The way some Christians are carrying on, you’d think that Christmas celebrations had been driven into the underground until the reelection of Bush. Honestly, I don’t care whether people say “Merry Christmas” or “Happy Holidays” or “Joyous Kwanzaa.” Just give me my damn presents and go on your way. But let’s cool it with the crocodile tears about Christians being persecuted over what greeting you can use with the fucking check-out girl at Wal-Mart. Please.
I want the Live Aid DVD. I was watching a clip of it on the NPR website that included a Pretenders performance. Chrissie Hynde is a goddess. I was only eleven when Live Aid aired, so I don’t really remember much of the hype, but the 80s geek in me wants to see some of these performances, especially Queen and U2.

I returned from Baltimore a couple hours ago and everything went well. The Hyatt on the Inner Harbor is to be commended for their accessible rooms. The bathroom was nicer than the one in my condo. I didn’t make it to the aquarium, even though both of my nurses did. Bastards. I actually had to work.
Will post some pictures tomorrow.

Somebody out there better be getting me a new iPod for [insert winter holiday of choice here], because mine is officially full. Which sucks because I can’t load my mp3s of the Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy for the flight tomorrow. I prefer the 60GB iPod photo, but I suppose I can settle for the 40GB model.
Not sure if I’ll have time to blog in Baltimore. Maybe I can talk one of my nurses into typing a short entry. Otherwise, I’ll catch you all on Thursday.

A short entry tonight because I was out most of the evening, doing some holiday shopping. I took the train from downtown to the Mall of America, partially as a test run to see how long it would take me to get to the airport on Tuesday. Other than being a little crowded on the way home, the ride was smooth and uneventful. At the mall, the crowds were in their customary state of holiday oblivion, darting in my path like overstimulated deer. My nurse was quite miffed. “Are you a magnet for stupid people?” she asked when we got home.

I think the commenting problems have been addressed. MT-Blacklist was being a little overenthusiastic, but it should play nice with everyone now.
Today’s Star Tribune includes an article detailing a legal settlement involving Fairview Medical Center and the Americans with Disabilities Act. Some patients who are deaf and were receiving treatment at Fairview sued the hospital because the hospital did not provide adequate sign language interpreter services. In some cases, the interpreters provided were incompetent. In one instance, the interpreter’s spouse tried to convince a patient to come to some kind of alternative healing center for treatment. The callous and unprofessional treatment these people received is disturbing, especially considering that it occurred in a medical setting. Imagine how confused and scared you would be if you couldn’t understand the people who were poking and prodding you with assorted instruments. Like I keep saying, businesses and institutions are still clueless about their duties to accommodate people with disabilities a decade after passage of the ADA. We still have this Darwinian view of disability; adapt or die, but don’t make it our problem. We need to do a better job of getting these companies to understand that accommodations are a normal part of doing business with the community. Oh, and you don’t do that by having one day of diversity training for managers that may or may not include an hour’s worth of discussion on disability issues.
Fairview is settling for $208,000 and a judge will oversee Fairview’s future compliance with the ADA.
Let’s see, what else is pissing me off? Oh, yeah, Time and Newsweek have virtually identical covers this week. Okay, I know that slapping Jesus on the cover of a magazine probably boosts sales in the heartland. But c’mon, Time and Newsweek! Did you call each other over the weekend, sweating out your respective deadlines, and finally say, “Ah, fuck it. Nobody will notice.” I don’t mind when you have similar covers after a big news event, but I didn’t realize the birth of Jesus was a breaking story.