A month in a post
A month has slipped away since the last riveting post where I went to a bookstore and bought a bible.
- Dad got a fever the weekend before Thansgiving. This is not a big thing for a healthy person, but he's had a low white blood cell count for a while, so Mom got him over to Mercy Hospital. He spent time in ICU while they did some mighty stuff to fight off the infection and get his neutrofil count up. I visited regularly, as did the wife and kids. After a few touch-and-go days, he improved and went to a non-ICU floor for a few more days, slowly lost all the tubes and things stuck in him, and eventually got to go home. Things are still subnormal on the neutrofil count, though, so there likely won't be any crowded Christmas gatherings for my parents this year. And as Dad is a very social person, that is a shame.
- Lots of people who have, or have had, the name Pederson gathered at Thanksgiving at my sister's & brother-in-law's house. Melody made up a wonderful turkey, lots of other dishes were enjoyed, and we rounded out the meal with some offerings from Baker's Square. Chris was there, as were my cousins Tommy and Jonathan, and their mom. My uncle David and his girlfriend rounded out the throng. Melody and Christos were gracious hosts, plying us with wine and large servings of tiramisu at the slightest provocation, steering conversation away from irreconcilable topics, and offering the kids a nice place downstairs to run around, wrestle with cousins and uncles, watch cartoons and even try out their treadmill. Well done, guys! I hope you'll do it again next year, and not just because I don't want to have the next venue suffer by comparison. :)
- I had a poker night with the guys on the first Friday of December. Matt bought himself a house in Minneapolis, and gave us all a tour. It's a one-story with a nice-sized basement. He has plans for a good rec room downstairs, but that night we played eight people comfortably in his dining room. I tanked out in fifth place in the first game, but took second place in the second game. The prize money from the second game brought me even for the night. One of these days I'd really like to play in a bigger tournament...
- I reached a crossroads with my actuarial studies. Where some actuaries are pondering whether getting a masters degree is too much information, very very few people are trying to make it without a bachelor's, which is the level I'm at. Some people have offered some helpful advice on giving it a shot, but the general consensus is that it is not practical. So, what now? Carry on with studies just to pass the exam, the same way someone would train for a marathon, just to successfully complete one in their life? I do enjoy solving problems, but where some pursuits are charming and quirky, like memorizing a lot of pi digits, other recreational accomplishments are at best a bit troubling to other people, if there isn't a paycheck at the other end of it (like passing a bar exam, or weapons qualification). I don't know if I can settle in for 25+ years doing jobs that don't require more education, so I guess I've got to figure something out.
- My parents are continuing to have problems with their computer, and where I fixed things last time by taking Dad to Best Buy to get a new Windows machine and moving files over as I could, this time Chris has stepped up and secured for them a Linux box. I'm concerned about the learning curve required to get things done, but I'm sure they'll get along OK; not all Linux users are hackers and tinkerers, right?
- Dad got a fever the weekend before Thansgiving. This is not a big thing for a healthy person, but he's had a low white blood cell count for a while, so Mom got him over to Mercy Hospital. He spent time in ICU while they did some mighty stuff to fight off the infection and get his neutrofil count up. I visited regularly, as did the wife and kids. After a few touch-and-go days, he improved and went to a non-ICU floor for a few more days, slowly lost all the tubes and things stuck in him, and eventually got to go home. Things are still subnormal on the neutrofil count, though, so there likely won't be any crowded Christmas gatherings for my parents this year. And as Dad is a very social person, that is a shame.
- Lots of people who have, or have had, the name Pederson gathered at Thanksgiving at my sister's & brother-in-law's house. Melody made up a wonderful turkey, lots of other dishes were enjoyed, and we rounded out the meal with some offerings from Baker's Square. Chris was there, as were my cousins Tommy and Jonathan, and their mom. My uncle David and his girlfriend rounded out the throng. Melody and Christos were gracious hosts, plying us with wine and large servings of tiramisu at the slightest provocation, steering conversation away from irreconcilable topics, and offering the kids a nice place downstairs to run around, wrestle with cousins and uncles, watch cartoons and even try out their treadmill. Well done, guys! I hope you'll do it again next year, and not just because I don't want to have the next venue suffer by comparison. :)
- I had a poker night with the guys on the first Friday of December. Matt bought himself a house in Minneapolis, and gave us all a tour. It's a one-story with a nice-sized basement. He has plans for a good rec room downstairs, but that night we played eight people comfortably in his dining room. I tanked out in fifth place in the first game, but took second place in the second game. The prize money from the second game brought me even for the night. One of these days I'd really like to play in a bigger tournament...
- I reached a crossroads with my actuarial studies. Where some actuaries are pondering whether getting a masters degree is too much information, very very few people are trying to make it without a bachelor's, which is the level I'm at. Some people have offered some helpful advice on giving it a shot, but the general consensus is that it is not practical. So, what now? Carry on with studies just to pass the exam, the same way someone would train for a marathon, just to successfully complete one in their life? I do enjoy solving problems, but where some pursuits are charming and quirky, like memorizing a lot of pi digits, other recreational accomplishments are at best a bit troubling to other people, if there isn't a paycheck at the other end of it (like passing a bar exam, or weapons qualification). I don't know if I can settle in for 25+ years doing jobs that don't require more education, so I guess I've got to figure something out.
- My parents are continuing to have problems with their computer, and where I fixed things last time by taking Dad to Best Buy to get a new Windows machine and moving files over as I could, this time Chris has stepped up and secured for them a Linux box. I'm concerned about the learning curve required to get things done, but I'm sure they'll get along OK; not all Linux users are hackers and tinkerers, right?