I am about to be sued. I got a call from Mr Trinidad at Wagner & Hunt, P.A, a collections attorney in Margate.
After a very bad start -- can you imagine any other kind? -- I come to find out I have supposedly co-signed for an American Express card with someone who owes Amex well over $8k. Obviously I have co-signed nothing for anyone ever. I just won't do that. Never have, never will.
So I go on to explain to him that I have been identity-thefted (Look, Binky, a new word!) and I've got a police report, there's a suspect in jail, and so-on and so-forth. So he's going to fax me affidavits to sign and swear to, and I'm going to send him a copy of my police report. So this will likely go away. So am I really going to be sued? Unlikely because it's stupid to sue an innocent person: harassment countersuits and such.
However, I did volunteer to be deposed and swear the debt isn't mine and the guy committed fraud. However, what is very, very, very disturbing is that he says that this dates to 2006. That was before my identity theft case started (though I was at BankAtlantic that far back, so it's not unreasonable to assume it may be related). He did share with me the guy's name which I won't share just yet. I never heard of him but I think it might the same guy who was at AT&T the other day trying to obtain the wireless data card (see previous posts). Call it a hunch.
I am getting so tired of this. I'm getting it on all sides. (And I still get the occasional call from a bank saying someone's trying to open a credit card with my name.) I haven't reported all of it so far because it's getting boring to me and probably you. But it does drive to distraction.
Shout outs to John and Liz who are still moving, Erin who is still in pain and sick of the rain, and I'm hungry -- no lunch for me :(
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Monday, June 29, 2009
Corporate Identity Theft Continues
So there's so much more now.
This morning at 850am I received a call from Kathy at the AT&T Fraud department who said our lines were still being forwarded (which didn't seem right because I can call myself and it rings at the office). She refused to call to fix it saying that she wasn't authorized. (If she's the fraud center how the hell isn't she authorized to fix it? That's like calling someone and saying their house is being robbed and asking them if they want to call the police because you aren't authorized to do it.)
I am on the phone at the Business Center with Katie who informs me on 6-29-2007 someone named George forwarded or lines to "786-290-2893" and this was "Call Forward Busy" and "Call Forwarding No Answer" -- so this is more interesting. Also, I called this from a private number using *67 and it rings to mobile phone with no message.
Apparently when we fixed it the first time (see first post), this original and VERY OLD issue didn't get fixed. So now we need to find out who, exactly, this number above belongs to. I think this our crook.
This would be an interesting crime. If both of our lines were busy, then and ONLY then the call would forward to that number so we might not even notice that some calls were being hijacked. I am beginning to suspect new crime and old crime are not related. But I won't post that bit here for the time being.
Also, I am mystified that AT&T's position is that they'll notify you that there is illegal activity on the account and then do absolutely nothing about it. Seriously. That's like a security guard at the bank calling the bank president and say "Someone's robbing us. Should we do something about it?" and then when the bank president says "Yes" having the guard say "Ok, you deal with it. I'm not authorized."
I called and spoke to Katie who was very helpful and checked all the work orders and gave me the 786 number above and the details. She said she didn’t understand why the fraud people didn’t call directly instead of leaving it all weekend. I subsequently received a call from Tina Kelly (Team Leader) who also said this was very unusual and they aren’t sure what’s going on.
The fraud department said there is ‘unusual activity’ on our bill but we don’t have the bill and nobody outside the fraud department can seem to see any ‘unusual activity’ but when we get it, it will be scrutinized.
This morning at 850am I received a call from Kathy at the AT&T Fraud department who said our lines were still being forwarded (which didn't seem right because I can call myself and it rings at the office). She refused to call to fix it saying that she wasn't authorized. (If she's the fraud center how the hell isn't she authorized to fix it? That's like calling someone and saying their house is being robbed and asking them if they want to call the police because you aren't authorized to do it.)
I am on the phone at the Business Center with Katie who informs me on 6-29-2007 someone named George forwarded or lines to "786-290-2893" and this was "Call Forward Busy" and "Call Forwarding No Answer" -- so this is more interesting. Also, I called this from a private number using *67 and it rings to mobile phone with no message.
Apparently when we fixed it the first time (see first post), this original and VERY OLD issue didn't get fixed. So now we need to find out who, exactly, this number above belongs to. I think this our crook.
This would be an interesting crime. If both of our lines were busy, then and ONLY then the call would forward to that number so we might not even notice that some calls were being hijacked. I am beginning to suspect new crime and old crime are not related. But I won't post that bit here for the time being.
Also, I am mystified that AT&T's position is that they'll notify you that there is illegal activity on the account and then do absolutely nothing about it. Seriously. That's like a security guard at the bank calling the bank president and say "Someone's robbing us. Should we do something about it?" and then when the bank president says "Yes" having the guard say "Ok, you deal with it. I'm not authorized."
I called and spoke to Katie who was very helpful and checked all the work orders and gave me the 786 number above and the details. She said she didn’t understand why the fraud people didn’t call directly instead of leaving it all weekend. I subsequently received a call from Tina Kelly (Team Leader) who also said this was very unusual and they aren’t sure what’s going on.
The fraud department said there is ‘unusual activity’ on our bill but we don’t have the bill and nobody outside the fraud department can seem to see any ‘unusual activity’ but when we get it, it will be scrutinized.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Chronicles of Vladimir Tod: Tenth Grade Bleeds
I bought and read the third tome in this excellent series today. Each book is better than the one before it and this book makes author Heather Brewer three for three. The new book has my least favourite cover but it's the best of the three, so I'll forgive the irritatingly pouty cover.
We have the same cast of characters as before. Nelly falls into the background and we focus primarily on Vlad, Otis, and Henry. Henry becomes, finally, a more complex person, Vlad grows a bit. Otis, well he's just Otis, but that's not a bad things. Meredith still doesn't develop as a character and the surprise ending with her and Vlad makes you feel only for Vlad and not Meredith.
I'll also say I just kept waiting for Vlad to hug Henry. I'm not sure why, but it just felt like they were a little closer than the words on the page were ready to reveal. Eddie Poe appears but is reduced to a mere caricature, which is too bad because he's potentially interesting. We've also got some Goth kids who, in spite of their Gothness, are likeable even though they really don't play prominently in this book; I do suspect we'll see more of them in Eleventh Grade. Vlad still cries more than any other male character I've ever met. I just don't think fifteen year old guys cry so much. Then again he's a vampire, so maybe that's what they do? I really like Vlad -- if he were real, he's the sort of person I'd get along with and be friends with. Not enough Vlads in the world.
Happily, my biggest complaints about the first two novels is resolved. Ms Brewer tells her story and she doesn't seem to be in a hurry to do so. The story gets where it's going and doesn't feel like large gobs of story are left out. It pleases me because a good story -- and hers are good -- shouldn't be rushed.
Good book. Buy it. Read it.
We have the same cast of characters as before. Nelly falls into the background and we focus primarily on Vlad, Otis, and Henry. Henry becomes, finally, a more complex person, Vlad grows a bit. Otis, well he's just Otis, but that's not a bad things. Meredith still doesn't develop as a character and the surprise ending with her and Vlad makes you feel only for Vlad and not Meredith.
I'll also say I just kept waiting for Vlad to hug Henry. I'm not sure why, but it just felt like they were a little closer than the words on the page were ready to reveal. Eddie Poe appears but is reduced to a mere caricature, which is too bad because he's potentially interesting. We've also got some Goth kids who, in spite of their Gothness, are likeable even though they really don't play prominently in this book; I do suspect we'll see more of them in Eleventh Grade. Vlad still cries more than any other male character I've ever met. I just don't think fifteen year old guys cry so much. Then again he's a vampire, so maybe that's what they do? I really like Vlad -- if he were real, he's the sort of person I'd get along with and be friends with. Not enough Vlads in the world.
Happily, my biggest complaints about the first two novels is resolved. Ms Brewer tells her story and she doesn't seem to be in a hurry to do so. The story gets where it's going and doesn't feel like large gobs of story are left out. It pleases me because a good story -- and hers are good -- shouldn't be rushed.
