VT is haunted...

We call it the ghost pager. Every since we moved to this building, a loud buzzing noise will emanate from a corner of her office. Not often, maybe once every two weeks or so. We'd been thinking the noise was coming from inside the cubicle wall and postulated that maybe one of the cubicle assembly folks lost their pager down an empty partition space, although it seems like the batteries at least would have run out by now - we've been in this building for five years now.

Friday, however, after moving her wastebasket and listening determinedly at the suspect spot, she now thinks the noise may be coming from under the floor. I know there are spaces under the carpeting for wiring network cabling and such, so maybe it's something to do with that (we really should ask the building staff, I suppose). It is startling if you happen to be in the building during off hours, when no one else is around.

Seems cooler to pretend we have a poltergeist though. ;p

VT is haunted...

We call it the ghost pager. Every since we moved to this building, a loud buzzing noise will emanate from a corner of her office. Not often, maybe once every two weeks or so. We'd been thinking the noise was coming from inside the cubicle wall and postulated that maybe one of the cubicle assembly folks lost their pager down an empty partition space, although it seems like the batteries at least would have run out by now - we've been in this building for five years now.

Friday, however, after moving her wastebasket and listening determinedly at the suspect spot, she now thinks the noise may be coming from under the floor. I know there are spaces under the carpeting for wiring network cabling and such, so maybe it's something to do with that (we really should ask the building staff, I suppose). It is startling if you happen to be in the building during off hours, when no one else is around.

Seems cooler to pretend we have a poltergeist though. ;p

Article on asthma drugs...

John sent me this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050919/hl_nm/novartis_dc

Glaxo's Advair and Serevent, known as salmeterol, carry a "black box" warning on their packaging about one study which showed people taking Serevent had a higher, albeit small, risk of life-threatening asthma attacks and deaths.

Not the main gist of the article, but John uses Advair. Every once in a while we run into a situation where his medication simply does not work, and he winds up in the emergency room. Nice when the drug you're taking to prevent something simply makes it worse. Would a once a day drug mean less risk?

Also a little disturbing to me is the mention in the article of how much money the drug companies stand to make from it when it's approved. I know they're not charities, and are in this to make a profit; however, it just makes me wonder how much vested interest they have in people staying sick and more people getting sick. Of course, I have no idea what proportion of their income this is, and I suppose it's there to attract investors for more research, but still, it's a niggling thought.

( article... )

Article on asthma drugs...

John sent me this:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20050919/hl_nm/novartis_dc

Glaxo's Advair and Serevent, known as salmeterol, carry a "black box" warning on their packaging about one study which showed people taking Serevent had a higher, albeit small, risk of life-threatening asthma attacks and deaths.

Not the main gist of the article, but John uses Advair. Every once in a while we run into a situation where his medication simply does not work, and he winds up in the emergency room. Nice when the drug you're taking to prevent something simply makes it worse. Would a once a day drug mean less risk?

Also a little disturbing to me is the mention in the article of how much money the drug companies stand to make from it when it's approved. I know they're not charities, and are in this to make a profit; however, it just makes me wonder how much vested interest they have in people staying sick and more people getting sick. Of course, I have no idea what proportion of their income this is, and I suppose it's there to attract investors for more research, but still, it's a niggling thought.

( article... )

(no subject)

I just got to hear a song from The Corpse Bride on the radio while I was reading otoliths. The DJ, dearest Jed the Fish at KROQ, said something about how Danny Elfman worships Cab Calloway, and, my, the influence was very evident in the song. It's so good to hear his singing voice again - it's what I've missed the most since Oingo Boingo went Goodbye, Goodbye.

*off to put the soundtrack on my wishlist*

(no subject)

I just got to hear a song from The Corpse Bride on the radio while I was reading otoliths. The DJ, dearest Jed the Fish at KROQ, said something about how Danny Elfman worships Cab Calloway, and, my, the influence was very evident in the song. It's so good to hear his singing voice again - it's what I've missed the most since Oingo Boingo went Goodbye, Goodbye.

*off to put the soundtrack on my wishlist*

Thunder and lightning...

Nifty! I don't think I've ever seen a thunderstorm on my weather pixie. We just don't get them that often. Angus and Gareth are a bit nervous - I don't think they remember the last one we had - they might've been asleep. I was late home from work because I stopped to take pictures of rainbows.

We just turned on the news and John Wayne Airport is closed because of it.

Thunder and lightning...

Nifty! I don't think I've ever seen a thunderstorm on my weather pixie. We just don't get them that often. Angus and Gareth are a bit nervous - I don't think they remember the last one we had - they might've been asleep. I was late home from work because I stopped to take pictures of rainbows.

We just turned on the news and John Wayne Airport is closed because of it.