Archive for July, 2008
Unbelievably so…
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on July 31, 2008
Well, unbelievably, or actually maybe and on the side of very believably, Erin got up and walked over to the store next door to where she works yesterday and after getting a hotdog and something to drink tried to pass out on top of a little boy who was minding his own business in a chair and not worrying at all about the pregnant lady that was coming down quick and hard on top of him. I found out about all of this after Lisa texted me while I was in class (and the phone was off) to tell me that she was trying to call me and there was nothing to worry about.
Now, folks, when someone tells you there is nothing to worry about you might actually start to worry and as I walked across campus to my car and tried to call Lisa back and connecting but not hearing anyone and when she finally called me back I learned that Erin was in Urgent Care at BYU and that I needed to make my way over.
When I got there I got the story and that Erin was not coherent while in the store, that her coworker ran back to work and that the VP of her department and others came and sat with her until Lisa could get there to take her to Urgent Care. On top of that, her Iron count is low, her red blood cell count is low and both are now lower than they were when she last had blood taken at Urgent Care. All that said, she had an appointment with the GI (gastroenterologist) who informed us that nothing seemed to be getting worse, that the back pain she is now suffering from might or might not be associated with our reasons to see a GI, and that we get to see him again in two weeks and the OB-GYN tomorrow morning at 10:20 a.m. with the hopes that the OB portion of that speciality will be able to shed some light on what is happening and why and how to Erin that is causing her more problems and some problems that seem to be affecting her ability to go places or do things.
Not that I have a real direction with all of this, but things are not cruising along in a relatively smooth fashion nor is the next seven to eight weeks (remaining time of pregnancy) looking to be pleasant, physically, for Erin; and yet, this is the very reason I called and asked Lisa to come out and spend time with her daughter – which, interestingly, was of concern to she and Jim in making sure that I have the time and ability to focus on school so that I can be done in December.
With all of that said, we don’t really know what is going on or what the doctor will ultimately say or suggest when it comes to pain and discomfort and the ability for Erin to continue working or having a relatively active lifestyle. On top of which, the person caring for Erin yesterday asked whether or not after these successive experiences if this was not only the first but also the last child we would have naturally.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
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The Act of Marriage
Posted by smokingpen in religion on July 30, 2008
Personally, I care how marriage is defined. We can call this a belief. However, just because I care how marriage is defined does not mean I care enough to actively pursue legislation or state amendments to constitutions, which in themselves are subject to radical change, I am not prepared to sign petitions, nor do I care enough to actively go out and speak against same-sex marriage. What is important to me is the thought process of various people in the process of declaring same-sex unions as marriage or simply as just legal unions.
One reason I am even bringing this up is because Scalzi (science fiction author) is for same-sex unions in California and even speak up about his opinions on the subject frequently on his website even though court decisions in California no longer directly affect him (he lives in Ohio). Today’s comments on Scalzi’s website is in response to Orson Scott Card (OSC) (North Carolina and LDS) and OSC’s comments on the Mormon Times website, a website dedicated to articles that favor the LDS point of view and non-church sanctioned opinions. (Note: I actually have not actively followed OSC for years as I find his views of the LDS church pretty much counter to what I believe about the same faith and wonder how he maintains prominence within the church other than he is one of the most visible sci-fi/fantasy authors.)
What is important (to me) is information about how authors think. One reason this is true is because it informs the kinds of things an author will write about. I stopped reading one author because his work reflected, too closely, his personal beliefs on homosexuality AND because his writing (in my opinion) does not reflect the capacity for writing he possesses. That does not mean he will not write things that improve in the future and that his writing will include his beliefs in a more subtle way; or that he will ever mature the pattern of writing he chooses to pursue and because I don’t have to be patient in this area I choose to no longer read what that author writes.
