THE FUN JUST NEVER STOPS



Just as my foot issue was getting better my knee blew up last thursday to thrice it's normal size.I have been in constant pain for what seems like an eternity , but let me tell you , the foot drop thing pales in comparison to the pain in my knee.They fixed me up at urgent care on saturday and gave me a script for vicodin and naproxin.
By fixed me up I mean they aspirated 60 cc's of fluid from my knee with the biggest needle / syringe combo I have ever seen.
yesterday I spent time with an old friend and he gave me a cane to assist my walking , which was a very thoughtful and kind thing for him to do.
Annabelle has taken very good care of me as well. And the dogs have been very protective and concerned.
While it's been a trauma , it's comforting to have so many friends and family backing me up and supporting *sometimes literally* me.

Not my typical Saturday morning
I spent this morning sitting in the waiting room at the Victory Medical Center due to this:


That picture of Rob's knee is from yesterday - it was much worse this morning. He has either acute patellar tendonitis or bursitis of the knee. The doctor aspirated 60 ccs of blood and prescribed Naproxyn for the inflammation and Hydrocodone for the pain. Hopefully tomorrow he will be able to hobble about with less difficulty.

This was a four hour long ordeal due to the nature of the walk-in situation - no appointment and we had to wait for a doctor to become available. And on a Saturday no less. But folks, I'd so rather spend four hours here than at a hospital's emergency room any day and besides, previous experience has shown that the wait at the ER would have been much longer. Here you have comfy couches and chairs plus a very nice coffee shop. And it's much, much cheaper than the ER, with or without insurance. Total out of pocket expense for the visit plus prescriptions was $40 (with insurance.) But all of the credit for making this experience better than the usual misery one gets in these circumstances goes to the clinic. And Rob says to add that "Jim was awesome!" That's Jim Howard for anyone local that is looking for a new doctor.

Fifteen plus years of software...
Today I dismantled and flattened over fifteen years worth of boxes of computer software. Over the years I had saved every box that every piece of software originally came in. From computer games to programing languages, the box that once contained the CD (or floppies in the case of older stuff) was stored away on shelves in a closet. I also had some stored in large boxes - yes, I had boxes full of boxes! It took me a good part of the day to break all those boxes down, make sure there wasn't any non-recyclable material in them and squish them flat. After I was done, the pile of flattened boxes, cardboard inserts and user manuals was about three feet high!

The pack rat part of me was sad to see them go. The practical part of me is happy that a large amount of useless clutter now resides in the recycling bin.

A computer keyboard for those of us from the old school?
I've been typing for a long time. I learned how to type on a scaled down portable manual typewriter when I was about 5 years old. I used that typewriter for many years, then moved to a full-size manual once my hands grew large enough. Eventually my mother went electric with her typewriters, but I never liked them much. And when I entered the workplace where they were also using electric typewriters, I wasn't too impressed with any of those until I had the opportunity to type on an IBM Selectric. That machine was a typist's dream come true until, of course, computers replaced them all.

Not surprisingly, IBM's first computers came with a keyboard that had a similar touch and feel to the Selectric and while it wasn't quite the same, it was still pretty enjoyable to use. Maybe the "quiet touch" revolution put an end to all that or true touch typists fell by the wayside or died off. I'm not sure what happened, but it seems that keyboards just gradually became worse and worse over the years. I certainly have hated every one that I have bought recently and the one I have right now has got to go. I did a little internet research and I think I have found my next keyboard purchase. A little company in Lexington, KY still makes the original style IBM computer keyboards. Yes, complete with the spring technology that makes a click when you press a key like the old Selectric (or you can get a quiet touch version.) Check it out at Unicomp's online store.

