[Shrek] So, where have we been? (part 1)

So, now that the holiday season is over and the Blizzard of 2010 (which technically wasn't a blizzard so we'll have to see what name they end up call it) is over I have a few minutes to explain why the blog has been dead and what is hopefully up in the future.

OK, the past few months...and it's kind of a long story so I'm breaking it up into smaller parts.

Over the summer I developed a heart condition called atrial fibrillation, or "A-fib" for short. In itself it's not a particularly dangerous condition other than it increased the risk of blood clots forming because my heart doesn't beat as efficiently as normal, so blood thinners were prescribed and I'm good to go. Of course, getting to that point is a journey of its own.

Not so surprisingly Fiona knows all the exact dates, but I've never been good at them so I'm going to just give a general feel of when what happened. It started in the middle of July (I do remember it was a Thursday) when I woke up in the middle of the night needing to use the bathroom and I could tell my heart wasn't beating "normally". I use the quotation marks because my normal heartbeat is abnormal to begin with as I have premature atrial contractions (PACs) that are controlled about 99% of the time by medication. So I didn't give it much thought and went back to bed.

The next morning I get up and it's still going on, but I'm still not concerned about it because it feels pretty close to what my normal arrhythmia feels like when it's happening, so I take my morning pills and go off to work...where it starts getting worse. After having a cup of coffee about 9am and it's still happening I begin to start worrying about it, beginning a text book stress cycle: my hearts beating irregularly so I begin to stress about it, which causes my heart to race in an irregular rhythm, which raises my stress level...and, well, you get the picture.

So to make a very long story a little shorter Fiona and I head off to the emergency room after consulting with my doctor's office. Now I'm not as huge fan of crowds so heading to an ER in the middle of the morning isn't exactly high on my list of things I want to be doing, but luckily when I got there the waiting room was empty. Of course when I mentioned to the triage nurse at the window that my heart was beating irregularly I doubt a large crowd would have been an issue for me as she immediately opened the door and had me sit down taking my blood pressure. I don't recall what it was, but as soon as she was done she told me they were going to hook me up to an EKG just to see what was going on.

What happened next was one of those moments that looking back you see stuff that was happening that you didn't notice was going on until you think about it. There were four wheelchairs in the triage room and the one the nurse put me in was the only one that had an IV poll attached to it. It meant nothing to me at the time, but looking back that is obviously the signal to the ER folks that I'm a cardiac patient. As they put me in a room and hooked me up to an EKG there were a handful of folks standing around at the desk. I hardly noticed them, of course, but looking back I now realize they were standing there in case I was having a heart attack.

I wasn't. What I was in was A-fib, and the nurse saw that right away. Suddenly the tension level dropped as she said to me it wasn't serious, gave me a 20 second run down of what was happening, and that we'd be able to fill out some forms while the cardiac staff drew some blood.

It was at this point Fiona asked if she should call my mother, who works at the hospital in the surgical wing. I gave her the "Are you f---ing nuts?" look as we both laughed knowing she would only worry, race down to the ER, and make stuff worse.

After the blood draw results came back a heart attack was totally ruled out (I had thought they'd already done that, but hey, it's nice to be sure) they decide to give me an echo-cardiogram, and Fiona and I have to wait about an hour for the tech to show up to give me one. During this time the nurse and doctor check in several times to check on me and report nothing has changed and that this isn't a serious condition that can be treated with medication the vast majority of times. Another thing that was helpful was I knew one of the guys I bowl with has A-fib and once they got his medication levels right he's virtually unaffected by it.

Once the echo-cardiogram was done the ER doctor came in and told Fiona and I that I needed to see a cardiologist, and that there were two available in the ER to see.

{SIGH}, now I have to talk to my Mom because I don't want to pick a guy with a bad reputation. My Mom, of course, took the news like any Irish Catholic Mom would--that the end of the world was upon us--and raced down to the ER. She wasn't there 2 minutes when all my numbers on the monitors I was attached to started going up. The ER doctor came in, looked at me, then the monitor, and then at my mother. And then he threw me under the bus with an ear to ear grin, telling me he'd come back later as he walked away stifling a laugh. As my luck would have it my Mom didn't know anything about either cardiologist, so I took the one that was going to be available first, Dr Maki.

