone that is overweight makes a New Years resolution to get into shape. Right, that lasts about a month, then the getting in shape is put on the back burner until summer, then it is too hot or vacation gets in the way and before you know it, hey, it is "HOLIDAY SEASON" again!

Whew, glad to get that off my chest.

Good Day

20 days?

Really? 19 days have past since my last blog? Whatzzzz up with dat? I guess my schedule is a bit more hectic this fall, what with 3 AP, 1 patho course and a one class overload for doing a research project with our Quality Enhancement Program team. But, as an experienced expert, I manage to get everything done, done right and make it look easy. I am hoping to add to my responsibilities by beginning a recycling program on campus. We throw away lots of cans and bottles without any regard to the environmental impact.

First round of exams begin on Friday. I already gave my first API exam at STCC and it was pretty good, class had an 81 average! Of course, that is the "baby" API using the Hole text and I gave them a fairly concise study guide taken from exam itself. My API here at BCHS is Sat and I have my APII and Patho exam 1 this Friday.

Fall is here now, but I expect some warm weather will be back with us before fall/winter sets in for good. I would get into politics, but thinking/writing about that fool Bush may get my BP up! Suffice to say, he finds a way to make himself look even more stupid every time he opens his mouth lately. I pray and feel confident that our nation will rise from the depths that the Bush administration has pushed our country to with it's overwhelming, inexplicable ignorance of the law, common sense and common decency and when that day arrives, I will try to remember what it used to feel like to be "proud to be an American" again.

Good day

Fall's a comin!

Hey yall, watch this! Those are the last words you hear from redneck! I have heard that so many times over the years and growing up/living in redneck central (south), I really understand it.. do yall? Anyway, don't know exactly where that train of though came from, but, I do know that fall is just around the corner and I really love that change of season... there is a smell in the air on some morning when I go out to get the paper off the driveway and I know fall has arrived! Of course, the downside to the arrival of fall is the impending doom of the "HOLIDAY SEASON" and the tortorous creep of the season sooner and sooner each year. Halloween stuff was out at Kroger by the last half of August and I know I will see xmas stuff even before Halloween is over this year! I do understand that folks are excited for the coming festivities and that retailers what to start getting your money ASAP, but for goodness sake, why can't we at least let one holiday come and go before we begin pushing another? Let Halloween happen (my least favorite holiday), then Thanksgiving (my favorite), THEN let's celebrate the Christmas season! Ok, I promise that I am not going to rant and rave any more about the dreaded "holiday season creep", but mark my words, some day, Christmas stuff will start showing up in stores in August and Halloween stuff in June!

The fall trimester is underway at Baptist and I am doing my first Sat. API class today. We start with lecture at 8am, then a lab at noon, followed by a lab at 2pm. I am hoping I can get all the 2pm folks to come at noon, but there are 7 registered for 2 and that might overcrowd the noon lab too much. Anyway, I have accepted the fact that my next 13 Saturdays will be spend at work, but at least I get Thursdays off again to stay at home and lounge. I still keep up with all the football scores and it seems like there are a lot more night games now, so I will be able to see a game or so. Like tonite, Georgia vs South Carolina in on ESPN, Ohio State vs Texas is one ABC and the NASCAR race is on too! Nice line up for a sports fan eh? And, since I have worked hard all day, I can justify sitting my butt on the couch in front of the boob tube with a tall frosty brew and not feel too guilty!

Gots to go now and get lab ready.

Good day

H5N1

Classes started back for my nite class this past Monday. It is MW 6-8:45 class (API) and is easy to do, just that I have to stick around in Mid-town Memphis a lot longer than usual. Neat thing about the STCC campus I teach at, when I leave to get in my truck after class, I can look straight down Beale St. and see all the lights, etc. For those not in the know RE: Memphis, Beale is the party and action street of down town, pretty much open 24/7. They shut down a good part of it to traffic and tourists walk (stagger) up/down. There is a lot of music, shops, eateries, pubs etc and it is a pretty cool place. On the other side of the campus is Sun Studio, the place were Elvis and Jerry Lee Lewis cut there first records and got their start to fame and fortune. They still give tours, but I haven't been through yet. Classes start here on Sept. 6.

