You are Reading "Low Value Content"

I was slightly amazed to look at my stats and see that people actually read this blog.  Wow?!  I'm seriously both honored and humbled.  I know my Marillion Weekend posts from over a decade ago get a lot of hits so that's probably the majority of it, but then again I'm getting daily hits so I'm thinking that maybe people are just randomly stumbling upon it.  My thinking is that people are so wanting something to read now and then and not have to deal with pay walls, signing up, etc.  Well, you're welcome...and thank you for reading!

Due to the number of hits, I made the goofy decision to maybe try signing up for Google AdSense.  Now, I say that like I know exactly what that is, of which I don't.  I get the concept...you know, those annoying little ads that display on the side and title bars of a page that then take you to some bizarre product that you didn't even know existed, and now maybe are a bit scared to know that it actually does.  You get the drift.  And so, I signed up for Google AdSense...and received a bizarre "no" in response.

Why?  Apparently, I have "low value content".  Hmm.  Now, in expanding upon what that means exactly, I had to waste about thirty minutes of my time skimming through page after page after page of, well, ridiculous rules and regulations.  Everything limiting porn to guns to the war in Ukraine to politics...  On and on.  Then, it moved into "unoriginal content" via screen scrapes, "doorways", content that can easily be found on another site, created by AI, and so on.

Let me be frank - I'm pretty sure I haven't exposed my naked body or anyone elses in this blog.  Fairly sure, actually, so I should be safe there.  As for guns and the war in Ukraine, again, I'm sure I haven't crossed any lines.  I don't believe I have any "doorways" unless that's considered a link to my other blogs, which would make absolutely no sense to me at all.  So, I have to guess that I'm being accused of either screen scraping, which is pretty outrageously bizarre, or they're simply saying that my content has literally no value whatsoever to anyone in the world.  Hmm.  Yeah, that doesn't hurt at all :)  Thanks Google!

Needless to say, I deleted the request for the AdSense account and shrugged my shoulders.  I guess in this world you can post as an authority on any number of topics that you may actually know nothing about, and that's apparently okay.  However, if you just maintain a regular "blog", of both your thoughts wrapped in with some comedy and silly things that happen during your day to day life...well, sorry, you're kaput.  Oh, I probably shouldn't say "kaput"...that'll probably generate on a report somewhere.  Yep, flagged again.

And so, dear reader, of whom I at least greatly value your eyes and time, I just felt it was my duty to let you know that you're indeed reading "low value content".  You've now been warned.  And yes, I write every single word...the old fashioned way...using my brain and fingers.  You have my guarantee!

A Cut and a Chunk Here

And so, the beat goes on...  Have I mentioned that I've had more Mohs done?  Yeah, it's a blast, seriously.  Mohs in general really isn't that big of a deal but when you're in the "blooming" phase, as my doctor recently put it, it simply gets very old quickly.  I'm now approaching procedure number 12 and from the looks of my scalp, I believe I'll have at least 2-3 more to add to it afterward.  I keep telling her, "...but I don't want to bloom!  I don't want to bloom!"  I'm not sure who's watering the seeds but I wish they'd stop already.

I've always been a very careful person and I've rarely had any accidents, falls, major cuts, no operations up until about 4 years ago, etc.  Well, at this age I seem to be making up for lost time.  I've lost count of the number of scars I have, especially on my head and facial area, and now I even have one on my left forearm.

So, this latest one is considered an "excision" rather than Mohs.  What's the difference?  Well, from what I can tell, it's simply that they cut, dig, and sew up right away, whereas with Mohs they cut, dig, and then study under the microscope.  If you're lucky, they then sew; if you're unlucky, you start over and do it again, kind of like some weird boardgame where you keep getting put back to the "go" square.  The bottom line is that one you're out in about 35 minutes while the other is 2-5 hours, depending upon how many times you go back to the "go" square".  Sounds great, right?  And you thought Monopoly was tedious.

Strangely, this excision on my arm is very itchy.  In fact, it's been nearly impossible to not scratch it, although it's the area around the excision that itches, and that's mainly because once you've been cut in this manner you more or less lose all feeling in that exact area, at least for a while.  It's a strange thing having all these little patches with no feeling.  I also have noticed a large amount of orange bruising on my arm which caught me slightly off guard.  Other than that, it's been pretty easy and straight forward, and I will honestly say that it's way easier addressing wounds that you can see right in front of you versus something on the back of your head.  You have to get pretty good with a mirror to slather antiseptic from a cotton swap while looking in a mirror at the back of your head, that is if you don't want to slather it accidentally on your ear my mistake (unless that's the intended target, of course).

