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August 30th, 2008

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August 8th, 2008

11:57 am - Update Tuesday night I had my first "solid" meal -- gnocchi in tomato sauce. It was ideal because I could use my tongue to flatten the little pasta pillows, then swallow them whole. I savored every one of them. Mmmmm.... Wednesday afternoon the stitches came out of my chin, although the doctor did put some kind of goo and tape on the suture because it still had scabbing. "Do not take this off," he warned, "and don't pick at it." If the tape falls off I'm to start applying Neosporin to the gash. Yesterday morning I saw the dentist. He did some stuff to help correct my bite (which is still way off). He also took a full-mouth x-ray (my first since I was 19 and Dad's friend, the orthodontist, teased, "I think I can see some wisdom teeth buds in there!") He explained that the gash across my chin isn't just a gash -- it's where the fracture happened. He also advised me to take lots of Ibuprofen to cut down the swelling. The wires don't come off till Tuesday at the earliest. My flight out of SJC was delayed several hours. I didn't get to the hotel till after midnight, and then there was confusion about finding the filking and my roommate (I eventually found both). Right now I'm in my hotel room working out subtle details for my concert. I need to go down to the hotel's Business Center and print stuff out. I also need to go through real registration and do my site voting while I still can (today's the last day). Current Location: Denver Sheraton Current Mood: relaxed Tags: fandom, filk, health

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August 4th, 2008

05:30 pm - Who wants to help me do my Denvention concert? I could use help in the form of extra vocalists, especially those of you who can read music and hold a part. (capplor, I'm especially hoping for help, of corpse, and yes, that's a hint!) Tags: filk

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August 2nd, 2008

04:43 pm - Why now??? I was doing my KLIV shift this morning. My usual editor was on vacation, and the fill-in editor wasn't scheduled to show up till 8am. It was 7:51am, and I was rushing from the newsroom to the on-air studio to be there in time for my 7:52 newscast when I tripped and fell, landing face-first into a file cabinet drawer. Not having time to react to the pain, thinking "I must get up right away and do my newscast," I scraped myself up and started the newscast, noting that my mouth felt a little weird. "Good morning, you're lithening to fiftheen-ninedy, K-L-I-V, Thilicon Valley'th Newth Thtathun...." WTF?????!? I don't normally lisp, but suddenly I was unable to form words properly. I struggled through the newscast, started the Economy Report for that hour, then looked down and noticed I was dripping blood. DOUBLE-WTF?????!? After the newscast I walked to the bathroom and noticed a 2in long gash straight across my chin. I opened my mouth and noticed three of my lower teeth had pushed back nearly half an inch backwards into my mouth. No wonder I could hardly talk! As soon as Luke, the editor, was able to, I had him take over the on-air duties and rushed myself to El Camino Hospital. The diagnosis: The gash in my chin, luckily, didn't go all the way through to the inside of my mouth, but I had a few cuts inside there anyway. The physicians' assistant on duty managed to get the on-call plastic surgeon to come in and do my mouth. I now have 36 stitches. Next, they had a trauma dentist. He was able to move my teeth closer to their correct positions and then glued on supports similar to what they used to call "invisible" braces. The good news: My teeth weren't broken at the roots. The bad news: I appear to have broken my jaw. It's a greenstick fracture, but I am under doctors orders to use my lower jaw as little as possible for the next week. Warren is taking a test that started at 3pm, so I was careful not to call him (as if I could!). Instead, I called dimakoi and got her to pick me up. Somehow Warren had figured out that I'd fallen at the station and had managed to drive myself to the hospital. Still, I'm glad he didn't know so he couldn't worry about me ("broken jaw" sounds pretty effing nasty, right?). She took me to the drug store, and they were told my health care coverage had expired on the 31st of last month. TRIPLE-WTF?????!? The folks from the health plan won't be in till Monday, so I can't take care of business till then. Meanwhile, if there's anything I can do to make the healing go faster, suggestions are welcome! I do not want to have to do a "proxy" concert at Denvention! Current Location: Home Current Mood: in horrific pain Tags: health, radio

