Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Hi! I'm Still Alive!

Just barely.

Sorry for not blogging more. I certainly intended to blog.

But this sinus infection that's been going on for more than a year now was treated with a new antibiotic. The doctor said this one was much stronger, and, judging by the results, it was. It's been a bumpy ride.

First of all, the infection had really become systemic, with aches all over, sort of like flu. The antibiotic got rid of a lot of symptoms that I hadn't even connected with the infection. My bones ached all the time, but worse after some walking or other exercise. When I got near the end of the antibiotics, all that went away! Of course, it also caused digestive problems, which to some extent, I expected, but what I didn't expect was the stomachache, and more, that lasted a few days. I know my digestive system has problems, but this stuck me more as something I might have expected from drinking Draino.

I went to the library, and then over to Safeway yesterday, and I was surprised how weak I felt, and was shaking from fatigue and overwork by the time I got to the library, which is not really very far away.

And now that I'm (mostly) recovered from the antibiotic, most of my symptoms from the infection are back!

I hate this!

On to more pleasant things!

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Vogue Knitting has published a preview of their Fall issue! You can see it here.

I love the hood (scroll down) shown in red! I think I'd like to make it with a seam instead of the buttons, but then I can't seem to ever just make anything the way the pattern is written. I'd change some of the cable design, too. And it's so loose around the neck that I'd want a scarf to go with it, too. And, of course some mitts, and I'm thinking of writing a pattern for short mittens to go over my already existing mitts pattern, and that seems like a good addition to the set.

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We're halfway through the first week of Pennsic at this point. This is the "lounge around and have a vacation" portion of the festivities. This weekend and the upcoming week will be the part devoted to actuall events that affect the war score, and also University classes.

In the spirit of the University classes, I'm going to try to put up a fiber-related how-to on most days of the week. Theoretically, that should start no later than Saturday, but Holly and I will be going out to see (finally) the second half of Deathly Hallows, and I don't really expect to get anything up then. I'll also be busy the rest of this week, and it's unlikely that I'll get to do much with the blog. Sorry! In the meantime, I'm going to try to repost the most interesting stuff from Twitter about Pennsic, so it'll show up in the sidebar, and you can get an instant update even if I don't post something.

Which leads me to my next topic:

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My TiVo (remember, the thing that malfunctioned badly, and left me without for almost a month?) is malfunctioning badly!

If you'll remember, I got a Comcast DVR to replace it temporalily, and returned it. They replaced it, and now, less than six weeks later, I'm having another problem all over again.

This time, it decides it needs to be restarted, and proceeds to do that. It kept restarting all day Monday, but by Tuesday, it would begin to restart, and then try to restart again, and effectively turn itself off.

I just tried to watch the Doctor Who episode, The Doctor's Daughter, starting at 5:00. It turned itself off at 5:02, 5:14, 5:33, 5:38, 5:50, and 5:54. Since the start-up sequence takes 5 minutes to complete, I didn't really get to see much of Doctor Who!

All the programs I wanted to see last night wound up as collections of program parts in their own separate folders, some in as many as four or five pieces!

This is really not acceptable! I've spent a lot of Monday, Tuesday, and today on the phone with TiVo support, and they don't seem to be able to do anything about the problem. I wasn't really enthused with the idea that the TiVo they sent me didn't even last a year, but I'm even less enthralled with it not lasting even two months!

So, this is part of what's going to keep me so busy for the next couple of days. Tomorrow, I'm going to go over to Comcast (a 2 to 4 hour trip each way, and a full day of time-wasting) and get a DVR so that I can at least watch TV. Then, I still have to take the TiVo over to UPS on Friday, which is not quite as long a trip, but still a lot after the exertion of the day before.

When a TiVo box is working, it's a dream! I really love TiVo boxes!

But customer service is a nightmare with them, and the hardware seems to be very undependable! So the question is: Is it worth all the aggravation and the extra expense?

That's a question I'm having a hard time answering at the moment.

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Back on the topic of health, I found this internet article interesting. There doesn't seem to be a reliable test for Lyme Disease, so the state government of New Hampshire has voted in a law that frees doctors from having to rely heavily on tests to diagnose Lyme Disease. This has a lot of legal implications, some of which are quite interesting about how they affect the way other diseases are treated. I'm glad to see a state taking an interest in the health and welfare of it's citizens, and I wish more states would follow New Hampshire's example!

I'm wiped out, and have to go.

Have a wonderful remainder of the week!



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