Cross-post from Facebook - Max - Brain Games

Brain games

I Googled “puzzle good for brain research” because I'm Max and the first link was to an article titled “Why Jigsaw Puzzles Are Good For The Brain”. The article wasn’t terrible to read but made a lot of statements without any evidence and no author listed. Also every word in its title was capitalized which simply can’t be correct. Sort of like it was something written to sell jigsaw puzzles and justify buying them (for pity’s sake, isn’t enjoyment enough?). Blah. The third result was an article which I’ve linked below (written by a cognitive neuroscientist with linked studies).

Sounds like brain games aren’t bad but what exists now isn’t going to improve our critical thinking skills. I liked the parts about how uninterrupted deep thinking is good and how multitasking is bad. I think she does make an error in using a study on heavy multitaskers to conclude that using electronic media is a bad thing. It’s the consumption of multiple sources of electronic stimuli at the same time that’s shown to have negative effects, not the consumption of electronic stimuli itself (at least in the study she cited). Besides this the article made sense to me.

So, if you’re going to play video games just play video games. If you’re going to peruse Facebook just peruse Facebook. If you’re going to watch Netflix put away the tablet (I’m so guilty of not doing this). It’s better for our brains to do just one thing at a time. And brain games are ok but won’t make us smarter (at least not in any meaningful way).

Oh yeah, it’s worth reading through all of the linked studies in the article (at least check out the abstracts). Good stuff.

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/make-your-brain-smarter/201403/do-brain-games-really-boost-brainpower

Cross-post from Facebook - Max - Left/Right

Left/Right

I was looking up jigsaw puzzle exchanges (yes, they do exist) and saw in the info on one of the sites that jigsaw puzzles are supposed to be good for the brain. Makes sense to me so I Googled it and found something about how jigsaw puzzles exercise both the left and right hemispheres of our brains. Sounds good to me. I then remembered something about how the “left/right brained people thing” was a myth and Googled that. Here’s one of the more recent articles written about it.

It’s easy to lump people into buckets of left-brained and right-brained but the science just doesn’t back up the assumption. Creative people use both hemispheres of their brains the same as those who are analytical. I feel like the left/right brain thing leads to the insinuation that people can’t be both creative and analytical which is silly. It’d be like someone who wrote music being unable to analyze their songs and understand their mediocrity. Hm. Perhaps that sort of insight just takes time. :)

http://thescienceexplorer.com/brain-and-body/left-brained-vs-right-brained-myth-debunked

Cross-post from Facebook - Max - We're Peaking

We’re Peaking

I was thinking about the breaking down of the Flynn effect in most developed countries. The Flynn effect describes the rising average scores on intelligence tests over the last 100 years or so as seen in many parts of world. Yes, on average, each subsequent generation has been smarter than the prior generations (this, of course, does not mean individually we’re smarter than our parents). Idiocracy might be a funny movie but its basic premise is incorrect.

Depending on the country the IQ averages have peaked out or even dropped in recent times. There are all kinds of theories and ideas around this phenomenon (video games, immigration, millennial laziness, etc). I think maybe we’re approaching the natural limits on what our average intelligence can be in our current socio-economic set of societies. I wonder if there is much room for the average intelligence to increase with the current setups we have. Sure, there are variations in the average intelligence between nations but not very big ones – at least in the developed countries. Perhaps we’re running into the limits of our natural potential? Maybe we’re regressing toward our intelligence mean? It could simply be increased diminishing returns.

I feel like there are many parents who do a lot the research and put in a ton of effort to maximize the potential of their children. Are their kids proportionally smarter than kids raised without the extra attention, extracurricular activities, private schooling, etc? I realize “smarter” isn’t necessarily what these parents are after, more they’re trying to give their children all of the possible advantages to be successful in society. My point is that even with an ideal upbringing we’re still not raising proportionally more geniuses.

The reason I think about this apparent leveling off of human intelligence is I believe our advancement as a species will ultimately be limited by it. Much of our society is already run based on quantum theory of which only a small portion of the population can even correctly conceptualize let alone understand fully. I’m sure there will be many more amazing technological discoveries and wonders but eventually the party is going to end which is a bummer to contemplate.

I suppose if I was an Elon Musk who was able to pursue my fancies I’d choose to dump a lot of money into figuring out how to evolve people to increase our intelligence beyond our current natural limits. Not installing computer chips in our brains but genetic changes that would be passed down the generations naturally. That way if our current societies crumbled we’ll at least have the mental capabilities to be able to build it all back up and hopefully better than before.

Here are some interesting links to stuff I was reading when contemplating this stuff (if it isn’t clear I LOVE Wikipedia):
Flynn effect - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flynn_effect
IQ - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intelligence_quotient
Nations and intelligence -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nations_and_intelligence
Diminishing returns - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diminishing_returns
Regression toward the mean -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regression_toward_the_mean

Cross-post from Facebook - Max - Platitudes

Platitudes

I looked up “speaking in platitudes” today. As annoying as they often are I think there is some value to them, mostly from the way they can be used as an indicator to how far one is willing to go with a topic. For example at the end of a long debate about a touchy subject someone might say “what’s done is done” which effectively stops the conversation and can also act as a way to stave off damaging a relationship. If I start a conversation with someone and am immediately struck with a platitude then perhaps I should save my words for someone else who is willing to travel down this particular rabbit hole (or I’m being really annoying and should stop talking).

I definitely find myself using platitudes more and more as I get older. I think the main reasons are my burgeoning apathy and that talking things out often and inevitably leads to a platitude when we run out of things to say. It is what it is, right? Such is the way of the world. Life isn’t fair. Sometimes things just don’t turn out the way you want them to. Maybe instead of using a platitude I’ll start saying “further discussion will have to wait until I can do more research” or I’ll quote Forrest Gump - “that’s all I have to say about that.”

The wiki - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platitude

Funny list of platitudes - http://scottberkun.com/2011/what-are-the-most-annoying-platitudes/

Thought-terminating clichés - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clich%C3%A9#Thought-terminating_clich.C3.A9

Cross-post from Facebook - Max - Formula for happiness

Formula for happiness.

I was thinking about coming up with my own formula for happiness when I found one already exists that makes some accurate predictions (at least in the short-term). It was created in 2014 and modified in 2016 to account for guilt and envy. Interesting stuff.

Here’s an article about the updated formula from earlier this year - http://phys.org/…/2016-06-happiness-equation-reveals-people…

Here’s the full text on the study and subsequent formula - http://www.pnas.org/content/111/33/12252.full

Cross-post from Facebook - Max - Hobbies

I’ve been thinking about hobbies the last couple of days, specifically how to differentiate and categorize them. I’ve settled on active and passive as effective groupings. Active meaning there is an end product or a future goal in mind and passive meaning pure entertainment or stimulation. I think most hobbies can fall into either category and I think it’s often a slippery slope between passive and active hobbies. Examples of this for Susan and myself would be amateur motorsports and our love of pugs. We went from autocrossing our daily drivers (pretty passive) to taking on leadership roles, owning a tow rig, and using dedicated equipment (perhaps too active). We went from adopting two pugs 13 years ago (passive) to eventually volunteering for the Colorado Pug Rescue and fostering pugs (more active).

