Accelerometers are fun. Get your own and play along at home!
Actually you could probably do something fun with glove-mounted accelerometer triggled samples or something, onstage. Get on that, Stanley.
Does this mean that Rock Band is going to make me an awesome basketball player, too?
|| PS: OK, so I was given a PS3 for Xmas. What on earth do I want to play on it besides Rock Band? I seriously have no clue. |>
1: I'll just dribble my iPhone, thanks.
4: c'mon, Bave. You know you want to be triggering midi from microcontrollers. I mean, I know you want to, so of course you must know this as well.
||
Peter Orszag Is Horning In On My Job
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Peter Orszag Is Horning In
Maybe this has something to do with Bianna Golodryga.
7: Horning really does seem to be operative with him, huh? The on-air hottie fiancée, the ditched super-pregnant heiress girlfriend. It's like those kinds in the band who were all pulling way more tail than the football team.
Dammit, it's "horming in". Where are TNR's copy editors?
5: I'll probably build a microcontroller-based thingamabob one of these days, but it'll trigger OSC.
Why'd they get some "hard rock" doof instead of an extreme metal drummer or a player from a different style in which very high tempi are the norm?
Also I would expect that if you were really good you wouldn't need to move your hands as much, meaning you wouldn't need to move them as fast.
Actually, since 11.2 says that I expect the person moving his hands less far to be moving slower, it is anticipated by the OP only in some kind of "exactly opposite" sense.
Except that the experiment doesn't measure speed it measures reps. So you would expect somebody moving their hands slower would be able to reverse directions more frequently.
You need someone like Seb Rochford, or Mick Harris ...
Allow me to the be the first to say that I'm thinking very deeply about 16.
So you would expect somebody moving their hands slower would be able to reverse directions more frequently.
Actually, I would not expect that, at least, not without a lot more constraints being put in. To prove this, give yourself twenty seconds to move your wrist in a vaguely drumming-like fashion. For the first ten seconds, go very slow—maybe take a couple of seconds to make just one up-down motion. For the second, go as fast as you can.
After all, even if it requires more effort to stop a swiftly-moving hand in order to change direction, the fact that you've gotten it from point A to point B faster than the slow-moving hand might make the additional time to reverse a negligible effect in comparison.
Moreover, I see nothing in the post that pertains to this in a way that would anticipate 11.2. It's a further consideration how these things interact with the distance required to move for a repetition.
17: No, clearly the best choice is M/tch M/tchell.
Okay, I concede that I misread 11.2.
I thought that you were saying that a more practiced motion would be more compact and more efficient but that was my misunderstanding.
I can't speak for drumming, but it's certainly true that in some guitar styles that rely on very fast playing, the picking hand movements are often quite large and surprisingly forceful. If you are learning to play, say, gypsy jazz rhythm guitar [or swing rhythm guitar] you need to make really fast, and large, arm movements. Too slow, and you don't get the 'bounce' on the movement that enables you to play at fast tempos, with consistent timing. Even at slow tempos, the gypsy players will use a very fast downstroke.
Swing accompanists of that type are regularly playing 4-to-the-bar at tempos of 300bpm+.
11: Yeah. For example if you search for 'Tornado' by Mitch Markovich into youtube, you'll find a bunch of high school kids playing 32nd note patterns, with a quarter note equal to 120+ bpm. That should be at least 16 strikes per second, instead of the 12 strikes per second that the rock drummer was putting out at peak.
in some guitar styles that rely on very fast playing, the picking hand movements are often quite large and surprisingly forceful
That's really interesting.
I had always heard that, in general guitar players learn to make smaller movements as they get more experienced -- in part because unnecessary arm movement messes up people's shoulders after a while.
That should be at least 16 strikes per second, instead of the 12 strikes per second that the rock drummer was putting out at peak.
And his right hand is hardly moving at all on the rolls! Conclusion: the movement of the end of the drumstick is more important than the movement of the hand.
Speaking of relatively fast things, I was ticketed for going 89 in a 65 in western NY. I have an ethical query: is it wrong to fight the ticket? Normally I'd just pay the damn thing, but it turns out that New York state doesn't just give you ticket like a civilized state, they give you a summons to which you have to plea either guilty or not guilty, and then the judge decides how severly to punish you. And I understand the whole process is likely to cost about $470, minimum, plus whatever effect it would have on my insurance.
