Friday, March 28, 2008
Thursday, March 27, 2008
CT-scan
I had a CT-scan on Tuesday to measure my progress. It is not as detailed as something like a PET-scan, but it does provide some useful information. I had previously had a CT-scan maybe a month ago when I developed an infection, so they were able to compare the two to see how things have changed. The results showed that my lymph nodes are definitely improving. They had gone down since the previous CT-scan, and so the doctor was optimistic about the way things were going.
We will know a lot more in about two months though when I have a PET-scan. That is on May 14th, and it will tell us whether I really kicked the cancer's butt Chuck Norris style or whether the ENT will have to perform one more surgery.
I guess I better go watch some Walker Texas Ranger to learn sweet new moves!
Steve
We will know a lot more in about two months though when I have a PET-scan. That is on May 14th, and it will tell us whether I really kicked the cancer's butt Chuck Norris style or whether the ENT will have to perform one more surgery.
I guess I better go watch some Walker Texas Ranger to learn sweet new moves!
Steve
Monday, March 24, 2008
Article with UA econ prof
Here is a great article by U of A Econ professor, Dr. Swanson. Dr. Swanson's popularity on campus is hard to describe; people love him so much. He has an incredible ability to explain economics in common sense terms and inspires a passion for the subject in all of his students.
Article
Article
Friday, March 21, 2008
Quote of the Day
Quote of the Day: "This isn't Carmen San Diego. This is the University of San Diego." -- CBS Sports Announcer.
I wish I was playing Where in the World is Carmen San Diego right now. Of course I can't download it because it is not compatible with Windows Vista. I checked and The Oregon Trail is also not compatible with Vista. Good work Bill Gates. For those of you interested:
Carmen San Diego
The Oregon Trail
Both have dowload options.
I wish I was playing Where in the World is Carmen San Diego right now. Of course I can't download it because it is not compatible with Windows Vista. I checked and The Oregon Trail is also not compatible with Vista. Good work Bill Gates. For those of you interested:
Carmen San Diego
The Oregon Trail
Both have dowload options.
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Sunday, March 16, 2008
NCAA Tournament
I thought it would be fun to have a tournament pool for everyone who reads the blog. Anyone is welcome to join.
You just need to go to here and set up a user id and password.
Then go here to join the Mighty Ducks group. The group name is Mighty Ducks. The group abbreviation is mightyducks, and the group password is gordon_bombay.
I think that should do it. If not let me know, but I think it should be easy with the information I have given you to join the group. If people have better suggestions then just post them under the comments.
You just need to go to here and set up a user id and password.
Then go here to join the Mighty Ducks group. The group name is Mighty Ducks. The group abbreviation is mightyducks, and the group password is gordon_bombay.
I think that should do it. If not let me know, but I think it should be easy with the information I have given you to join the group. If people have better suggestions then just post them under the comments.
The Candidates
Who is the only candidate for curtailing the monstrous amount of farm subsidies doled out every year that are keeping poor countries from being able to sell their products? Click here
Hint: It is the same candidate who is the only one for ending the ethanol subsidies. Click here
But what's wrong with Ethanol. Click here
Hint: It is the same candidate who is the only one for ending the ethanol subsidies. Click here
But what's wrong with Ethanol. Click here
Saturday, March 15, 2008
The Poor Yankees
A Yankees player makes a terribly hard slide into a Devil Rays' shortstop, gets fined and somehow the Yankees are the victims in all this. Look at what Hank Steinbrenner had the gall to say. Note: you may want to throw up if you c0ntinue reading. In fact reading this made me more nauseous than any chemo treatment.
This time, Yankees general partner Hank Steinbrenner took up the charge, reaffirming the front office's support of manager Joe Girardi, backing the players and making a comment that clearly was directed at the small-market Rays.
"I don't want these teams in general to forget who subsidizes a lot of them, and it's the Yankees, the Red Sox, Dodgers, Mets," he said to The New York Post. "I would prefer if teams want to target the Yankees that they at least start giving some of that revenue sharing and luxury tax money back. From an owner's point of view, that's my point."
I guess not wanting to get cleated in the chest counts as going as going after the Yankees.Thursday, March 13, 2008
Brophy Lacrosse
Last night was the final tune-up for the Broncos before their trip to D.C. for the Jesuit High School Lacrosse Classic. The Broncos looked tough and so did freshman sensation Ryan "Manny" Manos. Manos was put it at goalie to replace Junior, Duke-committed goalie Pierce and notched a very impressive save, allowing only one goal.