Some of our active hobbies become passive too. For me playing guitar is a great example of this. I was dedicated to the instrument for many years learning music theory, practicing hours a day, writing/recording, etc and now I primarily just play for sheer enjoyment when the mood strikes me.

Of course hobbies can flip back and forth between active and passive. I’m thinking of someone who might exercise regularly and then trains hard for a couple of months for a half-marathon before returning to their normal routine after the race is over.

Personally, I feel there are limits to the amount of active hobbies I can juggle at once. There’s only so much effort I can devote before my well runneth dry (or the outcome of the active hobbies suffer). When I’m flush with active hobbies I’m less likely to want to try new things or dedicate more effort to my current passive hobbies.

I also think me thinking about stuff like active versus passive hobbies is symptomatic of this time of year. The racing season is over and, with the cold weather and dark evenings, I’m not much in the mood to work on our cars. Thus these active hobbies that usually take up a lot of my time are paused and now I’m bored enough to start thinking about things like active versus passive hobbies and what they might mean.

BTW I Googled “active vs passive hobbies” looking for interesting articles on the subject but mostly found judgmental opinion pieces. The kind where if a person is not “active” they are wasting their lives. The way they’re written sounds like being “active” is a way of making oneself feel superior over others which is too bad as I think there is value in the discussion of active versus passive hobbies without getting judgy.

November 2016

-November 3 – finally picked up the WRX from Mark’s shop.  The axle seal was still leaking so he took another look at it.  He ended up replacing the seal again and also the axle (it looked like it was rubbing a bit on the inside of the seal).  We could have picked it up the day before but Wednesday is Susan’s busy day so we delayed until Thursday.  The transfer case was bone dry after he test drove the car for 10 minutes so hopefully that particular issue is done.  Of course he noticed a rattle sound coming from the drive shaft he replicated on the lift for us.  Weird but we’re not going to worry about it at this time.  It’s nice to have the WRX back. 

-November 5 – final rallycross of 2016.  The last rallycross of 2016 was on the upper course at CORE.  The turnout was higher than we thought it would be (54) with a lot of old veterans signing up and coming out at the last minute.  We arrived at the site pretty early (7:15ish) so I got to help set up the course again which was fun and interesting.  The morning course was short and quick so we were able to get five runs in.  I was the first car off which is definitely a handicap as the course was covered in silt and whatnot but I managed to be in second place after the morning which felt pretty good (Susan was only one second back in third).  It was a smooth morning with minimal course changes which we always prefer as they tend to delay the event.  I decided we’d have an abbreviated lunch so we’d have time for extra runs in the afternoon and, for the most part, we stuck to that plan. 

Me (Max) 

The afternoon course was longer and the turns seemed to flow better (this seems to be the norm for afternoon courses for some reason).  I pushed for as many runs as we could manage but could only convince the others to do five more (not bad considering).  I ended up being first on the course again but still had a grand ol’ time.  In the end I held on to second and Susan took fourth.  We brought Bella the adventure pug with us and she mostly stayed in the timing bus for the day.  She was very good and exhausted by the time we got home.  One of my coworkers, Connie, came out to check out the event and she took a bunch of rides with us and many other drivers.  As it was the last event some of the drivers brought their kids along which made everything a little more interesting (in a good way; they were universally well-behaved).  Susan and I were the last to leave the site around 5:15 but ended up seeing some of the other drivers after only a few minutes as a BMW that was racing that day overheated after the event on I70.  Unfortunately for the owner the engine was shot and he had to get towed home.  We were so so tired when we got home that we almost didn’t unpack anything from the day. 

Susan 

-November 6 – We slept in on Sunday before I bugged Susan into getting out of bed.  Susan wanted to get breakfast which has been our weekend thing lately but I gave her a rain check until we were finished getting un-rallycrossed.  I also took the opportunity to swap out summer tires for snow tires on the evo and put better all season tires on Tia.  Susan installed one of the new seats we bought from Dan Hipwood a couple of weeks before and are going to try it out before she decides whether we’ll keep it or not (the seat belt configuration is different).  At some point we’ll want to install the seat speaker from the old seat into the new seat too (a speaker in the head rest was an option on the Miata).  We were going to do it right then but the zipper on the new seat was jammed up and I didn’t want to risk tearing something.  We may have to have an upholstery business fix the zipper for us. 

Around 12:30 we finally headed off to get breakfast at Breakfast on Broadway (BOB).  It was pleasantly not busy and we were able to sit in one of the larger booths for the first time.  The food and coffee were once again fantastic and Susan convinced me to actually buy a bag of their coffee (this was not hard to do).  We stopped at Wal-Mart to pick up various dog things for Susan to use to construct a puppy-shower cake (Dan Hipwood and his SO Alina got a new puppy and are having a “puppy shower” the next weekend) and finally washed the WRX at a new fancy car wash (it was still filthy from its one rallycross a month ago).  The rest of the evening had me playing video games and Susan working on her cake while we watched movies and then Top Gear on Netflix.  It was a great way to end the weekend. 

The puppy shower cake

-November 10 – Susan and I went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse.  We saw another evo parked there that looked suspiciously like Alvin and Kari’s and, sure enough, found them and John and Karen already seated.  Actually what happened is John saw us walking by and grabbed me (just about scared me to death).  They had a large booth so we joined them for dinner.  It was fun talking about this and that.  After dinner Jeff Freedman came by with our car trailer.  He had borrowed it the day before to transport his Land Cruiser to a shop to get some major engine work done.  I convinced him to let me back the trailer into its spot as it would have been a sad thing if he hit our neighbor’s fence. 

-November 12 – Susan and I visited Icon Lasik for our annual eye exams.  My lasered eyes are still 20-20 but Susan’s left is off enough that, if she wants to, she can have another surgery.  I think there’s a good chance Susan will in the near future.  We left for breakfast with Susan’s left eye cartoonishly dilated.  By the time we got to BOB it was after 1:00 and business was slow enough we got to sit at a table almost right away.  The food and coffee were wonderful but our table was close to the entrance and the harried patron and staff traffic was a bit much.  We did some light shopping at Costco and then headed home where Susan took a nap.  In the evening we went to Alvin and Kari’s house for dinner and games.  There were 11 of us there in total so we chose Cards Against Humanity to play since it can accommodate lots of players.  We all had a lot of laughs with the ladies winning most of the rounds.  Dinner was mac’n’cheese and ravioli and was tasty.  After Cards enough people left that we could play Cabo which we did.  We didn’t finish a whole game but played enough to declare Kari the winner with Susan in a close second.  I actually attempted to shoot the moon twice but my plan was discovered and thwarted by Jeff.  Kari’s Labrador Dandi is almost 13 years old and has aged quite a bit in the last few years.  She still gets around but is having a tough time.  Ringo is still small and cute.  We stayed pretty late talking about this and that and making plans for Thanksgiving. 

 Ringo experiencing his first snow ever and Denver's first snow of the season.

-November 13 – We actually got out of bed early (for us) at 8:00 so we could meet Kari and Alvin for breakfast at BOB.  The wait at 9:00 (when we arrived) was around twenty minutes but we found things to talk about to bide the time (there was a Dodge Hellcat parked outside which was interesting).  We eventually sat and Susan and (soon after) Kari drank Mimosas while we gabbed about the housing market and some politics.  The food and coffee were tasty again (of course) and we were fortunate enough to sit close to the bass player (Sunday breakfast includes live music at BOB).  Once home Susan got in another nap before we went to Dan Hipwood’s home for him and Alina’s puppy shower. 

