Out and About in Texas

September's Here Again...

2009-09-01T23:51:41Z

A breath of fresh air

2009-06-17T03:14:15Z

So, I should follow up with how the Sinus surgery went.

It went far better than expected right out of the gate. Apparently they're getting very good at this particular surgery, as I didn't need to have packing up my nose or splints or anything like that. Which means I was in half the misery as many of the people who have had this same surgery just a few years ago.

Which isn't to say it wasn't hellish during the first three or so days of recovery. I was not allowed to lie down, at all, so sleeping had to be done sitting up. Which I am not good at. And I had to wear gauze over my nose, and change the dressing every hour or two. It was held on by tape to my face, and my face got raw from having tape ripped from it every hour or two. Never mind every time I started to drift off, I would wake up panicked, gasping for breath, and tearing at the gauze like I was suffocating.

The following Tuesday I went for my follow up, and they did this thing where they deep-suctioned out my sinuses. It was just as unpleasant as it sounds, and even more disturbing. However! I walked out of there with the biggest smile on my face, as I breathed through my nose more clearly than I had in well over six months!

That didn't last very long (still healing, still swelling, still had stitches in), but it was still getting better every day. Two weeks later, I went for another follow up, and had the final stitches out and another suctioning. And again, I was breathing more clearly than I think I ever have in my life. And since then, it's been just fine.

One of the biggest bitches though, right after the surgery, was the medication. Apparently, science is working hard to take the 'high' out of massive narcotic pain-killers, presumably so that people won't be interested in using them recreationally. Because I never felt high during my constant taking of these stupid pills for the two days after the surgery. The only effect was maybe an 'edginess', which means combined with having to sit up, I probably got about two hours of sleep over the three days after surgery. It sure as hell would have helped me cope if I could have at least gotten a little buzz! Dammit!

Oh well, can't have everything. But at least so far, so good, and it certainly seems worth it so far. I have a final follow up in July. But I'm finally feeling healthy and finally have some level of energy for the first time since last October. Which is definitely good, because I have a LOT of crap to do in the next month or two...

Beyond the Stone Age

2009-05-21T02:09:30Z

Okay, I promised the story would continue in my last update... and so it does now.

But first we have to back up... back to the day the pain hit from my Kidney Stone trying (and failing) to pass, because I (purposely) left out a bit.

The next day, after the pain stopped... I came down with a sinus infection. Again. This is, by my reckoning, something like the sixth sinus infection in as many months. Sure enough, that night I couldn't breathe at all, and I woke up in the morning coughing and phlegmy. Awful. Same crap again. Over and over, I get better and it comes back.

I was sick of it, so I headed back to the doctor. The doctor sent me to get a sinus CT Scan, and then on to the Ear/Nose/Throat doctor. There, I got my sinuses numbed by some sort of medicated spray, and the doctor took cultures from three places in the back of my sinuses. Even with the numbing, it felt like she was ramming those q-tip things so far back, she was actually sampling brain tissue. Yikes.

Well, a week later (after the lithotripsy to zap the stuck kidney stone) the results come back: fungal infection. The prescription? A 3-times-a-day nasal wash with anti-fungal agents. A forced nasal wash, not like the gravity-fed netti-pots. Anyway, the news made sense and explained all the problems I have been having. And while essentially water-boarding myself 3 times a day is the farthest thing from pleasant, my infection did clear up. So yay.

Only... remember that CT scan? Yeah. Well. It didn't find any major pockets of infection, so that was good, but it did find something that essentially explains my life-long sinus problems, aggravated by allergies and such: a deviated septum combined with enlarged turbinates.

Okay, everyone's heard of a deviated septum, but I'd never heard of turbinates before. They're the curled structures on either side of the center-line of your nose inside. Google them, it's interesting... honest :-). Anyway, mine were such that, when combined with the deviation, explained why even the slightest inflammation would completely seal off my left nostril, among many other things I've suffered through over the years.

So ... surgery. Which is where I'm heading tomorrow morning (less than 10 hours from now as I type this). From all I hear, I'm expecting about a week of misery as down-payment for significant relief for the rest of my life. After all, they'll be chipping away at bone, and burning away flesh inside my nose. Eeep. At least I have good drugs (I hope!).