I just gave my first presentation to the college here at Baptist. It was an overview of the bird flu situation (strain H5N1) and it was recieved favorably. I even had a couple of requests to give it again for other audiences! This is the first presentation I have given to faculty in many years. I used to be quite active and do this a lot, but since 2001 or so, I have gotten away from it. Now, with my "rebirth in Memphis", I plan on doing much more. After a year on board, I know the folks and system a lot better and even though I was very comfortable here from the start, it feels a lot better now. I think that when I first got here, I was just so glad to have a full time professorship in the US that it really didn't matter where I was, but Baptist College of Health Sciences has proven to be a great career move!

Gots to go and relax some now..

Good day

Can't get more stupid?

Just when I thought Bush had hit bottom, ie, done the most stupid thing a President can do (wanted to sell control of some ports to Arabs), he goes and surprises me again. Get this, with New Orleans still needing money for rebuilding a year later, Bush is sending millions of $$$ to help rebuild LEBANON! How utterly and dismally ignorant is that???? Why the hell are we worried about rebuilding Lebanon when we haven't bothered to rebuild in our own nation yet? We didn't even attack Lebanon! If this man doesn't get out of office soon, the country may never recover from his presidency!

Why, if we are buds with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia and have invaded Iraq, is gas still so high? It should be .99 a gallon or lower! If Saddam was so wealthy, why isn't his money being used to rebuild and stabilized Iraq instead of MINE!

At least Tiger is back on top of the golfing world and our World Basketball team is playing well. Tiger has won 3 tournys in a row, 2 of them majors, and is 2 under par during round one of the WGC tourny in Akron (which he has one 4 times!) I hope he can pull this one off too! We have to get the Ryder Cup back from those Euros! It is over there this year, so that is a tough hill to climb, but if Tiger and Phil play up to their potential, we have a change.

Classes begin Aug 28 at Southwest and Sept 6 at Baptist, so I have a few more days of peace remaining, although we start our run of pre-term meetings on Monday. Next Thursday, I am giving a presentation on the Bird Flu to the college faculty, so it will be good to get that over with!

Oops, almost 3 o'clock! Gots to get out of here. Don't want to be working too late, right?

Later gator

Holiday?

I am not sure if it counts for vacation or not, but we made it for a 4 day weekend to Columbia SC and back! Got to play 18 holes of golf with my son, who, by the way, now is driving! In SC, a 15 yr old can get a permit to drive and at 15 yrs, 6 months, get a restrictive license (day only driving). I am glad for him, as I know how responsible a young man he is, but I don't think in this day and age, a 15 or 16 yr old should be allowed to drive! Too many fools on the roads already! Anyway, I had 4 pars and 2 birds, so I played really well. My son, who is now 2 inches taller than me and is a starting linebacker for the varsity as a sophomore, can out drive me by a bit, but I still beat him by six strokes. Now I am going to have to be sure to beat him. As he was growing up, I always managed to keep it close and let him win much of the time, but the kid can just kill me in video games, so I have to still win in the real world, right?

Good trip. Spent most of Saturday with my daughter, as her mom was at the beauty salon most of the day, then they rented a car and went to Charlotte to see her family while I spent the day golfing.

Classes start back at Southwest on Aug 28 and at BCHS on Sept, 6, so I have a few downs days to relax, sip some rum and brews before the madness of the fall term kicks in.

Good day,

OVER n DONE!

News flash! Having a 7:30 am class MTWRF is not as much fun as it used to be! But it is over and DONE! I submitted my final grades this morning, picked up my check and don't have to worry about an early morning class until at least the sprng term. Uncle Sam took it usual big bite out of it, but I have been waiting for this check for a while. Now we can travel a bit and not have to worry so much about the cost of gas. Plus, I get my second BCHS summer pay check next Friday and will be get overload pay for the fall term. Looking like a great Christmas shaping up for my kids! I guess I would worry about money even if I had more than I needed. I have always heard that money can't buy happiness and I certainly believe that, but it can buy COMFORT! I have always thought that if I were going to be unhappy, I would just as soon be unhappy and RICH than unhappy and poor.

Got to go now to interview a student that is trying to get reinstated to BCHS. Dismissed a while back because they failed Patho twice. Maybe the third time will be the charm.
Ta Ta

Good day