What a Pain in the Neck!

Arthritis, that is. Thanks to both my parents having arthritis, I have it. Worst part, is that I have it in my back and neck. I've done pretty well so far, but lately it's been getting worse.

A couple of years ago it really started bothering me. I'd get headaches, dizzy, and of course, it would hurt. I wouldn't mind so much but with an 8 year old daughter it often holds me back from doing everything I'd like with her.

I did a couple bouts of physical therapy and I've got medication that helps. But, lately, it hasn't been enough. I blogged about seeing a neurologist once with regard to our healthcare system . . . that's why. For my arthritis. Well, the time finally came . . . cortisone injections.

I said "no" to them once before. I really wanted PT to work. But when you wake up with a headache, go throughout the day with a headache, and go to sleep with a headache, something ain't right. I finally said "yes" to the injections.

The idea is to inject cortisone in to the joint to reduce the inflammation that's pressing on the nerves that are causing symptoms. People have it done all the time. It's just that the spine is a dicey area. Be it the neck or back.

So I had the injection done this past Friday. I was reeeeeally nervous about it. Upset, too, that I'd gotten to the point of needing them at all. The future doesn't bode well for my neck.

When I got to my doctor's office, I checked in. A couple minutes later the receptionist called me up to her desk. Seems she forgot to put me on the schedule. On the one hand, I was happy. I could leave and maybe forget the whole thing. On the other hand, I mentally psyched and ready. I'd just have to go through it all again. After talking with my doctor, they decided I should stay and wait. So I did. It was an honest mistake. But, my wife and I were both off from work for this so it made more sense to hang out for a bit.

It didn't take long. About an hour. As a nurse checked me in, I got a better idea of what was going to happen. While we were talking, my doctor pokes his head in and says, "I'm ready!". Time to go. I could have a little sedation, but I don't. Time to man up.

I laid down on a table face down. They use fluoroscopy to visualize my neck and placement of the needles. After washing the area and positioning me just right, my doctor says "a poke and some burning to numb the area". Needles don't bother me. In fact, had I thought about it, I would have videotaped this. I've had years of allergy shots. So I'm battle hardened. Procedural pain doesn't bother me either. Except in the mouth. Dentists (shiver) I hate 'em.

After the numbing poke (no big deal) we wait.

(Any plans for the weekend? See any good movies lately?) Then . . .

"OK, I'm going to place the needle now. You might feel some pressure. Tell me if anything hurts."

Nothing does. Well, except my back . . . from laying on my stomach and holding my neck in a weird position. I figure that's not what he's asking about.

"I'm close to the joint . . . you might feel pressure . . . "

I do. Feels like my throat is closing. Being pressed on. Hurts a little.

"A little contrast dye . . . good . . . now the medicine."

I feel pressure but it doesn't last long.

"Needle out. Let's do the other side."

And he repeats the same thing on the other side of my neck. This side doesn't hurt at all. It took about 15 minutes to position me and about 3 minutes to do the procedure. Kind of what I thought, but much worse with screaming, blood, crash cart, and seeing Patrick Swayze.

After that I get up and walk to where my wife is waiting. She's shocked I'm done. As the numbness wears off, I can taste the lidocaine. Even after the dentist I get a little woozy from the lidocaine. I rest.

Today my neck hurts and it's stiff. I've iced it and taken ibuprofen and I'm doing OK. Tomorrow I should be good as new.

No guarantees this will work, but everyone thinks it will . . . and I'm hopeful. If it does, it could last several after which the nerve could be burned. Which would last about a year.

So, not bad. Not bad at all. Patrick will have to wait.

Technology

Last time a bunch of us met at Papa's, the subject of technology and the internet came up. Specifically, who was using what, and just how useful is some of this stuff. You may have noticed that I tried Twitter for a bit. It's gone simply because I can't imagine anyone really needing to know what I'm doing at any given moment, and because it takes a bit of effort to constantly update it. I don't follow anyone's Twitter, for that matter. Most of you are boring.

It DOES take one to know one . . . I admit it!