So this is how I'll spend my Memorial Day weekend... stoned out of my mind, in pain, unable to wear pull-over shirts for a week or two, with packing up my nose. Do I know how to live or what?

Rolling Stones

2009-05-02T04:54:19Z

Long over-due for a post. And once again, it's going to be whining about health.

So a couple of weeks ago, on a Monday, I get up normally. Shuffle into the bathroom to pee (normal), then shuffle into the kitchen to get breakfast. I bring my bowl of cereal to the office, sit down in front of my computer, and check out the news sites and such while eating. All normal. Then I flip over to the work PC and start to work.

And my back feels achy, like I slept wrong, or somehow got a bruise.

Thing is, it's getting worse. Fast.

Within 40 minutes or so, I was unable to sit still. Or stand still. Or lie down. I had to be in motion, or it was just unbearable. I called the doctor and made an appointment, because my first guess (and it turned out to be exactly right) was kidney stone.

Me. Kidney stone.

Then the first of what I'll call "pain waves" hit me. Like a tsunami of pain that brought with it a huge wave of nausea. Pain so bad it made me vomit. There went breakfast.

I couldn't get in to the doctor until 2pm, and it's now only 11. I'm thinking I'm going to the hospital at this rate, so I quickly make up a little 'hospital kit' of things I need to take with me (daily medications, book, things like that)... only to discover I am completely out of my Prilosec. Damn. Well, I'm going to need to drive to the doctor... better to a test run to the pharmacy (it's only 4 minutes away, right?). So I drive to the pharmacy, buy the meds, and a pain wave hits me on the drive back. I barely make it into the garage, into the house, and into the bathroom before violently vomiting.

Now... I feel noticeably better after vomiting. I don't know why at the time (I do now), but it's sort of like the wave metaphor... huge crashing wave, then a pause and it builds and builds until the next crashing wave. I'm timing about 40 minutes between wave crests (if two data points can make a trend ;-). I figure if I'm going to make it to the doctor's office (a 20 minute drive), I should just go ahead and leave now.

Needless to say, I don't quite make it. Half way there, pain wave. I pull off the freeway, mercifully right into a McDonalds, and make use of their restroom. Of course, there's nothing left to come up, so it's just a lot of sound and fury. Back in the car, and on to the doctors.

I get there around 12:45... and the office is closed between 12 and 1. So I pace around, in pain, until the office opens. I go in and sign the sign-in sheet, and write my appointment time as 2pm and write "SOONER IF POSSIBLE!" next to it.

Sitting in the waiting room was torture. As I said, I couldn't sit still. I'm literally writhing in agony as other people come in, are called in, and leave. And of course, another pain wave. Into the bathroom. More sound and fury. Back to the waiting room. At 1:30 they call me in and put me in the little exam room. Apparently they did it just to get me out of the waiting room, because nobody came in until 2:10. Me writhing in agony, pacing, grimacing, and occasionally trying not to scream.

They come in, and take about 2 minutes to realize, yup, Kidney stone (ruling out gall stones, appendix, and several other things). All they do is write me some prescriptions (vicodin for the pain, and anti-nausea meds). So I get to drive 20 minutes back (didn't have to stop this time, thankfully), hit the pharmacy, wait 20 minutes while they fill the prescription (writing in agony some more), and then go home.

The vicodin directions say "take one or two capsules for pain". I take two, plus a nausea pill. It takes about 20 minutes to start kicking in, but oh heavenly relief! Four hours later, two more. I'm flying high at this point. I'm still in pain, mind you, but I really don't care any more. No more writhing. I can sit still.

Later in the evening, I'm noticing (through the 'high') that I don't seem to be feeling the pain any more. So when the time for the next dose comes, I skip it. I let the high come down, and I'm still not feeling pain. By midnight, I'm off the meds, and not feeling any pain at all. Whew!

12 hours of pain, more or less. I got off lucky, compared to a lot of people passing a kidney stone.