The puppy was a little lady named Pixel and was very cute and puppy-like in every way.  They had us play a few games including matching up different language versions of “puppy” to their country of origin and guess the length of the puppy’s tail.  I think the best was a game where everyone got three safety pins which would be relinquished if the forbidden word was said.  The word was “puppy” and I won (I think the game ultimately was about finding out who had the worst character flaws).  Toward the end of the gathering presents were opened.  The “cake” Susan made last weekend was by far the coolest gift given and Dan and Alina loved it.  Susan took pictures of the happy couple and puppy for Facebook and future posterity.  It was a fun time!  We also returned the Miata front seats to Dan.  It turned out the seats actually sat a little higher than the original seats and my head touched the hard top when we swapped them in.  Oh well. 

The gang 

Susan's photos of the dramatic reenactment

-November 15 – We went to dinner at Lone Star with Karen, John, Kari, and Alvin.  It was a fun time and we talked about all sorts of things including politics.  This could have been a prickly subject if we were not all in general agreement about Trump.  We live in interesting times.  We ended up staying at the mostly-empty restaurant for a couple of hours before making our ways home. 

-November 19 – Susan and I packed up the painting supplies and headed up to John and Karen’s for food and art.  We stopped on the way up to pick up chicken and some powdered marinade packets (I’ve used it a few times with success).  When we got there I set about cutting up the chicken and Susan mixed the marinade up.  We made three kinds of marinade in three separate baking dishes in case one proved unpopular with anyone.  I only cut myself once but it was bleedy enough that Kari had to finish up.  After an hour of baking we sat down to eat the chicken and a wonderful salad Karen had whipped up.  There was a clear favorite among the chicken but all were tasty enough to eat.  After the table was cleared we put down construction paper, set up our easels, and laid out the paint and brushes.  This time Kari found a koi fish painting for us to work off of and Alvin took Karen’s place at the table.  Painting has always been fun and it was again this time.  Lots of laughter later and we were finished with our new works of art.  While the paint was drying we had pie and ice cream.  There were two pies (cherry and apple) but the cherry pie was some kind of mix of cherry and rhubarb which, though a bit unusual, was tasty.  Susan and I headed home with full bellies and leftover chicken around 7:00 to take care of the pugs. 

-November 20 – We got up and went to breakfast up in Commerce City at a place called Butcher Block Cafe.  The food was standard fare and the coffee alright.  It was packed when we got there but cleared out somewhat before we took off.  After breakfast we headed up to the Mile High Flea Market.  We didn’t really have anything in mind to purchase and simply walked up and down all the rows of vendors.  The demographics had us in the extreme minority which was interesting as we heard more Spanish spoken than English.  It was a chilly morning but soon after we arrived at the flea market the sun came out and the temperature was pleasant.  I eyed a couple of sombreros but we didn’t end up getting anything.  On our way home we stopped at Costco to stock up on wine and lunch meats. 

Tweetie had been winking her right eye at us for the last few days and we could see that the lower lid was swollen so we took her to an emergency veterinarian (our regular vet wasn’t open).  We were hoping whatever was going on would clear itself up as it didn’t seem to particularly bother her but decided to be sure.  The vet did a couple of tests and gave Tweetie a Benadryl shot.  While there was no concrete diagnosis we left with drops and eye ointment which should clear up the irritation in a few days.  Surprisingly the bill wasn’t very high (they always seem to be $400+ whenever we go to emergency vets) and we went home and gave Tweetie her eye medicine. 

Tweetie's 13th birthday also happened to be Sunday and we reenacted the first picture we took of her when we got her at two months old next to a Mike's Hard Lemonade bottle to gauge her size.  Yes, I had to hold her down for real again as she never learned how to stay.  So cute!

-November 23 – Susan and myself drove to Kansas in the WRX full of three pugs.  We usually have the habit of leaving the night before our planned trips but held back this time.  We left at 7:00 and went down south through Kiowa to avoid morning traffic and because Google said so.  Our trip was mostly uneventful.  

Bella trying to get in the front seat (turd)

The WRX ran wellish and got around 22 MPG which is better than I expected.  Alvin and Kari rented a Nissan Maxima for the trip and had Ringo in tow.  They were around 20 minutes behind us and catching up until they were pulled over for speeding.  We made great time and arrived in Hutchinson at 1:30 with us only making one stop for gas and food.  

Our destination was Susan’s Grandma Norita’s home (40 Sunflower Ave) where John and Karen were staying and prepping for sale.  Norita has recently moved into an assisted living facility a few minutes outside of Hutchinson.  The house was empty when we arrived so we let the pugs wander the back yard while we waited for John and Karen to come back (they were with Norita).  Eventually John and Karen got back and Alvin and Kari showed up.  After letting Ringo run around for a time Alvin, Kari, Susan, and myself went to check into our hotel (we were at the same Holiday Inn and in rooms next to each other) and then Olive Garden for an early dinner (Alvin and Kari basically hadn’t eaten all day). 

We had a nice time pestering our waitress for extra cheese on everything and the food was pretty good.  John and Karen stayed at Norita’s home and met with a real estate agent while we were gone.  They were still hashing things out when we got back and we met the agent (he seemed like an affable fellow and had been their agent when they sold their flip home several years ago).  Eventually we packed up the pugs and headed back to our hotel room for the night.  The only real thing of note about that night in the hotel was that Bella peed on the bed approximately 10 seconds after Susan placed her on it.  She also threw up between our pillows at 5:50 in the AM.  Good times.  Oh yeah, Sophie jumped off the tall bed and apparently knocked herself silly.  We think this initiated another seizure.  Poor little thing seemed alright after a time. 

I made several trips to bring the hotel’s continental breakfast to our room the next morning (there were no trays for food…lame!).  The plan for the day was for us kids to drop off our dogs at Norita’s home before driving out to see their previous home outside of town (6006 Cactus Dr) to check it out.  Then we’d all head out to the assisted care facility to see Norita’s apartment, visit, and take pictures before heading to Lone Star Café.  Things more-or-less went according to plan and we eventually found ourselves sitting at a table waiting for our Thanksgiving feast. 

The food was mostly traditional with the stuffing being the only truly odd thing (it was very sweet… yuck).  After we finished and chatted for a time we hopped back in our cars and went to Norita’s home (this time with Norita in tow).  We had a nice time chatting about this and that for hours before eventually tending to the dog’s dinner and attention requirements.  Once the sting of renewed hunger was upon us again Alvin and I ventured to Wal-Mart to get dinner (par baked pizza and pop).  The Black Friday sales start at 6:00 PM on Thanksgiving day at Wal-Mart and it was somewhat of a challenge for us to get what we needed and leave the store at 5:15 (there were lines of people all over the place with the store largely sectioned off).  We prevailed in the end and after some baking the pizza came out good enough to eat which we collectively did. 

After a time Norita was tired enough to go back to the nursing home and John and Karen drove her in Norita’s Oldsmobile.  We stayed put until John and Karen returned as there was still much to do.  In the end Alvin and myself watched the dogs while Susan, Kari, Karen, and John went through the last things in the house deciding whether to keep or donate.  By the end of the night Susan and I brought a few boxes full of things back with us to the hotel.  Once again Bella added some drama to our hotel room when she managed to catch one of her claws on the carpet and left many little bloody spots on the bedspread. 

