My Dog isn't feeling well starting yesterday, she had to go to the vet today to get checked out. She's in a bit of pain so she spends a lot of time resting right now. Kind of a bummer. Above is a picture of happier times for her. Hope she feels better soon.
Welcome to Whose Line is it Anyway?, where everything is made up and the points don't matter. Today we're doing Songs for Minor Medical Treatments, these are songs in a pretend CD set like you buy off Tv like the old KTEL records. By the way, I just want to say Wayne Brady is awesome and I don't care how much he gets put down! Defensive? Who's defensive? On with the story.
Today I had a minor medical treatment, I won't go into the gory details but when I have a significant life event I like to apply media to it (because, well, that's what I do). So I'll tell the story of today. I would like to dedicate this post to my wife whose love and support has been fantastic. My parents were also there for the day which was great, I was happy they were there. Dixie was taken care of by my Mother in law, so thank you to her too (my Mother in law, not Dixie). Also, a big "thank you" to all you people in cyberspace who have shown concern and support as well. Lastly, I would like to thank the Academy...I didn't have a speech prepared, I would like to thank my agent for believing in me, the studio executives who fought to get this film made, the director for having a strong vision and damn I'm rambling again. Anyway, the day started with looking at my wife's reply to the Richard Wright post that included a link to Cluster One that was a tribute. Once we were ready, we headed out to the hospital as the Journey Revelations CD played. As we approached the parking lot, the song What it Takes to Win came on. Though it was one of my least favorite tracks on the new disc, it fit the moment perfectly as I entered the hospital. Now its a favorite, funny how life can tie into a song in an unexpected way.
Like most HMOs, the process is very bureaucratic and I Feel Like a Number as I turn in my membership card at one desk after another. One cool thing about today was that the desk clerks were really nice today, usually I get the more jaded ones. After waiting in the lobby for a little bit, I was brought to the back to change into a gown and lay in a bed. There seemed to be a long gap of nothing happening so I thought of a song that had meaning for my wife and I, Tom Sawyer. Last night, my wife didn't quite buy my interpretation that the song is about having a rebellious spirit in the modern age. I wonder if I was right, I never bothered to look it up. The song brought me some comfort as I laid there watching people go by, sometimes staring at my bed or chart, but nothing happening and not saying much.
Eventually I was given an IV and sedative as my wife was brought in. The sedative made me a bit loopy and I kept humming I Wanna Be Sedated. My face became itchy and I couldn't scratch it with both arms tied to wires and stuff so my wife was nice enough to oblige. It probably was boring but everything seemed slowed down and delayed anyway. I heard the start to a great joke in the next bed over about God calling Satan on a cell phone and some guy with a mustache making escalators in Hell but then a medical technician talked to me and I missed the punchline! We stayed there for a couple of hours and as any Tom Petty fan knows, The Waiting is the hardest part. I was carted to the treatment room, again I don't want to get into organs and needles and what not but the song that came to mind was I'm Looking Through You. The staff was friendly and professional, really couldn't ask for better. I was given more sedation and I felt Comfortably Numb. In fact, I felt so numb I fell asleep. When I woke up, The Doctor said "You're done." Surprised, I said "You mean I'm done done?". The Doc confirmed it and I was wheeled off to recovery.
It took a little while for me to be awake for more than a few minutes at a time. Once I was awake, my family was around and we waited as my recovery was wrapped up. We had to wait for my IV medicine to finish and could not wait to Drain You. In the meantime, we had a good laugh talking about the idiot on Monday Night Football who threw away a touchdown because he wanted to do his stupid TD dance. Although HMOs can be bureaucratic and confusing, I haven't been let down by them on important health issues yet and am happy to have a Doctor! Doctor!. I was finally ready to go home, from start to finish it was about a 7 hour process but it was worth it.
My wife took me home and has taken good care of me. At this point the treatment looks successful so hopefully I won't have much more to do, medical wise. It's great to be Home Sweet Home where I can finish recovering. To wrap this up, here's a skit from Whose Line called...Songs for a doctor. Because laughter is the best medicine. And Bunnies.
It's the end of my birthday, what a great day it's been. My mother and grandmother in law stopped by for a visit and I went to Todai with my wife and my mom. We later went shopping at that outstanding mecca of upscale media, Borders. I'm still stuffed from all you can eat Japanese food! Big "thank you" to my family for making this day great.
In other media news, Journey has announced that Arnel Pineda is now an official member of the band and have begun recording new material. Pineda is easily the strongest voice in terms of power to join the band since Steve Perry's departure and brings some much needed soulfulness to the songs. I'm looking forward to hearing brand new songs with Pineda and am happy Journey did not back down from racist pressure from some fans to not hire him. Of course, I still think Kevin Chalfant would have been great or they could have gone a different direction by trying to nab Michael Bolton but Pineda sounds great as well.