The defending state champion Broncos will have their hands full as the tournament is "arguably the country's premier high school lacrosse tournament." The tournament features tough teams like #5 ranked Georgetown Preparatory School.
Good luck Broncos!
The defending state champion Broncos will have their hands full as the tournament is "arguably the country's premier high school lacrosse tournament." The tournament features tough teams like #5 ranked Georgetown Preparatory School.
Good luck Broncos!
Tuesday, March 11, 2008
life in the Old Pueblo
I have been resisting temptations to link to any articles, so I just thought I would give an update on what has been going on. Although, it is likely more articles will be coming!
At the beginning of my treatment, my Aunt Maryanne had her class make cards for me, which was really nice, and one card stood out among all the others. It was from a girl who had Leukemia and told me she knew what I was going through. Here is a picture of it:
The card has been a great reminder that there are worse things to go through than my type of cancer. Going to treatments, you always see people that remind you that life could be a lot tougher.
I have been fortunate to have an incredible amount of support and that has made all the difference in the world. I have been amazed at how many people visit this blog!
Still, things have not been improving quite as fast as I had hoped, but it is definitely nice not to have to go get radiation every day. You can't complain when you get to sleep in until noon and then read and surf the internet all day! So, this isn't complaining, just telling you what's going on. It is still difficult to talk, so I rarely do it. My throat is really raw, which makes talking difficult, and has kept me from eating. The other problem is that I produce a lot of mucus in my mouth, and there is some blood in the mucus. Once the blood stops showing up in the mucus, I think that will be a good signal for my throat having healed.
From here on out, I meet with the radiation oncologist every week for the next three weeks, will have a CT scan in two weeks, and a PET-scan in about three months. The PET and CT scans are to make sure that we have gotten everything. My ear, nose, and throat doctor/surgeon is a little worried about two nodes on the left side of my neck that still appear enlarged. If they do show up positive, I will have to have another surgery to remove (many of) the lymph nodes on the left side of my neck. (Many of the right ones are already gone.) So, I am starting a routine of meditation and hopefully yoga to try alternative healing. Also, I am starting to put together recipes of healthier cancer fighting meals for when I can eat again. (Note: this does not rule out eating Greek style macaroni and cheese.)
It has been nice to have visitors. I have gotten great visits from Ted, the Dude, Lynn, Maw Maw, and Mary (and my family). I know I have discouraged visiting when I wasn't feeling well, but if people want to now, they are more than welcome. For those of you in Seattle or who want to go to Seattle I hope to go there in about a month. I will give an update on that as plans solidify for those who would want to meet up there.
For my fellow runners, I think we are hoping to set up some sort of reunion/get together. Let me know what you think.
At the beginning of my treatment, my Aunt Maryanne had her class make cards for me, which was really nice, and one card stood out among all the others. It was from a girl who had Leukemia and told me she knew what I was going through. Here is a picture of it:
The card has been a great reminder that there are worse things to go through than my type of cancer. Going to treatments, you always see people that remind you that life could be a lot tougher.
I have been fortunate to have an incredible amount of support and that has made all the difference in the world. I have been amazed at how many people visit this blog!
Still, things have not been improving quite as fast as I had hoped, but it is definitely nice not to have to go get radiation every day. You can't complain when you get to sleep in until noon and then read and surf the internet all day! So, this isn't complaining, just telling you what's going on. It is still difficult to talk, so I rarely do it. My throat is really raw, which makes talking difficult, and has kept me from eating. The other problem is that I produce a lot of mucus in my mouth, and there is some blood in the mucus. Once the blood stops showing up in the mucus, I think that will be a good signal for my throat having healed.
From here on out, I meet with the radiation oncologist every week for the next three weeks, will have a CT scan in two weeks, and a PET-scan in about three months. The PET and CT scans are to make sure that we have gotten everything. My ear, nose, and throat doctor/surgeon is a little worried about two nodes on the left side of my neck that still appear enlarged. If they do show up positive, I will have to have another surgery to remove (many of) the lymph nodes on the left side of my neck. (Many of the right ones are already gone.) So, I am starting a routine of meditation and hopefully yoga to try alternative healing. Also, I am starting to put together recipes of healthier cancer fighting meals for when I can eat again. (Note: this does not rule out eating Greek style macaroni and cheese.)
