tammyandtom.com

We moved. http://thebraseltons.com

It is now more than Tammy and Tom!

I’m still working on it but that is what is getting updated.

read comments ()

I cruise inside the local Wal-Mart and walk down the isles.  People constantly walk out in front of me and get in my way.  Then, from the corner of my eye, I see a kid zipping by as if he/she is floating.  How do they do that?  With those darn shoes that have wheels in the bottom.  I looked in the store for them and only found some for kids and with a 150 lb. weight limit.  That was plenty to disqualify me from the beginning.  I just let that desire fall to the side.  

I keep seeing these things and always say that I want some of those darn things.  I really meant it too!  Well, last week, I found that Heelys makes some for adults!  They go up to size 12 and there is no weight limit!  I immediately told Tammy that I would like them for my birthday in February.  I was dead serious.  I read reviews and all about them.  I was just wanting them more and more.

Last weekend, we had the family at our house and had a great Thanksgiving.  My niece showed up with an early birthday present - a pair of Heelys.  What the heck?  Just days before, I was checking them out.  I asked her how she knew that I liked them and she just remembered that I always say it when kids roll by and since she works at a shoe store sometimes, she saw them on sale and thought of me.  She is the coolest!  

They are VERY cool but hard to get used to.  I wore them all weekend and to be truthful, it hurt my feet to break them in.  They are now broken in and all is great.  I can get rolling on them but I am not as skillful as I would like to be.  I am doing great for the first week.  I can’t wait to roll past another kid on “rolling shoes” and give them the finger (just kidding there).  I’ll just smile and they will wonder what a 37 year old is doing with Heelys shoes!

I love being a kid all of the time!

read comments ()

The Fetal Monitoring Machinerey

I have been here long enough to assess the electronic machinery that is monitoring Tammy. I have also been watching and asking questions. I thought someone might appreciate my findings on the external fetal monitoring machinery in the hospital. All that I describe is based on the included picture in this blog post.

Ok, the business end of all of this crud is the big white box with paper coming out of it about center screen (I don’t know the proper name but I will refer to it as the “fetal monitor”). The computer and display is for recording data, displaying data and viewing messages.

Fetal Monitor

This is the main unit. It records data on the graphing paper as seen in the picture. It gives probe updates on what it seems to be .5 second intervals. On the little amber display, you can see many things. On the top left is the baby’s heart rate and there is a little heart icon to the right of the value. Pay attention to this as the icon shows that it is getting a signal. If you aren’t getting the little heart icon, you should just move the baby monitor “puck” until you get a good reading. The baby might have even moved and you lose the reading. We have found that it is up to the parents to keep this in tune as the nurses just don’t have time. A little practice and it is no big deal. The top right shows the contraction strength (It has a medical name but I just call it strength. Realize that the numeric value does not indicate overall contraction pain, it is relative). Just below that, you can see the mother’s blood pressure and heart rate if it is being monitored.

Dads note: You can adjust the volume with the two buttons directly to the right of the amber display. This way, you can hear the baby’s heartbeat and hiccups!

When the mom needs to get up to go potty, take the blood pressure cuff off of the arm if it is on her. Then unplug the two leads on the bottom left of the fetal monitor. It is simple, just pull them out. The accepted technique is to throw these two cables around the mother’s neck while taking the “journey”. You will have to wheel the IV stand/machinery along with you to the potty (after unplugging it from power - don’t worry, it runs on battery while you are walking along). When you get back, just plug the things back in and you are good to go. Don’t misunderstand me, it is a real pain trying to get up and just use the restroom. I make it sound pleasant but it takes 10 minutes and it is a cable nightmare just to release 600cc’s of urine! Every time!

Computer Display

There are two visible graphs. Each thick vertical line indicates one minute. The thin lines in-between indicate 10 seconds each. That is the time scale and is quickly recognizable. Below the graphs, you can find averages and also the blood pressure and mother’s heart rate if it is being monitored.

The top graph has two red lines that indicate the maximum heart rate (180) and minimum heart rate (90). A normal baby should fall between those two values. We have noticed that the value fluctuates wildly as the baby is awake and is pretty flat when the baby sleeps. If you have little blank spots on the graph, try manipulating the probe that is on the mother’s belly. The baby may have moved or the mother may have bumped it. Again, it is up to the parents to assist a bit in this department.

The bottom graph is the contraction graph. That, again, is my naming scheme. You can view contractions on that graph. In our case, the value is not that high. It is still a contraction. There are no contractions visible on the included picture. We are in the hospital to stop the contractions . To count the contractions, measure from the beginning of the contraction to the beginning of the next contraction. It is really easy to read since the display shows the last 7 minutes on the screen.

Dad’s note: Looking at the computer display, at the very top slightly to the right of center, there is a cyan colored button with white text. It either says “To: 7″ or “To: 14″. That is the viewable scale on the screen. If you hit “To: 14″, it will show the past 14 minutes. It toggles back and forth. Nifty.

The computer display also pops up alerts with other mother’s graphs on it. It alerts when there is no signal or there is a value out of range. All rooms get the alert so where ever the nurse is, he/she will be able to respond appropriately. It is kind of fun seeing other people’s graphs popping up.

I hope this helps a little bit. Normally, I try not to exceed my limits by messing with stuff. I just mention things that I learn that are things expected of the parents. It just took me longer to find out on my own.

–Tom B.

read comments ()

Our irrigation system was installed in September.  There are six watering zones in this system.  There are a total of 58 heads in this system.

• Zone 1 = 9 heads
• Zone 2 = 9 heads
• Zone 3 = 10 heads
• Zone 4 = 6 heads
• Zone 5 = 14 heads
• Zone 6 = 10 heads

P1 - P12 in the document indicate places were pictures were taken.

I have pictures for each location on the diagram but I am not including them in this post.

read comments ()

Man! I have had enough with sick people!  Now, the maid, Alice is sick too!  I have sent an email to support to see if she can be revived.

Alice (our Roomba Vacuuming Robot 2.1 - Model 4170), has fallen ill.  Her brushes don’t seem to rotate any longer.  After her last cleaning assignment, the bin was pretty clean and there was no dog hair in the brushes.  I cleaned her up to run again but she refused to pick up dirt.  I followed her around cupping my hands at her exhaust to ensure that the vacuum was working.  That was good.  I then placed the “nose-end” on the table and started her so I could see the under-side of her.  I noticed that the brushes were not spinning.  I turned her off and the brushes spun correctly by hand.  I disassembled the brushes and cleaned her undercarriage.  I then performed the same tests but her brushes still did not spin.   Is she injured?  Is she sick?  Help me iRobot, you’re my only hope…

 

I hope she can pull through.  I can only handle so much.  I like to add humor to my support questions in case you couldn’t tell…

read comments ()

I know there is a bug with the Flash video files on the main page of the blog. You can click each entry individually and see the files. I’m sorry but I don’t have time to fix that right now.

read comments ()

Since I have been putting videos on the blog, I have to create the Flash video, upload the file, find the embed string that I have to paste in the post and then put it in the post for viewing. I use a computer. Computers should do work, not me. I wrote a Finder plugin with Automator that does all of my stuff for me. I just right-click on my Flash video and then select the correct plugin action. It renames the file and uses the Transmit actions to send the file to the server. Then it opens a TextEdit document with the entire text to paste in the document. Voila! Done. OS X rules!

read comments ()