Like most of the midwest, here in Kansas City it has been bitterly cold. I think this is as cold as I have seen it this early in my ten years or so of living here and topping it off we had some snow.
The snow was nothing major in my area, perhaps an inch or so, but for the time the snow was falling it was coming down with near hurricane winds which made seeing difficult. Of course we were out driving around I-435 trying to get down to Metcalf for an appointment and we could not see squat. What I love though is all those idiots who still drive like they are on the NASCAR track, doing 75 and weaving in and out of traffic.
The reason we were out is to visit with some lawyers and pick one to handle my disability case with Social Security. I have to say that I talked to quite a few lawyers before I found one that I was comfortable enough with to sign on the line. At first during our conversation I felt like taking all my papers, telling him to kiss my ass and move on to the next one. However he quickly made some comments that made me feel very confident in his ability as well as his enthusiasm for the case and I decided to finish out the meeting before I decided.
I filled out all the paperwork he needed to "retain" his services and he has filed the initial appeal papers so that the clock stops running for us and we can jump through the next set of hoops.
I am relieved to have an attorney handling this aspect of the appeal as well as relieved that we are moving forward rather then just refilling and starting all over again. However we have an uphill battle to fight and while I do not agree with the way the government likes to play this game I guess I have to deal with it if I want a decent shot at my hearing.
We also needed to find the boys some new winter coats. We had one for Colm that fit just a few weeks ago but when we put it on him the sleeves were a good 1/2" above his wrists. Since he needed a coat we figured we would hit the Old Navy down by my appointment to keep from having to drive all over Kansas City. Of course Deb found one and as she were paying and leaving the lady behind her actually commented about how "perhaps your son would like to wear that coat right now?" referring to how cold it was outside. Now we are not about to let our children go out in the freezing cold and while he may not have looked like it, he was indeed bundled up nice and toasty with several layers as well as a watch cap (knit pullover winter hat). I wish I could have been there to hear Deb tell her off. Seriously, where do some people get off??? If it was that bad and we needed a coat then he would have stayed home while one of us went out. Doi!
The rest of the time I have been working on the school website. They finally secured the domain name and server space so I had to upload all the files and test it for proper functioning. Of course as soon as it was "live" the school was emailing me all kinds of requests to change this that and the other thing. Easy fixes but they have had access to it the whole time I have been working on it and they certainly could have mentioned those fixes before I uploaded them. If this was a small site it would have been easier but it is 30 or so main pages right now and growing as well it has several databases that it will be running off of when I am done, so any change has to be made not just on 1 or 2 pages but every single one of them.
I did get a nice email from the school today asking me if I would like to take over all their websites, which is 4 right now. The kids from the High School have been working on that site but the Board of directors would like all the sites to have the same look and feel which is easier done if the same person/people are doing it.
I am ecstatic that they have that much confidence in my abilities and would very much like to take the position but I have to work out some details with them. When I took on the elementary school site it was in exchange for my sons tuition, or a big chunk of it. Now I am working on all their sites which if done in the private sector would be worth a lot more then the tuition. I am not greedy but this is going to be a lot of work and if I take on the task I am going to have to put aside several other projects that I have taken on which do pay.
I also am curious as to how it will work if the kids are doing some of the work but I am the Project Manager. Does that mean I would need to be at the school at a certain time for a specific period of time? If so then that too is a bit beyond volunteer. Of course since this is a private school there is no need for a teaching certificate to work with the kids in a capacity like this, and to tell the truth I would find it pretty cool working with the kids.
Yes, I am just babbling on now. My mind is actually a million places at once and no thought is consistant at this point. If I was 10 they would put me on Ritalin and give me detention. I guess for now I will have to just get some rest and start all over tomorrow.
11/30/2005
11/27/2005
What's that feeling? Oh wait, it's nothing...
The cold is back. I thought I was going to be shaking this as of last night but after my nap this afternoon I felt a bit worse. Perhaps it is this strange front moving through the area. We have been having a lot of odd weather with SERIOUS changes very quickly.
This afternoon we were in the 60's and then it dropped down to freezing with tornadoes and tons of hail. Tomorrow morning they are calling for at least 1" of snow which means 3-4" is possible. The huge swings in the atmosphere just suck!
I have been having some new symptoms in the recent weeks that I have not mentioned. While I have been experiencing bouts of numbness in my left leg and foot the recent weeks have seen numbness from the mid-waist and straight down. It is a strange feeling to not be able to feel, indescribable. Perhaps that is the "phantom limb" syndrome I have read about. I have not mentioned it to the doctor as I was hoping like the numbness in my leg/foot it would at least be temporary.
The one thing this does do is confirm that I need to go get that MRI to see what exactly is causing the numbness. If it is the arachnoiditis then there is little to no hope that it will go away however if it is the degenerative disc disease then perhaps they can do something to alleviate the numbness.
The problem is that I am confused as to how to feel about this. If it is the arachnoiditis then it is permanent and could possibly get worse, to the point I can't feel anything at all rather then just being numb. If it is something else, like degenerative disc disease, that means things like epidurals and possibly surgery at some point. Neither of which are options that I really see as options. I'm fairly sure giant needles into the spine or being sliced and diced ranks fairly low on most peoples lists, so that means a need to find an alternate method.
I guess the sad thing is that I really don't even care. Last year I would have been upset about this but for some reason, perhaps shock, it is not affecting me the way I would expect. Maybe it's because until I get an MRI to confirm it the numbness "isn't real" if you know what I mean.
I was worried about telling my wife about this but she handled it pretty well. I mean how do you explain to your loved one that your condition is getting worse, at times by leaps and bounds. While I may be the one bearing the burden of the physical pain she shares a lot of the psychological side with me. In addition to my problems she is the one who has to work 2 jobs which leaves her very little time to herself or to see her friends.
I have to say that my wife and the rest of my family have been great, I cannot say it enough that they have been very supportive of both my physical and emotional needs. Yea, to heat a guy talking about his "emotional" needs sounds pretty wimpy but I would dare anyone who thinks that to trade places with an arachnoiditis or any other spinal cord injury patient. The range of emotions you deal with, even in just a 24 hour period, is amazing. Obviously various things effect you from the injuries themselves and the medications you are on, but like I said, my family has been great. I could not have asked for a better support team.
Tomorrow I have an appointment with the lawyer about my Social Security appeal. I figure that I would rather have someone who is experienced in this are help with the case. Since I could possibly see 2 years or more of back pay the lawyer would be able to collect either a percentage of what I get paid or a flat fee. I forget exactly how they work it but I believe the most they can collect is about $5500 or 25% whichever is less. For me I would rather collect 75% then nothing which is possible if I tried to do this on my own.
Time to end the babble and hit the hay..
This afternoon we were in the 60's and then it dropped down to freezing with tornadoes and tons of hail. Tomorrow morning they are calling for at least 1" of snow which means 3-4" is possible. The huge swings in the atmosphere just suck!
I have been having some new symptoms in the recent weeks that I have not mentioned. While I have been experiencing bouts of numbness in my left leg and foot the recent weeks have seen numbness from the mid-waist and straight down. It is a strange feeling to not be able to feel, indescribable. Perhaps that is the "phantom limb" syndrome I have read about. I have not mentioned it to the doctor as I was hoping like the numbness in my leg/foot it would at least be temporary.
The one thing this does do is confirm that I need to go get that MRI to see what exactly is causing the numbness. If it is the arachnoiditis then there is little to no hope that it will go away however if it is the degenerative disc disease then perhaps they can do something to alleviate the numbness.
The problem is that I am confused as to how to feel about this. If it is the arachnoiditis then it is permanent and could possibly get worse, to the point I can't feel anything at all rather then just being numb. If it is something else, like degenerative disc disease, that means things like epidurals and possibly surgery at some point. Neither of which are options that I really see as options. I'm fairly sure giant needles into the spine or being sliced and diced ranks fairly low on most peoples lists, so that means a need to find an alternate method.
