The Last Time Bean Had Surgery

Here's hoping everything goes at least as well as it did last time, February 4th, 2004, when she had her adenoids out. She still remembers the experience in detail. I think that will be of help to her tomorrow. Then again, it might make her more apprehensive. We'll see.

Bean Is Back

She's sore and out of it. But she's home safe. The post-op experience was actually a lot mellower than last time, though the recovery will take a lot longer than with the surgery for adenoids.

The Mayor Who Prefers "Will" To "May"

Here's an interesting profile of New Orleans mayor Ray Nagin. I have been struck by his refusal to make things sound better than they are. Maybe the Bush Administration can hire him as a consultant: the President and his minions could certainly stand to be a little less sanguine in their assessment of the situation in Iraq, don't you think?

Collateral Metamorphosis

Skylar is just now coming out of her extremely unhappy post-operative mood into something more like her normal self. She is frayed around the edges, but is at least engaging with her new Lego set. The strange part for us is that she sounds like a completely different person! I guess those tonsils of hers were more of a problem than we thought, even before they swelled up this summer. Despite hours of crying, her voice is clearer than it has ever been. And it sounds like it has been transposed a half octave up too. It's tripping me out to think that our time with her this morning before surgery was the last time we'll ever hear the voice we knew.

Looking Up!

The situation in New Orleans is improving. I read it with my own two eyes. Luckily, I also have eyes in the back of my head to read stories like this one that remind me that the word "improving" is always relative.

(Outdated) Technology Question

Do any of you know what the easiest way for me to get files off of 5.25" diskettes onto a contemporary, USB-equipped Mac or Windows platform? I have a functional drive in my old 386. But the hard drive and the 3.5" floppy on the same machine have apparently given up the ghost. The computer lacks an ethernet port. It does have a 14400-baud modem, however. I could upload the files somewhere via dial-up, possibly, but I have no idea where I could do that using shell. The U of A no longer supports dial-up of any sort.

Pop Quiz

Which of the following figures came by the sweetness that fills her dishonestly? Which one just happened to stumble upon it while out for an edifying stroll through the countryside?

Let's get "Rastus." He'll have an answer for us.

Sometimes I'm just proud to be an American. And sometimes I'm not.