Monthly Archives: February 2007

Everytime I Eat Vegatables It Makes Me Think Of You

Thursday, February 22, 2007

So I got put on a new drug today. Well, not new. It's actually a really old drug, one of the oldest anti-psychotics, which was intitially developed as an anesthetic, so the hope is that we can use it off-label to help me sleep through pain. At the same time, it's an EPS aggravant, and because I already have unpleasant akathisia/dyskinesia/dystonia (that I think I can hide in 99% of situations, although I suppose it is how I first hit the psyche system's radar when I was a kid) and lately, akinesia (where it takes you a while before your brain can figure out how to move a body part), so I'm kind of nervous about that…

I got some nice letters from girls that like magic in the last 24 hours, but I also got this complimetary yet anonymous killer whale postcard from BC today.

Why, thank you, how flattering, but I just wanted to say:
   “I'm sorry, but I think you're getting me confused with my feces!”

As I understand the pictogram on the bottle, it means
   “Shit so good looking, you'd think an artist painted it!”.

Oh, and for those that didn't already see it in the nice big experience update (and you'll notice that experiences are now including photos for those that want them), there's a great interview with Don up on BME (care of Roo).

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NOT Complaining!

Thursday, February 22, 2007

So I got about five hours sleep I think, with probably at least two or three of those hours uninterrupted which is really good. That said, it's far from enough so I woke up feeling terrible. I didn't want it to rub off on Nefarious again, so I used my cane this morning (because that makes sense to her I think, whereas just general illness probably is a little confusing to her) and it seemed to make a difference.

But then I saw huge snowflakes — like an inch across — coming down outside the window and got super excited… It was nice soft snowball making snow, so when we got to school I had a snowball fight with Nefarious and a few of the other kids and parents until the school opened. I really love the winter, especially these warm fluffy periods.

Anyway, I'm off shortly to go to the gym. I definitely don't feel up to it, but at the same time, it's not going to do me any good healthwise to sit here and whine that I don't feel well enough to do it! So… Off to the gym, then a day of programming, a BME experience update, a trip to the doctor, a few ModBlog posts, and then I'll wrap up the day with Survivor.
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Complaining

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

There's a dating service ad that's been playing lately that is a collection of little skits of bad dates… In one of them, the girl says “let's talk about something fun — let's talk about magic!” as if that's a bad thing to talk about it. Seriously, I would be perfectly happy to talk about magic, and outright thrilled if someone could do even a few basic card tricks. I love magic! They don't really have to be able to do it, but if a person can't talk about magic, I am seriously not interested.

Speaking of magic, I think I might watch The Prestige tonight. I think I also watched The Illusionist a little while ago but I'm not sure. I liked their recreation of the Robert-Houdin Orange Tree automaton (because while I fear the robot apocalypse, automatons amuse me), but part of me wishes they'd gone with a more authentic representation rather than the CGI.

Anyway, now that I think about it… I am pretty tired so I probably won't do that today. I really need to get some sleep today because if I'm in a bad mood, even if I try my best to cover it up, rubs off on Nefarious. I don't know if that's just normal emotion sync, or if it's because me rolling around all night keeps her up because my room is above hers…

Other than that I've been interviewing a very interesting individual who was born with a highly developed immune system and whose play activities include consuming poison, which his body quickly breaks down, among other highly unusual and fascinating traits. Hey, at least life's interesting, even if it hurts most of the time!

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Too many videos for one entry

Wednesday, February 21, 2007

Arrrgh! Because the weather keeps changing (which means I have to move my problem joint constantly to change what the tumor is pressing on I guess, I didn't get any sleep last night. None. That said, it's kind of weird because even though logically I know I must be, I am not consciously aware of being tired or in pain… I feel kind of dizzy and generally cranky, but that's about it. I canceled going to the gym today because it would have just been a waste, so hopefully tomorrow is a bit better.

Oh yeah, and I'm all sad because I think the winter is already over here in balmy Toronto, and I didn't even get a chance to go sledding.

Other than that whiny crap, I was reading about how Wal-Mart is China's largest corporate trading partner. Because Wal-Mart is so aggressive with pricing and is willing to go to countries like China that manufacture using extremely cheap labor, they set the price that American manufacturers have to beat in order to compete in their own market… Now, the book I was reading presented this as an inherently bad thing, but I was thinking it might not be. The end result of having a relatively high standard of living, but being forced to compete with nations with low standards of living, has made the American worker the most productive on the planet (as in they can produce more product per work hour per worker than any other nation on the planet), solving the problem with superior manufacturing techniques rather than what amounts to slave labor.

The only real problem I see is that pouring a ton of money into a country that doesn't respect its workers is suicidal, because you create a very wealthy, very well armed, but totally unstable nation.

“We call it a pole-car, because you ride on the end of a pole.”

This guy builds pretty funny stuff. As well as the “backseat driver” above, he's also got this awesome “redneck rollercoaster” where he's relocated the entire control assembly to a couch suspended over the hood!

What do you do if you only have the front of a car?

Or what if you only have the back?

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Old joys reborn!

Tuesday, February 20, 2007

Good news — my main surgery has been roughly scheduled for the week of March 20th… The bad news is that complicates an event I'm hosting, as well as affecting that “Test the Nation” game show I was supposed to be on… The good news is though that I won't have a reason to be in constant pain after that I hope (although they told me that it could take a while for my brain to clue in that it doesn't hurt any more). I get really tired at the end of the day, so I usually go to bed between ten and eleven, but I wake up between three and four because I guess at that point the “pain vs. exhaustion” equation tips back to where I am in more pain than I am tired, so I wake up.

Anyway… Since I have one wildly dirty vehicle in my garage, I picked up some jack stands so I can level everything out and get the car rolling again. I kind of think I should buy a junker $50 engine and drop it into the car (I pulled the engine out ages ago and put it in my Aztec 7)… it would only take me a weekend to get the car so it can drive again, and I sort of think that might be worth doing just for convenience's sake?

Here's my short-term to do list on it…
  • Clean, clean, clean, clean it!
  • Fix and level chassis and suspension so it acts as a solid rolling platform for rebuilding the body.
  • Cut off rear deck and rebuild
  • Flow body into interior and dash
  • Remove current windshield and replace with cardboard template for speedster-style wrap-around.
  • Fill in front vents and widen main grill
  • Create front and rear inner fenders
  • Fill in light pods and replace with smaller lights
  • Crop front/outside/lower edge of front fenders and add P4-style wings
  • Fill in doors
  • Create molds and cast a new body

Yeah, that's only part of it too… I'll start blogging the work either here or on my in-need-of-TLC kitcar blog. Oh, and if anyone has a scrap Beetle engine in the Toronto area they feel like giving away, let me know and I'll bolt it on!

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