So what have I been doing, nothing useful I can assure you. Working mostly to the point of Collapse. Best score to date 358,544. My coworker who introduced me to the game tried to beat my previous best score of 313,452. No only did she fail, but I set a new high score for her to beat. Oh what fun we have when it is dead quiet at work. It doesn't happen often. I even play when at home and let me say playing on a laptop is a challenge with this trackpad instead of a mouse. I did get to level 10 however. I know I really should do more useful and practical stuff but the last several days at work have been stressful and I needed release.

Aside from work, the only excitement was a Yahoo Groupss free weekend. Groups were down and people tried backups. Some failed spectacularly as they were unable to handle the load from Yahoo. Yahoo came back up before the backups. And the mail still is slow. That's nothing new with Yahoo thou.

Working overtime, what fun. Well, I am a bit tired so haven't done much. Today, if anyone is counting, is six months from 9/11. I doubt I will ever forget that day watching CNN, watching those planes crash into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, watching in horror as the realization that we were under attack on our own soil sunk in, watching too the heroic efforts of those who were involved in the rescue efforts. We saw and heard of many heros, some (in the plane that went down in Pennsylvania) who gave their lives to prevent further tragedy. In the time since, we have thankfully not seen a reoccurance. And the only big scare seemed to be the anthrax laced mail. haven't heard much bout that lately. So, what else happened. People came to gether to support and lift each other up, to provide comfort in the face of adversity, to provide a bit of cheer to get our minds off the stress, to get back to living. Of course, all this has been a terrible distraction to the task of maintaining my site. So, I haven't done much, and sometimes all I want to do is have a little mindless fun.

It's March already and I haven't done much of anything except try to keep up with the email, a task I am hopelessly behind on. I haven't written any stories as I have a bad case of writers block. And I have a bad case of greed too. I DO want the new iMac thou I haven't said anything about it. The top of the line DVD creating one is what I want and I can't afford it. It's so beautiful too. So, I wait and work, even working a little overtime thou it is not too brilliant as it hurts still to do too much. Back to the mail.

Gee, I'm slow. OK, had my annual physical, no kidney stones, just a cyst that can be ignored. Had the second opinion, no word on whether industrial will cover my back. The boss told the one person who seemed to get favored status that she will have to work elsewhere if she can't float. So much for favored status. Lost several people at work due to various problems. Even our boss will no longer be our boss come next month. So work is definitely improving. I have discovered the joys of IncrediMail and have fixed up a section to that particular program. I have also discovered the joys of tag making. It's hard to keep up with the requests. Can't keep up with mail but that may soon change if Yahoo starts charging to be in Groups. I don't think I will mind less mail. Elsewhere, WebRing still sucks which is a change from the everpresent Yahoo sucks.

Received in the mail today and thought it funny.
B=beautiful
I=individual
T=that
C=causes
H=hardons

Nothing else much new, weather has been gloomy and I have been making tags.

What's new, not much. Been working. EMG was normal and I don't have a desire to get zapped and stuck with needles, not a fun test. After inquiring about my pain level (5-8), the doc said I didn't need to come back unless I got worse. Worse is 7-9? Unable to walk? Everything going numb? Well, that what it was when I first saw him. His big advice was to lose weight and do the exercises in a little pamphlet. For that, I had 3 MRI's, a CT Scan and an EMG. I'm kindof glad I'm not going back. So, what am I doing? Seeing another doc, getting a second opinion, ie I filed an industrial claim.

Aside from all that, I had discovered I am hopelessly behind on reading fics and surfing sites. While I was laying around being most useless, other more enterprising folks have set up shop selling everything from t-shirts to coffee mugs to suport their web sites. Ok, I did set up a ring system but that is free. And I now have a minidoll maker, also free. I made some IncrediMail stationary, also free. I really don't have the knack for this I can see now.

