naladahc | tripping along the golden path

Adobe: ...Freehand development will continue (Macworld)

“Adobe plans to continue to support GoLive and Freehand and develop these products based on our customer’s needs,”...

I've been a Freehand user since before the Macromedia days even. I think I started using Adlus Freehand 2 around 1989 or so if my aging memory is correct.

I don't use it much now since I don't do any hands-on design or typesetting but I've always found it to be a great all around application.

I used to do a variety of multi-page documents in it and Freehand's tools have always made more sense to me than Illustrator.

Ya know... I should start using it again.

And then the rain poured down.

And a literal flood of water came through my basement wall.

And it hasn't stopped.

Like I said before it has been raining.

And I was at a place in my wall work where I really really really didn't need a downpour.

I also didn't need a clogged gutter right above the place I'm working at in the basement.

It doesn't matter that I got a full coat of water proofing on the north wall.

It certainly doesn't matter that I got the east wall cleaned out now.

The water came in and in and in.]

I'm too numb and covered in cement to even cry right now.

I didn't sleep well last night.

In fact, I got up three times and finally, around 10 I just got up and went to the Attic of Love to clean up some files.

The rain never quite stopped and even by 11:30pm or so there was still water coming through the wall in the basement.

Not as bad as when it started but still a depressing site to see.

Best I can do today is get the 2nd coat of water proofer on the north wall/corner and start cleaning up my work area to begin the process of getting more concrete. According to weather.com (and looking out my window) there's 100% chance it'll continue raining today. Pray to whatever god's you believe in that it doesn't deluge like it did yesterday. Me? I'm just going to take it hour by hour, trying to not get frustrated by it all.

And since it is supposed to rain quite a bit this week, that means acquiring the 1200 or so pounds of concrete I need to tuckpoint and parge the rain drenched wall will be a challenge. Then again, I can't mix and apply the concrete with such an insane risk of rain. I also can't risk removing any other parging or old mortar on additional walls for fear of this water drama happening elsehwere.

I have a little over 200 lbs of different concretes but these aren't for the vertical surfaces. I had planned on using them to fill some of the major above grade gaps in the stone I encountered. I suppose I could continue with that. It'd free up the floor space too.

Finding a plus side in all of this is hard but at least the temperature should hopefully drop down back into the 70s for a bit. And the rain will hopefully be good for everything I planted. (Of course, I still have a flat of annuals to get in!!!)

I think I will begin working now.

The article read...

Many northwest Ohio public school districts, and others across the state, are predicting significant money problems over the next five years, according to financial forecasts recently submitted by districts throughout the state.

Throw Jesus into that mix and then convince the people that life is hard but everyone will be happy when they die if they follow your guidebook (ie, the servicing of the upper class) and you've got quite the creation of a new 'Murica.

The seeds are germinating everywhere.

And as always, personal responsibility and one's personal integrity and merit don't have shit to do with anything.

God Bless!

(Note. I think "God Bless!" will be my new sign off for everything.)

18 hours and 13 minutes later and I still have a stream coming through the one corner of my basement wall.

It really does suck.

But on the whole, the finished walls seem to be holding up and dry. I suppose I can find solace in that. (At least for now.)

God Bless!

Wow! It is rare that I really like anything comics related but I saw a cover today for a prequel comic to be released before Superman Returns opens in theatres and damn... that's my perfect Clark Kent/Kal-L, last son of Krypton!!!

Adam Hughes totally nails what makes up the visual for the character for me. Especially in this cover!

You've got a 'Merican flag holding Superman which is very much a Golden Age cover style. You've got a realistic muscular build without being insanely "comic-bookish". And thankfully the costume doesn't have the frigg'n logo on the belt. Just the simple yellow buckle-thing.

Now in my opinion, most if not all Superman stories have been told. Practically 70 years of existence in various mediums has seen to that.

But the best part about the article on the prequels is that one of the books is focused on Martha Kent.