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June 16th, 2008

08:40 am - Waiting for the gastroenterologist or someone like him Monday I got the results of the urine and stool tests from last week. They again found blood in my urine, and my stool sample was free of any diseases. The doctor wanted me to go in for an ultrasound and had me scheduled for Wednesday morning. Tuesday I got the confirmation call, followed by a second, more urgent call from the hospital: It seems my health insurance wouldn't cover the ultrasound. When I called the insurance office to find out why, they were closed. They run on east coast time. I phoned the health insurance early Wednesday morning. It turns out my health insurance company, as policy, covers just about every other procedure on the planet, but not ultrasounds, so I had to pay for it out of my own pocket. I had the abdominal ultrasound a couple of hours later, followed by an acute cashectomy. I had to suck money out of my "retirement" plan to pay for it. :-( Friday I got the results of the ultrasound. They found nothing abnormal; everything looked great. The only organs they couldn't see were my reproductive organs and my gastrointestinal tract. The nurse at the doctor's office told me the doctor wanted to come in Tuesday for a vaginal exam, which sounded strange to me. I asked to speak to the doctor. Ten minutes later the doctor called. She said, "I understand you have an appointment with me Tuesday." "I wasn't sure whether they scheduled it or not," I replied. With a tone somewhere between shock and urgency, she said, "You don't need to see me; you need to see your gastroenterologist." Yes, I have a gastroenterologist. He's on vacation till 9:00 this morning, and his answering service was unable to schedule appointments. I have been anxiously awaiting his return, as you can tell from the timing of this post. As for how I feel, I'm getting worse. In addition to the nausea, runs, and bloating, the burning in my stomach is back. Current Location: Home Current Mood: anxious Tags: health

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June 9th, 2008

11:48 pm - Album cover meme Ganked from folkmew.... 1 - Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Random The first random Wikipedia article you get is the name of your band. 2 - Go to Random quotations: http://www.quotationspage.com/random.php3 The last four words of the very last quote of the page is the title of your first album. 3 - Go to flickr's "explore the last seven days" http://www.flickr.com/explore/interesting/7days/ Third picture, no matter what it is, will be your album cover. Put it all together, that's your debut album. ( Mine's behind the cut tag. ) Current Location: Home Current Mood: silly Tags: meme

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June 5th, 2008

11:56 pm - They found WHAT and they sent me home???!? I finally saw the doctor today and learned some stuff about my test results from the bloodwork done at the hospital Monday. She laughed as she told me I wasn't pregnant (I was disgusted that they even wasted time and effort on such a test). OTOH, they found blood in my urine sample. WTF????!? Yup, blood. She did a quick rectal exam and the test showed blood there, too. Speaking of blood, my BP was something along the lines of 135/53. I asked the nurse who took it if the second number was unusually low. She said it sometimes balances out the other number. I'm not feeling any better. I had to submit a set of urine and stool samples, and I need to make an appointment for a renal ultrasound. When I asked the doctor if it could be "The Big C," she said, "Given your history, I doubt it." She went on to say the kinds of cancer that present themselves with the symptoms I've got are "smokers' cancers." I am terrified of what could be wrong with me. At the same time, I want to find out ASAP so I can get it taken care of, whatever it is. Current Location: Home Current Mood: scared Tags: health

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June 4th, 2008

09:03 pm - I'll finally get to see my doctor! Tomorrow -- five days after I started these symptoms and three days after I started calling my doctor -- I finally have an appointment. It's at 12:15pm, and I am hoping to dear ghu it doesn't interfere with my 3:15pm meeting at work. If it looks like things will go awhile I'll phone work to tell them what's going on. Of course, I feel even worse today than I did yesterday. My tummy hurts, the burning is still there, I'm nauseous, and I'm lightheaded. This is creepy. The one saving grace in all this is because I'm working at home, I'm able to keep working. Current Location: Home Current Mood: angry Tags: health

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June 3rd, 2008

05:33 pm - Frustrated with the medical community Yesterday I tried to make an appointment with my doctor, but she was totally booked and couldn't fit me in. The nurse at the phone insisted I needed to go to the emergency room and not wait till the next day for an appointment. After a few hours of working, notifying work, and getting cleaned up, I had Warren drive me in Just In Case I wouldn't be able to drive home (this turned out to be a very smart idea). I arrived at El Camino Hospital and was checked in at 3:34pm. I wasn't taken to the "fast track" area till over an hour later. Once put in a "seat" (hospital bed set up to look like a recliner - rather uncomfortable), the lab tech drew blood, a nurse gave me a "grasshopper" consisting of lidocaine, mylanta, and belladonna and then asked for a urine sample. Even after the "drink" I still had burning in my stomach. I was starving, but they wouldn't let me eat anything. When they brought a pill, they gave me barely enough water to get it in. The "highlight" of my time in ER was when I allowed a student nurse to do her first-ever IV insertion into my left arm. That was the only "entertainment" I had. After the IV was inserted I was injected with some kind of narcotic pain killer and an anti-nausea drug for the nausea the pain killer was expected to cause. The two made me very woozy and drowsy, but the burning and pain didn't go away. A few hours later they gave me a Pepcid and some more painkiller. The pain and most of the burning finally went away. They also did two more blood draws to determine I didn't have a heart attack. I was finally released at 1am. When I went to stand up I had to lie back down because I got very dizzy. An EMT came by and took my blood pressure lying down, sitting, and standing. We both noticed the top number dropped by at least ten points going from lying to sitting and from sitting to standing. He went off, and I was told my ride was here, so I left, prescriptions in tow. We then went to the 24-hour Walgreen's in town to get them filled, then to Carrow's so I could finally have some food (I hadn't eaten all day!!!). In the middle of eating I had to get up and run to the bathroom because I started projectile vomiting. Being the anal-retentive person I am, I managed to hold it till I got to the bathroom, then aimed it directly into the toilet. Still, it was gross. I managed to hold down the rest of the meal, but I haven't eaten today because I'm afraid I'd puke it up. The worst part? My doctor has no openings till the 11th, my gastroenterologist is out of town till the 16th, I still don't have a diagnosis, and I actually feel worse today than I did yesterday. Current Location: Home Current Mood: sick Tags: health

