I can't tell whether this is a cold or just allergies again. I'm guessing it's a cold, because Allegra isn't even touching it. Robitussin isn't doing anything about the cough, either, and that's even more annoying. I don't normally like to complain about my health on here, but it was that or scream.

You may now return to your regularly scheduled whatever. I'm going to go flip a coin to decide between a glass of wine or an Ambien (last night it was Ambien) and then go to bed.

Courtesy of katerinfg comes the following...

Leave a comment and I will:
a) Tell you why I friended you.
b) Associate you with something - fandom, a song, a colour, a photo, etc.
c) Tell you something I like about you.
d) Tell you a memory I have of you.
e) Ask something I've always wanted to know about you.
f) Tell you my favorite user pic of yours.
g) In return, you must post this in your LJ.

Whew!

Talk about a busy day. Several chores ganged up on me, all clamoring to be done. Time to put my feet up for a few minutes and catch my breath. LJ break!

And I see I've been tagged by

silk_noir to do the following:

1) Pick up the nearest book.
2) Go to page 123.
4) Find the 5th sentence.
5) Post the next 3 sentences.
6) Tag 5 people and acknowledge who tagged you.

So, the nearest book happened to be Star Trek Phase II: The Lost Series. However, page 123 is kind of choppy, being that it is mostly stage directions in an episode script. Not to worry; on the shelf next to it was Heinlein's Stranger In A Strange Land, which works much better for this sort of thing.

Jubal Harshaw is speaking to Duke: "Mike would then have been apologetic over having 'wasted food' - namely your beefy carcass. But he wouldn't feel guilty about killing you; that would be a necessity you forced on him... and not important, even to you. You see, Mike believes that your soul is immortal."

I'm tagging the following people:

katerinfg  
lubeck  
zsof  
nanassi  
madfedor 

 

I got this from at least two of my friends, including one in Australia. Looks like fun, so I answered them in e-mail and then posted it here as well. I'd love to see other people's answers.

1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Yes, my maternal grandmother. Sort of.

2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Yesterday, a little bit. I'd just read a touching story online.

3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It depends.

4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Ham

5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
No

6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I'd like to think so. I like quirky people.

7. DO YOU USE SARCASM A LOT?
You're kidding, right?

8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS
Yes

9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
No way in hell.

10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Granola.

11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
It depends on the shoes.

12. DO YOU THINK YOU ARE STRONG?
Mentally or physically?

13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
Some variation of chocolate.

14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Their face.

15. RED OR PINK?
Depends on my mood. Oh, and red or pink what?

16. WHAT IS THE LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
Physically, my weight. Mentally, my propensity for procrastination. In fact, there are things I should be doing right now, but instead I'm doing this. ;-)

17. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My mom.

18. DO YOU WANT EVERYONE TO ANSWER THIS?
Yes

19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue pants, no shoes at the moment.

20. WHAT WAS THE LAST THING YOU ATE?
An oatmeal breakfast cookie.

21. WHAT ARE YOU LISTENING TO RIGHT NOW?
A DJ friend doing a blues show on a local university's radio station.

22. IF YOU WHERE A CRAYON, WHAT COLOR WOULD YOU BE?
Magenta

23. FAVORITE SMELLS?
Lilacs, lavender, fresh wind off the lake.

24. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My fiance

25. DO YOU LIKE THE PERSON WHO SENT THIS TO YOU?
Yes

26. FAVORITE SPORTS TO WATCH?
Baseball, hockey

27. HAIR COLOR?
Light brown

28. EYE COLOR
Light greyish-greenish blue

29. DO YOU WEAR CONTACTS?
Yes, when my eyes and allergies will let me.

30. FAVORITE FOOD?
Chicken.

31. SCARY MOVIES OR HAPPY ENDINGS?
Happy endings

32. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
"The Rookie" with Dennis Quaid

33. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Heather grey with "Cleveland Indians" on the front

34. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer, definitely. (Duh! LOL)

35. HUGS OR KISSES?
Both, please!

36. FAVORITE DESSERT?
Chocolate mousse

37. MOST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Samantha

38. LEAST LIKELY TO RESPOND?
Dave

39. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
"A Fire Upon The Deep" by Vernor Vinge is one of them.