Now while I think Superman stories have run their course, I do think that stories where Clark is not the main character are always welcome. If done right.

It is one of the reasons I loved the Metropolis series that focused on a non-geeky Jimmy Olsen. (Well... the art by Teddy Kristiansen also helped too. He being one of my favorite comic illustrators. His Morpheus is the best.)

I could go for a Marth Kent miniseries.

Why?

I don't know.

A Martha Kent miniseries involving Titano would make me pee my pants.

I came home and just basically went to bed today. My back is killing me right now and my arm still has some numbness.

Did I blog about the numbness in my left side? I don't know. I can't remember.

Oh well. I've had some numbness developing lately.

Anyway, we ran out to dinner. I've been fasting this week to drop some excess water and I did lose 10lbs of water weight. However, with the hurty back I really needed to take some pain killers so that meant I really needed to eat something.

We ran up to Better-Than-Mediocre China Buffet up at Graceland where my future Chinese overlords work. I am positive that after the Beijing Olympics that secret ploy to take over the world via Chinese Buffets will begin in this location.

Anyway, we also picked up 600lbs of concrete and 20 more pounds of hydraulic cement.

神保佑

Spent most of the day at the Victorian Village yard sale and wandered around my old neighborhood.

When I came home I actually got the lawn cut, a 2nd coat on the north wall, and about 15lbs of hydraulic cement stuffed into one of the major voids where the rain came in the other night.

I can happily say that Phase II that began on May 16 is complete!

I hope to get the entire area of Phase III tuckpointed and parged today from the hot water tank to past the main stack. Three is a chance of thunderstorms the next few days but I honestly can't let that stop me. This has to get done.

I've never attempted to do so much in a day so I don't know if I'll actually complete the task or not.

If it does, I'll set a personal record for the amount of concrete mixed and applied!!!

And boy will my wrists and fingers let me know about it tomorrow!

Ok. I must make coffee.

Alas, an unfortunate encounter with yet another problem area resulted in my not getting everything done that I had originally planned.

But I did get a good 7 hours or so in and got the area where the water came in tuckpointed and a first coat of concrete parging done.

My back is really hurty though and I needed to call it quits for the night.

Then I read...

Respondent maintains that it is a cat, that is, a well-known carnivorous quadruped which has long been domesticated. However, it is equally well-known that the common cat, whose scientific name is Felis domesticus, cannot speak or read or write. Thus, a common cat could not have submitted the Response (or even have registered the disputed domain name). Therefore, either Respondent is a different species of cat, such as the one that stars in the motion picture “Cat From Outer Space,” or Respondent’s assertion regarding its being a cat is incorrect.

I really like the cover to the forthcoming All Star Superman #6.

Then again, I will always be a total sucker for white alien dogs in red capes.

The first coat of parging is complete for Phase III.

I've got some touch up to do in a couple of days but overall it is looking good.

Of course, I can't get my fingers and hands behind the plumbing stack so that is proving to be troublesome. I have no idea what a trained mason would even do on this since tools don't even go back there. It won't be pretty but hopefully it'll be waterproof when I'm done.

Well. As you probably know I don't watch much television. I distilled it down to about 2 hours and 15 minutes lately with only The Sopranos, Doctor Who, and Robot Chicken on my play list.

With the first two ending this week, that leaves me with the occasional 15 minute Robot Chicken.

So anyway, yesterday I had Howard TV On Demand turned on and I already love it. I can watch stupid shit whenever I want it and the lineup of programs changes weekly and monthly.

And it is all uncensored and insanely stupid.

I love it!!!

Oh. And if you get bored today you can always Shave the Beaver.

There's nothing quite like hearing a very loud "Fuck!" coming from the first floor at 6:30 in the morning.

Of course, he does this quite a lot so it isn't as alarming as it once was.

However Hensley, The World's Most Beloved Dachshund, takes it personally even if said "Fuck!" isn't even directed at him. The Hoont hides under the ottoman, prized for its cave-like darkness, and won't come out since he thinks he's done something wrong.

