Happy Holidays

Merry Christmas Everyone!

The End At Last? - Maybe.....

All things considered my consultation with the new Urologist at Jefferson University Hospital in Philadelphia went well. He seemed nice enough; he took his time and listened to & addressed all of my questions & concerns.

He seemed to empathize with my history and my ongoing concern about the future and my reluctance to try something new and wait only to possibly fail and then have to worry about a date being available for surgery, so he scheduled me for a procedure on December 29 (he originally offered me December 22, but I really want to be among family for Christmas....and since I never do anything for New Years' Eve I may as well be hospitalized). I'm guessing the availability of December 22 and 29 are due solely because of the holidays (Christmas or Hannukah or Kwanza or Festivus, whatever your "holiday" may be). I didn't want to be in the hospital during Christmas, and I don't suppose too many people are and since I'm probably the only person who never has anything to do on New Years' Eve, I may as well take advantage of the holiday and opening.

The doctor seemed surprised also that I wasn't able to get in to see him in the 5 weeks since the last failed surgery. I can only assume one of two things;

<>1) My previous doc, who said he talked to him, didn't....and lied to me about it (he told me he couldn't get me in any sooner even though he explained my situation directly to the doctor).
<>

<>-OR-
<>

2) His secretary, scheduler, office administrator or who ever is responsible for getting me in never explained my situation to him even though I called at least twice a week to see if there were any cancellations (earlier appointments).

This, as I say, surprised me and he seemed genuinely upset that it took so long for me to get in, especially given the circumstances. This also made me feel more comfortable about him.

In the meantime I am trying "Cytra-K Crystals" (Potassium Citrate and Citric Acid oral solution - drink mix - Fruit Punch flavored!) in an effort to lower my urine PH (acidity) thereby stopping the growth and possibly even dissolving the kidney stone.

I take 1 packet with 8oz of water 3 times a day....then check my PH with test strips and if there's not much of a change I can up the dosage to 5 packets a day....so it's not that bad, but I would still hate to waste a month or two and find it's not working and then have to start all over worrying about getting in for a procedure (adding another month or two). Since I only got the crystals yesterday (late) I have only taken 4 doses so far so it's too early to see any change.

I have to go to my local hospital sometime next week to have a scan of my kidney (I forget the technical term, but they will inject a dye and "map" the kidney/bladder....ala a CT Scan, but it will be the most acurate and complete picture of my kidney and stone, leaving no doubt how big it is, where it is and how best to get to it). Why my last doc didn't do this I'll never know....along with trying the Cytra-K Crystals after the Sodium Bicarbonate failed.

Then on December 21st I go back downtown (Philly) for a follow-up visit to check the results of the Cytra-K Crystals/Urine PH and discuss the impending surgery.

I will get a call from Jefferson University Hospital on December 28th telling me what time to be downtown again on the 29th for the actual surgery. Who knows how long I'll be in (which is why I didn't want the 22nd) and who knows if he'll even be able to get it (though I feel more confident in him, his personality and confidence gave me some comfort compared to my wishy-washy previous doc who couldn't get it out and didn't suggest these other options) so I'll probably be in over New Years' Eve/Day, but I hope to be able to start 2005 stone-less and in a better place physically.

While today's weather has me in the duldrums again I at least am feeling a little better mentally knowing the end is almost here.
(Hopefully)

RobMac

The Beginning Of The End All Over Again

Today is December 2.

It was one year ago today that my best friend started his long and miserable journey toward his eventual death on January 13, 2004. I was torn whether I should write anything, and I will create a more detailed page of his last month so the events will always exist for me to remember and the world to discover, but I felt it more important for me to get my thoughts out and let everyone know what he meant to me..

His name was Michael D. Cohen and it began with an apparent strep throat. He called off work and wanted me to take him to see my doctor, two things he never does.

He was a work-a-holic and calling off was akin to launching a nuclear attack on an innocent country, he would never do it. He was deathly afraid of doctors and hospitals, probably because his father died at such a young age (47, the same age Michael was when he died back in January) and his mother began her decline by going into the hospital, though she lasted 10 more years. I was concerned for Michael because he was my best friend and roommate but I was not worried; it was a cold, people get them, people get over them, this would be over in a few days.

It turns out it wasn't strep throat; there was an infection of some sort, but it wasn't strep. Over the course of the week the infection apparently found its way into his lungs, giving him bi-lateral pnemonia requiring hospitalization on December 8....he would never leave.

This will be a hard 6 weeks for me, reliving the events of last year. Remembering his respiratory failure requiring a tracheostomy and a breathing machine which he'd never come off. Remembering his kidney failure requiring dialysis. Remembering how he was unable to talk after a week in the hospital and had to write everything out, and then losing that ability as the pain and sedation robbed him of movement. Remembering him looking at me and trying to tell me things with his eyes that I just couldn't understand and how frustrated he bacame at my inability. How disappointed I was not to be able to read his mind. I'm his best friend, I should know what he was saying....

This will be a hard 6 weeks. January 13, 2005 being the hardest day of them all. I've been without my best friend for one year now...seems like yesterday, seems like a decade ago. Time is a funny thing, it can be slow and fast all at the same time. Events can appear to take place long long ago or as recently as a blink of an eye ago, while everyone around you experiences the real passage of time.

Hug your loved ones, tell them you love them, you never know when they will leave you, when their mission is over, when God wants them home. Cherish every minute of every day. Make happy and wonderful memories together, they're the only things you'll have left once they're gone.

RobMac

Happy Thanksgiving Everyone

I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving, and I hope everyone's families behave themselves tonight!

RobMac

Master Chief attempts to clean The Covenant from the face of the earth.....in HALO 2 !!!!

Earth Will Never Be The Same

So I've spent the last three days fighting The Covenant & The Flood trying to save earth...and I have one last mission before I am done. I am at the start of the last level of HALO 2 and I decided to stop now and save the end for tomorrow. There are some really cool surprises in the story and the game-play that I won't spoil here.

Do I like HALO 2? YOU BET!

I am a huge fan of the original HALO: COMBAT EVOLVED and HALO 2 takes the premise to the next level and as the stakes are raised so is the overall coolness of the game. You have more weapons, more vehicles, MUCH larger maps to make your way through while defending yourself against much bigger and badder enemies. In addition to the return of the Grunts, Jackals, Elites & Hunters you now take on Brutes & Prophets! The Brutes are tough!!!

Gameplay is much harder on Normal Difficulty as compared to the original HALO on the same setting, it's NOT a walk in the park....and that's the way I like it.

So all this HALO 2 gaming over the last few days has helped take my mind off the pain of the stone and nephrostomy tube...so I got that going for me....which is nice.

I have yet to jump on Xbox Live and go Multiplayer, and that's because I didn't want any numbnut on Live to spoil the Campaign story for me before I finished Single Player mode, but when I finish I'll watch the Bonus DVD that came with the Collector's Edition (nice tin case BTW!) and go Live to join in online ass-whooping. I can't wait.

I highly recommend getting to a game retailer near you and picking up HALO 2 (Collector's Edition is only $5 more and with the beautiful tin case and 2nd DVD it's a bargain over the standard game-only edition) and if you've never played HALO....shame on you! Go get that too....and if you don't have an Xbox - Blasphemer!

HALO & HALO 2 more than justify the cost of buying the whole Xbox system!!!

RobMac

So I Decided To Stick Around

At least until May 2005. Did everyone see the new teaser trailer for Star Wars: Episode III-Revenge Of The Sith? I have to say it's growing on me; at first I was disappointed that the first half of the trailer is nothing but a voice-over by Alec Guinness (older Obi-Wan) explaining the history of Darth Vader and some clips of Episodes I, II & IV, but then....then the fun begins.

