Archive for May, 2009
Falling Down
I’m sitting here tonight, tired, tanned, and torn.
I was quite busy today. I worked on “business” stuff for a few hours, then I went outside to finish mowing the lawn. Big mistake. Today was much hotter than it was yesterday. I should have finished it all yesterday. Anyway, I finished the backyard and got most of the front yard complete. Most of the yard I said. The lawn mower kicked the belt, and I need to find my manual so I can put the belt back on correctly. At least it didn’t break the belt. If I was working full time I would go ahead and buy new blades for it too, since I am going to be under there anyway.
I sat here for a while this afternoon cooling down (I am not good in the heat), and realized I got a lot of sun today. My arms have a nice farmer tan, and my nose and cheeks feel burnt.
After mowing the yard, the kids played in the sprinkler while Gidget weeded part of the garden. Realizing they would be coming in soaking wet, I decided to take some towels downstairs so they had them the moment they walked in the back door.
As I turned the corner to walk down the stairs, I slipped. Yes, I fell. I fell down about 6 or 7 steps, landing on my ass every step of the way. Literally. I reached up and grabbed the handrail twice. The first time my hand hit the bracket holding it to the wall, and the second time I was able to stop my fall. I just starting to tip forward when I was able to grab on. It could have been real bad. It’s bad enough though. My ass hurts and my arm feels like it’s been ripped from the socket.
I have no more plans this evening, other than playing a couple games on Facebook and then crashing (in bed, not down the stairs).
I hope you had a good weekend.
The Night Of The Purge
I’ve had a headache off and on for three days now. It hasn’t rained for three days now, and ever since it stopped raining I have had some form of a headache. The first day it was very clearly a sinus headache. Last night, more of a “that smell gave me a headache” headache. I got that one when I mowed part of the lawn yesterday, and it took all night to go away. Today, I have had a very light headache all day, that seems to be related to the barometric pressure. My leg is sore too, so I know the pressure is high.
I spent most of this evening purging some of the people I follow on Twitter. Every couple months I go through the list of people I am following, and if I am no longer interested in what some people say, I drop them from my follow list. I have enough going on each day, I don’t want to waste time reading messages that just don’t interest me anymore. It’s not a reflection of the people, because I wouldn’t have followed them if they weren’t worth it, but I don’t see the need to follow people simply because they follow me or to “be nice”.
I’m going to cut this short tonight, as I want to get to bed a bit early. I have a list of things I want to get finished tomorrow and I need an early start to get them done. I forgot all about the farmer’s market again this weekend. I wish they had a second day of market during the week, in our area.
A Ticking TimeBomb Called Cancer
I’m in a really bad mood tonight.
As you may know from reading my site, my mother-in-law has had three recent scares with the “C” word. Cancer.
First she had an ovarian cyst that ended up being benign, which was awesome news.
Then just months later, she found out she had a “slow” form of breast cancer. She underwent a biopsy and they took several lymph nodes. After a lumpectomy and a round of radiation therapy, it’s gone. She is suffering from the effects of lymphodema, but the cancer is gone.
Just a couple weeks ago, while being examined by a doctor, she was told she might have Inflammatory Breast Cancer. It ended up being a false alarm, but alarming just the same.
When you hear about cancer there is always stringent medical advice given. “EARLY DETECTION AND TREATMENT ARE THE KEY TO SURVIVAL”. Right? That’s what you’ve heard isn’t it? I know that phrase has been drilled into my head to the point that it is synonymous with the word cancer.
The American Cancer Society says the best thing you can do to protect your health is to “detect cancer early“. Of course, all treatments are different, because they are customized to the person and the type of cancer they are fighting, but early detection and treatment are the key to survival. Okay then. Now for the reason I am pissed.
It has been four months since doctors first diagnosed Channel 2 Consumer Advisor Clark Howard with prostate cancer. Since then, Clark said he has read medical journals and has had more testing done. He just recently made a decision not to have treatment – for now.
Clark wanted to find out how aggressive his cancer is. He went to California for a second opinion, and had a biopsy, and a procedure called a velocity test. The velocity test is a genetic test not routinely approved in the U.S., but done in Europe.
Before I get too far into this post, let me state one thing. I am not arguing that Clark Howard should undergo some medical procedure just because the thought of such treatment has been drilled into our heads. I am not saying that at all…
What I am saying though, is he shouldn’t have spoken out about it. If you read more of the article you learn that he has a “low-grade, low-risk” cancer. A type of cancer that only 25% of prostate cancer patients are diagnosed with.
“I had a very, very low-grade low-risk cancer,” said Clark.