I guess the sad thing is that I really don't even care. Last year I would have been upset about this but for some reason, perhaps shock, it is not affecting me the way I would expect. Maybe it's because until I get an MRI to confirm it the numbness "isn't real" if you know what I mean.
I was worried about telling my wife about this but she handled it pretty well. I mean how do you explain to your loved one that your condition is getting worse, at times by leaps and bounds. While I may be the one bearing the burden of the physical pain she shares a lot of the psychological side with me. In addition to my problems she is the one who has to work 2 jobs which leaves her very little time to herself or to see her friends.
I have to say that my wife and the rest of my family have been great, I cannot say it enough that they have been very supportive of both my physical and emotional needs. Yea, to heat a guy talking about his "emotional" needs sounds pretty wimpy but I would dare anyone who thinks that to trade places with an arachnoiditis or any other spinal cord injury patient. The range of emotions you deal with, even in just a 24 hour period, is amazing. Obviously various things effect you from the injuries themselves and the medications you are on, but like I said, my family has been great. I could not have asked for a better support team.
Tomorrow I have an appointment with the lawyer about my Social Security appeal. I figure that I would rather have someone who is experienced in this are help with the case. Since I could possibly see 2 years or more of back pay the lawyer would be able to collect either a percentage of what I get paid or a flat fee. I forget exactly how they work it but I believe the most they can collect is about $5500 or 25% whichever is less. For me I would rather collect 75% then nothing which is possible if I tried to do this on my own.
Time to end the babble and hit the hay..
11/25/2005
Tis the season
Well Thanksgiving is over and that means this weekend I will not feel bad for dragging out my Christmas decorations. Of course half my neighborhood was decorated by late last week, which reminds me, I need to get a picture of the White Trash Christmas house that is down the street from me. I kid you not, this has to be the tackiest, gaudiest job of decorating that I have ever seen and they do it every year. Two years ago they were renovating the house and that's right, they decorated the dumpster and the Bobcat front end loader.
"So what do you want for Christmas little boy?", the worst question to ask a 12 year old. Especially one that has had nothing but attitude and bad grades the whole year. The list is easily a page and a half, and of course I remember dreaming of all those toys when I was his age, and include toys that cost $500! WTH? Does he seriously think there is even a remote chance of those toys? I mean even if we could afford them I would have a serious issue with toys that cost that much. Top that off with his being Mr. Mouth with the bad grades... Worse is when his friends show up and they all have these things. "But Dad, so and so has one and his grades are worse then mine!" Yes, that is an actual comment. Of course he is going to his mothers for Christmas and then on to her mothers for a few days. I have no doubt they will send him back home with everything we have told him no about.
As for me, I am not picky and in fact I think I rather despise being asked "what do you want?" as it puts me in an awkward position. Do you tell them what is really on your mind or do you slough it off with the last thing you saw that was less then $30? Can't you just use your imagination? I mean anyone who is most likely going to buy me something knows my likes/dislikes and I am sure I would love whatever they grab, if they grab anything at all. Of course there is one thing I have had my eye on for the holidays and that is the Delphi XM2Go radio. No worries about a subscription I can handle that but these handhelds are great! They can be used with the headphones or you can use it in the car since it will work with the car radio. Of course it would work great with the gift I got last year, wireless speakers, which the transmitter plugs into a standard headphone jack.
We will just have to wait and see what Santa brings for me. In the meantime if I don't get the above perhaps someday 2 more people will sign up for and finish the requirements for my I-Pod on the left! That's right, just 2 more people to sign up for something and then I get my I-pod!!!
"So what do you want for Christmas little boy?", the worst question to ask a 12 year old. Especially one that has had nothing but attitude and bad grades the whole year. The list is easily a page and a half, and of course I remember dreaming of all those toys when I was his age, and include toys that cost $500! WTH? Does he seriously think there is even a remote chance of those toys? I mean even if we could afford them I would have a serious issue with toys that cost that much. Top that off with his being Mr. Mouth with the bad grades... Worse is when his friends show up and they all have these things. "But Dad, so and so has one and his grades are worse then mine!" Yes, that is an actual comment. Of course he is going to his mothers for Christmas and then on to her mothers for a few days. I have no doubt they will send him back home with everything we have told him no about.
As for me, I am not picky and in fact I think I rather despise being asked "what do you want?" as it puts me in an awkward position. Do you tell them what is really on your mind or do you slough it off with the last thing you saw that was less then $30? Can't you just use your imagination? I mean anyone who is most likely going to buy me something knows my likes/dislikes and I am sure I would love whatever they grab, if they grab anything at all. Of course there is one thing I have had my eye on for the holidays and that is the Delphi XM2Go radio. No worries about a subscription I can handle that but these handhelds are great! They can be used with the headphones or you can use it in the car since it will work with the car radio. Of course it would work great with the gift I got last year, wireless speakers, which the transmitter plugs into a standard headphone jack.
We will just have to wait and see what Santa brings for me. In the meantime if I don't get the above perhaps someday 2 more people will sign up for and finish the requirements for my I-Pod on the left! That's right, just 2 more people to sign up for something and then I get my I-pod!!!
11/23/2005
Colm and I are both sick and cranky so this will be short. Apparently we have both caught some kind of crap, sore throats, watery eyes and runny noses. My poor little guys nose is raw from it running more then the fridge.
I gave him some children's Robistussen for cough/cold and will give him some more here in a bit before bed. It seemed to help for his nap so I am hoping he will sleep well tonight and feel better in the morning. Myself, with all my other junk there is not much I can take for a cold so I have to just tough it out.
I gave him some children's Robistussen for cough/cold and will give him some more here in a bit before bed. It seemed to help for his nap so I am hoping he will sleep well tonight and feel better in the morning. Myself, with all my other junk there is not much I can take for a cold so I have to just tough it out.
11/21/2005
Dinner and family...
Yes, it was a LOWFAT cheesecake! Almost everything I make is lower in fat/calories but I have spent the time looking for the right recipes to make sure they do not taste like that. Check out Cooking Light magazine for some cool ideas. You have to remember, while the holidays should be about guilt free caloric intake it is difficult for me. Losing any extra weight for me would be difficult so I watch what I eat much closer then I used to. I promise you though that I do not do it at the sacrifice of great flavor.
Dinner at my brothers house was nice. It was good to see them and my nephew and niece as well as watch all the kids play together. Of course the funny comment of the evening was when my niece kept calling my brother, only she was calling him "Daddy" so my son decided he needed to correct her. He walked over to her and said, "No, that's not daddy, that's Uncle Artie." The two of them were like that all night depending on who was asking what but they played together very well for not seeing each other all the time.
I did feel bad for my sister in law though as my nephew spent the evening throwing up. The poor little guy, he is about 7 months old and it seems he caught a stomach virus or what have you from his baby sitters son. The poor kid, I felt so bad for him. My mother sat and fed him (I think we were all actually arguing over who got to feed him) some peaches and no sooner was he done then they came back up. Thankfully this morning though he is feeling better according to my sister in law.
While I was in some pain it was not too bad, well worth getting out to see my family. I only wish my brother and I lived closer together. I would have to say that he and I were closer growing up as we are only 2 years apart. Many of our childhood friends are the same and had we stayed in the same neighborhood through college I have no doubt we would probably have gone to school together and now work either in related fields or possibly at the same company. Funny how life happens while your doing other things.
I realized last night that December is a 3 paycheck month for my wife. That means we will have Christmas after all! I was starting to worry about presents for the boys as most of our money will be spent trying to get our oldest too and from his moms for the holidays. Now it will not have to be that way.
I already have our trees. That's right, I said trees. I set up what has become known through my family and friends as the Christmas tree forest. It started with a set of 3 trees, 2',3' & 4' that I got on sale a few years ago. I threw some lights on them and set them around the big tree and then one year we just stopped adding the big tree and buying a small tree to add to the collection. Now we have 6 trees in various sizes from 1' to 5' and will continue to add until I feel it is perfect. Each tree is then decorated a bit differently, allowing each person to have "their" tree they can decorate. It is much easier then everyone fighting over the big tree and what is going where. We also set them on some folding tables which we cover with some holiday related sheets/table clothes allowing for a fuller appearance. I might add 3 or so trees this year if I can find them on sale before Christmas but if not I will be able to find them afterwards (the best time to go decoration shopping!).
