Bob Reed’s personal blog started on blogger.com in late 2004, migrated to wordpress platform in 2006. Intended for personal sharing with family and friends.
It has a name; you can look it up. I finally saw an ophthalmologist yesterday for an eye problem that has been plaguing me with increasing frequency for over a year. This last weekend was a particularly severe instance which caused me persistent eye irritation into monday. It was so bad I couldn’t work on the computer, so I went home for the afternoon and lay in a dark room with a washcloth over my eyes. When I went for an exam on tuesday, the corneal damage was still visible, although the symptoms had abated. RCE is recurrent loss of cells from the surface of the cornea, with symptoms of extreme irritation and a sensation of foreign objects. Its something like a scratched cornea. Healing can take from hours to days. My symptoms are textbook, and its been occurring about once a week lately,
The doctor explained that it should be treated conservatively and prophylactically (drops and ointment) for a while to see if we can control it. If not, more ‘heroic’ treatment may be called for, eg. surgery.
Here’s the plaque honoring Grandparents Carl and Hazel Reed of Marcus Iowa. The parents are presenting it to the Marcus Historical Society for the dedication of the Reed Center in Marcus next month. More photos here.
There’s a book review at slate.com on Pitch Perfect, (2007, Mitch Rapkin) which is a close look at the collegiate sub-culture of a cappella groups. Linda gave me this book for father’s day and I read most of it on vacation this summer. The slate reviewer comes at it with an insider’s viewpoint; she was formerly an undergradate a cappella singer while at Yale. She offers more perspective than the book does, admitting she was reluctant to share her nerdy past with her current boyfriend:
The crimes of a cappella, after all, are legion and well-documented. The dumb outfits. The fact that on many college campuses, it’s always being shoved in your face. (Your roommate might have been a Level-20 Wizard in Dungeons & Dragons, but he wasn’t constantly sprawled in your entryway, forcing you to watch him roll his 12-sided die.) The bands most frequently covered on the circuit are uniformly schlocky: Coldplay, Maroon 5, Billy Joel, Journey. Perhaps most damning of all is the fact that a cappella is so painfully earnest, so distressingly eager to please. read more.
7/19 update: just saw this compilation of the Funniest A Capella on the Web (sic), and its mostly college groups. Check out the mormon (BYU) white boy choreo to Thriller!
Its apparently not politically correct to make fun of the first African-American contender for the presidency of the U.S. So says the NYT, and the controversy over the New Yorker cover cartoon just goes to show. Bill Maher says “If you can’t do irony on the cover of The New Yorker, where can you do it?”
Update: Leonard Pitts weighs in with his opinion: “Me, I like the cover. It strikes me as an incisive comment on the fear mongering that has attended Obama’s run for the presidency. Still, I understand why it is incendiary: some of us will take it seriously.” [Regrettably, the Orlando Sentinel dumbed itself down recently with a USA-Today like makeover, and I think they discontinued the occasional Pitts column. I keep up with him here. ]
The scallop sport season off the gulf coast is reportedly really good this summer, however snorkelers are having to dodge excessive numbers of stinging jellyfish, which keeps some people out of the water. Guys on my fishing lists are debating the merits of different weave long sleeve shirts for protection.
Here’s a snapshot of a one day harvest by some good old boys from an email list.
BTW, I learned some new seafood slang this weekend. In south Florida, “summer shrimp” means illegally harvested lobster.
Speaking of motorcycles, heres a snapshot from the early 80’s. It was during a weekend camping/road trip with my friend and coworker Kent Hopkins. Somewhere in Virginia.
I sold my street bike in 1986 after moving to Florida. With gas prices going up, I’ve been thinking about riding again, but something small. There are tons of stylish small-wheeled scooters on the market now, I know a couple of guys my age that ride them. But what I’d really like is something like the old Honda CB125. This happens to be the bike I learned to ride on in college - it belonged to a friend. Wikipedia says these got 100mpg and were virtually trouble and maintenance-free. None of the motorcycle manufacturers make anything like this anymore, its all scooters in this size and power range.. The CB125 itself was discontinued in the 80’s.
I found this one on ebay in Massachusetts. Its the ONLY CB125 on ebay right now, and I bet the bidding goes way up before it closes on Sunday. ($631 at the time of this posting)
It has a name; you can look it up. I finally saw an ophthalmologist yesterday for an eye problem that has been plaguing me with increasing frequency for over a year. This last weekend was a particularly severe instance which caused me persistent eye irritation into monday. It was so bad I couldn’t work on the computer, so I went home for the afternoon and lay in a dark room with a washcloth over my eyes. When I went for an exam on tuesday, the corneal damage was still visible, although the symptoms had abated. RCE is recurrent loss of cells from the surface of the cornea, with symptoms of extreme irritation and a sensation of foreign objects. Its something like a scratched cornea. Healing can take from hours to days. My symptoms are textbook, and its been occurring about once a week lately,
There’s a 
I sold my street bike in 1986 after moving to Florida. With gas prices going up, I’ve been thinking about riding again, but something small. There are tons of stylish small-wheeled scooters on the market now, I know a couple of guys my age that ride them. But what I’d really like is something like the old Honda CB125. This happens to be the bike I learned to ride on in college - it belonged to a friend. 
