they want us to what!?!

I attended a flu forum late last week as part of my job. The presenter offered all of the latest CDC recommendations for flu (seasonal and H1N1) for this fall. And much to my dismay, they are encouraging parents to get all children aged 6 mos. to 4 years old both the season flu shot and the soon-to-be released H1N1 vaccination. In fact, children in this age group are on the priority vaccination list. Call me paranoid, but I'm not enthusiastic about subjecting both my kids to a drug that has been hastily formulated and produced in mass quantities. It just seems way too risky.

Am I being ridiculously over-protective?

Also, for children, the H1N1 vaccination requires two shots. This is in addition to the two flu shots they're recommending for children being vaccinated for seasonal flu for the very first time. That means a total of four flu shots per kid. That's torture.

I think we'll take every precaution to prevent exposing our kids to the flu rather than injecting them with a strange drug.

it's an honor to just be nominated...

Yeah right! I just found out that this little blog is in the running for the Parent's Picks 2009 best local blog in Las Vegas at Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect. I totally want to win this thing. I hardly ever win anything. 

Of course, I need your help to do it!

Please visit the link and vote. You can vote every day if you want. Voting runs until July 15 and the winners will be announced on August 15.

Featuring the tagline "We're not perfect, we're parents," Nickelodeon's ParentsConnect celebrates the reality of parenthood and make parents' lives easier. Geared towards parents with kids of all ages, from newborns to teens, the site offers unique features like local events and resources; personalized profiles that help parents connect with each other; daily tips for all ages and stages; expert parenting advice; a weekly meal-planner for quick and healthy meals; and guest celebrity editorials. Each age-related section on the site provides users with daily content to help them through both large and small parenting challenges.

Now go VOTE!!!!

excuse me mr., it's earth day

Also, check out my Earth Day post at Uptake.com. It captures a special moment in Z-Dub's life.

R.I.P. Brian O'Neill

After a long, courageous and emotional battle with brain cancer, Brian O'Neill passed away early this morning. Our thoughts and prayers go out to his loving wife Angie and their two beautiful boys, Gavin and Grant. We've been following Angie's blog, Keep Believing, for quite some time as she chronicled Brian and her family's heart wrenching journey. With all of the ups and downs with Brian's health and mental state, both Angie and Brian displayed remarkable fortitude.

We wish the family the best as they cope with their loss and begin a new chapter in their lives. If you have a few bucks to spare, donations are being accepted to help the family out during these undoubtedly tough times.

In the words of Angie, KEEP BELIEVING!

a broken heart

My sister's two-year-old son, our nephew, CK has a very rare heart condition called Shone's Complex, which is essentially a mess of congenital heart defects (mitral stenosis, coarctation of the aorta, bilateral superior vena cava, and bicuspid aortic valve). It was diagnosed when he was just 12 months old. It's a very serious condition.

Why am I telling you this?

His condition is worsening, so today at 11 a.m. EST CK is having heart surgery at Duke University. He will undergo an end to end aortic coarctation repair. But that's not the end of it for now. In four to six weeks he will receive a mitral valve catheter balloon valvuloplasty. Both surgical procedures are Greek to me, and probably to you, but we all will agree that anytime you subject a child (or anyone) to heart surgery, it's scary. Unfortunately, these two procedures won't be the end of his surgeries. There may be many more to come in the near and distant future.

I know most of you don't know him, but if you can please send us your prayers, thoughts, good vibes, etc.

Now, switching gears a bit.

The financial burden of CK's condition for my sister and her husband is enormous. The cost of the surgeries is absolutely astonishing, but also add in the lost wages from missing work and travel cost to and from Duke University. The hospital is a three hour drive each way from their home. Both my sister and her husband lack the benefits at their employers to get paid time off.

So to offset some of these costs, my twin brother is offering his tech expertise for free, but asking for a donation in exchange. It can be as low as $1 or as high as you can afford. He's got 15 years of IT experience and is a wealth of knowledge. Some examples of what he can help you with include:

• Solutions for various Virus/Malware related problems
  
• Various PC software recommendations
  
• Application help
  
• Mac OS X
  
• General computer questions
  
• Home/business networking (wireless)
  
• PC or Network security tips or tricks

I normally wouldn't post a plea like this, but it's for CK, my sister, her husband and CK's big brother as well as the rest of our family. Visit TechGuardians.com to take advantage of the tech advice and please, if you can, donate just a little bit to help out my sister. Even if you don't need advice, a small donation is appreciated.

Thank You!

-------------------------------------------------------

Update at 10:19 a.m. - I just got word from my sister that CK's surgery has been postponed until next week. This was the result of both a newborn and a child brought in by life flight admitted into the Cardiac ICU at Duke this morning. There was no longer a pediatric ICU bed to accommodate CK after surgery. The  hospital had no choice but the postpone.

This is actually a great example of the financial stress my sister and her family are experiencing. After traveling three hours to Duke a couple of days ago and spending money on gasoline and hotel as well as missing work, the surgery has been delayed. This will result in further expense next week when they have to repeat everything.