Anyway, Digsby, Facebook, RSS, etc., were all discussed and their usefulness debated.

Well, I own Macs and use them at work. One thing that is useful (to me) is iChat. And with everyone at work on a Mac it's very easy to "chat" with other people at work. Of course, we don't use it to chat, but we do use it as a quick and easy way to communicate with each other. One can even pass files back and forth. It's very convenient.

I've also chatted with a friend of mine in Florida. While not quite as simple as talking on the phone it doesn't cost anything extra and it's kind of fun.

Well, my sister in Phoenix bought a MacBookPro recently. I told her to get a Mac account so we could chat. She did. The other night we hooked up. Thing is, the Mac laptops have an iSight camera (webcam) built in. We were able to video chat with each other! How cool is that? Very Jetson-esque. Now, I know this is nothing new but it was the first time I was able to video chat with someone else . . . with audio. It was very cool. For me and my sister it means being able to "visit" a little more often. Additionally, when my mom comes over to her house we can plan on video chatting so my mom can see her grand daughter more often.

I love technology!

I see a rabbit. I see devastation.

I certainly don't mean to make light of the areas hit by tornados this spring. While there have been few deaths, the destruction has been immense. Even living through a tornado there's great loss. It's certainly been a strange year thus far. Of course, I'm waiting for the alarmists to come out and blame the tornados on global warming.

Memorial Day was one of those weird days. It felt like being inside in the winter and suddenly opening the window on a cold day. It dropped what . . . 20 degrees in a matter of minutes? My sister in Arizona reported that it was 110 one moment and 55 the next. Their shift was due to the tornados that struck to the north.

Anyway, I took the picture of the clouds when the weather shifted. You can see the different hues in the clouds. What you don't see, obviously, is how much and how fast the clouds were billowing. It was quite remarkable . . . and beautiful.

Hulkamaniacals

Recently, recordings of conversations between Hulk's son Nick and his dad, and Nick and his mom have been released to the public. You'll recall, Nick was 16 and racing when he got in to an accident in Florida. He wasn't seriously hurt but his passenger, John Graziano, just recently home from the Iraq war, was. In fact, he remains in a vegetative state in the hospital and his injuries are likely permanent.

Since the accident, the entire Hogan family has been strangely distant about the incident. Part of this was understandable as Nick would be facing charges and possibly sent to jail. Still, little was said, and their actions didn't seem to be consistent with those who are remorseful.

In court, Nick WAS remorseful, and took responsibility for his actions. He got 8 months in jail. Two weeks in to his sentance and he's crying like a baby. CNN has a good story with the audio tapes here:

Nick Bollea's jailhouse tapes

I've watched "Hogan Knows Best". The Hulk struck me as a guy who cared for his family, would do anything for them, but constantly battled a gold digging wife who was more of a friend than a parent and who wanted, herself, to be cool. Nick struck me as completely spoiled, talentless, and an idiot. Lucky to have been born into the Hulk's clan. Brooke struck me as somewhat nicer, a little more talented, but riding on daddy's credit card coat tails non the less.

Well, I am about half right. If you listen to the audio you can't help but come away thinking what a bunch of shitbags they all are. Hogan and Nick talking about a reality show, Mama hulk thinking she's suffering more than John's mother, and Nick crying to get out. There's no remorse, no lessons learned, no responsibility. It's disgusting.

Clearly they didn't realize what they were saying would become public. I'm sure there are those who feel this violates some kind of right Nick has. Don't care. They been outed in the worst way possible . . . truthfully. In 8 months or less, Nick will walk out of jail and is certainly young enough to go on and live a long and fruitful life. Daddy will obviously see to that. Heaven forbid Nick should do anything for himself.

Mean while, John Graziano lies in a hospital bed brain damaged. His future is unknown but will likely require life long care.

It gets worse.

Just recently, Brooke got into an accident when a car veered in to her lane causing her to crash in to a wall. She and her passenger weren't hurt. She gives credit to her brother Nick for reminding her to fasten her seatbelt.

An egomaniac, a whore, an idiot, and a skank. Great family.