The next morning after another continental breakfast in our room and some packing we bundled the pugs back into the WRX and started home.  This time Alvin and Kari were in the lead and Susan and I played catch-up.  We ended up getting gas at the same station that we stopped at on our way out (happened to be a pretty good mid-point mile-wise).  For lunch Susan and I picked up Wendy’s just a few miles east of the Kiowa exit off I70.  We had passed Alvin and Kari by this point as they stopped at Steak and Shake earlier.  We were literally (literally) 20 seconds from our home when Kari texted Susan saying they had just got home themselves.  They beat us home!  Continuing the theme of eating unhealthy food we had pizza delivered that night.  I am not above some Black Friday shopping and took advantage of the deals to acquire some Black Rhino gifts (we’re throwing a “Black Rhino” – same as a White Elephant except the requirement is that the gifts be something you would be happy taking home yourself). 

Saturday was our recovery day and I ended up taking care of the pugs and letting Susan sleep in.  We ended up doing very little which was very nice.  Dinner was Chinese delivery. 

On Sunday we lazed around the living room before showering and heading to Alvin and Kari’s for a BBQ in the early afternoon.  Another couple was there (a Steve and a Morgan) and we ate and talked about his adventures in Europe and his upcoming move to Ashville the next day.  Steve was an old friend of Alvin’s from his days at Discount Tire.  Twas fun!  I brought cucumbers to garnish my hamburger and the combination was quite delectable.  Sometime after Steve and Morgan left Emily and Kevyn came by to utilize Alvin’s Amazon Prime account to order a gift.  Susan and I headed off ourselves for some quick shopping at Costco before hanging with the pugs for the remainder of the evening. 

The WRX had made the trip to Kansas and back with nary a problem so I had no qualms about driving it to work on Monday morning.  The front passenger-side tire decided it was time to go flat when I was around halfway to the office.  Being smart-like-that I decided to continue on albeit on back roads with my hazards on.  I made it in and some of the tire was still on the rim (basically just around the edges).  

After my morning workout I called AAA and had the WRX towed home (I rode in the cab of the truck).  On the trip I found out that the lack of snow this fall was having a devastating impact on the livelihoods of tow truck drivers in Colorado.  They are all praying for frequent and heavy snow.  Understandable but I think that’s sort of like heart surgeons praying for more people to have heart disease.  Not the same but in the same vein.  My driver was a nice guy nonetheless. 

I turned 36 on November 30 and spent the evening with Susan and the pugs which is precisely what I wanted to do on my birthday.  We also got special birthday Subway sandwiches in that our local Subway was out of a lot of ingredients (most of the bread, various meats, and napkins) but the lady applying the veggies put so much on that our sandwiches were more like salads (it was awesome).   

Cross-post from Facebook - Max - 51st state

I read a NY Times article today about a recent Tweet from Donald Trump – “Nobody should be allowed to burn the American flag – if they do, there must be consequences – perhaps loss of citizenship or year in jail!” Not the most surprising thing I’ve seen Tweeted by Trump but the article was mostly good. Of course, the writer interviewed someone who questioned Trump’s understanding of the Constitution but that was expected from a NY Times article (boring). The interesting parts (to me) were the sections about the legal battles regarding the issue. The Supreme Court has ruled a couple of times that burning American flags is protected under the 1st amendment and also that the government cannot take away US citizenship without explicit consent (this I didn’t know). Multiple attempts to exclude flag-burning as protected speech have failed (including one championed by Hillary Clinton defining flag-burning as a form of “fighting words”).

It got me thinking about Washington D.C.

Washington D.C. overwhelmingly voted to become an additional state of these United States earlier in November (86% in favor). Now it’s up to Congress to approve or disapprove adding a 51st state. It should be noted that Washington D.C. already gets three votes in the Electoral College so this is about obtaining representation in Congress. As it’s very likely that all Washington D.C. representatives would be blue it’s very unlikely our red Congress will approve of adding it as a 51st state at this time. Political repercussions aside I think the elephant in the room here is the American flag itself.

Where exactly would the 51st star go? Would the old flags be void? What about all those tattoos? I actually think this is why the majority of Americans don’t want a 51st state (it’s true we don’t). I think many (most?) would see ANY changes to the American flag as some kind of blasphemy. Yes, there are lots of non-flag-related reasons not to add Washington D.C. or Puerto Rico to our current roster of states (and not just of the political persuasion) but I think the “gut reason” is that the American flag as a symbol is incredibly strong and changing it would be akin to desecrating the Constitution to a lot of American citizens.

I’ll bet a few of those who just weathered this post thought I was going to expostulate or endorse flag-burning and sitting for the National Anthem as forms of expression. Nope. It’s all about that 51st star baby!

Here are links to the article and some of the other stuff I was looking at:

http://www.nytimes.com/…/trump-flag-burners-citizenship-fir…
https://en.wikipedia.org/…/District_of_Columbia_statehood_m…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/51st_state

Cross post from Facebook - Max - leading causes of death over 20 years

Sad times for sure. 78 people die from opioid overdoses every day (a 28,470 annual rate). I found this on an NBC article (http://www.nbcnews.com/…/78-people-die-day-opioid-overdose-…) about the newly released Surgeon General’s report titled “Facing Addiction in America” (the full report can be found here https://addiction.surgeongeneral.gov/ ). Toward the end of the report’s executive summary are many references, one of which links to CDC Wonder. CDC Wonder (https://wonder.cdc.gov/) is an online database where one can find all kinds of interesting data. I saw it had the most recent report on the ten leading causes of death (2014) so, on a whim, downloaded it and then the 1994 report to see what’s changed in the last 20 years. From the US Census website (https://www.census.gov/) I found population data and incorporated it with the CDC info so I could calculate deaths per 100,000 (simple totals are misleading as the population grew a lot and disproportionally from 1994 to 2014).

Summary of what I found: (shown here as I wrote a lot)

The numbers indicate a few significant and unsurprising trends in health as the death rates per 100,000 for heart disease, cancer, strokes, and influenza and pneumonia dropped from 1994 to 2014 for all ages with these decreases being concentrated with the older populace. While the rate of death for diabetes increased it didn’t go up as much as I would have expected with the large rise in obesity since 1994 (perhaps a spike in diabetes-related deaths will come later?). It’s amazing to see HIV drop off the top 10 causes of death. I would not have guessed it used to be the leading cause of death for any age group twenty years ago but it was for those aged 35-44 in 1994. Alzheimer’s arrival on the 2014 top 10 list makes sense when factoring in the significant increase (40%) in the population aged 65 and older. Unintended injury causes of death decreased significantly for those aged 1-14 (less so for the 15-24 age group) and increased for just about everyone else (including babies under one sadly). Perhaps people are generally protecting their children better while also taking more risks in their own lives (maybe us adults are being hypocrites on personal safety… “Wrap the kids in bubble wrap, we’re going sky diving!”). The rates for the top ten causes of death for infants under one year old are still orders of magnitude higher (403.98) than for children aged one to four (17.17). I believe this more than justifies my fear of holding tiny infants.