Apparently photographed the one day a year it doesn't rain in Seattle.
I've just come back from a mini vacation going to Seatlle, Washington to see a relative's wedding. Other than the near constant rain, I thought Washington was a great place to be. The people were nice, the city was clean, there was a good mix of traditional and high tech stuff and the drivers followed actual traffic safety laws. The relatives we stayed with were excellent hosts. A huge contrast to the aggressive slash and burn approach to living that comes with the Bay Area. If I didn't feel like Noah with all the rain up there, it would probably be a nice place to live.
Well, it wouldn't be a Mr Mike entry without media to compare the trip to. So here it goes!
Family Guy - Wrong Sounding Muppets
I hate flying which reminded me of this joke from TV's Family Guy about taking chances.
South Park -Cartman "I did not have an anal probe!"
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My cousin had a funny story involving this quote and a train. Plus, she does a great Cartman impersonation.
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Rilo Kiley - "Breakin' Up"
The Fray - "How To Save A Life"
I watched Grey's Anatomy for the first time. The only patient they had died because the doctors were too busy worrying about who they would sleep with next or who were fighting over who had more alcoholic parents. Your HMO dollars at work people! Anyway, Rilo Kiley played in the background and The Fray are like the soundtrack band to this show.
Foo Fighters - "The Pretender"
Metallica - "Ain't My Bitch"
My IPOD got a good work out during this trip, I really liked waking up to the Foo Fighters. Both songs were motivational in dealing with some of the stresses of travel.
Buddhist Leader Guy (not sure of official title) - "Chanting"
The wedding ceremony was Buddhist and included some chanting. I've heard some chanting before and thought the guy was pretty good, the Simon Cowell in me was suitably impressed with his vocal tone. HUmmmm. HUmmmm.
Prince - "I Wanna Be Your Lover"
The music at the reception was fairly sedated, but towards the end after most of the guests had left this song played. It stood out after hours of hearing Adult Contemporary. Was somebody trying to say something?
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University of Washingtonversus Cal - 37 to 23
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Everyone had reason to celebrate after Washington upset Cal before the post reception party. It was great to see many relatives I hadn't talked to in years.
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Depeche Mode - "Clean"
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I often discuss media with my cousin and she brought up this song from the Violator album. I didn't remember it and so when I got home I played it off You Tube (I hate being stumped on music). She mentioned looking for a remixed version but I couldn't remember which one it was. Anyway, I found a cool stripped down version to put here. This one's for you Cousin!
Jackson 5 -"Never Can Say Goodbye"
The morning we left my Aunt, Uncle and Cousin brought out old home movies from the early 70's that included me falling off a chair, terrorizing my brother and doing my Michael Jackson dance in front of the record player. My Jackson 5 record stood out in the foreground, fittingly titled Never Can Say Goodbye.
Jimi Hendrix - "Angel"
This song played on the IPOD on the way home. Flying is very stressful and my wife was very supportive to me thorughout the flight, so of course I thought of her as this song played. Love you honey!
Lynyrd Skynyrd - "Coming Home"
There's probably irony in thinking about Skynyrd following a safe plane ride, but I thought of this song on the way home from the airport. Or maybe it's a residual aftereffect of wanting to yell "Freebird" at the wedding organist during the ceremony.
And that was the trip. My Aunt and Uncle were very nice to let us stay with them and we all had a great time. Dixie ate her bed while at the kennel. Do you love him, Honey?
Yesterday I learned of the death of an old friend of mine from back when I worked at a local theme park. Peggy was a good friend to me as I worked summers at the park, she always looked out for others and had a great sense of humor. She could see through bull a mile away and was very kind. I worked with her for five years and was occasionally invited to her house for some gatherings. She used to refer to me as her "son".
I've only seen her once in the past few years, but I am definitely saddened to hear of her passing. She was a special person and will be missed. Her daughter informed my wife and I of her passing today, while visiting her daughter I could see a lot of Peggy in her. Peggy also had grandchildren, I'm sure she would be happy that a part of her still lives on.
In a non-media related post, my Grandma fell down Monday and broke her hip. Tuesday, my wife and I visited her in the hospital and she had a successful operation to repair her hip. Grandma will be receiving additional care to help her with healing from the injury, she is a strong willed person and I hope her recovery is quick.
Meet my highly trained medical staff
Apparently photographed the one day a year it doesn't rain in Seattle.