Sunday, April 29, 2007

the wee hours

RetroStats - An Apology To Users We Know…and Those We Don’t

We’re so sorry that after we sold the site, the new owners had no idea how to keep the database clean and run it.  It appears that after years and years and years of work by Leigh-Ann to keep everything running and to keep all of the users happy, it took the new owners less than 18 months to run it...into the ground.  Full of error messages, servers that can’t handle the load because they never deleted spammers or inactive users...and our cute little RetroStats.com site was murdered.  I loved that site and I hated selling it, but we thought it would be nice to be able to make a little extra cash *and* have the site live on forever.  Boy, we sure were wrong.  They killed SpirtualStats along with it, which was another stats site we started with the same software.  I used a cute little RetroStats button on my blog for a very long time, hoping that the new owners would get it together eventually, but since the button quit loading 90% of the time, I had to give up hope and go with StatCounter.  It’s so sad.

R.I.P. RetroStats

Saturday, April 28, 2007

late at night

So Exhausted From So Little

We spent today, all day, running errands.  We had to pick TJ up at the vet because he wouldn’t eat after we dropped him off last night.  And considering, he needs to, uh, “pass” the two foot long piece of string he ate, he needs to get his system moving.  Frankly, I’d appreciate it if he did it without requiring life-saving surgery.  I’m funny like that.  Anyway, TJ, our brave little guy who is super confident at home, was terrified at the vet’s office and refused any food.  He isn’t really a people loving kind of cat, he’s more a dog’s or cat’s cat.  But, when we picked him up at the vet, Leigh-Ann took him out of his crate, and he clung to her.  It was sad, and a little sweet.  Since we got home from our errands he’s been so cuddly.  He’s sitting still for pets and kisses on top of the head, which is generally not his thing.  Everyone cross your fingers that he has a good 2 foot long poop.  Gah.

We had to take TJ home, then go right back out and run more errands.  To Home Depot to return a swamp cooler that must’ve had some defect because after a week of working okay, it then started blowing circuits left and right.  It was a poorly made piece of crap anyway, so I’m not surprised.  We got another swamp cooler, but we’re rapidly realizing that it’s not going to completely do the trick.  The master bedroom just cannot be kept cool, so we took advantage of Home Depot’s no payments/no interest for 12 months to buy a little portable air conditioner for the bedroom.  It’s terrible how our house has hot and cold spots, depending on the season.  Naturally, the downstairs is perfect almost all the time, because the bedrooms, tv, and workspace is upstairs...where it’s hot, hot, hot.  We hope just a few shots of cold air a day in the bedroom will take care of the situation.  By the way, late on a Saturday afternoon, there were ZERO checkstands open.  The only way we could pay was to ring up everything ourselves.  That’s ridiculous.  Then, they told us and the man in front of us to pull our cars around and they’d have someone bring out the 90lb air conditioner boxes for us.  We pull the cars around and two girls are bringing the boxes out.  One, must’ve been less than five feet tall and the box probably weighed more than she did.  What kind of crappy service is that, Home Depot?  No cashiers and no one to help put the air conditioners in the car.  Luckily, the man in front of us was a youngish ex-Marine, who was still in very good shape.  He put the box in the back of our car for us.  We still would’ve been there if we’d needed help from Home Depot employees.  I know it’s based on doing it yourself projects at home, but I don’t want to do it myself when I’m in the store.

I wrote a couple more paragraphs, but they bored me, so I deleted them.  I just wanted to post one more thing, that I was super excited to see at the bottom of my blog that I was now, at least for the moment, a Slithering Reptile in The Truth Laid Bear Ecosytem.  Not long ago, I was just a multicellular microorganism.  Although, my Slithering Reptile designation seems too high for me, so maybe I’ll be dropping back down soon.  But, I took a screenshot for proof.

terribly early in the morning

More, more, more, more Pet Food Recalls - Stay Informed

There are more pet food recalls almost every day - Leigh-Ann has kept up with everything, so if you have dogs or cats, make sure you read her blog.