Here's a link to the file I made in case anyone wants to take a poke around the numbers - https://drive.google.com/…/0BwxfRdGrnmvtYnFpbmF1OXc1Z…/view…

Some notable changes I found for each age group:

<1 – Deaths per 100,000 for most causes dropped. Notable exceptions are maternal pregnancy complications (33.90 to 39.61) and unintentional injuries (23.25 to 29.22) which both increased. SIDS dropped significantly from a rate of 106.53 to 38.88. Deaths by influenza, pneumonia, and intrauterine hypoxia fell off the top ten list from 1994 to 2014 and were replaced by circulatory system disease (9) and neonatal hemorrhage (10). The number one cause remained congenital anomalies but the rate per 100,000 dropped from 179.27 to 119.44. The total rate for the top 10 causes of death for infants under one year old dropped from 570.32 in 1994 to 403.98 in 2014.

1-4 yrs – Unintentional injury was the number 1 cause of death in 1994 and also 2014 though the rate halved from 15.82 to 7.62 (it might be noted that this 2014 rate is lower than all of the top 10 causes of death for infants under 1 year old – little babies are fragile!). Rates actually dropped for all the causes. HIV was number 6 in 1994 but isn’t on the 2014 top ten (yay!). Chronic low respiratory disease (lung disease) is new on the 2014 list. The total rate for the top 10 causes in death for those aged one to four years old dropped from 32.49 in 1994 to 17.17 in 2014.

5-9 yrs – Rates fell for all causes except for lung disease (0.21 to 0.33). The largest drop in rates was unintentional injury (still number one) from 8.31 to 3.56. HIV (6 in 1994) and Anemias (low red blood cells, 10 in 1994) dropped off the top ten list by 2014. Cerebrovascular (stroke, 8) and Septicemia (blood poisoning, 10) appeared on the list in 2014. The total rate for the top 10 causes of death per 100,000 for those aged five to nine years old dropped from 15.45 in 1994 to 8.73 in 2014.

10-14 yrs – Several different causes of death show up in this age group’s list for the first time including suicide and homicide. The rate for homicide dropped from 2.18 to 0.75 whereas the rate for suicide increased from 1.66 to 2.05. Unintentional injury remains the number one cause of death though the rate dropped significantly from 10.01 to 3.63. HIV (8) was replaced by influenza and pneumonia (8) on the 2014 list. The total rate for the top 10 causes of death per 100,000 for those aged 10 to 14 years old dropped from 19.88 in 1994 to 10.72 in 2014.

15-24 yrs – The rates fell across the board from 1994 to 2014 for this age group. Notable drops include unintentional injury (1 for both years) from 37.98 to 26.95 and homicide (2 in 1994, 3 in 2014) from 22.18 to 9.43. HIV (6 in 1994) once again fell off the list by 2014 and was replaced by diabetes (8 in 2014). The total rate for the top 10 causes of death per 100,000 for those aged 15 to 24 years old dropped from 85.93 in 1994 to 56.22 in 2014. Note that the total rate is over five times higher for this age group than the 10-14 age group.

25-34 yrs – For the first time the rate for unintentional injury (1 for both years) increased from 31.88 to 39.64. Rates for all other causes dropped or stayed flat. By far the largest drop came with HIV which went from 28.72 (2 in 1994) to 1.33 (8 in 2014). Note that the top 10 causes remain the same for 1994 and 2014 and the total rate per 100,000 dropped from 119.09 to 87.23.

35-44 yrs – Rates fell for most causes with the largest being HIV which went from 43.50 (1 in 1994) to 2.89 (9 in 2014). Malignant neoplasms (cancer) also saw a large drop from 39.91 to 27.78 (2 for both years). Unintentional injury jumped from 32.13 (3 in 1994) to 39.57 (1 in 2014). Smaller increases occurred for suicide (15.11 to 16.53) and diabetes (4.23 to 4.93). Once again the top 10 causes remain the same for 1994 and 2014 and the total rates per 100,000 dropped from 195.77 to 137.08.

45-54 yrs – For this age group rates related to health-related causes were a mixed bag. Cancer and heart disease (1 and 2 for both years) dropped from 141.77 to 103.47 and 109.36 to 80.29. Rate increases are seen in liver disease (16.40 to 19.91), diabetes (12.00 to 13.99), and lung disease (8.70 to 10.16). HIV (4 in 1994) again dropped off the list by 2014 and was replaced by blood poisoning (10 in 2014). The suicide rate also increased from 13.97 to 20.23. The total rate for the top 10 causes of death per 100,000 for those aged 444 to 55 years old dropped from 379.44 in 1994 to 320.06 in 2014.

55-64 yrs – With the exception of liver disease whose rate increased from 26.07 to 31.64 all other health-related causes for death experienced drops in rates per 100,000. The most significant decreases once again are seen for cancer and heart disease (1 and 2 for both years) from 420.71 to 285.16 and 326.83 to 184.21 respectively. Suicide rates increased again for this age group from 13.26 to 18.62. HIV dropped off the list (10 in 1994) and was replaced with blood poisoning (9 in 2014). The total rate per 100,000 for the top 10 causes of death for those aged 55 to 64 years old dropped from 974.56 in 1994 to 694.48 in 2014.

65+ yrs – For those 65 and older the overwhelmingly top two leading causes of death were heart disease and cancer for 1994 and 2014 though the rates dropped significantly (1,819.56 to 1,043.20 and 1,121.52 to 881.65 respectively). Other significant rate drops occurred with stroke and influenza and pneumonia (400.51 to 241.37 and 216.92 to 95.51). Alzheimer’s disease rates jumped from 54.31 to 197.26 (9 in 1994 to 5 in 2014). Increases in rates are also seen in unintentional injuries (84.41 to 102.88), nephritis (kidney disease, 58.63 to 85.12), and blood poisoning (49.01 to 62.04). The decreases in rates more than made up for the increases as the total rate per 100,000 for the top 10 causes of death for those aged 65+ dropped from 4,191.39 to 3,090.02.

All ages – Heart disease had the largest rate drop from 1994 to 2014 though remained the number one cause of death for all ages (276.89 to 191.93) just ahead of cancer (202.00 in 1994 and 184.86 in 2014). The rate of strokes also dropped from 57.96 to 41.58. Increases in rates occurred in lung disease (38.42 to 45.96), unintentional injury (34.57 to 42.51), diabetes (21.43 to 23.90), and suicide (11.77 to 13.36). Alzheimer’s disease (6 with a rate of 29.22) and kidney disease (9 with a rate of 15.04) replace HIV (8 in 1994) and liver disease (10 in 1994). For all ages the total rate per 100,000 for the top 10 causes of death dropped from 699.37 to 605.61.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1TrUBlRBYcpvWykk9i_AverDizi95-qXHEbRMiIzeQT4/edit?usp=sharing

Cross post from Facebook - Max - Roe vs Wade

Our soon-to-be president Donald Trump just reiterated his intention to appoint a justice to the Supreme Court who will repeal Roe versus Wade. While I know that the 1973 decision effectively legalized abortion nationwide I’ve never really considered what would actually transpire if it was undone. So I googled “what would happen if roe v. wade was overturned” to get some consensus. As you might imagine there were a lot of opinions. What surprised me was how most were not predicting it to be the end of the world but rather that it would cause a lot of immediate legislating.

