Random Updates

Hmph
I’m dismayed that it’s been a month since I last wrote.
 
At two weeks of not writing, I think, “I should really write.”
 
At three weeks of not writing, I see so many things I want to write about it feels overwhelming, and decide to postpone it.

At a month of not writing, I decide to scrap my big plans and get back to writing something. Anything.

Writing’s always a boom-or-bust enterprise for me. I write constantly for months, and then fall off the wagon and wait a month, three months, a year to get back into it.

I also have a few solid excuses I rely on. I blame my environment—my desk is too messy, my computer isn’t set up the way I want it, I’m out of coffee. I feel too tired after working all day. I don’t feel like getting up earlier to write.

Anyway, I might as well get back into it.

Lending
Today I started teaching a two-day class about lending to four people. It’s one of my favorite classes to teach. Lending regulations, loan processing, loan policy, MVD title work, disclosing loan documents…. There’s far more content than what fits in two days, especially if you add in hands-on practice processing loans on the test computers.

La Jolla
Next week I’m going on a business trip to La Jolla, CA. Meg decided to come along, presumably so she can attend business sessions talking about banking software. (Or maybe she wants to hang out near the pool and get massages at the spa, I’m not sure.)
Anyway, I should have a good time learning about… stuff. It’ll be nice to have a little time away from home with Meg, too. I might even visit my brother Tai and his family while we’re there, since he lives in San Diego.

Belly
Meg’s belly continues to grow as Emma enbiggens. My baby-sized edibles chart says that she’s at 28 weeks, which is the size of an eggplant from crown to rump. Meg and I went to get another ultrasound last week.
 

 
Emma @ 26 Weeks

Emma’s doing great—perfectly healthy. Ten fingers, ten toes. A nice looking brain (although it made me squeamish looking at it). A good pumping heart. She pointed her finger in a Fonze gesture at one point, and tried to interfere with the ultrasound tech’s appraisal of her heart. I’m hopeful that Emma has Meg’s nose, toes, and pancreas and not mine.
 
Books
After getting my Kindle, I went searching for books to read and managed to get my hands on about 12,000. So far, I’ve managed to read two-thirds of my first one. If I continue on my current reading course and finish a book a month, I estimate that it may take me until my 1,017th birthday to finish what I have stockpiled.
 
What I’m reading right now: Death by Black Hole by Neil deGrasse Tyson, which is quite delightful. A few evenings ago, when the night was clear and sky moonless, I even read a passage to Meg and pulled her outside in the back yard. We looked up the stars and planets and marveled at the vastness and grandeur of it all. Meg downloaded an app on her iPad which points out constellations and satellites if you hold the iPad upward. We pointed it at every bright patch in the sky. I repeatedly said, “Huh, so that’s what that is.” We both saw the same meteorite streaking across the northwest quadrant.
 
Being on an astrophysics kick, I also listened to A Universe from Nothing by Lawrence Krauss. At times I didn’t comprehend what he was talking about, but it was fascinating nonetheless. I think it’s a great counterargument all those people who drag out Kantian arguments about first causes. I wouldn’t really expect a creationist to understand a word of the book though.
 
(As a side note, Krauss is a professor at ASU, which is a rival of the local U of A here in Tucson. I suppose I should shake my fist and growl Eeeeeh Essss Youuuuu, but really, the U of A isn’t my alma mater, so I don’t hold any resentment that Krauss is up north instead of down here. I’ll happily claim him as “from Arizona” without quibble.)
 
In the News
I suppose I should reflect on recent events in the news, for the sake of sounding current.

Let’s see… there’s been a lot of talk about gun control legislation. A number of states have crafted and passed various restrictions, including requiring universal background checks when purchasing guns, restricting magazine sizes, banning assault rifles, and some other things about mental health. This is a direct result of the awful shootings in Newtown, CT last December, and to a smaller extent because of the shootings in Aurora, CO, and the one here in Tucson.

Arizona probably would be the last state to support more gun control—gun laws here are surprisingly lax (or maybe not surprising, depending if you’re familiar of the culture here or not). My father in law took me shooting once out in the desert. I shot a Glock and an AR-15 at a target. I don’t have much desire to do it again. I’m not a big fan of guns—they make me nervous. Besides my car, I handle few things on a daily basis that could accidentally kill people. I imagine my nervousness would fade with more practice, but it’s not something I really want or need.

Meanwhile Gabby Giffords and her husband Mark Kelly continue to support gun control legislation. Whenever I hear them mentioned, it makes me think about the shooting when Meg’s uncle died. I’m not keen to learn about the particulars in the killings. I saw a headline show up on my Google News feed that the Sheriff’s Department released all the documents about the case to the public. I’ll avoid reading about it.

The killer, Jared Lee Loughner, pleaded guilty last August and was sentenced in November to spend the rest of his life in prison with no chance of parole (technically seven consecutive life terms plus 140 years—these sentences never make much sense to me). Justice, in my opinion, was served. (I’m not a proponent of the death penalty for ethical and pragmatic reasons.)
 
Anyway, sure, gun control could be tighter. From what I remember of studies into the matter, there’s a direct correlation of murder rates to gun control, and murder rates in the U.S. aren’t, shall we say, good. I used to be among the few who didn’t know anyone affected by gun violence. Not so now.

Also in the News
Republicans in a number of states have been on a warpath to roll back women’s rights, especially concerning their right to choose to terminate a pregnancy. North Dakota passed three bills recently, one which bans abortion when a heartbeat can be detected, which is as early as six weeks into pregnancy. I can’t imagine how this would hold up in court. North Dakota is filthy rich from the recent boom in natural gas fracking, so it’s no surprise they’re willing to strut around and show their moral superiority as they lose their case in federal court.

North Carolina nearly passed a bill that would declare exemption from the First Amendment and proclaim a state religion. Thankfully, they didn’t pass that one in the end.

There’s been a big shift in opinion about gay marriage being okay by most people, which I wasn’t really expecting. If popular opinion stays, probably gay marriage will become legal in most states soon. (Arizona passed an amendment several years ago that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. I suspect Arizona will be one of the last to legalize gay marriage.)

All right, that’s all I’ve got. Let’s do this again soon.

Oliver