Day: March 8, 2006

Ponderings on the midweek…

D'Arque Bishop1 Comment

First things first… while this Akismet plugin for fighting spam on the site has been exceptional for the most part, I have managed to find one unintended casualty. Apparently all of ACJ’s comments are being marked as spam. I happened to be browsing the list of blocked comments earlier tonight and came across a comment he made a few days ago. *grumblemutter* I suppose I’m going to have to keep a closer eye on it, or find a way to make sure ACJ isn’t blocked.

It appears I’ll be going to Buffalo again on Friday. This time I’ll have everything in hand that I’ll need for the trip, so I don’t expect to need to make another trip for a while. Maybe this time I’ll be able to get the net access working and be able to do some actual work from there. The only thing that bugs me about Buffalo trips is the drive, but the fact that I’ll have my iPod with me will make it quite a bit more bearable. I should see about getting more Doctor Who audio adventures; when I went to Los Angeles last week I entertained myself by listening to “Shada” on my iPod, and it was quite entertaining. It’s really too bad Big Finish doesn’t offer them on the iTunes Music Store, as I’d be more likely to buy them that way.

I’ve also been trying to be a bit more smart about my food intake, exercise, and all. Starting Monday I’ve been doing a five to ten minute workout every morning with a set of hand weights I have here. I’ve cut out all soda again (I’d been slipping, but nowhere NEAR as bad as I had been; maybe a soda at lunch), and have gone to two cups of coffee in the morning and water the rest of the day, with the exception of a Shiner Light in the evening. As for food… I’ve been trying to eat healthier. While my sandwiches for lunch Monday and Wednesday came with fries, I only ate a few of them (as in, five or less). On Tuesday, I had a light pasta salad instead of fries with my chicken sandwich. Then, when I get home, I have a light dinner. We’ll see how it turns out, but I would like to shed a few pounds before May, which is when I’ll be attending two big trade shows (OTC and E3, to be more precise).

In any event, tomorrow should be a somewhat quiet day, other than poker tomorrow night. Then on Saturday, I’ll be going to see Cirque du Soleil’s Delirium at the Toyota Center, which should be rather enjoyable. For now, sleep beckons…

And these parents represent everything wrong with parenting and the legal system today.

D'Arque Bishop

http://www.news-journalonline.com/NewsJournalOnline/News/Florida/floSTAT04030806.htm

BARTOW — The parents of a 13-year-old boy who was seriously injured when he fell from a roller coaster at Cypress Gardens last month sued the theme park for negligence.

Martin Llamas of Orlando fell 10 to 12 feet onto the grass from the Triple Hurricane roller coaster on Feb. 25. The Polk County Sheriff’s Office said he had maneuvered out of the lap bar and was facing the cars behind him when he was thrown out of the coaster on a sharp turn.

But his parents, Publio Junco and Maria Cota, dispute witness accounts that their son was standing up in the car. They filed suit Friday, claiming Cypress Gardens failed to ensure the ride was safe, and failed to maintain and inspect it to prevent injury.

Cypress Gardens spokeswoman Lynn Wright said the park didn’t do anything wrong.

“We stand by the results of the completed investigations of state and local officials, which cleared the park of any negligence or error in this unfortunate accident,” Wright said.

An inspector with the Florida State Bureau of Fair Ride Inspection concluded there was no malfunction with the ride and the boy was properly restrained by the coaster’s lap restraint. The ride was reopened the day after the accident.

Llamas remains hospitalized in Tampa.