Thursday, July 31, 2008

Oops...a little late.

I've been busy at PA school, so I've been a little slow on posts. School seems to be going well. I've done alright academically, so that side is good. I've been PTing lots with my knee causing less problems. I'm maintaining a consistent 90 rpms for 25 min on the recumbent cycle, and getting very little swelling. My weightlifting has taken off, and I'm pleased with the results so far. I'll give some more updates as things continue.

Sunday, July 20, 2008

School Days

I've finished my first week at training and am impressed with the speed and intensity here. We've learned much and have already had two tests. The second test was a two-hour skull-drag that left me thoroughly drained. I'll get the results tomorrow.

Thursday, July 10, 2008

Away from that place

I have been formally seperated from The Basic School and will be reporting to Personnel Admin school on Monday. Good times.

Another shining example

When I was in 5th grade, I did a science fair project on the creation of black holes. Not only did I research the subject fully, I made little nifty models of each step along the way. I won an honorable mention for that (I got bonus points for knowing the subject matter so well, but the eighth-graders had the cooler projects). In addition, the general populase has at least some idea of what a black hole is/does. If nothing else, the Disney movie should be a clue. So, here we come to this: Dallas County officials spar over 'black hole' comment

Commissioner Kenneth Mayfield, who is white, said it seemed that central collections "has become a black hole" because paperwork reportedly has become lost in the office.

Commissioner John Wiley Price, who is black, interrupted him with a loud "Excuse me!" He then corrected his colleague, saying the office has become a "white hole."

That prompted Judge Thomas Jones, who is black, to demand an apology from Mayfield for his racially insensitive analogy.


Why am I so sad?

Friday, July 04, 2008

July 4

Happy Independance Day. Enjoy your time celebrating. If you want a feel good moment, read at Blackfive and StoptheACLU for their take-downs of some who don't want to celebrate the 4th. I'm supposed to be getting ready for a BBQ now...so, bye.

Tuesday, July 01, 2008

More pics

I suppose I ought to post these for everyone to see, but here's an inside look at what they did.

Here you see the red (irritated) tissue floating about. The ACL is a ligament and thus is like a rubber band. It should have some tension on it. Here it does not. It's free to move around and get caught in the joint (making a wonderful *pop* each time) and it is not doing it's job of stabilizing the knee joint to prevent forward motion of the lower leg.


Now here is my new ACL. It is made up of hamstring tendon material installed in place of the ligament. Notice this one has tension on it and is not floating about.

These pictures were taken with the knee scope (one of the two "eyes" on my knee is the insert point). The interior is flushed with saline solution so they can see everything and keep out the blood. I'll be putting up a current photo of my knee soon, as it's healing quite nicely and no longer is so swollen and blue.

New release...

Diablo 3 has been announced. Oh, the hours upon hours I spent running through the dark regions of sanctuary and smashing many a demon's head in with cooler and cooler toys. Or the blast my roommates and I had taking on Diablo himself. This game continues the plight of a mortal realm always near the brink of a black and crimson tide of nasties who are constantly battling the forces of light (God is never specifically mentioned...just vague references to the light and forces of light). The in-depth storylines always attracted me. It wasn't just one story, it was the story of how everyone was effected by the evil forces creeping into every part of life...and how it crept so slowly, many did not see them for what they were until it was too late.

The first one took place in a small town called Tristram. Your character cleared the lower levels of the Cathedral that had been corrupted and then into the catacombs then to the caves below and eventually to Diablo's lair. The second was more engaging and involved a longer journey across the continent in pursuit of Diablo and his brothers Mephisto and Baal. The story was engaging enough to keep you fighting through wave after wave of bad guys.

Anyway, I'm quite excited. I just hope it comes out before my deployment.