House Update

Here is an update on the house. This is MKA's room. He moved in on Monday.

This is the before picture.This is after. I got both bedrooms carpeted on Monday. And on Friday the carpeting is going down in the living room. That should complete the first floor of the house. And that will put the completion on remodeling on every room of the first floor.

I wasn't real crazy about the color of this room. As you may remember, it was black before. Now it is lavender. For some reason this was the color that I picked out for the basement, but I hated it once I put it on the walls. I had 4 gallons of it. So I used it as a primer to go over the black. It took 4 coats, but it finally covered the black. I think it looks just OK now. I think the trim and crown molding make it look better. I wished I had gone with a color that stood out more, like the Lincoln Bedroom.I told MKA that I would get the beads up for the closet, but he told me not to worry about it. I have quickly learned that the beaded closet door is just annoying when you walk in and out of the closet. But they are also $80 cheaper than a 6 panel door.

MJ

Last weekend I went to the Micheal Jackson Laser Spectacular. I had talked about it a while back, and my friend, LID, was the only person who was interested in going. It was also hyped as a 3D show. I had seen the Pink Floyd Laser Spectacular last year and liked it a lot. Here LID and I are with our 3D glasses on. As it turns out, the 3D was that there were actually real people on stage dancing. So it isn't the 3D you see in Avatar. One thing that I forgot about from the year before was how short it was. I think it was over in less than an hour and 15 minutes. I was also a little shocked because nearly everyone was standing. Being the cripple that I am, I preferred to sit. I shot a couple videos, but this is the best one.

Maybe I Should Have Been Named Adam

I have been slacking on my posts. But I don't have much to give you. Since my surgery I haven't been doing too much. Taking pills, icing my back and watching a lot of Olympics. I did want to share this little tid bit of the wacking world of Rickie Davies. I had back problems in college as well. When they took X-Rays back then, I was discussing things with the doctor. His comments were, "Everything looks pretty good, your spine in nice and straight, the disc spacing looks good. You are missing a rib." I said, "What? Don't I need that?" He said, "You have made it this far without it, I think you will be fine." It is something like 1 percent of the population is born missing a rib. As you can see from my X-Ray, I am missing one on the left side. I don't know that this explains anything about me. But it is a little odd.

Integrity in Question

The Hall of Fame. There are many Hall of Fames, Baseball, Basketball, Football, Rock'n'Roll, etc. I have been to the last three. Impressive? Yes some were. I thought the Rock'n'Roll Hall of Fame was disappointing. But here is another Hall of Fame, the Laser Hall of Fame. It is the Hall of Fame from my high school. Now settle down and relax, I am not saying that I should be in the Hall of Fame. I don't even think I should have a blog. I was recently made aware of a former classmate and close friend who is getting inducted into the Laser Hall of Fame. And that is my good friend, Paul Krumrich, Krum as most of you know him by.

Yep, this is the guy. Here is the article I found about the Hall of Fame induction of one Paul Krumrich. Now I don't want to come off as jealous. I have known Krum for a long time, generally speaking I think he gets what he deserves. I am just trying to figure out why he is getting inducted. The article really doesn't say. The best that I can figure out is that it is a combination of owning his own business, running a triathlon and writing poetry. I will give all the credit in the world regarding his business and completing the ironman.

Number one, I don't have enough confidence in myself to attempt to own my own business. I think it is a huge gamble and comes with more unseen headaches that you can imagine, no matter what type of business it is.

Number two, completing an ironman triathlon. I am some idea on how difficult completing that kind of race would be. I have done sprint triathlons, but I would never dream of attempting a full ironman. And not only did Krum complete the triathlon, but he placed very high beating some competitors who were professional.

But as for this poetry crap. I have a link to his blog on my site, but for some reason I have been unable to access it. Here is the link, maybe it will work for you. From what I have seen, his blog entries have been few and far between in recent months. And well, let's just say that his poems don't do it for me.