None of this is reflective in what Scalzi or OSC choose to write about. In fact, both authors (Scalzi by reputation) have included homosexual characters in their books. OSC has spoken about falling out of favor with members of the church and the BYU community some years ago (when he was in attendance) because the protagonist of a specific story just happened to be gay. Immagine what that would’ve been like before government protections of homosexuality and the increased awareness and ability for individuals to be homosexual (and then for the LDS community, the increased presence of LDS men and women to declare homosexual tendencies).
In fact, I don’t really care whether or not someone declares they are homosexual or not. I don’t care what any single individuals sexual orientation is. Because I believe in agency and because that agency is not only an object of faith on my part, but also an aspect of the religious beliefs OSC and I share, I have to allow for the possibility (if not the fact) that someone will make a personal choice about sexual orientation. Just because I allow agency to play a role in my life and in how I interact with other people does not, in any way, mean I agree with the homosexual lifestyle; but at the same time, it does not mean I have to support that lifestyle. I can be a friend with individuals who have made that choice, I had at least one roommate who was openly homosexual and have countless coworkers over the years who tended in the same direction; but I don’t have to be for it or actively support the lifestyle. By the time someone has made that choice, the options that exist for me are to continue with the new or existing relationship with a specific individual or group of individuals or to reject them out of hand and possibly lose the opportunity to have someone who, in one area, has made a choice I don’t agree with but might otherwise have a positive influence in my life.
The outcome, though, is that Sclazi believes that same-sex couples should have the same protections under the law as heterosexually married couples and by extension that the definition of marriage should also apply to homosexual couples. OSC points out, though not necessarily in defense of Scalzi, that governments created marriage (which is true) as a means of defining inheritance and certain other protections. What this means is that the laws are being altered by the courts to explicitly state in places like California and Massachusetts (where same-sex marriage is court-mandated legal) dictate that men who love men and women who love women and who want to have the same protections within the law as heterosexual couples. As a result, the only way that homosexual couples are willing to accept this pattern of legal protection is through a redefinition of what it means to be married.
With all of this instantiated, the LDS church in Massachusetts and California have very openly come out against same-sex marriage. In point of order, the LDS church has even asked that members (specifically in California) do all that they can to create an amendment to the California State Constitution in defining what marriage is. The definition of marriage supported by the LDS church is that marriage is specifically the union between a man and a woman. This union does not allow same-sex couples to be married. It also does not negate legislation that would afford legal protections for same-sex couples.
What OSC decides to do in his article is to support the biological and genetic definitions of what marriage and family is. He specifically attacks the biological imperative that no matter how hard two men or two women try, they cannot naturally produce a family. And since marriage leads to family and family requires both man and woman to propagate the species and because two men have to adopt and two women either have to adopt or they have to have sperm donations and go through invitro-fertilization and implantation, they cannot naturally produce off-spring thereby negating the natural selection that traditionally determines what marriage is and how it was created. There is no natural way same-sex couples can establish a family.
From a strictly LDS perspective, defining marriage as including same-sex couples begins a process where religious tolerance and freedoms and LDS practices can be called into legal question over whether or not religious freedom and personal freedoms (e.g. marriage) are brought to a head and the LDS church is, legally, forced to support stated unions. Even though LDS doctrine states that same-sex couples are sinning and that they are unnatural (see the biological argument), legal arguments can force the LDS church to change its practices. These beliefs do not inherently make the LDS church homophobic, it does cause discussions to occur between religious leaders and homosexual community leaders on some of the best ways to marry the two ideas. The problem with that is that LDS beliefs require homosexual individuals to live a celibate lifestyle. This is no different than what is required of heterosexual couples before marriage. The difference is not what is required, but that the LDS church (and in truth the Catholic church) does not recognize nor support same-sex marriage.
What OSC says about this is that the law has no right to redefine marriage. Marriage is a natural creation and, like the Declaration of Independence, exists outside of the measures of law that man would instill. The Declaration of Independence states that man has the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. These are inalienable rights, they exist outside of the framework of the law, and when laws and governments exist that force men to recognize something that is not natural and would not naturally exist, by definition that recognition requires that the people stand up against what is then defined as tyranny.
