I woke up to -30 yesterday morning. The kids’ cars wouldn’t start. Our old crappy van started just fine, but unfortunately there was a another minivan behind it in the driveway that wouldn’t. That was after I connected it to my old, crusty battery charger with the 100 amp starting feature turned on.
I was determined to get to my annual cardiology check-up, weather be damned. I have been anxious about whether there’s an underlying problem with my heart, and I was not about to re-schedule. Plus I figured that most other patients would not make their appointments which would leave open spots for me if my cardiologist ordered more testing.
With a neighbor’s help we pushed the dead minivan out of the driveway. This took a fair amount of effort but did not bother me in the least with relative to chest pain or heartburn, which is a warning sign for me regarding heart problems.
I headed to my appointment with Dr. Kohl. Heartburn started as I parked and walked across the street to the hospital. Dr. Kohl and I talked for a while. He is a Wisconsin alum. He said he thought about me during football season. He said he admired the restraint shown by Nebraska fans when Scott Frost started 0-6.
“Nobody was screaming for him to be fired”, he said.
I told him that wouldn’t happen until at least year five. If Frost hasn’t shown the success we expect he will be publicly crucified along with the rest of his coaching staff.
We switched to basketball. “I get chest pains watching Nebraska basketball.” It wasn’t a joke. He laughed, though, when I brought up that damned Ethan Happ. I responded that I would like to choke him; Dr. Kohl, not Ethan Happ. Not enough to kill him, just enough to watch him turn colors.
They did an EKG. Nothing funky there. They ordered a stress test. My thinking was correct in that other patients had not shown up so I was able to get in immediately. The stress test included an echocardioogram, which is rather like a mother seeing a baby in her womb except that they’re looking at your heart. They also have to push the wand into your ribs rather forcefully so that they can peer around at different angles.
After that I got on a treadmill while connected to different machines that recorded heart rate, blood pressure and whatever else they need to see what my heart is doing under strain.
I re-iterated that watching Nebraska basketball gives me chest pains. The cardiologist noted that this would be true for most sports fans.
“A more common outcome of being a Minnesota Vikings fan would be alcoholism, don’tcha think?”, was my response.
At one point during the stress test, the cardiologist asked if I were willing to push it on the treadmill, adding more speed and more angle.
“Will it give you more information?”
“Yes.”
“Then let’s do it. I lead an active life and I have no desire to lose that.”
The news was good. They said there were no new problems, although I will be getting a portable heart monitor to wear for a while. The doctor said it has a button on it that I can push while I’m “having problems” so it can gather more data at that time. The way this season is going I’ll just schedule a reminder to push it while I’m watching Nebraska basketball.
I am acutely aware that stress and anxiousness can reveal themselves as physical symptoms. It could be what’s causing the heartburn, although it has occurred when I have been very relaxed. It’s an oddity.
I went home feeling very relieved, almost giddy.
News
Huskers Head North for Televised Big Ten Showdown - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
The No. 13 Nebraska women's gymnastics team will hit the road to take on defending Big Ten Champions Michigan at the Crisler Center on Sunday Feb. 3 at 1 p.m. CT with national television coverage provided by ESPN.
Top Talent Converges on Lincoln for Husker Invite - Huskers.com - Nebraska Athletics Official Web Site
The Nebraska track and field team gears up for the 44th annual Frank Sevigne Husker Invitational this weekend. Two full days of track and field action at the Bob Devaney Sports Center begins with the combined events at Noon on Friday. Field events commence at 4:30 p.m., and the track events begin at 6 p.m. Then on Saturday the combined events kick things off at 9:30 a.m., while field and track events start at 11:30 a.m.
NCAA Tournament Bracketology 2019: Big Ten Update, January 29, 30, 31 - Off Tackle Empire
Bracketology and NCAA Tournament seeding projections for Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, Maryland, wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Ohio State, Indiana, Nebraska. Plus, Northwestern to the 2019 NIT?
Wisconsin basketball: Takeaways from Badgers’ win at Nebraska - Bucky's 5th Quarter
Defense wins the game, contributions from role players and more.
Wisconsin basketball: Ethan Happ should win National Player of the Year - Bucky's 5th Quarter
Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying and Love His Free-Throw Percentage
Illinois splits season series with Minnesota - The Champaign Room
Frazier’s big game wasn’t enough for the Illini.
The Crimson Quarry, an Indiana Hoosiers community
Your best source for quality Indiana Hoosiers news, rumors, analysis, stats and scores from the fan perspective.
Which college football teams should leave FBS? Here’s a serious answer - SBNation.com
Plenty of schools might be best served by dropping down. Let’s make a rough plan for how it could work.
Best Chili Tailgate Recipes for the Super Bowl: Big Ten fans share their favorite hearty dishes - Off Tackle Empire
It’s like, 20 below zero and you need something to warm you up. So let’s talk chili.
Super Bowl tickets and prices: How do fans get see Patriots vs. Rams? - SBNation.com
Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta has a capacity of 71,000, and yet less than 5,000 tickets were ever available to the general public for Super Bowl LIII if they didn’t already own season tickets.
NFL rules and partnerships claim the vast majority of tickets before they ever have hopes of going on sale, so if you’re a fan hoping to score a ticket it can be a near-impossible task. How do you, as an ordinary Joe get a Super Bowl ticket?
A second YouTuber was harassed with DMCA complaints by the Escape from Tarkov team - Polygon
Meanwhile, one YouTuber says he has lost nearly all of his income from that platform
Then There’s This
Note that this isn’t your excuse to start talking politics and start bitching at each other. This is a “left or right” issue. This is an everyone issue. I will probably spend a lot of this offseason talking about Internet security issues. Everyone needs to know more about them - not just us geeks.
Below is what is known as a “deep fake” video. It’s time to get familiar with the term. It is a video assembled by software that makes a very convincing video of someone who may or may not exist, saying things they may or may not have said.
You can expect much more of this stuff in the near future. The obvious use to
Lawmakers plunge into “deepfake” war
Deepfakes — digitally forged videos that can be impossible to detect — are called the end of truth, a threat to democracy and a potential disruption to society. Everyone agrees on the danger, but no one has figured out what to do about it.
I don’t see how you can pass a law that will stop this stuff effectively, but I suppose they have to start somewhere. There is just too much internets - too many people willing to fuck with someone else whether for fun or profit.
If we don’t want stuff like this to turn into a disaster it will require something missing from the internet of today - restraint. An ability to stifle overreaction. It’s going to require that you spend more effort in determining whether what you look at is real or fake, in other words, don’t be lazy.
God help us all.