It has been nice to have visitors. I have gotten great visits from Ted, the Dude, Lynn, Maw Maw, and Mary (and my family). I know I have discouraged visiting when I wasn't feeling well, but if people want to now, they are more than welcome. For those of you in Seattle or who want to go to Seattle I hope to go there in about a month. I will give an update on that as plans solidify for those who would want to meet up there.
For my fellow runners, I think we are hoping to set up some sort of reunion/get together. Let me know what you think.
Monday, March 10, 2008
Baby Blankets
Two of my friends started a baby blanket company and they are producing the coolest blankets. Here is a link to their website. I never imagined I would be passionate about baby blankets, but I am about these. Also, please don't get one for Mary and Danny; I think they already got enough loot.
Steve
Steve
Sunday, March 9, 2008
photos from my walks
One of my favorite ways to recuperate is to go on walks at night. It is so peaceful and gorgeous in the foothills that I am always more relaxed and content afterwards. On weeknights my dad, Jen, and I have a 2.5 mile route that we usually do and I just finished a nice walk with my mom and Jen.
I decided to post a few pictures of the walks and the surrounding area.
The women of Placita Bacanora:
Snow in Tucson!
My mom and I:
I decided to post a few pictures of the walks and the surrounding area.
The women of Placita Bacanora:
Snow in Tucson!
My mom and I:
Friday, March 7, 2008
More
I have to admit that the articles I linked to earlier are from Greg Mankiw's blog. Greg is a famous economist who has served on the President's Council of Economic Advisors and wrote the most commonly used intro to Econ textbook.
I found this article on NAFTA
http://www.american.com/archive/2008/march-02-08/doing-a-job-on-nafta
And this slide show is a GREAT explanation of what happened in the subprime markets. WARNING: it is PG13 for some strong language-i.e. Mom you should probably skip this one. If you look at one of the two, look at this. It is pretty funny.
http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjsr4fn&skipauth=true&pli=1
I found this article on NAFTA
http://www.american.com/archive/2008/march-02-08/doing-a-job-on-nafta
And this slide show is a GREAT explanation of what happened in the subprime markets. WARNING: it is PG13 for some strong language-i.e. Mom you should probably skip this one. If you look at one of the two, look at this. It is pretty funny.
http://docs.google.com/TeamPresent?docid=ddp4zq7n_0cdjsr4fn&skipauth=true&pli=1
Thursday, March 6, 2008
one more economics post
I really liked both articles, so I am going to respond to Billy's post. Jim we can discuss more over making some calzones, and Bean we can discuss more when I come up to the Great Northeast.
I just wanted to clarify why the government gives tax breaks to U.S. companies that locate overseas. At first it seems like some horrible Republican scheme to make the rich richer; it seems like some way to promote the corporate greed that is strangling the poor and American culture.
I know this is what it sounds like, but there is what I think a logical explanation for it; although Barak and Hillary would like the people of Ohio to think this is why they have lost their jobs. The explanation is that at some point it became popular for American companies to repatriate to foreign countries to take advantage of both cheap labor and lower tax rates. Many developing countries like Vietnam were able to experience high economic growth rates by creating Export Processing Zones (EPZs) or Free Trade Zones (FTZs) which are areas of the country that are designated as trade barrier free and tax free. So American companies could move there and pay no corporate taxes and could import intermediate products without paying any tariffs. In other words, they are areas of the country that literally practice free trade. As my uncle Jim pointed out, in the U.S. and all other countries, we don't really practice free trade.
The U.S. suffered not only from job losses, but also started losing a significant amount of income in the form of lost income taxes. So, the U.S. wanted to devise a way to keep these companies from repatriating. In other words, the U.S. wanted to let companies move elsewhere and still tax them. The solution was to offer them a lower corporate tax rate- i.e. give them a tax break. The idea being if we don't do this we lose their taxes and so we might as well accept less taxes rather than none.
I was not aware of Barak Obama's plan to give tax breaks to companies that stay here. In general I don't see why you wouldn't just lower the corporate tax rate to make it more attractive for companies to locate here. Part of it is that I am not a believer in all these amendments to our tax system, and am in favor of simplifying things.
