Can I be Waterboarded now Please?

I forgot to post this a little earlier, but it's just as relevant.

Dear Newlywed couple sitting behind me on the plane.

First of all, I would like to congratulate you on your achievement. It must have taken a lot of time, effort, and determination to get where you both are today. Not many people can pull it off quite as well these days, but you two have certainly proved that it can still be done. Marriage? No, I'm talking about your achievement in becoming the two most obnoxious people on the plane. It's a shame that we're so close to Christmas, because Santa/Father Christmas might have to put me on his hit list (for those who are especially naughty) at the last minute.

How do I know you're newlyweds? well first of all I'm suffering from radiation sickness by the way you two are beaming there next to each other. Second of all, the guy sitting next to me told me, and he is an off-duty flight attendant (we'll call him Stewart) who has "seen this kind of bull---- all the time". Third, you are completely oblivious to the fact that there are other human beings in the vicinity who are all giving you dirty looks. Yes yes we all know you're so happy, but that doesn't mean you have to share it with all of us.

So what exactly have you done to earn the ire of myself and everybody around you? Your volume. Not only are you speaking to each other as if you're on opposite sides of the plane, but you are talking about the biggest load of tripe I've ever heard. Do you really think we care to hear about the process of elimination you go through while taking exams? Or your theory on why that hamster you're getting has a big black splotch on its fur? And the laugh, oh good grief the laugh. When I hear Stewart say "Man, I haven't seen people this bad in years", I wonder if I've stumbled into purgatory by accident.

There are however, those brief moments of silence that we have come to appreciate so much. Sometimes I wonder if you decided that you couldn't wait long enough for the flight to end (all 2 hours of it) and just hopped out (we can only hope). Then to my dismay I discover what all that chatter has been replaced with. Now I'll admit, I myself am guilty of public displays of affection in the past (I'm sure you all want to hear that), but do you REALLY have to be on top of her now? Can't you nitwits wait like another 30 minutes?

Oh look, the seat-belt light has lit up. I guess you two have run out of time to earn your rightful place in the Mile High Club, thank heavens. Next time you'll have to do an international flight. In the baggage compartment. For the whole time preferably.

A tortured soul who is feeling somewhat better now.
        -GB

Gods Fencer

I've been walking on and off with my cane, and most recently just walking around while carrying my cane. It's nice to have around as backup just in case my hip starts to become painful. I decided to go to the temple last week. For those of you who don't know, the temple is a very quiet place with people speaking softly in the halls to each other so as not to make too much noise. During my visit, I decided to use the lift that was being operated by a very nice lady who was rather advanced in age. Standing next to me was a very old and frail man with a cane. While we were going up in the lift, the man glanced over at me, then at my cane, then at me. His withered face then wrinkled into a mischievous grin. He leaned over to me and asked "you wanna have a cane fight?" . I couldn't help but laugh, and the woman operating the lift didn't know how to react at that moment.

With that in mind, we both moved slowly to the endowment room and enjoyed a good session :)

Just a note the food blog is still under reconstruction, and I will pay far more attention to it after the redesign. I think everyone is going to just love it, as Michele has been gracious in helping her artistically challenged brother.

Facebook = Skynet?

I wrote a message to my sister Michele on facebook last week. I included a link in the message, which activated their security check. Lo and behold, the picture below shows what facebook wanted me to type in.






Just thought I'd share :)

Talk about commitment

Ok this is just a quick post, but I just wanted to point out how amazing this video is. These guys must have dropped a lot of time and work into doing this.

Getting Back Up.

I've been walking for a week now, and I've never been so happy to do so. I'm putting my life back together now, and I can finally look forward to clearer skies in my future. I went looking around the UV Job board again and found a job where I can become a recipe writer and tester for a company called Sundesa. I'm putting in my resume tomorrow, so I'm crossing my fingers! :) My school work also is more or less coming under control. The math I've been doing this summer is far less than I thought it would be, so I've been hyping myself up for nothing really. On top of all that, I'm starting to make plans to finally move back out of the house at the end of this year when I've recovered more.

I also had my fingerprints taken last Thursday for my impending U.S. Citizenship. Obviously the office we went to didn't get the memo that they're supposed to be bureaucratic and slow like all government offices. We went into the office at 12 noon, and left at 12:10 with the prints taken and all the paperwork taken care of. Immigration is so on the ball when you're on the last stretch.

As a wise man I knew in Cali would always say, life is good.

Converting to Yankeeism

I was thinking a few days ago about how moving to the States was such an ordeal/blessing with all the adventures it entailed. But one thing that sticks out the most is that prior to getting on the plane to finally leave, I remember my mom saying " Remember kids, the Americans don't need us". That statement went right to the core. Even though I thought of America as the proverbial "Promised Land", it became crystal clear that we were going to have to make ourselves needed. If we wanted to stay, we would really have to get stuck in with how the Americans do things (not to mention all the hoops to jump for immigration). People complain about how things are in the US, and I'm all too happy to offer an exchange of citizenship with them. I don't really know what's going on in SA these days, but there are just too many things I love here to even consider going back. Some of these things are:

I have access to a great education.
In all of the states I've been to, people have been generally friendly.
The diversity across the country is incredible.
I have access to amazing medical treatment.
The mosquitoes here don't like my blood for some reason :)
An incredible natural landscape.
Costco

Don't get me wrong, I miss some things about SA, but let's be realistic here. If I REALLY wanted a box of Romany Creams, I could just order them off the net. All the U.S. needs now is a full blown national rugby league (with cricket as an added bonus).

