There's been some requests to have the old Dr. BME shirt (one of the few BBQ shirts to make it into permanent rotation) brought back into print… Anyway, I've been doodling (somewhat Emilio. If you like it, let let the folks with the cool printshop know (or if you don't like it, let me know if you have any advice on making it better).
The (very simple) control code is written for the project below, but I have to write a DLL wrapper before it totally works because I'm using a non-standard compiler that Phidgets doesn't support out of the box. I think I may have done a bit too much running around yesterday, because I'm pretty wiped out today and probably won't work on this more today because (a) it's not gonna pay any bills and (b) I can't concentrate on it anyway.
So I was talking to Ed a few minutes ago and among other things we talked about the DNS fiasco that took various BME sites offline… He mentioned that he was surprised and pleased to see that “Mini IAM” was still up and running. I was like, “what's mini IAM?” and he reminded me that it was a temporary system that had been put up during one of IAM's longer downtime. He also mentioned that Bizzach had also logged in and updated their page as well — they were the only two with quick-witted enough long term memory to give it a try!
Unfortunately I had to take the login system offline because of a security issue so I can't link it right now. It's a really simple issue so I'll fix it and put it back online shortly, but I did take a snapshot of their pages (and yes, Bizzach, you win the award) before I turned it off.
Since mid-yesterday I've had the feeling that my left foot is being sawed off at the ankle, horizontally, about 3/4″ from the ground. It was strange, because I was just sitting here and all of a sudden it started. I thought I'd been bitten by an insect or something so I grabbed my foot to see but there was nothing on the surface, even though I could feel the skin tearing open. It was (and continues to be) very strange, because I keep looking at it, expecting it to be all messed up or at least an open sore or something, but it's totally healthy skin. What's even weirder is that there's nothing wrong with that leg in general (ie. so there's no chance that the nerves were damaged by surgery). So who knows why it's happening.
But anyway, as I'm wrapping up at the gym and I start feeling a similar pain in my left hand. I have fifteen minutes of chin-ups and lifts and pushups remaining to wrap up, and it was crazy painful, but I looked at my hand a couple times and it looked fine so I figured I was probably imagining it too. When I got out of the shower though (which makes skin more translucent), I noticed that the spot that hurt actually was bruised. So I feel a little mentally vindicated about that.
Oh, and for those that are interested, here's everyone who's posted a time of over 1:30 in my little apnea forum (more). The reason I chose 1:30 (arbitrarily) is I figure 1:30 – 2:30 minute breathholds are pretty safe but do force you to use some amount of mental self control to achieve it.
3:30 Nicko
3:26 mrpumpernickel
3:03 sourbunions
2:27 BruisedandBroken
2:21 mcsatan
2:15 glider (me)
2:15 Holy Flesh
2:14 AnotherHole
2:14 Saevio
2:09 Antischism
2:09 x31337x
2:08 redneckzombi
2:02 kyo
2:02 nekokichi
2:01 MrJaxon
2:00 bena
2:00 pelirojo
1:58 SorryNoRemorse
1:57 jezebel
1:56 Kittie
1:55 Sarge
1:53 bodmodBetty
1:52 DayOldHate
1:51 blinded_by_fire
1:48 decorouscorruption
1:47 gone
1:47 starspring
1:43 FrinkLemur
1:43 Sacred
1:41 Suziwan
1:41 The Fog
1:38 CJ
1:38 dee
1:37 Phantazm
1:37 taryn
1:37 zusanna
1:36 ItchyStitches
1:36 Toolie
1:35 original_sly
1:34 DIY'r
1:33 MajikMan
1:32 kwaaque
1:32 oniana
1:31 jasonthe29th
1:31 JP Gagnon
1:31 Michael.Blackmon
1:31 Wonderland
PS. online stopwatch
Anyway, give it a try. What's the worst that could happen?
Hey, being in pain isn't so bad if it gets you boobmails!
One of the things I struggle with is debating how much of what I'm experience is real, and how much is either a malfunction with nerves in my body or a coping mechanism in my brain that I haven't yet understood on a conscious level. I mean, obviously a percentage of the pain is real because I doubt it would wake me up otherwise, but I am almost certain that there are times when it feels worse than it is. For example, when I dry my leg, there's the dead part, which just feels messed up because I can feel it through the towel with my hand, but my leg can't feel the towel… I don't even really know how to describe it. It's just “not there”. However, it's surrounded by a two inch or so border of skin that's intensely painful from any contact, and then the rest pretty much feels normal. So I wonder if that really painful border zone is painful because there's some kind of healing or nerve regrowth happening, or if it's because my brain is compensating for the invisible part.
Speaking of coping mechanisms and there being a disconnect between what's really happening on a subconscious level and what is going on consciously, here's an interesting example. Say I have to bend over/squat down and pick up a barbell. I can do the motion without difficulty without a bar there, and the weight is easy, but the instant I touch the bar, my body instantly shifts my weight off of my legs and into my arms, so I'm holding most of my weight with my arms instead of my legs. The more I try and push with my legs or even try and change the position of my back, the more I can feel myself pushing pretty much the opposite way with my arms… It's really quite strange, watching yourself think one thing and do something else, but I think that's because your conscious mind may yell commands at your subconscious, but it doesn't always listen if it thinks you're doing the wrong thing (just like most people can't force themselves to hold their breath that long, even though they're in no danger at the point they give up). What's even weirder is that as soon as I let go of whatever is supporting me, my weight shifts instantly, full strength comes back to my legs, and I can control the motion again.
Anyway, all of this is quite interesting because it's made me think a lot about how my brain functions and how conscious perception and control mechanisms actually relate to reality and result… And of course there's the boobmail benefits too, haaa.
Well, off to the gym for a different sort of pain!
