Big Hail – 04.26.16

Well folks, the storm has arrived.

OKC 042616Meers 042616It’s like watching a train wreck in slow motion, tracking severe storms that eventually will be in your town.

Medford 042616Snider 042616mesocyclone 042616

A couple of pictures from Twitter storm chasers somewhere near Chillicothe TX all re-tweeted from the NWS Norman Twitter feed.

The good news is the earthquakes have settled down.

Big Hail

Chilicothe TX 042616

Mortality Risk Increased Post Joint Surgery in RA | Medpage Today

Joint surgery linked to short-term mortality and longer-term heart attack and mortality

  • Among patients undergoing joint surgery, those with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) have almost double the risk of death at 6 weeks compared with those without RA, as well as an increased risk of death and myocardial infarction (MI) at 1 year.

  • Note that the risks are elevated not just for surgeries like hip joint replacement, but also for relatively minor procedures such as shoulder surgery.

Source: Mortality Risk Increased Post Joint Surgery in RA | Medpage Today

I Decided Not to be a Writer – I’m OK With That

Nearly half of Americans would have trouble finding $400 to pay for an emergency. I’m one of them.

Source: Many Middle-Class Americans Are Living Paycheck to Paycheck – The Atlantic

Neal Gabler is a visiting professor in the MFA Creative Writing and Literature Program at the State University of New York, Stony Brook. He is the author of a forthcoming biography of Edward Kennedy and five other books.

Ever since my undergraduate days I’ve dreamed of being a writer.  Not only do I love to write but I have to write.  I write almost every day.  I just don’t get paid to write.  Having just read Neal Gabler’s article I feel the decision to pursue a different line of work and become a non-writer was a good decision.  I just never thought that 40 years later I would be doing what I did for a living as a 22 year old kid fresh out of college.

No regrets.