NBC sucks

Well, actually their web site sucks. A friend called to tell me that the episode of ER tonight is supposed have a woman about Linda's age having stroke-like symptoms. I don't have TV, but I thought I would see what their web site had. Apparently, there's a video clip of the actress talking about the role. I wouldn't really know. The web site has declared that you must be a slave to Microsoft if you want to see it:

The current version of your browser does not support ActiveX

Windows Media Player 9 not detected.
Click here to download.

Frankly, I'm thankful that my browser does not support the security nightmare that is ActiveX, and there are other media players than the one made by Microsoft. I wish they would just deliver the damned video clip. I'd complain to them, but they're TV people and their minds have the limitations of TV video people's minds. For example, they think the web is a one-way medium and I couldn't find a "contact us." I didn't look too hard; it's easier just to grouch.

Slow start this morning.

I was about to take Linda to therapy when she informed me that she wasn't feeling well. So I told the therapists and took her home. I stayed home for a while to see how she would do, writing up a set of challenging 'z' words for her to use in speech therapy. You know, words that start with z, like zoom, zest, zeal, and zany. Words that end with z, or have it on the 2nd syllable or 3rd syllable. I have words that have z following a consonant (like kudzu). I also included special lists of Linda's hardest, z after s (as in capsize) and z following long 'a' vowel (like amaze).

For fun I included 4 words under the heading evil. They are Uzbekistan, Schwartzkopf, Shevardnadze, and anesthetize.

I typed them up using Abiword. No humans were harmed by proprietary software licenses in the creation of her therapy materials. I don't use word processors very often (mathematicians use typesetting programs), but it was pretty easy to use.

Home practice

Since Linda missed therapy today, she practiced some with her parallel bars. Specifically, she worked on lengthening her stride which is otherwise quite short. It went well. It's easier to take longer steps when she feels secure from falling.