Winter Storm 2008

If you have ever lived anywhere with real weather, you probably wonder how a little rain can make so much news in Sunny California.

Rain began pelting parts of Southern California early today as a fierce winter storm from the Pacific Northwest moved in ahead of schedule, triggering fears that recent wildfires may have left the region susceptible to flash flooding.

With a forecast like that, I felt confident telling my boss I would run the Irvine half marathon with him...just as long as it was not raining. Sadly, there was no rain on Saturday morning, and before I was fully awake, I found myself running a half marathon. For anyone who has been considering running a half marathon: If you are not in shape, a half marathon is not a whole lot easier than running a whole marathon.

I slowed the boss down a little, but we still turned in pretty respectable times.


Next up: Los Angeles (eh?), or the District of Colombia. Do I dare try two in the same month?

Better Than Crack

Nico will likely tell me that nobody uses crack anymore, and I should come up with a better title for this post. However, "Better Than Meth" just does not have the same ring to it...also, I have this suspicion that freebasing is still popular, but that it is just too expensive for the kids in her 'hood.

Back to the point, my Chrismukkah present to myself:

We stayed at several hotels in Italy that had these "one-touch" cappuccino machines. This one (made by Delonghi for Nespresso) will make espresso, espresso lungo, cappuccino, or latte with almost no effort. I'll post a full review at a later date. So far, I everything it has made me has been excellent, though the cappuccino comes out a little cold for my (American) taste.

(As an aside, I had to go to pharmacy school to figure out what freebasing actually meant. Later, when I get my customery withdrawal headache, I am going to freebase some naproxen. Shoot, freebase naproxen is prescription only.)

The One With the Dancing Turkey

Alternate title was: "I told you not to stop the sleigh"

Nico made these Cornish game hens this year instead of turkey. So I get to thinking, what could be better than filming a Cornish game hen for my very first stop motion animation movie? You know, in the spirit of other holiday films such as A Pack of Gifts, Now. Unfortunately, if my digital camera is capable of shooting stop motion animation, I would have to read the manual to figure it out. Fortunately, I have the next best thing...if you are reading this at work, why not turn the volume up really loud?

In other Thanksgiving news, both of my parents made it over to join us for Cornish game hens. Here's my father (I believe making his first Takealotofdrugs appearance) at the Newport Back Bay.

I shot this picture on time delay (with a 6 inch tall tripod stationed on our fondue pot).

And finally, my dancing Cornish game hen right before I ate him. I know, I have become more of a failed vegetarian (rather than the struggling vegetarian that I tell people I am), but it is impossible to get Nicole to make a Tofurkey.

Tate, I cannot afford your usual and customary fee, but if you help me come up with a name for our new computer system, I will split the $250 prize with you. I would like a name that says: "This pharmacy computer system was not designed in 1981".

Win $$$ in our
"Name the Project" Contest
Announcing the RxExpress Replacement Project
Submit your ideas at the link below
The time has come! RxExpress ~ the software used today to support Mail Service Operations, Customer Service, Order and Inventory Management and Accounts Receivable for multiple mail service locations ~ is being replaced with a state-of-the-art system that will enhance users' day to day capabilities and be instrumental in supporting the rapid growth we expect to see in the future.

This project ensures Prescription Solutions is ready for our next level of growth within the PBM and Mail Service Operations and will give many of you who currently use RxExpress a more powerful tool to more easily perform your job functions.

All approvals for the launch have been secured and it's a "GO." But there is still one missing piece.

This crucial project doesn't have a name, and we need your help! Based on what we have told you about the new software enrichment, please send us your idea(s). Use your imagination to create a descriptive name and if your idea is chosen, you could win up to $250.

To submit your idea for a name, simply click on the link below to enter the naming contest. (If you create an acronym, please remember to spell it out.) In the subject line, please be sure to write "Name the Project". (Email submissions that do not include the words Name the Project will not be entered in the contest.) The contest will end November 30th.

Novartis may be running my very favorite marketing campaign ever.

Foul Taste Is Part of the Cure

When drug makers come out with new cough medicines, they typically tout characteristics such as extra strength or improved flavor. But when Novartis starts marketing a Canadian cough mixture in the U.S. today, it will focus on a different feature that it hopes will help the product stand out from the crowd: the medicine's foul taste.