I do have to give Krum some credit for the fact that he doesn't even know why he was nominated.

"Krumrich thinks being selected for the Hall of Fame is 'cool' even though he isn't sure why he was nominated. 'I assume it's like giving Obama the Nobel,' said Krumrich. 'It's for what they expect him to do, not what he's done. I don't feel like I've done anything.'"

So good for Krum, at least he is keeping himself grounded in the face of achievement. As the article states, the induction ceremony will be March 12th. I am assuming that it will be at the high school. I will make sure that I am in attendance.

Peace and Quiet

It has just been a week of relaxing and recovering for me. I have been feeling pretty good. I go for a walk twice a day and I haven't been having any problems with that. But sitting or standing for an extended period of time is still a bit bother some. I am sure you are wondering what I have been doing with my time. Watching a lot of TV and a lot of Olympics. Here are some observations I have made:

One of the luge riders was nicknamed "The Cannibal" because he was cool as ice as he went down the luge course. Wouldn't they call him "The Cannibal" because he eats human meat?

I like watching the short track speed skating, but why do they have different lengths. It is the same in every race, they wait until the last 2 laps and then really start to try. Why not just have one race and get it over with?

ESPN, why do you show women's basketball scores on your ticker? I have no problem with women sports, but be honest, no one cares if LSU beat Georgia in women's basketball. All it does is confuse people who are looking for the men's score. Sure that is a sexist remark but it is true.

The Marriage Ref, a new show on NBC will be horrible.

The NBA Slam Dunk Contest during All Star weekend, get rid of it until you can get some players who aren't the 11th or 12th man on the bench to participate. Also the "H-O-R-S-E" game, get rid of that too. Both are painful to watch.

Going back to the luge in the Olympics. One announcer stated that this rider wore his emotions on his sleeve. First it is the luge, other than being scared is there any other emotion? Not to mention the guy is wearing a helmet, I don't think the term "emotions on his sleeve" is applicable if you can't see the person's face.

Staying on the luge, who in their right mind says to himself, "Wow, that luge is really fun. You go really fast, it is dangerous, it is such a rush. But you know what would make it more fun? If I could get another person to lay on top of me while going down the track!!!" Double luge, how did that get started?

I think Speed Skaters look really funny when they start.

I really like the skiing, also the snow cross event in both skiing and snowboarding. But I have found that watching the women as opposed to the men is much better. Why? Because the women fall more often. The snow cross event where 4 people race to the bottom, in nearly every women's heat I saw, at least one person fell. Oh and did you see that woman in the downhill from Sweden fall. I know what the feeling feels like.

Lastly, men's figure skating. Again how do you become a men's figure skater. You just don't like hockey? And what father would hope for his son to become a figure skater rather than play hockey? "My son is a hell of a skater and that puck just gets in the way, so he is going into figure skating."

Surgery Update

Everything went well with my surgery. I had to be to the hospital at 5:30 in the morning. My surgery was scheduled for 7:30. I changed clothes and then they gave me some drugs to make me feel relaxed. Then I was pushed over to pre-op. I was talking with the anistegeologist (I know that is not the correct spelling) about the drugs they were giving me. As we were talking I blinked and when I opened my eyes it was 10:30 in the morning and in post-op. Drugs are an incredible thing. I got wheeled to my room and then slept off and on the remainder of the afternoon. At 4:00 they came into my room to do an ultrasound on my bladder and it was full. I was having a problem going to the bathroom. They came into give me a catheter, but I asked them one more time if I could try again. Well I still couldn't go so I got the catheter. That was about as much fun as getting punched in the face. I slept off an on the remainder of the night. At around mid night I had to again go to the bathroom really bad, but I would got to the toilet and I just couldn't go. It is a weird feeling when you tell your body to do something, but your body won't do it. I spent all of the morning hours in a vicious cycle of drinking water, reading a chapter out of my book and then trying to go to the bathroom. This went on for about 20 chapters and 4.5 hours. I finally went at 5 in the morning. Wow, what a relief. I was definitely more sore on Friday than on Thursday. And by Friday I was off all of the "cool" drugs. I was released from the hospital at 2:30 Friday afternoon.