But what was wrong this morning was the ant problem.

We've never had an ant problem in the House of Love.

But this morning, they were all over the kitchen counter, sink, and floor.

All I can think of is that they may be retaliating for the horrible, and accidental, death I inflicted on one of their larger-sized relatives a few days back.

I didn't mean to kill him when I was moving the 2x4s that block the gate. In fact, when I saw him in all of his quarter-sized glory I tried to shoo him off but ended up accidentally dropping one 2x4 and smashing him.

I really didn't mean to. I was trying not to hurt the ant.

This is bad ant karma I tell you.

T-Minus five days until Deb Doran visits.

I love San Francisco visitors.

I just need to find a vegetarian restaurant that's open on a Monday.

So yesterday I took a day off from the Foundation of Non-Love repairs, and pretty much just crawled into bed and watched my new Howard TV channel.

If anything could make me incline to slack, especially in staying up too late or being late for work, Howard TV is it. Ugh!

Anyway. I've been having some numbness problems on my left side and decided to take advantage of this free chiropractor consultation at my gym.

Now I've never sought help from a chiropractor, and a good chunk of what most of them practice is pretty much the same as some of the nonsense gods-prayer and other magic is used for, but I have known people with pinched nerves that have found relief from pain by going to one. And that's basically what I have had.

I messed my left shoulder up while overextending myself during some dumbell exercises. I knew this was the cause so I figured it would get better if I just rested it a bit.

The shoulder pain has been really impacted by the constant work in the basement too. If it isn't the shoulder hurting me it has been the fingers and wrists or knees.

Anyway, I can't say I'm a fan of the "cracking" part of what he did.

I doubt it had any impact on my shoulder but I'll admit, it did release a lot of tension in my neck.

I'm going to work a few hours today to try and fill in the gaps behind the stack. In retrospect I should have packed that area with concrete first and worked out from there but it is too late. The best I can do is fill what areas my fingers couldn't really get in with hydraulic water plug cement. Hopefully, when it is all drylocked it'll be water tight for a few years.

I'm going to mix up 60-120 lbs of concrete too and add a 3rd layer to a few areas that I really want to be solid.

I had wanted to finish weeding the back yard but it has started raining again. I can handle the showers but no thunderstorms. Please please please no thunderstorms. I haven't gotten the gutter cleared yet.

Tomorrow I'll be back on basement break, moving the shit in the guest room back into the small bedroom. Gotta get ready for Deb!

I managed to get home, get suited up in my work clothes (I should photograph the lovely "outfits" I wear while working), and got a 3rd layer of concrete pretty much all along the way from the hot water tank to the stack.

I even got the hydraulic cement shoved into gaps behind the stack. Quite frankly, I don't think I could possibly have done a shittier job than this on these area! *sigh*

And yes, I even managed to get all the trash disposed of before the rain started.

I feel like a good Nala.

Yo! Cowlanders!

Columbus Toy Show this weekend on Sunday.

All types of goodness at the last one back in 2005. S'where I found my Micromaster Countdown base.

Water in my basement? Sure! Why not.

Yes. The "Fuck" that came out of my mouth this morning, as opposed to yesterday, was due to water in the basement. But this time, it is water coming in due to the repairs of the north wall.

Instead of the water coming through the wall, it seems to have gone around it and entered the basement from a different part of the front porch room.

So while I should be somewhat happy that I've managed to create a solid north wall I've also created an additional situation that I'll need to correct when I finally get to that room. Of course, that room is the last part of my basement repairs too!

Well. There's not much I can do when it rains. I've got the fans on and the dehumidifier going 24/7 already. Not much more I can do.

(And I'm hoping... so hoping... that the dampness on the west wall is because of the new concrete curing and not water entering in!!!)

Arizona. Desert Planet. Dune.

That's one hell of a storm.

The Super-Teacher Asshole from Krypton rocks!

I'm glad the net constantly reminds me of why I always hated Superboy.