Thanks to all of you who have contributed already. Our family appreciates your generosity.

Read more updates on CK's condition HERE.

end of days

I was flipping through the channels on cable last night and came across a program on The History Channel that captured my attention. Actually it freaked me out a little. It had to do with the significance of December 21, 2012.

Based on research of multiple prophecies, including the Sibylline Oracles, I Ching, Merlin, the Mayans and the Hopi Indians, a number of overly analytical professor type people with bad hair have predicted a cataclysmic event on that date. They basically conclude that I we can kiss our asses goodbye in just four years and a few weeks.

Since most prophecies of the past have not come true (i.e. Nostradamus), I'm not too incredibly concerned. I'm definitely not ready to dig up my yard and build a fallout shelter. And, darn, I may have to pay my bills.

But the fact that all these nerds were able to come to the same date by looking at all of these different prophecies from around the world was a little disconcerting. That program really had me at the edge of my seat.

So now what do I do with this newly gained knowledge of a possible end to all things human?

I think the answer is clear...Partay!!!!

You're all invited to my End of Days Extravaganza on December 20, 2012. It will definitely be in Las Vegas. Who wouldn't want to spend their last full day on Earth in the city famous for sin? I wonder if I can get some cool bands to play? I'll make some calls. Oh, and feel free to bring the kids. It's their last day so they might as well go wild with the grown ups.

If the world doesn't actually come to an end the following day, just remember that "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas."

a parent's worse nightmare

I get tense when I think about what has potentially happened to this little boy. It's a parent's worse nightmare.

The Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department has issued an Amber Alert in a desperate search for a six-year-old boy who was kidnapped by two robbers that tied up his mother and her boyfriend during an home invasion robbery at their house yesterday.

If you're local or in a neighboring state and see him, please call the authorities.

Photo from lasvegasnow.com

You can read more here.

--------------------------------------

Update on 10/17/08 - Apparently this kid's family is all caught up in drugs and the Mexican Drug Cartel. The kid's grandfather allegedly owes the cartel millions of dollars and has been on the lam for quite some time. This horrific kidnapping case has turned out to be no random act. That poor kid is being used as a pawn. It's sad that parents/family put the child in harms way by getting involved in such activities. Unfortunately, it's not very good news because of the history of the Mexican Drug Cartel. Most that cross them end up dead. Let's up this kid is still alive.

More information is here.

later perv

There's good news in the 'hood. The registered sex offender who lives just doors down from us is apparently moving. The house is suddenly on the market. Moms and Dads on our street will soon be able to rest easy at night.

superstar

Look out Hollyweird, here I come!

Today I'm taping a public service announcement. Not for Gonorrhea or anything like that. Actually it's for a fundraising golf tournament. We're taping it on the actual golf course. Me co-starring in the 30-second commercial is actually kind of funny because I don't golf. I've taken lessons, but I've never actually played a round of golf on a course. I'll definitely be using my acting skills for this one.

If you're in Las Vegas starting next week you may randomly see my ugly mug on a COX Cable station.

opening pandora's box of musical goodness

You like music? Yeah, so do I. If you're like me you like to listen to music while you work. For me it creates a stimulating ambience that makes me more productive. Up until recently I would often bring my iPod to work and plug it into the computer or I'd log onto my XM Satellite Radio account and listen to one of the stations there.

While I like all the songs on my iPod, I get bored listening to them repeatedly. I'm always wanting something fresh and new, but can't always go onto iTunes and spend my hard earned money buying music. I got to put a roof over our heads and food on the table. And, frankly, the XM stations suck. While they introduce new music, their rotations are tight and you end up listening to a handfull of songs over and over and over again. It gets old quick.

My music boredom was solved when my graphic designer introduced me to Pandora.com -- radio from the Music Genome Project. It's bad ass.

Basically, a bunch of musicians and music analysts got together over a couple of years and started really listening to music, one song at a time, studying and collecting about 400 musical details from every song, including melody, harmony, instrumentation, rhythm, vocals, lyrics, etc. So after registering at the site, you can create personal radio stations based upon your favorite artists. You drop in a name and it scans its entire world of analyzed music -- new and old to popular and obscure -- to find songs with musical simularities to your choice and the result is the creation of a new station. You can grade the music to further personalize the music played on the station. You can make multiple stations based upon genre. For example, I have a jazz station, but I also have a rap station. I like a variety of music and whatever I'm in the mood for, it's there for me.

It's so cool.

reflection

Yesterday was a special day. Despite people's views of what happened, who's responsible and how our country has responded, today is a day to reflect and to memorialize all those innocent people who lost their lives during the attacks of 9/11/2001.

take what you want from it...

The winds of change are upon us. Although we Americans are in denial, we must be prepared to relinquish our position as the world's superpower. At least that's what the keynote speaker said at a conference I recently attended in Chicago.