Sent to me and thought to share:

What not to say to a naked man:)
1. I've smoked fatter joints than that.
2. Awww, it's cute.
3. Why don't we just cuddle?
4. You know they have surgery to fix that.
5. Make it dance.
6. Can I paint a smiley face on it?
7. Wow, and your feet are so big.
8. It's OK, we'll work around it.
9. Will it squeak if I squeeze it?
10. Oh no... a flash headache.
11. (giggle and point)
12. Can I be honest with you?
13. How sweet, you brought incense.
14. This explains your car.
15. Maybe if we water it, it'll grow.
16. Why is God punishing me?
17. At least this won't take long.
18. I never saw one like that before.
19. But it still works, right?
20. It looks so unused.
21. Maybe it looks better in natural light.
22. Why don't we skip right to the cigarettes?
23. Are you cold?
24. If you get me really drunk first....
25. Is that an optical illusion?
26. What is that?
27. It's a good thing you have so many other talents.
28. Does it come with an air pump?
29. So this is why you're supposed to judge people's personality.
30. I guess this makes me the early bird.

And my additions:
31. Oh it's an innie.
32. Do you have a magnifying glass?
33. I thought you said you were a guy.

Fic food it is.

Better doesn't describe it, got a call from HR, still no info from the doc's office, the required forms haven't been submitted. Seems when they wanted clarification and the doc's refused without getting in writing, they never asked as they are not required to do that, it's the doc's job to provide it. They don't have enough info to give me light duty and of course they don't even have the forms showing that I have regular duty. And the doc's didn't follow thru with the FMLA forms as promised. I have to meet with them tomorrow.

So, I called the doc's and of course the help hasn't filled out the forms and told me flat out not to be rude to them. I did remind them, they had been rude to me and had not done what they promised. So, maybe they will fill it out, maybe not. They are in no hurry to do it.

Legally, I am screwed. I did seek advice and was told that my employer can give preferential treatment and discriminate. Basically, they only have to do the minimum required by law which is why noone wants to do anything. If no law forces them to accomodate me, they won't. And I can't do a thing about it. Several coworkers said they would speak up for me but I was informed they wouldn't as they would get fired for doing so. My only hope is that the doc fills out the form. If not, I can get another doc which really doesn't help me much. in the here and now. Well, I did file for industrial as my bulging ie herniated disc is a common injury in my profession. If approved, I will beg for another doc. I am tired of all the crap.

I am counting the months til we can have another union election. Mind you, I doubt I would be suffering from all this crap if the union won.

It just gets better and better. I chatted with the coworker who was getting preferential treatment last night. She is still getting preferential treatment, she has doc's orders. And my boss never told her she would have to get a desk job if she couldn't work elsewhere when we were closed. He said he was going to when I called him on the discrepancy. Another lie.

Today, I called the doc's office to check if they got insurance approval for the procedure I am scheduled for tomorrow. Nope, they just got the paperwork today. I then asked if they filled out the Family Medical Leave Act forms. Nope again, cause I went back to work. I explained they wouldn't let me return to work without them and that the office had promised they would be in HR by today. They don't seem to grasp the significance of needing the forms to protect me from being fired for being sick and I am unsure if they will fill them out. I also called HR and explained my unhappiness at the doc's office not following thru with what was promised to protect my job and that I was unhappy about my boss discriminating against me. I also mentioned I was filing workman's comp on the advice of my attorney. It is safe to say I am not happy.

One of my coworkers asked me if I got my gift certificate. I replied, "What gift certificate?" She then told me that they got together and gave me a gift certificate and my boss had it. I did have to pointedly ask my boss about it as it was in his care and he cared not to tell me. I did eventually get it. And upon return, I got to hear the story behind it.

Follow the tale of "Stupid". "Stupid" was married with 4 kids, 3 living at home. She was known for her incredible stupidity like taking the dogs to the vet cause they got stuck together. The vet had to tell her the dogs were having sex and it was normal. I guess it's not a problem with a tiny penis but it can happen with dogs.

Basically, in a nutshell he hubby got her pg, he was caught cheating on her by her daughter and she threw him out. I don't know which happened first nor does it matter. She worked briefly after surfing the net to find out her options re child support (I actually found links for her is why I know) and I am guessing other stuff. This is somewhat important.