No. Really.

Sometimes I forget how much I hated the Pre-Crisis Silver Age Superman's story.

However, I'm patiently waiting for the next installment of Dial B For Blog to see Super-Teacher Pimp.

I now average 1 piece of comment spam every 3-5 minutes.

Apparently, cheap online MBAs and the old staple of gay pr0n seem to be the most popular these days.

I need to rename those CGIs again. It usually takes the dregs 30 days or so to find the new ones.

I figured it'd happen eventually.

All one has to do is look at some of the excessive gamers to know that many of these people have addiction problems.

And now, a video addict detox clinic has opened.

Now I just have to wait for the collector addiction detox facility to open.

10 years I drove out west with Scotty to move him to San Francisco.

This is about the extent of my travels.

Here's a scary thought.

Today I'm at 1590 Transformers that I've ever purchased in the Attic of Love.

Tomorrow, with the Columbus Toy Show at hand, I will no doubt hit 1600 figures.

Pretty frigg'n insane!

Well today I hit another lame ass milestone and a Takara Micron Densetsu Crystal Convoy became my 1600th Transformer ever purchased.

Ack! I am so lame.

So lame that I actually hit 1603 today.

The Columbus Toy Show was surprisingly large and while there wasn't a whole lotta TF stuff there, it was obviously a geektastic afternoon.

Most of the Transformers related items were pretty much the same old common stuff that all vendors with TF stuff have. If I see another Top Spin or Twin Twist I'll scream. And G1 jets. Ugh! Too many of those exist on dealer tables.

I did pick up a few things I normally would not have gotten such as Throttlebots, Sparkabots, and some miscellaneous other stuff. I mean, while I don't actively collect some of the post-1986 G1 stuff, if the price is right I might as well fill the gaps in the collection.

Quite frankly though, the gems of today weren't Transformers related at all.

I reacquired 2 toys I had as a kid. These were major parts of my childhood and I always knew I'd end up buying them again.

Yes. The inevitable acquisition of Micronauts has probably started. The Attic of Love™ needs a few more vintage 70s Micronauts and now I happily own 2 that I really loved as a kid.

The guys I bought them from actually knew about plasticcrack.net and The Attic of Love™ as well! I was shocked. I didn't think that many people stopped by here since I don't really look at my stats anymore. (Thanks guys!)

Click for YouTube Video Blog Entry.

In less than 30 minutes D-Squared will be here at the House of Love!

Of course, we're still cleaning.

Oy koledy!

It has been a long time since I've had this much beer in one night.

Pictures and some of the stupidest video you've ever seen tomorrow.

I gotta get some sleep. My 8:15am presentation will come damn early tomorrow.

The Manliest Page in Comics History (ISB)

And... he's Polish too!

I still love that fact that he's talking in Polish and supposed to be from Kazakhstan.

So Deb has left, travelling the highways and byways of the Cowlands for more of her adventures.

I had some plans for this evening but I've decided to just try and putz around and maybe get to bed early. There's also some Attic of Love stuff I need to do.

Tomorrow I'll start at the gym again as well as begin Day 40 down in the basement.

I've been on a self-imposed sabbatical to let my shoulder heal and to give my fingers and wrists a well-deserved rest.

Alas, I also kind of pigged out the past 4 days or so and am feeling it. Ugh! But tomorrow I'll start up many things again with a hopefully refreshed perspective.

I'll be cleaning the basement and also putting the 1st coat of drylock on Phase III. The new concrete parging has cured well. I may add a little bit more hydraulic cement to a few spots behind the stack but other than that I'l calling the concrete work on Phase III finished.

People from far away lands were at the House of Love last night.

And my oh my were we stupid!

Click for YouTube Hosted Video Blog Entry

Day 40 was pretty much an uneventful cleaning and moving day but today? Oh boy! Waterproofing started!

I got a coat of drylock in the areas where water used to come in. I'll put a 2nd coat on tonight.

