Mishmash Musings

My in-laws have arrived safe and sound, and will be staying with us for the next 10 days. I know that it’s going to take all my self-control and willpower to get through the visit without blowing up due to stress, so I’m not looking forward to the next week and a half.

I’m going to try to look on the bright side of everything and not get too wrapped up in what I can’t do while they’re here: regular blogging, watching TV when I want, taking an afternoon nap, etc. I feel like I have to entertain them practically 24/7, which means all of my regular duties fall by the wayside.

So anyway, if my posts become a bit erratic here in the near future, now you know why!

I just read that Bill Murray’s wife of 11 years, Jennifer Butler Murray, has filed for divorce from the actor. Among her complaints, she alleges that Murray physically abused her, including one occasion where he hit her in the face and then said she was lucky he didn’t kill her. In addition, Jennifer Murray claims that Bill would often travel overseas specifically to have sex with other women.

Wow, he sounds like a real gem, doesn’t he? I realize this is just half of the story, but… yikes!

The couple signed a prenup, so the divorce should be quick. Jennifer Murray stands to receive $7 million out of the deal.

I just read an article about a 61-year-old woman in Tennessee who died after a power failure caused her iron lung to stop working. The woman’s name was Dianne Odell, and she’d been stuck in the thing ever since she was diagnosed with polio at the age of 3.

Hmm, didn’t anyone think to provide a backup power source (such as a generator or something) in case of a power outage?

Two other things strike me about this story. First, this woman spent her entire life ON HER BACK inside a 750-pound machine and even had to use a mirror just to make eye contact with visitors. I wonder what her caregivers did about muscular atrophy and bedsores — not to mention bathing and the like. Was she ever able to get out of the machine for even a few minutes at a time??

Second, I had no idea that iron lungs were still in use. They sound like such ancient, outdated contraptions that I was surprised to hear that this woman spent nearly 60 years in one. I guess she had some other complications that prevented her from getting more modern equipment, though.

To Odell’s credit, she got her high school diploma, took college classes, and wrote a children’s book. That’s pretty amazing for someone confined to an iron lung. Seriously, I likely would have given up on things well before hitting 61….

(AP Photo/The Tennessean, John Partipilo, File)

The 2008 NCAA baseball tournament, which leads up to the College World Series, is slated to begin soon, which is why the brackets were released today. While this doesn’t cause as much of a stir as, say, the release of the March Madness basketball tourney brackets, it’s still a pretty big deal.

As with basketball, 64 teams qualify for the tournament based on regional tournaments. Once the field of 64 teams is set, they’re divided into 16 four-team regional brackets, where they play in a double-elimination format. The 16 winners from the regionals advance to the best-of-three super regional series, with the eight winners then going on to participate in the College World Series in Omaha, NE beginning on June 14.

Florida was selected as the top seed in the nation, with North Carolina, Arizona State, Florida State, Cal State Fullerton, Rice, LSU, and Georgia also scoring top national seeds.

Meanwhile, two-time defending champion Oregon State didn’t qualify for this year’s tournament after posting a mediocre 28-24 record during the regular season.

I usually try to catch a couple games of the CWS on ESPN every year, so hopefully there will be some good action in the 2008 tournament!

I’ve never been much of a car racing fan, but there are a few events that I tune into every year. The Indianapolis 500 is definitely one of them, and even though I wasn’t able to catch the whole race today, I did see some of it.

Fan favorite Danica Patrick was clipped on pit road by Ryan Briscoe, damaging her car and leaving her unable to finish the final 29 laps of the race. Until that point, she’d mostly been running in the Top 10, but was never really near the front of the pack.

This year’s Indy 500 winner turned out to be Scott Dixon, a 27-year-old driver from New Zealand. Dixon beat Vitor Meira out of the pits on the last stop and was able to hold onto the lead until the checkers flew. It was Dixon’s first Indianapolis 500 victory.

(Photo by Robert Laberge/Getty Images)

Several years ago, a friend of mine gave me a coin that was issued in France to commemorate the achievements of linguist Jean-Francois Champollion. Even though it was a silver coin, I don’t think it had much real value, since it wasn’t rare or anything like that. Even so, I loved that coin and carried it around with me as a good luck piece — until I somehow lost it.

At any rate, I’ve been thinking about starting up a coin collection that actually does have a chance at appreciating in value. With the stock market as shaky as it is these days, I think putting my money into gold or silver coins would be a much safer way to go. I took a look at Monex.com this morning, and saw several excellent options for investing in gold and silver, so as soon as I get some extra cash together, I’m going to talk to someone over about making a purchase or two.

My in-laws are coming for a week-long visit next week. They’ll arrive on Saturday and aren’t leaving until June 8, at which point I’m sure I’ll be on the brink of insanity! I get along with my in-laws for the most part, but I hate having house guests for an extended period of time because it throws me off my routine. We have such a small place that it’s impossible to find any kind of privacy at all when other people are here, so I’m not going to be able to work or relax in peace.

I can’t complain though. I mean, they’re coming all the way from Japan, so I should actually be grateful that they’re only staying for one week instead of two or three.

At any rate, I’m going to be spending most of next week cleaning up in preparation for the visit. I’m going to try to keep posting regularly even when they’re here, but there will probably be a couple of days when I won’t be able to log on.

Wish me luck!

It seems that the only thing people are talking about these days is money. Specifically, they’re talking about how much everything costs now, from gas to groceries and all sorts of other products in between. Frankly, I’m getting sick of all the complaining, know what I mean? Sure, my savings account is suffering from the effects of this terrible slump the economy is going through, but it’s just extremely depressing to hear people constantly moan about this stuff.

How are we dealing with things? Clipping coupons, eating at home, renting movies instead of going to the theater, cutting down on a bunch of extras… the usual budget tricks. Thankfully, we’re still getting by, and I hope we can continue to do so until things pick back up!