My doctor came to check up on me both Thursday evening and Friday morning. And when I saw him walk through the door, I started clapping for him and said "Here comes the man!!" The first time he just smiled. But on Friday, he smiled and then asked me why I was clapping and said no patient had ever done that for him. In a way he sort of saved my life, or a better way of saying it, was that he gave my "active" life back to me.

Before I left I did something that is a bit out of the ordinary and according to one person (Tree) was bit "creepy". I left a note at the nurse's station for my night time nurse, Michelle. She was very nice and I asked her out on a date in the note. It should be interesting to see if she gives me a call. I am now back home and will remain at home for at least another week. But if I get my short term disability insurance from work, I plan on being home for the rest of the month.

I real quick would like to thank all of my family and friends who offer to be there for me if I needed / need anything. It is a very comforting feeling knowing that I have so many people who are willing to help me out. Thank you.

The Super Bowl

Sunday I went to Stu's for his league's fantasy football party. We got in some cards, pool and watched the game. It was a good game. I was wrong on my prediction, the Saints shocked a number of people. But I did predict that the Saints would score 31 points. Your friendly neighborhood Assistant District Attorney. I have been meaning to ask him about his conviction rate. One more and he will get a set of steak knives.I spoke with the new president of the Brett Favre Fan Club, Borky, this weekend. He mentioned to me that he was in Mexico during the NFC Championship game. He was getting charged $0.50 per text and he got a number of texts during that game. I think I sent him 3 texts. He was going to send a text to everyone to stop texting him, but he knew if he did that the number of texts would have only increased. I said I would have sent him texts one letter at a time.

Ipod Update

I know this is riveting blog material. But I have an update on the Ipod. I went home for lunch today, as I do everyday that I am "working" in the office, and there was a note that they came to drop off my Ipod but no one was home to sign for it. I am headed to the post office after work, and should have the Ipod by the end of the day today.

Badger Hockey

Saturday I went to the Badger Hockey game at Camp Randall. I met up with Joe and Dawn at their place, we picked up Kelly and Jota then headed to the Big Ten Pub. I knew this was going to be a big test for my no drinking resolution, and unfortunately I failed that test. I put up a good fight though. Our group which was about 20 people got split into two groups at the bar. I managed not to drink for the first hour and a half, but when I moved to the group that was at the front of the bar, my buddy, Gibby, handed me a full pitcher and asked me to hang on to it. They he grabbed me a cup and it was all over. Gibby told me "That if I wanted to keep that resolution, I should have stayed home." On to the game. Well it was cold. Those aluminium bleachers really conduct the cold temperature well. We got to our seats by the middle of the first period and I think the score was tied 1 -1. I was with Jota the entire game and we got up out of our seats a couple times over the course of the game to use the bathroom and hit the concession stand. It was the third period and we were coming back from getting some hot chocolate and instead of making everyone in our row stand up so we could get to our seats, we moved down a couple rows where there were some seats on the aisle open. At this point in the game Bucky was down 2-1. With 6 minutes to go in the game, I was just freezing, and Jota and I decided to leave. As we were walking out we went by our seats and noticed that Gibby and Ertmann were in our original seats. I hadn't talked to Ertmann all day so I decided to go and sit with them for the rest of the game rather than heading back to the bar. I am glad we stuck around. 30 seconds after we sat down by Gibby and Ertmann, Bucky scored the equalizer. Then with 2 minutes to go in the game, they scored the game winner. As you can see, the view wasn't the best, and it wasn't real easy to follow the puck. Although out of all of the games I have ever been to at Camp Randall, it was the only time I saw the entire stadium up and jumping around during "Jump Around". Normally during football games it is only the student section that is jumping, but everyone was jumping to stay warm.After the game Jota and I got dropped off at the High Noon Saloon to watch a couple reggae bands celebrate Bob Marley's birthday. Jota's wife, Shelly, who is now pregnant meet us there with one of her friends. Here are Jota and Shelly.All of the bands were good, and the place was packed. I am glad we were there early and grabbed a table up in the balcony.Natty Nation was the headliner. But we left about halfway through their set at close to 1 in the morning.