So I go to work the next day. Oh yeah, the doctor gave me something else... a filter to pee in, to capture the stone. Well, I'm not catching a stone. A few grains of 'sand' over the next few days, but that's it. The doctor insists it hasn't passed yet, and sends me for a CT scan to see what's up.

Getting a CT scan is as efficient as our medical system gets. In and out in 10 minutes, and actually completed early. Painless. Efficient. (well, until you get the bill... thanks to an insurance deductible, I'm on the hook for the whole cost, yay).

Well, the stone is still in there... stuck in the tube halfway between the kidney and the bladder, stuck in the little curve right as the tube goes by the pelvic bone. The reason the pain stopped is that the stone stopped moving. The pain only happens when it moves. A big move made the pain waves. Vomiting shook it up until it lodged a little, so it stopped moving for a little while, and the pain subsided a bit. So everything is making sense to me.

OH! One more thing! There are several other stones still in the kidney. This is the right-one we're talking about. The left one? Oh yeah, there's more over there too! All told, nearly a dozen of the damn things. HOLY CRAP!

But the one in the tube hasn't moved in almost a week now. So.... I'm scheduled for Lithotripsy. That's where they try to break up the stones with focused sound-waves. Because it's sorta like getting kicked in the kidneys a lot, it's done under a general. They can only zap you so many times (3000 I think), so they're going to concentrate on the stuck stone, and if they have any zaps left over, they'll go after the others in the same kidney. Well, they maxed out.

They can only do one kidney at a time, so I'll be doing this again eventually. And I don't know yet the status of the other stones in the same kidney. All I know is I haven't filtered out enough fragments to make up the entire stone. Let alone four or five. But I'll tell you what: between the anesthesia and more after-procedure vicodin, I slept more in three days than I had slept in the previous week. It felt WONDERFUL.

So. It's been a week since the lithotripsy. I'm still a bit tender, and I know I'm not out of the woods yet. I'll probably have to under go another CT scan soon, and eventually I'll have to have another lithotripsy procedure. Hopefully I'll have it BEFORE another stone tries to pass.

Because that's a hell of pain I never want to go through again.

There's lots more to this story, but this is too long already... To Be Continued...

Keith Olbermann explains the origin of the current financial mess

2009-03-11T02:50:41Z

This is really well stated.

Obviously it's not the WHOLE story (the story is too big to cover in six minutes), but it's a very clearly laid out background.

Rachael Maddow makes the case for food safety inspections

2009-03-09T07:05:28Z

Like it needs to be made, but Rachel Maddow makes the case for food safey regulation and in spection by the federal government. Mostly a brilliant rebuttal to the "less regulation, smaller government" crowd. Very worth watching.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/vp/29561173#29561173

If you missed this from her TV show last Friday, give it a look. It's worth your time.

Everything's amazing, and nobody's happy!

2009-02-25T14:24:55Z

I loved this short bit from the Conan show... definitely worth sharing. Hilarious!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoGYx35ypus

The Story of Stuff

2009-02-23T02:11:58Z

Another short and interesting video, worth watching. Just wanted to share.

Check it out: http://www.storyofstuff.com/

The Crisis of Credit Visualized

2009-02-21T13:23:38Z

This is a great video I ran across in my internet travels, that attempts to summarize and explain the origins of the credit crisis and financial collapse we're experiencing. It's obviously overly simplistic, but it does a good job of explaining a very complicated situation in a very clear and easy to understand manner.

You can see the video here if it doesn't load or play properly below: http://vimeo.com/3261363

The Crisis of Credit Visualized from Jonathan Jarvis on Vimeo.

Crappy New Year

2009-01-04T19:27:13Z

I had a really nice visit back in Columbus, to be honest. Except for the first two days, the weather even cooperated. And in spite of some illnesses that put the kibosh on meeting up with a few of my friends, I had a great time.

Then comes New Year's Eve... I had several invites and several additional options, but I was feeling kinda fatigued. For the first time in history, I think (certainly since teenage years), I was in bed before New Years hit at midnight.

Felt punky all the next day, with very little energy. I slept a lot, and then napped in between. I didn't feel sick, mind you, just tired.