40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
I have a laptop and don't use a mousepad but the most recent one I used has an Ohio State logo on it.

41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
The Cleveland Indians playing baseball on one tv and the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL playoffs on another (I was at the Winking Lizard).

42. FAVORITE SOUND?
Birdsong in the morning

43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Beatles

44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Los Angeles, California

45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Singing or writing

46. WHERE WERE YOU BORN?
Jamestown, New York

47. WHOSE ANSWERS ARE YOU LOOKING FORWARD TO GETTING BACK?
Everyone's!

By 9:00 AM this morning I'd taken Dave to work, stopped at the grocery store for a few items, brought them home and put them away, started two loads of laundry, transferred dirty dishes from the sink to the dishwasher, and made plans to take my Dad up to the Senior Center for activities and lunch. I've been awake since about 6:00 AM and am running on one cup of coffee. Of course, had I been able to get to sleep before 2:30 AM, it would be even better. Damn insomnia.

Now I'm off to install Linux on Dave's laptop computer. *puts on household tech-guru hat, tilted rakishly*

*glances out window*

Snow??!?

"Snow" contains the word "no"... this should be a clue, ye foul weather system! *shivers and shakes fist at the sky*

It cans be summer nao, plz?


(Edit: Okay, so it's just an extremely light flurry, a few flakes. Still, I'd really like to be done with it until, say, next December.)

You.
Can.
Only.
Type.
One.
Word.

1. Where is your cell phone? - On the kitchen counter, charging.
2. Your significant other? - Funny
3. Your hair? - Copper-brown
4. Your mother? - Dead
5. Your father? - Downstairs, probably watching the Science Channel.
6. Your favorite thing? - Love
7. Your dream last night? - Which one? Oh, never mind, they were all equally weird, as usual.
8. Your favorite drink? - Iced tea.
9. Your dream/goal? - Being an emigrant/expatriate.
10. The room you're in? - Living room.
11. Your ex? - Which one? Oh, never mind, they were all equally weird, as is usual with me.
12. Your fear? - Alone
13. Where do you want to be in 6 years? - Toronto, ON or Edinburgh, Scotland. We'll see if I can pull either of them off. If not, then how about someplace tropical?
14. Where were you last night? - My Parrothead Club meeting.
15. What you're not? - Boring. (At least, I hope not!)
16. Muffins? - Fattening but yummy. Unless I make them, then they're just yummy.
17. One of your wish list items? - A cool million dollars?
18. Where you grew up? - Western New York State, near Lake Chautauqua
19. The last thing you did? - Yelled at the Cleveland Indians on TV for sucking so badly tonight.
20. What are you wearing? - Indians T-shirt, pajama pants
21. Your TV? - On, tuned to the Indians game
22. Your pet(s)? - two kitty cats
23. Your computer? - Gateway laptop, about a year and half old.
24. Your life? - Settling
25. Your mood? - Tired, kind of
26. Missing someone? - No
27. Your car? - Turquoise
28. Something you're not wearing? - Jewelry
29. Favorite Store? - Borders or Half Price Books.
30. Your summer? - Something I fondly hope for whenever it isn't here, and enjoy when it is.
31. Love someone? - Oh, yes!
32. Your favorite color? - Purple, pink, turquoise, yellow, neon green... wait, you mean I have to pick just one?
33. When is the last time you laughed? - about an hour ago, at something my sweetie said.
34. Last time you cried? - February, I think.

Mehrit on SCA Chat on Undernet passed me a link to some photos from (among other things) Pennsics past, among which I found a real gem: someone disguised their camp shower to look like the TARDIS.

Way cool!

Go here and click on the second picture from the left in the second row.