Good book. Buy it. Read it.
Saturday, June 27, 2009
Transformers II Revenge of the Fallen, The Michael Bay Vision Returns
Wow. I was figuring this would at least be as entertaining as the first one. I knew it wouldn't be good because it is, after all, a Michael Bay film. But he does entertaining (mindless) pretty well and he does explosions great. This film had lots of explosions and toys. I think there was a plot but it was sort of hard to tell. Shia LaBeouf Did a fine job as did the always smokin' hot Megan Fox. Josh Duhamel Did his very small part well but John Turturro wasn't very good and Ramon Rodriguez was so irritating I can't explain it.
They obviously cut corners but not even using a continuity guy here. It was sunny, it was dark, and sometimes not in the right order. The same problem was in the first film. In the Deli, Sam removes his hat twice. JetFire walks out of the Smithsonian into the Arizona desert. WTF? That's huge. Also the car chases change locales unexpectedly -- and we get a cameo by an Oompah-Loompah. And they use boats launched in the ocean to land in Cairo to see the pyramids? HELLO -- LOOK AT A MAP! Not possible. The Air Force base in "New Jersey" shows mountains in the distance? Apparently Jersey has new geography. I could mention the Paris Police have blue-only sirens and not red but that's almost nit-picky. And was I the only one who noticed that when the pyramid eating robot is tearing down the pyramid in the foreground shot, there is a pigeon on the nose of the sphinx that takes up the entire nose? The world's largest pigeon.
The dialog was stilted and so bad I was bored. Karen and I mocked the film. It was a painfully long and I kept checking my watch. We did have a nice (company not food) dinner at Friday's after the movie with SWMBO and William.
They obviously cut corners but not even using a continuity guy here. It was sunny, it was dark, and sometimes not in the right order. The same problem was in the first film. In the Deli, Sam removes his hat twice. JetFire walks out of the Smithsonian into the Arizona desert. WTF? That's huge. Also the car chases change locales unexpectedly -- and we get a cameo by an Oompah-Loompah. And they use boats launched in the ocean to land in Cairo to see the pyramids? HELLO -- LOOK AT A MAP! Not possible. The Air Force base in "New Jersey" shows mountains in the distance? Apparently Jersey has new geography. I could mention the Paris Police have blue-only sirens and not red but that's almost nit-picky. And was I the only one who noticed that when the pyramid eating robot is tearing down the pyramid in the foreground shot, there is a pigeon on the nose of the sphinx that takes up the entire nose? The world's largest pigeon.
The dialog was stilted and so bad I was bored. Karen and I mocked the film. It was a painfully long and I kept checking my watch. We did have a nice (company not food) dinner at Friday's after the movie with SWMBO and William.
MRI Results -- Unofficial
I got the films and CD today along with the report to take to my doctor. (One scan is posted on my Flickr Page for friend/family contacts only.)
I've read the report and it appears there is no major change in C3-C4 and C5-C6 which still show about the same mild disc bulge. There is still mild degenerative stuff. The new thing is "Small root sleeve meningocele on the right T1" -- a Google of that shows it's never damage -- a trauma injury often called "traumatic meningocele." I think the closest I could find is that it's a brachial plexus traction injury. I'm not a doctor so I can't be sure that's a proper diagnosis. Depending on what you read this will either get better, won't get better, is treatable, or is not treatable. In other words: no idea at all. Any of my doctor readers who wish to comment may do so. We really won't know until my doctor compares this MRI to the last one, but reading the report it made it seem this is the only 'new' thing.
I copied the MRI image files from the CD to my hard drive for future use. They're interesting to look at though I have no idea what they mean. They're in some unknown format but GraphicConverter on my Mac can open and display them.
Anyway, that's really all the news until 6 July 2009 when I see the doctor for an interpretation.
I've read the report and it appears there is no major change in C3-C4 and C5-C6 which still show about the same mild disc bulge. There is still mild degenerative stuff. The new thing is "Small root sleeve meningocele on the right T1" -- a Google of that shows it's never damage -- a trauma injury often called "traumatic meningocele." I think the closest I could find is that it's a brachial plexus traction injury. I'm not a doctor so I can't be sure that's a proper diagnosis. Depending on what you read this will either get better, won't get better, is treatable, or is not treatable. In other words: no idea at all. Any of my doctor readers who wish to comment may do so. We really won't know until my doctor compares this MRI to the last one, but reading the report it made it seem this is the only 'new' thing.
I copied the MRI image files from the CD to my hard drive for future use. They're interesting to look at though I have no idea what they mean. They're in some unknown format but GraphicConverter on my Mac can open and display them.
Anyway, that's really all the news until 6 July 2009 when I see the doctor for an interpretation.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Page Ranking in Alexa: Breaking The Top Million
Page Rank (the busiest site in the world by all counts is of course: Google) And there are about 11 billion pages, so getting in the top is harder and harder, though about 10 billion of those pages, are not for public use -- internal pages for companies, educational institutions, and such. Or if you just go by active domains there's around 100 million of them. Either way, if you're in the top 1% of popular pages, you'd have to be in the top million. My three primary pages are ranked as follows:
I was actually pretty impressed at where my sites rank, though. Feel free to link to any of my sites if it makes you happy -- it'll make me happy. Though I'd much rather everyone link to my blog if you're going to link. I've linked to both the site and the Alexa data to prove it.
Virtual domains such as panthershockey.net are not tracked. While most may not realize it, that domain is really just www.darsys.com/panth/ so it's not a real domain but a pointer to a place in an existing web structure. I've got quite a few of those.
Considering how many web pages there are in the world, breaking the top million sites is pretty cool. Anyway, I was impressed I'd moved up in the world. Now if I could get my visitors to click on some of those damned ads, I'd be happier. But it does give me perspective as to why it's getting harder and harder to make money on the web.
Also I have sent to BMW's US corporate office and eviscerating letter that is sure to have left blood on the floor. Sadly, it won't do much good since they're closed all weekend. They did find my car. They have done nothing so far. They aren't even communicate. South Motors sucks ass.
Shout out to J and L in congratulations for their new house.
| RANK | SITE | Alexa Data |
| 11,714,172 | interstate-screw.com | ALEXA DATA |
| 756,747 | darsys.com | ALEXA DATA |
| 2,904,133 | darsys.net | ALEXA DATA |
I was actually pretty impressed at where my sites rank, though. Feel free to link to any of my sites if it makes you happy -- it'll make me happy. Though I'd much rather everyone link to my blog if you're going to link. I've linked to both the site and the Alexa data to prove it.
Virtual domains such as panthershockey.net are not tracked. While most may not realize it, that domain is really just www.darsys.com/panth/ so it's not a real domain but a pointer to a place in an existing web structure. I've got quite a few of those.
Considering how many web pages there are in the world, breaking the top million sites is pretty cool. Anyway, I was impressed I'd moved up in the world. Now if I could get my visitors to click on some of those damned ads, I'd be happier. But it does give me perspective as to why it's getting harder and harder to make money on the web.
Also I have sent to BMW's US corporate office and eviscerating letter that is sure to have left blood on the floor. Sadly, it won't do much good since they're closed all weekend. They did find my car. They have done nothing so far. They aren't even communicate. South Motors sucks ass.
Shout out to J and L in congratulations for their new house.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Corporate Identity Theft, Losing an SUV, Celebrity Deaths
First, RIP to ex-heartthrob Farrah Fawcett of Charlies Angels fame who died earlier today of cancer. Many of my friends and I were fond of looking at her iconic poster from the late 1970s / early 1980s.
The poster is one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic one of its era. She'll be missed by many for a long list of reasons. She had a long and distinguished career.