By extension, governments that attempt to redefine what is naturally true or false are on the path to tyranny. Fortunately, OSC does not extend his argument to this point; but the argument can be extended to the point where governments who allow laws to be changed without the proper vetting and recognition of the people those laws are meant to govern, then those laws are not legal or legally obtained. In the cases of the states of Massachusetts and California, it was not legislation that changed the laws of those states – in fact, the legislation (and at least in California the Citizens Initiative) was enacted that did legally define marriage and the courts overruled that legislation as being unconstitutional. Instead of going through the legislative process, and overturning a law (which is within the purview of the courts), thereby telling the legislative process that they need to reconsider how the law is supposed to read, the courts overturned the law and then redefined pre-existing laws to include same-sex couples. This is legislation through judicial decree. In short, the process that should exist to define law has been eliminated.
Scalzi‘s primary argument isn’t (actually) for same-sex marriage, though it would be easy to assume that is what he is doing (and quite possibly what he believes he is doing), but that OSC‘s argument is fallacious, homophobic (which is something OSC discusses), and counter to the will of the people. One problem with this is that the people (of the state of California) have not actually had a chance to speak out on this subject again. They did once, about four years ago, and the opinion of the state came out against same-sex marriage. In this case, both Scalzi and OSC can have whatever opinions they want and there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. In fact, they are both encouraged to possess those opinions and they both can and should express the opinions. That is exactly what they are, opinions.
What OSC does, though, is try to support his opinion with facts and information that supports his argument. OSC‘s conclusion is that gay marriage is an illegal definition and by extension the law cannot define what it is or isn’t. This opinion and argument supports the LDS church’s stated doctrine.
Scalzi, however, does not make a logical argument and chooses, instead, to follow an emotional argument. The emotional argument, and one I do not disagree with, is that same-sex couples should have the same protections under the law as heterosexual couples. In his opinion, the only true method of doing this is to define same-sex unions as marriage and, by extension, giving same-sex couples the same protections as heterosexual couples.
My problem with Scalzi‘s opinion is not that he is passionate about it or that he has an opinion, but specifically that the redefinition of marriage makes other legal matters possible that I am completely opposed to. My beliefs do not support same-sex marriages. When they become legal, and if a same-sex couple decides they want to be married in the same way as their heterosexual LDS friends (e.g. in an LDS Temple) than by suing for this same right in different jurisdictions, the fear is that eventually a court will side with the same-sex couple (and given time, all of the courts can side with the same-sex couple) and will force my religion to recognize and perform ceremonies for them. In that sense, I side with OSC in his opinion that the law and government cannot define something that nature has defined; however, I also think that Scalzi has a point in that people who have had the satisfaction of having their unions ratified as marriages deserve something and should not lose the protections that marriage affords and in that sense I think that the laws should reflect (in California and Massachusetts) the protections the courts in those states have dictated should be legal.
What I don’t believe has actually happened, though, is that California or Massachusetts has legitimately and legally re-defined marriage and as a result, have done more harm to same-sex couples than by never (or not) allowing the definition of marriage to encompass them. In this area, I believe OSC has a correct approach (though, once again, he does not use it in support of same-sex unions) where the laws should be changed to define legal relationships, inheritance, and etc. rather than amending a definition in a way that biologically and evolutionally it does not support.
Why all of this is important is because OSC is a firebrand and I think most people who have listened to him or read him realize that he has a tendency to go off the handle; I also believe that understanding what a writer believes is important to understanding why they write they way they do. In OSC‘s case, his beliefs (as I said, we may share a religion, we don’t share a belief system) and the nature of his writing negate my interest in reading what he has to say. As for Scalzi, from what I’ve dealt with when it comes to his writing, he has a maturity of voice such that he shares his beliefs in a way that allows the reader to come to their own conclusions without overtly offending the reader and forcing them to decide with you or against you (and by extension, stop reading your work).