The Odd Couple

I have been living on my own now for quite a few years now. My last roommate was Villa, but that really wasn't like having a roommate at all. He and I never crossed paths. And before Villa was Nate, but Nate has been out of the house for a while now, because I think he has been married for 6 or 7 years. However I am on the cusp of having a roommate once again. M.K.A. is interested in moving into the murder house. Last I spoke to M.K.A. he was ready to move in at the end of the month. I am really going to have to get myself moving on finishing up the living room before he moves in. It nothing else it could offer up some interesting blog material. And as any loyal blog reader knows, I need all the help I can get to keep this thing interesting.

Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor, Doctor and Doctor

Last week I had a number of appointments with my doctor in regards to the issues I have been having with my back for the last year. We agreed upon going through with a minimally invasive procedure to treat my condition. I am scheduled for surgery on Thursday the 11th.

How is a discectomy performed?
A discectomy is performed under general anesthesia. The procedure takes about an hour, depending on the extent of the disc herniation, the size of the patient, and other factors. A discectomy is done with the patient lying face down, and the back pointing upwards.
In order to remove the fragment of herniated disc, your surgeon will make an incision over the center of your back. The incision is usually about 3 centimeters in length. Your surgeon then carefully dissects the muscles away from the bone of your spine. Using special instruments, your surgeon removes a small amount of bone and ligament from the back of the spine. This part of the procedure is called a laminotomy.
Once this bone and ligament is removed, your surgeon can see, and protect, the spinal nerves. Once the disc herniation is found, the herniated disc fragment is removed. Depending on the appearance and the condition of the remaining disc, more disc fragments may be removed in hopes of avoiding another fragment of disc from herniating in the future. Once the disc has been cleaned out from the area around the nerves, the incision is closed and a bandage is applied.

What are the potential complications of a discectomy?

The most common problem of a discectomy is that there is a chance that another fragment of disc will herniate and cause similar symptoms down the road. This is a so-called recurrent disc herniation, and the risk of this occurring is about 10-15%.
Most patients find relief of much, if not all, of their symptoms from a discectomy. However, the success of the procedure is about 85-90%, meaning that 10% of patients who undergo a discectomy will still have persistent symptoms. Patients who have symptoms for long periods of time, or severe neurologic deficits (such as significant weakness) are at higher risk of incomplete recovery.
Other risks of surgery include spinal fluid leaks, bleeding, and infection. All of these can usually be treated, but may require a longer hospitalization or additional surgery.

Can I Have Some Cheese With Your Whine?

I was just going over the comments on my blog and I noticed a comment that I thought I would address with it's own posting. My good friend and a one time Favorite Blog Reader of the Year, Borky, left a comment about the Vikings getting screwed by the refs in the NFC Championship Game. Does anyone feel sorry for the Vikings or the Viking fans? I don't. That is what you getting involved in the Brett Favre business. You think the Viking Fans would learn but they haven't. Check this out:

I have to admit that number 4 out performed everyone's expectation. I said he would throw more interceptions than touchdowns. He proved me wrong. And he still throws a great ball. As well as being able to take a beating. Check out these pictures:

The Hammy.The Ankle.

Although I don't feel sorry for him. I will have to go through my archives and pull up some of my sprained ankle pictures and pulled hamstrings. They are just as bad.

