March 30, 2007

Cursed

I've been having some problems with my knees lately. The kind of problems that involve joint pain that keeps me up all night. I've been referred to a specialist, but I haven't wanted to go because I'm sick of being in doctors' offices.

Before I go see the specialist, I've decided to try some home remedies. The other day I went to the CVS and picked up knee braces, a pain killer specifically for knee-joint pain, and a tube of Capzasin. I've had moderate success with the braces and the pain killer. I've been flat out cursed with the Capzasin.

I tried the stuff out the other night around 2 a.m. I applied the recommended dose to each knee and massaged it in. I noticed a warm tingly burn and thought 'hey, this stuff is working.' I fell asleep and woke up around 7:20 ready to start the day and get to work. I noticed that I could still feel the burning sensation and it was a lot stronger. I didn't think too much of it, and took my shower. And that's when all hell broke loose.

The minute the water hit my knees they lit up -- we're talking blazing desert sun agony here. I called my doctor and explained the situation. Turns out I'm highly sensitive to the active ingredient (0.01% is apparently too much for me). I had some nice chemical burns on both my knees. Fortunately, the problem was readily fixed by spending a good chunk of my morning hopping in and out of the shower and flushing the area. My knees are a little sore, but no worse for the wear.

March 27, 2007

In Which Our Hero Goes On A Tear

Neil blogged about his anger last week. I've refrained from commenting, because I'm trying this new power-of-positive-thinking, happy outlook on life thing. It's one of those deals where I focus on the good I see around me rather than all the hot messes running amok. However, it's hard to keep this mentality alive and well when I run across things like this.

If I don't think about the status of gay rights (i.e.: civil rights) in America these days, life seems pretty rosy. But all it takes is one whiff of morons like Ms. Marcia, and I remember that there are people out there willing to hate, condemn, marginalize, attack and even kill gays. And in this case, it's someone making her living from U.S. tax-payer dollars. How, exactly, is she defending the U.S., its citizens and its Constitution?

What's notable about this particular item (besides that crazy racist Tango-Wango and the homophobia) is that she initiated the conversation; she thought this man would be a good candidate for the U.S. Army based on his resume. Her dreams of meeting her recruitment quota thwarted, she stooped to base bigotory and unprofessionalism. (Seriously, who in this day and age thinks it's acceptable to send out something like that from your work e-mail?!?)

But what really gets me angry is that if any other class of professional were to send something like that to a prospective job applicant, customer or business contact, they would be fired on the spot. No questions asked. The more liberal workplaces for the entirety of her comments -- the more conservative workplaces for the racism and unprofessionalism. I'm thinking that she might just get away with a slap on the wrist at best ... and at worst a reassignment, maybe a pay cut and a demotion.

This is why I'm so angry with Red-State America, Conservatives and those gay allies that love their gay friends, but not the gay rights portion of their gay friends. We work, we pay taxes, we own homes. We're friends, brothers, sisters. We go to the same schools, see the same movies, read the same books. We're Americans. Just like everyone else in this country. The only difference is in who we love. But that difference makes us unequal. Not deserving of having our relationships honored. Not able to see our spouses in the hospital. Not able to retain any hope of living in the home we have built together if one partner dies. Not able to walk down the street at night without the fear that someone might decide to beat and/or kill us just because of who we are.

I could go on with the list of inequalities. But in the interest of brevity (such as it is at this point), I'll refrain. I can at least give a little respect to the virulent homophobes --they're consistent in their beliefs. I find it much harder to respect people who say they love their gay friend/family member/co worker, but with the next breath aver that they don't support gay rights. Neither group of people really 'get it' -- but at least one is a lot more honest about it.

March 13, 2007

Redux: Exorcism

Hopefully, this will be the last time I have to post anything at length about the Great Neck Misadventure of 2006-7 (tm)(c).

From it's inauspicious beginning when I tried to jump over the housing mechanism for a trash compactor, did a face plant, and gashed my ankle five ways from Friday, this injury has been the worst medical situation I've had to deal with. What started off as random stiffening of the neck and shoulders devolved into 24/7/365 pain. Mind numbing pain. And the visits to all the doctors, and PT, and tests, and no one really knowing anything or telling me the whole deal until I finally ended up at the surgeon who fixed this whole big mess.

This is week 5 of the recovery, and things are going superbly. Week 4 flat out bit my ass in terms of heinousness. I had bronchitis [diagnosed, and treated with antibiotics], had to get an x-ray, returned to work for the first time since the surgery and had my last visit with the Surgeon. The Surgeon had very good news for me. I'm right on track for the 1 month mark, and there are no complications to the surgery. He expects a full recovery and finds it unlikely that I'll ever have this type of injury again (at least in my neck, I assume.) I'll be able to start running again on April 1, and then heavy lifting on May 1. The only caveats he gave me were a) don't over do it, you're not a strong as you think you are, and b) you can expect to experience pain and stiffness in your neck and shoulders for a few more months while everything settles down.

However, the best thing about this week is that I've been off all the heavy duty pain-meds for a week now. The most potent thing that's been in my system has been Aleve. While I thoroughly enjoyed my Percocet Party for the last 9 months, I discovered something this week. The last 9 months I've been somewhat blah about things I liked to do. Not much excited me, and I was worried that I was getting clinically depressed. But now, I'm really digging the things that really make me happy. I'm excited to do things again. And I'm very happy that I'm getting back to the person I was before this whole mess started.