Archive for April, 2008

What does it mean if you sleep in the “Loosely Tethered Sleeping Style” versus “The Honeymoon Hug” or “The Royal Position”? What is the “Zen Style”? Do the “Leg Hug” or the “The Cliffhanger” indicate trouble in paradise? How do you and your spouse and what does that say about your relationship?

From this post

If you haven’t seen the amusing and interesting movie, Project Grizzly, about Ontario, Canada inventor Troy Hurtubuise I strongly recommend you check it out. It features Troy on an expensive quest ($100,000) to build a suit that would allow him to go head to head with a grizzly bear. I won’t spoil the ending but its a good one. He worked on that project for 7 years.

Anyways, Troy seemingly never stops thinking about solution for potential imagined or real problems. His latest exoskeleton suit appears at first glance to be an escapee from a sci-fi B-movie. There is something inspiring about people tilting at windmills while producing interesting design I guess.

What a crazy secret. What a waste. I barely print anything any more, although I use a laser printer when I do.

From this post

Some of the most treacherous water in the world.

Yes, this is the best time ever to excel.

This is the most depressing and hopeless state that the United States of America has been in since the great depression of the twenties. That is a reality. Not that this information is tantamount to the death of any soldier or civilian in Iraq today, or the death or suffering of anyone anywhere for any reason anywhere on the earth today. No, not even close to that reality.  But it is an opportune time for  sentient human beings. This is a time that is ripe for growth. Personal growth. When all about us seems to be failing on one level or another. This is a window in time to excel, yes, to rise above the common and become a beacon of light in a dark night, way offshore with no apparent guide to safety. Each of us has the ability to offer some reaffirmation of basic human values and respect. In a climate of descending values and respect we may segregate ourselves by offering a message of solidarity and hope. A positive and constructive statement, a statement of concern for our fellow travelers in this world. Be strong is the message. Hold true to your deepest beliefs. The belief you know is paramount to the basic fabric of life on this earth. Be kind.

I want to take a moment and write a bit about car accidents.

My wife and children were involved in an awful wreck 10 days ago when their vehicle was struck by a driver who ran a red light at nearly 60 miles per hour. My wife was driving our Suzuki Reno and the car itself was totaled in the accident, though — thankfully — my family escaped with only injuries; some worse then others.

I am not going to detail the physical injuries in this post. My purpose in writing this today is to raise a little awareness about a side effect of traumatic accidents that I was not previously aware of. I am talking about “Post Traumatic Stress Disorder” or PTSD. Before I get into it though I want to share with you a picture or two of the car post accident, so that you can get a feel for the violence of this particular accident.

Ok — first up is a picture of the front end of our car. As you can see, the car preformed as it was designed to do in the event of a catastrophic accident: The engine collapsed to the pavement, and the engine compartment folded itself around the passenger area, protecting the occupants of the vehicle.

Officers who arrived on the scene just after the accident and who interviewed the eyewitnesses tell me that my wife probably didn’t see the other vehicle until he appeared out of the blind spot near the crest of the hill, less then 20 feet from the intersection. Reacting on instinct, she slammed down hard on her breaks, and struck the other vehicle broadside in the passenger doors. Had she not reacted the way she did, he would have probably struck her broadside, and considering the size and weight of the other car — the outcome of the accident would have been very different for her and my children.

She tells me she can still see his face as clear as day as he looked up from whatever it was he was doing just as our car impacted with his. I can imagine the surprise on his face.

Thankfully, the other driver was riding alone, and there were no injuries in his car.

We were lucky, but not altogether unscathed. My 10 year old daughter was cut by her seatbelt in the lower part of her belly and required 20 stitches. Thats a picture of her stitches, next to the picture of our car (above). My son was the luckiest of all. Asleep at the time of the accident escaped with bruises on his face and back and a bloody nose. My wife was not so lucky, of course. She probably tensed up as she stomped down on the breaks, and her body suffered for it. Her injuries are numerous and include a fractured pelvic joint, a bulging disc in her spine where her neck meets her head, a large gash in her right shin and dozens of contusions over most of her body — especially on her left side.

Her worst injury by far in my opinion is something I had never considered before the accident. Because the accident happened at the corner just outside of our rural neighborhood, there is no way to avoid the intersection. She cannot ride in a car now without spontaneously and uncontrollably weeping. She has from horrible dreams wherein she relives the accident over and over, and consequently  suffers from insomnia. She is also prone to waking flashbacks, as well as visions of similar collisions whenever we pass another vehicle on a two lane road, or even while parking in the parking lot of our local grocery store. She is terrified of driving, and her body seems to be on a heightened state of alert at all times. This anxiety and stress has compounded her more physical injuries and caused her debilitating pain.

Because of the circumstances around the accident; the other driver running the red light, the impact with his vehicle, the spinning and subsequent ditching of our car, the smell of the airbags after deployment and the screams of my children as our care settled at the bottom of a ravine  — and because she was driving not only herself, but our children as well — she suffers from what her doctors have diagnosed as “post traumatic stress disorder. I am told that her recovery will be complete, and that she will eventually feel whole again, but the mental recovery will likely take months — perhaps even years. In the meantime I have read everything that I can find on PTSD and auto accidents, and I am struck by stories of anxiety and mental anguish that often persist long after stitches are removed and broken bones heal.

Honestly — I always assumed that PTSD was something soldiers suffered from after experiencing war up close. I never imagined that the same kind of thing might apply to those who survive a near fatal collision.  As a guy who has always been able to shrug off adversity, I must admit that it has always been hard for me to understand depression or anxiety. My gut reaction is to tell her to get back on the horse as soon as her physical injuries have healed, and maybe that works for some people — who knows? The truth of the matter is I have seen the very real effects this accident has had on my wife beyond the physical ones — I now have a deeper understanding and empathy for those who have experienced these kind of traumatic events in their lives. It is my hope that anyone who suffers from this kind of thing gets the help they need for both their physical and emotional injuries because there can be no real recovery without addressing both.

This recipe couldn’t be easier from Mark Bittman of the New York Times. He is being shown how to do this in a New York Times video with Jim Lahey of Sullivan Street Bakery in Manhattan.

Now that is what I call an escalator.

Also, as a bonus -- this escalator in Prague is apparently the longest in the E.U