Darth Vader being raised into frame on a restraint table, the first Vader words spoken....Yoda unleashing hell, Mace Windu opening a can of whoop-ass on someone, a major space battle above Coruscant (which, from all reports, takes place within the first 10 minutes of the movie), Emperor Palpatine (aka Darth Sidious) wielding a red lightsaber (and apparently enjoying it), Anakin and Obi-Wan going at it full force (pardon the pun).....a gleaming clean C-3PO & R2-D2.

Whew!!

It's going to be one hell of a movie....once I see it, then I can die, and the way it's going with my doctors and surgeries, I'll probably see this movie before my next kidney surgery.

I am also eagerly awaiting Tuesday, November 9....for you gamers out there, you probably know this is the day Master Chief returns to Earth to kick some Covenant ass....if you don't know who Master Chief is or who the Covenant are and why they need their asses kicked....shame on you.

HALO 2.

I have the Collector's Edition (the game plus bonus DVD with extras in a nice collectable case) ordered from EBGames.com and all reports show it has not yet shipped....sigh....hopefully I'll get it on or before November 9, the official release date, it'd be a shame to have ordered it 6 months in advance and not be able to play the same day as anyone who goes to a brick & mortar store. We'll see.....

This is what's keeping me going at this point. The pain, etc remain and since it won't end any time soon on its own I have no choice but to keep going.

RobMac

This May Be My Last Post....Ever

I am disgusted and furious.

Not about the election, the people have spoken and what will be will be (whatever my personal views), but about my health. It might be easier just to end it all now because it's continuing to get drawn out, month after month after month after month after month.....I just want it to end.

The surgery on October 28 was a miserable failure. The doc was (again) unable to "get to the stone to remove it", so now I still have the 2cm stone in me and as an added bonus the nephrostomy tube is larger because that was done on the 26th to make it easier for the doc on the 27th to get to the stone (a lot of good it did me). So now the pain is worse and to top it all off the nephrostomy is a permanent drain bag, meaning I can't unhook the bag to wear clothes or be comfortable (at least as comfortable as one can be with a tube sticking out of your kidney).

So my doc recommends calling another doc, this time down at Jefferson University Hospital. This guy's supposedly "The Best" and does lecture tours talking about just my sort of problem. So I think "Great, with my luck this guy will be on a lecture and it'll be weeks until I can see him", so I call Jefferson on Monday (they freed me from the hospital on Friday since there was nothing else they could do for me there) and I get his office, as it turns out he is on a lecture tour overseas!!!!

Figures.

Now since he only sees patients on Tuesdays & Thursdays (what the hell is it with doctors only seeing patients or doing surgeries 2 days a week, this is why I and other patients have to wait weeks just to see anyone, let alone get our ailments treated!!!), so the first date available for a consultation (meaning it'll be more weeks after this that a surgery is scheduled, if he decides to do the job himself) is December 7, more than 4 weeks from now.

I'm in severe daily pain and am on pain killers all day every day, I can't go out (hurts even more and ruins the rest of the day) and the pain meds make me moody and sleepy, so I am doing nothing but crying and sleeping every single day......how the hell is this called Quality Of Life??? It's not.

I haven't had any "quality" in my life since my best friend and roommate died 10 months ago, and that was because he distractred me from the misery that is my life since 1996. Now....well, I just can't see any purpose to sticking around to go through at least another 2 months of this shit. how much is one person supposed to endure? It'll be easier on everyone if it just ended....one way or the other, and right now the other is not looking too bad an option.

Who knows if there will be any further posts.....

RobMac

Pre-Doomsday Scheduled

I am now scheduled for Pre-Admission testing on Thursday, the 21st, at 9am.

I am not looking forward to it as it usually takes 120 minutes; 100 minutes is usually wasted just sitting & waiting, while the other 20 are having my blood drawn and telling the nurses my long, sordid & sad medical history.

I am also not looking forward to it because after they take your blood you're sent to the far side of the hospital, one floor up (that you have to walk yourself; walking hurts me now...a lot), to wait and talk to the anesthesiologist where I just say "I've been 'under' over 30 times, I'm quite aware of what to expect", then you're sent back to where you began, one floor down and a hospital distance away (which, again, you have to walk yourself) to wait until a nurse asks if you wear glasses....which I don't understand why they don't just look at you before they ask...sigh. It's far too much walking and waiting for so little blood and info that they have already gotten from me every single time I've gone in there. I'll have to ask them "Don't you write this stuff down?"

Then on October 27 I will be admitted to the hospital and Radiology will either replace or just fiddle with my nephrostomy and then on the 28th I'll under-go a Percutaneous Nephrolithotomy, where a laser will be inserted into my kidney through the nephrostomy to break apart the kidney stone (hopefully once and for all).

With normal luck, I should be discharged around the 30th, but with my luck and The Third Option always at play I'll most likely not get out until after the election, depriving me of my opportunity to make my voice heard regarding who I want as President.

Worst case is I could lose my kidney altogether, but if it means no more stone or nephrostomy tube, I just might not be too upset about that, but I could only be so lucky, I'll most likely wind up with the nephrostomy tube staying in because the doc couldn't get all the stone and has to try again (probably 5 or more weeks later, nothing is ever done quickly in the medical industry any more).

I am not confident at all of my future....I am depressed and frustrated.

RobMac

Nothing Gained, Nothing Ventured

There has been nothing new happening in my life, so there's been nothing to write about.

I still await October 27th, so until then it's unlikely anything will change. I am only concerned that I may not be out of the hospital by November 2nd, which will just be the icing on my cake of disappointment.

I watched The Day After Tomorrow yesterday, the review will be posted today here.

RobMac

Goodbye, Superman

Christopher Reeve (1952-2004)

Time Is Never My Friend

I seem to have oodles of time, but it never works for me, always against me.

I finally heard from my urologists office about the next step in my surgery to remove my kidney stone; I go into the hospital again on October 27, 3 weeks from today. Three weeks more of this nephrostomy tube sticking out of my back and preventing me from getting any decent sleep or comfort. Just my luck. Three weeks, if it were a vacation I'd be very happy, to me it's a 3 week extension of my sentence being a captive of pain.

I go in and am admitted on Wednesday, October 27 at 9am (Radiology will most likely replace the tube with a larger tube for the procudure) and on Thursday, October 28 I will undergo the procedure itself to have the stone broken up and removed.

Will this be the end of it all? Doubtful.

I'm sure something will go wrong, from something simple to an infection to possibly something more serious (I wouldn't be surprised if I lost the kidney altogether).

Watched The Ladykillers last night, here's the Review.

RobMac

Nature's Wonder

Mt. St. Helens awakens after a 24 year nap...
Check out the live webcam HERE

About To Blow

Mount St. Helens is about to blow her stack again since the big one back on May 18, 1980. She could go at any time...or not at all.

I remember back in 1980 when I was 10 and my friends and I went outside a few days after the eruption and wiping the dust from the cloud that travelled all the way to Pennsylvania. It was cool to think that something that was beneath the Earth on the other side of the country could travel all the way through the air and land on my parent's car. Hopefully, this eruption will be as dramatic but with less loss of life and damage. There's a cool webcam I found that is centered on Mt. St. Helens, check it out HERE and keep your eyes open!

I continue to recover from surgery and each day I feel a little less pain and am a little calmer and less depressed. Aside from the rainy weather I feel pretty good. My wound looks good and everything else seems to be settling down nicely. I see my urologist tomorrow at 10:10am so I'll find out what the next step will be and when.
I was told he'd do another surgery in 2-3 weeks to go in through the nephrostomy tube and physically break apart the stone with lazers and remove as much of the debris as possible, though some will undoubtably escape the long way out.