Houston, we have a problem

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The international space station's lone toilet is broken, leaving the crew with almost nowhere to go. So NASA may order an in-orbit plumbing service call when space shuttle Discovery visits next week.

Until then, the three-man crew will have to make do with a jury-rigged system when they need to urinate.

While one of the crew was using the Russian-made toilet last week, the toilet motor fan stopped working, according to NASA. Since then, the liquid waste gathering part of the toilet has been working on-and-off.

Fortunately, the solid waste collecting part is functioning normally.

Russian officials don't know the cause of the problem, and the crew has been unable to fix it.

The crew has used the toilet on the Soyuz return capsule, but it has a limited capacity. They now are using a backup bag-like collection system that can be connected to the broken toilet, according to NASA public affairs officials.

Don't Miss
Discovery crew to haul massive lab to space station
"Like any home anywhere, the importance of having a working bathroom is obvious," NASA spokesman Allard Beutel said.

The 7-year-old toilet has broken once before but not for as long a time, said Johnson Space Center spokeswoman Nicole Cloutier in Houston.

Discovery is already set for launch Saturday, with a planned docking with the space station Monday.

Cloutier said NASA officials are considering having some parts flown to Cape Canaveral, Florida, and placed in the shuttle during its countdown, an unusual and delicate situation. Because the shuttle's payload weight is limited and balance carefully calculated, it will be tricky to try to figure out where the parts can go, said Kennedy Space Center spokesman Bill Johnson

Discovery's main payload, a 32,000-pound Japanese laboratory addition, is so big that the shuttle's boom sensor system had to be removed to make room for the lab.

It's not like they can pee off the back of the Space Station . . . or open a window and dump a jug . . . or stop at the nearest fast food place . . . or hold it! This is a major problem!!

They were made for each other

Bill and Hillary. You know, I really thought that they both, at best, tolerated each other. Especially since Bill's Whitehouse days and his philandering ways. Now, I think they were made for each other.

First, it was Hillary claiming a "right wing conspiracy" when first defending hubby. At this point, I can't be sure that she really knew what was going on. At the time, and even up to about now, I didn't think she did. I believed she was duped and looked like a fool.

Now, we have Bill claiming the press is "covering up" the fact that Hillary is actually winning the general election over Obama.

" 'Oh, this is so terrible: The people they want her. Oh, this is so terrible: She is winning the general election, and he is not. Oh my goodness, we have to cover this up.' "

He's not specific as to who "they" are but my assumption is the press. He goes on to say that she isn't being given the respect she deserves.

"She is winning the general election today and he is not, according to all the evidence," Clinton said. "And I have never seen anything like it. I have never seen a candidate treated so disrespectfully just for running."

Well, he's entitled to his opinion. He might be right. I do think it's entirely possible for Hillary to be the democratic nominee come fall. But not by popular vote.

Whatever the case, these two are clearly made for each other. The only question is, who wants the Whitehouse more, Hillary, or Bill?

There's bad, and then there's baaad.

I've been meaning to watch "Crank" for some time. Jason Statham seems like one of those "take no sh*t" kind of action guys that'd be fun to watch. Well, it was on last night on Showtime so I watched it.

It was bad. Really bad.

But I watched it through. As bad as it was there was something compelling about it. I did the same thing with "Shoot Em Up". A god awful movie. But I watched it through. Yet, I couldn't get past about 15 minutes of "Talladega Nights", and about the same amount of time of "Babel". Why?

I guess with action movies there are good guys and bad guys, and you want to see the bad guys get their butts kicked. That usually happens, If a movie is supposed to funny but is just moronic (as was/is the case of Talladega Nights) then I'm not compelled to watch. Babel was making little sense and had nothing to draw me in so, again, it was easy to turn off. With action movies, the action drives the movie. But, it better pay off, though. "Crank" was a bit weak at the end. I was a little disappointed.

Just another in a long line of movies I'm glad I didn't pay money to go see.

Wi-Fi bye-bye?