She became so stressed over the situation that she wasn't able to work. She allegedly had pseudoseizures. So coworkers rallyed to her aid bigtime. The boss made sure that when long term disability, etc came in that, cause she worked overtime, she would get more compensation than she would for her base hours. Staff on two units took up a collection for her and provided her Thanksgiving. And one coworker wanted to adopt her family and provide their Christmas. Legally, that was against the rules but they did take up a collection for her.

Here's where I came in. Unbeknownst to me another coworker (a true friend) complained that if they collected money for her, they should for me. The coworker who wanted to collect for her saw no need to collect for me as I was in a better paid position. My friend informed then I was out of time off and refused to donate unless the money was divided equally. She did ask how much I got as she wanted to see if they kept their promise. I believe they did.

There are a couple more details. When my boss took me to HR so they could tell me my options, they basically told me they had nothing. The emergency help was a one time thing and only applied if one was going to lose one's house or car. They did not offer short term disability. My only chance for assistance was if coworkers would donate PTO (their vacation days). I informed my boss who naturally never said anything to anyone else about that option. And I didn't feel it my place to beg people for PTO (essentially begging for money). If he wanted to help me out that way that was his perogative. Sides, the point became moot when the doc said I could work light duty. Then it became an issue between my employer and me and why should anyone donate when I could work.

I must add my friend is also miffed at that coworker cause she told my friend, who had a baby a few months ago, that she should give her baby clothes and stuff to this other coworker when she no longer needed it. I can understand her feelings as I had ex relatives who expected the same of me. I do feel it a bit nervy to expect that from a coworker.

Now for the biggie. "Stupid" isn't so stupid when it counts. Her husband (don't know if they are divorcing nor do I know the status of her child support) is paying the mortgage. The people at her church are paying her bills. She is on welfare, WIC, and is getting food stamps. When it comes to working the system and getting others to care for her, she is doing a wonderful job.

So, charitable giving can be quite a sticky wicket. Even for me, right now I am working. But I don't know whether and how much of my medical problem is industrial or not. I don't know which insurance or any will cover the costs, it gets rather sticky. I don't have time off to take care of any problems. And because of the way I have been treated at work and fear more of the same whatever I do, I am hesitant to do anything without legal advice especially since AZ is a "right to work" state. They don't need any reason to fire me.

OK, I have some good news. After the doc's office was quite snippy on Thursday despite my copious use of the a word (attorney) and insisted the doc wouldn't let me work, I left a final "if work didn't cause, aggravate or contribute to the condition, I should be allowed to work. If it didn't, it should be industrial." Most of the hassle is cause everyone (bosses, HR) is saying it is not industrial (no specific injury date to claim) they don't have to do anything. I even went down to Employee Health, talked to the nurse and picked up the industrial claim forms. I also called to make an appointment with an attorney specializing in industrial claims.

Well, shortly before 4PM on Friday, I got a call from the doc's office. I can work. They faxed the order to my boss's office then I found out he was on vacation. So, I called back and asked that they fax it to my unit. Several phone calls later and I am set to actually work. And after multiple pages, calls, and messages over a two day period, my boss finally called, said he got someone in Education Dept to give me light duty, then I told him my news that I can work regular. So, I am staving off poverty for the moment. No telling the results of the next test thou.

Now at to the suggestion my boss let me work light duty, ha! Well, now that the doc said I can work regular duty, they won't give me light duty unless the doc changes the order. And now that I am back on the schedule, I am scheduled to work the night of my EMG. Hopefully I won't get any drugs during the procedure that will prevent my working that night as I would be penalized, up to and including being fired if I didn't show up. And if I have a particularly bad and/or busy night and am in more pain cause of it, I dare not say anything lest I get fired. I was run ragged my first night. I never even got a break to eat either, not uncommon but I usually can sneak in a few bites occasionally. They do have people that may give you a break to go grab some food but don't expect them to do anything while you're gone or when you return. They will chat with coworkers while my meal gets cold cause I am working.