terribly early in the morning

I’m Still Not A Big Beatles Fan, But LOVE @ The Mirage Was Pretty Great

Last night we went to see LOVE with a bunch of our message board friends.  It’s the first big gathering we’ve ever had, and we met some of the people for the very first time, even though we’ve been real friends for years and years.  It just proves that you don’t need to physically meet your friends, as these friendships all these years have been just as real as my other friendships.  In fact, they’ve been better.  My friends who aren’t interested in the internet have just slowly disappeared into their “real” lives, so it’s out of sight, out of mind.  That doesn’t happen with friends who are interested in broadening their horizons and meeting people who live in a different zip code.  It’s easy to stay in touch, especially with a private message board.  Our board has existed for close to 10 years - people come and go, but the core members remain.  In good times and bad, you can depend on just about everyone on the board.  Anyway, there are about 15 of us here, which is about 75% of the regulars on the board.  It’s a terrible week for us to have visitors due to icky work deadlines and issues.  However, we had tickets to see LOVE tonight, so we definitely had to get out of the house.  The details of that were difficult, but we made it out for the buffet at The Mirage (not nearly as good as Bellagio or Paris, or even Treasure Island), even though we ended up with cat eating a string incident.  After dinner, most of us headed to see LOVE, a Cirque du Soleil show with music from The Beatles.  It was groovy, man.  I think I enjoyed it more than Mystere.  I think it would be even groovier high, which is illegal, but it sure seems like it was meant to be seen in an altered state.  We had a really good time, and afterwards we had a drink (Pepsi & a Mango frozen somethin’...had to drive home, instead of walk back to a room like the rest of the folks) at the outdoor bar in front of Caesar’s because the weather was just perfect.  It was nice to be out of the house.  Tomorrow we’re spending the day running errands, while the rest of them learn how to play craps or something.  On Sunday, those still left in town will be having sushi at Todai, in the Miracle Mile Shops (used to be called Desert Passage) at Planet Hollywood (used to be The Aladdin), which should be fun.  Leigh-Ann, Ilona, and I have been trying to get together to have sushi and talk about her trip to China for over a month.  So we’ll have a dozen other people listening, that’s cool.  I can’t wait to have real sushi.  The Mirage buffet had cruddy sushi, although they had good Chinese food.  But then, just about every restaurant in Las Vegas is capable of good Chinese food.  It’s now almost 5am and I’m exhausted.  I hope you’re having as enjoyable weekend as we are.

Thursday, April 26, 2007

terribly early in the morning

Happy 1st Surgery Anniversary to Me and My Surgeon

A year ago at this moment, I was sleeping.  The end.  Okay, I was sleeping, but fitfully.  My L4-5 microdiscectomy surgery was scheduled for 1p.  I think I had to be there by noon.  The night before, I was kind of freaked out, but once everything got rolling, I was fairly calm.  Since the surgery, I’ve had my pain ups & downs.  It took quite a long time for the nerves to heal.  My surgeon, Dr. Thalgott, said that when he got in there and saw them, they were angry and twisted.  Getting good shoes (my Earth Shoes) definitely helped the healing speed up, because for a while I was afraid that the surgery hadn’t fixed me.  My surgeon was sure, but I was still skeptical because I was always in lots of pain when I did any walking.  Now, I know for a fact that the surgery was a complete success.  I think Dr. Thalgott is a terrific doctor, even if he’s so popular that he has to cram too many patients into his office days.  The wait is always at least an hour, usually closer to two.  I go there knowing that I’m going to have to wait, so I’m always prepared with something to read.  I’m so happy that my chiropractor said, “Thalgott’s the back guy in town.” I couldn’t get an appointment to see him right away, so I saw the first surgeon that was available.  That doctor was okay, but I’m sure I made the right decision by waiting to see Dr. Thalgott.  I’m not exactly sure how to put it in writing, but he’s so confident and self-assured that you feel like if anyone can help you, he can.  He’s also really likeable, as are both of his physician’s assistants.  If I had to have surgery (and oh, I did - the pain insisted), I know that I put myself into the best possible hands that I could.

I have Fibromyalgia now and am in more all over pain than I was when I had the herniated disc.  But, it’s a different kind of pain, and I no longer have the horrible pain running down my left leg and across my left thigh.  That was the kind of pain that yells, “Hey, look at me!  Look what I can do!” The pain I have now is like an annoying gnat that keeps buzzing in your face.  I have times that it’s close to the level of pain that I had before, but it isn’t as concentrated.  Before it was like a paper cut, now it’s like someone beat me up.  Wow, isn’t this fun to read?  I’m trying to say that on the first anniversary of my surgery, I know my surgery was a fabulous success.  The problems I have now aren’t related.  Dr. Thalgott gave me back my ability to walk properly (I had developed a slight limp because of the weakness in my leg), and if I was a normal person, I would be completely healed.  So, if you’re in Las Vegas and you need back surgery, go see Dr. Thalgott...but bring your iPod and a book.  There’s also a Starbucks nearby, so if he’s really far behind, you can go there and have them call you on your cell phone when it’s time to come back.  They know he’s always behind.  There’s nothing the staff can do about it, so be nice to them.

Hopefully, if I had another MRI, they could all be labelled “normal disc” now.  Please, please, please, let them all stay healed.