(As I write this news is breaking that he died.) Best wishes also to Michael Jackson is in critical condition following a heart attack. He was found unconscious in his Los Angeles home. He was attempting a comeback tour at the O2 in London, which now appears unlikely. The singer's father, Joe, has told TMZ he is "not doing well" while another family member said he is "in really bad shape." Having met Mr. Jackson, briefly, I extend my condolences and best wishes to his family.
Next up, I must report on a true oddity. My BMW X5 was taken to South Motors body shop for repair after the accident. Two days ago it was taken to South Motors service shop for mechanical work and its regularly scheduled service. I called today to find out what the story was with my car. South Motors service first said they didn't have my car, but the body shop told me who got it. South Motors service then admitted yes, they did get it, but could find no record of me or the car in their computer and the car was missing. Photo here.
They asked for my VIN# because they can't find the car or any record of it. I also sent them a description and then the Flickr photo above. I am paying $40 per day for a stupid-ass rental. So for two days they did not work on it because they couldn't find the damned car. Inexcusable, yes? They have yet to call me back. Tomorrow, I am going to insist that we file a police report for a stolen vehicle. I'll also have to sue them for my out of pocket on the repairs -- why should I pay for repairs on a car I never got. I would hope they find the car which "might be in the lease return lot." I am very, very, very unhappy with South Motors and BMW corporate offices will receive an eviscerating letter the likes of which they may have never seen.
How the hell do you lose an entire SUV? Morons.
Lastly, and in sympathy with Evan, I need to report on some corporate identity theft. A few weeks ago AT&T called me and said someone was trying to forward our fax lines to an alternate number. That person pretended to be me, and then to be my father. They were a Hispanic male (which neither of us are). They were suspicious because of reasons I do not wish to disclose at this time so they called our main billing number, spoke to me to ask if I was doing it and I said no and asked them to note everything in the account. AT&T wrote lots of notes but refused to release information to me -- only to a law enforcement agency. I called the Hialeh Police and filed a report which they reluctantly took -- only over the phone and didn't send a detective. The report said "Someone tried to change the phone number" -- that's it. No mention of rerouting, imperonsating me, etc. Messing with phone lines is a federal felony. I also called my lawywer who referred it to the State Attorney General's Office.
I come into work today from having my MRI and my receptionists says I have a call and I tell her "I'm not in yet, let me get settled" but she insists. It's AT&T. Someone's trying to order some Wireless Network cards for laptops to have shipped somewhere. She's also suspicious because the caller said we have no corporate email addresses and refused to supply one. Thanks to AT&T represenative Terressa Williams for being on the ball and also recording notes.
(Right here in the middle of this is when I found out my car was AWOL.)
Then later in the day I get a call from Kathy in the AT&T Fraud Department telling me my number had been forwarded to a 'suspicious number' and also had been unblocked to allow collect prison calls(!!!). She said I would have to call the business office to fix it and that she couldn't do it. She did give up to the two numbers our lines were forwarded to: 305-299-0499 amd 305-332-9119. I e-mailed my attorney immediately. He's trying to get this straightened out.
I called AT&T business office and had a password put on our account. I had the name on the account changed to me from Dad. The person who called in to do this had our federal ID number as well as our AT&T account number and specifically targeted our fax lines. This is very, very unusual. I have a suspicion that I won't share here, but more on that later. I'd discuss it with the police but they don't seem to give a shit. I am not impressed with the Hialeah Police, let me tell you what.
The poster is one of the most iconic, if not the most iconic one of its era. She'll be missed by many for a long list of reasons. She had a long and distinguished career.(As I write this news is breaking that he died.) Best wishes also to Michael Jackson is in critical condition following a heart attack. He was found unconscious in his Los Angeles home. He was attempting a comeback tour at the O2 in London, which now appears unlikely. The singer's father, Joe, has told TMZ he is "not doing well" while another family member said he is "in really bad shape." Having met Mr. Jackson, briefly, I extend my condolences and best wishes to his family.
Next up, I must report on a true oddity. My BMW X5 was taken to South Motors body shop for repair after the accident. Two days ago it was taken to South Motors service shop for mechanical work and its regularly scheduled service. I called today to find out what the story was with my car. South Motors service first said they didn't have my car, but the body shop told me who got it. South Motors service then admitted yes, they did get it, but could find no record of me or the car in their computer and the car was missing. Photo here.
They asked for my VIN# because they can't find the car or any record of it. I also sent them a description and then the Flickr photo above. I am paying $40 per day for a stupid-ass rental. So for two days they did not work on it because they couldn't find the damned car. Inexcusable, yes? They have yet to call me back. Tomorrow, I am going to insist that we file a police report for a stolen vehicle. I'll also have to sue them for my out of pocket on the repairs -- why should I pay for repairs on a car I never got. I would hope they find the car which "might be in the lease return lot." I am very, very, very unhappy with South Motors and BMW corporate offices will receive an eviscerating letter the likes of which they may have never seen.
How the hell do you lose an entire SUV? Morons.
Lastly, and in sympathy with Evan, I need to report on some corporate identity theft. A few weeks ago AT&T called me and said someone was trying to forward our fax lines to an alternate number. That person pretended to be me, and then to be my father. They were a Hispanic male (which neither of us are). They were suspicious because of reasons I do not wish to disclose at this time so they called our main billing number, spoke to me to ask if I was doing it and I said no and asked them to note everything in the account. AT&T wrote lots of notes but refused to release information to me -- only to a law enforcement agency. I called the Hialeh Police and filed a report which they reluctantly took -- only over the phone and didn't send a detective. The report said "Someone tried to change the phone number" -- that's it. No mention of rerouting, imperonsating me, etc. Messing with phone lines is a federal felony. I also called my lawywer who referred it to the State Attorney General's Office.
I come into work today from having my MRI and my receptionists says I have a call and I tell her "I'm not in yet, let me get settled" but she insists. It's AT&T. Someone's trying to order some Wireless Network cards for laptops to have shipped somewhere. She's also suspicious because the caller said we have no corporate email addresses and refused to supply one. Thanks to AT&T represenative Terressa Williams for being on the ball and also recording notes.
(Right here in the middle of this is when I found out my car was AWOL.)
Then later in the day I get a call from Kathy in the AT&T Fraud Department telling me my number had been forwarded to a 'suspicious number' and also had been unblocked to allow collect prison calls(!!!). She said I would have to call the business office to fix it and that she couldn't do it. She did give up to the two numbers our lines were forwarded to: 305-299-0499 amd 305-332-9119. I e-mailed my attorney immediately. He's trying to get this straightened out.
I called AT&T business office and had a password put on our account. I had the name on the account changed to me from Dad. The person who called in to do this had our federal ID number as well as our AT&T account number and specifically targeted our fax lines. This is very, very unusual. I have a suspicion that I won't share here, but more on that later. I'd discuss it with the police but they don't seem to give a shit. I am not impressed with the Hialeah Police, let me tell you what.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Ann Coulter, Republican Governors, MRIs, and a bitch
Another GOP governor was caught in the arms of another woman, tearfully confessing after excerpts from his randy emails were posted. Apparently Republican governors are irresistible sex magnets with no ability to honour their commitments to their loved ones. That or Democrats are just not getting caught. This adds to the "politicians are scum" collection.
One of my long time friends has parted company with me, or it certainly seems that way, or maybe it's just a break. I just am not sure. It came at me out of the blue and made me very sad. I was thinking about it though, and things have been different for a few months -- I've noticed it. I don't want to go into it in a public forum, but thought I should address it since a number of people asked. Still, I hope this is temporary and I harbour no ill feelings. This is definitely a bad thing and I wish I knew what to do.
Media "personality" Ann Coulter appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News show this week to discuss the murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Coulter offered the following ethical assessment of the crime "I don't really like to think of it as a murder. It was terminating Tiller in the 203rd trimester." I always hated her because she's a nut job, but she's gone off the deep end. Murder is murder. She's saying it's not okay to kill a fetus because it's alive but it is okay to kill a doctor. The article I've hyperlinked above is interesting. I propose we terminate Ann Coulter and call that a termination in the cause of making the world a far more tolerant place. Oh, wait, I bet she'd call that murder. Hypocrtical c-word.