Group wants Wi-Fi banned from public buildings

A group in Santa Fe says the city is discriminating against them because they say that they're allergic to the wireless Internet signal. And now they want Wi-Fi banned from public buildings.

Arthur Firstenberg says he is highly sensitive to certain types of electric fields, including wireless Internet and cell phones.

"I get chest pain and it doesn't go away right away," he said.

Firstenberg and dozens of other electro-sensitive people in Santa Fe claim that putting up Wi-Fi in public places is a violation of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

The city attorney is now checking to see if putting up Wi-Fi could be considered discrimination.

But City Councilor Ron Trujillo says the areas are already saturated with wireless Internet.

"It's not 1692, it's 2008. Santa Fe needs to embrace this technology, it's not going away," Trujillo said.

The city attorney hopes to have a legal recommendation by the end of the month.

I can't say that I know if this is a real problem or not. It seems like a weird thing to make up or take offense to as it often is with the PC crowd. Let's say it is a real problem . . . how do these people deal with the cell phone signals that are PRACTICALLY EVERYWHERE? Not to mention the internet signals that ALREADY EXIST wirelessly?

Sheesh.

Celebridiot of the Day

Sharon Stone makes this insightful commentary about the China earthquakes:

"Well you know it was very interesting because at first, you know, I am not happy about the ways the Chinese were treating the Tibetans because I don’t think anyone should be unkind to anyone else. And so I have been very concerned about how to think and what to do about that because I don’t like that."

She goes on to wonder if it was "bad karma" that was responsible for the quakes. Oh, and she's good pals with the Dali Lama.

Another fine example of a hollywood retard thinking the universe revolves around them and trying, desperately, to remain relevant.

H-2-Ho's

I stole the headline as I liked it so much. In addition to the hypocrisy often wielded by the left when it comes to energy use (cars, planes, homes) there's another commodity that hasn't been talked about much . . . water. It's strange enough that people would want to build homes in Phoenix but to then want a lawn? Of course, when you're a lefty elitist, you have to have the best looking lawn, or property. Never mind you could be in an area short on water. Here's more from TMZ:

Celine Dion must have some serious deposits to flush -- she's passing enough water in a Florida house to fill a 50-gallon bathtub ... every four minutes.

Here's how Celine's all wet: Utility records in South Florida show that a property owned by her company Renlec Management used 6.5 millllllion gallons of H20 last year. As the Palm Beach Post points out, most residential users in the same county use around 100,000 gallons of water per year -- so Celine uses about 65 times as much water as the little guy. (Her reps had no comment.)

And Dion isn't the only Martin County celeb whose water waste will go on, and on, and on: Tiger Woods, who's building a house on Jupiter Island, used about 300K gallons a month, mostly for landscaping and tree-planting, according to his peeps.

Back in Phoenix, most responsible developers use the surrounding natural landscape and incorporate that into the design of their properties. Even golf courses will use recycled water to aid in their needs.

But, not the elite. It's just water, right?

Theory of Relativity

So my daughter asked me to come out and play with her yesterday. She had a fever but you know how kids are. I tried to tell her she should rest but she said she's been resting and feels good now. Then I remembered I sprayed the lawn for weeds. I told her that we'd have to wait until tomorrow to play on the lawn.

"Tomorrow?" she said "That's like forever!"

"It's not that long." I said.

She answered, "It is in my world."

Ha! You know, she's right.

More on AI

A few more thoughts . . .

The JoBros . . . entertaining. Boys trying to act like men, though. Bands like this tend to become a caricature of themselves. Only real talent will prevail. That may not be the case here.

Jimmy Kimmel isn't funny.

The Gladys Knight clip was good. Too long. But good.

I like George Michael. I think he has a tremendous voice. But talk about bringing down the mood. Geez.

All over the news there's shock at the Cook win. Like me, just about everyone expected Archuleta to win. Everyone also mentions the comments made by Simon the night before. See? Well?

David Cook Wins

Well, I hope my intuition doesn't doesn't reflect on my football picks this season or I'm in trouble.