But what does this mean for the strength of the dollar? Well, anything that makes it more attractive to invest in U.S. companies means that would strengthen the dollar. More prosperous U.S. companies means more foreigners want to invest in the U.S. and to do this they need U.S. dollars. This increase in demand for U.S. dollars increases the value of the dollar. I am not really sure if this answers your question.
I don't know what the impact on exports would be on more companies locating here, because the dollar may strengthen hurting exports, but we are also producing more; so I don't know what the net effect is.
I just wanted to clarify why the government gives tax breaks to U.S. companies that locate overseas. At first it seems like some horrible Republican scheme to make the rich richer; it seems like some way to promote the corporate greed that is strangling the poor and American culture.
I know this is what it sounds like, but there is what I think a logical explanation for it; although Barak and Hillary would like the people of Ohio to think this is why they have lost their jobs. The explanation is that at some point it became popular for American companies to repatriate to foreign countries to take advantage of both cheap labor and lower tax rates. Many developing countries like Vietnam were able to experience high economic growth rates by creating Export Processing Zones (EPZs) or Free Trade Zones (FTZs) which are areas of the country that are designated as trade barrier free and tax free. So American companies could move there and pay no corporate taxes and could import intermediate products without paying any tariffs. In other words, they are areas of the country that literally practice free trade. As my uncle Jim pointed out, in the U.S. and all other countries, we don't really practice free trade.
The U.S. suffered not only from job losses, but also started losing a significant amount of income in the form of lost income taxes. So, the U.S. wanted to devise a way to keep these companies from repatriating. In other words, the U.S. wanted to let companies move elsewhere and still tax them. The solution was to offer them a lower corporate tax rate- i.e. give them a tax break. The idea being if we don't do this we lose their taxes and so we might as well accept less taxes rather than none.
I was not aware of Barak Obama's plan to give tax breaks to companies that stay here. In general I don't see why you wouldn't just lower the corporate tax rate to make it more attractive for companies to locate here. Part of it is that I am not a believer in all these amendments to our tax system, and am in favor of simplifying things.
But what does this mean for the strength of the dollar? Well, anything that makes it more attractive to invest in U.S. companies means that would strengthen the dollar. More prosperous U.S. companies means more foreigners want to invest in the U.S. and to do this they need U.S. dollars. This increase in demand for U.S. dollars increases the value of the dollar. I am not really sure if this answers your question.
I don't know what the impact on exports would be on more companies locating here, because the dollar may strengthen hurting exports, but we are also producing more; so I don't know what the net effect is.
Tuesday, March 4, 2008
Two Posts in One Day
I am only posting twice, because I am watching the election results come in and NAFTA is turning out to be one of the main issues for the Democrats. So, I am linking to two articles. The first article is a "conservative" article explaining how NAFTA is not the problem
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/rescuing_the_rust_belt.html
The second article is for you "liberals". It is about why Obama is a better pick for people who believe in free trade. I don't know if I believe it, but it is interesting.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f24fa1c4-e92b-11dc-8365-0000779fd2ac.html
By the way, the articles are written by two of the most respected economists. Let me know what you think.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2008/03/rescuing_the_rust_belt.html
The second article is for you "liberals". It is about why Obama is a better pick for people who believe in free trade. I don't know if I believe it, but it is interesting.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/f24fa1c4-e92b-11dc-8365-0000779fd2ac.html
By the way, the articles are written by two of the most respected economists. Let me know what you think.
Recovery
It has been a little while since I posted because there hasn't really been much to update on. One of the worst problems that came with the radiation is that I constantly am producing a ton of mucus in my mouth. So, I am always spitting into Kleenex to try and get rid of it. It is pretty gross and keeps me up all night. I also have a lot of mucus in my chest and other areas which keeps me up. I thought this problem would at least diminish by now, but there has been no real progress. Also, my throat is still really sore from the radiation.
So, it looks like it will still be a while before I can eat, but all in all, I am in good spirits. It is really nice not to have to go in for radiation therapy everyday! Yesterday, I went to a Diamondbacks spring training game, and Saturday I went for a great hike with my mom, sister, and the Dude. So, I am back to being pretty active again. Thank you all for your continued support.
Steve
So, it looks like it will still be a while before I can eat, but all in all, I am in good spirits. It is really nice not to have to go in for radiation therapy everyday! Yesterday, I went to a Diamondbacks spring training game, and Saturday I went for a great hike with my mom, sister, and the Dude. So, I am back to being pretty active again. Thank you all for your continued support.
Steve
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