Lizards

Monday night softball games are killing me. I hate having to post these a day late. Oh well, softball only lasts until November, but then again, there's always the spring season. I guess I'll have to tell the league that my team can't play on Monday nights in the spring because of Heroes. I did finally get to see the latest episode, though. Highlight below to read my thoughts:

Peter is AWESOME! The whole learning his powers again deal is going to get hold fast, though, so I hope that they don't drag his storyline out too long. The way that he handled the guys in the bar, though, was sweet. Apparently, he picked up all of Sylar's powers when they met at the end of last season, too, because he was moving things (people) with just a wave of his hand. The Irishmen seem to have not figured out that they were actually sent to find Peter, but I think that they know more than we think at this point. I mean where did the box come from? Someone wants them to know about him and to use him, and I think they're playing him to see just how powerful he really is.

Hiro is still fun and has his great moments. I love the "Battle of Twelve Swords." Very cool move, but when is he going to figure out that he can't keep jacking with history. That's what got terrorist Hiro into trouble in the future last season. Of course, I'm still waiting on him to mature into a similar character to the terrorist Hiro and get away from sounding so whiny all the time.

The cool deal is that Kensei is one of them. I theorized last week that Molly is seeing Kensei in her dreams, and I think that is still true. Now that we know he can heal, then we have to wonder if he can die. Or at the very least, it would make sense that his healing power would give him extraordinarily long life. So he could still be around haunting Molly's dreams. Additionally, I'm going to refine my theory and say that the reason she only sees his eyes is because he's wearing a samurai mask. I don't remember who gave me that idea, but I like it and if you're reading: thanks!

How does the symbol play into all of this? Kensei is supposed to go and rescue the sword maker, and the symbol is on his daughter's sword. Is the sword maker one of them also? Or does Kensei just adopt the symbol over time? And how does that symbol end up tattooed on Nikki/Jessica's shoulder? Was she engineered?

Speaking of being engineered, I still think that Mohinder was genetically engineered to be the cure for his sister's disease. I theorized on that last season, and I still believe that it is true. I just wish that we knew more about the disease, what it does, and how it spreads. Interestingly, when talking to Mohinder, the company agent indicated that he already knew that Mohinder is the key and that he had saved Molly. If he knows that, then I'm still thinking that there is a disconnect between last season and this with the whole Mohinder working for the company angle.

Matt is investigating Nakamura's death and he's met up with Nathan and Angela Petrelli again. I loved the scene where Angela screamed at him to get out of her head, but his line of questioning (based solely on what he's reading in her head) is going to generate suspicion with his superiors. He needs to keep that in check. But what in the world was after Angela in the interrogation room? Was is the man that Molly sees in her dreams? Was it the same person that killed Nakamura? At first I thought it might be the same and that Nakamura might have been alone and just believed that he was being pushed, but remember that Ando saw two people. When Matt and Nathan saw Angela they didn't see anyone else, so this attack was definitely different, but that doesn't necessarily mean that it was a different person doing it.

I did like seeing Nathan step up to save his mother instead of just wallowing around in self pity like last week. Maybe over the course of the season he'll regrow his backbone and help out. I would imagine that reuniting him with Peter is all he really needs to get going.

I was very happy to see the Haitian return and I loved the way that they shot the scene of him leaving and Mohinder not even remembering where he was. That was classic. And now he's hooked back up with Mr. Bennett. That could go two different ways. Either they are going to work together to help everyone (and they will make a formidable team) or they are going to slip back into old habits and it's going to stir up controversy. I'm betting on a little of the latter.

Also south of the border, Maya and Alejandro are still trying to get to America. Finally, we got to see a little of her power, though. My guess is that she can't cry. When she cries, that greasy junk comes out of her eyes and kills everyone around except Alejandro. Alejandro appears to have the other half of the power (which makes sense since they are twins) and he can absorb the bad junk and clear it out. He kind of reminded me of Michael Clark Duncan's character in The Green Mile. It makes me wonder if he could do the same with someone else or if his power only works on Maya. The thing that I still don't understand, though, is exactly what happens to cause death. The lady that was crossing the river with them didn't die. She just passed out or something. Did she come back because of Alejandro? Or did Maya just not get far enough gone to kill her?

Finally, Claire. We know for sure this week that Mrs. Bennett remembers what happened and that she knows about Claire's powers. I assume that that means that Lyle also knows and remembers. Claire's just pushing a little too hard to let her secret out, though. She flirting with danger and she's bound to run into some. I hope that this season doesn't all revolve around saving her again, though. That would be bad. I did love it when she cut off her toe, though, and it grew back. Not only was it cool special effects, but it tells us a little more about her abilities. Now, I just can't figure out why she never looked up when Mr. Muggles was about to have a caniption about getting something that was above him. And what's going to happen to the toe that she cut off? I wonder if that's going to turn up somewhere that it shouldn't and be used against her. I'm still suspicious of the flying kid, so I expect that he'll swipe it and take it to his masters while continuing to try and woo Claire.