Hiring a lawyer and pleading not-guilty seems sleazy, though, since I'm totally guilty. (In a strict legal sense, I mean. In a moral sense, I'm innocent, since it was 3:30 in the morning, the interstate was empty, and I was in the middle of a 16 hour drive in a car without cruise control, which in my view means it was only through uncommon prudence on my part that I wasn't going 100+.) Is it unethical to plead "not guilty" to a charge to which I'm actually guilty? I can't tell if this should be a pure financial calculation, or if there's an ethical component I ought to be considering.
Related: does anyone know a good traffic lawyer in Chautauqua county?
(With luck, this will get a better response than my recent health insurance query.)
28: I know nothing specific to NY about this, but basically in this type of situation, doesn't "fight the ticket" boil-down to "hope the police officer does not show-up for court?" Being alone on the road isn't actually a defense. And if the ticket was written by a local officer in a small community, the odds of the officer not showing are probably slim.
29 was me, being relatively useful.
29: my understanding is that "fight the ticket" means pleading "not guilty" and striking a plea bargain with the prosecutor (or DA, or whatever the hell they're called). Who in most cases will be happy to accept a guilty plea to a lower charge, instead of needing to go to court for a trial to deal with the higher one.
That all this can happen while I'm several states away is that part that's odd to me, but I'm told that it can.
The police officer doesn't have to show up in court for the ticket to stick -- the paper record's enough. (Come to think of it, maybe not in real court. Tickets in NYC get handled in administrative DMV hearings rather than in court, and the cop certainly doesn't have to show up there.)
There's really not a preset fine you can send in with a guilty plea? Huh. I should know that, my job actually involves dealing with people who sue the state over DMV snafus.
And it's totally unethical to fight the ticket if you did it. Those traffic fines are all that's keeping the state going these days, and they pay the salaries of charismatic megalawyers.
33: they pay the salaries of charismatic megalawyers.
And probably your as well.
Well, I wasn't going to say anything. I suppose I'm more of a charismatic mesolawyer.
No, really, there's truly no fine. The fine is set by the judge in court. I'm told NY is the only state like this--it's certainly an unfamiliar system for me. For 24 mph over, the statutory range is a $90-$300 fine and 0 to 10 days in jail. (Plus an automatic 6 points on a NY license (which I don't have) and an accompanying $300 fee, plus $80 in court costs.)
And if you plead 'not guilty', there does have to be a trial to convict you, and the police officer does have to show up and testify to all the correct elements of the offense. Not to imply that would be difficult, but.
I can't tell if 33 is a joke or serious. (Or both.) 28 was a serious question.
Yeah, 32 applies to the NYC system -- an administrative law judge can convict you on the paper without the cop showing up -- but I suppose in a real court they've got to abide by the rules of evidence.
I figure the plea bargain process has got to be fairly smooth, though -- call the prosecutor and ask what he'll give you if you plead?
38: Well, it's a joke, certainly. Seriously, the state's broke -- my office ran out of paper a few weeks ago, and we had a weird couple of days before we got some more. And they do pay my salary.
But I don't think it's unethical to plead not guilty to a crime; if the state wants to punish you, you're allowed to put them to their proof. I'd say it's probably not worth the trouble, but it's not IMO unethical.
To clarify: I would not be willing to assert that I was not, as a matter of fact, travelling 89 mpg in a 65 mph zone. But I would be willing to ask for leniency in sentencing, since I feel there were mitigating circumstances. Does pleading "not guilty" amount to the former, if it's in fact the only available avenue for me to pursue the latter? That's the question.
I had to go to traffic court the time I ran someone over.* The cop showed up, but the run-over guy didn't. After asking the cop if the fellow was badly hurt (cop shrugged shoulders), the cop dismissed the ticket (even though it had been issued at the scene).
*Not really. Or not really much. My insurance company never paid the guy a cent, despite his having hired lawyers and private investigators, as the conclusion apparently reached by all comers was that the dude jumped in front of my car.
Oops. The judge dismissed the ticket, obvs.
Oh, lying would be unethical. But showing up and hoping for an absent cop is fine.
