Things To Watch

Lots of stuff on the TV tonight:

8:00- Big Brother All-Stars.  I think it was way too early to start playing hardball with the people you want out- especially when the one you want out currently holds the power.  I think Danielle is toast unless she can win the veto tonight.

9:00- Last Comic Standing.  I think Josh Blue is a shoo-in to win on sympathy votes alone.  For a bonus, he really is genuinely funny.  I'm really interested to see who gets kicked off tonight for "breaking the rules."  What could that possibly mean?

10:00- The World Series of Pop Culture.  My brother told me about this show on VH1 and I just got done watching the first episode on the internet.  I only got three questions wrong.  I can see myself becoming really frustrated by this show, just for the simple fact that I think I should be on it.  Me, my brother and my cousin- we could have nailed this thing.  Of course, I would be the ace.  When are the auditions for the second one?  :-)

 

We finally finished the second season of 24 that we got from Netflix.  I enjoyed the first season much more.  They should have tried to stretch the bomb threat for the entire day, because everything after that seemed anticlimactic and unrealistic.  Why was it so imperative to go to war immediately that the president would have to be removed for not doing it?  That was just stupid.  George Mason became the best character on the show after he got his death sentence and his death half way through  was also part of the letdown.  I still have high hopes for the third season, since I've heard the show only gets better.  By the fall we should be all caught up.

 

I enjoyed the remake of The Hills Have Eyes.  Very gory and, while not scary, it was still intense.  The thing that seperates it from most horror movies is that the victims are not sexed-crazed, stupid teenagers, but a family.  Even if you don't like every character, it's hard not to feel more horrified than normal when moms and dads and kids start getting picked off.  B+

Failure to Launch was one of the biggest pieces of crap I've ever seen.  Granted, the romantic comedy genre is not normally something I flock to, but I can enjoy them if they are well done.  This was not.  The plot is ridiculously contrived and the parts that aren't predictableare only unpredictable because of their utter bizareness.  Just a complete mess and a real crime that one of my favorite actresses, Zooey Dechanel, allowed herself to be typecast (as the smartass) in this crapfest.  F+

Update

- I'm heavily leaning toward just quitting my job.  I can't get through to my case handler so I don't know what she is going to do about the doctor situation, but I talked it over with Kate and she believes that even if I ever did get 100% better, the CTS would just come back.  Going back to the job that caused the problem before I'm healed would just make things worse.  The pluses of quitting are: I wouldn't have to drive 45 minutes to work/ I can try to get a job that makes use of my college education/ I would get to go on the family vacation in a couple of weeks.  The negatives of quitting: I leave behind a job where I have put in more than 5 years/ I would be unemployed and physically damaged.

- I've been looking into getting an agent.  If I could land a reputable one, that could really be a writing career launching pad.  Unfortunately, the task of finding a reputable agent that will give me the time of day is rather daunting.  From what I've read so far, the world of literary agents is full of pitfalls and scams.  Let's keep our fingers crossed.

- Here's what I've been listening to this week:

1. How We Operate- Gomez

2. Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken- Camera Obscura

3. Connecticut's For F*cking- Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse

4. Happy- Snowglobe

5. Catastrophe- Rainer Maria

6. Be Gentle With Me- The Boy Least Likely To

7. Smile- Lily Allen

8. The Other Side of Mt. Heart Attack- Liars

9. In The Morning- Razorlight

10. Snakes in the Grass- Essex Green

Double Ugh!

That mood up above should be more like FURIOUS, but AOL doesn't give that one as an option.  As the day has gone on, I've just gotten more and more upset over how my visit with the doctor today went.  I won't go into great detail, but basically, he said I was milking my injury and should go back to work since I've already been out longer than average.  Tomorrow morning I am going to call my case worker and see what she says.  I tried to explain that my wrists still feel tight and that my arms are still numb, but all he said was that he never guaranteed I would be 100% better and I probably never will be.  He asked me when I wanted to go back to work and I answered that I wanted it to be after I've seen him for the last time.  So he says, Then this is it.  Get some bicycle gloves and go back to work.  If my case handler agrees with the doctor, then I suppose I will have no choice but to suck it up and go back to work.  GRRR, I'm so angry right now.  I'm not even trying to make this coherent, so sorry.

  I dropped the shampoo in the shower this morning because a shockwave was sent up the nerves in my arm when I grabbed it.  I assure you that I am not milking anything. 

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  In other more pleasant news, my cut back on food intake and morning jogging regimen is really getting results.  My stomach is now noticeably smaller and my sister said my face is not as fat.  I started at 237 and after 1 month of this I stand at 222.  I'm so proud of myself that I try to work it in any time I talk to someone.  Hey, I lost 15 pounds.  

