I can sympathize with some of the troubles that other would-be pet adopters have experienced. When we were looking to adopt our kittens last year, I went through a bit of a rigamarole with the adoption process. The animal hospital misunderstood some of my answers on the application, denied us, and neglected to confirm, discuss, or inform us that the adoption was denied. I basically had to do all the follow-up, including calling back three times a day from Tuesday through Friday evening that week until I reached the one and only staff member who would tell me what happened.

In the end, I straightened them out, and the adoption was back on. I understand they want to take precautions to ensure it is a good fit between human and animal, but with so many animals in need of a good loving home, they should take more care to make sure more adoptions happen.

I mention all this because Slate’s Emily Yoffe wrote a piece titled No Pet For You (Seinfeld reference!) about adoption groups taking a hard line stance regarding who is worthy to adopt future pets. Like I said earlier, they should take due care, but they should balance that with getting more adoptions to happen.

I wrote a science article back in high school about Tay-Sachs disease. As a parent now, this article gave me a whole different perspective.

Emily Rapp is the author of “Poster Child: A Memoir,” and a professor of creative writing at the Santa Fe University of Art and Design.

MY son, Ronan, looks at me and raises one eyebrow. His eyes are bright and focused. Ronan means “little seal” in Irish and it suits him.

I want to stop here, before the dreadful hitch: my son is 18 months old and will likely die before his third birthday. Ronan was born with Tay-Sachs, a rare genetic disorder. He is slowly regressing into a vegetative state. He’ll become paralyzed, experience seizures, lose all of his senses before he dies. There is no treatment and no cure.

How do you parent without a net, without a future, knowing that you will lose your child, bit by torturous bit?

NY Times: Notes From a Dragon Mom

I’m glad management recognized that they screwed up. It’s one thing to raise the subscription fees by 60%, because naturally customers are going to hate it. I dislike it, but I still perceive a value in the service. To raise prices, and then decide to screw around further to make the service harder to use and more inconvenient for customers? Mutiny.

Obviously, online streaming is the future for the company, as the greater convenience to stream to a multitude of internet-connected devices, and the lack of waiting for a new disc, are win-wins for customers. However, Netflix’s online catalog is lacking.

MSNBC.com – Netflix drops Qwikster plan, says it moved ‘too fast’.

President Barack Obama exacted his revenge Saturday after weeks of attacks from his would-be Republican challenger Donald Trump, joking that the billionaire businessman could bring change to the White House, transforming it from a stately mansion into a tacky casino with a whirlpool in the garden.

With Trump in attendance, Obama used the White House Correspondents’ Association annual dinner to mock the reality TV star’s presidential ambitions. The president said Trump has shown the acumen of a future president, from firing Gary Busey on a recent episode of “Celebrity Apprentice” to focusing so much time on conspiracy theories about Obama’s birthplace.

AA 757 skids off runway on 12/29/2010

Wednesday morning in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, an American Airlines 757 slid off the runway in snowy conditions (additional info here and here.) My friend Mike (who is also my friend Doug’s older brother) had been vacationing in Wyoming for two weeks. He wasn’t on that particular AA flight, but was due to fly back to NJ Wednesday afternoon. The original Wednesday plan was that after the movie, Doug & Kathy would drive 10 mins over to Newark Airport and pick him up.

After the Wednesday accident, the Jackson Hole airport was closed down, and no AA or United flights were going in or out that day. Mike was able to make arrangements to catch another flight the next day (Thursday) to O’Hare, but ending in Philadelphia. Since I live only an hour from Philadelphia, and Mike lives 15 mins from our house, I volunteered to pick him up. I left for the Philadelphia airport around 12:30am, and dropped him home in NJ without issue. By the time I got home, it was 3:15am. What a long day!

The news this week is that cycling champion Alberto Contador failed not one, but two drug tests back in July. This is all very disappointing. I’m not a fan of Contador — I found him to be self-centered after witnessing his actions in the last two Tour de France races, and a bit pompous in his disaparaging comments about Lance Armstrong in last year’s race. Still, I have grudging respect for him as an athlete. He’s got talent.

Now, disappointment. Seriously, even he was possibly doped up? How can so many of these racers be doping? I acknowledge that these races are difficult. They’re absolutely grueling. To watch an athlete succeed in spite of the conditions is what I find amazing. To have the stamina, courage, and hardened will to win each stage, or the overall race at the end. It’s riveting to watch the absolute pain on the rider’s face, and still do their best to push their limits to try to win. To find out that these riders had been doped up……

Disappointment.

I’m not a prude by any means, but couldn’t Katy Perry wear something a little less revealing for her appearance on Sesame Street this season? I mean, was anything else available? I suppose the stay-at-home fathers aren’t complaining.

Progress toward building a 9/11 memorial in New York has endured years of battles and negotiations. The president and CEO of the National September 11 Memorial & Museum expects it to open in a year’s time. I think it’s ridiculous how long the site remained idle while all these factions argued.

I read that the U.S. military would be removing commercial restaurants on U.S. bases in Afghanistan, such has Burger King, Pizza Hut, and Dairy Queen. To a degree, I understand the point of view that it’s a mission, and the troops are there to fight. However, come on, if these men and women want to enjoy something other than mess hall food in a dusty and dangerous land when they aren’t getting shot at, why not let them enjoy a little slice of home when they need it?

Regarding the picture below, I thought it was ironic to see a large military transport plane like the C-17 transporting a Burger King truck. Is it going into battle with their tasteless chicken sandwiches? 

Burger King supply truck

Joe Kittinger set the record for the highest jump in 1960, when he dropped from a helium balloon at an altitude of 31 kilometers.

I have never heard of Felix Baumgartner.  Have you? He’s apparently crazy. Crazy like a fox crazy? I’m not so sure. Mr. Felix Baumgartner plans to ride a pressurized capsule connected to a helium balloon, to the height of 36,575 kilometers (equivalent to 22 miles), and jump out. Can you imagine that? Attempting to go faster than sound, with nothing between you and the atmosphere, except a suit and mask?

Why the suit and mask? I read original the article over at New Scientist. In order to reach supersonic speeds in freefall, a diver has to start at a very high altitude of over 31 kilometers. At that altitude, without a pressurized suit and mask/helmet, the atmospheric pressure will cause the gases in your blood to boil out. That’s sick. What is the shock wave going to do to him?

I was wondering how this guy could afford all this. The hot helium balloon, the pressurized capsule, the practice flights, the wind tunnel test runs. Red Bull is sponsoring him. Geez, why am I not surprised?

I decided to look back to the one and only time that I went skydiving back on Aug 6 2004. For many, many years, I dreamed of going skydiving. Short of going into space, it was the ultimate type of event. After I did it, I felt good about it, but that was it for me. I got it out of my system. What is unexplainable is that I have no interest in doing it again. Strange, no? I didn’t have a bad experience, and I was only a little afraid while going up. I’m glad I finally did it.

Here’s the odd part. Still this day, I don’t know why I don’t feel a need to do it again. It was cool to do it, but freefall wasn’t this astounding experience. It was falling with the wind in your face. That’s probably what is holding me back. It was a cool thing to do, but it didn’t change my life. I’d do it again if Red Bull gave me money. Hell yeah!