How Much For A Professional Portrait?

How much would you pay for a professional portrait? Twenty five dollars?

I’ve been having some lower back pain and after the GP tossed a few things at it with no success, he passed me off to a specialist. I saw him Monday and after a couple of x-rays, his thoughts are arthritis. To get a better idea of what is going on, he suggested an MRI to ensure I didn’t have any soft tissue issues. This afternoon I spent 40 minutes relaxing on a table listening to electronic tribal drums. When I was done I asked the tech if I could get a picture of a random slice of me. After all you have seen a slice of my wife, inside my duodenum and colon already, why not add a high res image of my spine? She replied, “I’d have to charge you $25 for a picture.” I declined, but she did say if the doctor asked for a picture it wouldn’t cost anything, so if I asked through him… My follow up visit with the doctor is on the 28th, so stay tuned.

We were at Target this evening buy some odds and ends, so I picked up a new mouse for the laptop. Fool me once same on you, fool me twice shame on me. Fool me three times ain’t gonna happen, I was not going for another Microsoft Wireless 400. Brought home a shiny red Logitech M305 for $20.

Started up, went down, went up, back down, back up, down again, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 838

Letter To The Editor

As my boss and were discussing the finer points of my soon to be released Manufacturing Procedure covering the Turned Parts Department documentation he asked if I was excited about finally being published. To which I replied I was published all over the internet, but if that didn’t count, I just happen to have a copy of a letter to editor published in the local paper here in this file folder. Way back before blogging I needed different ways to get my words out and in 1993 most of them were used up doing the Aiken Bicycle Club newsletter, but occasionally some of them leaked out of different holes.

Editor,

After reading the recent article about how The Chronicle was not going to be running the current story line of the comic strip “For Better or Worse,” I was angered. I wanted to scream, “Homophobia!” I was going to write to tell you that if any comic strip could be trusted to handle a sensitive issue like homosexuality correctly it would be this one. I wanted to tell you to at least run it temporarily on the editorial pages like some papers do for “Doonesbury.”

But while reading the comics page I saw something that worried me even more than high school teen-agers struggling with their sexual orientation.

Charlie Brown hit a home run to win a baseball game. That lovable loser is no more. Charles Schultz must have fallen prey to pressure from special-interest groups and child psychologists. I can only wonder at what kind of force was applied to Mr. Schultz to get him to turn Charlie Brown into a hero in the ninth inning instead of his usual goat.

What’s next? No more kite tangled in trees? Will the little red-haired girl send him a valentine next year? I hope not. Charlie Brown, the failure, teaches kids a valuable lesson also: that not everyone is a champion. For every winner, there is a loser who played the game to the best of his ability, too.

Brian Bogardus

Here is a copy of the Peanuts strip to which I referred:

And here is one from the For Better or Worse series:

Started down, went up, still up.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 833

Hyundai Is My New Favorite Car Company

At least styling wise. A fellow at work has a new Tucson and IMHO is the best looking of of all the Cute Utes. I have already professed my love for the new Sonata and now I’m really liking the look of the new 2011 Elantra.

Started down, went up, back down, still down.
Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 832