Tomorrow I'll hopefully get the first coat of the powder waterproofer that I have to mix.

Now for some reason, I'm assuming I've been made to believe the marketing on the more expensive and pre-mixed Drylock product. I use it in the most notorious areas but I use it sparingly too due to the cost.

I honestly don't know if there's much different between the expensive Drylock or the economical powder I mostly use when it comes to actual waterproofing.

Hell. There's a Quikrete waterproofer that is $4 per 60 pounds (instead of the $25 for $60 on the one I use) but it is grey and I really wanted the basement to be brighter instead of dark and dingy. Yeah. I suppose I should go with the cheaper one to save money but I think it makes the walls just look better and more appealing.

I was right.

Some of the strange comment spams I've seen in the junk folder were proof-o-concepts to try to get around junk mail filters.

I'm now getting comment spam exactly like those but MT is treating them differently.

Do they get through to the blog?

Of course not!

MT rocks!

The first full coat of waterproofer is on! One more coat tomorrow and some Drylock touch-up and Phase III will be down in the record books.

You know you get off on my basement repairs! I know you do!

So I got the 2nd coat of waterproofer painted on.

I kind of painted myself into a corner so I couldn't do the work I need to with the more easily used Drylock. I'll have to wait for today's work to totally dry before I can get down and do the detail stuff. My bad.

I also cleaned up part of the back yard where 3 of my arborvitae (planted last year) died.

Give it a few days and the spirae and the marigolds should hopefully take and start filling in.

It at least looks cleaner.

They forecasted low 90s today but it doesn't really feel like it. I suppose I should go out and weed some other areas sometime today. There's this one section between the day lilies and the shed that I want to do something with. It is mostly shaded so impatiens would work. I got a 1/2 a flat left.

I needed to put in some outdoors time today since rain was predicted. I didn't want to begin removing parging in Phase IV with the threat of storms tonight so outside I went.

Unfortunately, my backyard is pretty much an eyesore and I have no intention of sinking the dollars and countless hours into redoing it properly. For this neighborhood, it just makes sense to make it "adequate" and clean, with a little foliage and color here and there.

One of my eyesores has been an area next to the deck and shed that I didn't get around to completing last year.

I had intended to connect the mulched area that I did at the shed with the day lillie patch. There's patchy grass here due to the shade and I figured even a minimal amount of effort might make it look more pleasing.

The earliest picture of The Hoont when he was just 8 or so weeks old.

In the past few days I've watched 2 men get their taints waxed, 2 men get their balls shocked with electric dog collars, and 2 women get their vaginas shocked with the same shocker.

In my life I've pretty much seen and/or have done everything that I'd want to see or do.

But this?

This may be the most disturbing thing I've seen since the sordid dark ages of my life.

It disturbs me to no end.

Baby Jesus knows I love fundamentalists.

But does he know that I love all varieties of fundamentalists?

References to the beef-eating past of ancient Hindus have been deleted from Indian school textbooks following a three-year campaign by Hindu hardliners.

For almost a century, history books for primary and middle schools told how in ancient India, beef was considered a great delicacy among Hindus — especially among the highest caste — and how veal was offered to Hindu deities during special rituals.

"Our past" chapters in the texts also detailed how cows used to be slaughtered by the Brahmins, or upper caste Hindus, during festivals and while welcoming guests to the home.

The passages that offended the Hindus, who now shun beef, have been deleted from new versions of the books delivered to schoolchildren last week.

However, the National Council of Educational Research and Training, which is responsible for the texts, now seems unhappy with the changes that were agreed to by a former council director.

Council lawyer Prashant Bhushan said ancient Hindus were indeed beef-eaters, and the council should not have distorted historical facts by deleting the chapters.

Fundamentalists of any flavor don't care about any form of truth. Truth is always subjective.

But factual data and the obliteration of factual data?

Yeah baby! Change history by obliterating that!

Religion!. How I love thee!

So yesterday I decided to not work in the basement and cleaned out the aquariums instead.

