Laundry Night

Put down your burger. Turn off the TV. Take a moment to remember those who paid the ultimate price for the Freedoms we enjoy today. To those who serve and those have served, thank you.

I had another doctor's appointment today. Nothing much new except my kidney has stopped bleeding (good news). I also went back to the job site with Jimmy to take pictures for the report. This is where I fell.



I was standing on the top aluminum step of the ladder when I fell. I wound up face down just to the left of the gas meter. Of the available evil things for me to hit on the way down, the gas meter was by far the best option. They kinda get lost in the background but there are also two grounding rods sticking out of the ground. These are basically two 8 foot pieces of 1/4" rebar with a copper wire connecting them with the power meter. One is just to the left of the step ladder sticking about a foot out of the ground. The other is lost in the foliage just downhill from the gas meter. If I'd managed to hit either of these, they would have seriously fucked me up. I also managed to miss all the sharp corners of the framework. The fall and impact was still pretty bad but it could have been much, much worse.



Just for a little perspective. Jimmy is standing on the ground level I wound up on.

I fell off my ladder today. I was working on the side of a house on the side of a hill. I had my step ladder on a fairly level piece of ground. Unfortunately some of that ground was soft. As I neared the top of the ladder, the front legs shifted onto the not so solid ground and proceeded to twist and sink. I was not ready for this, I didn't have a good hand hold and I was tossed off. Unfortunately because of the hillside it wasn't a simple little four foot fall. Instead I fell onto the terrace below, approximately six to eight feet below. This probably still would have been OK except for the for the fact that a gas meter currently occupied that space. I caught the gas meter with my lower back, just below the ribs on the right side.



The fall happened shortly after six this evening. I got one of my coworkers to come out and help me finish the job (the last thing that needed to be done was at the top of the ladder I just fell off). I drove my self to the ER around 7:30. I've only just now gotten home. The news from the ER is mostly good. It looks like I've only bruised my ribs (not broken thank god). There was only a microscopic amount of blood in my urine so the kidney is probably also only bruised. The fun part is the spasms that are running wild in my back. If I lean to the right or move anything on the right side of my body the muscles in my back lock into the worst charlie horse I've ever felt. Hopefully the Vicodin and flexoral will allow me to sleep tonight.

Wow. Talk about Innuendo. LOL I love the ahem . . hairless cat in the final scene. Subtle it taint.

I had two more (last two I hope) of my 30 year old fillings replaced this morning. My mouth is just starting to wake back up. I've rediscovered just what a pain in the ass it is to have my back most, upper molars worked on. Tipped all the way back with two hands and an assistant all working in my mouth. It is actually rather hard to breathe in that position. I don't understand how pron stars do it.

Vegas

My plan for Vegas was to play a whole lot of poker. The Luxor runs 5 tournaments a day. I figured this would be the least expensive way for me to donate money to the casino. I was wrong. I got my ass handed to me in the first tournament on Sunday night, and didn't play in another. I tend to do alright in our home games but against the poker pros in Vegas I am out of my league. I played smart but got blinded to death. I didn't catch playable cards until the blinds had gone up and by that time two people had already been eliminated. I went all in with a suited Ace-King. Unfortunately I was against the the chip leader who decided to call me with crap in his hand. 5,7 off suit. The flop had two 5's in it. So ended my tournament. I'm going to need to practice more before I try that again.
( Trip details and pictures )

We are finally back from our trip down to the desert. In Vegas it was 75 Degrees and sunny. Here is is cold wet with a chance of snow???! The trip was a blast. Transport to and from Vegas could have been better but overall we had a great time.


The reason for the trip was to celebrate Dean's birthday. In addition to the birthday boy, Dave, John, Mike and I made the trek down form Seattle. Tim and Scott joined us in Vegas. All our flights were rather epic.

