Category: humor

  • In Memory of L. Jay Stein

    In Memory of L. Jay Stein

    I was thinking of one of the Johnson County judicial mental health referees I often worked with years ago. L. Jay Stein died in 2014. I looked up his obituary the other day and was a little surprised to find I had written a remembrance for him. I’d forgotten it. “I will always remember my…

  • Svengoolie Movie: The Tingler!”

    Svengoolie Movie: The Tingler!”

    We saw the 1959 movie “The Tingler” starring Vincent Price on the Svengoolie show last Saturday. Price plays a prison pathologist, Dr. Warren Chapin, who’s trying to scientifically study a parasitic creature called the tingler (tingles up and down your spine means you’re scared right out of your mind!). It sits on your spine and…

  • The Mumbo Jumbo on Some Big Antique Cribbage Boards

    The Mumbo Jumbo on Some Big Antique Cribbage Boards

    Today, I’m going on a tangent about big, mostly antique cribbage boards which were specially made for making the scoring more complex. The main perpetrator (I mean manufacturer), was Drueke (variously pronounced as Drooky, Drew, Drooka). The Drueke name turns up on most of the big two, three and four track vintage cribbage boards you…

  • Thoughts on Down Time Activities for Land Survey Technicians

    Thoughts on Down Time Activities for Land Survey Technicians

    I was just thinking about the old-time land survey crews. When I was getting on the job training as a survey technician, the typical land survey crews were at least 2-3 persons. One rodman, one instrument man, and a crew chief who organized the job, which could be property or construction jobs. Nowadays, you get…

  • What Kind of Mailbox Does the USPS Really Want from Us?

    What Kind of Mailbox Does the USPS Really Want from Us?

    I just saw the latest headline about the United States Postal Service (USPS) new recommendation that we all get a nice, big mailbox. Huh? I gather one reason for the suggestion is to cut down on mail theft. I don’t think I’m allowed to put a lock on a mailbox, no matter how big it…

  • Big Mo Pod Show: “In Search of Good Company”

    Big Mo Pod Show: “In Search of Good Company”

    When I listen to the Big Mo Pod Show, I tend to almost free associate to memories which the songs sometimes evoke. The 5 songs this week came from, as usual, his Big Mo Blues Show this past Friday night. The theme of the pod show was “In Search of Good Company.” I’m not so…

  • Reminiscence of My Younger Days

    Reminiscence of My Younger Days

    The other day we had some stormy weather roll across central Iowa, although it was not as bad as the tornado that swept through Greenfield. We hope the best for them. We didn’t actually get a tornado, but I remember wondering why the siren went off about 6:00 a.m. It woke me up and I…

  • Old Blog Post on Decisional Capacity Assessment

    Old Blog Post on Decisional Capacity Assessment

    I just found a blog post I wrote about assessing decisional capacity. It’s over 13 years old and you can tell I was a little frustrated when I wrote it. It was back in the days when consulting psychiatrists were called psychosomatic medicine specialists. Here’s to another blast from the past. Blog from 2011: Thoughts…

  • Thoughts on the Big Mo Pod Show: Theme “Music Changes Context”

    Thoughts on the Big Mo Pod Show: Theme “Music Changes Context”

    I heard the Big Mo Pod Show, which relates to the quiz about 5 songs he played on the Big Mo Blues Show last Friday night. He got all the artists right, just missed 3 song titles! I had a couple of thoughts about the song lineup related to the theme “Music Changes Context.” Actually,…

  • Another Look at the C-L Psychiatry Pecha Kucha

    Another Look at the C-L Psychiatry Pecha Kucha

    Back in 2018, one of my emergency room staff physicians asked me to do a Pecha Kucha on what a consultation-liaison psychiatrist does. If you know what a pecha kucha is, you can understand why it was challenging for me to put it together and present it. Although you may have seen the video I…