This morning we joined the family in witnessing Lil' Elvis getting baptized. She did really well and then slept a bit through the after-party. She woke up, ate and then entertained us with her walking. Man that kid can walk.
Her sister spent Friday night with us and then we went to the fair Saturday morning. We spent the majority of our time in the Kidworld area riding rides. We did venture out a little to look at a woman warming up her horse. I think she realized The Niece was very interested because the rider and horse started going through their paces. I don't know diddly about horsemanship but that rider and her horse worked well together. We also checked out some of the young animals. The women working the "identify the seed" booth--actually I don't know what it was called--did a really great job of explaining to The Niece all the seeds and what the seeds grew into. I thought it was brilliant when talking about barley they came up with a couple of foods that The Niece would have recognized. I, of course, would have just said beer. Clearly, I would have been a bad choice for that booth.
The Niece also took a pony ride and as I was leading the pony around the ring, The Niece asked me to let the pony run a little bit and for me to let go of the rope. I didn't because I really didn't want to finish our trip to the fair explaining to my sister about the hospital visit. Also, I don't think that pony would have run if I had lit off a firecracker next to her.
We watched the new show Bionic Woman last night (we typically tape shows and fast forward through the commercials). We’re on the fence about the show and we both agreed it should get another viewing before making a final decision on whether to add it to our watch list or not.
I loved the original version of the show and thought Lindsay Wagner was the bomb back when I was eight. I’m not sure how that show has held up over the years because I don’t know when I last saw it. I’d like to think that I wouldn’t be too embarrassed by how much I liked that show. Strong female character kicking ass, being compassionate and funny, ripping phone books in half and running fast. You can see the attraction.
This version of the show went from very explainy to not enough. The scene where the new Jaime and her doctor boyfriend explain why they are together was pretty false. It did bring up a good point of why is Jaime a bartender—will she be killing people in an upcoming episode by flinging vodka bottles? Also, what’s the point of the little sister? I predict she’s going to be kidnapped and held at knifepoint more than once.
The unexplained and slightly confusing is why and how The Chief! let the doctor out of prison. You see him using a cell phone and whammo the doctor is freed. Have all these shady characters just been waiting for Starbuck to figure out how to get free and crash an 18-wheeler into the car of the doctor/boyfriend and soon-to-be bionic woman? If the doctor/boyfriend can trigger alarms and bust Jaime Summers out of the mountain lab then what took Starbuck so long? Oh yeah, she was busy replacing other body parts. So, no one knew Starbuck was alive and stealing bionic eyes and other parts? No wonder the government is always accused of mismanagement. Parts worth millions just disappear and no one notices for three years.
The question is will the bad guys start making fembots and try to take over the world?
In a final note, the new Jaime Summers needs to quit with all the screaming. I was seriously annoyed by all the screaming, crying and pouting. Buck up. You can run like the wind.
We're headed to the fair this weekend with The Niece. When we originally set up the overnight visit, I was cautious about going to the fair in case of rain but since we've apparently become a desert climate, there's no worry about that.
The last time we took The Niece to the fair she slept through the last hour or so while we were there. When I picked her up out of the stroller to head to the car, she woke up and informed me that I had said one more ride. I told her she was riding on me to the car. I think the cotton candy made it OK. I don't think there will be any sleeping this time around. Unless, of course, I snooze through a spin on the ferris wheel.
OK, I've got nothing but this should more than make up for it.
You're welcome.
Location:
Dinner on the back porch
Music, set on random:
Billie Holiday, Lady in Autumn: The best of the Verve Years, disc two
The Jazz Masters, 27 Classic Performances from the Columbia Jazz Masterpiece Series, disc two
Herbie Hancock, The Best of Herbie Hancock
Taj Mahal, The Natch'l Blues
Charles Lloyd, The Water is Wide
Miles Davis, In A Silent Way
Food:
Grilled, Air-dried NY Strip Steak from the Belmont Butchery
Broccoli (I saute it in olive oil and bacon drippings with onions and red pepper flakes. When the florets get bright green, I put in some soy sauce and water and let them steam for a little while. The finished product is never mushy and oh so yummy.)
Baked Potatoes
Button Mushrooms cooked in butter with fresh thyme and black pepper
Drink:
Rivata Barbaresco
Diners:
Very happy
Today at noon the university is going to test their new emergency system. We have so little going on around here that we've been looking forward to the siren blasts all week.
Yesterday there was a manager's meeting here and as some of them were leaving they lamented over the sorrow of so many people who have to leave and the reality that's setting in. Um, yeah, we've noticed since our unit was slashed by about 60%. I couldn't hold my tongue and said it's a real drag helping people put stuff in their cars. I'm sure these other people are feeling sad over the loss of what was but I can't take it anymore when someone fails to see our unit has been gutted. Take your sniffling elsewhere.
For grins, someone here figured out there is a manager for every 2 1/2 people. I don't think you have that level of supervision at pre-school.
Would you believe me if I told you that a house nearby put up a fancy schmancy sign post and it sat up for a couple of weeks empty? You probably would. Would you believe the sign that fits into the elaborate sign post is of a Starfleet vessel and the words "Family Name's Final Frontier" (written in a Star Trek typeface ala Deep Space Nine)?
Would you believe that while growing up our family and our grandparents had huge fig bushes that produced so much fruit we could hardly keep up with the output? Would you believe I saw a sign for figs today at the grocery store and those figs were $1.49 a piece? Without breaking out my abacus, I would imagine that I've eaten a thousand dollars worth of figs over my lifetime.