My MRI is tomorrow. The insurance company was being a serious poopy-head about it along with the hospital. It seems to be resolved. I hope. I won't bore you with the details unless you ask.
I am scheduled for an apppointment on 7-6-09 to get the results from said MRI. Getting an appointment with a doctor when the office doesn't return phone calls is difficult. This particular doctor has some of the worst office staff since the dawn of time. They are inefficient, uncaring, and in over a year and nearly a dozen phone calls have yet to return one single phone call. However, he's an excellent doctor. But once I'm done with this, I'm finding a new one. This is the same guy who leaves patients waiting for hours in the waiting room with no explanation. Doctor Dan Cohen if you want to know, though I'm not sure if he realizes how unprofessional -- or maybe it's just inefficient -- his staff is. (They also lost my MRI films once but found them a few days later.)
And, I've been instructed to give a shout out to the little bitch :P
[I take no responsibility for the above sentence, thankyouverymuch.]
I am also irritated that Facebook screwed up and put out quite a few days' worth of blog posts out at once today instead of when they were originally released.
One of my long time friends has parted company with me, or it certainly seems that way, or maybe it's just a break. I just am not sure. It came at me out of the blue and made me very sad. I was thinking about it though, and things have been different for a few months -- I've noticed it. I don't want to go into it in a public forum, but thought I should address it since a number of people asked. Still, I hope this is temporary and I harbour no ill feelings. This is definitely a bad thing and I wish I knew what to do.
Media "personality" Ann Coulter appeared on Bill O'Reilly's Fox News show this week to discuss the murder of late-term abortion provider Dr. George Tiller. Coulter offered the following ethical assessment of the crime "I don't really like to think of it as a murder. It was terminating Tiller in the 203rd trimester." I always hated her because she's a nut job, but she's gone off the deep end. Murder is murder. She's saying it's not okay to kill a fetus because it's alive but it is okay to kill a doctor. The article I've hyperlinked above is interesting. I propose we terminate Ann Coulter and call that a termination in the cause of making the world a far more tolerant place. Oh, wait, I bet she'd call that murder. Hypocrtical c-word.
My MRI is tomorrow. The insurance company was being a serious poopy-head about it along with the hospital. It seems to be resolved. I hope. I won't bore you with the details unless you ask.
I am scheduled for an apppointment on 7-6-09 to get the results from said MRI. Getting an appointment with a doctor when the office doesn't return phone calls is difficult. This particular doctor has some of the worst office staff since the dawn of time. They are inefficient, uncaring, and in over a year and nearly a dozen phone calls have yet to return one single phone call. However, he's an excellent doctor. But once I'm done with this, I'm finding a new one. This is the same guy who leaves patients waiting for hours in the waiting room with no explanation. Doctor Dan Cohen if you want to know, though I'm not sure if he realizes how unprofessional -- or maybe it's just inefficient -- his staff is. (They also lost my MRI films once but found them a few days later.)
And, I've been instructed to give a shout out to the little bitch :P
[I take no responsibility for the above sentence, thankyouverymuch.]
I am also irritated that Facebook screwed up and put out quite a few days' worth of blog posts out at once today instead of when they were originally released.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Bing.com: Do It Yourself Circumcision (Why Bing fails)
I have a blog. I write about many things. The above topic is not one of them. I promise and I do not intend to change that. However, I must report this because Erin demanded I do it. (Apparently having your foot in a cast impairs your vision of what makes good blog content.)
I get 81% of my search engine hits from Google.
I get 12% from Yahoo.
I get 3% from AltaVista
That's 96% there from my top three search engine sources.
MSN.com gets me 1.3%
Live.com gets me .9%
Bing.com gets me .04%
Total for all Microsoft Search Engines: 2.6% of my total.
Now if you're on the internet searching for how to perform a circumcision on yourself and end up at my blog, how valuable is that search engine? I can assure you that by carefully following the instructions in my blog, nothing will happen to your penis. Because in my blog, there are no instructions involving your penis. Unless your penis happens to be a computer, or perhaps a hockey team. I have instructions on computer issues and a few on hockey teams too, though I'm not sure they have much relation to your penis (if you are a girl reading this, you don't have a penis and if you do, you should be on Jerry Springer when he does a Chicks With Dicks segment.)
Once I did make a post about Daniel Radcliffe's penis. Yes, much was made of the Harry Potter star's naked performance in Equus. I commented on the brouhaha, but I've not seen the play, nor do I intend to. I think everyone realizes I have no desire to see his penis. Or circumcise it. Maybe it's been done already. You'd have to ask bing.com :D
So back to the stats. As I write this I have 228,000 hits. That's 5,928 hits from all sites in the MS group assuming all blog hits come from search engines -- which they don't; only 78% of my traffic comes from search engines, and 21% from websites. The popularity of your search engine is based on the quality of your results. If you're looking for certain topics (try Led Zeppelin Sucks) my blog should rank first in your engine and at Google it does. Number one, Baby. I made a comment (and I didn't say they sucked but it was a catchy title) and now I've got tons of discussion and over 200 comments.
I should be at the top of your search engine if you're looking for the Panthers Hockey Message Boards. There's lots of places this blog should show up. But when you're searching for Do It Yourself Circumcision this blog should not appear. (For the record in July 2006 I wrote three sentences on a kit that Razzie sent me but that doesn't constitute a discussion.)
The irony is, that by discussing it, I'm going to move up in the page rank. FML :)
Shout outs to Paul for talking to me about things, Erin for making me post this, and happy early Father's day to all the Dads out there.
I get 81% of my search engine hits from Google.
I get 12% from Yahoo.
I get 3% from AltaVista
That's 96% there from my top three search engine sources.
MSN.com gets me 1.3%
Live.com gets me .9%
Bing.com gets me .04%
Total for all Microsoft Search Engines: 2.6% of my total.
Now if you're on the internet searching for how to perform a circumcision on yourself and end up at my blog, how valuable is that search engine? I can assure you that by carefully following the instructions in my blog, nothing will happen to your penis. Because in my blog, there are no instructions involving your penis. Unless your penis happens to be a computer, or perhaps a hockey team. I have instructions on computer issues and a few on hockey teams too, though I'm not sure they have much relation to your penis (if you are a girl reading this, you don't have a penis and if you do, you should be on Jerry Springer when he does a Chicks With Dicks segment.)
Once I did make a post about Daniel Radcliffe's penis. Yes, much was made of the Harry Potter star's naked performance in Equus. I commented on the brouhaha, but I've not seen the play, nor do I intend to. I think everyone realizes I have no desire to see his penis. Or circumcise it. Maybe it's been done already. You'd have to ask bing.com :D
So back to the stats. As I write this I have 228,000 hits. That's 5,928 hits from all sites in the MS group assuming all blog hits come from search engines -- which they don't; only 78% of my traffic comes from search engines, and 21% from websites. The popularity of your search engine is based on the quality of your results. If you're looking for certain topics (try Led Zeppelin Sucks) my blog should rank first in your engine and at Google it does. Number one, Baby. I made a comment (and I didn't say they sucked but it was a catchy title) and now I've got tons of discussion and over 200 comments.
I should be at the top of your search engine if you're looking for the Panthers Hockey Message Boards. There's lots of places this blog should show up. But when you're searching for Do It Yourself Circumcision this blog should not appear. (For the record in July 2006 I wrote three sentences on a kit that Razzie sent me but that doesn't constitute a discussion.)
The irony is, that by discussing it, I'm going to move up in the page rank. FML :)
Shout outs to Paul for talking to me about things, Erin for making me post this, and happy early Father's day to all the Dads out there.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Itchy and Scratchy Show
GAH! I am itchy today. That word "Gah" is stolen from someone. I hate this ::scratch, itch, scratch::
My dental work is possibly finished. If nothing gets worse and the sore teeth get less sore, then that ordeal is over, leaving me $800 poorer, no thanks to the guy who hit me. Okay, about $165 of it has nothing to do with the accident, but while they were in there digging, might as well get it all done.