OK, now it is. Still not working as in making $$$. Hoping they will find something. I did talk to my boss and they are trying to find me something after a fashion. Course with everyone off for the holidays my working is rather low priority for them. I may have to ask the docs to let me work regular duty if they can't find any light duty. I did work for over a year with a dislocated shoulder before getting it fixed and it still hurts. So it's not like I can't work in excruciating pain, I can. I doubt they will actually do anything aside from telling me to lose weight. At 136lbs, I'm not exactly grossly overweight. But I will do the prudent thing if they let me work, ie cut out the overtime.

Testing as I had to change all the passwords after blogger was hacked. If this works, I'm back to blogging. It's not working.

End of a holiday, nothing's better. Talked with the boss yesterday, yes he got my message, no he hasn't done anything, they have to follow rules. I did stress the severity of the situation, no work no money, even mentioned the a word. He will get back to me Wednesday, it doesn't look promising.

On the home front, thought my dear adorable child had improved. She did spend her whole first paycheck buying gifts for the family, including me. She even went to Grandma's unlike last year when she didn't go and got nothing for anyone except her boyfriend. But then I checked a while ago and she wan't home. Neither was the car. Both her friend and I were here to do driving duty if she asked. She knows she shouldn't drive cause the insurance won't cover her. She knows I may be hard up for money if they don't let me work. So, I was royally pissed and called her on the cell, blasting her for taking it. She'd better not wreck it.

In true holiday spirit, I am sharing one of my favorite Christmas songs from the person who most inspired my writing.

Christmas At Ground Zero
by Weird Al Yankovic

It's Christmas at Ground Zero
There's music in the air
The sleigh bells are ringin' and the carolers are singin'
While the air raid sirens blare

It's Christmas at Ground Zero
The button has been pressed
The radio just let us know
That this is not a test

Everywhere the atom bombs are droppin'
It's the end of all humanity
No more time for last minute shoppin'
It's time to face your final destiny

Well, it's Christmas at Ground Zero
There's panic in the crowd
We can dodge debris while we trim the tree
Underneath a mushroom cloud

(siren)

You might hear some reindeer on your rooftop
Or Jack Frost on your windowsill
But if someone's climbin' down your chimney
You better load your gun and shoot to kill

Oh, it's Christmas at Ground Zero
And if the radiation level's okay
I'll go out with you and see the all new
Mutations on New Year's Day

It's Christmas at Ground Zero
Just seconds left to go
I'll duck and cover with my yuletide lover
Underneath the mistletoe

It's Christmas at Ground Zero
Now the missiles are on their way
What a crazy fluke we're gonna get nuked
On this jolly holiday
What a crazy fluke we're gonna get nuked
On this jolly holiday

(siren)

his site

Well, stuck on the compy cause Qwest is having major outages, and here I thought it was the compy or the hub that was the problem and have been rebooting all day. So, I noticed when visiting the WebRing site, it had a little Y! beside the http. I asked on list and got this nifty page from James. So now, if you go to my site, providing you put it in favorites, you get a favicon. It only seems to work on the index page but it's better than nothing and certainly better than a little Y!.

Other than that nothing's changed, still all gloomy cause of work. But one nice friend was very helpful and lifted my spirits. No work, no money, no dj, well guess I'll have to sell them.

And that's not all. The person at the doc's office that was to handle the Family Medical Leave Act forms so I wouldn't get fired for being sick is off til next Thursday and of course, they haven't been filled out. They have only had them for a couple weeks (correction almost 3 weeks) and are in no hurry to do anything for me. After complaining about a coworker who was given preferential treatment and light duty who wasn't injured on the job, my supervisor had a list of specific questions about my limitations that HR wanted and told me to call the doc for the answers. I was told in no uncertain terms that they wouldn't provide them and if my employer wanted them, he had to fax them to the office. So I told my supervisor and of course he didn't fax them. They are in no hurry to accomodate me. Considering what a wonderful place I work for, it's no wonder people don't want to enter my profession.