There are just some things you can't let go of though:

Why you Should do What the Doctor Says

Let's talk painkillers for a sec. I've been on them for a while, and they're nothing new to me. When I'm in a decent amount of pain, I take one. When I'm not in pain, I leave them alone, simple as that. So for some reason that is in hindsight just beyond me, I decided to not take any today. Normally this isn't a problem except for now my hip really hurts and that I'm about to take one as soon as I'm done typing this.

So what's a guy to do when he can either go the manly (stupid) path, or the logical path and just take the meds? It's not rocket science here people. I've been asked whether or not I get a high off these drugs, and the answer is no. Or mostly not. (The names and locations of these drugs won't be mentioned here, but suffice it to say that it doesnt take much to knock me out). But every now and then, I go into a vegetative state from just taking one (whereas that much probably wouldn't phase anyone else). While in this state, I found the most remarkable video that had me mesmerized for a good 15-20 min. It was almost hypnotic.

I present exhibit A:
http://www.yooouuutuuube.com/v/?rows=18&cols=18&id=pAwR6w2TgxY&startZoom=1

So the moral of the story here is that if you're ever bored our of your skull and you have to take a painkiller, don't go randomly browsing the internet.

Round Two on the Operating Table & the Aftermath.

People say that life is a journey, and that you should enjoy the ride. It's rather difficult however, to enjoy a ride when you run out of gasoline/petrol and are stuck on the side of the road when you're in your 20's. It's worth pointing out then how awfully convenient it is for a mechanic in the form of an orthopedic surgeon to appear and get you going again. That's seriously how I feel right now. That life can finally start to resume, and that I can just get on with it.

I had my periacetabular osteotomy (or PAO) on the 12th, and it went so much better this time. There we some concerns for the doctor during the surgery that he explained to me afterwards, but he's confident that they're taken care of now. I didn't really get what he was talking about in the first place, but that was probably just because of the drugs. There was only really one day with nausea, and the rest went fairly smoothly. Another little hiccup was that physical therapy wanted me to get up mere hours after the surgery. It was too much for my body to handle, and I ended up fainting in classic Brummer seizure-like style.

It pays to know your medications when it comes to episodes like these. I was able to give the nursing staff the info they needed to keep the pain well under control, and the nausea for the most part was taken care of as well. No extended stays, no allergic reactions, no excessive pain, it was a dream compared to last time. It's also wonderful to have a caring family who was by my side for the whole time in case decisions needed to be made that I didn't feel I could make informed decisions about.

I went home on the 15th and have been making steady progress since then. I can now more or less get out of the bed and get back into it without help, but that's just a small step on the way to being able to walk.

A big thanks to everyone who has been there for me, I'll be up on my feet in no time :)

(Picture from www.hipandpelvis.com)

Yes!

Trust the internet to better describe what I meant to say last night.

Countdown

Well, we have a 90% sure date for my next (and hopefully last) major surgery. I was hoping to get it done earlier, but you know how things go. Life has a way of throwing curve balls at you. The only thing you can really do it either dodge them, or take the blows like a man, so you may as well enjoy the ride (or so I keep telling myself).

So life is kind of in a crazy limbo at the moment. I've effectively put the love life on hold, as I don't want to drag some poor unsuspecting girl into the drama of my life. The social life also took a hit, because some people who I thought were friends at the time of my first surgery pretty much didn't call or anything during the whole time I was in excruciating pain. I acknowledge that there is a certain degree of whining/feeling sorry for myself in this post, but there's a point. Friends who are true friends are there for you. It's as simple as that. If they can't be there, then they make an effort to do something else (a phone call etc.). When you're in so much pain that you just want someone to end your life, and only a handful of people are there for you, it changes some of your views on human relations.

I think one of the results of something like this is the fact that I'd rather talk to someone face to face, or on the phone as opposed to facebook. (twitter doesn't even enter into this). It's sad that some people only know me as either just another facebook friend, or as a gaming avatar with a microphone. I also try to be quick to apologize if I've said or done anything wrong to anybody. I'm not perfect at it, but I don't want to have any enemies when I eventually die.

And yet you can't please everyone. Quite the conundrum, isn't it?

“I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.”
-Bill Cosby

More Hip Hackery

How to become a Bionic Man
Originally uploaded by Grant A B

On the 17th of February, I had the joy of having these chaps removed from my left hip. It wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, as I was only on crutches for about two weeks. They gave me some serious pain killers though (Dillaudid?) , so that made this whole ordeal a little easier to deal with.

I present exhibit A as photo evidence.

So...

I was supposed to edit the last entry so that clicking the Flickr link would make more sense. Oh well, I'll get around to switching those words around one of these days :)

Right now I'm feeling an almost insatiable sense of resolve. I go for surgery on the 17th of February to remove the five screws from my left hip, and then my next big surgery will me in May. I also have a bunch of tests this week. Instead of dreading it all, I'm in a "bring it on!" mindset. Heaven alone knows why, but I feel very calm about all this nonsense barreling towards me this month.

I've started reading Calvin and Hobbes again. I haven't read C&H for years, and I'm suddenly understanding Bill Wattersons comics at a deeper level than before. It's sad that there isn't that much thinking involved in comics of today. I like how the existence of Hobbes is never truly explained (such as whether he magically changes, or if it's all in Calvins head). It's sad that Bill isn't writing any more of the series, but as Harvey Dent says in The Dark Knight, "You either die a hero, or you live long enough to see yourself become the villain". Some comics should have died years ago, but still beat the dead horse so much that there's nothing left of the poor equine.

With that in mind, I leave you with Bill Wattersons impersonation of Nostradamus:

Click here

Savanna Pics

Okay so this took longer than I thought it would, so without further ado, here are the pics :)

Too many to just show here

Enjoy

I live!

Wow, that semester (along with the holidays) was insane.

We went to Savannah, Georgia last month, so I'm going to get some of the pictures I took up here.

Stay tuned!