On the way to work from the dentist, I passed an Enterprise Rent-A-Car which made me happy. I went in, spoke to someone in charge and explained why I was displeased. The first car I got from Enterprise had some tiny issues: (A) The transmission was shot, (B) the key was broken -- literally broken, (C) the key fob remote didn't work, (D) the trunk didn't open, (E) car smelled like 40 packs of cigarettes, (E) two of the four tires had nails {not screws}, and (F) it was filthy. They had no business renting it to me. I cleaned it up but didn't fix the mechanical issues. I was unable to get the renting location to deal with it. I was going to call the corporate office but this nice guy swapped it out (sadly I am in a much smaller car now) and called the renting location and said he was going to "shop it" and charge it back to them. So that was good. Sadly, I'm out a full tank of gas for the one I returned.
Work was boring as all hell today, but it's probably my fault because I am distracted as hell in anticipation of a hopefully very awesome weekend.
There were some niggling little issues with my blog after the column swap which should all be fixed now. The ARCHIVE drop down should actually WORK now. The CSS elements that didn't fit in the table now fit (thanks Jose) and the excess padding is gone (thanks Jose and Firebug). I also fixed some other issues and made the boxed text at the bottom more prominent -- this from what Jose taught me with Firebug in a 1 hour over-the-phone class last night. I still suck at it, but I can now fix basic crap I think.
I really want to keep the moustache, but the voting is scarily close.
Also, a great article in Time Magazine this week. It's an interesting take on Republicans and what they need to do to survive. "Numbers don't lie. Unless Republicans overhaul their message, the losses will continue." The author of this article -- Mike Murphy -- is a staunch Republican, and he ends with a brilliant quote, "Saving the GOP is not about diluting conservatism but about modernizing it to reflect the country it inhabits instead of an America that no longer exists."
His point, I believe, if he makes it into a party people will support, their decline will continue. Demographics are not on the Republicans' side: the population is skewing away from their core supports. Younger people do not agree with the social points and, like all things that do not change with the times, the party as it exists, is in danger of dying out.
(More on the Panther's hockey message board -- in the members only section)
My dental work is possibly finished. If nothing gets worse and the sore teeth get less sore, then that ordeal is over, leaving me $800 poorer, no thanks to the guy who hit me. Okay, about $165 of it has nothing to do with the accident, but while they were in there digging, might as well get it all done.
On the way to work from the dentist, I passed an Enterprise Rent-A-Car which made me happy. I went in, spoke to someone in charge and explained why I was displeased. The first car I got from Enterprise had some tiny issues: (A) The transmission was shot, (B) the key was broken -- literally broken, (C) the key fob remote didn't work, (D) the trunk didn't open, (E) car smelled like 40 packs of cigarettes, (E) two of the four tires had nails {not screws}, and (F) it was filthy. They had no business renting it to me. I cleaned it up but didn't fix the mechanical issues. I was unable to get the renting location to deal with it. I was going to call the corporate office but this nice guy swapped it out (sadly I am in a much smaller car now) and called the renting location and said he was going to "shop it" and charge it back to them. So that was good. Sadly, I'm out a full tank of gas for the one I returned.
Work was boring as all hell today, but it's probably my fault because I am distracted as hell in anticipation of a hopefully very awesome weekend.
There were some niggling little issues with my blog after the column swap which should all be fixed now. The ARCHIVE drop down should actually WORK now. The CSS elements that didn't fit in the table now fit (thanks Jose) and the excess padding is gone (thanks Jose and Firebug). I also fixed some other issues and made the boxed text at the bottom more prominent -- this from what Jose taught me with Firebug in a 1 hour over-the-phone class last night. I still suck at it, but I can now fix basic crap I think.
I really want to keep the moustache, but the voting is scarily close.
Also, a great article in Time Magazine this week. It's an interesting take on Republicans and what they need to do to survive. "Numbers don't lie. Unless Republicans overhaul their message, the losses will continue." The author of this article -- Mike Murphy -- is a staunch Republican, and he ends with a brilliant quote, "Saving the GOP is not about diluting conservatism but about modernizing it to reflect the country it inhabits instead of an America that no longer exists."
His point, I believe, if he makes it into a party people will support, their decline will continue. Demographics are not on the Republicans' side: the population is skewing away from their core supports. Younger people do not agree with the social points and, like all things that do not change with the times, the party as it exists, is in danger of dying out.
(More on the Panther's hockey message board -- in the members only section)
Sunday, June 14, 2009
The Taking of Pelham 123 (The Remake) Review
First, I really liked this movie. A lot. It shares the same basic concept as its predecessor -- the 1974 cult classic with Walter Matthau as Garber a role which Denzel Washington does a fantastic job with in this remake. But John Travolta has nothing on Robert Shaw in the original. The concept is the same: hijack a subway car for an absurd amount of money and then stage a perfect getaway. The difference is huge, though, because this isn't the same movie.
I am a fan of that original film (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three) and have been for years. It's real, gritty film shot in a subway and showing the full operational details behind it. Being a subway freak, you knew I'd fall in love with it when I first saw it. Please, see the original. The original has Jerry Stiller (really) and James Broderick in it as well. The original is a great suspense picture and is not to be missed. It's rooted firmly in realism and details and they get a lot of them right, too. A line like "Pelham 1-2-3 is in motion" makes your spine tingle -- something the new one never manages.
The remake is a good film too, but it's not the same film other than you know what will happen at the end. (Spoiler Free). This was a Michael Mann film and, as such, the camera direction is dizzying, and I don't mean that as a compliment. Jumpy camera tell no story, improve no story, and just say 'this guy is trying to be a pretentious filmmaker at the expense of the story'. As I've already said Denzel Washington is phenomenal in this film, a perfect ten. Travolta is good, and I'm not dissing him, but he's no Robert Shaw who was awesome. This film has far less detective work and far more action so it will appeal more to modern audiences. But you lose a little when you let go of the heady suspense film and drift toward a less-heady action film, ultimately settling in the middle somewhere. Washington and Travolta playing off each other is quite enjoyable for sure. And for you subway geeks out there: not nearly as fun as the first, but still fun. (You can pick apart all the errors like I did, though I left them out of here due to wanting to keep my readers awake.)
I have to point out some very serious errors in the film. The film was set during the day, a nice sunny day, the train when it was underground had an inexplicably wet windscreen covered in raindrops. Which vanish and return repeatedly. So did some of the above ground trains moving along in the sun. This is a major slippage of detail. Also bugging me was the fact that while this was happening, trains continued to run -- through the whole film -- on the track next to the hijacked train. Can you imagine them running live trains three feet away from people with automatic weapons in New York City? I thought not. And since there were people walking on the track, and the power was off, I'm not quite sure how the trains were running to begin with. They also make a point of some kid's laptop going off with a dead battery. Later in the film he uses it again. I can pretty much guarantee there are no laptop-chargers on subway trains.
The film is rated R based on language. While there is some violence, most of it would pass as a PG-13 nowadays.
Last night was definitely fun. I didn't sleep well, but had fun. This concludes my mystery clause.
I am a fan of that original film (The Taking of Pelham One Two Three) and have been for years. It's real, gritty film shot in a subway and showing the full operational details behind it. Being a subway freak, you knew I'd fall in love with it when I first saw it. Please, see the original. The original has Jerry Stiller (really) and James Broderick in it as well. The original is a great suspense picture and is not to be missed. It's rooted firmly in realism and details and they get a lot of them right, too. A line like "Pelham 1-2-3 is in motion" makes your spine tingle -- something the new one never manages.