I figure you'd get more leniency out of the prosecutor plea bargaining than out of the judge wasting his time with a trial, particularly with the kind of basis you've got for wanting leniency (that is, not much).
since it was 3:30 in the morning, the interstate was empty,
I got a ticket for going ~85 at 6 AM Sunday morning in rural northeastern Washington. I was so pissed off that I pointed out to the state trooper that it was an affront to the frontier spirit of the West. He in turn pointed out to me that I was in possession of a speeding ticket.
Call the prosecutor only when sober.
I'm not sure if all the stories I hear about how to get or get out of speeding tickets are true. A cousin (who is a lawyer) once said that he had a police officer not give him a well-deserved speeding ticket in Georgia. The cousin had a California license and the officer said that, because California and Georgia didn't have some sort of cooperative agreement on traffic citations, the only choices were do to nothing or to take him to jail. (This was years ago, well before any of these records were computerized in most parts of the country.)
I figure the plea bargain process has got to be fairly smooth, though -- call the prosecutor and ask what he'll give you if you plead?
41: You have a constitutional right to assert nothing and still plead not guilty. (Miranda: Not just the cute one from Sex and the City.)
However, I think I might just pay it. The guy you are plea bargaining with might know he needs your fine in order to buy paper to try the next docket.
I actually have spent a lot of time speeding in Chautauqua County (but generally on I-86 not the Thruway). This time of year the cops use the huge snowbanks to conceal themselves--was that perhaps the case here?
47: So, two points instead of six, and whatever the judge sets for the fine. Sounds like a deal to me.
but generally on I-86
Ha! There's no such thing, you fabricator of lies.
51: But absolutely not worth my time to drive up there and appear in court about, which I believe is a required part of the process. Which is why I was going to hire a lawyer.
I think the ethical (non-)quandry has been solved, though.
re: 28. It is absolutely ethical to put the State to its proof. Given the expense to you of appearing, it probably is worth it (even though also not cheap) to get a local lawyer who practices in that area to appear and, hopefully, negotiate a plea.
If you were serious about wanting a referal, let me know. I do not know anyone, I think I know someone who likely can give me a good name.
But absolutely not worth my time to drive up there and appear in court about, which I believe is a required part of the process.
Oh, man. I was still thinking that if you pleaded guilty you could do it all remotely. Are you absolutely sure you can't? Is there a number where you can call the appropriate prosecutor and ask?
There are in fact *two* such things, but NY 17 for those stuck in the past.
The best solution is to represent yourself in court. In your closing argument quote the following: MLK's Notes from a Birmingham Jail, the Declaration of Independence, the Bible, Harry Potter, and Common Sense. Judges love a well-prepared pro-se litigant.
Complaining about the gold fringe on the flag is good too.
Has anyone got an electronic copy of Arutryunyan et al. (1969) Investigation of Aiming at a Target. Biophysics 13, 536–38?
Is there a number where you can call the appropriate prosecutor and ask?
There probably is a number, and I might try, although the fact that the plea sheet I linked is littered with "DO NOT CONTACT THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY'S OFFICE" made me worry that calling might not make them more inclined to work with me on this.
61: Looking at that plea sheet again, doesn't this:
Upon receipt of the necessary materials, the Court will process your plea, and if accepted, will notify you of your sentence.
imply that an accepted guilty plea doesn't require a personal appearance?
59: Looks like I can only get electronic versions going back to 2006. I don't know how the biophysicists put up with this sort of thing. Maybe I should ask the one who's being really loud right outside my door.
59: Through our library, I can only find an electronic copy of that journal back to 2006.
64: don't interrupt them mid-coitus, man.
And the paper copies are in an annex somewhere and have to be requested. It doesn't seem like that's a very frequently-used journal you're looking for.
68: Yes, our library didn't even have a complete set.
64: don't interrupt them mid-coitus, man.
I read this just as I heard, for a moment, "let's start with a maximal list, baby", before realizing that last word was actually "maybe".
29
I know nothing specific to NY about this, but basically in this type of situation, doesn't "fight the ticket" boil-down to "hope the police officer does not show-up for court?" Being alone on the road isn't actually a defense. And if the ticket was written by a local officer in a small community, the odds of the officer not showing are probably slim.
I believe standard practice is if you plead not guilty and then show up in court you will be offered a plea deal which is a lot better than what you would get if you plead guilty and pay by mail.
