I know it's been a while since I blogged but sometimes when something gets me really riled up I just have to let it out.
This is happened today. In my spare time at work I read a lot of articles from other newspapers on various topics. I happened to read a few about breast feeding a while back. One of them said breast feeding is the only way to go, one advocated for a mother's choice and why breast feeding may not always be the best option and I think one was simply we shouldn't judge other people (especially other moms) for their choices.
I can't agree with the last one more.
My sister asked me today if I thought it was a bad thing that she wanted to wean her new baby off breast feeding before she returned to work in a few weeks. She said she knew her first kid was fine on formula but she felt like she was being selfish because she didn't want to deal with the hassle of pumping.
Why should she feel selfish? Is her time and effort worth nothing? Doing what is right for you and your baby should be the most important thing, no matter what anyone else says. Moms who want to breast feed should be able to do so in public (provided that they cover themselves) without being shamed, moms who don't want to breast feed at all shouldn't be made out to be selfish and moms who can't breast feed shouldn't feel bad because they can't.
I know I am not a mom and therefore shouldn't really have an opinion on the topic but I do. Why can't people just mind their own business? If I want to feed my baby formula from the minute its born I should be able to do so without being made to feel like I am a bad mom. What and how I chose to feed my baby has no impact on your baby so why do you care?
There is mass amounts of research on the topic of breast feeding, so let moms-to-be do their own research, make a decision based on what is best for her and her baby and family and then respect that decision. There is no reason for making people feel bad just because they don't do it your way.
Tuesday, April 2, 2013
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
Hibernation
I have been in hibernation. It has been too cold and my brain has been frozen but today it actually got above 20 and it feels like summer, not really but it did feel warmer and my brain has unfrozen slightly.
I think bears got it right with the hibernation thing. You get to sleep all winter during the freezing cold, get up when it is warm, eat as much as you possibly can for 6 months and then go back to sleep. It seems like an amazing plan.
On on side note, where has January gone? Time is flying by so fast! It seems likes Christmas, New Years and the whole month of January have been a blur.
Christmas was great. It was a little sad to be away from my family for the first time but it was also really nice to spend the whole day just John and me, relaxing and spending time together! We did pretty much the same thing on New Year's Eve and it was awesome.
I am excited for the new year and the adventures it will bring! I have already been able to cover a murder trial for my job and I have to say it was really really interesting. It wasn't all drama and craziness like you see on TV but it was still pretty awesome. And because the trial ended really late and I was on a tight deadline I got that adrenaline rush, like I used to get when I wrote sports on a super tight deadline, that I have missed so much. My face gets all hot and my heart starts pounding and it is just exciting and nerve racking wondering if you are going to make deadline! I love it.
As you can see by this post the cold weather and my partially frozen brain have made me super scatterbrained, hopefully my upcoming trip to South Carolina will help me thaw out.
I think bears got it right with the hibernation thing. You get to sleep all winter during the freezing cold, get up when it is warm, eat as much as you possibly can for 6 months and then go back to sleep. It seems like an amazing plan.
On on side note, where has January gone? Time is flying by so fast! It seems likes Christmas, New Years and the whole month of January have been a blur.
Christmas was great. It was a little sad to be away from my family for the first time but it was also really nice to spend the whole day just John and me, relaxing and spending time together! We did pretty much the same thing on New Year's Eve and it was awesome.
I am excited for the new year and the adventures it will bring! I have already been able to cover a murder trial for my job and I have to say it was really really interesting. It wasn't all drama and craziness like you see on TV but it was still pretty awesome. And because the trial ended really late and I was on a tight deadline I got that adrenaline rush, like I used to get when I wrote sports on a super tight deadline, that I have missed so much. My face gets all hot and my heart starts pounding and it is just exciting and nerve racking wondering if you are going to make deadline! I love it.
As you can see by this post the cold weather and my partially frozen brain have made me super scatterbrained, hopefully my upcoming trip to South Carolina will help me thaw out.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Best. Idea. Ever.
I literally just had the best idea ever.