Because the wait for test results and stuff was pretty long I was still in the ER when my Mom went off work, so she came back down to sit with Fiona and me. I had been moved into an observation room in the meantime because as the doctor laughingly said, the ER is for people who need urgent care, not for folks that need a nap. When my Mom came back she said all of the nurses said Dr Maki was the right choice, and that I'd really like him. After a short while he came in with test results and started talking about what was going on and how we planned to treat it. He also wanted me to spend the night in the hospital under observation, but the look on my face gave him the answer that wasn't going to happen.

After telling me to take it easy that night--like there was a chance I was planning on running a marathon--he told us to make an appointment at his office for the next day and to come right back to the ER if I experienced any pain, dizziness, etc. The ER doctor discharged me soon after, and home we went.

Next time, my visit to Dr Maki's office and the repercussions of being a chicken.

[Shrek] We're still here

I know it doesn't look it, but we're still here.

Details to follow. Not sure when, but soon.

[Fiona] ERGH !!!

Ok just a few rants before I go out of my skin. So hubby and I purchased a new laptop for me awhile back. I love it; however, I hate that it has a web cam. I have never been a known narcissus. I can not tell you the number of times in one session at the keyboard I accidentally turn the flickin' thing on and catch a glimpse of myself typing away. It freaks me out every time. Thank God it is not hooked up to anyone or site where I might be seen in my semi clad glory. I do my best think typing at the crack of dawn or the deepest darkest part of the day like-ish 8 pm or so. Sometimes I am dressed sometimes, well use that talented imagination of yours. ;)

Onto my next rant. I am a collector. I like giraffes and dragons and cute stuffed crap. I am a chick and I like shit that sparkles, OK? Deal. I recently bought a penguin at the Disney store dressed in a dragon costume. Mad cool except to join their little club online cost a body almost $60/year. Oh you can join for $6/mo and play as you go. Mind you this is supposed to be a kid site but it is rife with grownups, me being on of them :) So I am Peter Pan incarnate, again Deal. What makes me angry? You can get an account for free but all the cool things that you want access to costs $$ and not small change either.

Not very family friendly if you ask me, just do the math. If a family has 4 kiddles times $60/yr for each kid = a whole lotta beans! I like Webkinz better. Easier to use, more things to do. Better assortment of animals and games to play. I also like the fact that you can own a lot of webbies and interchange them at will. Not so at Club Penguin. If you own more than one penguin you need a membership for each one at $6/mo for each= broke in no time flat. Long live Webkinz :)

[Fiona] Angst

Angst is one of my favorite all time words. This describes me to a tee.

"Angst is a German word for fear or anxiety. It is used in English to describe a more intense feeling of internal emotional strife. Angst, in contemporary connotative use, most often describes the intense frustration and other related emotions of teenagers and the mood of the music with which they identify. Punk rock, grunge, rock and roll, and virtually any Alternative Rock dramatically combining elements of discord, melancholy and excitement may be said to assert angst"

That would be me. Intense internal emotional strife or in plain English I am a hot mess. I don't mean to be that way it just sort of happens. I am prone to worry and indecision. I drive myself crazy. I enrage Shrek with it.

I stepped away from my weight loss journey. Not very smart on my part. I want to be able to live my life without belonging to the cult known as WW. The sad truth; however, is that I am a food addict so I need that support. It is just part of what makes me who I am. I am trying to let go of my demons. I do not know how to relax. I can be so intense over life that I scare myself.

I am fortunate. I have a hubby who loves me even though I am certifiable. We have a pretty great life together just being us. I need to learn to vocalize my frustrations with myself and situations in a better way. I want to be the best version of me that I can. Seems I need to do more work on myself and spend less time analyzing what is wrong in my life or with me or my job or a million other things I obsess over.

[Shrek] Just Some Random Thoughts

While I'm sitting here as the temperature races past 90°F, I figured this is a good a time as any to post some stuff that's been ringing through my head since my last update.