I have updated my review of the Star Wars Trilogy DVDs, though it is still incomplete. I plan to finish Return Of The Jedi tonight and hopefully fill out the rest of my review by tomorrow. As much free time as I have, I spend most of it now either trying to catch naps between bursts of pain or catching up on my TiVo backlog of shows.

I'll be watching the Presidential Debate tonight to see how each candidate handles themselves, though I am not very excited because of the "39 page Rulebook". 39 pages on how two people will behave towards each other....seems more like Kindergarden. There will be no hard hitting questions, there will be no direct contact between Bush or Kerry and there will be no realism, it's a scripted show with no room for honest reactions since they'll know what will be asked ahead of time.

I don't think this is the way to elect a leader, hell, it's just a Dog And Pony Show to exploit how well one candidate's handlers have trained him above the other. This isn't a political blog, so I won't go into my politics since Politics & Religion are the two things I don't like to discuss with people because both are very personal and people have deep feelings about each and any discussion usually makes one feel like their views are right and someone else's are wrong and that's why we go to war. I feel like each person's religious & political views are right for them and no one else, and if I don't agree with someone then they'll take that as a personal affront. Live and let live, that's my motto. So I'll leave my views out of this blog, there are plenty of others out there.

That's all for now....

RobMac

5 Days Of Hell

So of course I go in to the hospital on Thursday for an Outpatient procedure to have my stent removed, after all was said and done it turned into 5 days, 3 procedures and lots of bed sores.

It took the doc about 90 minutes to remove my stent; the kidney stone had grown around it over the past 4 months and had anchored it to my kidney. He had to try to break parts of it to make it small enough to remove. I am apparently a "grower", I grow stones faster than they can be managed.

Because of the problems removing the stent he was very reluctant to put another in, and he said he wouldn't go that route again (though rushing right to the next procedure was still his last option), so he decided that something had to be done since the stent is still hovering around the 2cm size.

On Friday he ordered a Nephrostomoy put in (a drainage tube running from the kidney through a tube out through the back). It is clamped off and won't be used for 2-3 weeks (when he'll go through it to aggressively attack, break up and remove as much of the stone as he can), but he wanted it installed while I was admitted in case of complications, and while it seemed to go in without major problems, the initial procedure was cut short on Friday because I had begun severe bleeding and it was hard for him to place the nephrostomy since I am "a big guy" (I am, I'm about 255lbs) and the blood was making it difficult and dangerous. It was decided to send me back to my room and attempt to finish the procedure on Monday.

I began to cry.

My several-hour Outpatient procedure was turning into a weekend get-away. I was depressed, to say the least. As long as I could eat and drink, I'd sit back, relax and enjoy the peace and quiet (of course, if you've ever been a patient in a hospital, you know they're neither peaceful nor quiet). Since they just tampered with my kidney I was not allowed to eat Saturday and it wasn't discovered until late that I was allowed to eat and drink early Sunday. That's another story unto itself.

Through the intervening days (Thursday, Friday, Saturday & Sunday) I was confined to my bed because I had 2 catheters draining my bladder and kidney, so any movement was very unpleasant. I was able to get out of my bed once a day for a few minutes while the nurses changed my sheets, but it wasn't nearly often enough since they had those non-leak pads under me, so as I sweat, it would collect on those sheets, and since they were non-leak the sweat would gather and lay there, against my skin....day after day after day after day.

By the time I got up on Sunday morning to sit in the chair while they changed my soaking wet sheets, my back felt like grated cheese and looked like a pepperoni pizza. I am still very uncomfortable, but since I'm able to move about now (albeit slowly) I have dried out and the moisturizer I have on it is healing me up nicely.

So I have the nephrostomy procedure finished on Monday morning then I get out by about 2pm and come home. As uncomfortable as I was it felt so good to not be restricted to bed and to have more than 12 channels to watch.

Last night was a horror trying to sleep....what little I did of it. I had to take a few percocets throughout the night just so I'd feel so tired that the intense pain in my back would subside enough for me not to notice.

I changed my dressing for the nephrostomy this morning (it had gotten damp from leaking a bit, but since it was only a little bit and my temperature is fine I don't think it's infected at all, they said leakage was normal), I feel slightly better. I put a little Carrasyn gel on the wound (it's for wound care, I have lots of things like this laying around thanks to my Ileostomy) and put new gauze and tape around it. It's a little tricky since I have the drain tube hanging on the outside, it's not easy to get it all up under the 4x4 & tape without bunching a bit.

I could go on and on, but sitting here is making me achy, and if you've read this far you're probably praying for sweet release from this hell I'm perpetually in so I'll say;

RobMac

Stents And Stones Won't Break My Bones....

...But Man Do They Ever Hurt Me!!!

Well, the day is here; Surgery Day.
I have to avoid all food and liquids until I go under anesthesia at 1:30pm (6 hours from now) so I'll probably go right back to sleep after I finish this. This is the worst part of surgery; the waiting for it to start.

I have to be at the hospital by Noon then they'll make me undress and wear that rediculous open-air gown, then I'll lay in a stretcher for an hour and a half (or more) until they wheel me into the O.R. They will then let me speak to the doctor for a minute or two before they either tell me they're about to sedate me, or they'll just sneakily knock me out and I'll wake up in the recovery area. The initial feeling of "going under" is pretty cool, so if you have to have surgery and you're going to have anesthesia, you'll get a quick high as the room begins to swirl and drift away; it's quick and the next thing you know you're in another room hours later, but man, what a few seconds!

Anesthesia is a wonderful thing, and God-bless the men and women who study it as a science, they are my friends, they keep the pain and fear away.

I am thinking of pulling a little joke on the O.R. (to lighten the mood); I think I'm going to write something like "Do Not Enter" or "Exit Only" on my jigger (as my mom used to call it, she's Irish, you know) and maybe draw a smiley face on my ostomy bag. As I'll be laid bare for all the world to see (well, the O.R. anyway) and I have to have a sense of humor about these things (or I'd have slit my wrists long ago) I figured I'd give everyone a chuckle and give them a story to tell later on.

I am not sure when I'll be home, though it is planned as an Outpatient procedure I've come to expect The Third Option.

RobMac

A Long Time Ago, In A Galaxy Far, Far Away

The Holy Trilogy has finally arrived!!

Now, I'm off to join the Rebellion...
Watch for my reviews at Rob's Video Views.

May The Force Be With You...Always

Tomorrow....A Galaxy Far, Far Away....is here 

Freaky

Is anyone else as creeped out by the new Burger King commercial with the "King" in bed with the dude? I mean, it just smiles at him.....in his bed.....as he wakes up.....CREEPY!!!!

RobMac

A Galaxy Far Far...Well, Three Days Away

UPS Sucks.

The Star Wars Trilogy never arrived, so I call up UPS since their site hasn't updated the tracking info since the set left Illinois last night at 10:30pm (ET), and I come to find out that the set was scanned as "arrived" at Philadelphia airport at 1:27pm (ET); 15 hours after being checked as "departed" Illinois!!! FIFTEEN HOURS to fly from Illinois to Philadelphia.

According to Yahoo! it's a 12 hour DRIVE...so it takes 3 hours longer to FLY THROUGH THE AIR! Being that it arrived in Philly at 1:27pm, it has already missed its Saturday 1:30pm delivery....meaning the $12.50 I paid Digital Eyes to pay UPS to arrive NEXT DAY will arrive 3 days after being shipped, on Monday. I was fuming.

So I call UPS and of course there's no explanation as to why a plane takes 15 hours and a truck would have taken 12 hours to go the same distance, and since the package arrived after the delivery trucks left for Saturday deliveries, I would have to wait until Monday, even though I paid for Next Day (to which UPS claims, that excludes Saturday deliveries, at which point I point out to the UPS drone that their website clearly says Next Day Air INCLUDES Saturdays....to which they respond, "Oh well"......OH WELL !?!?!

