Because sometimes change is a good thing:
BIG LINK
I went and started a new page.
Just because.
Besides, been thinkin about it for a while anyway.
Soon, this old page will disappear.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
That Which Doesn't Kill Me...
Seems kinda strange that I go into surgery and then it takes weeks/months to start feeling 'right' again, and I know I haven't been much of myself of late.
I've seen others have all kinds of nasties removed, and short of chemo, within a few weeks are no worse for wear.
I brought this up with the doc. He explained a few things as to just why this wasn't a 'normal' thing I went through. Oh,well....
Finally, I'm starting to feel as if I might be turning a corner soon, but so much is still broken I wonder if I'll ever get back to normal.
Let me list a few:
The lower right quadrant of my face is still numb. Doc says it will stay that way for a while. (Ever tried to shave a thick beard when you have no feeling beneath it? Needless to say,I no longer bother.)
My tongue is off center. Seriously. Thick on one side. Only about half the dexterity it used to have. Much of my oral musculature has been damaged and remains paralyzed, but my speaking becomes a bit more clearer by the day. It's a slow go, but still a go. I'll take it.
As my mouth regains some of it's dexterity, I don't drool as much.
The feeding tube has been removed from my nose, and replaced with a different one in my abdomen instead. This means I can leave the house with out being stared at. It also eases overall physical mobility. The downside: having to be anesthetized for this procedure last week means the breathing tube tweaked out my throat again, setting my voice back about two weeks. (Damn!)
The voice has gone from soft and raspy, to medium and raspy, but with better enunciation. Still can't be heard from across the room. I can be heard across the dinner table if everybody else shuts up first, but I tend to avoid dinner tables for obvious reasons.
One eye droops a little.
Like I explained before, my throat is paralyzed. This means that life for me consists of hocking and spitting, about every few minutes or so. Also, chronic halitosis. After brushing and mouthwash, I'm good for about one hour, before I need to hit the mouthwash bottle again. Gross,huh?
Dry spots that occur in my throat cannot be remedied by simply swallowing, and generally result in a violent,uncontrollable coughing fit (that sometimes will empty the contents of my gut, as well.) For this reason, I avoid getting behind the wheel of the car. (My car still has 1/2 tank full of $4 gas.)
On the plus side:
The gnarly, layers-deep abrasion/sore below my left shoulder (a result of surgery) has finally gone bye-bye, and no longer hurts.
I am free of any and all nicotine cravings. I think I was just generally too fucked up to recognize any withdrawal symptoms for it to be much of a struggle,anyway.
That tumor will never threaten me again.
I was 5'9" and weighed 170 when I left high school back in 1982. The morning of surgery I was at 208. I'm down to 182 now.
No more dizzy spells while climbing the stairs.
Doctor says it looks like,just maybe, if things continue to go well ('well' for whom,I wonder), I may get my swallowing back in 3-6 months.
3-6 months!!! Not sure if I categorize this as good news or bad news.
I've seen others have all kinds of nasties removed, and short of chemo, within a few weeks are no worse for wear.
I brought this up with the doc. He explained a few things as to just why this wasn't a 'normal' thing I went through. Oh,well....
Finally, I'm starting to feel as if I might be turning a corner soon, but so much is still broken I wonder if I'll ever get back to normal.
Let me list a few:
The lower right quadrant of my face is still numb. Doc says it will stay that way for a while. (Ever tried to shave a thick beard when you have no feeling beneath it? Needless to say,I no longer bother.)
My tongue is off center. Seriously. Thick on one side. Only about half the dexterity it used to have. Much of my oral musculature has been damaged and remains paralyzed, but my speaking becomes a bit more clearer by the day. It's a slow go, but still a go. I'll take it.
As my mouth regains some of it's dexterity, I don't drool as much.
The feeding tube has been removed from my nose, and replaced with a different one in my abdomen instead. This means I can leave the house with out being stared at. It also eases overall physical mobility. The downside: having to be anesthetized for this procedure last week means the breathing tube tweaked out my throat again, setting my voice back about two weeks. (Damn!)
The voice has gone from soft and raspy, to medium and raspy, but with better enunciation. Still can't be heard from across the room. I can be heard across the dinner table if everybody else shuts up first, but I tend to avoid dinner tables for obvious reasons.
One eye droops a little.
Like I explained before, my throat is paralyzed. This means that life for me consists of hocking and spitting, about every few minutes or so. Also, chronic halitosis. After brushing and mouthwash, I'm good for about one hour, before I need to hit the mouthwash bottle again. Gross,huh?
Dry spots that occur in my throat cannot be remedied by simply swallowing, and generally result in a violent,uncontrollable coughing fit (that sometimes will empty the contents of my gut, as well.) For this reason, I avoid getting behind the wheel of the car. (My car still has 1/2 tank full of $4 gas.)
On the plus side:
The gnarly, layers-deep abrasion/sore below my left shoulder (a result of surgery) has finally gone bye-bye, and no longer hurts.