When you are driving somewhere do you ever take a different route in hopes of avoiding traffic or an accident or construction but then arrive at your destination and wonder if it wouldn't have been faster to just stay on the original route? Since I commute daily and there are frequently traffic jams and I am the kind of person who would prefer to be moving on a slower, light-filled street than not moving at all on the freeway I wonder this often.
This is where my idea comes. You design an app that lets you input two routes and it will tell, based on current traffic conditions, which would be faster.
It would have be a combination of Google Maps, which already use current traffic conditions to predict travel times, along with some voice recognition software because it would be useless if people were trying to input all this information and got into a crash themselves. There would also have to be some way for the app to know how the light systems on streets work because if you hit all green lights on a road it is going to be significantly faster than if you hit all red lights.
In my mind the app would have a favorite routes function so if I am traveling home and there is a crash on I-15 all I have to do is say which would be faster route 1 (I-15) or route 2 (getting off somewhere and taking side streets) and the app would magically come back and say, "Route 1 will take 5 minutes less than Route 2."
Alternately the app would be able to just tell you the fastest route to any given address, so if you are in a unfamiliar place and don't really know the side-street routes the app can tell which way is faster and then guide you in getting there.
I really don't know why no one has thought of this before. Doesn't everyone want to get to where they are going the fastest and most efficient way possible? Doesn't everyone hate sitting in traffic jams?! I obviously don't have the technical knowledge to make this happen but I would definitely buy the app if someone else created it.
When you are driving somewhere do you ever take a different route in hopes of avoiding traffic or an accident or construction but then arrive at your destination and wonder if it wouldn't have been faster to just stay on the original route? Since I commute daily and there are frequently traffic jams and I am the kind of person who would prefer to be moving on a slower, light-filled street than not moving at all on the freeway I wonder this often.
This is where my idea comes. You design an app that lets you input two routes and it will tell, based on current traffic conditions, which would be faster.
It would have be a combination of Google Maps, which already use current traffic conditions to predict travel times, along with some voice recognition software because it would be useless if people were trying to input all this information and got into a crash themselves. There would also have to be some way for the app to know how the light systems on streets work because if you hit all green lights on a road it is going to be significantly faster than if you hit all red lights.
In my mind the app would have a favorite routes function so if I am traveling home and there is a crash on I-15 all I have to do is say which would be faster route 1 (I-15) or route 2 (getting off somewhere and taking side streets) and the app would magically come back and say, "Route 1 will take 5 minutes less than Route 2."
Alternately the app would be able to just tell you the fastest route to any given address, so if you are in a unfamiliar place and don't really know the side-street routes the app can tell which way is faster and then guide you in getting there.
I really don't know why no one has thought of this before. Doesn't everyone want to get to where they are going the fastest and most efficient way possible? Doesn't everyone hate sitting in traffic jams?! I obviously don't have the technical knowledge to make this happen but I would definitely buy the app if someone else created it.
Thursday, November 15, 2012
Extreme Planning
If there was a TLC show called "Extreme Planning" I would definitely be on it.
I know there are many people who hate planning things (John would be one of them) but I am just the opposite. I LOVE planning things. At this point I have my meal plans for next week already figured out and they have actually been mostly done since Monday. In my defense planning out my meals helps me stay on track throughout the week, helps me avoid having to go to the store multiple times a week by not having all the ingredients I need and helps save money because we don't go out as much because there is no food in the house. I also have workout plans through the end of January in the works and I have most of my vacation scheduled for next year (and that was done weeks ago).
I usually set up my bill pay well before things are actually due and make plans about how much money to save based on how much our bills our each month. I have even been working on budgets for next year based on the insurance changes that will be taking place in January.
I like planning so much that I actually got in trouble last week for filling out my time card in advance. I would go in on Monday or the Friday before and fill out my plan for working that week. When I have to go to court everyday this helps keep me on track and helps me plan when I will have time to work out and what meals to cook on which nights based on what time I might get home but apparently this is a no-no and now I have to fill out my time every day like a normal person and it has been bothering me all week!
I don't know what it is but I like having a plan and knowing what my schedule is on a day-to-day basis, that way when I have down time I know for sure that there is nothing else I should be doing because everything is already done and I can just relax.
Unfortunately, that also means when things pop up and change unexpectedly I can get a little stressed. I would like to pretend that I am flexible when things like this happen but I am pretty sure John would say just the opposite.
