Monday, October 6, 2008

I think my cat was acting out...

So my car broke down a couple of weeks ago. It was doing the same thing it did the last time it broke down, so I was rather upset. It stopped moving on a Friday night, as I was driving a friend around later in the evening.

Fortunately I know a tow truck driver, so he came and took me to the shop where I had it fixed last time free of charge. I drive a partially nice 98 Honda Accord. The clutch master cylinder went out in it. If any of you car people out there know, this year was very annoying, as in order to replace it, you had to do the Whole unit, slave lines and all. Part $415. Since this was the problem I thought the guy had fixed, he did it for half the labor and threw in an oil change to boot. Labor $187. Took 4 days to order the part and get it installed.

What does all of this have to do with my cat you ask? Well, since I was vehicle-less I had to find Some way to get back and forth to work. My friend lived within 2 blocks of my work, so I, being the smart one that I am, just crashed on his couch til it was done. Well, my cat was a very vindictive little thing. Part Siamese, all crazy.

During the time that I was gone, she decided to get up and start drinking the fish's water from his bowl. She also spilled the food all over the floor. Here's where this can present a problem. At the moment, I do not have a computer desk. I have my comp sitting on the ledge of the fireplace. My fish Was on top of the mantle piece. It sort of looked liked this:
Yes, I know, don't look safe. But it's been like that for months! Well, I finally get my car fixed, and decide to run home for my lunch break. I'm on the phone as I walk through the door, and notice something small on the floor, but pay no mind. I'm sure the cat had just found something to play with, and left it in the middle of the floor (was actually right about that)

I walk towards the couch to set my jacket down, and notice there are little black things on one of the cushions. As I take a closer look, I notice the side of my computer is laying on the ground and that the little things are actually rocks. I look down behind the couch and see broken glass a giant puddle and lots of tiny rocks. (turns out the thing in the middle of the floor was my fish...)

My computer was still on, but there was nothing on the screen. The little LED's on the bottom were red, indicating no signal... I did a little deducing and figure that this is what the trajectory must have been:



Now, I'm pretty sure it was the force of the connection that knocked the side of my box off. And there was Some water on top, some of which got into my brand new digital camera... However I didn't notice any large amounts of water in the bottom of the case, so I wasn't sure what exactly was going on.

Now, probably for most people in this situation, their computer would have been 100% OK, but no, not me. For you see, I like to make sure my computer stays nice and cool. So I made sure to buy a case with Lots of ventilation. It kind of looks like this on top:


So basically, most cases are closed on the top, and if a little liquid was to happen to come in contact with it you could probably just wipe it off. Not mine though. No, instead, just a few drops decided to find their way through the nice open vent on top and drop into the case. And what, pray tell, is directly below the vent? That's right video cards!

So a tiny, (and I mean minuscule) amount of water dripped down on top of one of my video cards and arced. Bye Bye GeForce 8800... Fortunately there are 2 of them in there and I did only lose the top one.

Since then my camera has dried itself out and seems to be working pretty good still. I am still only running one of my vid cards but it is doing alright I guess... oh, and my cat... ya, she's got herself a new home. You should all be proud, as far as I know, she's still alive out there somewhere.

R.I.P. Butch

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Let's talk, Mano con Mono

So I've been sick lately. Like really sick. I went to the doctor's and they originally said I had Strep. After taking some form of penicillin for 3 days my symptoms had not yet subsided so I decide to go BACK to the doctor.

This is a Sunday. I wake up feeling excessively horrible and decide to check my temperature. After inserting the $10 piece of plastic that beeps after a while into my mouth I look at it and see 103.6. Now, I know from previous chats with friends that 105 is the "boiling point" literally for you brain, so I decide to call my step father to drive my happy ass to the "Immediate" Health Care.

I love that term, Immediate, who are they trying to fool? Anyways, I show up at around 10:20 a.m. and am the only person in sight. YAY!! That means I don't have to wait forever! *remind myself always check enthusiasm at the door* Well, turns out there Are people inside, but my wait isn't that long to see the doctor.

I go into that little cheap room, looking at the fixtures, specifically remembering ordering them and model number and everything... (hey, it's what I do...) doctor comes in, does a throat swab and calmly states, "Congratulations, you have the ugliest throat in the county! Your swab came back negative. we are going to send you to the hospital to do some blood work, since they have the only lab that is open on Sunday's. We think it could be Mono."

So we trek ourselves down to the hospital. On a Sunday. We get down and check in. My fever has been hopping around at 102.5 - 103.7 all morning. I haven't eaten, I haven't had anything to drink, and I'm sitting in a hospital. I HATE HOSPITALS!!!

I wait for an HOUR for lab tech to come to take my blood. And by the time she is there, she can't find my veins because I am so dehydrated. Eventually she takes it from my hand, and we head back to IHC.

Hospital says 20 minutes for results, takes 12 to get to the other side of town. The time is now 12:45. Ya, been sittin' that long. We get to IHC and sit to wait. Still no food, no drink. My head is on fire and I'm tired as hell!!!

So I lay across a double chair and rest my head on a wooden arm. After about 15 minutes one of the receptionist finally asks if I would like to just go sit back in a room. I proceed to hobble back into another little room and lay on one of those little half bed examination things and actually fall asleep!

I'm not sure how long I was out, but when the doctor Finally came in it was about 2:20 p.m. He told my results came back and that there was no sign of Mono (yay) and that my white blood cells where incredibly high, meaning it was probably just a bacteria. So there were going to put me on a very strong dose of penicillin and go from there. They gave me a nice shot in the hip and my prescription is for 3 GRAMS a day...

I get home and before I decide to pass out again, this time for the day, I check my fever one more time. 104.7. Yup, that's right, |...| this close to boiling my brains.

Because of my excessive breaking of fevers and sweating I have been sleeping on the couch for 3 days. I got tired of washing my sheets over and over again.

So last night, my fever is gone, i've been feeling pretty good but still decided to sleep on the couch. As I am laying here I feel incredibly cold. I think to myself, "This house has storm windows all around, I should probably just get up and shut the second door, as I am sure that it would help quite a bit."

I stumble up off the couch, walk around to the end, around the chair, behind the couch to the door, reach for the handle and... Suddenly realize the door isn't even shut, just the screen. That's right, cold air HAS been blowing in, not just my imagination. So I promptly shut both doors, skulk to the thermostat, turn it up, and crash back on the couch.

Moral of this story:

Brain cells are like friends, you never know how important they are until they are gone.

A simple Jaunt

Taking a hint from my good friend Roy, I have decided that my life has been filled with some really rather random things as well.

I plan on posting the sporadic occurrences here for the general public, as I am sure some people may find them enjoyable.

There will be no lame "I ate Taco Bell for 3 days and now my stomach is upset" posts, unless of course that leads to something far more interesting.

I know some of it may seem unbelievable, but I will try and be as accurate as I possibly can.

Enjoy my friends, Enjoy