[Sarcasm mode on] Great customer service..... [Sarcasm mode off]

So I call up Digital Eyes and go through the same thing, wanting to know what I paid them $12.50 extra for when I could have saved that and gone with standard USPS Ground and still have gotten it on Monday. The Digital Eyes drone goes through the same "Oh well" attitude that the UPS drone did. They even went so far as to suggest that "(I) should have cancelled the UPS Next Day" and just gone with standard shipping to save the $12.50....to which I explained that had I known 3 months ago when I placed the order that they were going to steal my $12.50 and not deliver any faster than normal delivery, I would have. The drone says he can't refund the $12.50 because it was already shipped out AND being that it was sent on a Friday it would not arrive until Monday anyway, regardless of the Next Day, because UPS doesn't deliver on Saturdays. I explained to him that "Yes, UPS does deliver on Saturdays because 1) It states they do on their website and that's what I paid for and B) I saw a UPS truck in my complex around Noon" (thinking it was my delivery, but of course, my package hadn't even landed after being in the air for 15 hours).

After getting absolutely nowhere except being told I should "Order earlier to avoid this in the future" I explained that I placed my order for this package on June 3, three months ago, and if that's not early enough then they have serious Customer Service issues. I told him I would not deal with Digital Eyes in the future, and I mean not to, it's just as easy (and a lot less stressful) to just wake up Tuesday mornings and head off to Wal*Mart at 7am, Target at 8am or Best Buy at 10am and do it the old fashioned way since I really save no money either way.

So, no Trilogy today...and since I was already in a foul mood from the weather and kidney stones and adhesions and a migraine, I just shut my eyes and fell asleep for a good 5 hours. I didn't feel much better when I woke up, but I went out to my mailbox to check my snail mail and found Scooby-Doo & Scooby-Doo 2 waiting from Netflix (the greatest invention of convenience since TiVo). I didn't watch the Scooby movies yet (though I have already seen the first Scooby-Doo when it was in theaters and rented both to watch back-to-back) but I did watch Disney's Home On The Range (which I missed in the theaters, the only Disney movie I missed since Aladdin). I will write up a review tomorrow for it at Rob's Video Views, but to summarize; it was a fun movie, and if memory serves it's also the last "traditional animated movie" to come out of Disney Animation Studios, which is a shame because as good as computer animation is, there's nothing like good old paint and cell animation. I definitely recommend renting it.

So, now I'm off to soak in the tub for a bit and let this percocet I took kick in, and then at 11pm I'll catch the season premiere of MadTV (much funnier than SNL has been in years).

RobMac

Awaiting Departure...

Well, I didn't go to the wedding yesterday, and I caught less flak for it than I was afraid of. I really didn't have it in me, and I'm glad I didn't go (in the physical sense) because there was a 3 hour gap between the ceremony (no mass) and the reception! It would have been a much longer day than I was even afraid of.

While yesterday was no cake-walk, I am glad I remained inside and napped off and on all day. Today's not much better, I'm still very crampy and I have the beginnings of a migraine. The weather is oppressive and rainy...not my friend.

I am anxiously awaiting the delivery of The Star Wars Trilogy DVD set, it was shipped from Digital Eyes yesterday via UPS Next Day Air so it's due to arrive at any time now. It's a 12 hour drive from where it's coming from, so by air it should have gone from airport to airport in a few hours, but UPS's site hasn't updated since it left Illinois last night around 1030pm (ET). The UPS site says "Delivery by noon or 1:30 p.m. on Saturday". It better be, I paid extra $$ to get it early.

I was watching my backlogged TiVo shows yesterday and on Wednesday's The Screen Savers Alex & Kevin teased the audience (in studio and at home) by revelaing their copy of the Trilogy on air. Sigh.....I am so jealous.

I will try to blog again tonight after checking out the Trilogy. I am probably going to scan through the films to check quality of picture and sound, but am mostly looking forward to the extras, Disc 4 and the commentaries on all 3 films. So I'll try to comment tonight.

This will be a day long remembered, it has seen the release of the Star Wars Trilogy, it will soon see the release of Star Wars: Battlefront.

RobMac

Stones, Storms & Weddings

I've been passing more pieces of my kidney stone, some big, some small, but in good numbers. I have been quite crampy over the last few days because of it. I am not looking forward to today.

Ivan is heading our way, or at least the remnants of Ivan, and that makes the weather dark and rainy, with a low barometer reading, making me cramp up from the surgeries I've had. My surgical adhesions from having my abdomen opened 5 times go nuts when the barometer drops and it's overcast or rainy. I'm feeling it already, and I just woke up. I'm not looking forward to today.

I'm looking forward to today because my cousin is getting married. I'm not looking forward to today because my sister has already bowed out of going (she's a grade school teacher and since school started back 2 weeks ago she's already contracted chicken pox from her students, there's an outbreak now), one of my other cousins also bowed out of going...they can't travel the 5 states or so to get here. I want to go, I want to see my cousin get married, but I don't want to go because I have pains in my back around to my bladder from the stent and kidney stone fragments, I have pains in my lower back and abdomen from the surgeries and the weather is making them worse, and it's at least a 75 minute drive each way to the wedding/reception, and the wedding itself will take at least an hour, with the reception lasting a few more, and I'd have to stay there at least an hour or two to be polite and say "hi" to everyone and eat.
I'm looking at a 6 hour day, sitting up/standing/driving. I'm not happy.

I want to cancel and I'm sure my cousin would understand, but I have these things called parents that really lay guilt on thick when they want to. "Sure you're sick but it's your cousin, it's not like she gets married every day, besides your sister already cancelled as did your cousin, so you have to go to represent." That's what they'll say. My comfort should come after everyone else is happy.

Yesterday I had to go over my parents house to install new blinds because my father couldn't look at a diagram of how to screw a clip to a wall to hang the shade, so he decided to go play with his friends, leaving mom to call me and come over to install them myself. Did I mention I was sick? Did I mention I was hurting a lot over the last few days? Doesn't matter, the old blinds are down and unless they're put up they'll be exposed to the world, not that the world cares to see two 60+ year olds in their bedroom. I had to go. After I got there and saw how dad had incorrectly installed the clips and therefore couldn't figure out how to hang the blinds, I had to take the clips down and put them back up right, then hang the blinds to the clips, which were behind some valences (?, those hanging curtian things). I finally got them up. Mom said "thank you" and gave me my ironed shirt for today's wedding, but dad was MIA the whole time and even when he came home (I assume he eventually came home) there was no call from him for a "thank you". Sigh. I guess it was just expected.

I have until about 2pm to make up my mind about telling my folks I'd much rather stay home and feel somewhat crappy than go on a long ride to a wedding (which I'd like to attend) but then feel like total shit over the next few days while I recouperate, only to be poked and prodded and then violated next week with surgery. I have this deadline because I'm going to hitch a ride with them, it's easier for them to drive than for me to sit behind the wheel of a car for two and a half hours to go to/from the church/reception, at least this way I can cry softly to myself without having to worry about other drivers killing me (which might not be a bad thing, come to think of it).

My life sucks.

RobMac

The Towers as seen from an Amtrak train outside Manhattan a few years ago...the only picture I have that I took myself. (This is a screen-cap of a video, so sorry for the quality) 

Nothing Ventured....Nothing Gained

Uneventful day. I ventured nothing, and as such nothing was gained.

I called the hospital to set up my pre-admission testing appointment; which is going to be Trilogy Tuesday, September 21, at 9am. I'll get poked and prodded and then on Thursday I'll go through what no human (or animal for that matter) should have to go through; I'm going to have an instrument shoved up my (procedure description removed from polite conversation), and then we'll see if I need to go through it all again. Sigh. Did I ever mention how much being sick sucks?!

