Monthly Archives: February 2015
On top of everything else…
Woke up this morning to a soft beep. iPad lost its connection to the home wireless network. Oh, well, it’s 0755, I can get up. I have tasks to perform. I go into the living room. The TV cable box is flashing an error message. Not good.
Every now and then a bit gets stuck somewhere, and the normal cure is to cycle the power on the cable modem. I go into the spare bedroom to do that. There’s no ‘power’ light on the modem. I know the next step. I go out to the car and retrieve my voltmeter. I got voltage at the receptacle. I switch the meter to DC and check the output at the little round plug. Zero.
I really NEED a bit more crap in my life right now. Saturday morning. No cable. No internet. I call the provider, wait interminable amounts of time to talk to a human who then asks me all the questions to determine if I really have a problem or if I’m an idiot. He decides I have a problem. He informs me “We have a 48-hour response window.”
Great! I give him a phone number and ask that the tech calls before he comes. I still have to do a grocery run or my cats will run out of food and I’m next on their menu.
Thirty minutes ago one of the techs calls. He’s in Hackberry, half an hour south of here. He shows up exactly as he promises, walks in with a new modem, and bingo! I’m back on line.
Today in History – February 28
1784 – John Wesley charters the Methodist Church.
1827 – The Baltimore & Ohio Railroad is incorporated, becoming the first railroad in America offering commercial transportation of both people and freight. Without government funds.
1849 – Regular steamboat service from the west to the east coast of the United States begins with the arrival of the SS California in San Francisco Bay, 4 months 21 days after leaving New York Harbor. Due to the Panama Canal being some distance in the future, this trip goes all the way around the Horn.
1933 – Gleichschaltung: The Reichstag Fire Decree is passed in Germany a day after the Reichstag fire. Generate a crisis, then use it to pass laws that shut down your opponents. Worked then. Is it working now?
1935 – DuPont scientist Wallace Carothers invents nylon.
1942 – In the dark opening days of American participation in World War II, he heavy cruiser USS Houston is sunk in the Battle of Sunda Strait with 693 crew members killed, along with HMAS Perth which lost 375 men.
1954 – The first color television sets using the NTSC (Never Twice the Same Color) standard are offered for sale to the general public, for a mere $1,295, or $11,200 in today’s dollars.
1956 – Forrester issued a patent for computer core memory. And why did they call it ‘core’ memory? Because the data was stored as the magnetic state of tiny little ferrite donut ‘cores’, written and accessed by tiny little copper wires. Interesting stuff,that.
1993 – Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms agents raid the Branch Davidian church in Waco, Texas with a warrant to arrest the group’s leader David Koresh. Four BATF agents and five Davidians die in the initial raid, starting a 51-day standoff. Is your church approved by the BATFE?
Food for Thought – 27 February 2015
Finally got my MRI
After conferring with doctors yesterday we decided to try the local MRI emporium one more time, this time doping my Cajun butt up a bit more. Accordingly, yesterday I made a pass by the pharmacy and came away with a single whopper dose Valium, well, actually the generic equivalent. I went ahead and made arrangements for my sister to provide me transport to and from the facility.
I had a sleepless night last night, half because there just isn’t a place that I can position my body where I don’t have pain at one or several points from my right hip on down due to that nerve getting squeezed between two vertebrae, and partially due to fretting over not being able to lie still long enough to get a complete MRI, the necessary next step towards getting relief.
It was almost pure pain when I got up this morning, just like it’s been for the last week and a half. The pain leaves off a bit after half an hour and I’m able to hobble around for a bit to get breakfast. I also take two painkillers. Forty-five minutes before the appointment, I down that Valium and wait.
Sister and her saint of a husband (he has to be to put up with my brat of a sister) pick me up right after I swallow the pill and in ten minutes I’m at the MRI hole. They take me right in.