All of this is going on while I still have a healing Mohs spot on the back of my head.  I don't know why but the ones on the back of my head heal much worse than the front.  My skin is fairly sensitive so I tend to get mild eczema break outs around the stitches...it's all fairly annoying.

I will say that I'm now getting to know the other "regulars" at the derm office, often chatting with them in the hallway, comparing notes, and so on.  I recently chatted with someone who readily admitted he's a nudist...yeah, you do the math on that one.  Honestly, I don't even want to think about getting these sorts of cuts down...well, there.  Geez.  He showed me one of his scars but luckily not one in that area.

Ah, life...  As they say, it beats the alternative!

I Think It's All Gone

Call me crazy but I think we're living in a new society.  Now, this isn't going to be some crazy political post, and quite frankly I can't handle those myself, but I would be amiss to not mention things around me that seem terribly obvious and yet no one seems to be commenting on them.  What am I talking about?  Well, for starters, mayonnaise.

Okay, that's not totally true.  This is NOT a post about mayonnaise...but it does start with mayonnaise, and I think it's a perfect example of what I'm referring to.  So, pretty much since the dawn of time (slight exaggeration), there has been a staple of a product called Hellman's Mayonnaise in the east and Best Foods Mayonnaise in the west (same product, btw, just two different names).  This has literally been the mayonnaise of the whole entire country since, well, I was born (the dark ages?).  This product is a staple because it's been consistent beyond belief.  It had a rich texture, full flavor, etc.  Well, not anymore.

Maybe you don't eat or use mayonnaise as much as I do but this product has absolutely, positively, hands down, without any doubt, changed.  It is not the same product.  Hell, just look at it!  Yes, even the color of the product has changed, where it was always just a slight creamy off white and now it has this grayish tint.  And then, there's the taste...  What I loved about this product was that it tasted "good" and not at all like icky bizarre Miracle Whip.  Well, those days are definitely gone.  Take a glob of this new version and tell me your thoughts.

So, what's my point, you ask?  We in this society are getting a snow job.  Products are being altered, changed, cheapened, and who knows what the heck else and no one seems to be noticing.  How is that possible?  I mean, seriously?!

Another one which is more well known is the "pint" of Haagen Daz ice cream.  Maybe you don't already know this but it's no longer actually a pint.  Hmm.  They have stated that they had a choice...either raise the price or decrease the quantity.  This is apparently a phenomenon that's happening to a whole slew of products out there.  If you're like me, you're probably thinking that they decreased the quantity AND increased the price...and I'd dare say you're correct, or at least that's what it seems like.  If nothing else, though, it rolls off the tongue easily to say "I want a pint of ice cream", and it's not quite as easy to say "I want a pint minus two ounces or 14 ounces of ice cream please".  Yes, it's simply not the same, is it?  No wonder math is more important these days.

Ah, but the list of products seems to just grow every day.  More and more products are cutting corners, changing ingredients, and probably, well, poisoning us all in the name of saving themselves a little cash.  Pretty soon, I wouldn't be shocked if water is no longer the main and only ingredient in water...but I shudder at what they'll use to fill in the gaps.

When and where does this end?  Have we no pride in anything anymore?  Will a Twinkie no longer have the infamous lasting 7 years cream center and instead something just shy of shaving cream filler?  And better yet, how have we not noticed?  One thing for sure - I'm beyond tired of the "supply chain issues" excuse.  C'mon, COVID's over, at least as an epidemic.  This is just a money grab, some strange and bizarre experiment to see if the American public notices.  And the scariest part?  We apparently don't.  Sigh.

Just Say No

It was announced that Joni Mitchell was going to come out of retirement to do one (now two) special performances at the Hollywood Bowl later this year.  I actually hadn't heard about this but I saw it written in an email and apparently it was blasted all over the news, the internet, etc.  After being rather shocked by this info (she is 80, after all), I then realized that pretty much everyone on Earth now knows about this performance.  This means that ticket demand would probably be fairly outrageous.