The reason this is important to me is that knowing how someone who’s beliefs are closer to my own (OSC) helps me to define where I sit in an argument (two sides sharing premises that are meant to lead to two different conclusions) and what I am willing to do, say, or write in relation to that argument. The same should be true (in this issue) of anyone who is in a committed relationship, plans to have children, and has to ask how they intend to deal with these issues (that for LDS people are a part of the religion, especially as they become more prominent) and what they will tell their children.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Because You Missed It
Posted by smokingpen in Uncategorized on July 28, 2008
Over the weekend Erin and her mother, Lisa, registered a new domain for Lisa to use as a website-slash-blogging space. This is exciting news as we have been trying to get Lisa to get a domain and a blog and to use it for about a year and having her in our home until baby Hattaway comes along (codenamed: CAMPER), well… Erin helped her find a URL, had me register it, and before either knew what was going down, we had WordPress installed and running.
Now, apparently, I get to upload some new themes.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Attacking the Majority
Posted by smokingpen in Politics on July 28, 2008
One of those things you don’t want to do, in politics, is to tell the majority of people who will vote that they are wrong about something. Tell them often enough and hard enough, and chances are as the incumbent you will find yourself out of a job and listening to sound bites by the dude (or dame) that took your place who decided the time was right to run because he (or she) agreed with the majority. The majority is not wrong.
In this case, John McCain consistently tracks behind Barrack Obama. Why? Because he sides with G.W. and G.W. is under the misapprehension that the American people are wrong. How are they wrong? They disagree with the United States military being sent into Iraq and its continued presence in the country. Nor do the majority of the people of the United States want a presence in Iraq that has no timetable and no plan s for withdrawal. Actually, there are a lot of policies that exist under the current administration where a lot of American’s are opposed to them and the administration consistently tells the people they are wrong.
If you don’t want to be popular tell people they are wrong.
Politics is a popularity contest. It is not a policy contest. Granted, chances are the person with the more popular platform at any given time will be elected; it is not true that that same person is not, in his or her own right, also popular.
Popularity and public opinion are all that matter when it comes to winning elections. Sure, once you’re in office and if you know what it is you are doing, those two things can be places, gently, in the back seat to actually push real reform. McCain is under the misguided belief that people care at all about his history as a reformer in the Senate and that he has pushed for election reform and all sorts of other nonsense crap that no one cares about or cares enough about (outside of the pundits and talking heads who discuss this ad nauseum) to even remember what the man has done. He is under the misguided belief that he is actually more popular, in the long run, than someone, say, Mitt who has greater lasting power that McCain rather than simply being someone who has run so often and so frequently that the public has, when election years come-a-rolling in, top-o-mind awareness of McCain because, honestly, he’s the bur in the shoe that won’t go away.
What makes McCain’s election year policies very poor (outside of trying to ride the Republican side of the fence) is not that he changes his mind or is adjusting his policy standings and trying to explain his voting record, but that he has indelibly associated himself with the current president, who is very unpopular. Not only is the president unpopular and not only is the Iraq conflict (not a declared war people) unpopular and not only has McCain aligned himself with this military action, but McCain and G.W. and others in the Republican hierarchy are under the misguided belief that by staying true with an unpopular president who has unpopular policy that a majority of American’s will see past the people and person telling them they are wrong and straight at the heart of the candidate.
And yet, you cannot tell the American people they are wrong and expect to be elected or supported. People don’t care about you or what you think, they only care about themselves and what they think and unfortunately for politicians, one of the things they think, at least the majority, is that Iraq and G.W. are bad news and wrong.
I don’t disagree with the American people on this. In fact, I am on the side that was opposed to a lot of what has been happening since 2002 and am, fortunately, on record in a lot of places as saying so. That, however, doesn’t matter either.
