It's Strep

My wife does not have the flu. She has strep. So does my 3-year-old. And I was wrong: Argosy will indeed dock her test score 20% for having to take it on a day other than today.

Brilliant. Encourage contagions. In a program related to the health care industry.

I wish my wife would have said, "Fine. I'll come in and take the test. And I'll cough in your face as a symbol of how glad I am to be there."

That would have made me happy.

Zero Tolerance for the Flu?

My wife is attending Argosy University's Radiology program. The curriculum is pretty tough, and they are pretty strict regarding attendance. She tells me they dock 20% off your test scores if you miss one and have to take it on a later date.

I hope that's not the case. She has a fever of 101 degrees, and possibly rising. She has been vomiting and wonders whether she'll be able to keep the Tylenol down. There's no way she'll be in class tomorrow for one of her exams. Plus, it's too late to call the instructor to give any advance notice so that they might cut her some slack.

I'm betting she'll be able to make up the test with no penalty. I missed a whole week of law school my first year from the flu with no penalty. One semester in my second year, I even had the wrong date written down for an exam and missed it. My professor was understanding and everything worked out. I would hope for the price this place charges, and given her perfect record so far, they'll cut her some slack.

Hopefully she believes me when I tell her they'll be reasonable and give her a break. She's got enough to worry about right now.

Goals for 2009

Per Success Coach Tony Robbins, I was ready to have four personal goals prepared by January 1 that I would be absolutely committed to achieving in 2009. I have yet to complete them because, as the 6'7" Passionator warns against, I have spent too much time on the problem and not enough time on the solution.

The problem is twofold:

1) I don't want to limit myself to four goals
2) I'm not sure a couple of the goals are appropriate

I'll post my final goals on or about February 1st, and explain more what I mean then. For now, I'll just accept and forgive myself of the delay. We haven't even started entering our 2009 Online Performance Management goals at work yet, so I think I'm entitled.

Plus, cleverly and deliberately, I do not set "New Year's Resolutions," I set goals for the year, so the clock starts ticking on them when I say it does.

No wonder I've gained eight pounds since Christmas.

No Use Crying Over Sour Milk

My 1 1/2 year-old's empty bottle looked funky this morning. So I got a clean one, and gave him some fresh, organic whole milk.

At least I thought it was fresh. My wife bought it a week ago today, and organic milk lasts longer than "regular." Except that the expiration date on this milk was 1/11/09, or seven days ago, the exact date my wife bought it.

I absolutely never buy milk without checking the expiration date. That's why I didn't notice it being expired in the refrigerator: it wouldn't even be in there were it expired! My wife seems to be more concerned about expiration dates than I. If I recall correctly, she won't even use bread past the expiration date. (I think she gets it from her mom, who's even worse.) If it's a couple days past "due," but it looks and smells OK and has been in the fridge all the while, I'll eat it. I think most would.

But she missed it this time and, subsequently, so did I. I figure the milk has been certifiably sour since yesterday, because I actually had a taste of it Friday, and it tasted awfully strong. I shrugged it off then as my just not having had whole milk in a while and thus not being used to the taste. I shrugged off the experience in the bathroom later as just "one of those things."

I now know, thanks to Google, the "funkiness" of his bottle was due to the seperation of the curd and whey, which happens in this stage of milk going bad. The stronger-than-normal smell from his diaper is no longer a mystery, either.

As for the little guy, he seems fine right now. He's happily playing and tormenting his big brother. But I'll be glad when the sour milk runs its course by the end of the day. And I can guarantee I'll never miss another expiration date - at the store or at home - again.

An Ironic Awakening

Our three-year-old slept with us again Friday night. (He sleeps with us most nights, but that's a blog entry for another day.) He sleeps between us, and has a way of turning his body perpendicular to ours', and pushing off with his feet (not quite what I would call "kicking") against one of us.

This time I was his leg press of choice. So sometime in the middle of the night, in my attempt to re-position him while I was 75% asleep and 100% grumpy, I knocked over half a can of soda on my cluttered nightstand. Had it not been for the clutter, the can would have just been nudged harmlessly six inches or so. It landed on the cluttered floor next to my side of the bed.

So I got myself up to the point of being 50% awake and 150% grumpy, and grabbed a towel to sop up the spilled soda. Among the things the soda spilled on was a book I have half-finished reading, "Getting Things Done," by David Allen. The first 100-or-so pages were doused in Diet A&W (Coke Zero was not on sale last time I had gone to the store).

If you are not familiar with it, the book is a guide to help become productive by helping you get organized. I had last read the part about getting rid of all the clutter off one's metaphorical plate, but hadn't picked up the book since just before Christmas.

Some may call that irony; I think it's more likely karma.

Golf Goals 2009

The chart to the left denotes nine statistical categories on the PGA tour, and the corresponding stat for 125th place in each.

Why 125? Because the top 125 money leaders on the PGA tour earn exemption (their tour card) for 2009.

So, in order to set realistic goals for my golf game, and because I enjoy statistics, I am keeping all of these for my rounds this coming year. My goal in each will be to finish at the 125th place level of each.

Now, I'm not so delusional as to think I actually have a chance to finish in the top 125 of each. Were that so, I would likely not be keying this entry in, and would more likely be in Florida with an over-hyped, over-paid swing guru, planning for the upcoming year on tour.

But I would like to think I could come close to some of them, and the real goal is to lower my handicap four strokes (although, that, too, might be overly optimistic). So one of the ways I hope to accomplish this is to mind all of my stats, and watch for clues as to where my game needs the most work. Off the top of my head, I would guess my top challenges would be scrambling, sand saves, and total driving (driving long and straight; I'm a one-or-the-other kind of golfer).

My other golf goal is to make the cut at the MGA Mid-Amateur, or qualify for the State Amateur or Mid-Players.

Even if I miss my goals for golf in 2009, if my wife and I manage to make the trip to Pebble Beach this year, all will be OK in my little world.