July 23, 2010 at 2:28 pm
I’m posting this just to help me keep track of the vertigo problem that started last year. I want to monitor when it comes and goes each year.
In other words, this is mainly for me, not you. Move along.
2010: Vertigo hit around mid-June. Seems to be gone now, about 5-6 weeks later.
2009: Vertigo hit late May. Was gone about two months later.
July 22, 2010 at 10:17 pm

I tweeted that a couple hours ago, right after hearing “Use Somebody” by Kings of Leon, “Tom Sawyer” by Rush, and two Who songs in a row — “Eminence Front” and “Baba O’Riley.” Awesome.
It led to some fun conversations with others on Twitter about workout songs; Blake Thompson asked me to post my playlist, so now that I’ve figured out how to export from iTunes, why not? Earlier this year, I posted 8 Great Workout Songs, but here’s the full list of 50+ songs that accompany me to the gym, in alphabetical order by artist.
| Name |
Artist |
| Der Kommissar |
After the Fire |
| Deep and Wide and Tall |
Aztec Camera |
| Long Lost |
Better Than Ezra |
| Speeding Up To Slow Down |
Better Than Ezra |
| In A Big Country |
Big Country |
| Dancing With Myself |
Billy Idol |
| Nothing Man |
Bruce Springsteen |
| The Rising |
Bruce Springsteen |
| Politik |
Coldplay |
| Clocks |
Coldplay |
| Welcome |
Collective Soul |
| Mrs. Potter’s Lullaby |
Counting Crows |
| Heroes |
David Cook |
| Animal |
Def Leppard |
| Pour Some Sugar On Me |
Def Leppard |
| Learn To Fly |
Foo Fighters |
| Two Tribes |
Frankie Goes To Hollywood |
| Paradise City |
Guns N’ Roses |
| Sweet Child o’ Mine |
Guns N’ Roses |
| At Last |
Hothouse Flowers |
| Ruby |
Kaiser Chiefs |
| Can’t Stop Now |
Keane |
| Use Somebody |
Kings of Leon |
| First Time |
Lifehouse |
| Time Is Running Out |
Muse |
| Hysteria |
Muse |
| Starlight |
Muse |
| Uprising |
Muse |
| Kill Your Television |
Ned’s Atomic Dustbin |
| Wishlist |
Pearl Jam |
| Under Pressure |
Queen & David Bowie |
| Beat A Drum |
R.E.M. |
| Beautiful Sky |
Reamonn |
| Angels Fly |
Reamonn |
| Tom Sawyer |
Rush |
| Four Corners |
The Sea And Cake |
| Chocolate |
Snow Patrol |
| Wild Wild Life |
Talking Heads |
| All That’s Left |
Thrice |
| Out Of Control |
U2 |
| The Electric Co. |
U2 |
| Vertigo |
U2 |
| Original of the Species |
U2 |
| Magnificent (Fred Falke Remix – Edit) |
U2 |
| Mofo |
U2 |
| Bad (live) |
U2 |
| Ain’t Talkin’ ’bout Love |
Van Halen |
| The Secret |
Vib Gyor |
| When We Were Young |
Whipping Boy |
| Eminence Front |
The Who |
| Baba O’Riley |
The Who |
So yeah. A mix of ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and more current songs. Mostly rock, but a few slower songs too (Hothouse Flowers, REM, the Pearl Jam song, etc. Good times. Sure makes 45 minutes on a treadmill much more enjoyable.
July 20, 2010 at 11:18 pm
1.) They never have my book at airport bookstores. That’s understandable now; the book came out almost two years ago. But I never saw it in any airport bookstores in late 2008/early 2009, either. Waaaaaah.
2.) Flying at the end of the month has a drawback: the crossword puzzle in the in-flight magazine is always finished. Double waaaaaah.
July 16, 2010 at 2:06 pm
I love U2 fans. I’ve spent the better part of two decades defending U2 fans (whenever needed) to others who think we’re all a bunch of Bono-worshipping nutcases. In the mid-1990s, I almost wrote a book extolling the virtues and awesomeness of U2 fans.
U2 fans are, for the most part, Good People. “Cool U2 fans” as a percentage of “all U2 fans” is a much higher number than “cool people” as a percentage of “all people.” So you can imagine my disappointment and general WTF? reaction to seeing this in the daily analytics report for U2diary.com, the web site for my book:
(facepalm)
Some U2 fan did a web search hoping to find and download a free, digital copy of my book. S/He wanted to steal the book, basically; to get it for free.
Pretty sure no such digital copy/torrent exists, so I hope this “U2 fan” (using the term loosely) instead found the section of U2diary.com where I’ve published almost 10 book samples.
July 12, 2010 at 1:41 pm
Leadership is the ability to get individuals to work together for the common good and the best possible results while at the same time letting them know they did it themselves.
