open letter to the creators of Ice Age 3

Whoever was responsible for this movie should be ashamed. I am a science teacher who finds it difficult to teach students strong science because they are so influenced by the media. Having dinosaurs in the ice age, let alone having the ice age be the DAWN of the dinosaurs is a farce. This is ridiculous. The dinosaurs went extinct about 65 million years ago, all, except their relatives of birds and some reptiles, would not even have seen the ice ages. The dinosaurs you depict in the film were not around for the ice age and had been extinct longer than any man or mammoth has been on this earth. Shame on your writers and producers for not putting better science into films. I will have to reteach these students based upon what they see in their movie theaters.

Cory J. Eklund

TEE

I went to the hospital Friday morning. They checked me in, hooked up an IV and then wheeled me to the radiology unit. They sprayed the back of my throat with this gross Banana tasting tranquilizer. It tasted like cough syrup on steroids. Then they injected my IV with the drugs. I don't remember much after, except swallowing a giant tube and then I remember them trying to get it out of my throat.

Evidently the doctor talked to me and told me all about my heart,....I remember nothing. I remember getting wheeled back to my room and asking if I could run a marathon and one of the nurses said that I probably shouldn't. I then came to slowly and Marie was there to witness. She wrote down all that the doctor told me so I have some information to take home. They will give me a copy of the procedure on Monday.

Here's what the Doc said. I have a nasty valve. I have a jet stream of blood that flows back into my heart after each beat. I have a bicuspid valve that is not dialating. Because I have no symptoms, we will have echos (not the TEEs) every year until they see enough to have surgery. Usually people don't need the valve replaced until the age of late 40's early 50's, but he said there is still a possibility I may need to replace it before the age of 30. I will be having a follow up appointment in October to discuss my results and my future with the doctor. I think he will ask if I have had any syptoms or not at that time as well.

Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. I will certainly keep everyone updated.

Summer is finally here

Monday the 22nd was officially my last day of work for this school year. It was a good year, but a long one. We made up 5 snow days and a sewer day. I think I was one of the last teachers in a school in Oregon, maybe the country. I am still not done. I moved rooms the last few days and I still need a signature from the principal that says I am all moved out.

On Saturday I MC'd a wedding reception for a couple of teacher friends. I was in charge of the microphone and DJ the dance with my friend's Ipod. Marie and I tried to catch the tail end of a retirement party, but all that was left was the host family. They were very hospitable and we stayed for a drink and some laughter.

On Sunday, Marie and I went to a Third Eye Blind concert at the Crystal Ballroom in Portland with a friend leaving for Nebraska soon.

On Wednesday, we are headed to Seattle for a Mariner's game and then I will go in on Friday for my TEE. Summer is happening and I am excited!

This week

A storm came through on Thursday and blew down some of our front yard tree. Marie cut it into smaller pieces and our landlord is going to take care of it for us.

The seniors at the high school graduated on Friday. I knew a few of them from class, but recognized many from being at the high school another year. It was a good ceremony.

Marie and I took a trip to Pacific City on Saturday. It was fun to be at the beach even though it was short.


A week and a half more of students!!!