But if you show up in court and don't take the plea deal and are convicted (very likely) then the judge will probably be annoyed and you will end paying more.
At least that's how it seems to work in Westchester.
It doesn't seem like that's a very frequently-used journal you're looking for.
It is, however, a pretty frequently cited article.
Whatever. It's very short and I have a summary. I'm going to at least put it in my .bib file anyway.
||
Youtube has a thing where you can submit video questions to the president. I submitted the question Lizardbreath suggested I ask at the townhall meeting. You can vote it up here. Right now the forum seems to be flooded by people asking about demanding Marijuana legalization. Some others actually have carefully produced videos. Its kinda interesting.
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71: When I got a speeding ticket, I thought I would show up in court and get some kind of a plea deal. The prosecutor wasn't playing -- she gave me a choice of paying the full fine or taking it before the judge and then if I was found guilty (which I was) I would have to pay the fine plus court costs. I paid the fine.
My understanding was the same as 71 - for a speeding ticket or something like that, contest it regardless of the facts just to get a few hundred dollars shaved off it in a plea bargain.
... But peep's experience overrules my vague impression, obviously.
78: Well, my experience would be significant if you were considering contesting a speeding ticket in Upper Arlington, Ohio.
77 was my understanding too, and I'm sure it is how it works in many jurisdictions.
The one thing that I have heard about speeding tickets is that if you can find a local lawyer who specialized in traffic violations their fee will probably be less than the amount they can save you in fines + insurance costs.
re: 26
There are different schools of thought, and different methods. Some advocate very small picking movements, some advocate larger movements, and the action itself varies. Some techniques are more appropriate for some styles than others, etc. But it's certainly true that some very fast players use very large hand movements.
Check out Stochelo Rosenberg:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7UHmKfUAu8&feature=related
[Uses classic gypsy picking technique with wide right hand movements, and is just about the fastest player you'll ever see, also watch his brother's rhythm strumming in the background]
80 sponsored by LocalLawyersRUs.org.
It's true, I cannot verify 80 based on personal experience, I do know a FOAF who is a lawyer specializing in traffic violations and he, of course, makes the claim that his services are valuable.
But I'm still inclined to believe him.
81: contrast with somebody like Wayne Henderson (I have linked to this video before) who can play very quickly and barely moves at all.
re: 84
Yeah, a lot of fast rock players use very minimal movements, and alter their pick direction for 'economy' [upstrokes when descending across string changes, downstrokes when ascending across string changes, alternate picking on single strings, sweeps for multi-string arpeggios]. By contrast the swing/gypsy style guys use larger movements, more downstrokes, and an apparently counter-productive emphasis on downstrokes on string changes even when descending.
They both work, they just impart a different sound and phrasing, and have benefits and disadvantages.
In general, why is it ethical to force the state to prove its case if you know you're guilty? If it's a law that you think is just and there aren't mitigating circumstances or anything.
In general, why is it ethical to force the state to prove its case if you know you're guilty? If it's a law that you think is just and there aren't mitigating circumstances or anything.
Because that's part of the social contract between the state an an individual.
I'm inclined to think of it as a logical extension of the right against self-incrimination. You have no moral obligation to aid the state in its persecution of you (though you do have a moral obligation to comply with the established procedures).
I'm inclined to think of it as a logical extension of the right against self-incrimination.
I am completely on board that a right against self-incrimination is key to a functional judicial system. But your rights are different from your ethical obligations.
NY 17 for those stuck in the past
Some of us are stuck in the past about NY 17. My family used to live on 17 (in the fabulous house I've mentioned before) back when part it ran down Chemung Street. In 1973, in anticipation of the hugest concert ever, my siblings and I got a lemonade stand ready for what was supposed to be bumper-to-bumper traffic passing through town that hot day. Man, we were going to make a fortune. Then somebody got the bright fucking idea to open a bypass on the new 17, the Southern Tier Expressway, which was then under construction, and totally put paid to our business plan. Fuck. I'm still pissed about that.
89: Some of that bypass is actually in PA for a few miles, but stayed NY 17 and was/is maintained by State of NY.
But your rights are different from your ethical obligations.