Back to the call center
Yep, it's true; I am going back to work for my old employer in a couple of weeks. There are quite a few advantages to this particular job over anything else I might do at this time. There's the flexible scheduling and the weekend workhours that dovetail perfectly with my other job that I love, but doesn't pay enough to meet my needs. It's a job that is not only familiar, but is also is something that I do very well and that greatly reduces the amount of stress I would feel from having a new second job. I still have friends that work there and if I decide I want to work from home again, then I can do so. But regardless of any pros or cons that I might weigh, mostly it was that the decision to do this just felt right. There is this "knowing" that this is the right job for right now. It may not be the right job six months from now, but for this exact moment in time, it's the right job. And I'm not even thinking about it as a "job", but as as tool that will allow me to accomplish some other things I want in my life. That's a real different attitude than I usually have about a job so it will be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Don't judge a book by it's cover
I'm a redhead, but not a natural one. I was born blond and stayed that way until a good chunk of my hair turned grey in my mid-twenties. The grey happened practically overnight, after a particularly grueling work project that had me working 18+ hours days for about a month. Yes folks, stress really can give you grey hair.

So I did what most women in their mid-twenties would do if they suddenly had grey hair; I had my hairdresser dye it back to blond. I did this for a few years until she suggested I go red instead of blond since it would match my skin tone better. I thought, what the heck, it's the same price so why not give it a try? And she was right, it did match my skin tone better than the blond. So much so, that people have a hard time believing me when I tell them I'm not a natural redhead and that I don't have a drop of Irish blood.

Anyway, I spent one half of my life dealing with the assumption that I was a dumb blonde and the other half dealing with the assumption that because I have red hair, I have a temper. And quite frankly, if people are going to assume anything, I would prefer they assume I have a temper.

I drink a beer unlike any beer I've ever tasted before
I was at the Flying Saucer tonight with my friend working toward my plate on the wall when the waitress suggested I try a certain beer. I'm all for trying a new beer so I went for it. I took the first sip of it and thought, "This is beer?" It was sweet, very sweet, but also sour and just sour enough that I didn't mind the sweetness so much. And what a nose, though I'm not so sure nose applies to beer so much as wine, but in this case, this beer was extremely fragrant and had a hell of a nose. I'm thinking at this point that it was the sort of beer I might have for dessert and would probably only ever want to drink just one. Then about half way through the glass, it's starting to grow on me and I can see myself drinking more than one, maybe two. By the bottom of the glass, I had decided that it was damn tasty, and could probably drink quite a few of them. However, I did not order another one or two or three since I was driving home later and it's a pretty expensive beer and out of my price range for more than just one. Still, I enjoyed it and will add it to my list of luxuries to have one I've won the lottery.

Here's the information on the beer from the print out that the waitress handed to me that I couldn't read at the time without my glasses:

Deuchesse de Bourgogne (BTL); Flemish Sour Belgium
Clear tawny reddish-brown with a sedate tan head. Sourish malty nose with a medium smooth body. Hits your tongue with a quick sweet and sour flavor. Very candylike. Smoothly transitions and leaves your mouth with a fruity syrupy flavor that hangs around for the next sip.

It's an odd beer (to me, anyway) and probably not the last odd beer I'm going to be tasting at the Saucer. I'm looking foward to the next odd find there.

Update on the mom situation
My mom is doing okay. The blood clots are a concern, but they are not deep vein clots so they did not do surgery. She is getting Lovenox shots and taking Coumaden pills and if she stays off her feet like she is supposed to then she should be just fine. The home health care folks will be stopping by daily to check vitals and test her blood each day which eliminates the need for her to stay in the hospital while we wait for the clots to dissolve.

I spent the afternoon there today and can see that the biggest problem is going to be keeping her lying down or sitting with her leg propped up. She is as independent and stubborn as I am and definately not good at letting other folks do things for her. I'm hoping her brother will knock some sense into her when he gets into town later tonight.

Serendipity
I've been needing to get a different cell phone plan. My prepaid phone used to be a good fit since I rarely used it and $20 worth of minutes would last me more a month. Lately I've been spending $50 or more a month on minutes even though I've tried really hard to keep my minute usage down. Friends and family just don't understand why I can't spend time talking on the phone. I guess everyone else has unlimited talk time these days so they don't think about that sort of thing. Then there are the work related calls that I've tried to divert to email, but unfortunately my coworkers are not very good at email. It's not using email that is the problem, but it's their inability to compose coherent and meaningful sentences. My coworkers are not stupid and we communicate just fine over the phone, but writing skills are not a requirement for this job and I doubt that using email is ever going to work well. Now add in the fact that I'll be calling to check on my mom every single day since the rest of the family isn't going to bother to let me know when she's sick or in the hospital and I'm looking at a ridiculous amount of money each month.