Ok, enough of the sappy crap. I am just hoping to give the boys a Christmas like I remember having as a kid. Of course an I-Pod would be nice!!! All this time it has been sitting on this page, 15 people have signed up but only 3 have completed the offer. Oh how it would be cool to have that I-Pod!!! LOL!
Dinner at my brothers house was nice. It was good to see them and my nephew and niece as well as watch all the kids play together. Of course the funny comment of the evening was when my niece kept calling my brother, only she was calling him "Daddy" so my son decided he needed to correct her. He walked over to her and said, "No, that's not daddy, that's Uncle Artie." The two of them were like that all night depending on who was asking what but they played together very well for not seeing each other all the time.
I did feel bad for my sister in law though as my nephew spent the evening throwing up. The poor little guy, he is about 7 months old and it seems he caught a stomach virus or what have you from his baby sitters son. The poor kid, I felt so bad for him. My mother sat and fed him (I think we were all actually arguing over who got to feed him) some peaches and no sooner was he done then they came back up. Thankfully this morning though he is feeling better according to my sister in law.
While I was in some pain it was not too bad, well worth getting out to see my family. I only wish my brother and I lived closer together. I would have to say that he and I were closer growing up as we are only 2 years apart. Many of our childhood friends are the same and had we stayed in the same neighborhood through college I have no doubt we would probably have gone to school together and now work either in related fields or possibly at the same company. Funny how life happens while your doing other things.
I realized last night that December is a 3 paycheck month for my wife. That means we will have Christmas after all! I was starting to worry about presents for the boys as most of our money will be spent trying to get our oldest too and from his moms for the holidays. Now it will not have to be that way.
I already have our trees. That's right, I said trees. I set up what has become known through my family and friends as the Christmas tree forest. It started with a set of 3 trees, 2',3' & 4' that I got on sale a few years ago. I threw some lights on them and set them around the big tree and then one year we just stopped adding the big tree and buying a small tree to add to the collection. Now we have 6 trees in various sizes from 1' to 5' and will continue to add until I feel it is perfect. Each tree is then decorated a bit differently, allowing each person to have "their" tree they can decorate. It is much easier then everyone fighting over the big tree and what is going where. We also set them on some folding tables which we cover with some holiday related sheets/table clothes allowing for a fuller appearance. I might add 3 or so trees this year if I can find them on sale before Christmas but if not I will be able to find them afterwards (the best time to go decoration shopping!).
Ok, enough of the sappy crap. I am just hoping to give the boys a Christmas like I remember having as a kid. Of course an I-Pod would be nice!!! All this time it has been sitting on this page, 15 people have signed up but only 3 have completed the offer. Oh how it would be cool to have that I-Pod!!! LOL!
11/19/2005
My back and legs have been killing me and I have not had a chance to sit down yet.
Tomorrow is "Thanksgiving" at my brothers house so I volunteered to bake something to help my sister in law get out of the kitchen that much earlier. Nothing worse then entertaining and being stuck in the kitchen the whole time. So I spent this afternoon putting together and baking a pumpkin cheesecake to shake things up a bit. Of course it called for making a base like meringue and I had to beat that by hand, which if you have never done is not a chore you would want to do all the time.
Anyway, the cheesecake is in the oven baking away and I am hoping that it all goes well or I will be up bright and early to make my triple chocolate bundt cake.
I went with the cheesecake as I thought shaking it up a bit would be nice but I thought it should still have that "Holiday" flair so I made it with pumpkin. It is also low fat, much LOWER then your normal cheesecake and it is all done without sacrificing any of that rich creamy flavor you expect from a cheesecake, hopefully!
Standing on my feet for the evening is killing me. It feels like I am holding the world all on my lower back and I am SO looking forward to my bed tonight. To feel that massage feature aid the blood supply back into my aching back and legs will feel so good. Sometimes it just lulls you into a blissful place that you hate to turn it off and come back to reality. The second it is switched off though that is exactly what happens and within minutes that pain is back.
Time to relax now. I have some reading I would like to do as my new ASP.NET book arrived today and I am looking forward to getting in to it. Yup, I am a nerd. I read ocmputer programming language books for fun and I even almost understand them.
Tomorrow is "Thanksgiving" at my brothers house so I volunteered to bake something to help my sister in law get out of the kitchen that much earlier. Nothing worse then entertaining and being stuck in the kitchen the whole time. So I spent this afternoon putting together and baking a pumpkin cheesecake to shake things up a bit. Of course it called for making a base like meringue and I had to beat that by hand, which if you have never done is not a chore you would want to do all the time.
Anyway, the cheesecake is in the oven baking away and I am hoping that it all goes well or I will be up bright and early to make my triple chocolate bundt cake.
I went with the cheesecake as I thought shaking it up a bit would be nice but I thought it should still have that "Holiday" flair so I made it with pumpkin. It is also low fat, much LOWER then your normal cheesecake and it is all done without sacrificing any of that rich creamy flavor you expect from a cheesecake, hopefully!
Standing on my feet for the evening is killing me. It feels like I am holding the world all on my lower back and I am SO looking forward to my bed tonight. To feel that massage feature aid the blood supply back into my aching back and legs will feel so good. Sometimes it just lulls you into a blissful place that you hate to turn it off and come back to reality. The second it is switched off though that is exactly what happens and within minutes that pain is back.
Time to relax now. I have some reading I would like to do as my new ASP.NET book arrived today and I am looking forward to getting in to it. Yup, I am a nerd. I read ocmputer programming language books for fun and I even almost understand them.
11/17/2005
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Early to bed...
I crashed early and hard last night and I am not happy about it. That means the one night this week my wife and I had some time to just sit and relax and I was out by 8pm. I missed the time with my wife and I missed Law and Order.
I took my pain meds at about 7pm after we ate dinner and by 7:30 I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. Now normally I would just doze in the recliner but the boys were still up and I did not want them to have to be quiet on my account, so I excused myself and headed up stairs. Now when my TV switched on and turned to 41 for Law and Order it woke me up, but I did not make it through the opening scene as the next thing I know my wife was telling me it was 6:30am.
This morning though I am feeling quite refreshed and have a ton of work to do on some projects. I made Colm his breakfast and got Max squared away and then sat down with my cup of Coffee. No sooner did I turn around to grab the laptop and I hear the slurp, slurp, slurp of Max drinking something only we are no where near his water bowl. Nope, he is drinking my coffee straight from the cup.
Thankfully my coffee is not 100% leaded. I blend it about 3/4 decaf and 1/4 caffeine as it does not seem to wreak havoc with my CNS that way. Nothing worse then "tweaking" from your coffee because you have a host of other CNS problems.
I took my pain meds at about 7pm after we ate dinner and by 7:30 I was having trouble keeping my eyes open. Now normally I would just doze in the recliner but the boys were still up and I did not want them to have to be quiet on my account, so I excused myself and headed up stairs. Now when my TV switched on and turned to 41 for Law and Order it woke me up, but I did not make it through the opening scene as the next thing I know my wife was telling me it was 6:30am.
This morning though I am feeling quite refreshed and have a ton of work to do on some projects. I made Colm his breakfast and got Max squared away and then sat down with my cup of Coffee. No sooner did I turn around to grab the laptop and I hear the slurp, slurp, slurp of Max drinking something only we are no where near his water bowl. Nope, he is drinking my coffee straight from the cup.
Thankfully my coffee is not 100% leaded. I blend it about 3/4 decaf and 1/4 caffeine as it does not seem to wreak havoc with my CNS that way. Nothing worse then "tweaking" from your coffee because you have a host of other CNS problems.