I don't usually post book reviews, mostly because I read for the enjoyment of it and don't want to add the burden of keeping notes for stuff I read. I think that takes away from the pleasure I get from reading a good story. But the last two books I read are worthy of a quick mention--although for the exact opposite reasons.

The next to last book I've read was The Ezekiel Option by Joel Rosenberg. His first two fiction books were fun reads, jumping right into action sequences that kept you hooked throughout the book. Rosenberg isn't a great writer, but he was a good story teller that kept the plot moving. In The Ezekiel Option, Rosenberg again comes up with a great plot and starts the book off like his first two. But in this book it appears Rosenberg went insane at some point in the novel, and basically ruined what was the start of a great story with an ending that was, putting it as nicely as I can, pure bullshit. I've crossed him off my list of authors to pay attention to.

Luckily it didn't take long to find a replacement. The Sculptor, the debut novel by Rhode Island native Gregory Funaro, is an incredibly well written "formula" story that pits an FBI agent and a college professor against a serial killer. But unlike many authors, Funaro stretches that formula to its breaking point without having his characters turn into caricatures. I sent off a quick e-mail to Funaro (the first time I've ever sent an e-mail off to an author) mentioning how much I liked the book, and I got a nice "folksy" reply.

I give The Sculptor five stars, and I highly recommend it. Just make sure you leave a light on afterward--trust me on that. You can read more about the book on Funaro's website, gregoryfunaro.com.

Being on vacation this week I get to listen to a little more sports talk radio than I usually get to. Unfortunately Dale and Holley, who have the 10am-2pm slot on WEEI and are my favorites on the station, are on vacation this week. Fortunately, so are Dennis and Callahan, the morning show blowhards that I count myself lucky to miss most mornings. Filling in for the blowhards this week is Bob Neumeier, a former WEEI personality. Every time he's on the radio I wonder why Neumy doesn't have a regular gig in this market. He's 100% better than most of the on air talent on either of the big sports radio stations.

Every time we go past a BP gas station I wonder why anyone buys gas there. And here's the funny thing: the Gulf oil debacle plays no role in why I wonder that. No matter where we go, BP is the most expensive gas station around. Why would anyone choose to go there? It makes no sense that people would literally just throw money away by picking an expensive gas station.

Fiona's birthday was a few days ago and we decided to celebrate at our favorite restaunt, Joey's Bar & Grill on Mill St. in Worcester. Saturdays have prime rib as one of the specials, and as that's one of my favorites I didn't have to hear the rest of the specials to know that's what I wanted. Fiona also ordered it, and both of our dinners were cooked to perfection. For desert we had a slice of something called "Tuxedo cake", that was so super rich I'm glad we decided to split a piece. A couple of the girls there added a candle and sang Birthday by the Beatles to her.

We can't say enough great things about Joey's, and if you haven't been there you should check it out. You won't be disappointed. If you're a veal parmesan fan, go on Thursday. Just sayin'...

[Shrek] Out With The Old...

After years of great service, my computer finally needed to be replaced. It caught some sort of trojan/virus/badthing that I couldn't get rid of. Now I freely admit to not putting up much of a fight at the end, and even though Fiona and I were looking at new computers for a while now I was really wanting to buy one "on my terms" and not because I was forced to.

My trouble started when I caught one of those fake anti-virus trojans a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't the first time that happened, and I knew how to take care of it so excepting for the couple of hours it took to vanquish the beast it wasn't a real big deal. Or so I thought.

Turns out this latest version isn't as easy as clicking a few boxes and running Malwarebytes Anti-Malware in safe mode because it makes changes MAM can't find. So soon after, despite thinking I was safe, odd things like my Google searches were redirected to other sites and getting pop-ups for fake news sites was happening. Plus my already very slow machine was running at a snail's pace.

After reading about what was wrong on my machine I attempted to ask for assistance on a couple of computer help forums because the fix was beyond what I thought my capabilities are, but because of the infection I was unable to connect to either of the two help sites I use. Suggestions from posters on some other forums unfortunately didn't work either. When reformatting my "as close to obsolete as you can be without actually being obsolete" computer became the best option, I pretty much decided enough was enough and killed the computer myself.