Last week I had checked on a good deal I heard about for an unlimited plan with no contract, just month-to-month, but I had to buy a new phone to get it. The cost of even the cheapest phone pretty much killed that idea, but that was last week. Given the current circumstances, I decided this morning that I would just have to spend the money on a phone because it was going to be much cheaper in the long run. That's when I discovered I could now get a refurbished phone for $10 and the first month of service free (this was not an option last week.) Total upfront cost was less than I'd spend on another minute pack for my existing phone and the new phone will arrive just about the time I'd need to buy another minute pack for the old one. Perfect timing. I love it when stuff like this happens.

What we have here is a failure to communicate
I called my mom tonight and discovered she had been in the hospital since Tuesday afternoon. I last talked to her Tuesday morning and I had no idea she had been sent off the emergency room Tuesday afternoon because NO ONE BOTHERED TO TELL ME! My dad didn't call me and my brother didn't call me. And my mom didn't call me because, well, she was in the friggin' hospital in severe pain and calling anyone was the last thing on her mind. I'm pretty angry about this, but also feeling very bad that I didn't go visit her. Of course, I know that it is impossible to visit someone in the hospital if YOU DON'T KNOW THEY ARE THERE, but I still feel bad about it.

She got back home tonight and was not interested in a late night visit or I would have gone over there right now. Looks like I'll have to wait until morning. I don't have all the details of what's going on other than she went into the hospital for a a blood clot in her foot and then some other stuff happened and she may also have gout. I also found out that she is going to need home health services to help with the medical care, but I got no details on what that care will be. But it sounds like she's down for the count for at least two weeks so I'll have to make plans to help out with the household chores. Meal preparation is probably going to be the the most critical one since dad is on very restricted diet. I'm trying not to ruminate on it too much since I don't have very many details as of yet. Hope I can manage to sleep tonight.

BLOOD SIMPLE

I got my blood work back and everything was within normal limits except for my triglycerides , which were very high. I got some information on why that might be and I was batting a 1000 on causes.
-Sodas...too many cokes a day.
-fried foods...If you can't fry it I won't eat it.
-sweets...I have eaten a truckload of all kinds since the holidays started.
-alcohol...can you say screwdrivers ?
-concentrated fruit juice...screwdrivers again .
-B vitamin deficiency...alcohol depletes B vitamins
Fortunately , all of these things are easy to correct and my levels will sort themselves out quickly ( in some cases just days ).
This seems to be the likely culprit(s) and I have noticed some improvement ( albeit small )in my ability to walk normally since last Friday.

Better
I'm doing better and this won't surprise anyone that knows me well. I'm naturally optimistic and while circumstances might get me down for a bit, I always manage to bounce back up at some point. And well, if I had to choose a theme song for my life, I suppose it would be Jerry Jeff Walker's "Gettin' By".

THE ORAL HISTORY OF THE ARMADILLO

Lauren and I did our interview at KUT this evening for the oral history of the armadillo project. You go in with a list (we each had one) but you deviate. and we were there for almost 3 hours.It was an amazing experience...to relive the past, telling stories that will be archived into the library of congress about getting high and drinking and music and hippies and the love that surrounded that place at 525 1/2 Barton springs road.
We didn't cover it all...we barely scratched the surface and they have invited us back for more.Nick (the interviewer) wants to interview me and Billy boy together...that will be a hoot...I'm sure we will trigger many more memories talking together.
It was a very special place and time and I am proud and honored to be able to be a part of this thing.
And just the fact that the 'dillo is getting it's due is enough.
We made history...back in the day and tonight.
Can't wait to call Bill tomorrow and set it up...we have endless stories to tell.
Once upon a time there was this magical place called the Armadillo World Headquarters...yes :)

Sucks to be me right now
That's all I've got to say. But I'm guessing I'll feel better in the morning.