Now, I've purchased a lot of tickets in my life; in fact, one might say I'm a ticket buying expert.  I've been through all the phases of this dreaded event, from camping outside to physical in person lotteries to online purchases to scalpers, and so on.  I think I've seen it all.  What I've never seen, however, is the below.

I made a point to jump onto Ticketmaster a half hour early this time around, mainly since they tend to open ticket buying lobbies earlier than the posted time, something I personally think is completely bogus but probably helps prevent the website from crashing.  The lobby opened at the fifteen minute mark, I had to validate my account which admittedly took longer than I would have liked, and then I sat idle in the lobby for the next 15 minutes.  When the buzzer finally went off to say that ticket buying was live, I got this message:  "You are now in the queue...23,130 people ahead of you".

I'm sorry...what?!  23k people are ahead of me?!  This defies all belief.  How is that even possible??  I had to do a double and triple take, mainly because I've never seen a number that high in my life in a lobby and, well, my eyesight isn't good.  But yes, it DID say 23,130, and I could only sit there and scratch my head.  Prior to this, I thought being number 1,000 was bad...but 23k?!

As you can probably imagine, I didn't end up buying any tickets.  To add insult to injury, the only tickets that were available that I would be interested in seemed to be $1250 - $1450...per seat.  Um...?  Nothing like spending a mortgage payment or two to see a show at the Bowl.

So, let's back up...  This WHOLE bs via ticketing agencies was all about scalpers, etc.  The agencies and the artists wanted to cut back on scalping, especially back in the day when there were literal "ticket brokers" in business doing this sort of thing.  The solution the agencies evidently came up with was jacking up prices so that only the super rich will actually be able to buy tickets, and also allowing every average joe the opportunity to buy and then sell tickets at a profit, in essence taking the scalper problem from 10% of the market and making it 60%.  Yes, folks, this is the world we live in...and even weirder no one seems upset about it.

Now, I don't blame Joni, mind you, since I doubt the 80 year old has anything to do with ticketing whatsoever.  Still, I think it's time for us to say as a society that enough is a enough.  I say just say 'no'.  Sorry, Joni, but it t'ain't worth it.

Meanwhile, I'm still sitting in the lobby...and I now have only 19,510 people in front of me.  Hmph.

Things We Don't Have

I heard the most fascinating thing the other day while grabbing some food.  This particular establishment had a line up of large coffee thermoses, if you will, kind of like in the style that, say, Einstein's used to have, with probably about 6-7 varieties.  While making the difficult decision, a worker came up, interrupted my thought process, and asked, "Let me know if you'd like any coffee that we don't have."

This, of course, puzzled the living heck out of me and left me momentarily speechless.  How exactly does one answer this question?!  What does that even mean?!  These were the initial things that popped into my head, and then about all I could manage to squeak out was a "um, okay, thanks."  I mean, what can you possibly say to this question after all?

I then pondered this even more.  Was he saying that he had more coffee in the back and that he'd get it if it was requested?  Or, was he asking for opinions for possible additional flavors and styles, like, "...I really wish you had X coffee..."?  My personal favorite hypothesis, though, was that he meant it literally; "let me know if you'd like any coffee that we don't have".  Hmm.

I then couldn't resist but run with this in my mind a bit.  Maybe this guy ALWAYS talks like this - could you imagine?  He walks into a bank:  "Hi, I'd like to withdraw some money...that I don't have".  "Here's my ATM card...that I left at home".  "I'll place the funds into my wallet...which is in my other trousers".  Or, maybe he asks other patrons at the food establishment, "Tell me if you'd like to order something off of the menu...that we don't actually make".  "Would you like to add avocado...which we don't keep on hand?"  I mean, imagine the possibilities here!  This could be a very interesting world to live in and it immediately made me want to be his friend, just to see exactly how far this curious line of communication could actually go.  Then again (sigh), it's probably more much likely that he either had a slip of the tongue or it was simply a language barrier.  Still, ah, yes, I much prefer my version.

We all know that communication is going down the toilet.  The English language has certainly been bastardized by the likes of texting, laziness, and an overall feeling that proper communication is simply unimportant.  I personally think it's a huge part of what we all hate about daily life now and the demise of common courtesy...and yet most people don't seem to want to admit it or do a thing to change it.  Therefore, I stand on my lone island, the defender of the language, kind of like Joan of Ark as she burned at the stake, while everyone else around me attempts to communicate via a series of grunts, emoji's, and bizarre shorthand.  I'll continue to use complete sentences, dammit, no matter what, even in texts.  Grrr!  Oh, wait, that's a grunt...please ignore.