11/16/2005
Well we are making some progress with Max and the house breaking even only after 2 nights. Thankfully we also own an upright steam cleaner and handheld spot cleaner or we would be having the carpet cleaned every day.
He is a good dog and I think we have all grown quite fond of him in the short time he has been here. He is a well behaved dog for being a puppy and he is a good looking and stout dog as well. I think he is going to make a great addition to the family.
Of course it took him some time to get used to going up/down the deck stairs to get to the yard but as soon as he figured that out he was all about getting down and running around. Of course that means those little freaking mutts from next door do nothing but bark when he is out. Of course they do nothing but bark when anyone is outside. Maybe Max will get tired of them and have them for a snack!
The dog has been playing with the boys non-stop and they all seem to be having a blast, especially my youngest who thought he was a dog long before Max showed up. He would crawly around the house, pant and bark at us and so on. Now he has a friend to do this with and it is a riot watching he and the dog run around the house.
Max is a "chewer" and I lost all my new magazines before I even got to read them which ticked me off. Right now he is playing tug of war with Colm. Colm took the towel from the back door and went to throw it in the laundry and as soon as he did that Max grabbed the other end of it and started tugging. We bought Max some toys but he seems to like towels, books and shoes much better. I have a few tricks to help cure him of that though.
This morning I got some pictures of the two of them, after running around they decided to lay down and rest on the kitchen floor. We are fine with Colm playing like that but we will draw the line at butt/crotch sniffing and/or eating from the dog bowls.
He is a good dog and I think we have all grown quite fond of him in the short time he has been here. He is a well behaved dog for being a puppy and he is a good looking and stout dog as well. I think he is going to make a great addition to the family.
Of course it took him some time to get used to going up/down the deck stairs to get to the yard but as soon as he figured that out he was all about getting down and running around. Of course that means those little freaking mutts from next door do nothing but bark when he is out. Of course they do nothing but bark when anyone is outside. Maybe Max will get tired of them and have them for a snack!
The dog has been playing with the boys non-stop and they all seem to be having a blast, especially my youngest who thought he was a dog long before Max showed up. He would crawly around the house, pant and bark at us and so on. Now he has a friend to do this with and it is a riot watching he and the dog run around the house.
Max is a "chewer" and I lost all my new magazines before I even got to read them which ticked me off. Right now he is playing tug of war with Colm. Colm took the towel from the back door and went to throw it in the laundry and as soon as he did that Max grabbed the other end of it and started tugging. We bought Max some toys but he seems to like towels, books and shoes much better. I have a few tricks to help cure him of that though.
This morning I got some pictures of the two of them, after running around they decided to lay down and rest on the kitchen floor. We are fine with Colm playing like that but we will draw the line at butt/crotch sniffing and/or eating from the dog bowls.
11/15/2005
Snow!
I had my doctors appointment this morning and after having to sleep downstairs with the dog to keep him calm, I was dead to the world at 6am when I needed to be up. I have not been up that early on purpose in some time, probably years.
The forecast called for showers turning into flurries in the afternoon and as usual the meteorologists got it all wrong. What they really meant was heavy snow with some ice and winds. The drive to the doctors office took me close to an hour and a half instead of the usual 45 minutes or so and the whole way was alternating snow and ice.
The doctor was late getting there and I ended up waiting close to an hour and a half longer then I thought I would be there just to get in but the visit went really well. We talked about my ER visits since my last visit with him as well as the trouble sleeping. To help combat the headaches we increased the dose on my inderal and to help with the sleep problem he added Restoril, which is Temazepam, a drug in the Benzodiazepine class of drugs which includes Valium. I was hoping he would go with something along that line as I had good success with it a few years ago after surgery. I was able to get some rest without feeling like I had been run over by a truck.
The drive home was worse then the drive there, the snow chunks (not flakes), were alternating with blinding rain for the entire drive home. Since I went by myself I was not too worried but since I did drive myself I was not able to take any of my meds until I got home. Since my appointment was for 8:15 the plan would have had me getting home right at med time. However, since the doc was a bit late I did not even get in the office until I believe closer to 10 and then not home until 11:30ish.
I am glad the appointment went well though because as I said before anytime I ask for a med change or to add something to the medications I am already on I get worried. You really do not know how the doctor will look at that, how they will perceive your requests for certain meds. To ask a doctor to add something to help you sleep or to increase your pain med dosage is difficult no doubt. Thankfully I have a great doctor who I have developed a good raport with so when we discuss my health he knows I am not just "asking".
Well it is time to give the youngest a nap.
The forecast called for showers turning into flurries in the afternoon and as usual the meteorologists got it all wrong. What they really meant was heavy snow with some ice and winds. The drive to the doctors office took me close to an hour and a half instead of the usual 45 minutes or so and the whole way was alternating snow and ice.
The doctor was late getting there and I ended up waiting close to an hour and a half longer then I thought I would be there just to get in but the visit went really well. We talked about my ER visits since my last visit with him as well as the trouble sleeping. To help combat the headaches we increased the dose on my inderal and to help with the sleep problem he added Restoril, which is Temazepam, a drug in the Benzodiazepine class of drugs which includes Valium. I was hoping he would go with something along that line as I had good success with it a few years ago after surgery. I was able to get some rest without feeling like I had been run over by a truck.
The drive home was worse then the drive there, the snow chunks (not flakes), were alternating with blinding rain for the entire drive home. Since I went by myself I was not too worried but since I did drive myself I was not able to take any of my meds until I got home. Since my appointment was for 8:15 the plan would have had me getting home right at med time. However, since the doc was a bit late I did not even get in the office until I believe closer to 10 and then not home until 11:30ish.
I am glad the appointment went well though because as I said before anytime I ask for a med change or to add something to the medications I am already on I get worried. You really do not know how the doctor will look at that, how they will perceive your requests for certain meds. To ask a doctor to add something to help you sleep or to increase your pain med dosage is difficult no doubt. Thankfully I have a great doctor who I have developed a good raport with so when we discuss my health he knows I am not just "asking".
Well it is time to give the youngest a nap.
11/14/2005
Max is here!
Well he is here. I spoke with the breeder earlier this morning and arranged it for my wife to be able to meet with him after work to pick up the dog.
He is a first generation Labradoodle with his father being a Labrador and his mother being a Standard Poodle. He is black with some rust/brownish highlights throughout and at just barley 5 months he is a monster of a puppy compared to what I was expecting.
He is purebred with his father being a lab and his mother being a standard poodle obviously making him the first generation of the labradoodle breed. Generally they sell for quite a bit of money, $800-1000 a puppy, but when the breeders heard about our situation they let us have him for free. We have decided to call him Max, as he looks like a Max, but since we can register him with the AKC as well as several other association/club's we will have to figure out his registration name. Thankfully they gave us his pedigree going back 6 generations easily.
He is a first generation Labradoodle with his father being a Labrador and his mother being a Standard Poodle. He is black with some rust/brownish highlights throughout and at just barley 5 months he is a monster of a puppy compared to what I was expecting.
He is purebred with his father being a lab and his mother being a standard poodle obviously making him the first generation of the labradoodle breed. Generally they sell for quite a bit of money, $800-1000 a puppy, but when the breeders heard about our situation they let us have him for free. We have decided to call him Max, as he looks like a Max, but since we can register him with the AKC as well as several other association/club's we will have to figure out his registration name. Thankfully they gave us his pedigree going back 6 generations easily.
11/13/2005
People can really suck some times...
I did not make it to the doctor the other day. I changed the appointment to this week as when I woke up I was in such pain that I had to take my breakthrough meds. Since I was going to have to do the driving I figured it was safer if I re-scheduled for another time. This time I made it for first thing in the morning so I should be home by 9 or 9:30. I can handle the pain for a bit like that but when the appointment is not until noon, no freaking way.