HoneyDo

Nearly every husband in the world has a HoneyDo list somewhere that they are constantly working on, and nearly every one of those lists contains a line item that reads something like "Kill Bugs!" It doesn't matter if you actually have bugs in your house or not. If you do, then it means to kill the ones that are there and don't let any new ones in. If you don't, then it means to kill the bugs outside so they can't get ever get in. Either way it's the man's mission.

Some men approach this as the CEO of their home. They hire the lowest bidding pest control company they can find in the yellow pages, or at least the first pest control company that they find. Other men approach this as the General Manager of their homes. They head down to the Home Depot or some other pest supply store and find all of the traps and pesticides necessary to do a good job and create a virtual barrier to the outside world of six-legged critters. Virtual red tape you could say. Finally, the last few men left approach this more like the Temp Receptionist for the day and just do what it takes for now because no one worries about tomorrow until its tomorrow.

This last group might make some dramatic display with a shoe as they squish the one bug that they saw today not ever considering the others that might be hiding in the dark, they might take a deft swipe with a fly swatter at the flying insects as if they were practicing for their next round of racquetball, or they might set their house on fire. Because not only is fire a dramatic way to end a bug's life, it also has a tendency to get into those hard to reach corners where the little critters like to hide.

There are definitely some major drawbacks to the fire approach: water damage from trying to extinguish the flames, smoke inhalation, possible death, potential arson charges, and of course, fire damage. None of these are to be taken lightly, but if you've tried everything else and you just can't get rid of those bugs then I would suggest a small wad of newspaper carefully placed between the rafters and a safety match or small lighter (strike anywhere matches are far too dangerous; we're not trying to set the house on fire). Insects hate smoke so they'll either suffocate or flee. Just be sure to put the fire out before your house actually does catch on fire unless you want to end up like this guy:

http://www.nbc5i.com/news/14250002/detail.html?rss=dfw&psp=nationalnews

Thankfully, the assistant Greensboro Fire Chief has said, "We certainly do not advocate the burning out of these insects, although it may work." Tell me that's not an invitation for someone else to try. So the next time my wife asks me to get rid of the bugs, I'm sure she'll here me, at some point, say, "Don't worry dear, the assistant Greensboro Fire Chief says that this may work, and who would know better than a fireman?"

Sneezing Your Head Off

I like to think that I'm proof that God has a sense of humor. Not because of my looks, although my sister might disagree, but because of my allergies. I'm a guy that loves the outdoors. My favorite things to do involve hunting, fishing, camping, hiking, golf, etc., but there's a problem. I'm basically allergic to air. Why would God make a guy with so much desire to be outside be allergic to almost every tree and grass that an allergist would test for? Obviously it's for laughs. I just haven't decided if he likes to see how many times I'll sneeze if I go outside or if he's more interested in seeing how many different things I'll try in order to be comfortable when I'm outside.

To my knowledge, I've tried nearly everything that conventional medicine has to offer, and I'm still only able to breathe through my mouth. I don't even know what it's like to breathe through my nose when I sleep. I wake up every morning with a sore throat because my mouth has dried out from having it open all night long. I did allergy shots for a few years and it was okay except that my arms always itched and I developed some food allergies (we still don't know what it was, but if you've never had your tongue itch and your lips swell up, then you'll know that it wasn't pleasant). I've taken probably half a dozen different allergy medications over the years. I've tried nose sprays (most of which smell like honeysuckle to me and just make me sneeze more although the stuff I have now if more like snorting napalm; I swear I can feel a draft behind my eyeballs after I take a hit) and eye drops, too. I still suffer.

Not only that but all of these drugs affect my ability to concentrate, stay awake, and my moods. Some of the pills that work fairly well have the tradeoff of turning me into a raging lunatic (like screaming, yelling, thowing things, Bobby Knight wannabe). That's not a very good trade in my opinion, and with my job, I can't afford to not be able to concentrate; I get paid to sit around and think stuff up.

Given all of that, I'm on the verge of a breakthrough. Remember the guy that only ate McDonald's for thirty days just to see what would happen? Well, I'm seriously considering starting a quest to find serious allergy relief. I want to break away from the traditional therapies that so far have not served me well and see if there is any truth at all to the alternative therapies that you read about on the web. To start, I'm going to use bee pollen.

Apparently, from ancient times people have ingested bee pollen to ward of allergies. The idea is very similar to immunotherapy (allergy shots) in that you are introducing some of the allergen into your system to build up a resistance so that when you go outside you won't react so dramatically. The danger, obviously, is that you are intentionally ingesting something to which you know you are allergic. I'm going to start really small on Sunday and test the product for one week. I'll start with one granule and gradually increase each day until I get to the recommended teaspoon dosage. We'll see how things go from there. Maybe it will work and I'll be free from drugs. Maybe it won't, and we'll move on to something else.

What do you think? Am I crazy for even considering this?