And then it hit. Friday night. Sinuses, headaches, a bit of nausea. Bleh. All my plans for going out this weekend were in the dumpster. I've barely left the couch. What really sucks is the simple fact that I've been sick far more often than I've been well for the last two months.

Not exactly an auspicious beginning to the new year.

Christmas Vacation

2008-12-22T07:22:47Z

Heading to Columbus for a week's visit with my parents, and touching base with my friends there.

Of course, it's after 1am, I have to get up in less than six hours, and I still have a load of laundry in, with articles I need to pack. I didn't plan this very well :-)

So to everyone: Happy Holidays!!!

"Milk" ... It does a body good.

2008-12-19T05:35:41Z

Seriously. Go see this. No excuses.

Ten basic truths of the fight for equal marriage rights for gay couples

2008-12-14T05:27:52Z

I wrote this list in response to Prop 8, and decided that I should probably just post it here. I mean, even though posting it here is sorta preaching to the choir, it's better here than just sitting on my hard disk. I also posted it over at DemocraticUnderground.com, but it didn't get a lot of attention there.

Anyway, the genesis of this list came from the realization that we need to be working harder at the grass roots level spreading the truth about what the fight for "gay marriage" really is and really means... to educate people on this subject, and to inoculate people against the lies, smears, and fear-mongering that already exists from right-wing conservatives, and the flood that is yet to come:

Ten basic truths of the fight for equal marriage rights for gay couples:

We're not asking for 'special rights'. We just want the same rights as every other American Citizen has. If anything, marriage is currently a "special right" of heterosexuals, and like you say, "special rights" aren't fair.

This has nothing to do with religion. We aren't asking for any changes from the church at all. We just want to be able to go to City Hall and get a marriage license, like anyone else can. Just because The State approves of a marriage, doesn't mean any church has to support or perform the marriage. Many churches will not marry interfaith couples, requiring anyone getting married in their church to convert to the church before marriage. This is fine. Churches can set their own rules. It has nothing to do with the state.

Gay people do NOT already have these rights, and civil unions or domestic partnerships do not provide equal rights and responsibilities under the law. Separate is not equal. Key among those rights that cannot be obtained in any other way are immigration rights, and the right to not be compelled to testify against your spouse.

This isn't redefining marriage for any heterosexual. It doesn't affect any straight person's marriage, or definition thereof, in any way. It doesn't change any church's definition of marriage.

Besides, Marriage is constantly being redefined by straight people anyway. Marriage never used to be about love; now it is. Divorce never used to be allowed; now it is. People of mixed race used to be unable to get married; now they can. It goes on and on. Marriage has never been this pure, static, unchanging thing.

Marriage isn't solely about religion. Atheists can and do get married all the time.

Marriage isn't solely about children. Elderly people past the child-bearing years, men who have had vasectomies, women who have had their tubes tied or who have had hysterectomies, as well as couples who have no interest in having children, all get married all the time.

If you don't "believe" that gays should get married, that is your opinion and you're entitled to it... however, your opinion should not be enshrined in the secular legal system as a law, forced upon everyone. It is wrong to legislate opinions.

Many, many churches actually support same-sex unions, and some have performed them for decades. This is about religious freedom: just because YOUR religion doesn't like it, doesn't mean your religion should trump every other in terms of what is legal under secular law. Unitarians, the United Church of Christ, the Reform Jewish Synagogue, and Liberal Quakers all perform same-sex marriage ceremonies, as do many other individual churches within broader religious sects (Methodists, Episcopalians, and others). Why should marriages performed by those churches be "less real" in the eyes of the law than those performed by, say, the Mormon church or the Church of Scientology?

This is simply about equal civil rights for all Americans. Gay marriage will eventually pass. Our country has always moved forward, expanding civil rights for all Americans and struggling towards being that more perfect union. History is on the side of gay marriage. It will happen. It's sad that our country is not leading on this issue though, and that we're so far behind countries like the Netherlands, Spain, Canada, and South Africa. All these countries have legal and full marriage (and more are being added to the list all the time), and there simply hasn't been any negative effects in these countries. This country should be leading and championing equal rights for oppressed minorities. It's a shame we're being held back by irrational fear and ignorant bigotry.

