Category Archives: Marcia

What Happened to January?

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Yeah, I know what happened. Surgery, school, work, life. Funny thing, that. I have lots of stuff I’d like to work on, and comment on, but I have no time, so I don’t, and I don’t. Marcia’s doing really well, though. Tonight is the last of the rat poison, and tomorrow is the last day for the by-now-truly-hated compression hose. I’m not personally a huge fan either, because I assist in the changing thereof, and wash each pair once a day, to keep them in rotation. But I’m still glad I haven’t had to wear them. Also, with the Coumadin out of the regimen, no more twice-a-week blood tests. So we’ve got that going for us…

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Cpl. Christopher G. Singer, 23, of Temecula, California, died Jan. 21 while conducting combat operations in Helmand province, Afghanistan.
  • Capt. Joshua C. Pairsh, 29, of Equality, Illinois, died Jan. 22 in the United States of a non-combat related illness.
  • 1st Lt. David A. Johnson, 24, of Horicon, Wisconsin, died Jan. 25, in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of injuries suffered after encountering an improvised explosive device while conducting a dismounted patrol.

Catch-up Time…

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Weirdly, the other night (Wednesday?) both of the touch lamps we use as bedside light broke and would no longer light. The proximal event was a light-bulb blowout on Marcia’s side (one of three small bulbs). I’ve observed in the past that the touch lamp circuitry, while incredibly convenient, seems to be terribly fragile (at least in consumer-grade gear) to spikes and dips. So yesterday evening I trundled down to Lowes and picked up a couple of three-way manually switched lamps and a pair of three-way CFL bulbs. Bloody profit-taking on the LED “bulbs” keeps those prices too high.

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In Marcia news, on Tuesday evening, she sprained a hamstring attachment point while straightening her leg to sit in the recliner. The surgeon’s office was called on Wednesday morning, and they waved her off of PT for the day, and saw her on suture removal day: Thursday, in the morning. 30 staples were removed, and two different PAs (Physician Assistant) evaluated her issues. With a modified PT order in hand, she went to PT on Thursday evening (where she ROCKED, and was graduated from walker to cane) and again on Friday morning, where she pushed really hard again. She’s making great progress, but pain is the price of progress. She doesn’t like that part so very much.

On the extra-good news front, they’ve told her she can stop taking rat poison on the 30th, and terminate the wearing of the compression stockings then, too. The process around the blood thinner and the stockings is pretty intense, and consumes a not-inconsiderable portion of each day.

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I’m finally getting caught up on the school work. The geology class is rolling, and has lots of reading and a fair amount of writing involved. I’ve finally done all of the work for week one, and forging ahead into week two’s work, since I want to be well ahead of the game before my Principles of Software Engineering course starts on 6 February.

Physical Therapy with a Chance of Walking

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Marcia continues to make stellar progress with her PT exercises – straight leg lifts that could not be done without an assist four days ago are now done on leg strength alone, and twice as high as before. Rockin’! She’s also doing 10-15 minute sessions of laps on the main floor of the house with her walker, and pain management is improving daily. Some neighbors dropped by today, with conversation, balloon, and chocolate to share with Marcia – she enjoyed the little bit of company, I think.

MLK day tomorrow, then I’ll do some work in the ensuing four days, maybe even some AT the office. Maybe the work will amount to half- or three quarter-days, wrapped around blood tests, staples out, and physical therapy for Marcia.

School “Spring” session starts for me on Tuesday, as well. Of course I’ve been pre-reading… The first class this session is also the last of my general education requirement courses, I’m taking Geology 100. I’m sure to learn a thing or two. The next class starts a couple of weeks down the road: Principles of Software Engineering. It’s an upper division elective class – all I have left are those.

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Our condolences to the families, friends, and units of these fallen warriors:

  • Staff Sgt. Jonathan M. Metzger, 32, of Indianapolis, Indiana, died Jan. 6 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Robert J. Tauteris Jr., 44, of Hamlet, Indiana, died Jan. 6 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Christopher A. Patterson, 20, of Aurora, Illinois, died Jan. 6 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Spc. Brian J. Leonhardt, 21, of Merrillville, Indiana, died Jan. 6 in Kandahar province, Afghanistan, of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
  • Pfc. Dustin P. Napier, 20, of London, Kentucky, died Jan. 8 in Zabul province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from enemy small-arms fire.
  • Pfc. Michael W. Pyron, 30, of Hopewell, Virginia, died Jan. 10 in Parwan province, Afghanistan.
  • Pfc. Neil I. Turner, 21, of Tacoma, Washington, died Jan. 11, in Logar province, Afghanistan, of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.

Happy Dancing All Around…

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Okay, not Marcia – she’s not going to be dancing for a bit, but she’s got a whole new left knee joint now. Surgery was Monday at 0730 at AAMC, done by Dr. Louis Ruland. He’s a great orthopedist, and Marcia can probably say that with more assurance than I can. He kept her on her feet for nearly 10 years, and when the joint damage was too bad for any further repairs, he’s given her a whole new knee to work with.