I’m happy to note that they’ve done away with those ‘One size fits nobody’ hospital gowns. Instead I get a pair of paper shorts, and I’m directed to the MRI room. The techs are as helpful as they can be, trying to make me comfortable. I end up with a big lump of foam rubber supporting my knees as I lie on my back. It’s almost like sitting. Still hurts like hell. Somehow that doesn’t seem as important. Valium? They stick a set of headphones on me. That’s more painful than the nerve pain, because it’s playing the most popular country & western station in the area. That’s pure torture.
Valium helps that too. The machine makes several minutes of varying funny noises, and it’s over. Sis and hubby bring me home, I walk in and endure the bliss of more drugs than I normally take, but at least I have that stupid MRI behind me. Got an ortho appointment on Tuesday and a neuro appointment on Thursday. And maybe I’ll get this thing fixed.
Today in History – February 27
1776 – American Revolutionary War: the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge in North Carolina breaks up a Loyalist militia. You have to understand that there are a lot of people who will fight to keep the status quo.
1801 – Pursuant to the District of Columbia Organic Act of 1801, Washington, D.C. is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. From that bright hope, we come to today’s “wretched hive of scum and villainy.”
1844 – The Dominican Republic gains independence from Haiti. This is a brilliant move. Like “night” separating from “day”.
1864 – American Civil War: The first Northern prisoners arrive at the Confederate prison at Andersonville, Georgia.
1933 – Reichstag fire: Germany’s parliament building in Berlin, the Reichstag, is set on fire. I halfway expect something of similar nature here before long. Cynical? Who, me?
1951 – The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified. If only it included Congress.
1986 – The United States Senate allows its debates to be televised on a trial basis, with unexpected consequences. Today the most dangerous place in Washington is between Chuck Schumer and a TV camera.
The cats LIKE it…
I just sat back in my chair after lunch and was attended by Romeo, all eighteen yellow fuzzy pounds of himself. I note that with the regular use of opioids, my conversations with cats tend to be longer, and they answer…
Food for Thought – 26 February 2015
Today in History – February 26
1848 – The Second French Republic is proclaimed. The first one started with a bloodbath, went on to a dictatorship and finished as a monarchy. This one lasts until the French are again deluded by the name ‘Napoleon’, this one being Napoleon III and declare the Second Empire. The Germans realign their thinking in 1870.
1863 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the National Currency Act into law. This put us solidly on the road to a paper currency backed by the whim of banks.
1917 – The Original Dixieland Jass Band records the first ever jazz record for the Victor Talking Machine Company in New York. “Victrola” used to be almost synonymous with “record player”.
1935 – Adolf Hitler orders the Luftwaffe to be re-formed, violating the provisions of the Treaty of Versailles. Imagine that! A dictator with plans for increased domination ignores international treaty. I’m SOOOO glad that doesn’t happen today…
1936 – Hitler introduces Ferdinand Porsche’s “Volkswagen”, the precursor to the the VW Type 111, or “Beetle”, a particularly delightful car. I owned several.
1952 – United Kingdom Prime Minister Winston Churchill announces that his nation has an atomic bomb.
1960 – A New York bound Alitalia airliner crashed into a cemetery at Shannon, Ireland, shortly after takeoff, killing 34 of the 52 persons on board. Irish rescue crews recover 347 bodies.
1970 – National Public Radio incorporates as a non-profit corporation, assuring the Left of a free forum for its ideas.
1983 – Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” album goes to #1 &stays #1 for 37 weeks, proving the popularity of prancing fop pedophiles.
1993 – World Trade Center bombing: In New York City, a truck bomb parked below the North Tower of the World Trade Center explodes, killing 6 and injuring over a thousand, but it’s only a law enforcement matter.
Food for Thought – 25 February 2015
That didn’t work…
Went to the imaging place to do the MRI. Aborted the mission. I cannot lie in a single position long enough to complete the scan. Waiting for the doctors to tell me what’s next.
In a previous bout of spinal stenosis of my cervical vertebrae, the had to use full anesthesia to get me to be able to lie still for the MRI.
Pain? On the 1-10 scale they like to use? Sometimes it’s a twelve. It’s never less than three or four.
Today in History – February 25
1836 – Samuel Colt receives an American patent for the Colt revolver.