One of the factors that exists, right now, is the misunderstanding of what it means to be nominated to run for President. Part of the problem with this perception is the belief that the two major political parties each represents approximately half of the opinions that exist with the people. This is actually untrue as well since there are fewer actually voting individuals than there are actual citizens who have the right to vote in the United States. Of the people that vote who vote in primaries, these are the ones who are either party loyalists and always vote in every election or they are one-shot activists who are tired of the same-old, same-old. Many of these activists are young, have read about Martin Luther King Jr. and JFK and others and realize that one of the principle ways they can help elicit change is to take an active stance and vote. These voting individuals are not often represented by either major political party, even though they may align themselves with one party or another. Many will support third party candidates like Ross Perot (92, 96) and Ralph Nader (perpetual candidate) and others who don’t really have a chance to win, but who will offset the balance enough that the winner, though not with a majority, but with more votes than the other party, can declare a victory.
The third party candidate actually rides a wave of popularity that forces or causes the other parties to shift parity to be closer inline with the third party than with their own base. This shift is temporary and never lasts; but during the term of one election, when enough people clamor for change, the parties will offer the appearance of change to the people.
And therein lies the problem with this election season. We actually don’t need an underdog candidate from a third party who is riding a wave of popularity. Rather, we have Barrack Obama who is saying the right things and doing the right things and appears to have a bulletproof exterior. More, McCain is clearly old, he is not as popular as his party would have him believe he is and if the election were held today, the majority of people voting would not vote for him. They won’t vote for McCain because they don’t want the United States in Iraq – it doesn’t matter if we are winning, the conflict was not over when it was declared over and both Bush’s made the same mistake, their timings were different. The people won’t vote for McCain because he is old and out of touch. They won’t vote for him because he doesn’t represent the people. And the won’t vote for him because they cannot relate to him because he supports G.W. and because he is old and because he doesn’t use computers and because he doesn’t feel the need to learn how and because he is out there telling the people they are wrong.
If there was a constitutionally mandated way of having a vote of no confidence and a re-election for the President, G.W. would be in a heap of trouble and he would not be in office. McCain will prove this as his policies are the same as the current policies (according to NPR and McCain’s financial policy advisor) are no different than those of the current president and as a result, a vote for McCain is a vote for G.W. and a vote for G.W. is a vote for war, lies, more money spent than brought in, and bad economic and foreign relations.
p.s. The reason Obama has a love affair, if you want to call it that, with the press is that the press is a form of entertainment. You turn to the news to get official information and scandal and blood, guts, and gore. News agencies exist not because there are viable news opportunities every day that need to be shared, but rather so that when real news happens an outlet exists to report on it. Otherwise, what you get when you watch the news is a recap of events, information on celebrities and sports figures, the scores on the games, and what is interesting and fills a thirty second spot. McCain is not entertainment, nor are his policies and etc., Obama is entertaining, he is popular, and the media follows the little bouncing ball and, unfortunately, on a normal well, McCain isn’t even close to that little bouncing ball.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
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IOTW – two updates
Posted by smokingpen in On Writing on July 23, 2008
Since I am pretty absent these past weeks, let me point people over to In Order to Write and point out that I did two updates this week and hope to complete reading something so I can do another next week. The first post is a review of the August issue of Science Fiction and Fantasy. I was sent a copy to review on this website specifically and was very happy (read wicked pleased) when they sent me the copy to read. Since I actually really enjoyed the stories and the bulk of the magazine, the outcome (for me) was very positive. And the magazine sent back an email indicating they were pleased with my review.
Second, is a review of Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell. I read this book a month or two ago and finally decided that it’s non-dust-collecting spot on top of my dresser (Erin dusts everything at least once a week, to include the books sitting on top of my dresser) needed to change to a non-dust collecting spot on the paperbacks shelf of one of the bookshelves. As a result, I reviewed the book and enjoyed the reading experience as well as the reviewing experience. As a side note, the reviewing process I mentally went through was actually a result (and has been, to an extent, for some months now) as a result of Tobias Buckell‘s comments on writing reviews. Not that I’ve read a review he’s written or, for that matter, got a lot of information from the scant post he wrote about the process, but it was enough that I reconsidered how I went about the process.