Between the 6 gallon Aquarium of Love and Number Six's tank it took about 3 hours.

Surprisingly, the larger tank has remained a lot cleaner with the absence of the Cories that died. The gravel wasn't as dirty as I expected it to be. Moving the tank downstairs and having restricted the lighting also has helped with the algae problem I sometimes get.

I also added a new fish and 3 ghost shrimp.

The fish is a female betta that caught my eye due to the fact that she was of the "opaque white" variety. Very different.

The shrimp are there to clean up the flotsam and jetsam of the food left behind by the Danios, crab, and betta.

But anyway, I really digressed here.

I skipped the basement work the past few days since we were under the threat of rain and basically I'm 30 or so minutes away from ripping down walls again.

Of course, it never really rained the past few days but it often looked like it was 10 minutes from downpouring.

Well, this first day of summer has brought us constant thunder, a bit of lightning, and rain. It is showering and thankfully not a torrential downpour.

But the thing is I really need to get working on Phase IV and do I risk removing the parging and have water coming in? It kinda soaks in along the floor of the Phase IV area but who knows how bad the inner walls are.

I wish I had my camera.

It is 11:23am and the sky outside my office windows looks to be about 11:23pm.

It is practically bitch black outside.

It is creepy.

There's a band of lighter clouds around 20 miles to the south of Cowtown but otherwise it is black.

Super. Mega. Creepy.

I think one of my danios is dying.

I'm not sure if it is a result of the shock of the cleaning and water change or if, and I hope this is not the case, I've introduced something into the tank from the new betta or shrimp.

I've seen danios do this erratic behavior before, darting around and banging into things as if they are out of their minds.

This danio already has a spinal defect. As he's grown larger it has become more noticeable but this erratic swimming is new.

They usually have a 24 adjustment period after a major cleaning/water change and as of lunch time they all seemed to have acclimated well. And then, when I got home from dinner, I checked in on them and he was doing this thing.

The betta is also acting rather strange but I think that may be more of a result of the total change of environments.

As of right now, the other 4 danios seem ok.

Grrrr...

I always get scared when I do a tank cleaning or introduce a new tank mate.

Here's hoping everything is ok by the morning, but I don't think this danio, the 4th I ever bought, will make it to morning.

Well. He's dead.

And from the looks of it so is another shrimp.

I swear I didn't intend for this to happen.

And to top it off the snail seems to be floating in the water as if air has gotten in his shell.

He's not dead. Just bad crazy. He's done this before on a couple of occasions.

Now it looks like the one shrimp may have molted and due to this relatively dangerous time opened himself up for snail attack. Perhaps the snail got gassy?

Well the ghost shrimp that was perfectly fine this morning is now morte on the bottom.

He was perfectly fine a few hours ago!!!

I think I've started a nitrogen cycle again due to my cleaning the other day.

*sigh*

G'bye Mr. Shrimp. We hardly had a chance to know what kind of shrimp you were.

I have a lot of guilt about all this pointless death I've caused.

So the numbness in my arm came back with a vengeance and even started to flare up while I have been driving.

The chiropractor adjustments did nothing so this morning I went to my doctor's office, which is conveniently a sports medicine clinic too.

Basically, after doing all kinds of motion tests and going over the development of the problem she's fairly confident the problem is actually in my shoulder and not with my wrist/hand. While the numbness and almost total loss of strength is in the left hand, it is all originating up in the shoulder in my rotator cup.

She thinks I probably caused the issue with a barbell exercise (the ones over my head while upright always caused me problems) and the work on the basement just continued to make it worse. It didn't help that I continued to weight train thinking my shoulder was basically just sore.

She doesn't think it is muscular at all since the symptoms all lead to the radial nerve being problematic where it originates in my scapula and comes down my arm.

So Nala will be in a few sessions of physical therapy to teach me some stretching and motion exercies that will hopefully correct the problem.