Well, let's put it this way, do you have an ethical obligation to not speed? If you do, than you have some obligation, once you have violated that standard, to try to do right to whomever you have injured (and I'm not sure that pleading guilty is the obligated behavior, but it might be). But if you don't have such an obligation than I think you don't acquire any additional obligation once you're caught -- you're free to continue to treat it as a situation amenable to cost/benefit calculations.
The first question is an interesting one in my mind, I honestly don't know the answer.
For a different crime, say theft, I believe that you have an obligation to not commit theft and, if you do, there is some obligation towards restitution but, again, I think that obligation is to the person that you have stolen from, not the state. Say, for example, that you desperately need to get somewhere in a hurry and you steel a bike that you have some reason to believe isn't being used. I feel like your more likely to be able to satisfy your ethical obligations by returning the bike when you're done and leaving $20 in the owner's mailbox than you are by turning yourself into the cops.
I realize that nobody does this. I'm not wedded to this concept of ethics, I'm just thinking aloud.
89: Also, any Agnes stories from the year before, or were you too far upstream?
92: Totally. That was the year after we moved there, I was seven. I remember the rain being hellish, and then going to this place down the road with a great view of the Susquehanna and watching people in boats trying to retrieve cows from a nearly submerged barn. And the Ferris wheel at the amusement park was partly underwater. Afterward, we drove down toward Wilkes-Barre, and in the inundated areas everything stank.
Further to 93: this place! The most scenic inn in the whole goddamn country, apparently. It's on a bluff, and the back balcony overlooks the river, so the view of the flooding was really something. We used to go there for special occasions, including brunch after my First Communion, so there might be a plaque or something there to commemorate that now.
Wilkes-Barre
Isn't this a syndrome?
No, but Prader-Willie and Guillain-Barre are both syndromes.
I think that obligation is to the person that you have stolen from, not the state.
Hmm... The historical principle underlying the fact that if you've stolen something you'll be arrested by a cop with a badge and prosecuted by the law of the state you live in is that in the early middle ages (I'm specifically thinking of Henry II of England, Anjou and Aquitaine) the government persuaded people that this was a better way to go than unlimited blood feuds resulting from crime victims seeking their own variety of vengeance.
I wouldn't much care about people saying that a criminal's obligation is to their victim, if it wasn't for all the journalists making cheap capital from demanding that the victim's wishes should override statute and precedent and all the politicians who think it's cool to cave into this pressure.
The point of having police and courts and law is that everybody accepts that they're playing by the same rules. When you're caught stealing your obligation is to go to prison for however long the law determines. Every individual who gets robbed can't make up their own idea of what they're owed - that's called Afghanistan.
98 makes complete sense, but I'm not sure it answer's Heebie's question.
I would agree that you have an obligation to go to prison if convicted but that's different than having an obligation to plead guilty.
I was also trying to play around with the contours of what it means to talk about ethical obligations in a situation that presupposes that you have already done something wrong.
Would your answer depend on the cost of persecuting you or the chance of being found innocent?
100 since we're no longer Kobe.
I didn't say you had an obligation to plead one way or another. I was making the point that whatever you did was between you and the state, not the victim.
100 was really to NickS. But maybe I can think up a good question for OFE too.
In my day, persecution could be had for free.
Can corporations marry each other?
Is it bad incest if it's same-sex incest?
Would your answer depend on the cost of persecuting you or the chance of being found innocent?
No, my perspective is that, if you're charged with a criminal offense, your only obligation is to follow the rules of the system. Within that restriction tactical decisions should be made on the basis of cost/benefit calculations.
93, 94: Agnes was an object lesson in something or other for me. I had just started a summer job as a lifeguard at city-run pools (in my small Ohio city) for a *guaranteed* (they stressed it) 40-hour-week. Woohoo. Three weeks in we had two weeks with a lot of closures due to Agnes, and I think I got paid for 16 and 24 hours respectively.
No, but Prader-Willie and Guillain-Barre are both syndromes.
Unfogged was briefly all about Prader-Willi syndrome for one week in April 2007.
98
The point of having police and courts and law is that everybody accepts that they're playing by the same rules. When you're caught stealing your obligation is to go to prison for however long the law determines. Every individual who gets robbed can't make up their own idea of what they're owed - that's called Afghanistan.
This is wrong. As well as going to prison you may have a civil obligation to compensate the victim. And may you have moral obligations beyond legal ones. For example the law may not recognize gambling debts but you may still be morally bound to pay them.