Anyway, barring my avoiding or de-prioritizing writing online for, say, my wife and what she is currently dealing with or, say, to actually sit down and write my own fiction; please check out In Order to Write for possible other things I am writing, reading, reviewing, and etc. to help with your fix of John-isms
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Vacation, What Vacation
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on July 21, 2008
Well, vacation, or what was missing of a vacation is now over. Erin is back at work and I was back at school and at work and discovered that the history class moved beyond the First World War and on to post Second World War marching right into the beginning of the détente between the United States and the Soviet Union, Korea, and, for the most exciting part, Vietnam. Before 1989, the United States main enemy was the Soviet Union and countries that were moving toward communism. What more, right after World War II and, at least, through Korea, the United States were certain that neither Russia nor the rest of the communist world were in a position to do anything militarily; and yet, we as citizens of the free world were told that we had to worry about the USSR and Communist China and other nations. The advance of communism into the Asian Peninsula was something our country would not allow.
During the Reagan Presidency, he amped the rhetoric so high and spent so much money on defensive measures, clearly outspending the USSR, which had been the standard through the entire Cold War, was finally unable to keep up with the spending of the capitalist United States and her allies in western Europe. The outcome, in 1989, was the fall of the Berlin wall which was the symbolic end to the Cold War and the separation of the two Germany’s, and eventually the breakup of the USSR into its individual country units. As a result, there have been a variety of ethnic conflicts in Serbia and Croatia where the indigenous people, out of conflict because of the USSR and its military, as well as a changing underground movement in Afghanistan and other places that were kept in check in part because the USSR maintained the balance between ethnic peoples or was the reason that underground conflict, in part supported by the United States, existed.
Without the USSR, these countries and conflicts fell into shambles. And as a result, and with a lot of other historical and modern factors to take into consideration, we have the series of conflicts and terrorist activities that have taken place around the world.
All of that is, directly or indirectly, a part of last week being the week Erin and I didn’t really go anywhere except to see a variety of doctors. The reason, as has been stated, is that Erin hasn’t been feeling well (and no, we still don’t know what the problem is) and we are trying to figure out what is causing various complications. Because of all of this, we were at home last week and I spent the time helping take care of Erin as she had ups and downs.
From Thursday and Friday and with the addition of more Imodium, Erin was feeling well enough (but not exactly great) and went back to work today. I went to work and to school. Work was interesting as I sat down and discovered that my computer was off which only happens as a result of my being there and cycling the power after my shifts. What that means is since more than a week ago, the computer has not been used. That is nice. I got to start working through the process of adjusting a template in a third party online software program to work with the approved BYU templates and got to beat my head against the footer information that, though I should be able to make the two match, hasn’t started matching as yet.
My day was, more or less, okay; while Erin‘s day sounded like it was less-than-pleasant. She called the doctor’s office (that did more tests last Thursday) and who told us they would have the results today and would be in a position to let Erin know, this morning, what they found out. By five p.m. this evening, the doctor decided to go home (nice he can work a 9 to 5 job four days a week) and the nurse is not authorized to offer any opinions on what the results form the tests mean. What this means is that Erin has to wait until tomorrow to find out what the results are, given that the doctor bothers to actually look at them and follow through on calling Erin back. Along with that, we get to go back to the OB/GYN and see our doctors PA (physician’s assistant) who will check to make sure that Erin and baby are still doing okay. There is a pretty good possibility that we will have that office call the gastroenterologist to see if they can get the results faster than we are able to get them.
Beyond that, things are about on par with normal… if normal includes a sick pregnant wife who is perpetually uncomfortable and can’t find any position on any surface that she can stay in for any length of time.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Updates about needing to Update
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on July 17, 2008
Well, I think it’s been a few days, maybe as much as a week, since I’ve updated. Truth told, I did start one or two updates and then let them die and then get deleted.
What has been happened?
A couple of weeks ago I insisted that Erin go and see a doctor. As a result, we went to the walk-in portion of the BYU Health Center so that she could see a doctor sooner than later. He requested both blood and stool samples. As a result of needing poo, Erin had to go off of the over-the-counter medication that was allowing her to take in nutrients and keep hydrated. The outcome was a very terrible long holiday weekend that had Erin lose a bunch of weight and get dehydrated and end up pooing and other things out the wazoo which, in turn, had us visiting Labor and Delivery to make sure that all of the issues that were happening didn’t result in an early arrival of CAMPER.