My wife had an Arbonne gathering here yesterday. My sister is an Arbonne consultant so she did the demonstration and all that jazz. However I am a bit pissed at my wife's co-workers, the same ones who drop off all their Mary Kay bullshit, Kid's school fundraiser's, Girl Scout Cookies and so on and then harp on you until you tell them to F*#k off or you buy something. The same women who told my wife that they would all be here yesterday. One of the reasons my wife invited them was because she was using something from Arbonne at work one day and they all commented on how they loved it but did not have a consultant.
So we spent the afternoon cleaning the entire house. You know, the cleaning your house only gets when complete strangers might be coming over. Dusting everything, cleaning all the windows inside and out, bathrooms top to bottom and so on. We then prepped some food, bought the beverages, made pots of coffee and whatever else people might want as we were expecting 10-12 people.
It was supposed to start at 4:30 and the first lady, a friend and co-worker of my wife's showed up and that was it. No one else showed and not one of them even bothered to call and say "sorry, my kid chopped his hand off and we can't make it", they just did not even bother. I think I was more pissed off then my wife because I saw how much effort and how excited she was to put everything all together. Sure, it is a "sales pitch" as it were but no one is forced to buy anything and they sit around doing things that women like to do, playing with makeup, giving each other facial scrubs and soaking their feet. The same damned ladies who practically begged my wife to host the event, the same ones who ask us to buy crap from them did not even have the common decency to call, even if it might be last minute and say, "sorry, I just cannot make it."
I guess my comfort in this whole thing is that the lady who did show up was more pissed about it then my wife and as she was leaving said that she would be giving them all the "whatfor" on Monday at work. I hope she guilt trips their asses into blowing their entire paychecks.
Now personally I do not like to attend any kind of "sales" shows like Pampered Chef, Longaberger and so on. I have an entire family who is into that, hell my mother makes a very comfortable living as a consultant for a direct sales company. However I have the decency when people invite me to one to let them know that I do not generally attend those shows (perhaps I have been to one to many in my day) but that I would like to see the catalogs. I do not buy so that they might "owe me one" later on, I buy because I found something I like/need and in the even that I do not find something I let them know that as well. I am just floored at how inconsiderate some people can truly be!
I will say this though, Arbonne makes this foot scrub that is kick ass. My wife, and this is a big reason I love her, gave me a foot bath and then a massage using the scrubby stuff. Now as someone who has a lot of problems with my feet due to the nerve damage I have to say that this stuff is awesome. My feet felt so much better after she was done with them.
One thing I think I am going to try is getting a massage. One of the wives of the attorney's my wife works with is a therapeutic masseuse. She is also the mother of one of my sons classmates. Anyway, I thought perhaps I might give that a try to see if increased blood flow to the lower back and legs helps with some of the pain. I know some people have had great success with this and even though I have tried it once before I think perhaps it is the technique that was used that I had a problem with (I did not know they have different techniques).
My wife had an Arbonne gathering here yesterday. My sister is an Arbonne consultant so she did the demonstration and all that jazz. However I am a bit pissed at my wife's co-workers, the same ones who drop off all their Mary Kay bullshit, Kid's school fundraiser's, Girl Scout Cookies and so on and then harp on you until you tell them to F*#k off or you buy something. The same women who told my wife that they would all be here yesterday. One of the reasons my wife invited them was because she was using something from Arbonne at work one day and they all commented on how they loved it but did not have a consultant.
So we spent the afternoon cleaning the entire house. You know, the cleaning your house only gets when complete strangers might be coming over. Dusting everything, cleaning all the windows inside and out, bathrooms top to bottom and so on. We then prepped some food, bought the beverages, made pots of coffee and whatever else people might want as we were expecting 10-12 people.
It was supposed to start at 4:30 and the first lady, a friend and co-worker of my wife's showed up and that was it. No one else showed and not one of them even bothered to call and say "sorry, my kid chopped his hand off and we can't make it", they just did not even bother. I think I was more pissed off then my wife because I saw how much effort and how excited she was to put everything all together. Sure, it is a "sales pitch" as it were but no one is forced to buy anything and they sit around doing things that women like to do, playing with makeup, giving each other facial scrubs and soaking their feet. The same damned ladies who practically begged my wife to host the event, the same ones who ask us to buy crap from them did not even have the common decency to call, even if it might be last minute and say, "sorry, I just cannot make it."
I guess my comfort in this whole thing is that the lady who did show up was more pissed about it then my wife and as she was leaving said that she would be giving them all the "whatfor" on Monday at work. I hope she guilt trips their asses into blowing their entire paychecks.
Now personally I do not like to attend any kind of "sales" shows like Pampered Chef, Longaberger and so on. I have an entire family who is into that, hell my mother makes a very comfortable living as a consultant for a direct sales company. However I have the decency when people invite me to one to let them know that I do not generally attend those shows (perhaps I have been to one to many in my day) but that I would like to see the catalogs. I do not buy so that they might "owe me one" later on, I buy because I found something I like/need and in the even that I do not find something I let them know that as well. I am just floored at how inconsiderate some people can truly be!
I will say this though, Arbonne makes this foot scrub that is kick ass. My wife, and this is a big reason I love her, gave me a foot bath and then a massage using the scrubby stuff. Now as someone who has a lot of problems with my feet due to the nerve damage I have to say that this stuff is awesome. My feet felt so much better after she was done with them.
One thing I think I am going to try is getting a massage. One of the wives of the attorney's my wife works with is a therapeutic masseuse. She is also the mother of one of my sons classmates. Anyway, I thought perhaps I might give that a try to see if increased blood flow to the lower back and legs helps with some of the pain. I know some people have had great success with this and even though I have tried it once before I think perhaps it is the technique that was used that I had a problem with (I did not know they have different techniques).
11/11/2005
A new pet?
It looks like we will be getting a new dog this coming week. I am anxious and apprehensive at the same time as it has been some time since we have had a dog in the house.
Our last dog, Shadow, was a rescue (up until now all our pets have been rescues) and I remember the first time I ever saw him. I told my wife that he was beyond ugly, he is what one might call Fugly (use your imagination). He was a Curly Coated retriever, jet black and about 100lbs. He looked like someone crossed a Standard Poodle and a Black Lab, that distinct retriever look with tight curly ringlets of hair.
It turns out he was the coolest dog I ever had and while we did not name him (he was about 2 when we got him) it was apt, he followed me every where I went. Funny that should be, I did not really want him nor did I think he was a good looking dog but he drew right to me and ended up growing on me. He would sleep on the floor by my side of the bed, at the end of the couch by my side and so on. He turned out to be a very faithful companion, he loved to play rough and due to his specific breeding (they are cold weather/water fowl dogs) he LOVED to run outside the second it was snowing.
I can still see him running around the yard the first year we had him, a jet black dog who was covered top to bottom, nose to tail in snow. We must have spent an hour trying to corral him to get him back in the house and dried off only to have him dart right back out the second someone opened the door. For a big dog he could fit through the tiniest of spaces.
When our youngest was born we were concerned about how he might take it but he was great. Colm would crawl around the house and find Shadow. As any baby might like to do Colm was no exception and would yank on the tail, ears and all those curly locks and not once did Shadow growl or snip. Nope, he would just get up and move away. When he discovered that the baby could not climb the gates you would generally find him on the other side of the Kitchen gate just lying there peacefully.
Then one day Shadow stopped being so active and the more he walked, the more pain he seemed to be in. The vet gave him some meds and for awhile he was back to his old self but then the meds stopped working and it was time to decided what we should do. It turns out that Shadow had a problem very similar to my original injuries, but his were much worse.
Surgery was an option but even with that the vet told us there was no guarantee it would work and most certainly Shadow would live out his days in pain and with out the ability to romp and play like he loved to. Talk about a tough decision, here I am fresh off surgery for the same thing and not once did someone consider putting me down because of my back.
I talked with my wife and the vet and we all agreed that Shadow was in too much pain and the only thing to do was have him put to sleep. I will never forget that morning, it was cold and misting all day. A very dreary day to be sure and I with my back had to get the dog with his back out of the house and in to the car. It was if he knew what I was doing.