DigitalEyes is still registering my order for the Star Wars Trilogy DVDs as "In Stock, Ships in 24/48 hours", but it's said that since Monday, so who knows when they'll send it out. I have a UPS Next Day on it, so hopefully I'll have it for the weekend, I'd really like to focus on it and enjoy it rather than have it be my Recovery Distraction on Thursday.

A&E aired a truncated version of the documentary Empire Of Dreams: The Making Of The Star Wars Trilogy on Monday night, it was about 90 minutes long whereas the full version on Disc 4 will be 151 minutes long (about an hour longer)...it was interesting with lots of never-before-seen stuff (and trust me, I'm a fan who's looked for all the footage I can get ahold of) but I can't wait to see what's in that other hour. One very interesting thing that was shown that hasn't been seen for almost 30 years was the original opening crawl of Star Wars circa 1977 (that means minus the Episode IV - A New Hope title!). When they showed it I was caught off guard, not sure I was seeing what I thought I was seeing. There's been so much speculation since 1979 about what the original opening crawl to Star Wars had, was there an episode number and title? Many said no, some said yes, no one could be certain (though I remember it simply as Star Wars). It got worse over the years as the new chapter and title stuck with each sequel. Of course, this started because when The Empire Stikes Back went into production, Lucas had to explain that this was part of an ongoing story, part of a story that actually started in the middle! So the Episode IV - A New Hope title was stuck on Star Wars in its rerelease in 1979 to establish to people that Empire was on its way. That was just one very neat thing to see...there were plenty of screen tests, auditions and interviews that haven't been seen in over 20 years....so it'll be very informative and fun.

Tomorrow starts another lonely day of looking longingly to the curb for that brown UPS truck to deliver my most precious package, much like Luke looked longingly at the binary sunset on Tatooine wishing to one day find his true meaning.

RobMac

A Few Days Off

I took a few days off from Blogging to give my brain a rest, though that didn't really happen. During the last two days I watched Jersey Girl and you can check out my review here, but in a nutshell; I liked it. I also watched Star Trek: Generations in its entirety and while the edge enhancement was a bit annoying, the DTS surround track made up for it with the punch some scenes deserved.

My kidney stone has bothered me more than usual lately and this morning I passed a nice sized chunk that seems to have been growing inside my stent...and from the shape of it I'd say it was blocking about 85-90% of the canal....and now I feel less pressure when I stand, sit or walk, so it appears to have been the culprit of the pain over the last few days.

As if the stone wasn't enough, I also suffer from "swimmer's ear" from time to time (I have had it most of my life) and on Sunday morning I seem to have gotten some water in my left ear during my shower and I have been unable to hear out of it since. I think all the water's out, and I even put a few drops of rubbing alcohol in there to dry it out (a remedy I found on several medical websites) but to no avail. I have the sniffles and my left nostril is clogged, so I may have a cold, which may have infected the Eustachian tube (the canal on the inside of the ear that drains the inner ear through the nose) which might have caused the tube to swell or even close...so I'm waiting for that to settle. Right now I have about 10% hearing in my left ear, so I'm all unbalanced and in a fair amount of discomfort. It never ends for me...seriously.

So this week I have to go for pre-admission testing for my surgery next Thursday (the 23rd) to have the stent removed (and hopefully not replaced), I also have to get a haircut today or tomorrow for my cousin's wedding on Friday (the 17th).

I am currently awaiting the arrival of the Star Wars Trilogy DVD box-set from Digital Eyes, which showed as "In Stock" on Saturday, since they probably aren't open on Sunday I waited, but checked all day yesterday for a "Shipped" notice from them, as of yet; nothing. It still shows as "In Stock" on their website so it could ship at any moment, giving me almost a week head start of anyone else queuing up at the stores next Tuesday (the 21st).
It could have shipped already, I will just have to wait and see what arrives in the mail.

There's a new Father Of The Pride tonight, so be sure to tune into NBC (HD if you have it) at 9pm Eastern for a few good laughs.

RobMac

37 Snowballs

To some of you today's title might mean something, to others they're just the total count of round spheres of frozen water. To those of you who "get it" - Snoogins!

Today I watched the Supplement disc of the Clerks.X DVD set which included the 2+hour documentary on the making of Clerks. - "The Snowball Effect". The title has a double-meaning to Kevin Smith fans; it appropriately describes the phenomenon of Clerks. as told by the people involved, 10 years later (yes, it's really been 10 years) and it also is a reference to a certain act committed following another certain act. For an explanation I highly recommend checking out Clerks. either on VHS or even better - on this new 3-disc DVD set from Miramax.

The documentary is fascinating and covers all aspects of the production, indie film festivals and purchase by Miramax of this crude and hilarious comedy that follows a day in the life of Dante & Randal, two retail store clerks that enjoy their jobs "except for all the customers". The writing is brilliant, the acting is spotty at times, the language is foul (but it's true to life) and the black & white print is from 16mm, so it's not in the best shape (though the new 10th Anniversary edition is the best print ever seen), but it all works beautifully.

There are two versions of the film in this set, the newly remastered 10th Anniversary Edition, in anamorphic widescreen and Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound that has an alternate audio commentary track (that's the same one from the 1997 DVD edition), and there's a third disc that has the original 105 minute version with the original ending that was shown at the indie film festivals, this was not the version that later appeared in theaters after being bought by Miramax. This version contains an all new audio commentary (2004), but as I've yet to watch it (and listen to the commentary) I can't really comment on it yet.

I also watched the extras on the Star Trek: Generations DVD as well as pieces of the actual film to check the quality. The extras are pretty standard compared to the first 6 Special Edition DVD sets (aside from the missing Teaser & Trailer....as it turns out Paramount has announced a new official release date for this set as September 28, so if you missed it you won't have to wait but 2 more weeks). The film quality is better than the non-anamorphic version, though there is some annoying edge enhancement which gives it a video look/feel instead of a film quality, which is a little disappointing (though this will NOT be fixed on the new release, all that will be fixed on that is the outer insert, with a sticker no less, saying that the Teaser & Trailer are not part of the set). The DTS surround track however is very open and very punchy when it needs to be, so kudos to Paramount for adding this on there!

Last night saw the premiere of Joey, the Friends spin-off starring Matt LeBlanc and I have to say, being the pilot episode, which sets up the basic premise and introduces characters (and actors unfamiliar as of yet with those characters) it was not that bad. I know I am spoiled now, but being that Joey is in NBC-HD Widescreen, that's another point in its favor, Friends was not. Of course, only the coming weeks will tell if Joey can stand on its own or if it was a horrible mistake, but hey, Frasier pulled it off after Cheers, so it's very possible Joey is here to stay.

Today I did a little cleaning in my storage shed, so it's becoming less and less crowded and eventually I'll be able to move everything into the condo.

I also went to Sam's Club (a warehouse market, a division of Wal*Mart) and picked up a 7lb container of cat food and a 40lb container of cat litter...three cats eat and shit a lot!!!

Today I will try to watch Jersey Girl and write a review (this is another Kevin Smith film and it didn't do well in the wake of Gigli, though I'm going in with an open mind, and being unspoilt by Gigli I think I can be fairly objective about it....although I'm already biased towards Smith's writing and directing....so we'll see...).

Tonight sees the return of StarGate SG-1 and StarGate: Atlantis after taking a week off. So from 9pm to 11pm I'll be tuned to the SciFi Channel......

RobMac

The Third Option

What I refer to as The Third Option whenever I visit a doctor keeps its track record alive yesterday, much to my chagrin.