The remake is a good film too, but it's not the same film other than you know what will happen at the end. (Spoiler Free). This was a Michael Mann film and, as such, the camera direction is dizzying, and I don't mean that as a compliment. Jumpy camera tell no story, improve no story, and just say 'this guy is trying to be a pretentious filmmaker at the expense of the story'. As I've already said Denzel Washington is phenomenal in this film, a perfect ten. Travolta is good, and I'm not dissing him, but he's no Robert Shaw who was awesome. This film has far less detective work and far more action so it will appeal more to modern audiences. But you lose a little when you let go of the heady suspense film and drift toward a less-heady action film, ultimately settling in the middle somewhere. Washington and Travolta playing off each other is quite enjoyable for sure. And for you subway geeks out there: not nearly as fun as the first, but still fun. (You can pick apart all the errors like I did, though I left them out of here due to wanting to keep my readers awake.)
I have to point out some very serious errors in the film. The film was set during the day, a nice sunny day, the train when it was underground had an inexplicably wet windscreen covered in raindrops. Which vanish and return repeatedly. So did some of the above ground trains moving along in the sun. This is a major slippage of detail. Also bugging me was the fact that while this was happening, trains continued to run -- through the whole film -- on the track next to the hijacked train. Can you imagine them running live trains three feet away from people with automatic weapons in New York City? I thought not. And since there were people walking on the track, and the power was off, I'm not quite sure how the trains were running to begin with. They also make a point of some kid's laptop going off with a dead battery. Later in the film he uses it again. I can pretty much guarantee there are no laptop-chargers on subway trains.
The film is rated R based on language. While there is some violence, most of it would pass as a PG-13 nowadays.
Last night was definitely fun. I didn't sleep well, but had fun. This concludes my mystery clause.
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Today's Roundup
Madame de Gaulle was said to have been lunching with the American ambassador at the time of her husband's retirement when she was asked what she was most looking forward to in the years ahead. She thought for a moment before announcing boldly: "A penis". A startled hush fell over the table until the former president leant over and said: "My dear, I think its pronounced 'happiness'."
Now that you're all laughing, I shall move on to other topics. (If you want to see jokes, check out my jokes mailing list and sign up.)
Breakfast was at a new place today -- again -- and it was pretty good but the service all sucked. We're 0 for 3 on service. None of the places had food issues -- all service. It's getting frustrating. Good help just doesn't exist. We also got a rare visit from the legendary VanMurph. The regulars (John, Liz, Evan, Shane, Me) were all in attendance followed by a post-meal visit by Andy and Jessica who just needed directions to the rink (first timers).
Skating was fine and nothing to report on that front. It's about having fun. I mention this as a reminder to my friends who try too hard.
Afterwards, I went to Erin's parents and picked her up and took her to her place as she's still in a cast and can't walk without crutches and pain. We watched Willy Wonka followed by Charlie and the Chocolate factory whilst drinking Kosher Coke (stuff made with sugar). Around 430 we went off to Renegade to celebrate Erin's birthday and had a great meal as is to be expected. Then we left, having no casino moments due to her immobility. We had some gelato and then I took her back to her parents.
All this in my rental car which, until her mother helped me with some fabric softener, smelled like nasty cigarette smoke. Seems better.
I'm still up but am really tired so am off to bed in a moment. Tomorrow is breakfast with Karen and then Pelham 123 remake at the movies. Yay.
I have phlegm and sound scratchy. Eewww.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Dental Hell and the Death of a Florida Panther
Today was the first of several dental visits I will have as the result of my accident. Today's work involved the upper right side of my mouth and was unrelated to the accident. But we got that one out of the way because it was easy. I begged him to do two teeth per visit, but no such luck. Today's was quick and easy. It does feel much better so I am happier. But two more to go and, still, the one that hurts the most shows nothing wrong on the x-ray or visual inspection: that tends to mean a root canal is in my future. That is probably three visits all by itself and there are possibly one or two of them to be done. He and I are both hoping otherwise and that as the mouth trauma dies down, they won't hurt enough to require root canals. Tooth 14 is the big problem for all your dentists out there. Tooth 5 is what was done today.
Shout out to Erin who is moving along with her recovery process. And also to Pablo for having dinner with me last night while I was dropping my car off for repair. The estimate is back today and it's only going to be around $2000 -- I have a $1000 deductible. Happily there was no frame damage as originally suspected. That's great. After that, it goes to BMW service to see what mechanical stuff needs work. (It's at BMW body shop right now.)
And now the sad news -- I'm sharing this from Donnie's (Whale4Ever) blog because this story needs to be told. A Florida Panther was shot to death. Why someone would shoot such a beautiful, majestic, and nearly extinct creature is beyond me. Sure, it's a crime with a $100,000 fine and 5 years in prison, but that's not the point. I'm just really disgusted by this. I love all cats. I share Don's outrage. If you leave in or near Hendry county where this happened and know who did it, or have any information, be sure to call the authorities right away. So go read Don't excellent take on this tragic event.
Shout out to Erin who is moving along with her recovery process. And also to Pablo for having dinner with me last night while I was dropping my car off for repair. The estimate is back today and it's only going to be around $2000 -- I have a $1000 deductible. Happily there was no frame damage as originally suspected. That's great. After that, it goes to BMW service to see what mechanical stuff needs work. (It's at BMW body shop right now.)
And now the sad news -- I'm sharing this from Donnie's (Whale4Ever) blog because this story needs to be told. A Florida Panther was shot to death. Why someone would shoot such a beautiful, majestic, and nearly extinct creature is beyond me. Sure, it's a crime with a $100,000 fine and 5 years in prison, but that's not the point. I'm just really disgusted by this. I love all cats. I share Don's outrage. If you leave in or near Hendry county where this happened and know who did it, or have any information, be sure to call the authorities right away. So go read Don't excellent take on this tragic event.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Let The Fun Begin
So, I called the dentist this morning because, of all the things that hurt, not being able to chew is the worst. My right and left teeth (one from the back not counting the wisdom) hurt like hell. Left is temperature sensitive and right is pressure sensitive. This wasn't a problem before the accident.
The dentist was able to squeeze me in today at 430, so I went for the exam. I have not one, not two, but three cracked fillings. Two are without a doubt from the accident, the third is iffy what caused it but since I had no pain from the accident, that is the assumption for now. I also have a cavity, which we will assume isn't from the accident.
There are also some other issues (exist crown is not sitting right any more -- it appears to have moved since my last x-ray) and whatnot. We're starting on the crack fillings Wednesday.
After I called the dentist, I spoke with the body shop as well as Hartford. Tomorrow I'm taking the car to the body shop and leaving it there for however long it needs to be there. Our rental coverage is limited to $20/day so I can see I'll be paying more out of pocket here.
Hartford interviewed me, took a formal recorded statement (I didn't confess to the Hoffa murders) and seemed genuinely concerned that I'm hurt. Speaking of hurt, most of the pains except for a few serious ones (teeth, neck and left shoulder) are dissipating. I feel lucky that I was in a solid BMW.
I came home and Mrs. Salamanca had left a message on my home number. I assume she got the number from the police report. Damn it to hell. I returned her call and told her to call me at work. However I will not be having any discussions with her -- they'll all be directed to the insurance company. I can already sense the need for an attorney. Blech.
The dentist was able to squeeze me in today at 430, so I went for the exam. I have not one, not two, but three cracked fillings. Two are without a doubt from the accident, the third is iffy what caused it but since I had no pain from the accident, that is the assumption for now. I also have a cavity, which we will assume isn't from the accident.
There are also some other issues (exist crown is not sitting right any more -- it appears to have moved since my last x-ray) and whatnot. We're starting on the crack fillings Wednesday.
After I called the dentist, I spoke with the body shop as well as Hartford. Tomorrow I'm taking the car to the body shop and leaving it there for however long it needs to be there. Our rental coverage is limited to $20/day so I can see I'll be paying more out of pocket here.
Hartford interviewed me, took a formal recorded statement (I didn't confess to the Hoffa murders) and seemed genuinely concerned that I'm hurt. Speaking of hurt, most of the pains except for a few serious ones (teeth, neck and left shoulder) are dissipating. I feel lucky that I was in a solid BMW.