Clark wants to stress active surveillance is not a choice for all prostate cancer patients.
“What I’m able to do because of my circumstances is not applicable for 75 percent of the people who are diagnosed,” Clark said.
Green said it is impossible to know how long Clark could be on active surveillance and that he might never need treatment at all.
I can guarantee you that over 75% of the people who read that article stopped where I did with the first quote. Half of the remaining 25% never got past the first line in the second quote. It’s a fact, we are a sound bite society. With a headline that reads, “Clark Howard Will Not Have Cancer Treatment For Now“, and the two opening paragraphs quoted above, Clark Howard and WSB-TV did more harm than good.
Most of the people who read the headline will have no idea why he isn’t seeking treatment at this time. Most of the people who stopped reading after the second paragraph might think it’s okay if they stop treatment too.
More importantly though, early detection and treatment are the key to survival. Does Clark Howard think this cancer, no matter how slow growing it is, is just going to sit in his prostate gland and wait for treatment? Do you know anyone who would simply sit back and let their cancer grow simply because it’s a “slow one”?
I don’t care what the doctors say, what the statistics say, or what Clark Howard says. Waiting to treat the cancer is just like allowing a time-bomb to tick away because you have plenty of time to diffuse it.
That’s just stupid.
He also said studies show that if an active surveillance patient eventually does need treatment, the prognosis is about the same as if they got treatment right away.
Oh, I guess that makes it alright. Since the studies show the prognosis will be the same no matter what, why bother? It’s not like he’s a unique individual and they would have to customize his treatment plan anyway, right?
Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick. Tick.
The Big Picture
Just a short post tonight.
As I said before I have been working on some designs. I am trying to finish up a couple projects I’ve had on the back burner for a while, as well as a couple “favors” for a couple family members.
Today, I was invited to join the Better Business Bureau, which is awesome. I should be receiving all of my documentation within the next couple days.
Before I call it a night, I wanted to point out something I read today.
USA Today ran an article about an increase in the number of parents who are choosing to home-school their children. The article starts with the following paragraph:
Parents who home-school children increasingly are white, wealthy and well-educated — and their numbers have nearly doubled in a decade, a new federal government report says.
You have to read quite a bit of the article before you get to the 7th paragraph which states,
Home schooling has grown most sharply for higher-income families. In 1999, 63.6% of home-schooling families earned less than $50,000. Now 60.0% earn more than $50,000.
Since when is $50,000 considered “higher income”? Seriously. We have three kids, and there is no way we could survive (comfortably) on $50,000 per year. What’s up with this recent trend in the media? Are they conditioning us for the new Socialist States of America, where everyone will make the same amount of money anyway?
Apparently they are trying to re-define “higher income” in America. My only question is, are they doing it on their own or at the direction of some other entity which might have bigger plans?
Now I’ve Done It
You should see my filing system. I have seven stacks on the floor to the left of my desk. The first stack is all the paperwork for forming the Aria Interactive, LLC. The second stack consists of blogging ideas that I have had and jotted down on paper for the past month. The third stack contains all of the Chamber of Commerce literature.
I see a distinct pattern of complete separation of ideas and thought processes from stack to stack.
The fourth stack has menus from places that deliver here (even though we haven’t ordered from them for over 2 months and there are only 2 menus in the stack). The fifth stack contains all of the Selective Service System training paperwork, etc. I will be getting the new training materials anytime now, so I thought I would brush up on last year’s just to make sure my brain was still working. I haven’t even looked at it since I “filed” it. The sixth stack contains notes and printouts for different apps I use (shortcuts, etc). And the final stack contains two folders. One for each of the upcoming contracts I’ll be working on.
I found a desktop organizer I had in the basement, which will allow me to put all of those papers into actual file folders and get them off the floor. That will be a good thing, especially the next time the dogs come running through the office.
After more review today, I filed the paperwork for Aria Interactive and Gidget’s company, Buttercup Mercantile, and as of this evening, both are now Limited Liability Companies. How cool is that? I am constantly amazed at the amount of work I am getting done each day getting the business up and running. It won’t be long now before I am sitting down with people to discuss advertising and visibility.
I’ve officially joined the Carroll County Chamber of Commerce “Shop Carroll First” program. The public can stop by the Chamber office to purchase gift checks which are redeemable at over 75 different Carroll County businesses. Aria Interactive, LLC is proud to be participating in the program, and will be offering a nice discount to anyone who uses a gift check when ordering web hosting or design services.
I have plenty on my plate tomorrow as well. I have a couple designs I need to finish up, some server maintenance to get through, and then phone calls to make. Ahh, the life of a businessman. I sure will be happy when all this hard work translates into deposits at the bank.