1870 – Hiram Rhodes Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, is sworn into the United States Senate, becoming the first African American ever to sit in the U.S. Congress.
1919 – Oregon places a 1 cent per U.S. gallon tax on gasoline, becoming the first U.S. state to levy a gasoline tax. This is known as the camel’s nose under the tent…
1932 – Adolf Hitler obtains German citizenship by naturalization, which allows him to run in the 1932 election for Reichspräsident. See what happens when you work around that birth certificate thing?
1933 – The USS Ranger is launched. It is the first US Navy ship to be built solely as an aircraft carrier. Her first combat action is against the French in North Africa.
1954 – Gamal Abdel Nasser is made premier of Egypt, after having Israel kick his butt in 1948. He tries two rematches, 1956 and 1967, loses those, too.
1956 – In his speech On the Personality Cult and its Consequences Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev denounces the cult of personality of Joseph Stalin. What!??! There are consequences to a personality cult?
1964 – Speaking of personality cults, North Korean Prime Minister Kim Il-sung calls for the removal of feudalistic land ownership aimed at turning all cooperative farms into state-run ones. This single brilliant move turns North Korea into a cornucopia of riches. South Koreans line up at the DMZ, clamoring to get in. Right?!?
1991 – The Warsaw Pact is declared disbanded. After all those years of me and a million other American soldiers waiting for them to come streaming through the Fulda Gap…
It’s been a week…
A whole week since I’ve been TO work. Oh, I’ve been working. That little blowup in Alabama has kept me entertained with phone calls, conference calls, streams of emails, a bit of research on the web, but I haven’t been to the office in a week.
Believe me, If I COULD do it, I’d be in Alabama right now helping to orchestrate our way out of that mess. Stuff like that is what I live for.
But I can’t. This morning was a case in point. When I woke up and tried to get out of bed, the best I could do as far as mobility is concerned is get halfway to the bathroom. I paused midway, sitting on the far side of my bed, then finished the trip. I made it into the living room in one pain-ridden trip, because heaven knows, turning sideways in my recliner, pulling my right leg up to where the heel of my right foot almost touches my butt, that’s the most comfortable position I’ve found.
It took me half a dozen tries to get a breakfast, then another few tries to acquire coffee and a couple of Tramidol to help me stand life.
I’ve fielded several phone calls and emails over the Alabama issue as well as one of my projects a bit closer in.
And through it all, making it bearable, is my attendant. This is Sucha, as in “Sucha Fine Cat”, and he stays by me close, offering me comfort. He knows that when a human can stroke a cat, the human’s life is improved immeasurably.
Tomorrow morning is the MRI and hopefully a visit with a neurologist to see about getting this crap fixed.
Here’s another.
Today in History – February 24
1803 – The Supreme Court of the United States, in Marbury v. Madison, establishes the principle of judicial review.
1868 – The first parade to have floats is staged at Mardi Gras in New Orleans, Louisiana. I have never been to Mardi Gras in New Orleans and have no desire to go. However, I do note that standing on the side of the road waiting for mystical creatures to give you stuff for free has a particular character that fits New Orleans well.
1917 – World War I: The U.S. ambassador to the United Kingdom is given the Zimmermann Telegram, in which Germany pledges to ensure the return of New Mexico, Texas, and Arizona to Mexico if that country declares war on the United States. Seeing that Germany is happily pursuing attacks on the United States by means of a surrogate, Mexico, helps make us decide to enter the war.
1976 – Cuba: national Constitution is proclaimed. Article I: Fidel is always right. Article II: If Fidel is wrong, refer to Article I.
1968 – Vietnam War: The Tet Offensive is halted; South Vietnam recaptures Hué. You’d never know from news reports and conventional histories that EVERYWHERE the VC attacked, we (and the South Vietnamese) beat the ever-loving crap out of them.
1989 – Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini offers a US$3 million bounty for the death of The Satanic Verses author Salman Rushdie. And Mr. Khomeini is a member of WHAT religion? Radical baptist?
2008 – Fidel Castro retires as the President of Cuba after nearly fifty years. He passed control to his brother, like he was a freakin’ Kennedy or something…