Comments on: Even Feynman got approached by the cops…

By: a

Sat, 28 Apr 2007 13:58:59 +0000

The title of that book really appeals to me. I mean “Surely You’re Joking, Mr. Feynman!” sounds like a prelude to a punch-line ^_^

Truthfully though, i’ve never heard of him (Mr. Feynman). I’ll have to read-up on that; cause, if the title is this amusing, i can imagine how the book must be ^_~

By: andreashettle

andreashettle — Sun, 22 Apr 2007 16:49:22 +0000

Re, Laura and the problems at the hospital: would it help any if you could lend her that new asthma equipment you got a few weeks ago so she could measure HER baseline lung capacity? Then she could show that baseline data to the ER people the next time this happens to get them to see that, no, her lung functioning is NOT normal for her even without wheezing? (Though of course I hope it won't happen again.)

By: laurentius-rex

laurentius-rex — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 18:19:35 +0000

Once upon a time I was walking home from the University when a line of police cars drew up. The officer in the first car announced that they were an armed response unit and they had been looking for me, as they had a report of someone with a gun wandering around the campus and I fitted the description.

Fortunately they could see that someone had mistaken my flute for a barrelled weapon.

After verifying that there was no maniac on the loose, it being obvious they had been called out on a fools errand, they simply drove off again.

I used to be stopped fairly regularly by the police when I was younger, it was just the sort of thing you expected when you were out late at night and look eccentric.

I have not been bothered by the police in many years now, except once in my landrover where I had forgotten to switch my lights back on after a temporary stop at night.

By: Noetic

Noetic — Sat, 21 Apr 2007 08:57:09 +0000

“My grandpa got stopped by the police for going out for a walk in the USA in the evening. They couldn’t understand why anyone would go out and just walk without nefarious intent. He got away with it by being English :)”

LOL yes indeed it seems something people in America rather don’t understand, in general, that someone would just want to walk… just for the heck of it. It’s easy to forget that. It’s the same here in the UK with bikes in many areas.

By: Makoto

Makoto — Fri, 20 Apr 2007 19:39:02 +0000

I once had a college math professor who would sit in the university plaza at lunchtime and talk to “nobody”. Since other people there were doing the same thing (and other “odd behavior”) he blended in, though. Maybe the cops avoided the area because of the work it would take to separate the “real crazies” from the professors.

I used quotes on “”crazies”” because the most cogent, rational, professorially-sounding debater I ever heard there was a man with a white beard to his navel, who always wore a half t-shirt, flip-flops, and a skirt (and seemed to be homeless). And, on the flip side, the faculty there once included the Unibomber.

“Poor people are crazy. Rich people are ‘eccentric.'”
–Dennis Hopper, the movie “Speed”

Best wishes to you & Laura for good luck with the doctors, illness, pain, meds, and all.

By: Joseph

Joseph — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:25:20 +0000

Feynmann was a late talker, but I’ve read claims that he’s now social, “charismatic” even. (I just thought that was an interesting on-topic tidbit. I’m not diagnosing him or saying that physicists are autistic or anything like that).

By: Rachel Hibberd

Rachel Hibberd — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 20:19:37 +0000

When I had some hip surgery I woke up with no pain meds on board and started screaming. So they pumped me full of morphine. Lucky for me my mom was there to notice that I was so relaxed and happy I wasn’t bothering about breathing, since they forgot/didn’t bother putting me on an o2 monitor. It was an interesting feeling, every 15 seconds or so she would nudge me and say “breathe” and I’d go, oh yeah, and take a breath to keep her from nagging me.
Hope you have somebody that can keep an eye on you, but it sounds like you’re pretty on top of making sure you’re getting enough air.

Best of luck.

By: Rosemary

Rosemary — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 18:45:04 +0000

I am sorry to hear how confusing things are for you. The pain meds certainly can make one disoriented. I do not like the idea of your being confused and on your own, even for a short time. I am sending you and Laura caring thoughts.

By: ballastexistenz

ballastexistenz — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 17:50:47 +0000

The problem with the pain meds is they’re making me do a thing where if I am not thinking about it, it’s harder to breathe in than breathe out, and then it’s like all the air goes out of me, and then I sit there for somewhere between 10 and 30 seconds not breathing, before I remember to inhale again, and the whole thing repeats. I’m pretty dizzy. I’ve also had a few (complex-partial) seizures. This is why I hate Vicodin or whatever it is they have me on. But the pain meds are really working on the pain. Just need to somehow cut the dose down enough that they don’t completely screw up breathing.

Laura is doing pretty bad. I spent all day in the emergency room with her, watching them pull all the usual “You’re not wheezing so it’s not too bad” crap that they pull when they don’t understand how asthma works. Right now it’s thought she might have mycoplasma infection or something like that.

I’m really tired and I want to lie down, but when I lie down the breathing gets astronomically worse. I’m supposed to take more of these meds now but I am not sure I should or how much I should take if I do.

I am also pretty disoriented, maybe shouldn’t be on the computer, but better than lying down. They hid my meds and it just took me awhile to find them. They all left earlier without explaining anything or telling me what would happen so I’m wandering around without staff trying to figure things out when my mind is mostly empty. They said they’ll check on me about half an hour from now. Maybe they’ll explain then. Things are confusing.

By: Aspie Dad

Aspie Dad — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 14:59:13 +0000

I hope your wisdom teeth extractions went well, Amanda!