Just for fun, I paid a visit to the local ER this afternoon. The problem turned out to be reassuringly minor and I felt a little sheepish about wasting everyone’s time on little ol’ me. Being the conscientious health care consumer that I am, I try to make use of my primary care clinic as much as possible and I really don’t like going outside of that system. As I was waiting in the exam room for someone to look at me, I thought about what it must be like for people with no insurance to rely on the ER for all of their health care needs. My ho-hum (as it turned out) medical issue still kept me tied up in the ER for over three hours on a Sunday. And I have the advantages of pretty good health coverage and fairly complete medical records. ERs have become one-stop providers of both complex and basic care, a function they serve remarkably well given their limited resources. It’s not ideal, of course. But until we gather the political courage to fix our completely botched health care system, the ER docs and nurses are the ones keeping this rickety ship afloat.

The Minneapolis municipal wireless broadband network is beginning to go live across the city. Construction on the Downtown portion of the network is already complete. The promotional brochure claims that residents will be able to get download speeds of up to 6Mbps, which is comparable to what I get now with Comcast. I’m dubious that I can pick up a wi-fi signal from up here on the 19th floor, but I read here that residents in high-rise buildings who are beyond the reach of the wireless signal can get a wired connection for a price that’s still cheaper than cable. I’d be happy to give Comcast less of my money, but I need to investigate further before committing to anything.

Incidentally, I was at an event yesterday at the Central Library to celebrate the launch of the wireless network when someone approaches me and asks, “Aren’t you that guy with that blog?” You know you’ve arrived in the exurbs of celebrity when people start referring to you as “That Guy”.

InterAct Center provided a performance during the lunch break at today’s conference. InterAct feautures performers with a range of disabilities (cerebral palsy, Down’s Syndrome, mental illness, etc.) and this was the first time I had the opportunity to see them perform. Much of their material touches on the stigma attached to disability and the daily frustrations of confronting prejudice from an able-bodied world. They also don’t shy away from satire (a couple of their skits poked fun at religion) and themes of sexuality. Some audiences are probably offended or confused by a group of actors with Down’s gyrating their hips suggestively, but what struck me is how much fun the actors were having. How many other performing arts venues would offer these guys the opportunity to perform as professional artists? One more reason why I’m proud to live in the Twin Cities.

I’m off to help my sister buy a Macbook. I’ve decided it doesn’t make much sense for me to switch to a Mac, but maybe she’ll let me tinker with hers from time to time.

I’ve received several e-mail messages from the makers of ooVoo, which is apparently what all the kewl kids will be using for IM and video chat. The final release launches this week and I’d love to give it a try. Except I don’t own a webcam. I guess I always assumed that nobody out there would want to look at my ugly mug when conversing with me. But perhaps I should reconsider.

One thing about ooVoo’s marketing efforts made me smile. A cute British woman from ooVoo named Molly sent me a video message to inform me of the software’s official release. In the course of doing so, she referred to me as a “leading blogger”. Really? 60 hits per day makes me a leading blogger? I suspect you’re making a blatant appeal to my ego, Molly. But, please, do go on.

According to this survey,  approximately 20% of Americans must’ve been absent from school on the day they taught that the Earth orbits around the Sun. Or maybe these are the unfortunate souls who were home-schooled by well-meaning but completely deluded fundamentalist parents. And you know what’s sad? These statistics don’t even have the power to shock me anymore. When the grand opening of a creationist “museum” gets oodles of press coverage and three major-party presidential candidates proudly declare their belief in magic, it’s folly to pretend that a good portion of Americans don’t share these medieval worldviews. I blame the Europeans. If you guys hadn’t been so eager to deport your religious fanatics a few hundred years ago, the majority of decent and informed Americans wouldn’t have to contend with their irksome and embarrassing descendants today. Thanks a bunch.