So we have a brand new Windows 7 computer--which I absolutely love. Of course, my ten year old printer/scanner/copier doesn't work with my new computer, so I had to buy a new one of those too. And since Fiona and I decided on a wireless printer, our six year old router also needed to be replaced. To go another step, I gave Fiona the wireless mouse from my old computer only to find the mouse that came with my new computer wasn't very comfortable to use, so I had to buy Fiona a new wireless mouse so I could take back the one I gave her.

Oh, yeah...and my favorite game (Diablo 2) doesn't run well on Windows 7 because it was designed for much earlier operating systems. So I've gone out and bought a new game that I can play to death (Dragon Age). And I needed to replace all my old Hoyles card/board/casino games because those didn't run either.

All in all, a pretty expensive week.

BTW, you can find Malwarebytes Anti-Malware right here, and if you don't have the program on your computer you most certainly should. It's free, and very easy to install and use.

[Shrek] Fourteen Years Ago...

...we said "I do".

Seems like just yesterday.

[Shrek] 40 Years...

[Shrek] Number Two Looks Great, Where's Number One?

With hockey playoffs starting and a few other things going on, it's been a while since Fiona or I graced these pages. I actually intended to make this post a week or so ago, but the fact I had almost no time to write it allowed the story to play out a little more and make it a little more head scratching than it was originally.

The two of us occasionally make the long and arduous journey (read: five minute drive) down the street to the local Barnes & Noble to, as I like to put it, "visit the books". I love everything about books, and very seldom do we leave without buying at least one. While I generally buy new bestsellers at places like BJ's Wholesale Club or WalMart because of the deep discount, neither really stocks new authors or science fiction so a trip to B&N almost always results in finding something interesting to read.

One thing I've noticed about the B&N in Lincoln Plaza is they don't really seem to have any concept of how to order books. Now I'm sure that because they are a chain most of what they get, both new books and re-orders, is based on what they've sold in the past. But someone needs to explain to me how a store can have a dozen copies of an author's new book and not have a single copy of any of their others. Or worse, have those books be sequels or part of a series and not have a single copy of the original book. And in most cases it's not that they just sold out of that book--there's often no spot where that book would have been to begin with.

I really noticed this the Saturday before Easter when we got to spend some time with a friend from Delaware that was up visiting family for the holiday. After going out to dinner at Joey's Bar & Grille Ra...hmmm, perhaps he doesn't want his name used, so I should change it. Keeping with the Shrek and Fiona theme, I'll call him Puss in Boots because he probably wouldn't like being called Donkey.

So Fiona, myself, and Puss in Boots decided to go out and grab a coffee after dinner, and because of Puss in Boots' love of the foul tasting Starbucks coffee, we headed to B&N as that's what they serve in their in store cafe. While Fiona and Puss in Boots waited for their coffee, I wandered over to the science fiction section where they literally had half a dozen new titles that were sequels or book two in a series on the shelf and not a one had a single copy of book one available. That's too bad for a couple of those authors, because I eventually went to eBay and bought their books used, meaning they made nothing off the sale.

During our conversation in the cafe Puss in Boots mentioned a book by an online friend of his named Larry Correia called Monster Hunter International. So I wandered back into the science fiction section, where I wasn't too shocked to find B&N didn't have a copy. (So I'm sorry to tell Mr. Correia he didn't make a dime off me either as I also bought his book off eBay the same day I bought a couple of those other series).

Flash forward to yesterday, and in Fiona and my weekend journey we ended up back at B&N in Lincoln Plaza, and lo and behold they had some other "book twos" on the new book shelf without a book one around to be found. I wasn't really looking for anything but Fiona found a couple of things, so we made our purchase and left. Later in the evening we decided to go out to dinner so we decided to look in at Joey's Bar and Grille, our favorite haunt and the place we took Puss in Boots when he was here. It was PACKED.

