My laptop was recently infected by a virus. I'm supposed to get it back today from the Geek Squad. In my mind, I thought that I backed up my files on a regular basis, but after being without my computer all week I've learned that I don't do it nearly enough.
I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they were able to recover all of my files...
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Stimulus
I read online (either cnn.com or msnbc.com, but I'm not sure which) that the stimulus bill is going to help with COBRA costs. For those people who lose/lost their jobs between September 2008 and December 2009, the federal government intends to help people by picking up around 60 or 65% of the costs of COBRA.
When I read the information, it was before today (Mr. President's day to sign the bill) so I would check the info more carefully to make sure that it made the final cut. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because with the economy doing what it's doing, I don't want to have to foot the whole cost of COBRA alone...
When I read the information, it was before today (Mr. President's day to sign the bill) so I would check the info more carefully to make sure that it made the final cut. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, because with the economy doing what it's doing, I don't want to have to foot the whole cost of COBRA alone...
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Murder
Per Ann Rule's book, A Rage To Kill, there are mass murderers, serial killers, and a third category of murder who kills a lot of people that I had not previously known about. Pages 183-238 follows the story of Chris Wilder, a spree killer.
A Rage to Kill is all about true to live murders. The chapter on Chris Wilder has affected me more than the others. I found myself more afraid of the idea of a spree killer than a mass murder or a serial killer. For lack of quoting a large section of her book to define a spree killer, I'll paraphrase. A spree killer is someone who is seemingly normal but who morphs into a killing machine, killing gobs of people in a very short amount of time. The spree killer only stops because he is stopped by being caught. Unlike a serial killer, there aren't long breaks between killing. After reading the section on Chris Wilder, I understood that a spree killer is probably the human most equivalent to a predator. There is no longer the fear of being accepted into normal society once the killing begins, nor is there necessarily the careful calculation that a lot of serial killers go through when plotting a murder. In the case of Chris Wilder, he made more and more mistakes becoming bolder and bolder over time. He killed a lot of women in just a number of weeks.
I intend to write a review of this book after I finish it on RedKissedReviews.blogspot.com. I'm not sure when that will be, but hopefully soon!
A Rage to Kill is all about true to live murders. The chapter on Chris Wilder has affected me more than the others. I found myself more afraid of the idea of a spree killer than a mass murder or a serial killer. For lack of quoting a large section of her book to define a spree killer, I'll paraphrase. A spree killer is someone who is seemingly normal but who morphs into a killing machine, killing gobs of people in a very short amount of time. The spree killer only stops because he is stopped by being caught. Unlike a serial killer, there aren't long breaks between killing. After reading the section on Chris Wilder, I understood that a spree killer is probably the human most equivalent to a predator. There is no longer the fear of being accepted into normal society once the killing begins, nor is there necessarily the careful calculation that a lot of serial killers go through when plotting a murder. In the case of Chris Wilder, he made more and more mistakes becoming bolder and bolder over time. He killed a lot of women in just a number of weeks.
I intend to write a review of this book after I finish it on RedKissedReviews.blogspot.com. I'm not sure when that will be, but hopefully soon!
Labels:
A Rage to Kill,
Ann Rule,
Murder,
Spree Killer
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Kidneys
Due to a family member having some medical problems, my mother told me that according to a doctor, the kidneys need to function at a minimum of 15% capacity for a person to live. Anything below that and dialysis is needed.
I wouldn't have thought the percentage would have been that low. After hearing this, I went online and also read on a random website that for certain conditions that it is possible to be on dialysis but to get better and get off of dialysis. It makes sense, but everyone I had ever known who had been on dialysis (that I knew about) was on it for the rest of his/her life. It's good to know that a person can recover from certain conditions to acceptable kidney function. I didn't do gobs of research on it, but I want to believe that this is true :)
I wouldn't have thought the percentage would have been that low. After hearing this, I went online and also read on a random website that for certain conditions that it is possible to be on dialysis but to get better and get off of dialysis. It makes sense, but everyone I had ever known who had been on dialysis (that I knew about) was on it for the rest of his/her life. It's good to know that a person can recover from certain conditions to acceptable kidney function. I didn't do gobs of research on it, but I want to believe that this is true :)
Sunday, February 1, 2009
SWAT
Per the book Police Procedure & Investigation: A Guide for Writers by Lee Loftland, I've learned a few interesting tidbits of information. Of special interest are a few things I should have known but probably couldn't have pinned down if asked before reading this book.
- SWAT stands for Special Weapons And Tactics. (page 63)
- DUI/DWI (Driving Under the Influence) and (Driving While Intoxicated) charges vary by state. I thought the two acronyms meant the same thing and were basically interchangeable. (page 56)
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