By Monday evening, they had her on her feet for a quick evaluation, believe it or not! The last three days have been full of walking about the floor, physical therapy sessions morning and evening, and naps and such. I was making two trips out there a day, to participate (coach) for the PT sessions, and deliver home roasted and brewed coffee. Tomorrow is the first outpatient PT session, at a place close by the house.

Also twice a week, we have blood tests, because they’ve got her taking rat poison, errr, Warfarin(tm), errrr, Coumadin(tm) for the next four weeks. I presume that the compromised circulation from the knee surgery makes clot formation a lot more prevalent, and the thinner helps keep that in check. Anyway, the twice-a-week labs allow them to adjust her dosage and keep her in the right range.

Late next week, the staples come out, and the work continues.

Oh, yeah. Lexi was really, REALLY happy to see Marcia.

In the style of Jepoardy

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It is pumped from the ocean bottoms to the top of the spill mountains.

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Zidane is dead. Today we (and by we I mean Greg) has finally had the plug pulled on the third (or second) iteration of a box that we (and by we, I mean both of us) hosted assorted sites for us and friends and associates. The take barely paid for the box, but overall it was both a worthy and worthwhile endeavor. I know I became a better system administrator through working on the system, and got a fair taste of the joys of running a Hell Desk.

This place is easy to admin: keep the updates in place and do backups. The email, courtesy of Google, is as spam-free as I’ve had in twenty years. I’ll never complain of that. Someone was asking about the advisability of trusting the Goog. I replied that they probably already had the email, they might as well store it, too. I still keep an IMAP server running here at home, and that has copies of everything I want to preserve.

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No, I don’t know what brought the question to mind that prompts the Jeopardy answer. But I had to get it out of my head, and yours is a perfectly good place to store it until I need it again.

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Yesterday was house-cleaning. Not the whole bloody thing, just the hardest part – the main floor. I’ll possibly do the second floor tomorrow. Today was shopping and school work. I got a draft version of my first database class project done and sent in for review by late afternoon. Tonight, thunder and lightning and a delicious turkey and zucchini dish delectably concocted by my lovely Marcia. Now the fireworks are starting up in the neighbourhood and surrounding areas. Lexi hates the thunder, but the fireworks appear only to anger her.

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Oh, yeah. Last bit of news for now: First tomato! A cherry tomato was ripe enough to pluck from the vine, cleave in two, and share with SWMBO. We were both happy. First tomato is the harbinger of many tomatoes, which makes me very happy indeed. Ciao!

T-Minus Four Days

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It seems that Jerry’s moved over to the new host, with Rick Hellewell’s capable assistance. I’ve got one or two more sites to flip over, then I think nearly everything’s off of Zidane. Checking, I see a couple of remaining problem children besides mine. So I’m sending a few emails to remind people that the box goes away on Thursday, 6/30.

Now I should move Marcia’s last site, and set up some posting methods for her. Ciao!

Zucchini

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Zucchini from the garden

Zucchini from the garden

The zucchini – the smallest is 3/4″ diameter by about 5″ long, and the cup measure partly visible in the upper right corner yields more scale for your eyes. Good to harvest out so that the plant keeps working at new veg, rather than making monsters (which we’ve done in the past). Not much else to say – school work this evening after spending some of yesterday at work, and the balance of the day helping the folks from Cottonseed Glory set up Marcia’s new Handi Quilter machine into the evening. Marcia == v.v.happy! Ciao!

Triskaidekaphobia

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Not really. But it is our thirteenth wedding anniversary. Marcia and I were married in Sunnyvale back in ’98, and we’re pleased to have surprised almost everyone with the longevity of our second date, errr, marriage. My present to her this year was to wake her up and tell her that she could go ahead and get the Handi Quilter HQ24 Fusion system with something called ProStitcher (which means that Marcia hands the computer a design, the computer stitches the quilt). It doesn’t even sparkle and I got her to cry. Yeah, it’s a few years earlier than we originally planned, but with her car paid off, we can afford  to do this now, so that she can start getting the experience with this that she needs to make money with it down the road. Me, I got a quilt – a wall hanging that Marcia made for me. Turns out my gift to her is super-appropriate for the occasion: the thirteenth anniversary is traditionally to be celebrated with Lace, Textiles, or Furs. Well, she can work on that middle thing with my gift, so I’m in the groove. And I guess I’m glad she didn’t get me something made of lace … I might be required to wear it.

First Post! Natali Portman and Hot Grits!

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Yeah, I’ve always wanted to have my own little bit of Slash* over here.

If you’re looking for the older stuff, you can start over there, on the Site Map. Search on the main site is currently broken, and that’s on my to-do list.

So, WordPress reappears on the OrbDesigns site. I’m going to be moving Marcia over to WP soon, and figured I’d better be using it first. Hmmm … what about pictures?

2011 Garden, May 30

2011 Garden, May 30

Hey, pictures are easy, too! That’ll be handy. Now, back to work.