110: Your second, third, and fourth sentences don't substantiate your first.
do you have an ethical obligation to not speed?
No. Because...
try to do right to whomever you have injured
you haven't injured anyone by speeding.
If it's a law that you think is just
Well, with regards to speeding, this is where I get hung up.
NY Route 17!! One of my all time favorite roads, and I've driven the whole thing. I'm fond of the Roscoe Diner, but it gets weirdest and most interesting after Elmira. I hope it never becomes an interstate, but I think they're turning it into one.
Roscoe Diner
The one time I ate there, the paper placemats insisted I try a number of bee-derived products to improve my memory, relieve my gout, slop my hogs, and so on, each recommended by honest folks like M.L. and P.W. The flagship item was called "Bee-fence". Food wasn't bad, though.
The prospect of eternal, unquenchable fire got you down? Try Acme-brand Bee-atitudes made from all-natural bees. Look at these amazing results! BEFORE: [stock photo of crows eating your liver]. BEES: [stock photo of bees]. AFTER: [Jesus giving thumbs-up]. Call today.
If I wanted to be banned, I'd make a joke about Michael Pollan.
The comment-whore's dilemma.
Acme-brand Bee-atitudes are made from the bee pulp leftover from industrial honey extraction processors. It's good that they're put to use, but please, consider supporting your local artisan honeymaker—bee-atitudes made from whole bees get you in better with the Lord anyway.
I feel the ethical need for speed.
113: I hope it never becomes an interstate, but I think they're turning it into one.
Yes, it's about halfway converted, but some non-compliant sections remain so there's still time for a letter-writing campaign.
but it gets weirdest and most interesting after Elmira.
And that's the part that has already been 86ed. Last time I drove it (a couple of weeks ago), it was in a relative's farm pickup (long, convoluted story) and I got waylaid by an ice fog at 1:30 AM that drove me into a remote Holiday Inn Express in Findley Lake (right on the PA border) where I got to pay what was to my mind a relatively premium price for a Monday in mid-January apparently since snowmobiling and skiing were available nearby although I was neither equipped nor of a mind to engage in either activity.
28: As far as the insurance goes, high deductible plans, though dreadful for society, can be a good deal if you set up an HSA (pre tax) that will pay for the deductible and coinsurance. Flexible spending accounts are okay too, but you don't want to use those if you aren't sure that you'll spend a certain amount, because you can't carry the money over from year to year.
Jerryd Bayless isn't the Blazer who is physically exceptional. Very NSFW.
121: you set up an HSA (pre tax) that will pay for the deductible and coinsurance
That reminds me that I need to do this. I have no idea how to go about it, and my health insurance broker was a little hand-wavy in explaining it, but it seemed, in the end, to make your deductible/copayments tax free. Something else, mumble mumble, about how you could keep adding to the HSA annually whether you've actually used the full amount in the year or not ... not that he was actually advocating that, mind.
There was something the broker thought was terrific, but which struck me as dubious, namely the having of a card to be swiped at the pharmacy or doctor's office in order to deduct the amount of services from the HSA funds. Mm, no, I'd rather see the Explanation of Benefits form from the ins. company before I pay the balance claimed due. Hm. Is one able to pay, say, electronically or via paper check out of the HSA after the fact? Surely so.
Is one able to pay, say, electronically or via paper check out of the HSA after the fact? Surely so.
Yes. It's actually just a normal checking account. With checks and a debit card and all that jazz. The only catch being that you have to use the money that's in there for health-care-related expenses, or you'll be penalized by the IRS (in the unlikely event that you were audited, I should say).
If it's something that you're running through your insurance, then yes, you might want to see the Explanation of Benefits before paying the bill. But you can use an HSA, legitimately and without penalty, to buy on a pre-tax basis all sorts of things that your insurance doesn't cover--OTC drugs, eyeglasses (assuming you don't have a vision plan), etc. Those are the times when you might just go ahead and pay with the debit card.
"Check out Stochelo Rosenberg"
Wow, to paraphrase Chris Matthews: he was playing so fast I forgot he was a Jew.
124: Thanks, Brock, very much. And shit, for lo, I have paid quite a bit for vision-related expenses just recently. Procrastination will get you every time.