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May 31st, 2008

09:17 pm - Is there a bug going around? I was about to head out for a party around an hour ago when I got horrible pain in my stomach, as if it were full of excess acid. I took antacids with no result. I've eaten a ton of crystallized ginger with minimal results. I am alternating between typing this and clutching my stomach. AAAAAAAAAUUUUGH! P.S.--To dinogrl: If I don't make it, you know why. :-( Current Location: Home Current Mood: annoyed Tags: health

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May 29th, 2008

12:55 am - Baycon came and went... ...and I came and went at Baycon. Given that the hotel was outgassing, I'm glad I not only commuted to the con but wound up sleeping through large parts of it. I missed some programming I really wanted to catch, but I figured the 17+ hours of sleep I got between Saturday night and Sunday afternoon were much-needed. I'd have posted this sooner, but my Internet access has been sporadic due to flakiness on Comcast's part. I ran into lots of friends. It'd been years since I'd seen cat_herder. She, howeird, and several other folks whose names I'm blanking on chatted for a while. Saturday night I had dinner with the Starship Ada folks and special guests Keith Henson and Arel Lucas, both of whom I also hadn't seen in years. Keith was in amazingly good spirits, especially after all he's been through. The Monday afternoon surprise party for capplor and kids came off well. I was relieved when it was all over. While I'm perfectly capable of keeping a secret, trying to execute a "double-jeopardy" surprise has its ups and downs. On one hand, Fred expected there to be a party, so going around and conspiring looked perfectly natural to him. On the other hand, trying to keep him in the dark about what was really going on without making him panic was tricky. I was also grateful to get lots of help with putting the party together. Folks came out of the woodwork. In addition to dimakoi, lisa_marli and her Harolds helped, as did Lucy Stern, the Saidaks, and other folks who I'm blanking on because I was busy trying to decorate the going-away cake. After the big SURPRISE I could finally relax. The last couple of days I've had a sore throat and a minor headache. I feel physically like I spent ten minutes in the office of a certain previous employer.... Current Location: Home Current Mood: exhausted Tags: fandom, fred&robin

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May 13th, 2008

01:39 am - Lois Mangan In case you hadn't heard, she passed away over the weekend. Lois was an integral and vibrant part of the New England filk community. She was also a fun person to be around. When I think of her, that's the first thing that comes to mind. I can still picture her, always cheerful and smiling, having a good time and exuding fun. I wish I'd had more time around her, but alas, geography sometimes gets in the way of that kind of thing. Now I won't get that chance. Damn. Current Location: Home Current Mood: sad Tags: filk

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May 9th, 2008

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April 23rd, 2008

11:29 pm - Mad Scientist In The Kitchen: Sweet Cabbage With Noodles, Kosher for Passover I was invited to lisa_marli's family seder this past Saturday. I always enjoy going because I feel like I'm part of the family and because her seders are fun and not stuffy. Lisa asked everyone coming to bring "some kind of vegetable" this year. Given that there were going to be at least five children in attendance, I figured I'd try making something the kids would like. Last year I tried making this old Slovak favorite using a head of cabbage and pre-made Passover noodles (the wide ones). The flavor was about right, but the noodles were kind of icky and mushy and fell apart. This year I tried making the dish using pre-shredded cabbage (the kind in the bags labelled "coleslaw") and homemade spaetzle. The spaetzle: 2 cups cake meal 1/4 cup potato starch 3 eggs (next time I'll use 4) 1 cup lukewarm water 2 T margarine (Kosher/Parve) around 1/2 tsp freshly-ground nutmeg around 1/2 tsp freshly-ground pepper around 1 tsp kosher salt In a food processor, mix all the ingredients until a soft dough forms that you can sort of drop off a spoon. If the dough is too stiff, add more water. Using a spaetzle maker (or if you don't have one, scrap the dough in 1/3 tsp bits off a small plate), drop the noodlets into boiling water in batches until they float, then quickly pull out with a slotted spoon or small strainer into a bowl. Add margarine to keep the spaetzle from sticking to each other. Repeat until the dough is finished (you'll be best off doing this in 3-4 batches). As for the cabbage, put around 2T margarine in a large enough saucepan. Add the cabbage, cooking till wilted and slightly browned. Mix in spaetzle, and add salt and pepper to taste. Sprinkle lots of dill weed on the final dish. The end result was only slightly off traditional spaetzle in mouth-feel (hence my recommending one more egg) and taste. I had no leftovers. Next time I might double the cabbage (2 bags instead of 1) to get more of a vegetable component into it. Current Location: Home Current Mood: accomplished Tags: food