As we're regulars and the hostess is a super sweet nice lady, she was a little upset that she couldn't get us a table. It didn't bother Fiona or I; we figured it would be packed and we didn't have a reservation. And to be honest, I want my favorite restaurant to be busy at 8pm on a Saturday. Because we were picking up our niece at her work we decided not to wait around and instead headed to the Shoppes at Blackstone to kill some time before she was out of work. Of course, we wandered into the B&N there.

Now I wasn't too shocked to see their stock of remaindered hardcovers was a little different, but I was shocked to see that they had many more new books that the B&N in Lincoln Plaza didn't have. In fact, they had two new science fiction books that definitely weren't at the Lincoln Plaza store, and with each of the sequel/book twos they had on the new book shelf they had a copy of the first book (or in a couple of cases the spot where that book would have been on the shelf was obvious so it appears they had one and sold it recently).

The store was so different in their selection that we may make the B&N at Shoppes at Blackstone our "primary" B&N as opposed to the one right up the street from where we live, and obviously I now question the competence of the person running the store in Lincoln Plaza.

But at least Mr. Correia will have more chances for his book to sell--the B&N at Shoppes at Blackstone had five copies available.

[Shrek] Funny Card Trick

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 3-4

Once again it's Theme Thursday, and this week the theme is "green". If you're pressed for time, I highly recommend just skimming the pictures and checking out our unrelated YouTube video at the bottom.









And a few more...







And this one is kind of cheating on our part, but what the heck...



For this weeks unrelated YouTube video, we bring you OK Go's incredible and elaborate Rube Goldberg video for their song This Too Shall Pass. After the video is a link to a story about how they did it.




How OK Go’s Amazing Rube Goldberg Machine Was Built

[Shrek] Unladylike Behavior?

For those that don't know, the Canadian women's Olympic hockey team beat the US 2-0 to win the gold medal. After the arena was empty of fans the ladies returned to the ice to celebrate their victory...












From Yahoo, about the "incident"...

The celebration raised eyebrows at the IOC, which said it would look into the matter. Informed of the antics by The Associated Press, Gilbert Felli, the IOC's executive director of the Olympic Games, said it was "not what we want to see."

"I don't think it's a good promotion of sport values," he said. "If they celebrate in the changing room, that's one thing, but not in public. We will investigate what happened."

(Marie-Philip) Poulin, who scored both goals, doesn't turn 19 — legal drinking age in British Columbia — until next month. The drinking age in Alberta, where the Canadian team trains, is 18. Photos showed Poulin on the ice with a beer in her hand.

"We understand that they were asked to go back onto the playing field after the stadium had emptied to take a photo," IOC spokesman Mark Adams said. "We understand that some people may have felt that their behavior was over-exuberant."

Steve Keough, a spokesman for the Canadian Olympic Committee, said the COC had not provided the alcohol nor initiated the party.

"In terms of the actual celebration, it's not exactly something uncommon in Canada," he said.

While the committee does not condone irresponsibility, Keough said, "I think Canadians understand it's quite an emotional moment for our team. It was not our intention to go against any IOC protocols."

Not even uncommon at these Olympics. After Jon Montgomery won a gold medal for Canada in skeleton, he walked through the streets of Whistler guzzling from a pitcher of beer that he gripped with two hands.

The International Olympic Committee is the single most corrupt organization on the planet, and they have the audacity to give athletes trouble because they celebrated in a virtually empty building something they have spent their entire lives to accomplish?

The IOC really needs to STFU here, and so do the mental midget worrying about Marie-Philip Poulin drinking underage. I don't condone teenagers drinking alcohol on a regular basis, but there are a few times where I don't have an big issue with it. Winning an Olympic gold medal is certainly on the list of times where it's OK.

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 2-25

It's time for Theme Thursday once again, and this week's theme is "bottle"...















It wouldn't be a real Theme Thursday unless we could find a way to work in some related cheesecake...



And for this week's unrelated TouTube video, we present Joe Walsh

[Shrek and Fiona] Theme Thursday 2-18

It's time for another Theme Thursday. We actually got a head start on things Sunday with one of my favorite jokes that fit the bill, but we couldn't leave it at that. So, here's our official Theme Thursday post..."bells".





















And how about some belles named Bell?









And for this weeks unrelated YouTube video...Foreigner.