Class V

Improbable Injury

Everyone that's heard my story, even my orthopod, can't believe it but it's true - about a week ago, I managed to completely destroy my right elbow in knee high water, before I had even enjoyed a paddle out for a surf session in Santa Cruz county.  Absolutely freak accident, and I don't want to relive the details here.

Diagnosis by MRI: ruptured UCL (major elbow ligament) and partially torn biceps and triceps tendons.

For now, we're focused on getting the significant swelling down, which is contributing to both the pain and limited Range Of Motion ("ROM").  A week later, it's still far more swollen than it should be, so just started a course of oral steroids.  If we're not making good progress by Thanksgiving on that front, I'll get a cortisone shot the week after to really try and knock it down.

Physical therapy starts Tuesday.  Needs to be done, whether I get surgery or not.  Muscles around the joint need to be strengthened to take on more of the load going forward, and I need to do whatever I can to try and preserve as much ROM as possible.  This is my right elbow, and I'm right handed, so that really kind of sucks - daily tasks which are currently a major challenge include eating and putting my hair up.  (So if you see me walking down the street, you may not recognize this woman with the unkept hair and food dribbling off her face. ;-))

Surgery?  We'll see.  If I can't live a normal life (which I define as not needing to throw a major league fastball but needing to be able to swim competitively, ice climb, lift heavy objects and otherwise be active) then Tommy John surgery will likely be in order.  Seeking other expert opinions, and giving myself at least a few weeks to adjust to life without a UCL, before we make the decision.

Need to learn to keep my typing more brief.

Microblogging: Second Chance

After blogging previously about my inability to see the utility of a microblogging service such as Twitter ... I've changed my mind to the point that I'm willing to make a good go of it, and really try it out.

Not sure if I am going to continue to publish my Twitter feed on this blog, so if you're interested, you may want to officially "follow" me on Twitter now.  My Twitter name is advencap.

What changed my mind?

1. Inability to type as quickly as I once did, thanks to an elbow injury suffered this week (separate blog post later).  The 140 character limit is very appealing, at least for now.
2. Lance Armstrong's Twitter.  Twitter name: lancearmstrong  It's really him (not a PR professional), it's cool to read about his day to day life as he juggles his Foundation work and his comeback on the Tour, and great motivation when I'm just sitting around being lazy.
3. The fact that I can link all of my status updates to one source, that is, Twitter now updates my Facebook status automatically.

On a totally separate note: yes, the format and design of Class V has been altered a bit.  Still a work in progress, although the aforementioned elbow injury may put future changes on hold for a while.  But suggestions always welcome!

When Genius Isn't So Sharp

I'm no expert on artificial intelligence ... heck, I'm not even sure that's the applicable field here.  But one of the greatest challenges for technology that I can think of is matching items that are full of subjective "data": music, people, etc.  (I would have placed visual art into that category too - but it's amazing how far image recognition has come in the last few years.)

For the sake of my current profession, it's a good thing that "people" will likely be the last nut that matching technology cracks.

Getting back to music, I've been playing with the "Genius" feature of iTunes this morning.  Bottom line: there is still a way to go here.  There have been services out in the market for far longer - iLike comes to mind - and none have really completely solved the problem.  For example: let's take one of my cheesy seventies tunes currently on heavy rotation: "Let It Ride" by Bachman-Turner Overdrive.  Another blogger described this music as "big dumb rock" that is undeniably "catchy".  I can't describe it any better than that.  In fact, I'd love to have nine more songs just like it.  But no service to date has really given me good answers.

The wisdom of the crowds - social data that is generated from other people's playlists and listening habits - can be helpful, but at the end of the day, music tastes are so subjective that the match is not completely precise.  I get a lot of recommendations for random seventies hits this way, but that's not necessarily what I am looking for.

Technical data - the actual notes - could also be useful, but the problem can be summed up this way: any band could learn to play the music of "Let It Ride" and it still wouldn't quite capture the actual "feel" of the original.

So I am left playing "Let It Ride" on repeat - neighbors be damned - until something better comes along.

Technorati Tags: music recommendation, iTunes, iLike, Bachman Turner Overdrive

Sense and Sensibility

Been watching the HBO miniseries John Adams on DVD this week,  which is a great biopic for those who are interested in the founding years of the American republic.  One thing (of many) of which I was unaware was the extent to which Adams' thinking was influenced by his appreciation for the powers of strong, central government, even monarchy.  The series paints a less than flattering picture of the first Cabinet, with Jefferson and Hamilton constantly at odds with each other.  The words of Hamilton, in discussing how to establish the financial infrastructure of a new country, were particularly resonant given the recent events of the worldwide financial system (see Hamilton's First Report on the Public Credit).

As much as American independence marked a political separation from Britain, there is no doubt that our culture - and all institutions which support it, including government - have been greatly influenced by our former enemy.  And during this current global economic crisis, the United Kingdom has stepped up to demonstrate its wisdom and hopefully, once again, influence the direction of the US government.

I am specifically writing about Wednesday's announcement from the Treasury of the United Kingdom.  Instead of focusing primarily on removing toxic assets from the balance sheets of financial institutions - which had been the favored approach of American lawmakers and government officials - the UK is primarily addressing the issue of liquidity.  Purchasing preferred shares of banks for cash.  Sound familiar?  This was the approach Warren Buffett chose in late September, when he injected $5B into Goldman Sachs and in return, received an ownership interest in the form of preferred shares.  There is no doubt that owning a piece of a bank can only prove profitable in the long run if the bank's balance sheets are cleaned up.  But the fundamental issue in this current global economic crisis is one of liquidity.

Finally, our own government and in particular, Henry Paulson, seems to be acting upon this reality.  Friday's press announcement indicates that Paulson has at last broken free of his bias to protect his former banking colleagues from government ownership.  Paulson indicated he will use some of the $700B authorized under the "Emergency Economic Stabilization Act" to purchase with cash, equity interests in financial institutions.  Which, as this New York Times editorial piece suggests, is clearly a better use of my (and all US taxpayers') money than scooping up a bunch of Collateralized Debt Obligations ("CDO's") that were recently proven to be worth only nine cents on the dollar.

Technorati Tags: bailout, John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Henry Paulson, CDO

Vote Yes on Proposition R!

Just completed my mail in ballot.  Besides voting for one President and Vice President, and one representative to the US House ... there were something like 10 state propositions and 20+ city propositions as well.  Whew.

I couldn't help but to laugh out loud at this city proposition, to rename one of our city's facilities after our nation's 43rd President.

Technorati Tag: Proposition R