I was supposed to have a post-op visit with my urologist yesterday at 4:40pm, so I get there around 4:30pm (although I know I probably won't even make it to the isolation room for a good half-hour) and around 5:05pm the Queen Nurse behind the patient-proof glass calls my name, so I answer by hobbling up to the window and leaning down so I can speak under it so she can hear me;

She says "Who are you here to see?"
I said "Doctor So-and-so." (name omitted)
She says "He has no office hours today...maybe you should make an appointment instead of just stopping by next time."
? ? ? W T F ? ? ?
I respond with a polite but frustrated "What?! No, I had an appointment. Someone called me two weeks ago the day after my procedure and told me to be here September 7th at 4:40pm for my post-op follow up visit. Today IS September seventh, isn't it?"
She says "Yes, but I don't think someone told you to be here today..."
I said "Well I do! I wrote it on a sticky note as soon as she said it and stuck it on my computer so I wouldn't forget; it's been there for two weeks!"
She says "That's not possible...."

This is where I start to get mad, and here's why;
Instead of just telling me what the hell is going on she berates me for making up an office visit because it's not at all within the realm of possibility that someone there screwed up, God forbid they should admit a mistake. I hate people that continue to argue over something instead of trying to rectify a situation; they'd rather make it worse than make it go away.

So I come to find out that I have the appointment today and I ask her no less than three times (much to her chagrin!);

"That's for tomorrow, the eighth of September at 4:40pm....that's Eastern Time, right?"
"Yes, because he's not in the office on Tuesdays, he does his operations and rounds at the hospitals on Mondays and Tuesdays"
...she had to turn the knife one last time. Fake Power, I hate it.

The Third Option is what happens when I see a doctor, I'll go in thinking "One of two things will happen, either A or B...." and then a third option appears and throws me completely for a loop.
So yesterday, its record stands strong.

So I go back today and see the doctor and I am told to get a KUB X-ray of my kidney so he can see if there's anything to see and bring him the films, meanwhile he's sending my stone fragments to be analyzed to see exactly what they're made of, this will help determine if the sodium bicarbonate I take every day is worthwhile and also how to go about treating it. I am scheduled to have my stent removed (and possibly replaced, pending him "getting in there" to see what he can see), so on the 23rd I again go to the hospital to have people gawk at my genitals and stick things up there....

On a lighter note, yesterday saw the return of the new season of The Screen Savers on G4TechTV, now from Los Angeles instead of San Francisco and with a new co-host, Alex Albrecht (Patrick Norton got married and his wife didn't want to move to L.A.....best of luck Patrick, we'll miss 'ya!), so it's good to have the show back with new stuff.

Also last night was the second episode of Father Of The Pride (Larry's Debut, And Sweet Darryl Hannah Too) and while not as funny as the first episode (What's Black And White And Depressed All Over?) it had its share of belly laughs, which is far better than most shows these days.
I highly recommend checking it out.

RobMac

Frustrated

Tried uploading last night's blog no less than 10 times...the Uploading progress notice just sits there at "0%..." reloading over and over and over.....nothing.

If this shows up, I can't understand why last night's won't, even when I cut, copy and paste into a new publish box.

Target Misses What Wal*Mart Hits

So I go looking this morning for the Star Trek: Generations-Special Edition DVD which Paramount officially recalled on Friday, just 4 days before it's supposed to be released due to a misprint of a few words on the case insert. It mentions as extras "Teaser Trailer and Theatrical Trailer" but they were left off for some unknown reason, so to correct this heinous crime Paramount tells stores to return thousands upon thousands of DVDs already crowding warehouses across America, but I knew some wouldn't, it's just not cost effective, or some just don't care.

So I'm at Target when they open at 8am and there's one other guy there and he runs to the DVD section (I hobble) and I can see he's getting frantic searching every end-cap, aisle and bin for some elusive DVD (now I can't be certain it was Generations he was after), but he left without buying anything and looking really pissed off. I look and of course, nothing. I really didn't expect to find it so easily. I did, however, pick up Clerks.X (The 10th Anniversary 3-disc set of Kevin Smith's first film), of which they only had 3...(THREE!? for the entire stock?) so it wasn't a total waste.

So I drive to another Target about 5 miles away (since I think Target's the only store open this early) and same thing; no Star Trek: Generations. So I decide on a whim to try Wal*Mart, thinking that they usually suck so bad that maybe people won't go there or (more likely) that the employees just don't care about a studio recall, but I'm not sure what time they open, but I check it out anyway. I get there and they're open! (Turns out they open at 7am) I mosey on down to the Electronics area and lo-and-behold, Generations, lots of 'em. So I pick one up, go to the register, sure it's not going to accept it and cause a problem, but nope, it scans just fine. I pay my $15 and leave.

So now I have something to do today before I go to see my urologist....

RobMac

Family

Today I visited my mother and father to measure their bedroom windows for light blocking shades, then mom & I went to Lowes to order them. I have cordless light blocking shades in my bedroom and my mother loves them (as do I) and she's been wanting some ever since she & dad rearranged the layout in their room, so today was the day. I was expecting them to be overfull (being the holiday and all) and it was. Generally it's impossible to find an employee to help you, but today we lucked out and within 5 minutes we had our own employee to order the blinds from. We were in and out in 10 minutes; a new world record for anything in Lowes! And because it was a holiday they took 20% off the kind she wanted, so it was a good trip.

I than called my sister to see if I could visit since I had made a DVD for them of my nephew (home movies of my first nephew (15), I have three now) and as it turns out her half-brother and his girlfriend were up from Georgia visiting so she said "come on up". I get there and my brother-in-law is feeding my youngest nephew (5 months old) and my second nephew (29 months) is watching The Lion King (his favorite movie too!) and the rest of them are sitting down to eat lunch, so I join them. As we ate my brother-in-law's brothers arrive...so it's turning into a party! I didn't stay long as I was still kinda hurting but mostly because it was getting to naptime for my two youngest nephews.

Family is great, I love them all.

That's all I did today, though it was fun and it was a beautiful day here in eastern PA so I drove to & from my sister's with the top down (convertible), she's about 30 minutes away so it was a nice drive in the open sun and wind for an hour. I felt better while I was driving.

Tomorrow's the follow-up visit with my urologist and we're supposed to discuss the removal of the stent and schedule a CT Scan, so expect the unexpected tomorrow as my thoughts of how a doctor visit will go turns completely the other way once I get there.

RobMac

These are my cats; Saquarra (Burmese), Anck Su Namun "Moon" (Sphynx) & Fleur (Bengal)...the three bitches in my life... 

Took A Trek Today...

I'll get this out of the way first, I was hurting today...alot. Nothing much left my kidney today (stone-wise) and I just get the feeling that something big is on the way. Being that I was in alot of pain I really just sat on my ass and didn't do much, except watch Trekkies & Trekkies 2. See what I think of Trekkies 2 in my review.

I went online today to visit that Galaxy Far, Far Away again and was a bit frustrated with all the glitches since Publish 10 went live this week. Every now and then the makers of Star Wars: Galaxies tweak the game to fix bugs that appear or streamline gameplay or change the rules, each time they upload major changes they're called a Publish and we're up to number 10.

With this one they changed the way people become Jedi. They change this every so often and I really don't have an interest in becoming one because it's such a convoluted process. Over time you've had to dip your hand into the various Professions (Artisan, Brawler, Marksman, Medic, Scout, etc) and earn experience in several different fields to become "Force Aware" (though it was never releaved which fields gave you this ability and so players would "waste" months building up experience in every field only to never become Force Aware or worse, to have the makers change the rules on you sending you back to square one), that then gave you the ability to look for Holocrons that could give you a clue as to what to do next to follow the path towards Jedi. Well, the Holocron idea seems to have been dropped and who knows what it's really based on to become Aware, but now there's something called "The Old Man" who you have to hunt down and hope he "appears" to you to give you guidance (I guess ala Obi-Wan's Ghost). Where "The Old Man" resides and how long you'll have to wait for him to appear seems to be on everyone's mind now (that's assuming you're Force Aware remember, if you're not, don't even bother...).