CAMPER wasn’t coming sooner than later and we went to see, during a regularly scheduled appointment, the OB-GYN, only to discover that very little of the information Erin had been calling in to the OB-GYN’s nurse was not properly being relayed to the OB-GYN with blood and diarrhea and other symptoms suddenly causing her to realize that things were not normal and the problems actually needed to be addressed.
The issue with all of this, though, is that an OB-GYN is great for woman-related problems and for birthing babies, but he/she is not great at, say, determining whether or not someone should shove a probe up your butt or what high white blood cell counts and low red blood cell counts equate to on the spectrum of problems related to intestinal disorders. Since I am a BYU student and since our insurance is primarily through BYU (and our checkbooks) she had to defer to the doctor, a general practitioner, who had started testing Erin for bacterial and parasitic infections to better explain what was happening inside of her.
However, like an OB-GYN, the general practitioner is possibly a little more qualified to make some educated guesses, but still has to defer to a gastroenterologist for probing one’s colon to determine if the issue is IBS, Crohn’s, Celiac, or such. Since the gastroenterologist is trained and qualified to make better educated guesses, all other doctor’s have been deferring opinion and treatment and such.
What freaked us out, though, is that Erin is pregnant and to do a colonoscopy, because of the nature of the procedure, the patient has to be sedated. In order to do this, they use a drug that does cross the placenta, which in turn has a history of causing the babies heart to stop beating and resuscitation is necessary after birth. And yes, this drug is used frequently during labor and delivery and babies do have to be resuscitated.
About thirty minutes before Erin was to start taking laxatives, the surgical center called and the person she was talking to decided to run the risk past the doctor performing the operation. We were called back a few minutes later telling us that the doctor was not willing to take the risk of preterm labor and that Erin should eat and that we should schedule an appointment with him ASAP so he could try diagnosing without too much invasive or possibly harmful procedures.
The outcome was an appointment with the doctor today where he talked to Erin, listened, made some suggestions, and then told us that he would be doing a sigmoidoscopy which is another probe but only a little way into the colon to make check for whatever it is these doctors check for. At the end of that, he wanted more blood tests and a stool sample that did NOT go through BYU. We left that office and went straight to the hospital and then to grab some food and back to the hospital and then home.
To wrap this up, we now get to wait until Monday for results, Erin was told she could take the OTC stuff she was taking, and told how much to take (which was more than she was taking before all of this). He did say that he was not completely eliminating a colonoscopy, but that he wanted to eliminate as much of everything else that he could between now and if a colonoscopy becomes absolutely necessary.
One of the outcomes to all this, though, is my not going to work and not going to class. You would think with those two things being true that I would have more time to study and write and, even though I did en excess of 20,000 words on a new projects, I’ve not really had the time as I am watching after Erin, trying to figure out what needs to be next, and making sure she is as comfortable as possible through the ordeal.
I am not sure I will be back to updating before next week sometime.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
Real Heroes Fly
Living the Life of an Eighteen Year Old
Posted by smokingpen in Odds-n-Ends on July 10, 2008
Not really. Though my work and sleeping habits seem to be similar (or the same) as those of someone between the ages of 18 and 23. I won’t define the group any more than that. Granted, it is nice to pretend a lack of concern for life and things, but at the same time, there are periods where I am sure I have to be a great deal more concerned and aware of the world around me than the average and typical 18 to 23 year old individual.
One of the things that caught my attention (this morning) was watching a (relatively) new Kid Rock video. There is a line in the song where he describes himself as 17 and somewhere between a boy and a man. Then the next line of the song talks about the girl he is meant to be with and her not having any ambiguity about where she is (between a woman and a girl) with the implication that she is a woman and not a girl.