Basically if Roe versus Wade is overturned/repealed/reversed then abortion rights would be dictated by the states. States have varying degrees of abortion laws in place with many still unchanged from pre-1973. As most are probably aware several states have made laws restricting abortion rights or downright banning abortion in the past several years. Of course, these laws have been summarily struck down or made unenforceable per the Roe v Wade precedent <-fixed for spelling. In a post-Roe v Wade America this won’t happen.

My thoughts are these: I think the Republican Party is playing a dangerous game with abortion rights. Assuming Donald Trump appoints a justice to the Supreme Court who helps reverse Roe v Wade I believe the backlash will be immense. I would not be surprised if blue and purple states start passing laws legalizing abortion in 2017 in anticipation (for example abortion would actually still be illegal here in Colorado if it weren’t for Roe). Similarly there will be red states passing laws banning abortion knowing that the inevitable lawsuits will make their way to the Supreme Court where they WON’T be overturned.

How does one political party unite an entire generation against them? Easy – take away an extremely personal right over how they manage the outcome of the most poignant act of intimacy between a man and a woman. A right the largest generation has had their entire lives and many have honestly never had to think much about as it has always just been… there. I think the protests going on now over the election are NOTHING compared to what will happen if Roe v Wade is overturned.

The political fallout should be beside the point though, right? If a person is pro-life then it’s about protecting the unborn. Unfortunately the evidence shows that the legality of abortion doesn’t make much of a difference when it comes to abortion rates. I went to the Guttmacher Institute website for the numbers (also, those with any interest in the subject should check out the site as it’s full of interesting and enlightening statistics).

“Highly restrictive abortion laws are not associated with lower abortion rates. When countries are grouped according to the grounds under which the procedure is legal, the rate is 37 abortions per 1,000 women of childbearing age where it is prohibited altogether or allowed only to save a woman’s life, compared with 34 per 1,000 where it is available on request, a nonsignificant difference.”

Of course, this means less in America where at least some states will keep it legal, thus one only has to take a trip across a boarder or two to get an abortion. If I were a Republican Representative or had aspirations to become one I would be very worried that Roe v Wade was going to be overturned. Not only is the issue hugely divisive (and one in which the popular opinion is pro-choice) but the outcome won’t even satisfy the moral prerogative to end abortions.

That is what I would call a lose-lose situation.

Cross post from Facebook - Max - It's gonna be ok

Now that Republicans will control the house, senate, and POTUS in 2017 I imagine we’ll see some changes. I’ve seen a lot of doom and gloom from my left-leaning friends so decided to figure out what might actually happen now that Republicans have essentially complete control of the federal government. As I’m not all up on all the facts I googled “what do republicans believe” and found republicanviews.org which appears to be a real Republican site written by Republicans. Here’s what I found:

-Abortion – This is pretty clear and should not be a surprise to anyone. Republicans believe abortions are immoral and should be illegal. So abortion may be out… or will it? According to Gallup polling 79% of people in the US believe abortion should be legal under at least some circumstances. If Republicans really make abortion illegal it would be incredibly unpopular. I’d be amazed if even a newly right-leaning Supreme Court would repeal Roe v Wade. My guess is they’ll just continue to do what they’re doing now which is to make abortions more difficult to obtain while not banning them outright.

-Jobs – The first thing they have written about “Jobs” is factually wrong – “With unemployment at historic highs…” but it probably just hasn’t been updated since 2008. It’s a long read but from what I gleaned from it I expect government regulations on businesses will be rolled back, corporate taxes will be lowered, minimum wage won’t change much if at all, somehow we’ll try to export billions more or will try to import billions less, and there will be incentives for employers to offer employees stock.

-Gay Marriage – Another clear and obvious view. “The Republican Party stands behind a traditional definition of marriage as a legal union between one man and one woman.” I did find it heartening at the end of the page where they acknowledge the shifting support for gay marriage country-wide (58% support it) and within their own party (39%). I really wonder if Republicans will actually do much of substance to end gay marriage as the political backlash may be too much to bear. My guess is they will continue to push that states should have the right to decide for themselves if they want to recognize gay marriage.

-Global Warming – This was an interesting read as the opinions of Republicans related to it are varied. Some acknowledge it is probably occurring and some deny it completely. Some believe in global warming but question whether humans have anything to do with it. The policies regarding global warming and environmental stuff could go any which way based on the article which means, to me, that nothing will likely change.

-National Security – No surprise here. Based on the article I imagine the government will spend even more money on the military and will be more likely to put troops/tanks/jets/etc into action when there is a threat of terrorism. Sounds to me like the TSA’s days may be numbered and Guantanamo Bay isn’t going anywhere.

-Obamacare – This one is fascinating. It’s clear that Republicans want to repeal it but they know they have to replace it with something or 19 million people would potentially lose their medical insurance. The article actually points out that the House voted to repeal Obamacare 59 times but did not once vote for a replacement. I suppose they’ll have to come up with something at this point now that Republicans have the wheel.

-Drugs – Drugs are bad m’kay? The view here is we need stricter enforcement for drug-related crime and marijuana should not be legalized. It is more than a little ironic that Republicans want stricter federal regulations over marijuana to combat “the rampant state legalizations for medical and recreational use”. It seems that states rights are paramount when it comes to gay marriage but not so much when dealing with marijuana.

So there you have it. Will much change in the next four years? Maybe yes and maybe no. The thing is that now that the Republicans have complete control over what the federal government does for the next two years (at minimum) they also have complete ownership of whatever the outcome is (at least when it comes to social issues). I think if Republicans actually do what they say they want to do in regards to abortion and gay rights they’ll be effectively putting a gun to their party’s head and pulling the trigger twice. Obamacare might be repealed but it has to be replaced and the honest alternatives proposed so far don’t sound that different than the original Affordable Care Act itself. Marijuana is gaining some serious momentum as an accepted vice and tax revenue generator plus it is being driven by state-by-state voting. National security spending will go up but when hasn’t it? Perhaps environmental protections will be reduced but I have my doubts much will actually change. The corporate tax might be cut but something must take its place as 11% of all tax revenues come from it. This is the same for all the proposed tax cuts.

Basically, I think things will more-or-less stay the same for the next few years except that we’ll have a buffoon as our president who says inappropriate things and embarrasses the country on a monthly if not weekly basis.

The end of September through all of October

September 29-October 3 – Nationals in Iowa.  We tried packing up most of the things for the trip on Tuesday night but only got the car on the trailer.  Tia’s blower motor stopped working the night before and its dash needed to be reassembled so Susan could drive it to work on Wednesday.  I also managed to damage one of the rear doors on the Suburban which caused it to pop out the passenger side rear lights.  On top of this I pulled out the wires from the trailer hookup.  Yay me.  So after work on Wednesday Susan worked on fixing the trailer hookup while I adjusted the back door.  We both had middling success.  I was able to get the door to stop knocking out the rear lights but it still scraped and popped audibly (we decided I would probably do more harm than good if I kept messing with it).  Susan was able to wire up the trailer hookup but discovered that the right blinker wasn’t functioning (it’s an issue on the Suburban which we decided was something we could figure out after the trip).  It was starting to get dark but we thought it best to still leave so finished packing up and headed out.  We drove to North Platte and stayed in a Comfort Inn.  Not long before we got to the hotel one of my dental crowns fell off eating gummy life savers.  Luckily it didn’t hurt much and I was able to wedge it back in its spot. 

