I just finished watching Carolina “beat” Rhode Island to get to the NIT championship game. Here’s the thing… for the past couple weeks all we’ve heard is how Duke’s way to the NCAA championship was paved with an easy bracket and ref favoritism. In the final seconds of a one point game, a Carolina player tripped a Rhode Island player, which made him lose control of the ball when there was only one defender between him and the basket. He lost the ball and the clock expired, and you’d think the Carolina player would have been called for a foul, which would have sent the Rhode Island player to the line for a chance to tie the game or take the lead. I’m guessing any news stories on the game will say, “Oh well, the ref missed it. That happens, c’est la vie.” Of course, the Rams should have put the Heels away with several free throw opportunities they got towards the end of regulation.
If the same thing had happened in a Duke game people would be rioting. We’ll see what happens, I guess.
As I sit here I can hear Milly screaming her lungs out in the nursery upstairs. For several nights now she’s been waking up in the early hours of the morning and crying until we come in, change her diaper, give her her paci and turn on the mobile, or something. Some nights her wakes up a few times an hour, but nights like last night she only woke up once.
Tonight she started around 11:30. Amanda was in bed, trying to sleep and, since she has to get up earlier than me (and I stay up later anyway) I went to look in on Milly. She was very snotty and a little warm, so I ended up giving her some Tylenol. Mostly though, I just tried to comfort her. In three trips up there I changed her diaper, talked to her, read her a book and let her play for a bit before putting her back in the crib. The last time she seemed happy enough when I put her down, but a few minutes later she was acting like she was being murdered.
She quiets down as soon as I walk in the room, so she’s obviously fine. We’ve just been spoiled by the fact that she’s been sleeping through the night very consistently since she was about seven weeks old. This is no fun. Hopefully she’s just teething some more or something.
Amanda is refusing to move to the guestroom because the mattress isn’t as comfortable and she doesn’t want to bother setting the clock and the alarm. I’m undecided on what I’ll be doing.
The rest of the day was fine, and Milly was very good. The thing she was going through before where she wasn’t drinking all of her formula has past and she’s been guzzling down six ounces so fast that I gave her eight one time today, which she still drank right down.
Amanda bought a cantaloupe for Milly today, but Milly didn’t eat the pieces of it we gave her as well as she did at Eli’s birthday party. Amanda said the one we’ve got isn’t as soft as what she ate before.
I worked in the kitchen on the old laptop today. I was on it this morning and was comfortable when work time came around, so I just stayed on it. Amanda did a little work there in the kitchen too today. She went and got the newer laptop from the office for it.
Small group was at the Cains’ tonight. We spent a good chunk of time picking out our next (two) studies then watched a video with some discussion questions on it.
About an hour and a quarter after it started, Milly is quiet. For now.
On a side note, can someone explain the traffic patterns in Leland to me? There are two stoplights for every one intersection because you can’t make a left turn at any of them. You have to go down the road to a break in the median built for u-turns, and these breaks all have stop lights. It makes absolutely no sense to me. Does it cut down on the number of collisions at intersections? I wouldn’t mind it if they didn’t have stoplights at the u-turns.
I took it upon myself to look this up. It’s called a Michigan Left and here’s what Wikipedia has to say about them.
Studies have shown a major reduction in left-turn collisions and a minor reduction in merging and diverging collisions, due to the shifting of left turns outside the main intersection. In addition it reduces the number of different traffic light phases, significantly increasing traffic flow. Since separate phases are no longer needed for left turns, this increases green time for through traffic. The effect on turning traffic is mixed. Consequently, the timing of traffic signals along a highway featuring the design is made easier by the elimination of left-turn phases both on that highway and along intersecting roadways contributing to the reduction of travel times and the increased capacity of those roadways. Finally it has been shown to enhance safety to pedestrians crossing either street at an intersection featuring the design, since they only encounter through traffic and vehicles making right turns. The left-turning movement, having been eliminated, removes one source of potential vehicle-pedestrian conflict.
Hmm. Milly’s not done yet. Amanda finally got her up and now she’s down here with me. We looked up a few things online and in books about what might be going on, and our best guesses are teething, hunger and too much napping, although she didn’t get her late nap today, so that seems unlikely. She’s just as happy and not tired as can be at the moment. I’m going to try going through her nightly routine then have another go at putting her down. Wish me luck.
Zach Dotsey