But there is an upside to being a crazy-obsessed-planner lady. My mom and John and really anyone else involved in my wedding would tell you that it went pretty smoothly, thanks in part to my obsessive list-making and planning. I always have the ingredients for some sort of meal in my house and I rarely forget about important dates or things that need to get done.
I can't help it, I guess I am just a planner at heart!
I know there are many people who hate planning things (John would be one of them) but I am just the opposite. I LOVE planning things. At this point I have my meal plans for next week already figured out and they have actually been mostly done since Monday. In my defense planning out my meals helps me stay on track throughout the week, helps me avoid having to go to the store multiple times a week by not having all the ingredients I need and helps save money because we don't go out as much because there is no food in the house. I also have workout plans through the end of January in the works and I have most of my vacation scheduled for next year (and that was done weeks ago).
I usually set up my bill pay well before things are actually due and make plans about how much money to save based on how much our bills our each month. I have even been working on budgets for next year based on the insurance changes that will be taking place in January.
I like planning so much that I actually got in trouble last week for filling out my time card in advance. I would go in on Monday or the Friday before and fill out my plan for working that week. When I have to go to court everyday this helps keep me on track and helps me plan when I will have time to work out and what meals to cook on which nights based on what time I might get home but apparently this is a no-no and now I have to fill out my time every day like a normal person and it has been bothering me all week!
I don't know what it is but I like having a plan and knowing what my schedule is on a day-to-day basis, that way when I have down time I know for sure that there is nothing else I should be doing because everything is already done and I can just relax.
Unfortunately, that also means when things pop up and change unexpectedly I can get a little stressed. I would like to pretend that I am flexible when things like this happen but I am pretty sure John would say just the opposite.
But there is an upside to being a crazy-obsessed-planner lady. My mom and John and really anyone else involved in my wedding would tell you that it went pretty smoothly, thanks in part to my obsessive list-making and planning. I always have the ingredients for some sort of meal in my house and I rarely forget about important dates or things that need to get done.
I can't help it, I guess I am just a planner at heart!
Monday, November 12, 2012
Football Can't End in a Tie
I have always discredited soccer as a "real" sport because it was the only game I knew of that could end in a tie (and because I grew up in a house in which soccer was mocked but that is another story for another day).
I have seen baseball games go into more extra innings than regular innings, a college basketball game then went into seven, yes seven, overtimes and the longest college football game ever also went into sever overtimes.
Even in gymnastics, figure skating and other sports in which judges decide the outcome their isn't ties, they have tie breakers to decide what happens when two people get the exact same score, so there is always a winner and always a loser.
Until now, soccer has been the only sport I know of where players, coaches and fans are okay with there not being a winner at the end of the game. But yesterday the football game between the Rams and 49ers ended in a 24-24 tie. I heard this on ESPN while I was cooking dinner but dismissed it as a mistake by announcer but nope that is actually what happened.
Apparently I haven't been paying much attention because this has happened before, most recently in 2008 but that is not the point!
The point is as a fan I expect there to be a clear winner and clear loser and I don't know care how many overtimes it takes to get there.
The NFL recently changed their overtime rules so unless the team who has the ball first scores a touchdown, the other team gets a chance to score, which eliminates the receiving team from simply getting in field goal range to win.
So in the case of the Rams vs. 49ers both teams got a chance to score and neither team did and so the game ends. Why not go into sudden death like teams did with the old overtime rules? Both teams got a chance, so the the next team that scores wins. Obviously the overtime in the NFL isn't perfect but ending in a tie seems like the worst possible solution.
I have seen baseball games go into more extra innings than regular innings, a college basketball game then went into seven, yes seven, overtimes and the longest college football game ever also went into sever overtimes.
Even in gymnastics, figure skating and other sports in which judges decide the outcome their isn't ties, they have tie breakers to decide what happens when two people get the exact same score, so there is always a winner and always a loser.
Until now, soccer has been the only sport I know of where players, coaches and fans are okay with there not being a winner at the end of the game. But yesterday the football game between the Rams and 49ers ended in a 24-24 tie. I heard this on ESPN while I was cooking dinner but dismissed it as a mistake by announcer but nope that is actually what happened.