In closing, I hope he jags Viking Nation around or the next 7 months. And I seriously doubt that he will be able to take them to the Super Bowl.

Old Time Hockey, Like Eddie Shore

What is on the schedule for the weekend? Well the big event of the weekend for me is the Badger Hockey Game at Camp Randall. Outdoor hockey. It should be fun and the weather should be cooperative. I am going with a group that my buddy, Gibby, is putting together. I met Gibby through my old roommate, Joe. Joe is also a very loyal blog reader and will also be in attendance on Saturday. It should be interesting. I don't know how big our group is, but I am sure we will be hitting at least one of the many Madison area watering holes before / after the game. This should be another big test for my main New Years Resolution. To date, I have yet to have a drop of alcohol this year. A while back I was looking to buy a Charlestown Chiefs jersey, but never pulled the trigger. I really wish I had one for this weekend.

I was going to put a bunch of Slap Shot quotes up but most of them were laced with profanity.

I think Slap Shot is my favorite hockey movie of all time. I don't know how many hockey movies there are. The only ones that come to mind are "Miracle" (which I never saw) and "Youngblood". Are there any other hockey movies out there that I am missing? Oh, "Mighty Ducks", I never saw that one either.

Anyhow here are a couple quotes I could post.

Reggie Dunlop: What are you guys doing?

Steve Hanson: Puttin' on the foil!

Jeff Hanson: Every game!

Jack Hanson: Yeah, you want some?

Steve Hanson: [to Ogie Ogilthorpe] Hi Ogie. Buy you a soda after the game?

Jeff Hanson: Get me a grape and an orange, and none of that stinking rootbeer!

Super Bowl Prediction

I have already said that I am picking the Colts win 35 - 31 in a game that has the most combined total yards by both teams in the history of the Super Bowl. But I want to know what you think.

Who will win the Super Bowl?
	Indianapolis Colts
	New Orleans Saints
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Pickle's Game

Monday night I went to my nephew, Nick's, soccer game. They got smoked 10-5, I think. I saw a number of things that his team did that didn't make a lot of sense to me, but for the most part I kept my mouth shut. Otherwise, if I am going to say something, I should be prepared to step up and do the coaching. And I don't have the time for that. Here are some pictures that didn't turn out so well. The net that protects the fans gets in the way and my camera tends to automatically focus on the net rather than the action on the field. I should have walked down to field level.

Ipod Update

I know you are all dying to hear about the status of the Ipod I bought on the internet. The last couple of days I have put in the tracking number into the website and it wasn't found in the system. But today I learned that it was in Hong Kong today. Please note Tree, that this is a picture of a black Ipod.

The Lincoln Bedroom

As I mentioned I have the spare bedroom, my office and the hallway done. Here are some pictures. The rooms aren't very big so it is a little difficult to get in the room and take pictures. But these should give you an idea.

I purchased some beaded curtains on line for the two closets. They were much cheaper than getting two 6 panel doors. However, I have only had those beads up for a couple days and I have already found them annoying.Here is something of an idea of the hallway. I will probably replace that light, but not until another day. All of the trim you see used to be painted. And there wasn't any crown molding.To get some work done in the living room, I took the sectional couch and my big screen and put them in the spare bedroom. I was a little surprised that it fit into the room but it did. It is a little cramped in there now. Now I can sit on the couch and reach out with my foot and touch the TV screen.

Weekend Update

Sorry, I am a little behind on my posts. There wasn't much to my weekend. Just more work on my house. I was able to finish up the office, the spare bedroom and the hallway. Next is moving on to the living room. But while I was running around and working on my house, I got away for a little bit to catch my niece, Lindsey's, basketball games on Sunday. In the second game she scored half of her teams points. That is a little misleading, they lost 28-4.

Here is Lindsey in the first game, taking the ball to the hole.Lindsey's second game, going up strong.Lindsey ripping down a rebound. Look at the determination on her face.And Jared and Tim approved of the performance.