Yeah, I'm sure I'm annoying. 

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Well that's it for now.  My arms are getting numb from all this typing and pain faking I have to do.

Ugh

Wow!  I've really let this thing go a while without being updated.  Part of that is because we went camping this weekend.  Good times- even if it did rain some of the time, particularly at night.

Now for the bad news.  I got a call from work today saying that when they contacted my doctor he faxed them a paper saying I should be back on July 1st.  I called the nurse and she told me to come in tomorrow so the doctor can check me out.  There is no way I can do my job yet.  I am getting better, yes, but I am definitely not ready to work with "no restrictions".  Basically my stomach has been in knots all day, worried that I may have to go back to work before I am healthy. 

Hacked?

Here's an interesting problem:

Right now Capt Happy (v1) is logged on with an idle message.  Not only that, on my mom's buddy list, an AOL Instant Messenger name I haven't used in years is logged on with an idle message.  I checked the Messengers installed on every computer we have and not only are they logged off, but my other names aren't in the dropdown menu as options.  What the heck is going on here?  

Why is every name I've ever had logged on right now and from where? 

 

EDIT: Thanks to everyone who tried to help me solve the problem today.  My wife figured it out.  I had checked the Instant Messenger on one computer identity but not on any of the others.  Somehow the Messenger on my father's identity signed onto Capt Happy, which was consolidated with that other older name- therefore showing that both were logged on.  I have no idea how it got signed on, but the problem has been resolved.  :-)

Hey ref!

Original weight: 237

Current weight: 227

  Three weeks ago, I had to buy shorts with a 40" waist.  This weekend, I found an old pair of shorts with a 34" waist and I fit into them.  One of those pants must be mismarked because I don't think I look any different.  I won't consider any weight loss an accomplishment until it's noticeable.  If you went to the supermarket and bought ten pounds of meat, and when you got home, it wasn't in the bag, you would notice, right?  So how come you can't tell that I've lost ten pounds of meat?

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  I'm really, really getting frustrated with my hands.  Last therapy session I told Kate that I wasn't feeling any better and she said:  Think positive.

That's what it's come down to.  My therapist has been reduced to thinking my pain is psychological.  Well, it's not!

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  I know we live in a world where the internet and thousands of cable channels make coverage of things much more extensive, so maybe it's just become more noticeable as of late, but it seems to me that we have an epidemic of bad officiating in sports. 

  To any non-Steelers fan, the story of the Super Bowl was how badly the refs screwed the Seahawks.  In the NBA Finals, all anyone could talk about was the preferential treatment Wade and the Heat were getting from the refs.  And in more than one World Cup match, the refs have been the story by handing out too many yellow cards and kicking too many people out of the game.  Refs are always under a lot of pressure and scrutiny, but I've watched sports for twenty years, and I can't ever remember a time where the officiating has been so bad that the integrity of the leagues have come into question.  Ten years ago, would it have been anything other than sour grapes for a Seattle fan to say that the NFL wanted the Steelers to win?   Or that the refs fixed the NBA Finals because David Stern doesn't like Mark Cuban?  These are questions that are actually being raised and it just shouldn't be that way. 

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  I took a week off from the top ten because I got tired of putting Gnarls Barkley into the top spot.  For only the second time in VCH history, I am retiring a song as a Number 1.  It's time to move on.  Here's what I've been listening to this week:

1. Connecticut's For F*cking- Jesus H. Christ and the Four Hornsmen of the Apocalypse 

2. Lloyd, I'm Ready To Be Heartbroken- Camera Obscura

3. Miss Murder- AFI

4. Cheated Hearts- Yeah Yeah Yeahs

5. How We Operate- Gomez

6. Paralyzed- Rock Kills Kid

7. Gone Daddy Gone- Gnarls Barkley

8. Hard To Beat- Hard-Fi

9. Elevate Myself- Grandaddy

10. Your Eyes- Aloha

This Week's Top Ten- Special Edition

Ten of Kasey's Favorite Songs:

1. Coin-Operated Boy- The Dresden Dolls

2. Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand

3. Walking With A Ghost- Tegan & Sara

4. She Don't Use Jelly- The Flaming Lips

5. Galvanize- The Chemical Brothers

6. Try Honesty- Billy Talent

7. Do You Want To- Franz Ferdinand

8. Pressure Point- The Zutons

9. Hockey Monkey- The Zambonis

10. We Used To Be Friends- The Dandy Warhols

  Joey, Kasey, Rachel and Clay