Now with more clickies!

I've made a few subtle changes to my page. Can you spot them? Too late. Here are the answers.

I added linkbacks to the posts. So, if someone links to a post, it'll provide a link to the linker. (huh?) I also enabled you to easily e-mail any post to a friend. Just click on the little envelope link, and poof! Your e-mail window should open and you're well on your way to boring someone with my jabber.

I've also added a few new links. So Soo Mi has some insightful posts, and I enjoy reading her. I used to visit Metroblogging LA for awhile, but since Wil doesn't post there anymore (edit: Oops. Wil does post there...but I swear he was gone for a while), I've quit. But, I thought, I actually know people in Denver, so...Metroblogging Denver is now in my list. There are very few posters, so the posts are a bit sporadic, but maybe I can add one or two. Finally, courtesy of Soo, I've found another site to visit for interesting/funny news: The Obscure Store and Reading Room. Great stuff.

--Beav (Join me, won't you?)

The Saga Continues

"When last we heard from our injured hero, he had an appointment in orthopedics... "

I went to orthopedics and talked to the PA there. After moving my leg around a bit to see how the knee felt, he diagnosed a probable meniscal tear and possible ACL damage. But, he'd like to see an MRI. So, he puts a referral in the system and tells me to call and make an appointment in a couple of days, then make an appointment back in ortho about a week after that.

I made my appointment, and was told to get a copy of my x-rays on the way to Portsmouth so the MRI tech can compare the two images. Ok. On my way to Portsmouth, I stop at the hospital and go find where they store the radiology images. It takes them an entire hour to drop them to disk (computer problems). I only allotted 5-15 minutes for it, so I was late. They stick me in the limb machine (much nicer than the claustrophobia machine). They've got me leaned back in a seat with one leg in the tube and the other comfortably supported on the side of the machine. I slept.

"Later, back at Langley Orthopedics..."

I again see my PA, but in hindsight, this appointment could have been conducted over the phone. He says that the report from the MRI confirms the meniscal tear and the ACL. So, do you want to have surgery to repair it? This is a question that, to me, doesn't even need to be asked. Would you like to stop hurting everytime you use stairs? Would you like to carry things without pain? Sure doc, what have you got? Granted, rehab won't be pleasant, but 6 months post-surgery, I'll likely be 100%. Uh, yeah. I want the surgery. Ok, so I'll make another appointment to talk to the orthopedic surgeon.

Which brings us to Tuesday.

I get to talk to the surgeon, Dr. D. He looks at the report, fiddles with my knee a bit, and verifies with me that I want the surgery. I do, so he gives me a quick lowdown on the 3 options. (1) Taking some tendon from the front of my kneecap to use as an ACL, (2) taking some tendon from my hamstring to use as an ACL, or (3) taking some ACL from a dead guy to use as my ACL. Number 1 doesn't look so cool, cause it can weaken the kneecap and cause pain there. I am trying to avoid pain in the first place, so that's out. There's a small chance of infection with number 3, since it's not my tissue, so we'll put that on the back burner. Number 2 sounds like our best bet, and we'll be ready for 3 if my hamstring's not long or strong enough. So, the good doctor asks when would be good for me to have the surgery. I quipped that next Wednesday's bad for me, but he may have taken it to heart because I'm scheduled for 12 Oct. Then comes some recoup time, then lots of rehab. Welcome to the good pain!

--Beav

I Scoffed my Mockersins

Fred Phelps - crazy dude perverting (select verses of) the bible to back his hatred of everything and everybody. He is the idiot behind the Westboro Baptist Church that protests military funerals by chanting (and holding signs) "God Hates Fags," among other things.

The link below is to a 10 minute video diatribe supposedly against Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert. Though he starts and ends with them, his crap really seems to be aimed at the US as a whole (because we tolerate).

Movie Link

I found it to be absolutely hillarious on one level - that someone could believe that (and say "scoffers and mockers" so many times). But on another level, it frightened me - that someone could believe that.

On the whole, I was left with a question. If God hates America, should we go bomb him? He's either with us, or against us.

--Beav (I'm a scoffing mocker, aren't I?)