On Thursday morning I called a local dentist and had my crown cemented back into place.  Then we finished the drive out to Indianola, Iowa.  After checking into our hotel (Quality Inn) and dropping off the evo and car trailer at the race site we went to dinner just up the street at Cal’s bar and grill where we got to hang out with several other competitors.  We got house wine and ate greasy stuffs whilst we talked racing. 

Friday was the day before racing and we had to check in and have our car tech’d.  After this we headed over the practice course for a few runs to acclimate to the conditions.  The course was very short and overly tight but was still worth driving.  Susan and I went to lunch at a pizza and steak place with a diverse menu (Italian, Chinese, Middle Eastern) which was very good.  Saturday’s courses were set up so we could walk them and we did so before it got dark.  Susan was the chief of timing and had to figure out the grid and run order for all the drivers.  This ended up being a pain and we were late heading over to the dinner provided by the SCCA (held at a winery across the street from the racing venue).  We tasted wine before getting in line for BBQ which ended up being tasty.  After eating there was a town hall held where various rallycross issues were discussed.  We were going to hang out and play card games with fellow Coloradan-racer Dan Hipwood but I was too tired from the day so we went back to our hotel room to sleep. 

On Saturday morning I was up well before our wakeup call at 5:30 and excited for the day.  Our run group was last which normally would mean we’d have a lot of time to hang out but Susan was stuck working during the two other groups (I was the designated writer for the stock classes (meaning I was to write an article for the club magazine “Sportscar”)).  I watched and took notes of what was going on.  Unlike last year there was no rain the night and morning of the event but morning dew made the course slick for the first run group.  By the time the second group was racing the ground was mostly dry and the cars subsequently got faster.  When we finally got to run conditions were great.  Unfortunately for me I kept hitting cones (a big no-no at national events) which immediately put me far down the standings.  I was driving frustrated and five hit cones had me in 12^th place when we broke for lunch.  Susan put down consistent runs throughout the morning and was in 9^th place. 

With the help of Susan and a pulled pork sandwich I felt better in the afternoon.  I figured I had nothing to lose and drove more relaxed and climbing up to 3^rd place by the time we were done racing on Saturday.  Susan fell two spots to 11^th place as some of the other drivers found their pace. 

We met 25+ other competitors at a downtown tavern for dinner.  Homecoming was happening so most of the restaurants were packed with high school kids.  We occupied a long table at the back of the place.  It took a LONG time to order and get our food and drinks but time went fast as we talked about the exciting day.  In the end Susan and I filled ourselves up on tasty food and headed back to our hotel. 

Sunday began with heavy fog that didn’t clear until the late morning. 

More morning dew once again had the first run group going slower but the competition was fierce.  As is with this sort of thing the best drivers ended up taking the victories in their classes despite the wet conditions.  I was upbeat when we finally got to race as I only had a little over four seconds to make up to take the lead (1.5 to get into 2^nd place).  While I immediately got into 2^nd place I only managed to be a half a second faster than the leader.  Susan put down some quick runs and maintained her position to finish in 11^th.  19 competitors from Colorado made the trip out to Iowa for the event and many came away with trophies.  After the awards ceremony we hopped into the Suburban and started home.  We stopped in Ogallala, Nebraska for the night (another Quality Inn) as we were too exhausted to make it all the way to Denver. 

Monday had us driving the last three hours to Denver where we picked up our WRX (it was getting its axle seal replaced again) before heading home.  After unpacking we went out for lunch at Sweet Tomatoes and did a little necessary shopping.  We then spent the evening alternatively napping on the couch with the pugs whom we had missed very much. 

October 8-9 weekend – Twas a quiet weekend for us which was great.  I was going to be installing a newly rebuilt steering rack on the WRX but that had to wait as the shop we used was closed over the weekend.  We ended up relaxing quite a bit and trying out a couple of new (to us) breakfast places.  On Saturday we tried The Bistro which was fancy-schmancy.  The food was delicious and reminded me of breakfasts on past cruise ships we’ve been on.  We went to Breakfast Off Broadway on Sunday because they had bottomless Mimosas which Susan wanted to try (she did like them).  I think it was the best breakfast place we’ve gone to yet.  The food was tasty and the coffee was excellent.  They also had live music in the form of a bass guitarist jamming out with a looper pedal.  Very cool. 

October 10-11 – I picked up a rebuilt steering rack on Monday after work and headed home with the intent that I’d install it quickly.  I made a mistake when connecting the steering knuckle to the rack which essentially ruined the knuckle’s splines.  I spent far too much time trying to make it work just to give up at 10:00 that night.  The next day I went to our local awesome junk yard and found a couple of steering knuckles that could work for $10 a piece (a new one would have cost around $200).  It took me approximately 20 seconds to install the junk yard knuckle the correct way and I had the rest together after another couple of hours.  Susan and I then dropped off the WRX for an alignment and got dinner at Chili’s which was pleasant.  When we got home we discovered Sophie had peed in her kennel so she got a bath in the kitchen sink.  After drying her off Susan put her by the water bowel and Sophie fell on her side.  She arched her back and her limbs went stiff.  We’ve never seen Sophie have a seizure before and now are worried this is why she’s been making mistakes in her kennel.  Hopefully it was an isolated incident and not indicative of serious problems. 

October 14 – dinner and games at Kari and Alvin’s house.  They baked Costco food (ravioli and mac’n’cheese) and we brought salad.  Alvin’s sister (Emily) and husband (Kevin) were there as well as Jeff.  We ate and then cleared the table to play Cabo.  It was an epic game and Alvin came away the victor.  Emily and Kevin were first-timers but picked it up right away.  Kari and Alvin just adopted a puppy from New Mexico they named Ringo.  The vet thinks he might be a Rottweiler/German Shepherd mix but he’s pretty small and doesn’t look like he’ll get a whole lot bigger (little paws).  Whatever his pedigree Ringo is very cute and has a calm demeanor. 

October 15 – I had plans to do work on Tia in the morning but we decided to be lazy and went out for breakfast instead.  This time we went to a restaurant named Urban Egg which was south of C470 off Broadway which is closer to home than most any of the other breakfast eateries.  The name had me thinking it would be hip and modern but it was pretty standard (or what I think of standard for such places).  This is not a bad thing as the service, food, and coffee were all good.  I’m not sure it is our favorite place but its close location may help it become a standard weekend venue for us.  After breakfast we drove around town running errands before coming home to prep to race. 

While I swapped out the wheels on the WRX (our car of choice for the event) Susan took apart and fiddled with the wiring on the Suburban.  I managed to hammer the Suburban’s back door into better shape and it no longer scrapes and pops when opened or closed (win!).  After a couple of hours of checking the wiring and having a lot of dirt fall on her face Susan discovered that a blown fuse was the cause of the trailer blinker not working.  Next time we’ll know to check the fuses first when something like this happens.  We finished the day with the WRX loaded on the car trailer. 