In all the years I had my friend he never once was menacing towards me, never. That morning as I drew the leash he coward in the corner keeping his distance from me. The leash meant walking and walking meant pain so I had to re-think this. I ended up having to try and carry him to the car, it was the only way to get him in it. The whole time he was biting and scratching me, like a trapped, scarred beast. The poor guy must have been so scared.
We got him to the vet and they asked one more time if this is what I wanted. It was tougher to say yes that time because it was permanent. Then they asked if I would like to stay with him until he was gone but that was too much for me. I said my goodbye to him and he nudged me one last time as if to beg me to throw the ball he loved to play with.
Well it has been some time since Shadow left us and while we have looked at other dogs, none of them ever seemed right. We did have a dog for a small bit. A little mutt we adopted who spent his afternoons tearing the house apart. We were told he was well behaved and that the foster home he had been in had no problems, he was nothing but a pain in the ass for us. We had to give him back, gladly.
Now we have been offered a pure breed dog for free. It is a 4 month old puppy and is a labradoodle. That's right, a mix between a lab and standard poodle, just what I thought Shadow was when we first met. We have to call the lady on Monday but apparently this is the last of the litter which has been selling for close to $1K per dog but at almost 4 months it is getting tough to find someone who will buy him. Knowing about Shadow and my back and how I would love to have another dog they offered it to my wife the other day.
I do not know what color it is, heck I don't even know if it is a male or female. However I do know that I will need to stock up on vacuum cleaner bags as curly coated breeds, especially larger ones, shed 3 times their weight in fur everyday. I love dogs but I hate being covered in dog hair.
Anyway, we will see how things go.
Our last dog, Shadow, was a rescue (up until now all our pets have been rescues) and I remember the first time I ever saw him. I told my wife that he was beyond ugly, he is what one might call Fugly (use your imagination). He was a Curly Coated retriever, jet black and about 100lbs. He looked like someone crossed a Standard Poodle and a Black Lab, that distinct retriever look with tight curly ringlets of hair.
It turns out he was the coolest dog I ever had and while we did not name him (he was about 2 when we got him) it was apt, he followed me every where I went. Funny that should be, I did not really want him nor did I think he was a good looking dog but he drew right to me and ended up growing on me. He would sleep on the floor by my side of the bed, at the end of the couch by my side and so on. He turned out to be a very faithful companion, he loved to play rough and due to his specific breeding (they are cold weather/water fowl dogs) he LOVED to run outside the second it was snowing.
I can still see him running around the yard the first year we had him, a jet black dog who was covered top to bottom, nose to tail in snow. We must have spent an hour trying to corral him to get him back in the house and dried off only to have him dart right back out the second someone opened the door. For a big dog he could fit through the tiniest of spaces.
When our youngest was born we were concerned about how he might take it but he was great. Colm would crawl around the house and find Shadow. As any baby might like to do Colm was no exception and would yank on the tail, ears and all those curly locks and not once did Shadow growl or snip. Nope, he would just get up and move away. When he discovered that the baby could not climb the gates you would generally find him on the other side of the Kitchen gate just lying there peacefully.
Then one day Shadow stopped being so active and the more he walked, the more pain he seemed to be in. The vet gave him some meds and for awhile he was back to his old self but then the meds stopped working and it was time to decided what we should do. It turns out that Shadow had a problem very similar to my original injuries, but his were much worse.
Surgery was an option but even with that the vet told us there was no guarantee it would work and most certainly Shadow would live out his days in pain and with out the ability to romp and play like he loved to. Talk about a tough decision, here I am fresh off surgery for the same thing and not once did someone consider putting me down because of my back.
I talked with my wife and the vet and we all agreed that Shadow was in too much pain and the only thing to do was have him put to sleep. I will never forget that morning, it was cold and misting all day. A very dreary day to be sure and I with my back had to get the dog with his back out of the house and in to the car. It was if he knew what I was doing.
In all the years I had my friend he never once was menacing towards me, never. That morning as I drew the leash he coward in the corner keeping his distance from me. The leash meant walking and walking meant pain so I had to re-think this. I ended up having to try and carry him to the car, it was the only way to get him in it. The whole time he was biting and scratching me, like a trapped, scarred beast. The poor guy must have been so scared.
We got him to the vet and they asked one more time if this is what I wanted. It was tougher to say yes that time because it was permanent. Then they asked if I would like to stay with him until he was gone but that was too much for me. I said my goodbye to him and he nudged me one last time as if to beg me to throw the ball he loved to play with.
Well it has been some time since Shadow left us and while we have looked at other dogs, none of them ever seemed right. We did have a dog for a small bit. A little mutt we adopted who spent his afternoons tearing the house apart. We were told he was well behaved and that the foster home he had been in had no problems, he was nothing but a pain in the ass for us. We had to give him back, gladly.
Now we have been offered a pure breed dog for free. It is a 4 month old puppy and is a labradoodle. That's right, a mix between a lab and standard poodle, just what I thought Shadow was when we first met. We have to call the lady on Monday but apparently this is the last of the litter which has been selling for close to $1K per dog but at almost 4 months it is getting tough to find someone who will buy him. Knowing about Shadow and my back and how I would love to have another dog they offered it to my wife the other day.
I do not know what color it is, heck I don't even know if it is a male or female. However I do know that I will need to stock up on vacuum cleaner bags as curly coated breeds, especially larger ones, shed 3 times their weight in fur everyday. I love dogs but I hate being covered in dog hair.
Anyway, we will see how things go.
11/08/2005
Seeing the doc tomorrow...
Hum Drum day. I spent most of it trying to fix the website I am working on but sometimes you can be too close to the project when there is a problem. That in mind I decided to call it quits after about 5 hours of looking at the screen.
I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. I want to talk to him about the pain being higher then the last few months. I am hoping that he will let me get another MRI, since I have a PPO I can get by with just a prescription. After that I can set it up with the place by my house and just walk on over. I know, I hate MRI's but I need to get this done so I can have it for my Social Security appeal as well I am curious to see what else is going on.
I am also going to ask him to switch some of the meds around. While the adjustable bed does work well and has seriously reduced the number of nights I have trouble getting some sleep there are still 2-3 nights a week that I have trouble. It makes for very LONG days when that happens as they tend to be the days when my youngest is up bright and early. Being well rested makes a very big difference in the pain levels too which is why I am big on getting a good nights rest.
I am always anxious about going to the doctor when I am going to ask for a med change or to add something to the litany of pills I am already on. While I have a legitimate need for the meds I am on and for what I might talk to the doctor about, I don't want to seem like I am a hypochondriac.
Until tomorrow...
I have a doctors appointment tomorrow. I want to talk to him about the pain being higher then the last few months. I am hoping that he will let me get another MRI, since I have a PPO I can get by with just a prescription. After that I can set it up with the place by my house and just walk on over. I know, I hate MRI's but I need to get this done so I can have it for my Social Security appeal as well I am curious to see what else is going on.
I am also going to ask him to switch some of the meds around. While the adjustable bed does work well and has seriously reduced the number of nights I have trouble getting some sleep there are still 2-3 nights a week that I have trouble. It makes for very LONG days when that happens as they tend to be the days when my youngest is up bright and early. Being well rested makes a very big difference in the pain levels too which is why I am big on getting a good nights rest.
I am always anxious about going to the doctor when I am going to ask for a med change or to add something to the litany of pills I am already on. While I have a legitimate need for the meds I am on and for what I might talk to the doctor about, I don't want to seem like I am a hypochondriac.
Until tomorrow...
11/06/2005
Lazy days of fall...
I woke up this morning with a slight headache but this does not "feel" like one of my usual ones, more like someone has set loose a ping pong ball and it is just rattling around inside my head.
I took all my meds and hope that they start working soon but if not then it is off to the bedroom with some phenergan and the door shut to relax. Maybe put the massager on low and just lie down in bed for 30 minutes or so. Whatever it takes to get rid of this thing because we are going to my parents for dinner and my sister and her family will be there. I would like to not be in a "funk" while we are all together.