Nother update, Well, aside from having another test, I don't expect them to do anything about my back. I got the impression I wasn't in bad enough shape for them to do anything.. I can't afford to be off without income. It will be another 5 years before I can accrue enough time off to have any procedure done for any reason. I only get about 20 vacation days/year. Extended illness maxes out at 800 hours or maybe it's both that max out at that. It will take over 15 years to accrue that. There is no short term disability. Long term disability doesn't start til I am off for 6 months. Naturally, I found out how wonderful the benefits weren't after I had seen the doc. I would have been better to do nothing and just suffer working. When my supervisor took me down to find out just what there was available, I was told nothing. I am screwed. And since the doc said I could work, I won't be able to get even long term disability til he says I can't and am off another 6 months. And of course, if my employer says they won't provide me with light duty even temporarily, I am screwed royally now. I've got 1 1/2 paychecks coming then I am out of money. I expect I will have to sell or lose everything. And I am very not happy as things look extremely bleak. What's worse is I am out of meds to OD on. I've even contemplated digging out my 38. Yes, I am depressed about it all, very, very depressed. And no I am not in a fic writing mood or a dollz making mood or even a letter making mood.

Finally getting down to writing bout my visit to the doctor. I have a cyst at S1S2 and spinal stenosis with disc compression at L4L5. The cyst would explain my numb butt and tingling down the back of the leg but not the top of my foot. So I am going to have an EMG hopefully soon. I can go back to work but no lifting. And of course, with my wonderful employer (supervisor), after telling me that they could find me light duty, now say they can't. That is only provided to people who get injured on the job. I mentioned the coworker who worked a desk job for a while cause off due to illness. Not sure if that will help. I do note things have gotten worse since the union lost the vote. Damn!

So, in that bad mood, I sit and play with IncrediMail. It's unfortunately a Windows program but it is lots of fun. It does tend to crash a lot on my compy and after asking around found I just don't have enough memory to handle such a graphics intensive program (old compy). So, there is a possibility I may get another Windows machine when my health settles. I am thinking about one of those dual processor G4's running Virtual PC now that they have an OSX version. Oh comeon, I am thoroughly spoiled by OSX, it is more stable, UNIX you see.


running

Could have posted Thursday after the CT, so I screwed up on the date. But I was rather upset after seeing my supervisor. I finally got my eval, great eval, sucky raise $0.24/hour doesn't go far. And if that wasn't bad enough, it gets worse. I am almost out of time off and my employer doesn't have short term disability. Long term disability doesn't kick in until I am off for 6 months. That's 5 months without any income. They have emergency assistance which is a one time deal only if you are in danger of losing your house. So I am hoping the doc doesn't have bad news cause I need to work. No work, no money. And yes, my butt still hurts, well my back hurts is more like it.

Update, the MRI is scheduled for Tuesday and the CT for Wednesday. Fun! And changing the topic abruptly, I used to sleep in the room below the AC unit and wake to feel like the house was vibrating. It was weird but if it ain't broke, why fix it. I also occasionally wake to short runs of SVT which take my breath away. Why mention it? I changed rooms, and woke today feeling like the building was vibrating. Another way to describe it was a fluttering sensation. Anyway, curious I grabbed the old stethescope and listened, it was my heart. Guess I have a new arrhythmia. Well, I'll have it looked into after the neurosurgeons are done with me and after the orthopedic surgeon is done with me. And if I'm not all wore out or broke by then, I'll go see a rheumatologist. My knees were swollen which is what I initially went to the doc to see. Think I'm gettting old and falling apart.

At least I do do something useful sortof. I play with dollz, you know those cute cartoon dollz all over the net. A frend sent me a few on a ML and then told me where she got them. I checked it out and found I could create (more properly edit) my own dolls with a drag and drop script. I have seen some other cartoonish characters in blogs but they were more limited in choices. Searching, I found some great sites with dollmakers but noticed a big lack. There are very few guys and most of what they have are overly muscled Dragon Ball Z types with clothing reminiscent of N Sync. One site had a few slender bishie types. So, my goal is to create a bishie/yaoi dollmaker to fill that lack. It's fun amusement and keeps me occupied while waiting for results from the docs.