Found this floating around in a few places, and decided to see what it might tell me about myself:

The Five Love Languages

My primary love language is probably
Physical Touch
with a secondary love language being
Words of Affirmation.

Complete set of results

Physical Touch:		10
Words of Affirmation:		8
Quality Time:		6
Acts of Service:		5
Receiving Gifts:		1

Information

Unhappiness in relationships, according to Dr. Gary Chapman, is often due to the fact that we speak different love languages. Sometimes we don't understand our partner's requirements, or even our own. We all have a "love tank" that needs to be filled in order for us to express love to others, but there are different means by which our tank can be filled, and there are different ways that we can express love to others.

Take the quiz

Now to get Future Hubby to take the quiz...

Despite everything, I got to my orthopedic appointment today. Three x-rays and a consultation later, I am now walking in my own two shoes, sans walker, wearing an Ace ankle brace on my right ankle and occasionally using a cane for balance, or to signal in a crowd that it is probably not a good idea to jostle me.

It feels SO good!

I've seen my x-rays from today, and the bone looks good. I can't even see where it was broken, though admittedly I'm no expert at reading x-rays. Apparently, it's pretty solid now, anyway, and the doc said that in another few weeks the ankle will be completely healed and good as ever. In the meantime, I'm to walk normally, wear the ankle brace if I feel the need (and yes, it makes me feel more sure of the ankle, which feels slightly weaker than the other one, though it doesn't hurt unless I'm on it for a long time). I get to return to my normal life, and I go back to the orthopedist on April 17th for another checkup. He also said not to worry about my left knee, since a lot of the current pain I'm having in it is probably due to a combination of having been my mobility workhorse for several weeks and walking in the fracture boot, which has a higher sole than my shoes. Once I've been walking levelly in normal shoes for a while, he expects the pain to subside, and if I do the PT exercises I had for the knee before, that ought to take care of the rest. Basically, sensible leg exercises will strengthen both legs, and I'll be just fine.

I'm still a bit confused as to whether I merely have a torn meniscus in that knee, or a torn meniscus and a torn or missing ACL. My regular orthopedist is currently on vacation, and the one I saw today is an associate of his who also saw me while I was in the hospital. My regular one had told me back in September that my ACL was "okay" but my meniscus was torn; however, in a visit to my primary doctor yesterday, I was informed that according to a letter from that orthopedist to my primary doc in October, my knee injury was described as a torn ACL and a torn meniscus. Well, either way, the knee was stable after PT, so apparently it will be again. Good, because I really don't want surgery.

Anyway, I can walk now. My friend who took me to the appointment had to go back to work, but by that time my fiance had arrived home from work, and came to get me. We ran a few errands, and now he's gone to shovel a friend's car out of the snow left from this weekend's blizzard. I'm looking forward to getting back to normalcy.

Charlie Stross describes the current crop of Presidential candidates in Monster Manual terms.

Brilliant. Absolutely brilliant.

I saw the first robin of spring today, and the pussywillows in our backyard are pushing forth their fuzzy little blooms!

I am currently watching a program on the History Channel, Journey to 10,000 BC, about ancient humans. For whatever reason, the History Channel has seen fit to keep a banner in the top left corner of the screen, announcing "Ax Men Series Premiere Starts In" followed by a counter in hours, minutes and seconds. (It's currently at 01:47:38 or some such.)

Do they have ANY idea how annoying this is? I really don't want my view of the program I'm currently watching to be obscured or distracted from by a banner advertising an upcoming show that I have no interest in. (To be fair, I'd be just as upset if the banner were advertising a show I was eagerly awaiting.) Why not just let me watch what I'm watching right now, and trust me to be able to read my cable guide and figure out when the next thing I want to watch will be on?

Okay, is it just me, or has anyone else noticed lately that at least on some cable channels, commercials seem to be getting inserted in such a way that they actually cut off some of the dialogue on TV shows? (Or the announcer on sporting events?) I can't figure out if these are just instances of someone pushing a button a second too early, or if the cable stations - or my cable company (Cox) is inserting extra commercials and thereby causing viewers to miss portions of shows so that the commercials may be shown.