Departure

John and I left Seattle first. When I booked the tickets the direct flights were twice as much as the flight we ended up on, so we had a layover in Salt Lake. The itinerary called for us to depart Seattle at 6:05 AM, have a 45 min layover in Salt Lake, and catch a connecting flight to Vegas. Unfortunately things didn't quite work out as planned. First of all 6:05 is an ungodly time to have to catch a plane. We left the house around 3:30 AM for the drive to the airport (thank you Summer for the ride). We got to the airport fine and through security screening(I forgot to remove a pack of gum from my pocket and had to get wanded and a pat down). We boarded the plane on time and prepared to leave. That is the last time I will use the phrase "on time" in conjunction with any of our flights. Our plane had to be deiced before we could leave. Apparently this took a while ( I didn't really notice as I was mostly dead to the world.

The flight was a little bumpy but I've had much worse. We arrived in Salt Lake a little late but then had to go around because a commuter plane was slow clearing the runway. By the time we pulled up to the jet way it was 9:35. Our connecting flight was scheduled to depart at 9:40 and was on a different concourse. We ran through the airport and made the connecting flight. Fortunately there were 30 people from our Seattle flight on the connecting flight to Vegas, so they held up the departure to wait for us. Nice. Would have been even better if they had bothered to tell us this. So after sprinting through the airport to catch the flight, we waited 20 minutes for them to transfer the luggage. Just as we landed in Salt Lake the airport was hit with a blizzard.  Once the plane was finally loaded we then had to wait another 40 or so min in line to be deiced. They got the plane about halfway deiced and ran out of deicer. They refilled the deicer trucks, deiced the plane for a second time and we finally got to take off for Vegas. We were supposed to arrive in Las Vegas at 10 AM. It was closer to 11:30 by the time we landed.

Dave, Dean and Mike were on a different flight. Theirs was a direct flight that didn't depart Seattle until 8 AM (booked a week after I booked our flight and for the same price.  Whatever) . They were supposed to get to Vegas a half hour after us. Their flight was also delayed,(due to a faulty fuel gauge) but they still beat John and I to Vegas. After an insane shuttle ride to the Luxor we joined another epically long line to check in (The Luxor is a huge hotel and even with the economy in the tank they still had long lines to check in). We finally got a room, dumped our stuff and joined the other three (Scott and Tim didn't get in until that evening) for a very late brunch. Then the party started. . . after a nap. I must be getting old.

End part 1.  I will post the rest of the trip tomorrow.

We all made it back from Vegas mostly intact. Completely exhausted. Will post more in the morning.

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/shuttlemissions/sts119/launchbat.html



http://www.space-bat.com/

I can't sleep. I've been awake since just after 4 am. I finally gave in and took some decongestant nasal spray so at least I can breathe. Yesterdays bus has turned into a 747 and it is parked squarely in between my ears. I really need to work today. Vegas is at the end of the month and it would be nice to not have to dip into my savings for the trip. Unfortunately work is looking less and less likely today. My alarm goes off in 40 minutes. I'll make the decision then. Fucccck!

Dave has been fighting the crud for the last week or so. Last night I felt fine when I went to bed. This morning I woke up with a bus parked on my chest and head. I'm takin a sick day today and this shit WILL go away. That is all. Back to bed.

Today I have my first of what I'm sure will be many visits to a physical therapist. We are starting deep tissue massage to stretch out the scar tissue I have been building over the last month. My foot is mostly pain free unless I put direct pressure on the injury. Unfortunately that is exactly what will be happening today. Long term it is a good thing and it should restore some flexibility to my foot. I am not looking forward to the process which sounds something akin to torture. We'll see.

Your result for The Would You Have Been a Nazi Test...

The Resistance

Achtung! You are 31% brainwashworthy, 23% antitolerant, and 57% blindly patriotic

Take The Would You Have Been a Nazi Test at HelloQuizzy

Well it is official. I have a 2/3 tear in my Plantar Fascia. I had the MRI Friday evening and today was the followup to discuss results. The good news is I probably won't need surgery. The bad news is I'm stuck in this damn "walking boot" for four more weeks. I better be out of this thing in time for Vegas in March. Fuck!

OK I normally would not post this kind of stuff but I damn near fell out of my chair from laughing so hard. Again. Very not safe for work. I give you . . .

"Fast froward blow jobs"

http://fastforwardblowjobs.com/

Tip: Leave the sound on, it is much funnier that way.