If I was a rich man...

"The most important men in town will come to fawn on me--
They will ask me to advise them,
Like a Solomon the Wise--
....And it won't make one bit of difference
If I answer right or wrong--
When you're rich, they think you really know."
- Tevye, Fiddler on the Roof

Apparently Billy Long, the auctioneer, real estate, world-class poker player, and general shyster, has decided to run for congress.  That should be a good fit.  There's not been a single auction of his that I've been too (I've only attended about 10 of them), where I haven't had him or his cronies double-bill me, help me bid against myself, or change the lot mid-bid.

His website says he's gonna go fight Nancy Pelosi.  In all honesty, I think he's got a bad bite of Tevye's "Rich man" syndrome.  And I'm not the only one to think so.

I don't think he has a chance, so for now I'll just laugh and move on.  But it's something I'll be keeping tabs on.  We just  might have to do some campaigning ourselves.

(Oh, and been awhile since you've seen Tevye shake his stuff? Here's the link for that)
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We're wrapping up this semester.  In Microbiology lab yesterday, we got a chance to "paint" using a variety of bacteria for the color palette.

I'm not much of an artist, but I am pretty impressed with how well the bacteria performed...

Here's my lame little prarie scene....

My lab partner -- also a graphic designer -- got more elaborate with his skull design.

And apparently Serratia marcesens likes MSU a lot more than I do 

 

(Pseudomonas aeruginosa = Green / Staphylococcus Aureus = "Gold" / Serratia marcescens = Red / Escherichia coli = White)


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So far my back seems to finally be coming back around.  My primary care doc gave me some muscle relaxants to use, and other than trying to knock me out cold every night, they work wonders for making it easier to get through the day.  That, and Dr. Scott at Springfield Chiropractic is starting to get my spine persuaded back to it original shape, which helps tremendously.  I've just gotta say, it's good to finally have my memory back.  That short-term memory loss was getting a little trippy.

I also retained a lawyer to help sort through all of the hassle.  As my wife put it "you have finals to focus on right now", and she's right.  I'll focus on finals, and pay somebody else to focus on negotiations and such.  It should work out well, especially considering I've already gotten more done in 3 phone calls with the lawyer than I did in 6 phone calls with this insurance company.

That's what I call a good trade-off.