So what I'm wondering is if anyone else is seeing this as well?

Ah, late winter in Cleveland, Ohio...

Water Floods Basements in Downtown Cleveland

And the whole mess put a big sinkhole at a major intersection in Public Square, too.

There is speculation that this week's fluctuating temperatures may have caused the pipe, installed in 1880, to weaken and break.

Is anyone else having trouble getting there?

Edit: Never mind; they're working now.

For those of you who weren't aware, I broke my right ankle on January 16th, and this on top of having suffered a torn meniscus in my left knee last year. The knee was treated with physical therapy, and I was cleared to return to normal activity just before Christmas. So of course, less than a month later, I break the ankle on the opposite leg. The left knee decided that bearing all of my weight did not constitute "normal" activity and went on strike. I wound up not being able to use crutches, and so had to use a wheelchair. Thus began several weeks of inactivity. Inactivity of this type can often lead to the development of blood clots in the lower limbs, and I had already been hospitalized in November of 2001 for a clot in my right calf. (I was on birth control pills at the time, and over the age of 35, and had smoked briefly off and on up to that point, so the clot was chalked up to those things as they are known to increase clotting risks. I was treated with heparin in the hospital, spent three days there, was discharged, spent 6 months on Coumadin, have been off BC and smoking ever since, and remained clot-free.) I was worried about developing another clot while sitting on my butt waiting for my ankle to heal, and indeed I did develop one, this time in my right thigh. I was admitted to the hospital on Saturday, February 23rd, late at night after spending several hours in ER getting tests done. Heparin was administered via IV, and I started on Coumadin while in the hospital.

Also, while I was in the hospital they checked my ankle on Tuesday and cleared me for full weightbearing, as tolerated, in the big plastic removable boot I've been wearing since February 7th. (I also now get to leave the boot off except when actually walking in it. Yay for increased foot comfort!) They gave me a walker and taught me to use it, and had me hobbling the halls, and also had me practicing on the stairs in the physical therapy gym with a crutch so that I could get in and out of our 2nd-floor apartment without having to go up and down stairs on my butt anymore. So one day before the six-week anniversary of the fracture, I was cleared to walk.

I got home Friday evening, and will be on Coumadin (also known as warfarin) for probably the next three months, and at least to start with, I have to have blood tests on Mondays and Fridays. The clot probably did indeed result from my being confined to wheelchair, bed and sofa for most of six weeks though the doctor says that I may also be slightly predisposed to clotting, according to some bloodwork. Not all tests on that are back yet, and I'm asking for everyone's continued GoodThoughts/prayers/whatever that everything still out there comes back showing no problem. My doctor says that after three months on the warfarin, I may well be able to transition to a low-dose aspirin regimen combined with being active rather than sitting around, and indeed I am going to be getting active again while on the warfarin too, with his blessing. Since now I won't be sitting on my butt quite so much, I'm able to start getting back on track again.

Overall, it feels good to be walking, even though I have to do it slowly and use the walker for now. I go back to the orthopedist on March 11th and hopefully by then I'll be able to start walking without the walker. To be honest, the old left knee injury is actually giving me more pain and hassle now than the right ankle. Life is odd, isn't it? Anyway, now I get to start from square one with the PT exercises for the knee. Which is pretty much what I expected I would need to do.

Thank you everyone for your prayers, GoodThoughts and well wishes. They are much appreciated.

Courtesy of xkcd:   

I hate to admit it, but I've done this before.

(With thanks to katerinfg)

You Are Clogs

You are a solid and down to earth person. You seek and almost always achieve a really sound balance in your life. You are stylish yet comfortable. Mellow but driven. Excited yet calm. You are the perfect mesh of contradictions. No matter what happens, you have the ability to stay well grounded in your life. People know that they can truly depend on you. You should live: In Europe You should work: At a company dedicated to helping the world