New Year's Resolution

One of my wishes, for as long as I can remember, is to always have fresh cut flowers in the house. I've never followed up on the "always" part, even though it's a pretty simple wish to fulfill. I've always considered flowers to be one of those "unnecessary" expenses and usually will not buy them unless I'm feeling extremely prosperous (which doesn't happen very often.) Rob brings me flowers from time to time and I leave those in the vase long after they've dried up because I consider dried flowers to be better than no flowers.

I've decided to change that this year, thanks in part to a friend of ours that gave me a beautiful vase that is perfect for the inexpensive five stem bouquets that I can get at the grocery store. The right choice of flowers could last a week and that comes out to not so much money a month. And of course, I can even grow my own in the spring and fall and maybe fill up a big vase.

Dad update
My dad made it through the surgery okay and is back home. There is some additional risk over the next three days, but we are expecting things to go well. He's quite the survivor!

Brrr
I don't like cold weather unless I have a roaring fire in a fireplace and a warm house. I have neither so I am quite ready to be done with this little cold snap we've had around here these last few days. I need to either move some place where the temperature never goes below 40 degrees or acquire the money needed to buy the fake logs for our gas fireplace that we've never purchased. Acquiring the money would probably be easier than moving, but the problem is that takes time and by the time I have the money for the logs, it's 100 degrees outside again and the fireplace is the last thing on my mind. Besides, it seems silly to spend $500 on something I will only use three times a year. So instead, I'll just add that to the list of things I will buy when I win the lottery and for now go get back under the covers and daydream about a warm, sunny beach somewhere. Except this time, without the killer jellyfish that were in my dream the other night. Seriously, I gotta wonder where the hell that came from. I mean, who dreams about killer jellyfish?

A Choice
My dad had a choice; have surgery to possibly save his eyesight and risk death from the surgery or avoid surgery and definitely live longer, but go completely blind in another month or two. The eye surgery, while not particularly risky for most people, is very high risk for him due to other health conditions, but he's made his decision and goes under the knife on Monday. This isn't his first risky surgery. He had only a 20% chance of surviving the surgery on his aortic aneurysm. He had less than that on his heart valve replacement. Let's hope he keeps beating the odds.

HURRY UP AND WAIT

I got my bloodwork results back today...sort of.They are inconclusive in regards to my foot drop , but they do want to talk to me about my cholesterol.Big surprise there haha.
What started in my right foot has now migrated to include my left.And while it is not as severe as it was , it is still very unsettling.To be this ungainly prevents me from working...as long as it's a smooth relatively straight shot I can manage ok. But throw in some obstacles or ledges or the need to climb , forget it.Stairs are a challenge. I've got an appointment with a neurologist on the 25th , so we'll see.

200 bottles of beer on the wall...
I met a friend of mine at The Flying Saucer last night to do some knitting over a few beers. Well, turns out we didn't actually do any knitting since there was too much other activity going on that caught our attention, but I did have the few beers. I had never been to The Flying Saucer which is in a shopping development called The Triangle and I'd never been to any place there either. The little bit of street parking seemed crazy, but then I found the parking garage and it wasn't too much of a walk to the pub. I got there early and she got there late so that gave me time to investigate something called the UFO club. You fill out a form, they give you a card that then tracks all the different beers you drink there. Once you've drank 200 different beers, you get a plate with your name on it placed on the wall. How could I resist? I love beer; I love trying different beers and I've always been mystified why I like one kind of beer, but not another. Apparently there's enough information in this place to help me figure it out because I told the waitress what I like in a beer and just from my crude description, 'cause I don't know all the proper terms and stuff, she served me what was one of the best beers I've ever tasted. You can only get club credit for three beers per night so that eliminated any plans to knock out six of them in one night. And as it was, I was driving so I only drank two; three and I would have had to stay there drinking water much later than I wanted before heading home.

I had a great time and in an odd coincidence, ran into some of my favorite folks from where I used to work. I also got a movie trivia question right that no one else in the group got which is a friggin' miracle because I don't know squat about movies/directors/actors. I don't know when I might get up that way again, but I'm hoping my club membership and a chance at immortality (the plate on the wall) might be enough incentive to get me back up there on a regular basis. Not to mention the act of drinking 200 beers :)