I am free of any and all nicotine cravings. I think I was just generally too fucked up to recognize any withdrawal symptoms for it to be much of a struggle,anyway.
That tumor will never threaten me again.
I was 5'9" and weighed 170 when I left high school back in 1982. The morning of surgery I was at 208. I'm down to 182 now.
No more dizzy spells while climbing the stairs.
Doctor says it looks like,just maybe, if things continue to go well ('well' for whom,I wonder), I may get my swallowing back in 3-6 months.
3-6 months!!! Not sure if I categorize this as good news or bad news.
Global Warming Update
This is the view from my front porch two days ago. According to reports, we were hit by a "50 yr Arctic Front", not to mention 24hrs of uninterrupted rain fall.
Remember: I'm not up north, nor in higher elevations. Just fifty miles from my former home in Anaheim, in the county of Riverside. (KD: Take note. Not in Anaheim. I bought a house,remember?).
Kinda cool since we never see stuff like this around here.
Thursday, December 18, 2008
Tully here,
As you have no doubt noticed, Tully is no replacement for Gino. As I suspect Gino is now competent to carry out his blogging duties in full, I will now hang up my saddle and ride off into the sunset (without a saddle?). It's been interesting. I now return to the hoi polloi as a mere commenter- See you in the threads!
As you have no doubt noticed, Tully is no replacement for Gino. As I suspect Gino is now competent to carry out his blogging duties in full, I will now hang up my saddle and ride off into the sunset (without a saddle?). It's been interesting. I now return to the hoi polloi as a mere commenter- See you in the threads!
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Inconsiderate Bastard!
What did the Iraqi journalist wear home after he threw his shoes at the president? I'm sure he didn't get his shoes back. Did the Secret Service give him a new pair of shoes? Did they lend him a pair of shoes? Did he even have another pair of shoes at home, or is he now utterly shoeless. Perhaps amid all the publicity, he still goes barefoot around Sadr City, like Socrates walked barefoot in Athens, being known as the gadfly of Iraq. How does his wife feel about the whole thing- she probably picked out those shoes for him, "Honey, this is a big day for you, being an unknown journalist, to see the imperialist pig George Bush at a press conference- why don't you wear your best shoes today? I'm sure the press corp will be impressed!"
She's probably regretting it now...Living on a journalist's salary, having to find a Payless in Sadr City all because her hubby had big ideas about standing up to the Man. "I'll bet he didn't even consider what I go through every day to keep things running smoothly in this house when he was out making a name for himself. Well, Mr. Big Name Journalist had better be bringing more hummus home soon, what with my mother no longer seeing fit to enter our house because her Imam thinks it's shameful for a Muslim to treat a guest with disrespect. Well, one thing's for sure, when everyone's forgotten about how great his resistance to occupation was, I'll still have a little resistance left over when he gets any ideas about occupation in the sack- so let's see him throw his shoes at that problem!"
She's probably regretting it now...Living on a journalist's salary, having to find a Payless in Sadr City all because her hubby had big ideas about standing up to the Man. "I'll bet he didn't even consider what I go through every day to keep things running smoothly in this house when he was out making a name for himself. Well, Mr. Big Name Journalist had better be bringing more hummus home soon, what with my mother no longer seeing fit to enter our house because her Imam thinks it's shameful for a Muslim to treat a guest with disrespect. Well, one thing's for sure, when everyone's forgotten about how great his resistance to occupation was, I'll still have a little resistance left over when he gets any ideas about occupation in the sack- so let's see him throw his shoes at that problem!"
Monday, December 15, 2008
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Tully here,
I often hear about "faith voters" and policies favoring "faith," people making decisions by "faith" rather than reason, or without having to have certainty. But then they say they have faith in God, by which they often mean that they have more certainty in God than in anything else. Others say that they don't need certainty because they have faith instead.
So is faith a sort of certainty, or is it the opposite of certainty?
Or is it a synthesis of the two, or neither of the two?
Or are all of these the case?
Is it a vague beginning, or a lucid end? Is it the journey from one to the other, or the cessation of a journey?
I often hear about "faith voters" and policies favoring "faith," people making decisions by "faith" rather than reason, or without having to have certainty. But then they say they have faith in God, by which they often mean that they have more certainty in God than in anything else. Others say that they don't need certainty because they have faith instead.
So is faith a sort of certainty, or is it the opposite of certainty?
Or is it a synthesis of the two, or neither of the two?
Or are all of these the case?
Is it a vague beginning, or a lucid end? Is it the journey from one to the other, or the cessation of a journey?
Friday, December 12, 2008
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Free Blago
My,my,my...ain't the blogosphere a buzz with Rod Blagojevich. Much a do 'bout nothing really.
Senate seats have been bought and sold in this nation for as long as I can remember, and probably longer than that. And what senator, past or present, hasn't benefited financially, or hoped to, from their position?
The way I see it, any senator, past or present, who utters one ill word toward the Illinois Governor should be taken out and shot as the hypocrite motherfucker they are.
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