Apparently I haven't been paying much attention because this has happened before, most recently in 2008 but that is not the point!
The point is as a fan I expect there to be a clear winner and clear loser and I don't know care how many overtimes it takes to get there.
The NFL recently changed their overtime rules so unless the team who has the ball first scores a touchdown, the other team gets a chance to score, which eliminates the receiving team from simply getting in field goal range to win.
So in the case of the Rams vs. 49ers both teams got a chance to score and neither team did and so the game ends. Why not go into sudden death like teams did with the old overtime rules? Both teams got a chance, so the the next team that scores wins. Obviously the overtime in the NFL isn't perfect but ending in a tie seems like the worst possible solution.
I didn't watch the game on Sunday and I obviously wasn't there but ending in a tie just seems like a let down. If I was a player I would be pissed if I spent all that time getting hit over and over again for nothing really.
And then you wonder what kind of implications the tie will have for the playoffs? How does a tie factor into a teams record? It all seems very confusing and unnecessary.
This isn't soccer people, this is football and there needs to be a winner, whether it takes one or seven overtimes to get there.
* I am making an addition to this post after having read another column that said even many of the players playing in the game on Sunday didn't know it could end in a tie. If the players on the field don't know the rules there is definitely a problem. Wednesday, November 7, 2012
Twitter is addicting
I am going to resist the urge to spout off about political things and possibly offend everyone I know and instead am going to write about my new found addiction to Twitter.
I joined the twitter world begrudgingly. I only did it because as a journalist it is pretty much the only way to survive or get jobs, when applying for jobs potential employees ask for your twitter handle. But now that I have figured out how twitter works it is actually pretty fun. You can see random bits of information from anybody you want. You can follow celebrities, athletes, TV shows, news people, cities, just regular joe's, pretty much anything you are interested in you can probably find on twitter.
It turns out Twitter is also a pretty convenient way to get information fast. I, for example, follow all of the different police departments and cities in Utah County so when there is breaking news I know about it pretty quickly. It is also WAY better than facebook for quick information and you don't get the mile long rants from people because you can only tweet 140 characters, two sentences is not enough for ranting and I love it.
Twitter wars are also amazing. When two people go back and forth about nonsense it can be really really funny.
Since I only recently joined twitter I don't have a lot of followers and in an attempt to gain followers I have become what my coworker refers to as a "twitter whore" it sounds way worse than it actually is. It really just means I started following a million (really only 191) people in hopes that they will follow me back and I can one day have hundreds or thousands of followers.
So far I only have 45 followers and I don't tweet a lot of things, mostly because I feel like people don't really care about what I have to say, but I still spend a significant amount of time on twitter seeing what other people have to say.
I joined the twitter world begrudgingly. I only did it because as a journalist it is pretty much the only way to survive or get jobs, when applying for jobs potential employees ask for your twitter handle. But now that I have figured out how twitter works it is actually pretty fun. You can see random bits of information from anybody you want. You can follow celebrities, athletes, TV shows, news people, cities, just regular joe's, pretty much anything you are interested in you can probably find on twitter.
It turns out Twitter is also a pretty convenient way to get information fast. I, for example, follow all of the different police departments and cities in Utah County so when there is breaking news I know about it pretty quickly. It is also WAY better than facebook for quick information and you don't get the mile long rants from people because you can only tweet 140 characters, two sentences is not enough for ranting and I love it.
Twitter wars are also amazing. When two people go back and forth about nonsense it can be really really funny.
Since I only recently joined twitter I don't have a lot of followers and in an attempt to gain followers I have become what my coworker refers to as a "twitter whore" it sounds way worse than it actually is. It really just means I started following a million (really only 191) people in hopes that they will follow me back and I can one day have hundreds or thousands of followers.
So far I only have 45 followers and I don't tweet a lot of things, mostly because I feel like people don't really care about what I have to say, but I still spend a significant amount of time on twitter seeing what other people have to say.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Good Clean Fun
I was recently switched to the crime and court beat at the Daily Herald and every day I watched as people dressed in prison garb with chains around their waist and handcuffs on their hands and feet stand before a judge and get sentenced for various crimes, most of them involving drugs or theft and I wonder where everything went so wrong?
