I'm a VPP (Very Proud Papa)

 

Those of you who don't know, I was raised in an OU household, of which I am not ashamed at all.  My favorite state school team was the Sooners, prior to my employment at OSU.  Now my two favorite teams are OU and OSU.  Yeah, there is a lot more orange in my closet than red (at least on my side) primarily out of loyalty to my employing campus. 

 

With that having been said, who would have expected to see the University of Oklahoma logo presented at the top of one of my blog posts?  Well, it is being done by a very proud papa of a high school senior that has completed all of the requirements to apply for an early admissions to a Masters of Occupational Therapy program at OUHSC. Yes, I said Masters program.  Occupational Therapy is a field Sarah has been interested in for quite a while.  Recently she found that OUHSC has an early admittance program to the MOT program for high school seniors, depending upon their GPA, test scores and having confirmed observation time (shadowing) with a practicing OT.  She has the grades and test scores, and recently completed all the required hoop-jumping to get her shadowing hours completed.  She submitted all of her paperwork for the early admissions yesterday.

 

Admittance to the program holds a spot for her once she has completed her bachelor's degree, which doesn't have to be completed at OU.  Being that OT is a growing field, and the graduate placement rate is almost 100%, the program is growing increasingly difficult to enter.  Her taking the initiative now, as a high school senior, will pay off huge dividends in the future.  In short, she won't have to spend her senior year in college worrying about gaining admissions to a graduate program!

 

No, it isn't guaranteed that she will be accepted into the program, but that isn't a major concern (who is stupid enough to deny/reject my daughter? It would just be their loss!).  I am just amazed at how well she has squared away her plans for the future. 

 

Extra Info:

My dad was an Alumni of OU Medical Center.

 

Just to show the level of OU involvement by my family, here is the ring-tone that plays when my mom calls my cell phone:

       

        which can be interesting when she calls during normal business hours!

 

However, I do have to have a little OU humor somewhere, so here it is:

 

Another test

here goes nothing.......

this is a test after manna4all changed vdeck versions

hello ... how about the picture?

 

Five-Second Rule Extended to Eight Seconds

ATLANTA (CAP) - Bowing to pressure from advocacy groups and a lobby effort dating back three years, the Weights and Measures Division of the National Institute of Standards and Technology has agreed to expand the age-old Five-Second Rule to eight seconds beginning next month.

 

"With all the pressures we all face on a daily basis, nobody has the time they used to," said Pete Olsen of Focus On The Family, which began lobbying the NIST back in 2004. "Three seconds may not be much, but every little bit helps."

 

Focus On The Family originally sought a rule expansion to ten seconds, citing the continued increase in the number of single-parent households as the primary factor in their request. "The numbers of cookies and crackers remained the same, while the sets of eyes to respond and react dropped," said Olsen.

 

However, the NIST countered by offering to increase the limit one second each year from 2008 to 2011, which Focus called "a watered-down attempt to throw red tape at a systemic problem." An arbitrator was brought in last June to help both sides reach an agreement.

 

After months of arbitration, both sides agreed to concessions as part of the deal to change the timeframe of the rule. Among those concessions:

- The Berber Carpet Clause was expanded to include a ban on households with cats. For households with dogs, the rule still only applies to short-hair breeds.

- Section 4.1.2b regarding gum and gummy bears was also expanded to include children's "fruit snacks." However, the two sides could not reach agreement on Starburst chews and had to reserve judgement for a future time.

- Foyers, sunrooms and entryways were added to a special section of the Approved Rooms List that accounts for appropriate weather conditions. For the drier months of July and August, the Eight-Second Rule will now apply to the floors of these rooms.

 

The two sides also agreed to meet on a bi-yearly basis going forward to review all the stipulations of the rule to make sure it continues to meet the needs of a busy population.

 

Originally reported by CAP News

Truth in advertising?

I don't watch television that much, but when I was in Chicago last week, I was able to catch a couple hours of viewing Friday night.  I already realized that there are numerous medications for ED (erectile dysfunction), but one of the Cialis commercial was found to be quite humor.

 

Seems they have a 36 hour formula that "means you can be flexible".

 

Excuse me?  I thought 'being flexible' was the problem to begin with.....

Quick trip to Chicago

As of this weekend, I have been to Chicago twice in the last two years (previous visit).  The previous visit was give a presentation to the Barr Foundation Board of Directors.

 

What is the Barr Foundation you ask?  I will give a short answer here, but provide a more detailed description in the future.

The Barr Foundation has a three-fold mission:

1. Provide financial assistance to amputees in need to provide prosthetic components.

       (those who have no financial mean, not to help with insurance deductible)

2. Provide assistance in third-world countries with donated components.

3. Promote the Ertl procedure of lower limb amputation

 

For the last three years I have been very instrumental in the promotion of the Ertl procedure, via both being the webmaster of ErtlReconstruction.com and talking to as many people as I can about it.

 

This visit wasn't primarily to give a presentation to the Board.  It was actually attend as a "Director nominee".  After the meeting was called to order and previous meeting minutes reviewed/approved, the first order of business was to review the nominees and vote on their membership status.  My nomination was approved by a unanimous vote (as was all the others who voted in).

 

Another item of distinction of the evening's meeting was when the foundation operation method was modified to utilize committees to move forward.  Previously, before Tony Barr passed away, the president of the foundation was very active in all aspects of the mission.  It was really his full time job.  However, all of the directors have their own full time job, with foundation work being an additional responsibility in their life.  As such, we have split the functional areas (Executive, Financial Assistance, International Missions & Ertl promotion/education) to be governed by small committees, with them reporting back to the Directors as a whole.  While non-foundation members are allowed on the committees, the primary rule is that at least 50% of the committee members must by BF Directors.

 

I have been asked to be the chairman of the Ertl Education committee.  Another one of the new Directors, Dr Jan Ertl has agreed to be on the committee as well.  I already know of one non-director wishing to be on the committee and I have an idea of another I am going to ask to join us.  When all is squared away with the committee, it will probably look like a grade-school kid leading three Phd students around.  Reasoning is that the committee will most likely be comprised of two orthopedic surgeons, one internationally known CP (certified prosthetist) and me.

 

That's all for now, but I have a feeling there will be several posts in the future about the Barr Foundation in general, with detailed posts about Ertl activities.  

Sitting in an airport waiting for my flight...

Found this and thought I would share it here:

Scientists Decode the First Message From an Alien Civilization... Simply send 6 x 10 to the 50 atoms of Hydrogen to the Star System at the top of the list, cross off that star system, then put your Star System at the bottom of the list and send it to 100 other Star Systems. Within one-tenth of a Galactic Rotation you will receive enough hydrogen to power your civilization until entropy reaches its maximum! IT REALLY WORKS!

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Happy 100th birthday OKLAHOMA!

Have a great weekend

60 'channels' with plenty to watch (except the final score)

 

 

pd stuff