"12 Days"

2008-12-11T15:52:03Z

Okay, this is completely worth it. Just trust me. Play this, sit back, and enjoy the next three minutes of your life:

"Prop 8 - The Musical"

2008-12-03T06:22:09Z

Hilarious little video starring a LOT of famous faces... (see how many you can name):

See more funny videos at Funny or Die

A panoramic view

2008-11-19T19:08:41Z

Here are some panoramic pictures from my recent Caribbean Cruise (FINALLY!)...

The first image here is of the ship as we parked and started walking towards it, on the day we left:

This next image is from the first day at sea, looking towards the back of the ship, standing above the pool deck:

This image is from day four, our first port of call, Jamaica. This is on the beach looking towards the west:

And this is looking towards the east:

I'll have more pictures to upload later, but I thought these panoramic pictures turned out well (thanks to Windows Live Photo Gallery's Panoramic photo stitching function).

Austin Rally for Equal Marriage Rights at City Hall

2008-11-16T01:09:25Z

I managed to make it out of my house to attend the rally for equal rights here in Austin. This was one of dozens and dozens of rallies held all across the nation today in response to the passage of anti-gay and anti-gay marriage propositions across this country.

Let me say this clearly to the people who support these bans, and most importantly those who voted to strip an entire class of California citizens of civil rights they already had: You are on the wrong side of history.

People who support bans on gay marriage are ignorant, and whether they want to admit it or not, they are bigots. This isn't about religion. This has nothing to do with religion. Allowing gay marriage wouldn't affect any church one way or another. This is about civil marriage licenses, the kind you can get at City Hall, and the right of same-sex couples to enjoy the same equal civil rights, responsibilities, and protections as any other couple.

Anyone who supported the bans on gay marriage will be looked back on in ten or twenty years with the same contempt and disgust as we now look back on those that wished to ban interracial marriage, or who worked to strip any previous minority of their basic human and civil rights. You people WILL lose. It's only a matter of time. Progress and freedom marches on. You are fighting for ignorance, hate, and intolerance. We are fighting for equality, inclusion, and justice. We will win. We always have. We always will... eventually.

On being unwell

2008-11-12T06:11:08Z

I've been home from my Caribbean Cruise for over a week now, and haven't yet posted much about it. The thing is, I've been sick for two weeks.

I guess this serves me right for making the joke about not coming home with a tropical "disease" this time. Ha-ha. Karma and all that.

So I'll eventually get around to posting pictures and more details, but I'll assure everyone up front that I didn't come home with a boyfriend this time. Heck, I didn't even make out with anyone on the Cruise. I think I'm the only gay guy that didn't get any "vacation action" on that damn boat, in fact. So yeah, not even a good story about getting this illness. Heavy sigh.

Well, okay, it's sort of interesting, how I got this stupid bug. After two days at sea, we came to Jamaica. After spending an amazing day on the beach and at a bar there, I came back to the ship. We set sail again, and later that night, in the disco, I was talking to someone, and literally got sick mid-sentence. In the middle of talking, I lost my voice. I started coughing. I felt feverish. I immediately went back to my stateroom and went to bed. I've never come down with an illness so suddenly.

I spent most of the next day in bed. It was "Grand Cayman" day, but the weather was crappy, and most excursions were canceled anyway, so I guess it was a good day to be sick. I did leave the boat just long enough to take a few pictures, but went right back to bed.

The next day, "Cozumel" day, I felt lots better, went to the beach, drank, swam, had fun... came back to the ship and partied at the Halloween parties on board. Actually felt fine most of the night. Went to bed... and woke up in the middle of the night sick again. REALLY sick. The next day was an at-sea day, and I literally only left my cabin to get food. I slept most of the day. I guess I over-did it on Halloween... but at least I had fun!

The next day we were back home, we drove back to Austin, and the next morning I took my friends to the airport so they could wing their way home. And I got even sicker. And sicker. The coughing got horrible, and my voice was completely gone for three full days.

My fever broke last Friday (leaving me soaked in sweat upon awakening), and I've been getting noticeably better every day since then... but the cough is still with me and driving me nuts. And "getting better" has nothing to do with "being well", alas.

