Fellow me not

Word came today that I didn’t make the finalist cut for the Friday Fellowship program. I have really mixed feelings about this. While I would totally geek out over discussing leadership with like-minded citizens and enjoy the bonding experience, frankly I came within a whisker of deferring my nomination for another time. I’ve taken on an engaging new job, I’m helping multiple nonprofit organizations, trying to be a good father and husband in there somewhere, and have now committed as Ligon Middle School’s next PTA president. I had to be kidding myself to think that I could juggle all this and the program, too.

On the upside, I didn’t so much mind rescinding the vacation requests I made a year ahead of time for the retreats I now won’t be attending. I’m certain to fill those weekends with other tasks, and now I can consider adding those vacation days to an epic trip of some variety.

It was a honor being nominated, to be sure. I gave it my best shot and that’s all I can do. Time to move on because life doesn’t wait.

Mitochondria disease

The past few weeks have been so busy for me that I’m only now coming up for air. Going through my list of to do items that had been piling up, I chanced to put in a Google search in an effort to see what my New York illness episode potentially had to do with Gulf War Illness (GWI). A search for “gulf war” and “capillaries” brought me to an online announcement of a recent research study that links GWI to something called mitochrondria disease.

Reading about mitochondria disease was both a revelation and … well, a bit anticlimactic. Checking off the list of symptoms that matched what I’ve had it just seemed like well, of course you have mitochondria disease. While this does give me satisfaction in knowing what I have, simply having a name for what I’ve been suffering from doesn’t bring me any closer to a cure. But at least there are some strategies for mitigating it. I haven’t been officially diagnosed but I’m going in to see my doctor as soon as I can.
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Vital vitals

My health isn’t all scary, fortunately. I saw the doctor on Wednesday to try to get some answers. Though I’m still waiting on those answers, I was quite pleased to hear my blood pressure is 113/71 with a pulse of 55.

Those are fantastic numbers and I don’t know to what I can attribute them. It’s not like I’m exercising more than I was, or eating better. I think the biggest change between this reading and the unhealthier reading I had a few months back is simply being in a job now that I love.

I suspected that my last job situation was significantly impacting my health. Now there is some evidence that might back that up.

Tyson Shows Star Power :: North Carolina State University Bulletin

The tickling photo of Hallie and Travis with Dr. Neil DeGrasse Tyson made it to the N.C. State website. Also, you can see us pretty easily in the audience in the first photo. Pretty fun to find!

NC State hosted a bona fide superstar last Thursday when astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, director of the Hayden Planetarium in New York City and host of the Fox TV show “Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey,” came to campus.

If you’ve ever seen Tyson give a lecture or hold forth in one of his 10 appearances on the “Colbert Report,” you know he has a galaxy-sized personality and charisma to match. Both were on full display during his campus appearances, which included a roundtable interview with local media, a meeting with students in the College of Sciences and a public lecture in the Hunt Library auditorium.

via Tyson Shows Star Power :: North Carolina State University Bulletin.

Penalties for estate tax!

Oh noes!!1! Now I has the penalties for estate tax! Differently I’ll take legal action!

I love how F-PROT anti-virus is sophisticated enough to say there’s “no malware in this announcement,” as opposed to, say, “no malware in this message.” Good stuff.

Good morning!
You has the penalties for estate tax.
Total: $290.82

===Detailed notice is in the attached file===

You gotta check out paper before: June 25th 2014.
Differently you’ll take legal action.

Very sincerely yours,
Supervisor of North Carolina Department of Revenue.
Alicia Owen
+1 (321) 513-22-52

Any questions? Send an email for more information or help.

No malware found in this announcement. Checked by F-PROT Antivirus. Thu, 24 Apr 2014 12:13:06 +0100

Exhibit B for sloppy N&O editing

Well, that didn’t take long. No sooner did I complain about a glaring error in the Sunday Midtown Raleigh News that I found an big error in today’s print edition. A story about the opening of the newly-renovated Terminal 1 at RDU Airport carried a headline referencing Terminal 2. This wasn’t a long, wonky story but one maybe ten paragraphs long, so there’s no excuse for the editor not being able to quickly scan the story and see which terminal was being discussed.

Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Come on, N&O. Get it together!

Tornado, three years later

Today began for me much the same way it did that Saturday morning exactly three years ago. Then, as now, it was just the dog and me at home while Kelly and the kids were on the road.

Fortunately the similarities end there. This morning’s weather is clear, breezy and very chilly at 34 degrees F with no signs of any tornadoes. In fact, one of the last … er, signs of the tornado in my neighborhood was removed recently. Up until a few weeks ago, a “No Parking” sign stood outside St. Aug’s on a steel post that was twisted almost completely around, a daily reminder of the jaw-dropping power of violent wind.

Sadly, a day before I was to take a picture of it the city replaced the post and sign. Don’t know if I should be sad I missed it or happy the public works department is so on top of things. At any rate, life in East Raleigh is back to normal now.

Sticky switcheroo: FDA cracks down on honey labeling – Health – Boston.com

The Food and Drug Administration is cracking down on the fake honey claims in some foods. Looks like I got my wish!

Have you been duped by a honey poser?

Companies have been selling sugary, sticky honey blends on grocery store shelves for years, adding syrups or sweeteners not made naturally by bees, but hiding their fraud on the packaging under the label “honey.” This food fraud also applies to foods that list “honey” as an ingredient. You might not be getting the real thing.

The Food and Drug Administration issued new guidelines Tuesday that will require companies to label any honey that is not pure, or even food containing this honey, with “blend of sugar and honey” or “blend of honey and corn syrup,” depending on the ingredients. This policy change is the result of organizations like the American Beekeeping Federation and other honey associations petitioning against the common food industry practice of misrepresenting “pure honey.”

via Sticky switcheroo: FDA cracks down on honey labeling – Health – Boston.com.

Saffron Technology moving headquarters to Silicon Valley after raising $7 million | Technology | NewsObserver.com

As if to prove my earlier point, the N&O reports local startup Saffron Technology is packing up for the West Coast – not for more favorable taxes but for the West Coast’s “wealth of talent.”

Wrong again, governor.

Saffron Technology, a homegrown big data analytics software company, plans to shift its headquarters from Cary to the Silicon Valley after raising $7 million in new funding.

Despite the move, CEO Gayle Sheppard said she expects the company’s 12-person Cary office to double in size by the end of the year. That would keep pace with the growth of the overall company, which she anticipates swelling from 20 to 40 employees in 2014 thanks to the new round of funding.

“We should not think of this as leaving Cary behind by any means,” Sheppard said. “I see that operation as an important part of our future. Terrific talent there.”

Nonetheless, Sheppard said that moving Saffron’s headquarters to Silicon Valley was designed to help it recruit the “wealth of talent” on the West Coast.

via Saffron Technology moving headquarters to Silicon Valley after raising $7 million | Technology | NewsObserver.com.

Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC has great customer service!

After losing my job in December, I signed up for an Affordable Care Act health care plan, a.k.a. Obamacare to cover the family. It could have been cheaper, of course, had our short-sighted state leaders implemented a healthcare marketplace (you know, free market competition and such) but the rate I got was significantly cheaper than a COBRA plan.

Anyhow, I recently submitted paperwork for an automatic bank draft for the policy but the paperwork apparently hasn’t gone through. This necessitated two phone calls to Blue Cross Blue Shield of NC Customer Service this past week. These calls uncovered a technical snafu that’s still being solved but still I have to say that the customer service representatives I spoke with are two of the finest who have ever assisted me with anything. They love their jobs, they love talking to people, and seemed to be willing to spend whatever time it took to get my issue sorted out.
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