I also have to wear a brace (pic above) while I sleep. She doesn't want my wrist to bend when I sleep and make the numbness even worse.

Overall, she said I can do the basement work but use "pain as my guide" and avoid doing a lot of over-the-head work with my arms. I think I can manage that.

I'm going to shift back to pure cardio and leg work outs at the gym since she also wants me to avoid any upper-body/shoulder resistance exercises while I'm in therapy.

So I've got a gimpy arm, dead fish, and I've been eating way too much and feel really fat.

Ain't my life grandt!

Yesterday I was working on a blog entry about how the wind was picking up. I started to take some video but by the time I sat back down to the computer the power went out.

It sucked.

Sucked balls.

Yup! Our entire area of Cowtown was without power for several hours and the storms came and came and stopped and the sun came out and then it stormed again and again (repeat).

It was really weird.

Suffice to say, I couldn't work in the basement or do anything.

I just crawled into bed and fell asleep.

The power was still off when Giga came home and it was a little before 6 when we got ours back. Cable/broadband took longer apparently to be restored.

Anyway, as of last night the basement was still dry except for a small section of the room under the porch. I should have gone down there this morning but I was already running late because I got sucked into Dark City for the thousandth time. Hopefully the dehumidifier and fans took care of anything that may have seeped in.

Glass City got hit pretty bad, along with most of northwest Ahiya and southeast Michigan with flooding everywhere. I gotta remember to call the father about that later.

I think I want to see Cars and maybe The Notorious Bettie Page this weekend.

I honestly can say I have zero interest in attending Comfest anymore.

I'm not one for live bands and after 16 or so Comfests I can pretty much tell exactly where ever vendor is and exactly what they'll be selling. Same goes for the food vendors.

I think it is probably more of my "anti-crowd" mentality. I don't do well in crowds on 93° days with 98% humidity. It also looks like it'll probably be raining a good portion of the weekend so that'll impact my basement work.

Movies. Sounds good.

This is indeed the reason why Japanese television kicks US television's ass! [via]

Ok. I'll make this short and sweet since my left arm is now much worse than it was when I went to see the doctor the other day.

Ended up going to Comfest after all to see Eric Nassau play.

Ended up going to see Cars too with the Evebirds and that movie was fantastic.

Sometime yesterday while at Comfest I started getting horribly sharp (and radiating no less) pains from around my left scapula. This is totally nothing like the generalized arm/wrist numbess I've had. This is bad!!!

Spent a good chunk of last night and this morning on ice. It helps a bit while the Alleve doesn't do shit for the pain.

Ok. I must go ice up again.

I'll leave you with this picture of me and Mrs. B.

I actually don't look all fat and grotesque in this photo.

But what the frock is up with my left eye there? Is that a lens trick of my glasses? Do I need to get plastic surgery on my eyes so I don't have such horrid bags under them?!?!?!

Anyway, this arm problem is really going to put a dent in my plans to keep working on the basement. I just know it is going to slow me up more than I already am. And I'm about 2 weeks off schedule because of this frigg'n arm!

Holy shit!

The intense pain originating from my left scapula has got to be some of the most intense acute pain I've experienced in a long time.

Hell. I'd take the numbness I was experiencing over this any day!

I didn't sleep well last night at all and had to ice it down around 1:30am just to ease the pain.

Alleve doesn't do shit. Absolutely nothing.

Screw the physical therapy. I'm calling the doctor's office in 15 minutes to see what I should do.

I'm in craptastic hurty pain here people!!!

[Update: I got in at 7am tomorrow morning!]

"It tastes so good I just want to puke on it." - G. Power

What's amazing is I totally understand this.

Holy shit! Finally!!!

The Strangers With Candy movie comes out tomorrow.

It is totally going to crush Superman Returns.

Creepy drag queenish black woman ousted off TV show by lesbian (New York Times)

Those fans of "The View" on ABC who were relishing the potential for friction this fall between Star Jones Reynolds and Rosie O'Donnell got some disappointing news on this morning's show: Ms. Jones Reynolds, a co-host on the program since its inception nine years ago, announced she is leaving next month, two months before Ms. O'Donnell's arrival as its newest panelist.