So... I'll get to the pictures in a bit (I have some great tropical shots), but I'm just really really wanting to feel well again. I swear I've forgotten what it's like to feel well, to not cough, and to have any energy. Ugh. I haven't left my house much since getting back. I haven't seen my friends. Heck, I haven't had energy to respond to emails or post on my blog here. Bleh.

So, my fingers are crossed that this will be gone by this weekend, so I can go out and see my friends, reconnect with humanity, and have fun again. That sure would be nice.

All in all, not a great vacation. Sigh.

Olbermann Special Comment on Prop 8 - 11/10: "This Vote is Horrible, Horrible"

2008-11-11T08:12:19Z

This just needed to be shared:

I had no idea.

2008-11-05T05:32:16Z

I had no idea how much I was holding back.

I watched the election coverage, and even as I knew intellectually that Obama had won, that there was no path for McCain to win, I didn't feel anything. No elation, no joy, no nothing. Just like I was watching any old news report.

Then, at 10pm central, they announced it. It was official. Barack Obama is our new President.

Nobody was more surprised than me at my nearly instantaneous reaction. A huge wave of emotion clawed its way out of me. Tears. Sobs. Cheeks tightening. It was real. I had been so afraid to believe it could be real. After 2000, and again in 2004, my hope had been stolen from me, dashed after being built up.

I had no idea how much I was protecting myself from that sort of disappointment again. Until that moment, I was so casual about it all.

I regained composure, only to be hit with another wave. And another. This was amazing. This was history. This was my country waking up from a long national nightmare. This was me being proud of my fellow Americans for the first time in 8 years. This was 'hope' seeping back into a soul from which it had been wrung dry.

I had no idea how much I had been holding back, until it came out in a flood. I feel relieved, I feel happy, I feel excited.

This moment right now is pregnant with possibility. The journey has only just begun.

God, I hope we don't all fuck it up.

(No, I'm going to let go of my pessimism for a little while and just enjoy this feeling of hope)

Procrastination

2008-10-23T07:08:22Z

I really should post more. But the longer it goes since the last post, the more I have to post about, so the more intimidating it seems to even start or decide what to post about, and the more I put it off...

It's a vicious cycle.

I do the same thing with house cleaning, and, well, pretty much everything else in my life these days. I've always been somewhat of a procrastinator, but lately it's sorta started getting out of hand. And it's gotten to the point where even leaving the house seems overwhelming sometimes.

I even seem to have this problem when it comes to sleep... Last weekend, I actually didn't sleep at all on Saturday night. I tossed and turned, got up and read, went back to bed, tossed and turned, got up to browse the web, went back to bed, tossed and turned... and got up after I noticed the sun was up and I might as well just give up and start my day.

I think I need a vacation.

Which is good, because I have one coming up! Of course, that's only adding to the stress and procrastination in the here-and-now. You see, I have visitors coming (we're going on vacation together) and my house is a wreck. Add to that the fact that I have a ton of work to do at work, all of which I'm behind on, and you have a recipe for stress. All that stress has sent me into stress-eating cycles (comfort food!), which ironically has me right back up to the same weight I was this time last year. Dammit. All that effort at losing all that weight last winter and spring, and voila, it's all back in only a matter of weeks! Crap.

It's just not fair that weight comes on so fast, but melts away so slowly. It's also not fair that all my most favorite foods are bad for me. Oh yeah, another thing that isn't fair: while trying to eat a little bit healthy on occasion these past weeks, I've been eating Progresso "Lite" soups... only to find out they're LOADED with MSG (and I mean LOADED), which may be responsible for my insomnia, headachiness, and general lethargy (at least, so says the web). SO! Yay. Fun. This is me throwing out four cans of soup...

So. Yes. Back to the vacation! My friends arrive Friday morning (I'm very much looking forward to their visit, and hope they're not offended by a messy cluttered house... at least the guest room and bathroom will be clean), and we pal around Austin for a couple of days, and then drive down to Houston Sunday morning. It was going to be Galveston, but due to Ike, things were relocated to Houston. From there we leave on a great big boat for 7 days of cruising the Western Caribbean!

Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. Yes, it's a repeat of last year's Halloween Cruise, with a slightly different itinerary: two days longer, two different locations (last year was Progresso, Yucatan, and Cozumel), and a significantly bigger ship. I also will do my best not to come back with some sort of tropical douche-bag disease this time. :-) Thankfully, I think my friends will keep an eye on me and warn me away from anything dangerous...

Okay, enough rambling. It's 2am and I should have been in bed two hours ago.

Nightmares

2008-09-14T06:45:34Z

Lord. I need to tune out of politics, because I get so upset I cant' sleep.

And I have to get up at 4am to go to the airport to fly to Baltimore for a business conference. And it's 1:30am now. And I can't sleep.

Oh, and my flight connected through Houston, which means of course that the second leg was canceled. My flight INTO Houston is fine, but my flight from Houston to Baltimore is canceled completely. I spent all day trying to contact Continental, but their phone lines were down. I tried changing things on the web at their site, but even though I found a flight with seats that connected through Atlanta, every time I tried to change, the site gave me an error. I tried calling Travelocity.com, and got an unhelpful customer service person from India that referred my itinerary to a special group that was handling hurricane Ike issues, and was promised a call-back, which never came.

So I get to get up at 4am anyway, go to the airport anyway, and try and get things changed in person. And since the Atlanta-connecting flights don't leave until after noon, I'll get to drive all the way back home, try to catch an hour or two more of sleep, and then drive BACK to the airport again.

What a nightmare.

I hope to god I get there. I had planned on visiting with a friend I have in Baltimore Sunday afternoon and/or evening, but that's all in limbo, as I might not even get in until after 8pm (depending on the flights), or maybe not even at all, and will likely be operating on near-zero sleep.

Side note: Ike was a no-show in Austin. It was actually sunny and warm today (overcast this morning), with only light breezes. No rain at all. Not a drop. This is the second hurricane in a row that was targeting Austin, but suddenly veered away at the last minute. Mother Nature must love Austin. Although we could have used the rain...

In other news, I'm a bad blogger... I never blogged about my visit to Seattle (which was great, even if almost every original plan fell through), never posted any pictures (heck, I haven't even gotten them off my camera yet), and failed to blog about half a dozen other issues and ideas that I probably should have. I never even blogged about my parent's visit a month ago! I'm so far behind, but I got swamped with work.

Maybe I'll catch up after my Baltimore trip. I get back at the end of the week (barring any further hurricanes). I'm only posting THIS much because of rampant insomnia and worry and angst (flight-related, and politically related from a twitter battle via Twinkle) and my mind won't shut down. So I figured I might as well get something productive done rather than just lying in bed staring at the ceiling in the dark.

Okay, off to try and catch maybe an hour or so of shut-eye before heading to the airport.

Today has not been a good one.

(p.s. Anyone else find it ironic that the Live Journal entry "spell checker" doesn't have the words 'blog' or 'blogger' or 'blogged'? :-)

(p.p.s. On a lighter note, from SNL tonight: a funny skit) -- UPDATE: Fixed link, since original video was taken down

There are no words

2008-09-13T05:16:16Z

Why the hell isn't the entire country just LAUGHING at this ticket? Why is this even remotely close?

This is just making me more of a misanthrope than I usually am.

I'm sorry, but it's a simple, unquestionable fact: If you are planning on voting for McCain/Palin, then you're a fucking moron.

You don't *have* to support Obama/Biden, but if you support McCain/Palin, then you're a complete and total idiot, a gullible tool, an a waste of human breath.

McCain/Palin is just sickening. Neither has the judgment or sanity to be leader of the free world. They are lying, deceiving, divisive, incompetent, corrupt assholes. Period. I don't understand why people aren't just pointing and laughing at them and everything they say. I don't understand why the polls aren't 90% Obama, 5% McCain.

It's fucking insane, and I'm just incredulous.

Visitations

2008-08-14T14:42:38Z

My parents arrive this afternoon for a little summer visit. They'll be here until next Tuesday.

While I'm looking forward to seeing them, my house is a disaster area and I haven't had the time or energy (mostly energy) to get it cleaned in time for their arrival, so I'm in major stress mode right now.