So you don't think that F&G has turned into a medical journal, here's a question:
Do you think people who park in hospital parking decks totally lose their minds? What is so hard to understand about two-way traffic? Wide turns and driving on the left side aren't things you get to do, I don't care if you have just been to the hospital/doctor's office/whatever.
The biopsy went OK today although I'm sore, there's swelling and bruising and I'm worn out. I guess when the body experiences any sort of trauma, or at least my body, the tiredness thing happens. If I didn't know better the needle was inserted 1,452 times. If you've never had a needle biopsy of your thyroid, the needle goes in and then they move in and out of the site several times without extracting the needle. How does it feel? It's bothersome, uncomfortable and it feels like there's a metal rod in your neck--which is exactly what is in there. And, as thin as needles are, it doesn't feel very thin after the second or third insert.
With an ultrasound guided biopsy the pathologist is right there and she indicated that she needed a new set of samples after the first group was collected. By this time the little nodule was hemorrhaging and making it difficult for the radiologist and techs to locate it. If you'd been pierced don't you think you'd run and hide too? After much discussion and rolling around of the ultrasound transducer, they found the nodule again and pierced it directly. In all fairness, the nodule is small and I have serious scar tissue in there.
The pathologist said she had plenty of samples to look at but she didn't see any thyroid tissue on first glance so they now are guessing that it is a glob of fat. Why it's there is anyone's guess. I should know definitively what the mass is and if I need another biopsy or ultrasound in the coming week. I'm sure this isn't the end of this little story. Nothing is easy with this thyroid.
The good news of the day is that Once Upon a Vine, the Northside location, is selling Strongbow cider again. This is what was on the kitchen table when I got home today:
If you are in the Richmond area, go buy a six-pack and support the effort.
The other day I was in a doctor's office explaining why I was there and the nurse called me a poor thing. Let's get two things straight. I am not a poor thing and if that's what the nurse says to me with my minor issue what does she say to the women with breast cancer who see this same doctor? Breast cancer surgery is one of his specialties. No, that's not why I was there.
I didn't say anything to her about not being a poor thing but I did give her the blank stare. I asked the better-half what he thought she said to the women with cancer and he said, "oh shit". I know that the nurse probably says poor thing all the time and never thinks about it--it's just part of her routine. Still, it kind of pissed me off.
This morning I went by a local hospital to have some blood work done, the suspense is killing you isn't it, and the women working in the outpatient lab were anything but poor thing. They were cool and the woman drawing blood would have given me the "threw a fit" sticker if she hadn’t given them all out to kids. Walking around with a "threw a fit" sticker slapped on my band aid would have made my day.
Friday I get to have an ultrasound guided biopsy on what's left of my thyroid. It's lumpy, not behaving and the endocrinologist couldn't get a sample when he tried. I told the surgeon the other day that my thyroid is special and that's why it is acting this way. He didn't really get the joke. I guess I shouldn't take my comedy routine to the next AMA conference.
I don't know why this work week seemed to stretch out longer than usual but it did. I had to attend two meetings this week where I basically said 2 things at the most. I attend these meetings on a regular basis to hear what people are saying about a software product so that some day when it is finally released I can write curricula for it. It's been a long road and still nothing to write about. Yesterday's meeting was 6 hours and it was conducted via a webinar. That's a long time to stare at the computer and listen to conversation via speaker phone. I did get one tip that I will use whenever the product is released.
Next week two people are leaving our office as part of the layoff. This will bring the number of people who have left to 5 and we still have 2 to go. I'm empathetic to their plight but I really wish the end of the month would come so we can start getting on with it. Since May we've done nothing but talk about how much things suck and how royally screwed up our fearless leader is. I need a break from that and that's not exactly something I can admit to at work.
On to better things...
This coming Wednesday we're going to see Billy Joe Shaver perform. I'm going to have to bolt out of class that night to get to the show on time. I will try to contain myself when he does Georgia on a Fast Train. I will contain myself. I will. Really.
As Liz pointed out in the comment section on the previous entry, there may be more to the story, but there's not. I read an article about a pickle war going on in NY city and the thought of yummy pickles just got the ball rolling for that last entry.
I would, however, like to vent a little about people's assumption with me and kids. I like kids. Just ask The Niece and her sister (if her sister could answer with a complete sentence I'm sure she'd say something good about me and my views on kids). There are some other kids I could give as a reference check too.
I get a lot of grief in a backhanded way at work because I don't have kids. I'm really the only one without them, except for one guy, but there are other issues going on with him that make it so no one ever questions his facility for liking kids. I think when people look at the better-half and me they assume we don't like kids or that we're selfish or something else must be wrong with us. Because how can you not have kids? As an aside, I think it is interesting that someone (Liz) I've never met in person "gets" it better than people who see me on a regular basis.
The truth is we talked about having kids when we first got married but things didn't work out and so now we kick ass as aunt and uncle. When I tell people that they give me a sad little smile. Like they think I don't mean it and that I sob myself to sleep every night. No.
We've embraced the no kids life and the aunt and uncle roles and, let me tell you, we are the KINGS of aunt- and uncle-dom. If it weren't ridiculous we'd probably have superhero costumes and fly around in invisible jets, we're that good at being aunt and uncle.