I also plan on stopping by Foozles which is a great book store. I am looking for some books on ASP.NET which I am working on learning. For those who may not know what it is, basically it is a way to develop more intricate web based applications. Foozles sells a lot of new/nearly new books for WELL below their cover price. Last trip I made there I saved close to $150 on 4 books which with tax cost me less then $10, for all of them. While the deals are not always that good you can generally get a $50 book for below $15.
I took all my meds and hope that they start working soon but if not then it is off to the bedroom with some phenergan and the door shut to relax. Maybe put the massager on low and just lie down in bed for 30 minutes or so. Whatever it takes to get rid of this thing because we are going to my parents for dinner and my sister and her family will be there. I would like to not be in a "funk" while we are all together.
I also plan on stopping by Foozles which is a great book store. I am looking for some books on ASP.NET which I am working on learning. For those who may not know what it is, basically it is a way to develop more intricate web based applications. Foozles sells a lot of new/nearly new books for WELL below their cover price. Last trip I made there I saved close to $150 on 4 books which with tax cost me less then $10, for all of them. While the deals are not always that good you can generally get a $50 book for below $15.
11/05/2005
A small donation and an old friend...
The last few days have gone by slowly. Not sure why, perhaps it is the change back to standard time.
I got a nice letter from my sons school today, totally unexpected. Usually the only things I get from them are from the Sisters (it is a Catholic school) letting me know how much trouble my son is in or how he is not doing his work. Nope, instead this was them letting me know that someone has donated my sons tuition, or at least a substantial portion of it. I was floored.
It is no secret that financially things have not been going well here. With social security taking forever (we are on an appeal) and no income from my end and my wife having to work 2 jobs just to cover the bills, things have been tight. Thankfully the school has been great and has allowed me to design and develop their website on lieu of a portion of the tuition because without that he would have to go back to public school.
Now with someone donating towards his tuition that should leave us with very little if any to pay. It was one of the things I have been sweating for some time and now it means I can sleep a little easier.
In other news...
My sons good friend is spending the night. He is a good kid, the same one who spent a lot of time with us while his ad was fighting the war in Afghanistan. When his dad got back from the war they moved about a half hour away, not too far but far enough that with their busy schedule and ours it has been tough to get the boys together. Apparently he was in town visiting his grandparents and they dropped him off to play for a bit.
The back has been a bit out of sorts lately. It really feels like the arachnoiditis or perhaps the degenerative disc disease is affecting me a bit higher then normal. Generally the pain, or the worst of it, is centered in the small of the back. The last few weeks it has been in the center of my back, right where the muscles run and that causes some wicked spasms. I have had to pop robaxin a lot more then normal to help with those. A fill (180 pills) normally lasts me 4-5 months easily but this last fill was more like 2. I prefer to not have to pop them all as they affect all your muscles and after a few weeks you literally feel like a limp noodle.
Time to make some dinner for the boys. They are in the middle of destroying the kitchen for Ramen (I told you we were broke!) so perhaps I should intervene.
Some more later....
I got a nice letter from my sons school today, totally unexpected. Usually the only things I get from them are from the Sisters (it is a Catholic school) letting me know how much trouble my son is in or how he is not doing his work. Nope, instead this was them letting me know that someone has donated my sons tuition, or at least a substantial portion of it. I was floored.
It is no secret that financially things have not been going well here. With social security taking forever (we are on an appeal) and no income from my end and my wife having to work 2 jobs just to cover the bills, things have been tight. Thankfully the school has been great and has allowed me to design and develop their website on lieu of a portion of the tuition because without that he would have to go back to public school.
Now with someone donating towards his tuition that should leave us with very little if any to pay. It was one of the things I have been sweating for some time and now it means I can sleep a little easier.
In other news...
My sons good friend is spending the night. He is a good kid, the same one who spent a lot of time with us while his ad was fighting the war in Afghanistan. When his dad got back from the war they moved about a half hour away, not too far but far enough that with their busy schedule and ours it has been tough to get the boys together. Apparently he was in town visiting his grandparents and they dropped him off to play for a bit.
The back has been a bit out of sorts lately. It really feels like the arachnoiditis or perhaps the degenerative disc disease is affecting me a bit higher then normal. Generally the pain, or the worst of it, is centered in the small of the back. The last few weeks it has been in the center of my back, right where the muscles run and that causes some wicked spasms. I have had to pop robaxin a lot more then normal to help with those. A fill (180 pills) normally lasts me 4-5 months easily but this last fill was more like 2. I prefer to not have to pop them all as they affect all your muscles and after a few weeks you literally feel like a limp noodle.
Time to make some dinner for the boys. They are in the middle of destroying the kitchen for Ramen (I told you we were broke!) so perhaps I should intervene.
Some more later....
11/04/2005
Bird Flu vaccine?
So last year there was a shortage of vaccine after one of the largest manufacturers and one of the very few allowed to make it for the US, had some issues that led to contaminated vaccines. That meant a huge shortage for people here in the US and now this year it is happening again!
That's right, the same company that had the problems last year is claiming that they are way behind in production of this years batches because of their problems from last year? WTF?
They had 1 year to get ready for this season and in that time if they thought they would not make it then they had a responsibility to alert the government long before they have done so.
I had a list of 4 places in my area that were offering flu shots for either free or reasonable rates. Since my wife works with the general public she gets hers through work but the boys and I are left to fend for ourselves, so I started to go around to the places that were listed only to find signs stating they had no vaccines. Not that they had a shortage or even that I was late and they were out but that they had none what so ever.
I figured since that was happening then perhaps I should bite the bullet and pay the higher fees that some of the other places were asking. Guess what? They do not have any either.
This is a complete crock of shit. I have traveled or called the greater metro area, that is an area that houses somewhere about 1.5 million people and either none of them have any or they are so short they have had to restrict who they will give it to.
What the hell has our government been doing for the past year? Why have they not allowed more companies to produce the vaccines? How complacent can they be when it comes to this? I am very pissed off that they have allowed this to happen, especially in the wake of a strain of flu that could rival the flu pandemic of 1918.
That's right, the same company that had the problems last year is claiming that they are way behind in production of this years batches because of their problems from last year? WTF?
They had 1 year to get ready for this season and in that time if they thought they would not make it then they had a responsibility to alert the government long before they have done so.
I had a list of 4 places in my area that were offering flu shots for either free or reasonable rates. Since my wife works with the general public she gets hers through work but the boys and I are left to fend for ourselves, so I started to go around to the places that were listed only to find signs stating they had no vaccines. Not that they had a shortage or even that I was late and they were out but that they had none what so ever.
I figured since that was happening then perhaps I should bite the bullet and pay the higher fees that some of the other places were asking. Guess what? They do not have any either.
This is a complete crock of shit. I have traveled or called the greater metro area, that is an area that houses somewhere about 1.5 million people and either none of them have any or they are so short they have had to restrict who they will give it to.
What the hell has our government been doing for the past year? Why have they not allowed more companies to produce the vaccines? How complacent can they be when it comes to this? I am very pissed off that they have allowed this to happen, especially in the wake of a strain of flu that could rival the flu pandemic of 1918.
11/03/2005
Pet Peeves
I got a phone call this morning from our youngest sons medical provider inquiring about which plan we would like him on. WTF? Which plan? Well that would be the plan we signed him up for when we sent in the paperwork.
Now the problem with the call was that this lady was either very soft spoken or was working with a crappy head set because I could barely hear her prompting me to continue to say "I'm sorry but I cannot hear you very well, could you please repeat that?" which was followed by her actually saying/asking "well then can I speak with your wife?" WTF?
I explain to her that she is coming through so low that I can not understand what she is saying and top that off she is asking me to make decision about my medical plan. I repeated myself several times letting her know that I could not hear her as well she was asking me to make a decision about a medical plan that I have no information on. I explained to her that I was not prepared to make a decision on the plan if I did not have the proper information on the difference between the plans and better yet I did not understand why I had to change our current plan at all. We have received nothing in the mail about this. Each time I said something she responded with one of my all time pet peeves... "uhmm..." Arrrrgh!