Was asked about that link: "One teeny tiny question. Exactly what does one DO with the 20" dildoes on the UK site?"

So I came up with some possible uses for the giant dildo:
1) Sculpture, display on the coffee table or on a shelf.
2) Paperweight
3) White elephant gift at your church Christmas party.
4) Hatrack
5) Sex, can't hurt any worse than fisting.
6) Club, use it for self defense against an attacker.
7) Twink deterrent, display prominently when a fundie comes to the door.
8) The perfect gift for the person who has everything.
9) Christmas tree, wrap it up in twinkling lights.
10) For the guy who doesn't understand the meaning of the word NO. Tell him he has to be THIS big (show dildo) or he doesn't get any.
11) The perfect prop when you go live on your webcam.

holiday greetings. And on a cheery note, Kandahar has fallen, Mullah Omar has fled, and Pat Robertson has left the Christian Coalition. However, my butt still hurts, and not cause of this but cause I went shopping. Really needed to get something for Christmas.

I saw the doc and I didn't get admitted to the hospital after all. The tests will be done outpatient when they get around to it. Seems the doc that was going to admit me got in trouble with the insurance company for admitting a patient over the weekend. Gee, if he had admitted me, he would have been in even more trouble. What counts is saving money for the insurance not one's health. Least the doc was nice and called me, had the appointment all set up.

My night in hell: I spent some 20 hours in hell (the ER) yesterday. It started simply enough with my waking with a numb butt. I mentioned that to my therapist in PT cause I couldn't feel the heating pad where it was numb. She called my doc's office, they couldn't get me in and she suggested I go to the ER. The first idiot said "You're here for pain meds." Not exactly, the first doc got the point, I was here to rule out cauda equina which is a medical emergency. Next idiot blew a vein starting an IV, a nice big one noone had ever blown. And since I had to wait many hours to get a MRI with sedation, I agreed to have it without despite claustrophobia.

Many hours later after the MRI results were back, a different ER doc said I was going to go home but that they first wanted a post void residual. After complaining about the pain, etc., another idiot, when I was told I was going to go home, brought me straight demerol. I told him that I will throw up unless it's given with an antiemetic and that as I was driving, I didn't want the demerol. So he brought back the demerol with vistaril which I still refused.

Back to the cath, I had just voided and told the doctor. No one came. I finally voided again, put on the call light and waited a whole 20 minutes before someone came, cup in hand, and asked if I peed in it. She had the cup, I had already gone, dumb question. FInally after another 10 minutes had passed, another idiot came and inserted a catheter, using a foley instead of a straight cath kit, inflated the balloon and proceeded to tug on it repeatedly while taking off the wrapping which she should have taken off before she inserted it, holding it up in the air, still pulling, to drain, pee doesn't drain against gravity. I'm still in pain from that one.

After all that, I was immensely relieved to see a doc I know and that actually knew what he was doing (neurosurgeon=god). He decided to order another MRI and as I had been there over 12 hours at that point, ordered it stat which I greatly appreciated. And it was done stat, without any meds, hurt worse that the first one.

Hours passed, a neurologist showed up, examined me, told me neurosurg signed off the case, stated the MRI's were normal. I will mention that I was initially told that I had sciatic nerve impingement and degenerative changes. I asked if he had read the second MRI. He hadn't. How can he know it's normal if he doesn't know the results? He had no idea why I was in pain and after examining me decided I should just follow up with my orthopedist as he knew me well and I could just take the meds I already had at home. I was initially told they were going to give me a Rx for Vicodin.