I came home and Mrs. Salamanca had left a message on my home number. I assume she got the number from the police report. Damn it to hell. I returned her call and told her to call me at work. However I will not be having any discussions with her -- they'll all be directed to the insurance company. I can already sense the need for an attorney. Blech.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
The Day After Le Accident + Wanda Sykes
Came home last night (see below) to a slew of answering machine messages. None of which I have returned yet (sorry). Also had tons of emails, all of which I've returned last night but 2 or 3 which require more detailed replies.
I woke up around 6am after a long night with large quantities of Darvocet, Percocet, and Fioricet. Definitely no internal bleeding because no blood's leaking out any of my orifices. No bruises I can see.
So where does it hurt still?
1. My neck and left shoulder definitely are in bad shape. Way worse than before last accident. Range of motion substantially decreased.
2. Two of my teeth really hurt. Top molar on each side. Second tooth from back not counting missing wisdom tooth. Right side can't even chew bread it's so bad. Suspect filling is damaged. Right one is ultra-temperature sensitive, but can eat/chew normally. Definitely an accident symptom because didn't have it before.
3. I am getting splitting headaches -- these are from the teeth. As soon as tooth goes nuts, the headache starts.
4. On both knees I have one spot that is sore to the touch. Wasn't last night. On the inside, top corner of the kneecap in the soft, mushy area. A sport about the size of a dime.
What's better?
1. My kidney area doesn't hurt -- all gone.
2. Right hip bone a little sore but no big deal and it is rapidly getting better. It should be fine in a few days.
3. Back spasms are all gone (only one all day)
4. Vision and hearing still suck -- but that's the same as before the accident. No degradation. :)
So, on to last night's events. So, I had mentioned that I was supposed to Wanda Sykes last night and then I was sure, because of the accident I couldn't go. I was really irritared. As it turns out, I decided I'd give it the ole' college try because I'd been looking forward to this. So I met Karen at the Washington Street garage and then we walked over to Lincoln Road for dinner. I hadn't been in damn near two decades. It reminded me of Brussels because everyone was smoking, speaking a foreign language, and as you passed each restaurant (most empty) you were accosted by the maître d'. About 3/4 of the restaurants were Italian, so that's what we opted for. We picked one that had a number of people at it, but not too busy, that had an appealing menu. The offered us each a free drink, and it sounded like a good idea. The food was decent and it was prepared properly as you might expect at a real Italian restaurant as opposed to, say, Olive Garden. We finished, paid, and everything over there is obscenely expensive, and she decided we should have dessert. That was Ghirardelli where we split a hot fudge sundae. I was pleased to find we even still had one here in Florida.
Afterwards we went to the The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theatre which is where Ms Sykes was scheduled to perform at 8. Her opening act, Keith Robison (I think that was his name) appeared around 815, went for about 20 minutes, and I must say he was awesome. I guess he was a bit like Don Rickles because he definitely picked on some guys in the audience. He (and Wanda after him) note the uniformity of the colour of the audience -- mostly white, which is apparently unusual at their shows. Wanda came on around 840 or so and went until 10 on the nose.
Wanda was a riot and she definitely played heavily off both the race card (with some witty Watermelon and KFC comments) and her sexuality. She talked about both Obamas, Barbara Bush, and made some very very very raunchy comments about dick soup which left the audience in stitches.
While it was amusing I don't like when musicians, comedians, etc, make political statements. And she did do that during her act. The jokes are okay but the direct statements were a bit irritating. However, I did laugh the entire time. It was really, really good. I'd go again. A little too short.
It was pouring after the show, so instead of having a post-show coffee we both went home.
I woke up around 6am after a long night with large quantities of Darvocet, Percocet, and Fioricet. Definitely no internal bleeding because no blood's leaking out any of my orifices. No bruises I can see.
So where does it hurt still?
1. My neck and left shoulder definitely are in bad shape. Way worse than before last accident. Range of motion substantially decreased.
2. Two of my teeth really hurt. Top molar on each side. Second tooth from back not counting missing wisdom tooth. Right side can't even chew bread it's so bad. Suspect filling is damaged. Right one is ultra-temperature sensitive, but can eat/chew normally. Definitely an accident symptom because didn't have it before.
3. I am getting splitting headaches -- these are from the teeth. As soon as tooth goes nuts, the headache starts.
4. On both knees I have one spot that is sore to the touch. Wasn't last night. On the inside, top corner of the kneecap in the soft, mushy area. A sport about the size of a dime.
What's better?
1. My kidney area doesn't hurt -- all gone.
2. Right hip bone a little sore but no big deal and it is rapidly getting better. It should be fine in a few days.
3. Back spasms are all gone (only one all day)
4. Vision and hearing still suck -- but that's the same as before the accident. No degradation. :)
So, on to last night's events. So, I had mentioned that I was supposed to Wanda Sykes last night and then I was sure, because of the accident I couldn't go. I was really irritared. As it turns out, I decided I'd give it the ole' college try because I'd been looking forward to this. So I met Karen at the Washington Street garage and then we walked over to Lincoln Road for dinner. I hadn't been in damn near two decades. It reminded me of Brussels because everyone was smoking, speaking a foreign language, and as you passed each restaurant (most empty) you were accosted by the maître d'. About 3/4 of the restaurants were Italian, so that's what we opted for. We picked one that had a number of people at it, but not too busy, that had an appealing menu. The offered us each a free drink, and it sounded like a good idea. The food was decent and it was prepared properly as you might expect at a real Italian restaurant as opposed to, say, Olive Garden. We finished, paid, and everything over there is obscenely expensive, and she decided we should have dessert. That was Ghirardelli where we split a hot fudge sundae. I was pleased to find we even still had one here in Florida.
Afterwards we went to the The Fillmore Miami Beach at The Jackie Gleason Theatre which is where Ms Sykes was scheduled to perform at 8. Her opening act, Keith Robison (I think that was his name) appeared around 815, went for about 20 minutes, and I must say he was awesome. I guess he was a bit like Don Rickles because he definitely picked on some guys in the audience. He (and Wanda after him) note the uniformity of the colour of the audience -- mostly white, which is apparently unusual at their shows. Wanda came on around 840 or so and went until 10 on the nose.
Wanda was a riot and she definitely played heavily off both the race card (with some witty Watermelon and KFC comments) and her sexuality. She talked about both Obamas, Barbara Bush, and made some very very very raunchy comments about dick soup which left the audience in stitches.
While it was amusing I don't like when musicians, comedians, etc, make political statements. And she did do that during her act. The jokes are okay but the direct statements were a bit irritating. However, I did laugh the entire time. It was really, really good. I'd go again. A little too short.
It was pouring after the show, so instead of having a post-show coffee we both went home.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
I was In a Bad, High Speed Car Accident Today
I was driving home today, and there was a light drizzle. I was on NW 41st Street just past 97th Avenue headed west, driving relatively slowly because of the bad road conditions. This is just in front of the Publix.
The car in front of me stopped -- for no apparent reason -- but I was driving below the speed limit and managed to stop in time with several inches to spare. I looked in my rear view mirror because I figured I’d pass the car in front of me since it was clearly lost. I happened to see a gold Chrysler headed towards me going at least 60mph. There was no way in hell for it to stop in time. There was also no safe egress from my current lane.
The car in front of me started to go again, which was the only mercy. I know one thing, if a mobile object hits an immobile object, things are much worse, so I took my foot off the brake pedal and prepared to step on the gas pedal. Just as I did, you heard the guy slam on his brakes and his car started to slide, but sure enough he didn’t stop in time. He hit me at close to 50mph, maybe more.
My seatbelt locked, I went forward, and hurt the left side of my neck and left shoulder (my bad one) badly. It was throbbing almost immediately -- the muscles were. My teeth hurt, probably from clenching. Worse, my back just about over my right kidney started to hurt and I have no idea why. I am also now getting some pain on my mid-back below the left shoulder blade just above the left kidney area. I have since taken a pair of whizzes and there is no sign of blood.