Since everyone's looking for The Old Man the Cantinas are nearly empty (this is where you go to heal from battle or meet up with friends) and the Medical Centers have lost most of their doctors who are also out on this quest, and as a result it's very difficult to get healed from battle damage or death! This also presents a problem since it appears most players are coming back into the game to go on this hunt and the servers are overworked, this makes gameplay for everyone very "jumpy" and makes you "warp" (you could run on foot for a few seconds and all of a sudden - POOF! - you're 100 meters BACK to where you started from and have to start all over again!). It's very frustrating and it seems those not interested in searching for The Old Man are not coming back until this insanity settles, which leaves even less people in the Medical Centers and Cantinas!

But that's neither here nor there, or there nor here, but if here was there then I'd be there already and wouldn't need to go there since there is here....my brain hurts....

RobMac

Trip To The Future - Delayed

I just finished reading The Digital Bits website (DVD reviews and information) and I am slightly miffed at Paramount, though only slightly. You see, Tuesday 9/7 was supposed to see the release of the Star Trek: Generations Special Edition DVD, not any more. Paramount mistakenly printed on the case that a Teaser and Theatrical Trailer were extras on the disc, but they're not there. Sites reviewing the disc mention the misprint and blow it off as a minor mistake, and I agree because the original Generations DVD has them and most Star Trek fans already have the bare-bones non-anamorphic first disc, so it's really not a tragedy, but Paramount has been undecided what to do about it. Today I learn that with only 4 days left until release, they're recalling the entire run to reprint a spec-insert removing 4 words! Needless to say the there will be retailers that will not ship back pallets of the DVDs already in their warehouses, so some fans will still find them on shelves Tuesday and I hope to be one of them. I could give a crap that there are 4 errant words inside the plastic cover, I want to see (and hear) Generations in anamorphic widescreen with a (highly rated) DTS 5.1 soundtrack. I won't go nuts if I don't find it, as the delay should be minimal (a few weeks?), and I have plenty of DVDs left to watch, but still, it's the principal of the thing. Also, you're now going to get the eBay freaks hitting all the stores Tuesday morning at opening times to horde the DVDs that do find shelf space only to claim "rare misprint" or "early release, in stock!" for $200 on eBay or other auction sites. Parasites.

On a similar note (about DVDs anyway) I have not yet watched The Passion Of The Christ, and may put it off a few days as I have to get myself in the mood to sit through it. I haven't seen it at all but I've heard it's quite brutal so I need to get into the right mindset (if there is such a thing). The same with Schindler's List, it's a great movie, but I really have to be ready for it.

I did check out most of The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride DVD and I have to say I'm not disappointed. The original Lion King DVD has a nice Disney Home Theater 5.1 Surround Mix that accentuates the surround and LFE (Low Frequency Effects, aka bass) giving it a nice open, booming sound field, sadly The Lion King 1 1/2 and now The Lion King 2 don't have this same treatment so the LFE are nearly non-existent. I guess Disney feels that loud booming bass or an "open" soundstage might frighten young children, which is odd because there are some truly frightening visual moments in The Lion King already, so what if the sound of an elephant feels like it has mass or a stampede feels as threatening as if you were really there? So I'm glad TLK has it, but it would have been nice to have a consistent Home Theater mix for the sequels.

So, my scheduled trip to the 24th Century on September 7th has been potentially delayed, but I have enough to keep my mind occupied until it comes out. I have another trip scheduled on the 21st to A Galaxy Far, Far Away....

Fox had better not find a way to delay this trip unless there's something really special they plan to add!

RobMac

Lazy Day Of Summer

Very uneventful day. I am continuing to pass some decent size chunks from my kidney stone but nothing the size of yesterday's present. Medication makes me lazy and since my DVD order from DigitalEyes just arrived I won't be reviewing Trekkies 2 or The Passion Of The Christ until tomorrow at the very earliest. Tonight I'll probably watch The Lion King 2 in glorious Anamorphic Widescreen.

No pontifications on anything else today, my back hurts and I'm sleepy, so I'm just going to say Eat Your Vegetables, Be Nice To Others & Don't Accept Any Wooden Nickles even though they may be worth big bucks in the coin collecting community now-a-days.

RobMac

Of Stones and Stores

I passed a mother of a kidney stone fragment today, it stung some but I'm glad to have that much more out of me. The stone I have (had?) is 2cm and this piece that appeared today was about 7mm (3/4cm), so it's almost half the size of the overall stone! It's flat, but it's wide and long, so it's a good portion of what was in there. If more of these size pieces pass I'll be very happy. I'll take the pain for a short period to pass them rather than have them stay inside giving me more pain over a longer period of time. Hopefully this is a sign of things to come.

I finished Paycheck today and posted a review on my site, you can check the review here. In a nutshell, it's a decent flick, along the lines of Total Recall but a little better, in my opinion.

I went out for a drive for the first time in over a week, I needed food so I ventured forth to the grocery store. I go to Redner's, a store chain here in Pennsylvania where I've found the best prices around on almost everything, which helps when you're sick and out of work for the better part of 8 years! They have warehouse prices with grocery store portions and there are no membership fees, it's a normal store anyone can shop at.

I was also reminded today why I hate people. I almost forgot being homebound for 10 days; people are selfish and obnoxious as a general rule. Upon arriving at the store I was greeted by a shopping cart left lazily in the handicapped parking space...while the Cart Return corral was no more than 10 feet away! Who the hell is so damn lazy they can't walk an additional 10 feet to put a cart away?! Selfish people who don't give a crap about someone needing a handicap spot, that's who. I speak not only for myself, because I can park a little further away without too much problem (though it helps to not have to walk too far) but there are people worse off than me, elderly people or people with severe mobility issues and this spot is carelessly left unusable to make someone's day just slightly more convenient. I hate those people. These are the people that never leave a space between stopped cars at traffic lights to let other drivers in or out of gas stations or stores or other entrances, yet they'll be the first to lay on their horn when you do the same thing preventing them from getting into those gas stations, stores or other entrances.
Yes, even though I had to park further away because I couldn't use the handicapped spot, I detoured to retrieve it and move it the additional 10 feet in the opposite direction so the next person is a little more comfortable walking 40-50 feet less to get their food, although they're probably the same people who would just leave the cart back in that spot once they're done with it too....but I'm not, so I don't just ignore it.

When you're inside a store other people ram their carts into each other without so much as a "sorry" and they'll block the entire aisle while they decide if they want cubed or crushed pineapple chunks. They don't see or hear anyone else invading their universe and when you make your presence known they act as if you're interfering with brain surgery.
One on one, people are usually pretty acceptable, and I've been fortunate to know quite a few exceptional people, but out there, in the world, it's full of little people too self involved to care about anyone but themselves and when you get them together in large groups you get riots and wars.

Life in general sucks so take the moments of peace and love when you can get them, because they're little slices of pleasure that don't happen often enough.

RobMac

Welcome....to Jurassic Park

This is me when I visited Jurassic Park...
My cousin took the picture and didn't tell me
about ole' "T" until he snapped this picture...
I barely made it out alive!

The cats live!

Yes, the cats survived the day....mostly by sleeping and keeping out of my way.

Not much happened today as I didn't go anywhere. I'm still not up for "out" after the procedure last week.