I DVR'd the final last night as I went to my daughter's piano recital. Sorry to the two or three of you that may have stopped by looking for the live blog. A few thoughts:

First, these are adult, individual styled singers. They are not The Kids From Wisconsin. All the group singing was horrible . . . and stupid. That said, what ever drugs Paula is on Amanda is on more of them. What was her deal? She blew chunks. Large chunks. So did Jason. Looking back now it's amazing either one made it to the finals.

The women did much better than the men. Again, there's no good reason to do group songs but the guys really sucked. Amanda was a joke . . . embarrassing, really. Could be she and Jason really didn't want to be there. Still, have some integrity with your singing.

I thought Michael and Carly did very well. In fact, I think it was choice of song that did Carly in. She's better than Syesha.

Archuleta sang better than the singer for One Republic did. Yow.

Brooke with Graham Nash was extremely cool. My second favorite performance.

My third favorite was Carrie Underwood. Man she can sing. Her outfit sucked, though. Kinda weird and skanky at the same time. She doesn't have to do that.

The two highlights of the night . . . David Cook and ZZ Top. That was not only cool but a great performance. And, of course, Cook winning. I have to admit, I'm really surprised. I feel he deserved to win, but there just seemed to be an awful lot of Archy supporters out there. It will be interesting to see what happens now for both Davids.

With the reported record amount of votes cast, did Simon's "knockout" comment rally the Cook troops? We know he was pulling for Cook. Was it a calculated comment? There no way to know but it is interesting. The momentum seemed to be in Archueta's favor.

His dad probably beat him with his belt.

So . . . now what? Well, wait for Cook's first CD. And . . . Hell's Kitchen!

AI Finals

I hate to admit it, but I thought Archuleta won the night last night. He peaked at the right time, chose good songs, and put himself in to the song better than he had before. I didn't like Imagine as much but the other songs were strong. David Cook did well, but none of the songs were the kind of goose bump inducing performances as in the past.

As a result, although I really don't think this is about talent as much as it is about popularity, I believe David Archuleta will win.

There are some positives to this. One, David's dad will find out just how controlling this industry can be. If he's to be a factor in David's life, he's going to have to learn to step back and accept the things that happen. That could be hard. For David's part, he's a good fit for the puppet masters. Do what's he's told and sing. Again, his dad will be the problem.

As for Cook, he wins either way. If he comes in second, it will just mean he's free to do what he wants. Which might be best for him. If he wins, he'll have to play puppet boy for a while but the exposure will certainly help him once his duties are done.

Either way, David Cook will be a much larger commercial success than will be Archuleta.

As for the show, tonight is one of the reasons people aren't watching as much. 2 hours?!?! I'm really not sure what the show will contain but not only is that a lot of filler, it's just too long to wait.

Over all I thought the live blog went well. I had fun. I think I'll have it on tonight so check back.

American Idol Live Blog!

American Idol Live Blog!

Log on tomorrow to join me in a live blog of American Idol. As usual, performances are on Tuesday, results on Wednesday. Not sure if I'll live blog the results, but I'll be here for the performances.

When you log on tomorrow, you'll see a special "chat" window available. You'll be able to read comments posted by me and others, as well as post your own.

See you tomorrow!

Tragic? Yes. A lawsuit? Not even close.

When tragedies occur I think it's natural for people to want to blame someone or something for the event. That something could be so absolutely random and without cause or reason is beyond many to comprehend and accept. I would react that way. If something happened to my daughter I would want to blame someone or something. But I hope that I would come to accept what was merely an accident as just that.

I slipped on the ice at work and broke my ankle a few years back. While it was winter, the ice in the parking lot was a result of early morning dew that had become icy. Not because anyone failed to properly react to conditions. I knew it was slippery. I walked carefully taking half steps to the door. But as "luck" would have it, I slipped and snapped my ankle in two. It was a severe break. As a result, I also developed a blood clot in both lungs, and a staff infection. Both put me back in the hospital for treatments.

I never once thought about suing. There was no way I could honestly say someone was "negligent" about the conditions that morning. It was a freak accident. All things considered, I may have been lucky. Remember how Dr. Atkins died?