The reason I bring this up is that teenage girls grow faster than teenage boys meaning that they appear to develop and mature physically at a greater rate of speed than the average teenage boy. As a result, teenage girls appear to be older or more mature when in reality they are equally as young and immature as teenage boys, but in an entirely different way than teenage boys have a tendency to be. The appearance for a lot of people requires that teenage girls appear to act old than they really are and confuse people of an older age when they actually act the very age they should. In the context of this video, 17.
Because we assume that the law defines someone who turns 18 as an adult (pretty universal, Texas its 17, other places have that same younger exception and I am not aware of an older exception) that they should suddenly begin to act and do things like an adult would, the outcome is pretty severe disappointment on the part of the world, at large, when someone who is 18 does something exceptionally stupid. One of the key factors to the movie The Shawshank Redemption is that Morgan Freeman’s character was eighteen when he committed his crime and was sent away for life. At 60, having spent more time in jail than outside, he states that he would like to take his younger self in hand and explain to him the consequences of his decisions at such a young and tender age.
The consequences to decisions are not mitigated simply because you may not have the capacity to realize what it means when you are eighteen and commit a crime; the law has to be arbitrary and state a given age for full accountability and responsibility (in line with the average age at time of high school graduation) and the individual, regardless of a complete understanding of accountability and responsibility has to extend into the adult world and play catch-up to those who understand how to play the game. Breaking a law, going to school, working, or just living life are all aspects of being young and irresponsible, you just have to be responsible at the same time and make sure the level of irresponsibility does not exceed the allowances society gives for someone who is an adult but has no experience with adult matters.
Break a serious enough law and that does not matter.
So, last night Jordan came over to visit and road his (relatively) new scooter. I thought I’d seen him on one recently and was going to suggest it, a suggestion he clearly did not need, when I asked if I could take it for a ride up and back again. I got the scooter turned around in the driveway, and at the end gunned it and then gripped what I thought was the clutch (scooters don’t have clutches) only to have the mechanized beast come out from underneath me as we are flying across the street and then skidding (the scooter) as I land on my right knee and do some pretty interesting damage (the swollen area is more interesting than the skinned and bloody area). The outcome was embarrassing as I should’ve been able to benignly ride the scooter and really messed up the process.
More than being hurt (and I am) I was embarrassed. Fortunately, Jordan told me not to worry about it (which is useless, because I am and will) but I was still grateful that he is passive about the whole thing. I hope this doesn’t affect the coolness and novelty for James, who apparently enjoys the toy. Regardless, the scooter is cool, I am an idiot, and being an idiot is what caused me to have a bloody, swollen, and scraped knee.
Which is how I began to look at my life, briefly, and realize that the nature of the way I live and what I do (at least for the next six months) is closer to that of an 18 to 23 year old than it is to people who are actually my peers. When at church, I deal with people who have a half dozen kids and are all my age, but I don’t really relate to them because they have a half dozen kids and they finished their college degrees years ago and they look haggard and older than how I look at the same age. It is not a bad thing to realize, nor do I think that I am wrong in living in the situation and condition that I am, though I do find it a bit awkward to realize that my life’s experiences and everything that I’ve been through seems to be (at least for the moment) negated simply because I went back to school and I am struggling to work and I am trying to make sense of everything and I find myself resorting to the attitudes, conditions, and habits of a group of people about which I have little positive to say.
Not saying that much is going to change as a result of this diatribe and realization. I know that age not only informs it forces people to be a certain way. Regardless of the ability to mimic maturity, age will always shine through. And as a result of all that, you cannot help but be who you are. With that said, I did marry a girl who is significantly younger than me and who, in some areas, shows signs of far more experience, but at the same time our life’s experiences are very much different and in areas where there is doubt, for me there is not doubt and for her there can be some.
I wouldn’t change any of this for the world. Though, truth told, I think I might’ve changed the way in which I approached leaving the driveway last night.
Nuff said.
John Hattaway | smokingpen | Alicia Grey | Clockwork Princess | Cassandra West
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