I played a little Star Wars: Galaxies, a pretty cool MMORPG (Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game). I've had it since July 2 and play it off and on, more off than on anymore, but when I'm on I usually stay on for a few hours. It's kinda like chat with avatars that can fight and kill things! I've been playing mostly solo, though by joining in groups you can gain more experience and gather skills making you better and you can choose any kind of lifestyle you want, from an Artisan who builds things to a Marksman who destroys things, you can become a Bounty Hunter or a Dancer, it's all up to you. It's a fun waste of time. I met up with two groups today, mostly amateurs (meaning less skilled than I am) and it was a little frustrating because when you attack something, like a creature lair, there's a way to do it (one creature at a time) and a wrong way (attack the lair and have all the creatures attack you at once!), they chose the wrong way more often than not, so everyone was killed...several times.
Sigh. Anyway, it wasted some of my day.

I started watching Paycheck with Ben Affleck but was forced to take a break when my mother stopped by for an impromptu visit, just to make sure I haven't died yet from my lithotripsy procedure last week. It's okay, she's cool and all, but it threw off my rhythm and I couldn't get back into the movie after she left. I'll have to finish it tomorrow, and post a review at Rob's Video Views. I'm also awaiting a delivery from DigitalEyes.net that will include Trekkies 2 (the original Trekkies documentary on the lifestyles of...well, trekkies, is amusing and entertaining, so I'm looking forward to seeing the next bit), The Passion Of The Christ and the newly anamorphic release of The Lion King 2: Simba's Pride (it was already out on DVD and I have the initial release, but it's non-anamorphic and so it's crappy to watch on a nice 65" HDTV, so I had to get the new version!) now I'll have all 3 Lion King movies in anamorphic widescreen!
You can watch Rob's Video Views for my thoughts on these titles over the next few days, though DigitalEyes has said they should arrive by Thursday.

I watched NBC's new computer animated show Father Of The Pride tonight and found it fairly amusing. It was on at 9pm (EDT) and is considered an "adult" cartoon, not for young kids, meaning it's not for the Telletubbie crowd. The animation was superb (in High Definition Widescreen, of course) and the voice talent was great, the story was a little silly but then again it is about Sigfried & Roy's animals. I like animation (traditional and computer generated) and I like furry creatures, so it was fun for me. I have Big Brother 5 (not very interesting anymore) and The Amazing Race 5 (always fun) on TiVo (a GREAT invention in case you don't have one!) waiting for me so I must go and try to get them in before I hit the hay.

So tune in tomorrow for the continuing adventures of Rob's Brainfarts!

RobMac

Early start, bad feeling....

If you have cats you may know of what I am about to speak; night terrorists. One is bad enough, get two of them together and you've got a party, but three? That's a rumble. First, I didn't ask for three cats, I wound up with three after my roommate died and left two to me. I have one, a Sphynx (hairless) who's name is Anck Su Namun (Pronounced An-Ox-On-A-Moon, "Moon" for short) she's the oldest and my roommate had two more, a Burmese named Saquarra and the youngest is a Bengal named Fleur, all females. Each night one of them wakes up (It's not usually Moon as she sleeps curled under my arm) and the smackdown begins. Usually around 2am is when it starts and around 3 by the time they run out of steam. Sometimes, however, the Bengal baby Fleur has more energy than the older ladies and continues to get into mischief all through the early morning hours.

This morning, as most mornings, I drift in and out of sleep to the sounds of things crashing, paper being chewed or loud screeching & meowing. She has a penchant for wires...this morning she was intent on chewing through the wire on my mouse....a dozen or so sprays from a water bottle kept bedside finally drives her mind elsewhere, but keeps my mind awake. I can't sleep anymore so I wake up...and she falls promptly to sleep - bitch.
Yesterday she used her teeth and claws to make confetti of my toilet paper...when she's not asleep and not in my line of sight, there's usually something bad she's doing. Bengals are notorious terrorists, especially the babies (she's about 18 months old).

So I am already starting off bad, when I don't sleep well I get very cranky because I'm usually in lots of pain, and today's no different as it rained all night, and weather definitely makes all the adhesions from my multiple abdominal surgeries ache. So I'm in pain, didn't sleep and it's 6am. Bad start.

So I turn on the TV...and without warning Comcast has decided to change my cable lineup...again. They do this every few months just when you finally memorize all 200 channels, they renumber them for no apparent reason other than to add 1 more channel, so they rearrange 50 or more to fit one in - bastards.
So I spent the last half hour trying to find the new numbers for the HDTV channels. They used to be in the 180-186 range, now they're 210-220 range. Why? Don't ask me, ask the geniuses at Comcast because I didn't find any new HD channels in there. It's not just those channels that have moved, minor channels like G4TechTV was 138, now it's 163 or some such thing...no sense. So I had to print out a new listing to keep by the TV to find my local ABC, CBS, NBC stations along with Fox and WB....and I now have to go through my TiVo to make sure it recorded things that were on last night and upcoming shows to verify that they'll still be recorded...or as we now say "TiVo'ed".

Not the best start to the day, but seeing as how I have nothing planned for today other than mope about the house trying not to hurt so much and maybe watch a movie or two to review. Oh, yeah, I like to write reviews, nothing professional, just thoughts about movies I've seen. You can check out my main reviews page at Rob's Reviews and my new home video review page at Video Views. I don't work due to being out on Medical Leave with this damn kidney stone.

It's been one week since I had a Lithotripsy procedure to try to break the stone up (it was 2cm and IN my right kidney) and in the past week I've passed a good amount of gravel, but nothing close to resembling 2cm, and it's slowed, so I don't know if we got it all or not. I still hurt, but I also have a stent in there to keep the stone from backing me up, and that's probably what I'm feeling more than the stone at this point. I see my urologist in a week and we'll discuss removing the stent (it's been in 3 months now, so it has to be replaced), but I'll have a CT Scan done after it comes out to see if the stone is still there or if it's small enough now to not worry about putting another stent back in for three more months. Believe me when I say you do NOT want a stent put in if you have a kidney stone, if you're a guy, they go in the long way, without making any incisions. Just think of the route to get to the kidney without cutting any skin and you'll probably shudder as I do every time I remember it. I still feel the after effects of being violated that way. I am not looking forward to going through that again.

Well, I think that's enough for one morning so check back later and see if I still have three cats by the end of the day....

RobMac

Me 

It's a boy!

Well, I'm born to Blogger.com. Here I am, admire me...or at least check on me from time to time.

It was suggested to me to start a blog since some people think I have something to say, important or not, I guess I do, so this will be a place for me to just vent about stuff that happens in my life. I don't think it's very interesting, indeed I think it's rather dull, but it was suggested that other people like to check in on us dull people to compare how dull or exciting their own lives are. Well, I guess it'll be safe to predict that your life will be far more exciting than mine once there's enough here to read.

My life in a nutshell consists of being sick...allot. You see, I have Crohn's Disease, which is a gastrointestinal disorder that makes life pretty miserable overall, but since I'm still here I guess all the drama I've been through over the last 8 years has been worth it, at least that's what they tell me.

Around December 1995 I started having some gastrointestinal difficulties, to say the least. I'll leave out the details for now. That's your digestive system to the layperson, anything that has to do with processing anything you eat from the time it enters your body until the time it leaves. It involves pain and a loss of control, which makes it pretty disgusting and almost taboo to talk about in polite conversation, and so becomes an embarrassing topic and therefore a lonely disease. I warn you now because the last 8 years and the interim surgeries (10 at last count) consume much of my thoughts so it's bound to rear its ugly head more often than not. I complain allot.

Anyway, I also tend to ramble and not make much sense, since when I type it's very "stream of consciousness" so I'm not going to adhere to perfect grammar, so don't try to correct my mistakes, I'm too lazy to change anything once it's on paper - Um, on screen?

This is enough for one night I suppose, though now that I'm typing away I see I may have enough to say to make this worthwhile, to me anyway. So, I guess I'll say goodnight and see you tomorrow.

RobMac