Random Thinking

This is the picture Michel wanted the world to see. So there you go. Enjoy!

[ Mood: Neutral ]
[ Currently: Watching Murder She Wrote ]
You have probably seen those commercials with that bald guy offering free computer lessons. Perhaps you thought that the offer was too good to be true. You would be correct. The offer is in fact a scam and the bald guy, John W. Scherer, is the chief scam artist. Mr. Scherer makes it sound like he is offering his free eBay lessons so that he can introduce his company to you. But in reality, Mr. Scherer simply wants your credit card number so he can keep sending you more and more lessons at $69.95 each. Yes, what Mr. Scherer doesn’t tell you is that when you purchase his “free” lesson you are actually subscribing to his service and he will keep sending you more lessons until you tell him to stop, and perhaps even after that. But the best part is that the supposedly free eBay lesson isn’t actually free. The eBay lesson is actually made up of 3 CDs and unless you return one of them within 10 days of the ship date you will be charged $79.95 for your free lesson! And you can’t simply return it. You must call Video Professor and wait on hold until you can talk to someone and get an RMA (return merchandise authorization) number. It is true that if you read all the fine print on the website you will see what you are getting into but the offer as described in the commercials is simply a lie.

Everything went well.

[ Mood: Sick ]
[ Currently: Reading various blogs ]

I am sitting here in a fair amount of pain and with my upper chest rather sore. But it is all over and I survived so that is a good thing.

The day started early for us as I had to be at the hospital by 8 AM which meant getting Beth off to school, getting Mikey ready for school, and then driving to the hospital. I had to take Michel and Mikey because I was not going to be able to drive home since I was going to get some Versed for the implant. Driving on the Long Island Expressway during rush hour is usually not pleasant but since there were three of us we could drive in the HOV lane. This really does make a big difference. When we arrived at the hospital, I popped out and Michel took Mikey home to meet the bus.

The first thing was the tilt-table test. I had no reaction to being brought upright so they tried to get my heart rate up with medication. The Pindolol (the beta-blocker I take) however was working too well and they couldn’t get my heart rate above 75. They were aiming for 90 and kept increasing the medication but eventually they gave up. So the test was basically a failure.

Next it was off to get the implant. A technician from Medtronic was there to explain how the loop recorder works and show me what I needed to do if I passed out. The doctor then did the procedure but I slept through most of it. He told Michel they gave me a tiny dose of Versed and I was sound asleep in a minute. I woke up with no pain and we were only in recovery for about 90 minutes before they let us go home. Michel got me a very nice ham sandwich from the cafe in the hospital. Thanks Michel!

On the way home the local started wearing off and my chest started hurting. I hate to be a whiner (I’m sure Michel will disagree with that) but it hurts a lot more than I thought it would. Tylenol helps some but it is still sore. I have to go back in a week for them to check the wound but meanwhile no showering! Perhaps I will be "fragrant" like Mary Archer by the end of the week! (That’s a joke for Debra over at Deblog.)

And finally a big thanks to everyone at North Shore in Manhasset. And a special big thanks to my nurse Wendy who was great and stayed with me during the entire ordeal. Wendy changed careers to be a nurse and I could see that she did it because she has a calling to the profession. (Just like Michel!)

Update: the picture is for Jeff who always comments at what a good sport Michel is for letting me add her picture to my blog when she is in recovery.

[ Mood: Sleepy ]
[ Currently: Watching M*A*S*H ]

Snopes has an article about the so-called Madden Curse. The curse is that if you appear on the cover of the Madden NFL game, that you will have a poor, injury-riddled season. Amazingly, the curse is real! Eight players in a row (every player since they stopped putting John Madden’s picture on the box) have played poorly in the season they appear on the cover of the game. The curse has managed to stay alive for the new season. Shaun Alexander of the Seattle Seahawks broke his foot yesterday in the blowout of the Giants and will miss at least a couple of games. Alexander hadn’t missed a game in six years.

[ Mood: Amused ]
[ Currently: Watching Soviet Spy Rings ]
Beth found a rather humorous list of the Top 100 Celebrity Baby Names on her favorite website. The problem with the list is that it doesn’t tell you who the parents are and some of the names, like Engine Coolant and Raspberry Danish, are hard to find as names on google. At least Pilot Inspektor is easier to find (Jason Lee’s child).

Raspberry Danish
Peaches Honeyblossom - Bob Geldof
Snack Attack
Elijah Bob Patricus Guggi Q - Bono
Venus Flytrap
Pilot Inspektor - Jason Lee
Audio Science - Shannyn Sossaman
Pittsburgh Steeler
Engine Coolant
Jermajesty - Jermaine Jackson

I filled in the one’s I could find for the Top 10. If anyone knows who the parents of these other poor children are, please add your comment.

[ Mood: Angry ]
[ Currently: Working ]
I am starting to get comment spam in the blogs. Arghhh, I hate that. These idiots are taking time out of my life that I now have to spend on setting up a way to stop them.

So tonight I will add the same text image requirement that I use to keep spammers from registering on the site. And I will stick more pins in my spam voodoo doll. I hope there is a circle of hell dedicated to these jerks.

[ Mood: Cool ]
[ Currently: Watching the History International Channel ]

I haven’t been feeling great lately so Michel made me see an electrophysiologist. We went yesterday and he was very nice but he looked like he was 18. I think this is probably a product of my being too old and not his being too young. Anyway, they want to verify that I still have a positive reaction to the tilt table test and they want to put a heart monitor (insertable loop recorder) in my chest. So Tuesday I will be tilted and have the monitor put in. I had an external monitor for a month but it showed nothing. This monitor can remain for a year or longer. The doctor said they may think about putting in a pacemaker if my symptoms don’t improve. I don’t think that I like that idea.

On May 8, 2006 in Chantilly, Virginia, two police officers were killed in the parking lot of a Texas Roadhouse restaurant. This is apparently a chain of restaurants. The restaurant apparently owed some fines for triggering too many false alarms so the manager asked for a waiver for his fines because the death of the two officers plus the subsequent funeral processions cost the restaurant quite a bit of business. While many of the other businesses in the area were donating to a fund for the families of the officers, Texas Roadhouse tried to use the tragedy to get out of paying their fines. File this under stupid and insensitive corporate tricks.

Full Snopes article. Texas Roadhouse

Article on the incident

[ Mood: Amused ]
[ Currently: Watching nothing in particular ]
Talk like a Pirate Day is almost over and I hope everyone has had the opportunity to celebrate.

Or as the pirate translator says, “Ahoy, talk like a Pirate Day is almost o’er and I hope e’eryone has had the opportunity t’ celebrate. Gar, Where can I find a bottle o’rum?”

I mainly celebrated by sending Pirate text messages to Michel and annoying people at work. Michel says no one at her office wanted to talk like Pirates. Arrr, Aye, a bunch o’ borin’ people Aye, me parrot concurs.

So what did you do for Talk Like a Pirate Day? If you are a registered member of DownSyn.com you can see some great pictures by clicking here.