Reading, Writing, and Language

Intense focus on a current project at work, combined with a migraine-heavy week (possibly the subject of a future post), has led to fewer posts than usual. But fret not. Today’s lunchtime post brings together a number of articles on reading, writing, and language that caught my eye:

• How Do You Say… Different pronunciations. Immortalized in the song “You say Tom-ay-toe, I say Tom-ah-toe”, they are everywhere. Here’s an interesting Mental Floss article on the reasons behind three of them, including car-a-mel vs. car-mel. Alas, they don’t touch on my favorite: How do you say “finger” vs. how you say “singer”? Do you pronounce the hard “g”, or the gerund (“ŋ”).
• Where Words are Used. Here’s an interesting use for maps: etymology maps, looking at where different words for the same thing are used. They illustrate some interesting divides.
• Penmanship or Typography. Here’s an interesting question posed by the LA Times: Should we still teach penmanship and cursive writing? There are arguments for both sides, including the ability to read old handwritten documents. Then again, one could just view cursive as a different font, for there is still a one-to-one correspondence to letters (unlike, for example, Gregg Shorthand).
• What Did You Write? Finally, here’s a place where reading cursive comes in useful: Deciphering addresses on letters. Machines have gotten better and better at the job, but humans are still required in the loop.

 

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Heading It Off

I’ve written before, numerous times, about how I’m a migraine sufferer. I’m lucky that my migraines are not severe; they are just dull and annoying. I rarely get any aura; my tell is my eye watering and a single-sided headache. Thankfully, I don’t usually need to hide in a dark room, away from stimuli, curled in a ball as many sufferers do. I can usually continue to work, perhaps at a degraded level, through them. They are, however, frequent and annoying.

My current regime uses a beta blocker (propranolol) and a muscle relaxant (tizanidine) as preventatives, and rizatriptan as my abortive. When I saw my neurologist a few weeks ago, she suggested adding another abortive to the mix: an old-line tricyclic antidepressant. They evidently have an off-label use to help block pain receptors. She recommended either nortriptyline or amitriptyline. I indicated I would research them, because I always have a concern of the effect of any medication on my ability to drive the vanpool, and on my mental acuity (which I need for my job). That’s a primary reason why I’ve never considered either topiramate (Topamax) or divalproex sodium (Depakote) as preventatives — both have significant impacts on mental alertness. Propranolol does just fine, and has the additional side effect of helping keep my blood pressure lower.

This week, I’m in a headache cycle (nearly daily, vs. weekly), and so this morning I reviewed the side effects of both nortriptyline and amitriptyline. Both can make one drowsy, and each has potential side effects that aren’t appealing. I’ve also looked at the reviews for each as a migraine preventative (N, A). Both have a lot of positive reviews. Still, I’m hesitant about anything that monkeys with brain chemistry. So, on the off chance anyone reading this has used them, I’d like to know your experiences. This will serve as input to deciding whether to just keep with what I’m doing, or to add one of these.

 

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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California Highways Headlines: 10/14/13 – 11/15/13

This has been a busy month, so I’ve sent the clever opening off to some place calmer:

• Caldecott Tunnel fourth bore set to open Weather permitting, and depending on successful completion of safety and fire system tests, Caltrans officials say they’re “cautiously optimistic” they can open the bore to traffic the weekend of Nov. 16.
• San Diego (405) Freeway work delayed by faulty retaining walls. Back in December 2011, commuters on the 405 Freeway through the Sepulveda Pass drove by an unusual sight. A retaining wall built for the new car-pool lane was collapsing, the gray concrete panels visibly buckling and falling. Alarmed by the discovery, construction crews tore down the wall. At least 14 other walls also came down and were rebuilt. State officials moved quickly, banning the construction of similar retaining walls throughout California. Today, the 405 Freeway project is more than 15 months behind schedule, a timeline that has Angelenos bemoaning the traffic congestion caused by construction of the 10-mile car-pool lane.
• New Caldecott Tunnel bore has safety features inspired by deadly fire. Three decades later, lessons from one of the worst tunnel fires in American history have inspired many safety features built into the new $417 million Caldecott Tunnel fourth bore, which opens Nov. 16 or 17.
• Oakland Museum of California to feature original Bay Bridge troll. A mysterious figure that has added intrigue and bit of magic to the Bay Bridge for more than two decades will have his time in the spotlight beginning later this week. The original Bay Bridge Troll will be on display at the Oakland Museum of California from Wednesday through Feb. 26. The 18-inch steel figure, which has large, curled horns and carries a spud wrench, will be featured as part of an exhibition titled “Above and Below: Stories from our Changing Bay,” which examines how people and nature have shaped the Bay Area together.
• Major 405 project milestone: all Wilshire ramps now open. Great news today with the final Wilshire ramp to the 405 reopening to traffic. While there is some minor work remaining on the ramps, motorists can now fully see the two benefits: more capacity on the ramps and, equally important, the ramps on both sides of the freeway separate traffic that is exiting and entering the freeway. In the past, that has been a major source of slowdowns as motorists weaved their way onto and off the 405.
• Demolition kicks off on Bay Bridge old span with upper roadway . The demolition of the Bay Bridge’s old eastern span — postponed last week — is scheduled to kick off early today, starting with the removal of the upper deck roadway between the cantilever section’s two iconic peaks.
• Memorial on old Bay Bridge span for those who died. Along the deserted eastern span, a dozen other families Saturday gazed at the roadway or over the edge to the water, remembering loved ones who lost their lives on the bridge in traffic accidents or suicides. The memorial, organized by the California Highway Patrol, allowed the families to stand where their child, parent, sibling or friend died – something they were never able to do when the bridge buzzed with traffic. Some tied flowers to the cyclone fences erected for the span’s demolition. Others took pictures or stood silently and cried.
• Demolition crews start chipping away at old Bay Bridge. The beginning of the end arrived Tuesday for the recently retired east span of the Bay Bridge, which will slowly disappear from its place of prominence over the next three years. Demolition crews, who had been preparing the 77-year-old bridge for its departure since its shiny new replacement arrived in September, began ripping out the upper road deck of the cantilever section as light rain yielded to sunshine Tuesday morning. The day, incidentally, was the anniversary of the bridge’s opening.
• Novato to get another half-mile of carpool lane on Highway 101. On often-congested Highway 101 in Marin, every foot of new roadway makes a difference. Caltrans on Thursday morning is scheduled to open about 2,640 new feet — a half-mile — of southbound carpool lane between just north of Novato Creek and Rowland Boulevard in Novato. “It’s not a lot of new roadway, but it will make a difference,” said Steve Williams, Caltrans spokesman, of the $3.3 million worth of work. “We are working incrementally in that area and there is more to come.”

This entry was originally posted on Observations Along The Road (on cahighways.org) as this entry by cahwyguy. Although you can comment on DW, please make comments on original post at the Wordpress blog using the link below; you can sign in with your LJ, FB, or a myriad of other accounts. There are currently comments on the Wordpress blog. PS: If you see share buttons above, note that they do not work outside of the Wordpress blog.

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