Then I see things on facebook about how people are upset because their were cops patrolling the streets so kids don't smash pumpkins all over and how it is ridiculous to pay cops to ruin kids "good clean fun." I might mention, I do agree that cops should and do have better things to do than keep kids from smashing pumpkins but that is not the point.
While I think smashing pumpkins is silly, as far as I know, it isn't against the law. Although, I could easily see it being classified as vandalism. BUT the kids don't buy the pumpkins themselves, they steal them from other people. I actually wrote this on the facebook status as a comment and someone replied, "well they would just rot on people's porches anyways." That may be true but they are my pumpkins and it is my right to decide if the pumpkins rot on my porch or not and in the case of my mom her pumpkins were stolen several days before Halloween, so she didn't even get to enjoy them for the holiday.
Yes stealing pumpkins is a minor thing and yes they would just rot on my porch but that is not the point! We are raising kids in a society where petty theft is being considered "good clean fun."
I saw a guy get sentenced to more than a year in jail today because he stole a magazine from a convenience store. A magazine!! Granted this was his third theft, which classifies it as a third-degree felony, and I don't know the circumstances of a the other thefts but a magazine costs less than $5 and this kid is now going to spend time in jail because of it. If we are teaching our kids that is it okay to steal pumpkins than the jump to magazines or other seemingly small items can't be that far off.
If I had stolen and smashed pumpkins when I was in high school and my parents found out (which they would because they always do) I would've been grounded forever. I got in trouble when I was a little girl (like 7 or 8) for taking the pennies off my dad's dresser because they weren't mine.
The point is I learned at a very young age if it isn't yours don't take it, it seems like a pretty simple concept but apparently the message isn't getting passed along. If there are parents out there who think it is okay or even encourage their kids to go steal pumpkins on Halloween, then it is no wonder that our jails our full of people with theft charges against them.
Yes, I might be over exaggerating just a little bit because after all we are just talking about pumpkins here, but I don't think under any circumstances should it be considered okay to take other people's stuff no matter how small it might be.
Then I see things on facebook about how people are upset because their were cops patrolling the streets so kids don't smash pumpkins all over and how it is ridiculous to pay cops to ruin kids "good clean fun." I might mention, I do agree that cops should and do have better things to do than keep kids from smashing pumpkins but that is not the point.
While I think smashing pumpkins is silly, as far as I know, it isn't against the law. Although, I could easily see it being classified as vandalism. BUT the kids don't buy the pumpkins themselves, they steal them from other people. I actually wrote this on the facebook status as a comment and someone replied, "well they would just rot on people's porches anyways." That may be true but they are my pumpkins and it is my right to decide if the pumpkins rot on my porch or not and in the case of my mom her pumpkins were stolen several days before Halloween, so she didn't even get to enjoy them for the holiday.
Yes stealing pumpkins is a minor thing and yes they would just rot on my porch but that is not the point! We are raising kids in a society where petty theft is being considered "good clean fun."
I saw a guy get sentenced to more than a year in jail today because he stole a magazine from a convenience store. A magazine!! Granted this was his third theft, which classifies it as a third-degree felony, and I don't know the circumstances of a the other thefts but a magazine costs less than $5 and this kid is now going to spend time in jail because of it. If we are teaching our kids that is it okay to steal pumpkins than the jump to magazines or other seemingly small items can't be that far off.
If I had stolen and smashed pumpkins when I was in high school and my parents found out (which they would because they always do) I would've been grounded forever. I got in trouble when I was a little girl (like 7 or 8) for taking the pennies off my dad's dresser because they weren't mine.
The point is I learned at a very young age if it isn't yours don't take it, it seems like a pretty simple concept but apparently the message isn't getting passed along. If there are parents out there who think it is okay or even encourage their kids to go steal pumpkins on Halloween, then it is no wonder that our jails our full of people with theft charges against them.
Yes, I might be over exaggerating just a little bit because after all we are just talking about pumpkins here, but I don't think under any circumstances should it be considered okay to take other people's stuff no matter how small it might be.
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