the hawaii chair. watch it. do it.

Thoracic, yeah!

Dooby doooby dooooo, I have back pain,
Dee, dee, de dah daaaaaaah, they give me drugs....

Yeah. Back. Upper back. Issues that are thoracic in nature... Usually found in much older people. Hmmm. Essentially, one or some of my discs don't like my spine so much. They are trying to escape. The attempted escape was discovered last Friday, though I suspect the planning had been going on much, much longer. Yes. So. Due to my continuing pain, I decided it best to go to the docs. With all the cancellations from people afraid to venture out on this snow day, I was able to sneak into my doctor's office this morning. She offered me multiple drugs and a referral to the Physical Therapist. Once again, due to the snow day effect, I was able to see the PT this afternoon. She can't offer drugs, so instead I got some instructions for home work as well as more scheduled PT. One particular exercise I call the "scared turtle." I think she called it "retraction." Yeah. She didn't like the prospect of me flying right now either, airplane seats being among the worst... not to mention the delay to her treatment plan for me. Let's just say I have some interesting looking exercises to do until I see her again. Oh, and lots of sitting up straight with proper lumber support.

Do you think it's weird to eat lunch at a nice restaurant with your V.P. while a towel is rolled up behind you? Nah.

for the moment

So, it's snowing. And not a little either. It will probably be gone this afternoon. But for now, it is snowing.

craZy making

Trust in Steel asked a very important question regarding my hypothetical ability to steal light a la Dumbledore*. And I quote, ahem: "Define productive - would you have cultivated your powers for good or evil?"

I must say, about two hours ago I would have been more than tempted to use them for what can be seen as good or evil. I would call it good. Others would not. You see, about two hours ago I hit hour 6.5 in meetings today. And none of that meeting time was actually in, what you might call, person. At this point in the evening (5:00pm) I had been on one call for 3 hours. Three hours. I had to switch my headset to give my left ear a rest. I would have used Dumbledore's power at that point. I could have shut the building down, thus ending my call.


* Please refer to the last post and related comments section to fill in any gaps or satisfy any curiosities.

Alas, just a muggle.

Leaving work this evening a light post went out just as I approached the boundary of light and dark. The light frontier, you might say. Anyway, walking under the darkened lamp I felt like Dumbledore, stealing light so no curious muggle could see what I was up to. I admit I was a little disappointed when no other light posts followed suit.

look while you can... madness!

Got a hair cut yesterday. As I'm too lazy to actually do anything requiring effort to my hair in the morning I'd say I'm pretty lucky to have some curl.

over and out.

Yeah, so. I currently have 4 separate containers of cookies, three of those being open and all from before Christmas. I don't go through cookies quickly. Cookie dough, however, I fly through. This little bit of self-discovery occurred this weekend. Just so we're clear: cookies: meh... cookie dough: yes, please.

the right number for goldie

The sleep number bed, what can one say? I don't think I could ever purchase such a bed for my own use. I just can't get over the feeling that I'm sleeping on an overpriced air mattress. If I wanted to do that I'd be sleeping on an aeromatic. But seriously, I bring this up because the last two nights have been an (on the whole) unsatisfying test of the sleep number bed system. 30 is too low. 60 is too high. I feel like Gold Locks searching for the right porridge. Perhaps the third will sort it all out, which is as it should be.... at least that's what they tell me.

And on other topics, Afghan restaurants should be available in more areas.

That is all.

just so we're clear....

... this is what can happen when there are issues with blood donation. I have to say, the bruise is more impressive in person.

Perhaps I should follow Nurse Kathy's advice and see just how "well" my blood clots. And by well I mean the potential for it to clot when it shouldn't. bah.

Poop and such

In a moment of adolescent whimsy I checked out the various definition of the word "poop" in my wee, non-exhaustive paperback dictionary. First off, poop is such a fun word to say and write. The slightest change in timbre can add a whole new dimension to the word. Writing the word is fun as well, particularly in IM conversations. I find the useful/fun factor has an inverse relationship with the brevity of the "conversation."