I sent my boys out of the room hoping that the background noise being gone would help but I was wrong. So I explained to her one final time what my situation was, that I could not hear her as well I was not willing to discuss this information without validating who she was or having a hard copy of it in front of me. If she wished for us to do something they would have to either email, fax or send us a copy of the paperwork on the plans. Of course that was met by the "uhmm..." so I told her that she would either just have to call me back with a better connection or give me their number and I would call them when I had time to find out what she was talking about.
Amazing, a 2 minute conversation that was more frustrating then trying to teach a blind man to dance.
Now the problem with the call was that this lady was either very soft spoken or was working with a crappy head set because I could barely hear her prompting me to continue to say "I'm sorry but I cannot hear you very well, could you please repeat that?" which was followed by her actually saying/asking "well then can I speak with your wife?" WTF?
I explain to her that she is coming through so low that I can not understand what she is saying and top that off she is asking me to make decision about my medical plan. I repeated myself several times letting her know that I could not hear her as well she was asking me to make a decision about a medical plan that I have no information on. I explained to her that I was not prepared to make a decision on the plan if I did not have the proper information on the difference between the plans and better yet I did not understand why I had to change our current plan at all. We have received nothing in the mail about this. Each time I said something she responded with one of my all time pet peeves... "uhmm..." Arrrrgh!
I sent my boys out of the room hoping that the background noise being gone would help but I was wrong. So I explained to her one final time what my situation was, that I could not hear her as well I was not willing to discuss this information without validating who she was or having a hard copy of it in front of me. If she wished for us to do something they would have to either email, fax or send us a copy of the paperwork on the plans. Of course that was met by the "uhmm..." so I told her that she would either just have to call me back with a better connection or give me their number and I would call them when I had time to find out what she was talking about.
Amazing, a 2 minute conversation that was more frustrating then trying to teach a blind man to dance.
11/02/2005
We just got the word that my sons great grandmother has passed away.
I know, most people are not close to their great grandmother or perhaps their great grandparents passed away before they were born or when they were too young to understand. Well, after my divorce and my ex-wife had custody of my son for a few years his great grandparents lived with them. Now my former spouse had ulterior motives, as she usually had but that does not matter. It meant that my son was basically spending more time with Viola then he was with his own mother.
After I got custody of him she always made sure to call him at least once a week, she always sent him care packages, birthday presents and so on. She did more for him then his own mother did, hell she called him more then his own mother. When our youngest was born Viola would always include things for him in the care packages as well she would send him birthday and Christmas gifts. She treated him as if he were her own grandchild .
Viola apparently feel ill a few weeks ago, out of the blue. I got a call from my former wife letting me know they had taken her to the hospital and she was not doing well. I guess at some point they tried to take her off her medications or change them and she fell into a coma. They were not optimistic she would survive that day let alone that week but she started to show signs of improvement a few days later and they were able to remove her from the respirator and then a few days later the feeding tube.
The last word we got was that she was improving to the point she would be moved to a managed care facility but she would most likely never be well enough to live on her own again. Truly sad for such a woman who has always been very independent as well her husband is still living and would need to be there.
We prayed for her and we have thought about her and were very happy to hear that she had been doing better. It was to the point that while we continued to pray for her it was no longer for a "recovery" but more for her to maintain. So when I got the call this evening that she had passed away, I was floored.
Rest In Peace Viola.
I know, most people are not close to their great grandmother or perhaps their great grandparents passed away before they were born or when they were too young to understand. Well, after my divorce and my ex-wife had custody of my son for a few years his great grandparents lived with them. Now my former spouse had ulterior motives, as she usually had but that does not matter. It meant that my son was basically spending more time with Viola then he was with his own mother.
After I got custody of him she always made sure to call him at least once a week, she always sent him care packages, birthday presents and so on. She did more for him then his own mother did, hell she called him more then his own mother. When our youngest was born Viola would always include things for him in the care packages as well she would send him birthday and Christmas gifts. She treated him as if he were her own grandchild .
Viola apparently feel ill a few weeks ago, out of the blue. I got a call from my former wife letting me know they had taken her to the hospital and she was not doing well. I guess at some point they tried to take her off her medications or change them and she fell into a coma. They were not optimistic she would survive that day let alone that week but she started to show signs of improvement a few days later and they were able to remove her from the respirator and then a few days later the feeding tube.
The last word we got was that she was improving to the point she would be moved to a managed care facility but she would most likely never be well enough to live on her own again. Truly sad for such a woman who has always been very independent as well her husband is still living and would need to be there.
We prayed for her and we have thought about her and were very happy to hear that she had been doing better. It was to the point that while we continued to pray for her it was no longer for a "recovery" but more for her to maintain. So when I got the call this evening that she had passed away, I was floored.
Rest In Peace Viola.
Offered a new position...
My dad called me this morning asking what I could only think were rather weird questions.
I had been out grocery shopping with the boys and missed the first call but while we were putting the groceries up he called me back. When I told him that I had been at the store I got the "Oh, so you can drive?" of course I had to answer "Sure, if I am staying in town and keeping it to a few miles" and then it just went from there. He was asking me about my meds and when I take them and how they make me feel and so on and the whole time I am thinking "He is going to ask me to do something" but we just weren't getting that very fast. I mean it was like an Abbott and Costello routine.
We finally got through the questions and he told me that he has a client who is looking for an entry level programmer. Ah-ha! I would love to get in on the ground floor, while I do not talk about it much I do now how to code a bit in Visual Basic 6 and have been working on learning .NET which this position is using.
I mean I was ticked when I found that the job would be like a 45 minute drive s I would love to go for it. Especially when I found out what it was paying, my wife would be able to quit both her jobs and I would still be making about $5 an hour more then those 2 combined. I mean we were looking at a salary that would put us back where we were 2 years ago, which was quite comfortable.
Even though the job was only an initial 2 month contract to hire I am sure that at the end of the 2 months they would see that I could be a valuable asset and would make it permanent. My concern though is that would not be guaranteed and in order to take the position my wife would have to quit her main job, which she just started as well she really likes it.
I decided that I am going to enroll in some classes in the spring to learn more about .NET programming. Perhaps if I was feeling a bit more confident in my skills I would be jumping all over this. Sure, I would still need to figure out the driving thing but for that kind of money I am sure we would work something out.
I had been out grocery shopping with the boys and missed the first call but while we were putting the groceries up he called me back. When I told him that I had been at the store I got the "Oh, so you can drive?" of course I had to answer "Sure, if I am staying in town and keeping it to a few miles" and then it just went from there. He was asking me about my meds and when I take them and how they make me feel and so on and the whole time I am thinking "He is going to ask me to do something" but we just weren't getting that very fast. I mean it was like an Abbott and Costello routine.
We finally got through the questions and he told me that he has a client who is looking for an entry level programmer. Ah-ha! I would love to get in on the ground floor, while I do not talk about it much I do now how to code a bit in Visual Basic 6 and have been working on learning .NET which this position is using.
I mean I was ticked when I found that the job would be like a 45 minute drive s I would love to go for it. Especially when I found out what it was paying, my wife would be able to quit both her jobs and I would still be making about $5 an hour more then those 2 combined. I mean we were looking at a salary that would put us back where we were 2 years ago, which was quite comfortable.
Even though the job was only an initial 2 month contract to hire I am sure that at the end of the 2 months they would see that I could be a valuable asset and would make it permanent. My concern though is that would not be guaranteed and in order to take the position my wife would have to quit her main job, which she just started as well she really likes it.
I decided that I am going to enroll in some classes in the spring to learn more about .NET programming. Perhaps if I was feeling a bit more confident in my skills I would be jumping all over this. Sure, I would still need to figure out the driving thing but for that kind of money I am sure we would work something out.
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