Well, this is a long set up for this article:

Parents to Sue Maker of Metal Baseball Bats Over Son's Injury

There's no question this is tragic . . . and a hardship on the family. That it happened to a 12 year old boy is all the more sad. But, it's not the bat manufacturers fault. While I sympathize for the family, this stinks. Even if you could make the case that metal bats are somehow partially responsible for this boy's condition, what the sense in suing the Little League and the store that sold the bat?

I'm sorry. This is what's wrong with our society today. If it's not accepting responsibility for our actions, if it's not feeling "entitled" for doing nothing more than being offended or being stupid, then it's needing to sue someone because we can't make money off of fate. I don't want to see this family lose everything as a result of this accident. But, why then should a company be forced to close putting out of work dozens of workers . . . or another family lose everything because they lost their store, or the Little League suffer as a result of a tragic twist of fate?

Time and time again we have seen tragedies happen and have seen society respond. Reach out and people will respond accordingly with an out pour of sympathy and support.

Go about it this way and you may end up with nothing.

Global Foolishness 114

After Hurricane Katrina we were told hurricanes would increase in frequency and severity because of global warming. The following year we had the calmest hurricane season in quite some time. Since, we've been told that hurricanes really don't have much to do with global warming, or we've been told that the reduction in hurricane activity is some how consistent with global warming models.

I think the point isn't whether I know if climate change and hurricanes have a correlation, it's that the experts themselves don't agree.

Study Refutes Link Between Global Warming and Hurricanes.

The most interesting part of the article to me is that Knutson once agreed with those who thought global warming was and would be responsible for more frequent or more intense, or both, hurricanes.

But, I'm sure someone will claim a money trail and pass off this expert as baloney.

I'd prefer a good italian sub.

First the Wicked Witch. Now an oompah Loompah!

This is scary! Click here.

Aaaahhh! My eyes!! Ahhhhhhh!!

You know I'm not one of those who sees every woman as a size 4. I understand there are various shapes and sizes, and that one can be healthy without being skinny. In fact, I like women with a little more to them than just skin and bones.

At the same time I understand that over all what we define as a babe or a hunk isn't . . . Rosanne Barr or John Goodman. But then, neither one of them is trying to pass themselves off as sex symbols.

Well, maybe they are. Anyway.

In Britney's case . . . wasn't she hitting the gym to reshape herself?

What happened?!?!

Woah.

(Note: this post was altered from its original state. It was written late at night while on pain medication. I felt it inappropriate so I changed it. I apologize to anyone to read it.)

Hell Freezing Over?

First, the JournalSentinel recommends ending the ethanol mandate. While the JS doesn't slam ethanol as much as it deserves to be slammed, it makes this closing statement:

The government is right to set goals for renewable sources of energy and alternative biofuels, but it should not determine which technology wins. The best one should.

(Fainting) (Thud)

Wha . . . ? Wow. You know what that's called?

The free market.

Well, if that wasn't enough, Jim Doyle used his veto powers to re-craft the budget bill that, get this, cuts spending and holds the line on taxes!

(Fainting) (Thud)

Wha . . . ? Ow . .

Oh. Sorry. To be brutally honest about it, Jimbo did a MUCH better job than the republicans did with the budget! Sure, one could nit pick. But the truth of it is . . . Doyle did a great job with what he had to work with. The JS article is here.

Might Doyle belooking over his shoulder a bit at Walker?

Boots and Sabers posted a quote by Jim Sensenbrenner from the GOP State Convention:

“Unfortunately, Speaker Huebsch decided to push it [the budget repair bill] through the Assembly. And he did so in a manner which does not fix the problems of overtaxing, and replaces transportation fees with more state borrowing - exactly the same move which helped destroy the Republican brand. Everyone can see this is a political shell game that simply postpones the hard decisions.

Sometimes, leadership consists of saying “NO” to bad policies, rather than going along to get along.”

He's absolutely right. Thanks to Doyle, we have a budget that cuts more spending the the assembly version did, and holds the line on taxes. Good job Ji . . .

(Thud) (Birds chirping!)