I pulled into the parking lot of the Publix we were in front of. His car limped in behind me before giving up the ghost. We both got out in the rain, I called the police (911) and was left on hold for nearly 15 minutes. I reported it, and they asked if anyone was hurt to which I (stupidly) said, “I don’t think so. I’m sore but I think I'm okay.”
My Car (Follow image to Flickr for notes)
This picture came out crappy but I'll try and take more with a better camera when it dries up outside.
The cop arrived at 110pm and it was raining a bit harder. He came to me first since I was the one that was hit. I told him what happened. I showed him the damage. He asked if the hatch still worked. We tried it. It didn’t. He asked what else was there besides the bumper and I told him the back-up sensors were trashed. (I have since discovered they are sensing just not correctly – apparently my garage door is invisible.) He asked if the fuel tank was ruptured because there is damage right over the area it was in. We checked and there was nothing dripping, so at least that's okay: apparently I dodged a serious bullet there. BMWs are built pretty sturdy -- compare my damage to the guy who hit me. He's totalled. I'm not, though the cop estimates my damage upwards of $3,000.
He got my registration, license, and insurance. The other guy only had a license. He didn’t speak English, and a good Samaritan offered to translate. In South Florida people love to see what's going on and stick their noses in, but in the case it was a good thing since the cop spoke no Spanish and mine is pretty useless unless food or fasteners are involved.
There were no witnesses to the accident itself: by that I mean the people who saw it vanished in true South Florida fashion. At least the damage, street debris, skid marks, all prove the accident happened pretty much as advertised.
The cop asked the guy Rodolfo Salamanca Aguila) for his driver’s license, insurance, and registration. He had his driver’s license but neither of the other two items. The cop asked him if it was his car and he said yes. Subsequently the cop asked him again -- after running the tag in the computer -- and replied that it wasn’t his car but his wife’s. Don’t lie to a cop. That’s dumb.
The Guy's Car (Follow the image to Flickr for notes)
As you can see he hit me hard as the engine is totally ruined and the whole front of his car is crumpled.
Anyway, well after 2pm, the cop finished the paperwork as the rain got worse and worse and worse. At some point, maybe 130ish, the cop instructed us to get in our respective cars when the thunder and lightning hit. He drove back and forth and spoke to us through his rolled down windows. While I was waiting for the report to be done, I also call Dad, Mom, Grandma, and Karen and informed them of incident.
Finally, he gave me a copy of the report; he did get out of the car for this came over, helped me check my tail lights (they work!) and sent me on my way, telling me the other gentleman was going to be there for a while yet to receive his multiple citations.
I came home, just a short drive, and immediately called the Hartford and reported the accident. That took at least a half hour. As it's one question after another. They were happy that I had a detailed incident report and such and even more happy I took photos with my mobile phone. If you're ever in an accident, remember to do it!. Two of my four mobile phone images came out. I rarely use the photo feature on my phone so not sure what I did wrong.
I feel much worse than when I was in Timmy’s car and got rear-ended because this was well over double the speed. That accident I didn't feel really bad until about 36 hours later. I feel pretty bad right now. If I feel worse in the morning, I’ll go to the ER. This really sucks.
This is my first real accident (by which I mean where I was the operator of one of the involved vehicles) in which there was significant damage to the vehicle.
I’m supposed to see Wanda Sykes tonight with Karen and I’m not sure if I can. We'll see how I feel at 5ish.
(This post edited at 424pm to fix multiple grammar errors, typos, and other irritants as well as to add the links to Flickr.)
The car in front of me stopped -- for no apparent reason -- but I was driving below the speed limit and managed to stop in time with several inches to spare. I looked in my rear view mirror because I figured I’d pass the car in front of me since it was clearly lost. I happened to see a gold Chrysler headed towards me going at least 60mph. There was no way in hell for it to stop in time. There was also no safe egress from my current lane.
The car in front of me started to go again, which was the only mercy. I know one thing, if a mobile object hits an immobile object, things are much worse, so I took my foot off the brake pedal and prepared to step on the gas pedal. Just as I did, you heard the guy slam on his brakes and his car started to slide, but sure enough he didn’t stop in time. He hit me at close to 50mph, maybe more.
My seatbelt locked, I went forward, and hurt the left side of my neck and left shoulder (my bad one) badly. It was throbbing almost immediately -- the muscles were. My teeth hurt, probably from clenching. Worse, my back just about over my right kidney started to hurt and I have no idea why. I am also now getting some pain on my mid-back below the left shoulder blade just above the left kidney area. I have since taken a pair of whizzes and there is no sign of blood.
I pulled into the parking lot of the Publix we were in front of. His car limped in behind me before giving up the ghost. We both got out in the rain, I called the police (911) and was left on hold for nearly 15 minutes. I reported it, and they asked if anyone was hurt to which I (stupidly) said, “I don’t think so. I’m sore but I think I'm okay.”
My Car (Follow image to Flickr for notes)This picture came out crappy but I'll try and take more with a better camera when it dries up outside.
The cop arrived at 110pm and it was raining a bit harder. He came to me first since I was the one that was hit. I told him what happened. I showed him the damage. He asked if the hatch still worked. We tried it. It didn’t. He asked what else was there besides the bumper and I told him the back-up sensors were trashed. (I have since discovered they are sensing just not correctly – apparently my garage door is invisible.) He asked if the fuel tank was ruptured because there is damage right over the area it was in. We checked and there was nothing dripping, so at least that's okay: apparently I dodged a serious bullet there. BMWs are built pretty sturdy -- compare my damage to the guy who hit me. He's totalled. I'm not, though the cop estimates my damage upwards of $3,000.
He got my registration, license, and insurance. The other guy only had a license. He didn’t speak English, and a good Samaritan offered to translate. In South Florida people love to see what's going on and stick their noses in, but in the case it was a good thing since the cop spoke no Spanish and mine is pretty useless unless food or fasteners are involved.
There were no witnesses to the accident itself: by that I mean the people who saw it vanished in true South Florida fashion. At least the damage, street debris, skid marks, all prove the accident happened pretty much as advertised.
The cop asked the guy Rodolfo Salamanca Aguila) for his driver’s license, insurance, and registration. He had his driver’s license but neither of the other two items. The cop asked him if it was his car and he said yes. Subsequently the cop asked him again -- after running the tag in the computer -- and replied that it wasn’t his car but his wife’s. Don’t lie to a cop. That’s dumb.
The Guy's Car (Follow the image to Flickr for notes)As you can see he hit me hard as the engine is totally ruined and the whole front of his car is crumpled.
Anyway, well after 2pm, the cop finished the paperwork as the rain got worse and worse and worse. At some point, maybe 130ish, the cop instructed us to get in our respective cars when the thunder and lightning hit. He drove back and forth and spoke to us through his rolled down windows. While I was waiting for the report to be done, I also call Dad, Mom, Grandma, and Karen and informed them of incident.
Finally, he gave me a copy of the report; he did get out of the car for this came over, helped me check my tail lights (they work!) and sent me on my way, telling me the other gentleman was going to be there for a while yet to receive his multiple citations.
I came home, just a short drive, and immediately called the Hartford and reported the accident. That took at least a half hour. As it's one question after another. They were happy that I had a detailed incident report and such and even more happy I took photos with my mobile phone. If you're ever in an accident, remember to do it!. Two of my four mobile phone images came out. I rarely use the photo feature on my phone so not sure what I did wrong.
I feel much worse than when I was in Timmy’s car and got rear-ended because this was well over double the speed. That accident I didn't feel really bad until about 36 hours later. I feel pretty bad right now. If I feel worse in the morning, I’ll go to the ER. This really sucks.
This is my first real accident (by which I mean where I was the operator of one of the involved vehicles) in which there was significant damage to the vehicle.
I’m supposed to see Wanda Sykes tonight with Karen and I’m not sure if I can. We'll see how I feel at 5ish.
(This post edited at 424pm to fix multiple grammar errors, typos, and other irritants as well as to add the links to Flickr.)
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