Jane Doe: presentation?
John Doe: poop
Jane Doe: bugger.
John Doe: :-(

Don't even get me started on the related fun of the word "plop," particularly when used in combination with poop. With all this in mind, imagine my disappointment with my apparent misuse of the term. According to said dictionary, there are only 3 meanings worthy of definition:
n. naut. 1. A superstructure at the stern of a ship. 2. a poop deck.
v. slang To become or cause to become fatigued.
n. slang Inside information.

Though I find the existence of poop decks highly entertaining, this collection of definitions is incomplete.

Poop.

2/3rds ain't enough

Once again I'll walk around town with my arms covered, lest people see the bruise developing at the crook of my arm. That's right, I gave the people at the blood bank a run for their money. First, the vein rolled (I usually have good ones!). The nurses quickly got things got back on track and the blood poured forth just fine. Then, of all things, the cuff lost pressure. You see, when the cuff loses pressure, the blood coagulates. Not good when donating blood. They couldn't get it going again, so my donation time was cut short.... short in the sense that I was about 4 to 5 ounces short of meeting the donation requirement. Disappointment. I gave just enough blood to really deserve the list of things to avoid for the next 24 hours (power walking, hot tub parties, etc.) but not enough to send out into the world.

Biohazard. That's what I gave.

So, now I'm feeling a bit lackadaisical... both from the donation and lack of donation, as it were. Indeed, I saw a gentleman in a Cadillac doing some serious car dancing... I couldn't immediately discern whether he was dancing vigorously or having a seizure. Ah well, the blood will be back to 100% soon enough.

there aren't words.

I don't know if' it's the cussing or the movie rating of "one penis up... one penis down", but please watch these Reel Geezers critique the movie Super Bad. I have no desire to watch this movie ever, but their discussion of the movie without any knowledge of the movie is fantastic. There aren't words.

Eau de Cologne

So, my dinner tonight involved not a small amount of garlic. Now my place smells of wonderfully sautéed garlic. But rest assured, I will eradicate said scent momentarily with the aid of essential oils. And since we're on the topic of essential oils, I think it's time we addressed the question of scents we love yet avoid like the plague. The pungent odors than never make it into an secret recipe for Eau de Cologne, Eau de Toilette, parfume, perfume, and other such nonsense. I really believe Exhibit A is garlic. Garlic is delicious, smells good while cooking, and gets along well with many other ingredients. But nobody really wants garlic perfume. Remember the poor kid in elementary school who had a permanent cloud of garlic following him around? No tether ball for him, no foursquare, no kickball.... but when dodgeball rolled around he had to hide he was so popular. Anyway, I present a list, in no particular order or status of completeness, of scents that people love but would rather not be known for.

• garlic
• bacon
• beer
• wine
• tobacco

I have a whole list of scents that are found in parfume even though they have no business being in such things, but that's a topic for another day. For now, I'll just say the list begins and ends with patchouli and all those who douse themselves in it.

alternate career opportunity

The lovely and talented A. was kind enough to pass along a video with the subject line, "I can totally see you doing this." I am, in turns, absolutely horrified and fantastically entertained by the fact that she saw this and thought of me.

Watch. All of it.

1:43 am

turn.

shimmy shimmy shimmy.

shuffle.

roll.

stomach. side. back. side.

to get up or not to get up?

It's as good as Dancing Queen.

Yeah. I had an idea for a post which involved reflections on past decisions, life choices, etc. etc. etc... That seems a bit tired now. When you consider that such reflections were prompted by nothing greater than mall hair, I don't think anyone in missing much. So, I'll just sign off with a quote from Muriel's Wedding.

"When I lived in Porpoise Spit, I used to sit in my room for hours and listen to ABBA songs. But since I've met you and moved to Sydney, I haven't listened to one Abba song. That's because my life is as good as an Abba song. It's as good as Dancing Queen."

Yes my friends, it's as good as Dancing Queen.