This Space for Rent:
Coming At You Faster Then Ever!^*

Today is the first day with the new cable modem! I'm in love with it already. I haven't seen the web move this fast for close to two years now.

Well, other than feeling better than I have for the past few months, the blues band I'm on the periphery of now has a name; Ed the Jones. The guitarist that isn't my dad came up with it. They had their first (non-paying) gig this past Friday (while I was at work.) I was invited along, but there was a scheduling conflict (see previous parenthetical remark.)

Well, now that the internet is moving so much faster at home, I'm going to go back and catch up on Homestar Runner. Good night, everyone!

^*The speed at which This Space for Rent comes at you may not have changed. It's just that since I've moved back in with my mother, I more than have an extra fifty dollars a month to support my speedy web habit.^**

^**I hope.

An Otherwise Clean Bill of Health

I went back to my doctor today, and as promised, here is what I found out;

Blood flow to my kidneys is fine: no blockages were found in the MRI scan. (But, there was a sheet I had to sign before I entered the MRI room which said most insurance companies require a second opinion before they pay for the procedure. Also, since the contrast medium I was injected with is relatively new, most insurance companies won't pay for that either. So, if I have one of those "most insurance companies", then I just paid several hundred dollars to find out my kidneys are fine. I would also like to know what that forty-four dollars a month I've been paying for the past twenty eight months is going for, if it's not for my medical expenses ... )

Blood tests that no one's ever ordered for me before last week revealed that my triglycerides are high (at 167 when normal range is less than 150) as are total cholesterol (312/200) and LDL cholesterol (225.60/100).

So, now I'm on Lipitor and am being told to lose weight and watch the ol' diet. Not a problem, doc. I just don't want a blood vessel popping in my head and erasing my personality!

A Trip Through the MRI

I've never been where I went today. It was a strange place. A place of twenty-gauge needles and "contrast media" pumped through your system fast enough to give you a temporary fever. And it was mercifully short.

That was one big frickin' needle that little nurse stuck me with. And that tech wasn't kidding when he said I would feel a hot sensation all over my body once the dye started going in. It felt like I'd been dipped headfirst into a hot bath ...

Today they were looking for what they called renal artery stenosis. I won't know if I have that until Thursday, so keep an eye out ... I will be posting the diagnosis.

Humpday Quote of the Week

Nearly all marriages, even happy ones, are mistakes: in the sense that almost certainly (in a more perfect world, or even with a little more care in this very imperfect one) both partners might be found more suitable mates. But the real soul-mate is the one you are actually married to.
J. R. R. Tolkien, Letter to Michael Tolkien, March 1941

This quote doesn't pertain to me, so I don't know why I chose it. Maybe I'm still hoping (but I've tried to cut back on that.)

...With Eager Anticipation...

That's an interesting phrase. I've been able to anticipate something without eagerness ... We've all been able to do that. However, when I'm eager about something there is always anticipation. But, that's probably just me.

Tonight, about twenty minutes ago, I recorded an audio post. As you can tell, it hasn't showed up. That's no surprise to me. I forgot to hit the pound sign (always with the pound sign!) before I hung up.

So, about fifteen minutes ago, I recorded another post and hit the pound sign. I hung up right after that.

The audio link has yet to show up. I'm starting to wonder if I should have stayed on the line to see if there are any more buttons to push before my voice gets heard over the airwaves once again...

Actually Feeling Sick Tonight

I called my doctor's office today and told them that my blood pressure has been running as high as it was when I took that nice little ambulance ride last week. The physician's assistant that handled my case last Friday (when she put me on Lotrel) called in a prescription for Hydrochlorothiazide. (Knowing when to stop pronouncing that name probably saved me from a stroke today .... Ok, so the prospect of death by cardio-vascular overload isn't going to quell my sense of humor.)

But, after taking the first dose this afternoon (and running to the restroom every half hour after that), I'm starting to feel nauseous. What's worse, I also have insomnia ... and I have an appointment tomorrow at eight thirty in the morning!