I have really never seen, nor do I want to see, ABC's The View regardless of which scary looking woman is on it.

However, I did catch something a couple of weeks back and that Star Jones is one helluva creature these days.

She looked so much better when she was fat. She really did.

Now she has a gaunt sorta-kinda plasticy look to her. Very scary.

And Rosie O'Donnell? Are they hoping to attract some of the women who watched her solo show during her pre-out-dyke days?

Don't the same women who stay at home all day what this same shit?

It is all the same pointless aimless drivel, no?

So. My shoulder. Wanna read about it?

I found out a lot this morning and for the first time it all makes sense to me.

My current extremely painful problem that manifested Saturday is probably related to, but not necessarily the cause of my numbess and loss of strength in my arm.

The pain, location, and general range of motion limitations seem to be from subscapular bursitis, which has just been causing all kinds of muscle spasming and impinging on my nerves.

Doctor M. still thinks that my past few weeks of growing arm and wrist problems are resulting from capsulitis in my shoulder joint. This inflammation is directly affecting the radial nerve and is consistent with the symptoms I'm having.

What's sad is I caused this by overtaxing myself at the gym with my shoulder exercises and topping it all off with the fun and exciting basement work. I couldn't distinguish pain resulting from overtaxation and pain from my daily digging, picking, moving, mixing, etc. on the walls.

And yes, I kept on going through the pain and this is the result.

So basically I've got to put my basement work on hold for a bit. This of course totally sucks since I'm at the 50% mark, had a good amount of momentum going, and really really really need to get this done and my house on the market!!!

But there's not a whole helluva lot I can do.

I also learned from Doctor M., based on the x-rays taken, that my acromion, the process on the scapula that connects to the clavicle in the front to form the shoulder, never actually fused properly during adolescence.

While this is not uncommon, it typically manifests problems of weak shoulder strength and it may have something to do with why the problem happened. I'm leaning more towards me being a retard in the gym like I mentioned before.

But tomorrow I start physical therapy. She says it will be painful but trying to relieve the pressure on the nerves is the only way to try and treat the problem and heal it.

However, she did give me a few muscle relaxers to try and help with my sleep at night. Getting into and outta bed has been a major pain in the ass lately.

So hopefully I can get you all hot and bothered with new basement work in a few weeks.

I know my basement work makes your panties wet!

I think I'm having a mild allergic reaction to either the Nabumetone or the Skelaxin

I got out of bed a few minutes ago and noticed my face is swollen and I have a distinct mark/wrinkle on my forehead where the swelling starts.

I was itching earlier too but that happens ever now and then and I always attribute it to certain screamy grey cats. I guess I do kind of have hives on my upper arms too and other parts of my body.

Lovely.

Just lovely.

And my pain was actually starting to go away.

Ok. I'm going to make it official.

I don't care that there's a Transformers movie being made.

End of topic.

And these two things have brought you lame ass video blogness!

Click for YouTube Hosted Video Blog Entry

You know what I'd really like?

I'd like to have "fuck you" money!

That would be so great.

Well. Today's been a bad crazy expensive day.

But in the end. I feel good about it.

I ended up finding some new plastic crack today and I ended up buying my father a new computer and monitor.

It is like the least I can do for him.

I didn't get him a birthday present.

I didn't get him a father's day present.

But in a couple of week's he'll at least have a new Dell PC and 17" LCD.

Of course, he's the one that has to do something about the dial-up. A new PC isn't gonna help the fact he can't really look at my Flickr photos or my stupid lame ass videos without problems. Dial-up just doesn't cut it.

My plan is to rebuild his old PC so my mother can learn to use it. However, last night when I told my father this he said she "doesn't trust him" about his PC or some other crazy Nalamatkashit. I still don't get that.

And while off topic, I really really want to make this list one day.