Oh, I love this quote. It’s so true. And it’s not always easy to get people to work together for a group goal while giving them a sense of personal victory.
If you don’t know what this post/series is about, see the John Wooden tag and specifically the first quote I posted.
July 6, 2010 at 11:27 pm
It’s extremely nerve-wracking to send an SEO services contract to an attorney. Even worse when the attorney specializes in business and contract law.
You might think it’s a huge relief when the attorney signs and returns the contract without comment. No. All that does is make you feel that s/he found 27 loopholes in it and chose not to say anything.
July 2, 2010 at 4:00 pm
I was in Cleveland most of this week for a combo trip that had some work and some fun. But one of the most fun parts of the trip was flying there.
Delta Airlines cancelled one of my flights at the last-minute. I was supposed to go from Pasco to Minneapolis to Cleveland and be there by 4:00 pm. But Delta re-routed me: Pasco to Salt Lake City, then Salt Lake City to Atlanta. Then Atlanta to Cleveland. That added about five hours to my schedule, and after some weather delays, it ended up being a six-hours-longer day of flying than my original plans.
On the bright side, Delta upgraded me to first class for the long trip between SLC and Atlanta. I haven’t flown first class in about 20 years and, let me tell you … what a joy that flight was. The flight attendants are always bringing you drinks, snacks, wet towels, anything you need. The seats were, like, super-comfortable and plenty roomy. I had an electrical outlet at my chair, so I could use my computer without draining the battery. Oh, and I got a very yummy hot meal.
That’s a chicken breast sandwich (with cheese) on a fresh, ciabatta bun. The Sprite is in a real glass, not a plastic cup. Inside the napkin is real silverware. The fruit was fresh. It was really good.
I ordered the $12.95 in-flight wi-fi and was able to do email, surf the web, etc. I emailed my wife and told her I could never fly coach class again.
And then when I got to Atlanta, I flew coach up to Cleveland. And then home to Pasco yesterday. Sigh. At least I got a taste of first class. May not get another bite for a while.
June 26, 2010 at 7:56 pm
Okay, we have tiny little baby tomatoes, but they are tomatoes, nonetheless! Look at these:
Those are from the tomato plants in the front of the house. The plants in the Topsy Turvy gizmo are doing well, but are only about half the size of the plants in the front. And there no tomatoes anywhere to be found right now on the Topsy Turvy plants.
June 16, 2010 at 10:14 am
Yesterday marked one month since we planted tomatoes at Casa McGee: two tomato plants in a Topsy Turvy planter hanging in the back yard, and two plans in the rock bed that lines our front patio/walkway.
I’m positively giddy to report that all tomato plants appear to be alive and doing well!
Back Yard

The plants in the Topsy Turvy planter are now pointing in the other direction, so I had to take the photo from a different angle. But they’ve definitely grown over the last month. No signs of actual tomatoes as far as I can tell yet, though.
Front Yard

Meanwhile, the plants in the front are growing like gangbusters, like they have …. steroids or HGH or something like that. (TGH? Tomato Growth Hormone?) Super happy with how this whole experiment is going, but especially how these front-yard tomato plants are doing. I think we might actually have our own tomatoes to eat later this summer.
Amazing.
June 15, 2010 at 11:07 pm
On losing:
There is nothing wrong with that other fellow being better than you are, as long as you did everything you possibly could to prepare yourself for the competition. That is all you have control over. That is all you should concern yourself with. It may be that the other fellow’s level of competency is simply higher than yours. That doesn’t make you a loser.
If you don’t know what this post/series is about, see the John Wooden tag and specifically the first quote I posted.
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