Pulp Free

Surprisingly - I’ve actually kept up with my morning swimming routine since mid-March of this year. Two, sometimes three times a week I find some way to get myself out of bed at 6am and drive myself to the local natatorium for a good 30 minute swim. Back in my “smaller” sized days - I used to actually swim competitively and I’m clearly a long ways away from getting all of my old strokes and times back in order.

One of the coolest things that I’ve seen since being back in the swim practice is a device called a “SuitMate“. Essentially this is a “swimsuit water extractor” that removes up to 95% of a suit’s water in just 10 seconds. Think of it as a (somewhat) noisy spin cycle for your swimsuit. Yeah - I wish they had those back in the day… a perfectly ingenious invention. (And only $1400 if you want to order one on their Web site!)

So after washing off the chlorine from the pool and walking up to our “SuitMate” - there happened to be somebody already using it. No big deal - its only a few seconds to finish up each cycle… However - since I’ve been swimming for about 6 months now - I pretty much know who all of the guys are that are swimming. (I’ll probably post some interesting observations on that social club interaction at a later date…)

But I didn’t recognize this guy…

I was like, “oh no….”

And sure enough - what does he pull out of the “swimsuit water extractor”? You guessed it - his now 95% dry underwear. (The pool is part of a larger community center with workout areas, indoor running tracks, etc.)

Gulp.

It still makes me feel a little queasy on that one. It’s not “UnderwearMate” I stood there for a few moments in disbelief and then tossed my own swimming suit in to shake off the water. Maybe the left over chlorine will protect it like bleach or something… Better just to get it into the laundry.

While happening earlier last week, I found the whole bomb scare in Boston just about as ludacris as the next person. Amazingly enough, today the Boston authorities are asking for payment of over $500,000 from TBS over the costs the city took on disarming such foolishly made “bombs”.

While no final tallies were immediately available, the deployment of dozens of state, federal, and Boston police specialists, from bomb experts to terrorism analysts, exceeded $500,000, according to Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino

I mean… is this scary? Threatening?

Go Aqua Teen Hunger Force!

Oh yeah… The point of my post (it wasn’t the whole bomb thing… )

Critics have mocked Boston for overreacting.

“If they were bombs, at that response rate, the city would have been screwed,” said Norajean McCarthy, 24, a friend of both suspects.

Safety officials, however, have praised the response as evidence of the city’s ability to respond quickly to a crisis.

Whew… I feel safe now! This was registered as a “crisis”.

You think you’ve heard it all… But here’s another interesting story that begs a read… I’ve highlighted my favorite part…

From James Hannah, Associated Press Writer:

DAYTON, Ohio - A mother was arrested on suspicion of murdering her newborn daughter by microwaving the baby in an oven. China Arnold, 26, was jailed Monday on a charge of aggravated murder, more than a year after she brought her dead month-old baby to a hospital. Bail was set Tuesday at $1 million.

“We have reason to believe, and we have some forensic evidence that is consistent with our belief, that a microwave oven was used in this death,” said Ken Betz, director of the Montgomery County coroner’s office.

He said the evidence included high-heat internal injuries and the absence of external burn marks on the baby, Paris Talley.

Arnold was arrested soon after the baby’s death in August 2005, then was released while authorities investigated further. Betz said the case was difficult because “there is not a lot of scientific research and data on the effect of microwaves on human beings.”

The death was ruled homicide by hyperthermia, or high body temperature. The absence of external burns ruled out an open flame, scalding water or a heating pad as the cause, Betz said.

Arnold’s lawyer, Jon Paul Rion, said his client had nothing to do with her child’s death and was stunned when investigators told her that a microwave might have been involved.

“China — as a mother and a person — was horrified that such an act could occur,” Rion said.

The night before the baby was taken to the hospital, Arnold and the child’s father went out for a short time and left Paris with a baby sitter, Rion said. The mother didn’t sense anything out of the ordinary until the next morning, when the child was found unconscious, Rion said.

Arnold has three other children.

In 2000, a Virginia woman was sentenced to five years in prison for killing her month-old son in a microwave oven. Elizabeth Renee Otte claimed she had no memory of cramming her son in the microwave and turning on the appliance in 1999. Experts said that Otte suffered from epilepsy and that her seizures were followed by blackouts.

Another interesting tidbit making the news circuit today…

ATTLEBORO, Mass. - Tag, you’re out! Officials at an elementary school south of Boston have banned kids from playing tag, touch football and any other unsupervised chase game during recess for fear they’ll get hurt and hold the school liable.

Recess is “a time when accidents can happen,” said Willett Elementary School Principal Gaylene Heppe, who approved the ban.

While there is no district wide ban on contact sports during recess, local rules have been cropping up. Several school administrators around Attleboro, a city of about 45,000 residents, took aim at dodgeball a few years ago, saying it was exclusionary and dangerous.

Elementary schools in Cheyenne, Wyo., and Spokane, Wash., also recently banned tag during recess. A suburban Charleston, S.C., school outlawed all unsupervised contact sports.

“I think that it’s unfortunate that kids’ lives are micromanaged and there are social skills they’ll never develop on their own,” said Debbie Laferriere, who has two children at Willett, about 40 miles south of Boston. “Playing tag is just part of being a kid.”

Another Willett parent, Celeste D’Elia, said her son feels safer because of the rule. “I’ve witnessed enough near collisions,” she said.

That’s what I want as the next generation of kids. Safer ones. Need to keep those near collisions at bay…