Working For A Living
After a nice relaxing weekend, today was a busy day.
I spent several hours working on some designs, and organizing my office area. Since I was laid off, I have been stacking things to the side of my desk. When it comes time to clean, I pick up the stack from one side and move it to the other. Rinse. Repeat.
So today I sat down and went through every single piece of paper, tossing most of it, and actually cleaning my office. It sure looks better.
I spent the evening researching Limited Liability Companies and how to form one. After watching a few videos and reading up at several websites, I think I’m ready to tackle that project. I just finished reserving two names with the Secretary of State and as soon as I check a couple more sources tomorrow, we’ll be filing all of the necessary paperwork to form two LLC’s. One for me, and one for the wife. It’s about time, but with the layoff everything has been delayed, so it’s nice to know it will be done very soon.
“Be nice to people on your way up because you meet them on your way down.”
Jimmy Durante
Happy Memorial Day
Today, as in the past, there are problems that must be solved and challenges that must be met. We can tackle them with our full strength and creativity only because we are free to work them out in our own way. We owe this freedom of choice and action to those men and women in uniform who have served this nation and its interests in time of need. In particular, we are forever indebted to those who have given their lives that we might be free.
Ronald Reagan, May 26, 1983
My Head Is Pounding
For years I have suffered from acid reflux. I used to take all sorts of medicine for it. I started with Tums, but when it got real bad I would take a Pepcid AC or whatever it was. That seemed to help for a while but it still got worse. At a doctors appointment (for a sinus problem) I asked what I could take and after a quick exam the doctor told me to take Prilosec for a month and see if it helped. It helped immensely, but it didn’t get any better.
That’s when I decided to change my eating habits. The foods that seemed to trigger my “episodes” usually contained fats or a ton of carbs. So I cut those out in the evenings and things got better. My only problem now is that I snack at night and sometimes forget about those things that trigger the acid. Last night was one of those nights.
I laid down in bed around 2:30, and was up at 4 with acid. It was a bad case of it too, and it took more than 45 minutes before it started to go away so I could relax again. I had one heck of a night, with very little sleep, but that’s what I get for eating that Chunky Monkey ice cream while I was watching that horrible movie known as “The Day The Earth Stood Still”. Heck, maybe it was the movie and not the ice cream that gave me the acid?
I’ve had a headache all day, and no amount of pain relievers or allergy tablets would take it away so I kind of just lived with it, all day. We watched the Indy 500, and the boys were happy that Danica Patrick finished in third place. They would have preferred it if she won, but they were happy with the finish. As the afternoon progressed into evening they were upset though, because the Coca-Cola 600 was postponed until tomorrow because of rain.
I’m calling it an early night tonight, because my head won’t stop pounding. I am going to kick back in the chair and watch that new 007 movie, and hopefully fall asleep and get rid of this headache.
Have a great night.
The Do-Nothing Day
After the stress of the day yesterday, I decided not to do too much today, at all.
I read some more of my marketing book, and watched a few movies. I know, not what you would expect on a nice sunny spring day in Georgia, but to tell the truth I just wasn’t up for much more today.
I cleaned off my desk, played games on Facebook, and then watched “The Day The Earth Stood Still” with Keanu Reeves. Let me tell you something. That was two hours of my life that I will never get back. What a waste of time. Tomorrow night I am going to watch “Quantum of Solace” which my mom let me borrow. It better be a good movie.
When life gives you a hundred reasons to cry, show life that you have a thousand reasons to smile.
Author Unknowm
Holy Cow, What A Day
What a crazy day today was.
It started slow, picked up steam, slammed into a wall, and staggered into the evening.
I sat here all morning working on some little projects I needed to get done around the house and for the web design and hosting business. I have a few pans on the fire and it seems that some of the prospects are looking pretty good.
Things started picking up steam after 2pm when I was informed that one of the projects I wanted (and worked hard to acquire) is coming to fruition and will result in some design work and possibly web hosting too.
Everything hit a brick wall when I received a rather disturbing letter from our mortgage company, but after a very nerve racking phone call and several minutes suffering the effects of a possible heart attack, everything was straightened out. Let me just say one thing. If anyone from your mortgage company contacts you out of the blue (via telephone) to make you an offer (even one that is believable and 100% legit) demand they send you said offer and more information via the mail immediately. Don’t take their word for it, because I learned today that, as in most cases, the left hand has no idea what the right hand is doing and it almost cost us our home.
Even with the turbulence of the afternoon, the day progressed into night, where I am about to sit down and watch a movie. Away from the computers, away from the phone, just me and my satellite box. It should be a good evening.