For you folks who may be lucky enough to get to bed by ten in the evening, that's like having the appointment at three in the morning!

I actually did get about an hour's worth of sleep, but now I'm not in the slightest bit sleepy. (It may be a good thing that I got a few hours' extra sleep today (Wednesday ... Oops! Forgot to post a quote, again!)

Well, I used to stay up all night on the weekends when I was a kid. Maybe I can do it still. (More than likely I can stay up long enough to see the doctor, but I'll go home and crash immediately after that!)

Copy, Paste, and Tell the People What’s Been Goin’ On!

If I’ve said it before, I haven’t said it enough; Thanks, Blogger for the newer, easier interface. I wrote this entry out on my own diary disk, which I’ve neglected (let’s face it, I couldn’t find it to write in it), since the first part of March.

So, you folks out there know how much I love my Wednesdays for those lovely quotes I dig up. Therefore, you know (I’m clueing you in now) that I wouldn’t miss posting on a Wednesday for all the world.
Except for this past Wednesday.
I haven’t been writing about it, but for much of the past week (between this past Wednesday and the one before it) I’ve been feeling downright fatigued. I haven’t been able to get enough sleep. And, even when I do, I feel as if I could go right back to bed and sleep for the rest of the day.
So, after being tired of, well, being tired, I decided to go to the doctor.
I carry the Cyto-Megalovirus, which has been linked to all sorts of things (like chronic fatigue syndrome and mononucleosis), but everyone I’ve asked about it says that it has no symptoms in people my age. (That age being 3 and up.) I thought that possibly it could flare up every once in a while (like cold sores do). “Nope.” I’ve been told. “It stays in your system and just hangs out.”
So, the theory now is that my blood pressure was high. How high you ask?
Well, high enough to warrant an ambulance ride to a hospital. Where I stayed for roughly four hours while they gave me two doses of Chloridine (I think that’s what they called it) at 0.1 milligrams per dose.
So, now I’m back on blood pressure medication (calcium blocker and an ACE inhibitor). This time it looks to be permanent. I hope not. though. I’m hoping that once I take these twenty-five pounds back off it means that the medication will start making me light headed again.
From now on, I should be able to make my normal Wednesday quotes on time. I don’t plan on spending any more time in ambulances or emergency rooms until the inevitable comes. Whenever that’s going to be.

Out Cruising for New Blogs to Read

I've been slacking off on my writing these days. I think maybe I've worn myself out on this. At least I did it on my own terms, though. That way, I'll return to it sooner next time around.

But, I will keep up with what everyone else is writing.

Like I was doing just now when I discovered That Girl Whose Name You Can't Remember. I don't know what a BART is (outside of the kid from the Simpsons), though I assume it's some sort of public transportation.

Well, after reading one paragraph, I'm glad all we seem to attract in this city are the Gideons. They just hand out Bibles and don't spout off anything. (If they do, I usually don't hang around long enough to hear any of it. I grab a little green Bible and go.)

August 1^st. Two A. M

An odd thing is happening now. As you may have noticed, there has been a marked drop not only in the quality, but also the quantity of the posts here at This Space for Rent. It's not that I've given up on my creative outlet ... Not by a long shot. My creative outlet has changed.

I'm in a band now. I can actually say that.

"I'm in a band now."

I've actually been helping with some of the song selections, and helping the guys to remember lyrics.

It can be intimidating to get material together to do an hour long show. But, I'm working with fellows who've been playing for forty-two years. The tough part for them is picking the songs they don't want to play.

Tougher still will be helping the thirty-year-old. He'd always wanted to be a drummer, but wound up in chorus for most of his school days. Now, they have to not only help him catch up with the keyboard repertoire, but also with the skill and prowess of people who've been playing their instruments for longer than he's been around!

I am getting better, though. I can't yet pick out the key a song is in just by listening, but I can at least play chords with either hand now! (That is, after someone's told me which chords are in a given song.

So, dear reader(s) (just in case I've gone back down to one again), rest assured that if I haven't posted anything in a while it is because I've been spending my time working at another keyboard (trying to force my hands to cooperate.)