OK, I had been there for about 17 hours at that point, hadn't eaten for 20 hours, and asked for some juice. That person didn't come back for a long time then finally returned saying they couldn't give me anything to eat. Finally, still in severe pain, awaiting discharge instructions, but not being allowed food, I broke down and cried. A very nice person who wasn't involved in my care came to my rescue and brought me juice and food. And after a couple more hours, one of the people brought the discharge instructions in. I was surprised to find I was to follow up with a neurosurgeon, a different pain med was ordered, and that the diagnosis was L4 L5 bulging disk. Naturally, the idiot had no idea why the change. So I went home confused as to why.


After I had been home for about three hours and was asleep, I got a call from the neurosurgeon I was supposed to see wanting to admit me for more tests. I suffered thru idiots that didn't know what they were doing, idiots telling me one thing, then someone else telling me something completely different, about 22 hours without food, water or pain meds, and the worst service I had ever had in that hospital. And as I barely had a couple hours sleep, I was in no hurry to go back. I politely told the doc that they won't run tests on the weekend, and asked if it could wait til Monday. I really need the time just to calm down. He said he will call tomorrow to see how I am doing too.

Had an enlightening day, my ex called for my kid, we got talking, and lo and behold the story she told him about the car getting wrecked didn't match the story she told me. I called her, out with her friends being useless as usual and she finally told me the truth. She wasn't driving. A so called friend took the keys and went joyriding and wrecked the car. Now that would have been covered by insurance. She cost me over $2000. And of course he was going to pay til he ended up in jail for grand theft auto, different car. Seems he likes joyriding a bit too much. And she nearly lost the tire off the car, the one I bought to replace the one he wrecked along with the front end, cause the lug nuts got loose cause the person at the tire place didn't tighten it properly. Oh, she hasn't gone back to straighten that out either. And she still doesn't have a job. And she soon will not have a home. I am fed up.

So, what else is new? Went to the doc last week for an earache, got an antibiotic which apparently didn't work. So now, after the doc's assistant didn't return my call, I went to Urgent Care with stabbing pain, ringing in my ear, and not being able to hear much. Now I have a ruptured eardrum. Safe to say I am not listening to the iPod. And the doc still hasn't told me the results of my hip xrays, probably will need surgery or something eventually, hopefully before I am unable to walk.

Been working, ewwww, boring. Been sleeping cause so tired from working, haven't done anything. News, hmmm, either the monitor or the video card on the PC is dying, all wiggly, jiggly, and stuff. That may be fine for big boobies but not for monitors. I hardly ever use the thing anyway. Kids do. I prefer laying in bed with my iBook, easier, nicer, no blue screen of death.

Update on the iPod, it works great in the car hooked up to the car's stereo and even doubles as a mirror. ^_^

Been busy. I updated OSX, iTunes and downloaded all my songs into iPod faster than I could have imagined and with infinitely less trouble than I could have done anything with Windows. Window Update always tended to overwrite essential ddl's and require an fdisk. Firewire is definitely fast. I did find another use for the iPod. It is great for lifting fingerprints. I would have preferred the brushed metal look of the PowerBook or iBook to the shiny too easy to cover with fingerprints metal they used. Otherwise, it is very neat and definitely easy to use.

Time flies when I'm having fun, er well not exactly. OK, Kabul has fallen, things are looking up in Afghanistan. My hip, however, hasn't which is why I am not on the compy much. Yes, pain and torture has yet to improve it. In fact, it's worse. Oh bother! And I have work to do, lots of work. I need to upgrade to iTunes2 then download all my Mp3's into my iPod which arrived Monday. And with my luck, I had to work so haven't had time to play. Well, not totally true. Now that WebRing has laft Yahoo, I can customize all the navbars, really customize them. Course, the move isn't very obvious to the non observant cause the new WebRing site looks exactly like the old Yahoo! Webring site.

Gee, it's November and I still haven't done anything. Well, I have been hanging around Yahoo Clubs but considering what has gone on in there, I have become somewhat disenchanted. So I left most of them. I haven't been on the compy much either as it hurts to sit. Bad hip, I start pain and torture (PT) tomorrow. If I can stand sitting long enough, I will try to update the site. Somehow, I find it easier to just lay in bed reading my doujinshi.