I won't bore you with all of the details of his fast-paced, straight-forward and informative presentation, because frankly, it was too much information to share. I will tell you though that he scared the shit out of everyone in the room when he talked about our prospects of regaining American's prosperity in the next five to 20 years. Let's just say the world is changing at an extraordinary fast pace and because of mistakes made by our leaders, we're now lagging behind with very little chance in catching up with the rest of the developed and developing world. But at least the presenter was kind enough to offer some advice that will allow us to take action on an individual level to ensure our children will prosper, whether in America or some other country on the globe. I definitely took notes, and here are some highlights I'd like to share with you:

1. We MUST ensure our children are taught in home and throughout their education the importance of personal financial responsibility and security. A good FICO score is becoming increasingly important as employers are now starting to include it in their judging criteria in the hiring process. A low score may prevent them from landing a good, well-paying job.
2. In addition to English, our children MUST be fluent in one of the following languages: Mandarin, Arabic, Hindi and Japanese. Currently, 70 percent of the world's purchasing power is in countries where English is not the primary language and this rate is growing. Did you know that Dubai is poised to become the financial capital world in the next few years? The new mantra in New York and London is "Dubai, Mumbai, Shanghai or goodbye." In our local newspaper today there was an article about how Nevada lost 10,700 jobs to China between 2001 and 2007. America as a whole lost 2.3 million.
3. We should encourage our children to seek career opportunities in industries that are recession-proof, such as healthcare, security, education and energy. On the flipside, the industries most vulnerable to economic instability are manufacturing, finance, retail, technology, airline and luxury goods (we're seeing this now).
4. Our children MUST be taught the Metric System. It is now the global measurement standard with the U.S. as the only major hold out in making the switch. This is ridiculous!

Here's some other interesting things I learned from the presentation as it relates to the Internets and us bloggers (some of this you may already know):

• Every day 100,000 new blogs are created and 1.3 million posts are made.
• Postings intensify around significant events such as the conflict between Israel and Hezbollah. This indicates that blogging plays a critical role in debates about the important issues of our time. The impact bloggers have on our cultures and democracies is increasingly dramatic.
• The audience for podcasts in the U.S. will increase to 25 million by the end of this year, and 50 million by 2010.
• By 2010, 70 percent of internet content will be created by individuals as opposed to publishers and brands.
• The Internet is doubling in size every 120 days; more than 80 percent of sites that will exist a year from now, don’t exist today.
  

And finally, as it relates to how much information we must absorb, here's some interesting facts:

• It took approximately 50,000 years for humanity to acquire one unit of knowledge. It took 1,500 years to double that first knowledge base. By the early 1970s mankind was doubling knowledge every 6 years. Human knowledge is expected to be doubling every year by the year 2012.
• In 2006 technical information doubled every two weeks. By 2010 technical information is expected to double every 72 hours.
• By 2015, the power of an off-the-shelf computer will exceed the intelligence of a human being.
• In the year 2025, in a single week we will face the equivalent of all the milestones of the 20th century – world wars, creation of the automobile, sequencing of DNA, rise of the Internet, etc.

The presenter sited many experts when he presented these facts. Some of them seem a little far-fetched, while others seem very likely. Regardless of whether these come true or not, we're going to prepare Z-Dub so he doesn't get left behind in the Brave New World. His ass is going to college for sure!!! Also, I wonder how much an apartment in Dubai cost?

adding it to the list

All this time I've been worried about getting cancer in my naughty bits by carrying my cell phone in my pocket, but according to this news report I need to also be concerned about my brain. It's just one more of thousands of things to worry about I suppose.

Now everytime I get a headache I'm going to wonder. And perhaps cell phone use explains my forgetfulness.

fill 'er up friday: 7.11.08

It's Fill 'er Up Friday again. You may remember that last week I was fortunate to not have to fill up on account of being on vacation and taking advantage of far superior public transportation than what's available here in the City of Sin. So we were back this week and driving all over town, burning what's turned into liquid gold these days. Fortunately, the price per gallon this week was:

That's an $.08 drop in price when compared to the $4.29 per gallon price I paid two weeks ago. I actually could have paid $4.17 per gallon at the gas station across the street, but they had ran out. A lot of lucky drivers beat me to the pumps. Regardless, a drop is a drop.

Although, despite the drop in price, overall it's still $.15 per gallon more than what I paid when I started this a month ago. It's the price I have to pay for having to drive.

But you know who won't be doing any driving soon? Dan Hughes from All That Comes With It is who. On July 23 he and his mates will embarq on The Dales Walk to raise money for the Joseph Salmon Trust, an organization aimed at helping families that have lost a child.

Their endeavor is a grueling one, which requires every bit of their physical (and mental) strength and endurance to walk 78 miles in just six days. I admire their enthusiastic willingness to take on such a tremendous challenge for such a great cause. They're still seeking donations, so if you have the means, please feel free to give a little, or a lot. They're doing all the work. Perhaps you can give up a gallon (or litre) or two of gasoline (ride a bike or something) in exchange for helping them reach their fundraising goal.