Made from camphor, pine needle oil, menthol and Canadian fir balsam gum, Buckley's Cough Mixture has been available since 1919 in Canada, where it has become what Novartis calls the country's "best-selling and worst-tasting" cough medicine. It doesn't contain sugar or alcohol, which other ...

Hey, is anybody interested in buying the world's most uncomfortable couch? You will be much more productive if you are not sitting around all day...also, your bed will feel more comfortable (by comparison, at least).

I am the greatest pharmacist in the world.

Some of you did not believe it when I told you that I am one of America's top pharmacists. So now I have come back with proof:




Yes that's right, I correctly ascertained that 90 tablets of Nifediac CC is too much Nifediac CC to take in a single day. I did not even need the pharmacy computer system to alert me. That is how great I am.

And now, please excuse me. I must return to saving lives.

This just in:

All links pointing to dead blogs have been removed. For the purposes of this discussion, "dead" is defined as "no posts in the last 30 days". Sidearms, you were given a pass, as I am not sure what the computer situation is like in Baghdad (or wherever you are).

The rest of you: if you want your link back (and all the traffic that said link generates for you), feel free to make your case here.

Impossible Dream...

I have this hotmail account (if you are really smart, you might be able to guess my email address), that became so overrun with spam (6 or 7 years ago), that I stopped using it. I get somewhere around 30 or 40 pieces of spam per day that are not blocked by hotmail's spam filter. I have no idea how much ends up in my junk folder...probably a couple hundred emails a day.

Anyway, I am starting an aggressive "unsubscribe" program. I shall attempt to unsubscribe from every junk sender that makes it into my inbox for the rest of November. I'll let you know if the account is usable again sometime in December.

Stock up on auxiliary labels!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Headache pills increase chance of car crash, says study

Next time you take a headache tablet, take care on the roads. New research reveals that taking everyday drugs such as ibuprofen can increase the chances of a car crash by 50 per cent.

Other pills are even worse. Researchers from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health matched prescription drug use with road accidents among about three million people. They looked at seven groups of commonly prescribed drugs including natural opium alkaloids such as codeine and morphine, benzodiazepine tranquillisers, anti-asthmatic drugs and penicillin.

During the research period, 79 per cent of the men and women had drugs on prescription. Among those involved in an accident as driver, 82 per cent had drugs on prescription. One theory is that some of the drugs may have a detrimental effect on the central nervous system.

"Further studies are needed to clarify a possible important central nervous system effect of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (Nsaids, which include ibuprofen) on driving ability," say the researchers, whose study is based on 13,000 car accidents involving personal injury.

Those on prescription drugs had a 40 per cent increased risk. The risk was threefold for users of tranquillisers, 3.3 times for hypnotic benzodiazepines, and double for users of natural opium alkaloids. Smaller increases were found for Nsaids and asthmatics of up to 50 per cent, and for penicillin, 10 per cent.

Anyone else think that maybe those suffering from headaches or syphilis are worse drivers than those not so afflicted?

I have shot my monkey, Klaus, into space, because art is dead.

The guy on the channel 9 news said we should have an inventory of our valuables...in case the place burns down. Our fireproof safe is only fireproof for 30 minutes (and there is no way I am running into a burning building to save a copy of my birth certificate), so I thought I would post my vast inventory of wealth right here, like a Soviet display of force.


Our art collection seemed to be the natural place to start, as one of the artists had recently asked me for photos of her work. Hopefully, somebody will ask me for a picture of my stereo or couch before the next fire.

Duality--Painted by a starving Romanian artist, the frame was far more expensive than the painting.


Boats on the _______(?)--Can't remember the name of this one. Painted by a more prolific Romanian artist, the painting was slightly more expensive than the frame.


Fish--Or was that "Fishy"? A signed J. Kwon original, notice the abstract nature of the orange betta swimming in green water.


Untitled--A signed J. Kwon original, sometimes referred to as "Naked Woman". I have been thinking of naming her: "Spring Break!!!!!!!!!!!!!" or possibly: "See My Breasts".