(...and of course I'm posting here instead of cleaning, because I'm very good at avoiding work and procrastinating).

My dad HATES the heat -- his favorite temperature is 62 degrees I think -- so it's kind of ironic that it was HIS idea to visit Austin in August during one of our more intense heat waves. As luck would have it though, it looks like the heat wave is going to break somewhat starting tomorrow, as we drop out of the 100's into the 90's thanks to some long overdue rain in the forecast.

We'll see.

Anyway, should be a good time. Alas, I'm so busy at work that even during my "time off", I'll have to log in pretty much every day and get a little work done while they're here. Some "vacation", huh?

Oh well... gotta get started. I have a couple of hours before I have to leave for the airport...

Tomcats Screaming Outside

2008-08-11T17:34:56Z

I went out and had fun with friends Saturday night. I came home late. I got to sleep even later, around 3am.

Then, at around 5:30am, I was awakened by a scream.

Not a human scream, but a feline scream. A cat was screaming. Not a howl, not a meow... but a scream of intense pain and anguish. And not just one scream... the cat KEPT screaming. It was the kind of scream that makes the hairs on the back of your neck stand up, and pumps your body full of adrenaline in response.

And it was right outside my bedroom window.

I went to the window to see if I could see anything, but it was too dark, and I couldn't see anything. I could just tell it was very, very close.

I went in search of my big flashlight, which took me at least a minute or so to find, and all the while I could hear the cat screaming from everywhere in the house. It was that loud. I finally found the flashlight (right where it always is, but I somehow missed it the first time in my rush) and headed to the back door.

As I rested my hand on the door knob, I paused. Did I really want to do this? Was I prepared for what I might see or might have to do? After all, there was a panicked and obviously in-pain animal out there. What if I had to put it out of its misery? What if it was just hurt... could I approach it and take it to some vet without it attacking me? (and here's where the early-morning mind goes into over-drive), What if it was being attacked by a rabid animal like a raccoon or opossum or worse? What if it was being consumed by fire ants?

After all, it had been minutes and the cat was still screaming. It sounded for all the world like it was being very slowly eviscerated by some sadistic torturing devil. I'm sure most people have heard two cats get into a nasty wild fight. It's loud and then it's over. But this was so different. Louder. No hissing. Just... screaming.

No, I couldn't just sit back and ignore this. I had to do something, if only to satisfy my curiosity. And maybe I could help.

I steeled myself, and opened the door quietly. I walked out on the deck and aimed the flashlight at the sound. There, standing right underneath my bedroom window was the cat. It was just standing there now. Staring at me. Making no noise. It was the same gray cat I frequently see hanging around my house. As it stood there, I didn't see anything obviously wrong... other than the fact that it didn't dart away the moment it saw me, as it usually does.

To get any closer, I had to walk down off the deck and around some bushes, losing sight of the cat. I did so, and when I got around the bushes, the cat was still there, frozen in the spotlight of my flashlight. I again looked for anything unusual, and saw nothing.

I took another step, and the cat bolted, disappearing around the corner of my house. About a second after the cat disappeared, there was one more loud scream, and then silence.

In the pitch darkness, I slowly made my way around to the side of the house. The "yard" there is just three feet or so of grass between the house and a six-foot high wooden fence. At the far end is the air conditioner unit and a tree. I played my flashlight around the area and saw no sign of the cat. It was gone. I heard nothing but silence.

So what happened? This cat, and another, have been known to get up on my roof (via the aforementioned tree) and chase each other, or squirrels, across my roof. I know this because then they do, it sounds like there are rampaging herds of buffalo on my rooftop. Perhaps the cat had fallen from the roof, and injured itself... dislocated or broken something? Maybe that final scream was the pain it felt either climbing over and jumping down from the fence, or from squeezing through some tiny hole in it, into the next yard...

I may never know. I'll keep an eye out for this particular kitty and hope it's all right I guess.

It took a while for me to calm down and get to a point where I could fall back to sleep. The sound of that screaming was pretty haunting... but I'm glad the reality didn't seem to be nearly as bad as it sounded.