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11:20 pm - Mad Scientist In The Kitchen: Sugar-Free Chocolate Bread Pudding I (obviously) made this last week when my loaf of low-cal bread was starting to dry out and fall apart. Ingredients: 6-8 slices of low-cal bread, crumbled up into tiny pieces (around 2 cups) two large eggs two egg whites (I used the ones in a carton) 1/4 cup cocoa powder 3/4 cup Splenda 1/2 cup milk (I used nonfat, but use whatever you like) 1 tsp cinnamon 1/2 tsp vanilla extract. Preheat oven to 250F. Beat eggs and egg whites together till well mixed. Add the rest of the ingredients. Mix until well-mixed and the bread has absorbed it all. If necessary, add more milk. Put mixture into greased pan, cover with foil, and bake for an hour. Uncover and bake for another hour. The result is a rich-tasting, moist, fudge-y bread pudding. I like it served warm with sugar-free triple fudge ice cream (hey, why not?). Current Location: Home Current Mood: accomplished Tags: food

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10:02 pm - The Latest With Me Sunday night I had an awkward happening; a part of my suture from my injury popped like a zit, complete with white pus (eeeuw). My plastic surgeon is out until May 5th, so Monday I had to rush in to see the guy who is covering for him. The verdict: I have "spitting stitches." It means the "dissolving" stitches below the surface of my skin aren't dissolving. Instead, my immune system is rejecting them, quasi-dissolving them, and pushing them towards the suture because it's "the fastest way out." The weirdness going on in the injury area might explain the migraine. Today it's raining. I wanted to go work out this evening, but when I heard thunder as I was about to head out of the house, I decided a swimming pool wasn't the safest place to be. I also didn't feel like driving the new car in a "first rain" with all the folks who seem to forget how to drive in the rain, so here I am at home. Even Lady hasn't felt like budging. Pesach has been rather awkward because we've got a matzoh shortage in the San Francisco Bay Area. I am having to make do with matzoh ingredients like cake meal, matzoh meal, and half a box I found lying around in my cupboard with the inscription "Kosher for Passover." Under the circumstances, it's the best I can do. I am also due to make another couple of Mad Scientist In The Kitchen posts. Current Location: Home Current Mood: recumbent Tags: food, health

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March 31st, 2008

10:25 pm - Mad Scientist in the Kitchen: Sugar-Free Meyer Lemon Curd The recipe: 3 large eggs 6 T butter at room temperature, cut into small pieces 3/4 cup granular Splenda Juice and zest from two Meyer lemons (around 2/3 cup) Cream together the butter and Splenda, then blend in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon juice. Cook for around 15 minutes, stirring often, until the mixture coats the back of a spoon. Remove from heat, put into a container, cover with wax paper or plastic wrap, and refrigerate. The result is wonderful. I can't wait to try other curds. Current Location: Home Current Mood: accomplished Tags: recipes

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March 23rd, 2008

March 18th, 2008

12:02 pm - When Worlds Collide This is one of those rare moments where I get to merge aspects of my live that don't normally have anything to do with one another. I am part of a team documenting the upcoming release of a well-known database product. As part of getting up to speed and testing features on the product, I need to create some kind of database. As many of you know, I've been in the process of recording a CD over the last few years, and it's getting closer and closer to being done. What I need is for folks to e-mail me their contact info to "figmo @ rahul.net" (remove the spaces; I stuck them in to foil spambots) if they want to be on the mailings for CDs, appearances, and such for me. Specifically: Name: Mailing address: Phone: E-mail address: Favorite song or routine (if applicable): Why you're on my list (select all that apply): CD info? Appearances at cons in your area? Comedy appearances? Thanks in advance! Current Location: Home Current Mood: working Tags: filk, tech job

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March 17th, 2008

10:33 am - Abbott and Costello in the 21st Century This showed up in my e-mail this morning and it was too good to not share. I have no idea who wrote it; if I did, I'd credit the author. Most of us are familiar with the "Who's On First?" exchange between Bud Abbott and Lou Costello. And anyone who has experienced frustration with modern tech support (often a paradox in itself, sort of like the term, "jumbo shrimp") will relate to this updated take on the classic baseball routine. Here's what would happen in today's world if Costello were to call to buy a computer from Abbott. ( Costello Calls to Buy a Computer From Abbott ) Current Location: Home Current Mood: amused Tags: humor

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