October 16 – rallycross at USTDS.  We got up extra early on Sunday and the sun wasn’t up until we were almost to the event site.  I thought there was a timing issue which ended up only being in my head.  Susan did her normal thing and the WRX got through tech with no issues.  I was excited to drive the WRX and was perplexed on the very first turn when I lifted off the accelerator but the car kept on accelerating as if my foot was pushed to the floor.  Apparently starting with our particular model the car’s computer keeps the revs high for a moment after you lift off the gas pedal to help the driver shift smoother.  This might be fine in daily driving but at the racetrack means that one can’t depend on the gas pedal to react in the way one would expect.  It really felt like the car was trying to kill us and it made us two frustrated drivers.  Predictably we did horribly but on the bright side I learned how to left-foot brake as doing so was the only way I could get the car to act like I wanted it to.  The front bumper didn’t approve of hitting cones (which we did a lot of) and we found out that it could come most of the way off the car if we weren’t careful.  The WRX also didn’t like being driven too hard as it almost overheated after one particular high-reving run (yikes!).  Also the power steering couldn’t keep up on the tighter turns.  Basically we should have driven the evo as it is a better car in every way.  Susan earned the cone-killer award for hitting the most of anyone competing by hitting 20 (her first!).  We did end up having a good time as we didn’t really have a choice but to accept our fate and deal with it.  Luckily for me the guy who I’m most competing with for season points also had a bad day.  The WRX had started the day with almost brand-new snow tires which were essentially destroyed while racing.  They were really cheap and came with the car so we were ok with the sacrifice.  After the event we attempted to get dinner with some friends but found the two restaurants we went to had wait times too long for us.  Susan and I actually went to a Wendy’s before heading back home. 

October 16 – both of us worked late and I got home to find Sophie had made a mess in her kennel.  I gave her a bath and then Susan got home.  While she was drying Sophie had another seizure.  This time she cried out as it was happening.  Maybe the saddest sound I have ever heard.  We don’t know what’s going on and wonder if somehow the baths themselves are somehow causing them.  After the incident she seemed like her normal self.  Susan took her to work the next day to watch her (of course, she was fine). 

Sophie has been staying in her own kennel the last week or two as she has consistently made mistakes before we’ve gotten home.  I had the feeling that she doing her business soon before we got home and perhaps would do better if she was with Tweetie again.  Sure enough, we gave it a shot and Sophie made it through the whole day without incident.  We’re glad as we were doing a lot of extra laundry.  Plus we do think something to do with the sudden drop in her body temperature after her baths was causing her seizures and no mistakes means no baths. 

October 22 – the morning started late with us driving up to Snooze for breakfast.  Unfortunately a whole lot of other folks were doing the same thing and the wait was 45 minutes to an hour.  I tried to take the edge out of my scoff as we left.  Unable to come to a consensus we ended up at Village Inn.  Besides having an obviously harried waitress it was a pleasant experience.  I think going to Village Inn worked to reset our breakfast expectations.  Susan didn’t agree but I think she just wanted Mimosas (which they don’t serve).  After we got home we took a close look at the evo’s suspension. 

The knocking sound coming from the passenger front side which started back in August didn’t go away when I reattached the side skirt and has progressively worsened.  We were very worried the strut was blow which would be a huge bummer as a replacement strut would be very expensive and the manufacturer (Bilstein) doesn’t rebuild them anymore (they used to until early 2015).  We found that entering our driveway quickly caused the noise so we took turns listening from the outside while the other drove.  I put the evo on jack stands and checked everything out thoroughly.  It was at this point I discovered the trailing arm bushing (a big hockey puck-shaped rubber thing) was completely trashed on the passenger side.  The driver’s side was torn some but in better shape.  Bingo!  We figured out the noise.  While I was doing this Susan worked to clean up the WRX’s interior (gear oil had leaked onto the passenger foot well – yuck).  Jeff came by in the evening for dinner and conversation.  I made marinated pork which exceeded our expectations.  We had a nice time. 

October 23 – we finally dropped off Tia at the body shop to get fixed on the way up to have breakfast at Breakfast Off Broadway with Jeff.  It was pretty busy at the restaurant and we beat Jeff by 20 minutes but we were able to be seated immediately when he arrived.  Once again the food was excellent and Susan enjoyed her Mimosas.  On the way home we stopped at an auto parts store to pick up sway bar end links for the WRX (that one rallycross really took its toll on the car).  They didn’t take long to install and I also rotated the tires so the slightly-less-shredded tires would be on the front of the car.  I also noticed that the axle seal is still leaking.  Yay.  Our buddy Dan Hipwood came by with some clean and un-torn Miata seats we bought off him.  He has two Miatas which he is turning into one using the best bits of both while selling off what he doesn’t need.  Bonus for us.  He also picked up his rally wheels/tires we had brought back from Iowa for him. 

October 26 – Susan picked up Tia from the body shop.  We didn’t know how long it would take for Tia to be fixed and painted but were surprised when Susan got a call it was done only three days after we dropped it off.  Susan was so excited she left work to pick her up.  The shop did a great job as far as we can tell as one really can’t tell anything is amiss. 

October 28 – went to Alvin and Kari’s for dinner and car work.  I reached out to Alvin about pressing out and in the new bushings on the evo’s control arms as having a shop do it added a lot of potential expense.  Since I had to pull the control arms out I decided to replace the other bushing on the control arms along with the ball joints.  Taking out the control arms was surprisingly easy and I did so the night before having the new bits installed.  We brought marinated chicken (same seasoning packet as with the pork the week before) which Susan and Kari put in the oven while Alvin and I worked in the garage.  Getting out the bushing wasn’t the easiest thing but eventually we (mostly Alvin) prevailed.  We did find something unfortunate when trying to press in the new ball joint on the driver’s side control arm.  About a year ago I installed a new ball joint that was not an exact fit for the control arm (sometimes part stores have incorrect numbers).  In fact it was too big and now the hole was too large for the correct ball joint to fit snuggly.  Dang.  While it might seem sketchy I bought some JB Weld which we used to mortar the new ball joint in place.  This should work just fine except for when the ball joint eventually goes bad and we have to replace the whole control arm (there is NO way anyone is getting out the ball joint we just installed).  Such it is.  Dinner was tasty and I had the opportunity to help carry out some old couches to the sidewalk for craigslist peoples to pick up.  We stayed late which was fine as the company was good. 

October 29 – we slept in late and after taking care of the pugs I installed control arms on the evo.  With the ease of removal I was hoping the installation of the control arms would be simple.  I was incorrect.  The new hockey-puck bushings were quite a bit thicker than the OEM bushings and thus were larger than the space they were to occupy.  Grease, brute force, and a rubber mallet convinced them to go in their home (plus I had to disconnect the tie rods and pull the struts… fun).  I finished up around noon and we dropped off the evo for an alignment on our way to a late breakfast at Breakfast Queen.  Breakfast Queen is just north of Hampden on Broadway which was convenient for us.  We got their around an hour before they close and the restaurant was mostly empty because of it.  The food was excellent as was the coffee.  Amazingly the alignment on the evo was done before we finished eating and we picked it up on our way home.  This was after driving around trying to find a place for Susan to get her flu shot.  Our insurance says most any grocery store will be covered but we found this to not be the case. 

October 30 – we went up to Conifer Medical to get Susan’s flu shot as we knew it was covered there.  Since we were in the area we had a late breakfast with John and Karen at DW’s 285 Diner.  We had a nice time talking about this and that while eating way too much good food.  On the way home we decided that the remainder of the day would be a lazy one.  Susan ended up taking a nap on the couch while I played video games and we did not add anything of value to society for the rest of the night.  It was nice. 

October 31 – Susan took Bella to work for Halloween.  Bella dressed up as a bunny rabbit.  So cute!