And now, I think I'll go play some music...that was never made.

The Beat Goes On

I'll admit that I'm running out of titles for these posts.  Geez.  I also keep wanting to get back to more amusing entries but alas that's been a bit difficult over the past couple of months.

I guess first up I'll say that my eyesight has moderately improved over the past 2-3 weeks.  In fact, it improved enough that I was able to drive myself over to see Devo in Del Mar, which actually turned out to be the best show I saw all year long (albeit I didn't see that many).  At that time, I still drove with an eyepatch over my bad eye, especially at night with all the glare of the lights.  Once I got into the venue that evening, it was a bit disorienting trying to walk amongst other people without bumping into them or other objects, and I mainly kept to myself.  Alas, I got through it and ended up having a great time.  Oddly, I had never seen Devo before.

About two weeks later, I finally stopped using the eyepatch while working.  I found that the double vision had gone down a bit and therefore I could make it through the day without the added inconvenience of this material hanging over my eye.  I still don't see great at all, mind you, but it's nice to be able to have my eye "open" again and without a huge amount of double vision.

I found that I could start trusting driving a bit more as well as getting back on my bike, all of which I took slowly and with extra caution.  I just recently graduated to not using the eyepatch while driving period, and I also made my first long drive since probably 5 years ago, with driving out to Arizona to see friends and family.

I wish I could say that everything's been better but a very dear friend of mine experienced a terrible tragedy in his family of which I won't go into here, and then just days later my aunt passed away, hence the trip to AZ.  It was all very earth shattering and hard to get a grip on.  I was pleased that I could actually make the journey, though, and I dare say that I wouldn't have been able to do it only a week or two before.

This week, I finally had Moh's appointment #8, the last of the original group.  I was supposed to have this one done back in early October but I had to cancel due to the retina detachment.  2023 has been...well, quite a year, and certainly not a good one for me at all.  I had grand plans of getting tons of things done this year, least of all music projects and also starting on a major house renovation, and basically everything has been delayed repetitively due to all the dramas going on.  I know I've said it many times before but getting old(er) is hell, I tell ya.

At this point, if I'm still breathing past the first of the New Year, I'll consider it a "win" because, well, wow.  More so than ever, I wake up each day happy being able to see another day.  Now, if I could only get back to business, per se.

I'm now looking ahead to having my usual 2 weeks off over Xmas, something I greatly look forward to every year and that usually gets away from me.  Ah yes, but not this year...we're going to make the most of it, right?!  I said, right??!!  Yes, right!

Surgery and Recovery

I thought I'd be able to blog much earlier than this but I found typing face down, with my laptop at the bottom of the bed while I hang over the end, really quite difficult and tedious to do.  Therefore, I opted to simply wait until I was able to be upright again.

As a bit of a catch-up, the surgery went pretty well overall.  My blood pressure pre-surgery was extremely high due to nervousness, I think around 176.  I asked the assistants at what point they cancel a surgery due to blood pressure being too high; the answer was, "Whoa...you're not even in the ballpark.  We frequently see in the 200's, etc."  Well, good to know I have some wiggle room.

I was incredibly anxious as I was filling out paperwork, being called up to the desk a couple of times, and then eventually being called back for surgery prep.  I do what I can to keep myself in check but I simply can't alter everything, hence the high blood pressure reading.

After changing into my robe but oddly being told to keep my jeans on (?), the anesthesiologist came in to meet with me.  I explained my issues with anesthesia during my colonoscopy and asked if I could possibly be put out before being wheeled into the OR.  He looked at me very oddly and said, um, no, that's completely out of the ordinary.  I then asked to be sure that I was given enough anesthesia to make sure I was completely out during the procedure and he said, "Oh, you'll most likely be awake during it."  Of course, my blood pressure probably shot up another 20-30 points because this contradicted what everyone had told me previously.  He then went on to explain that I'll be completely out when they put the needle below my eye socket, which will basically completely numb that eye and black out my vision, and then I'll most likely awaken while they're doing the rest of the procedure.  He saw the look of horror on my face and immediately started talking me off of the ledge:  "Oh, you won't feel anything or see anything.  You'll be so groggy that it won't matter one way or another to you."  I still wasn't buying it and so he jotted a few notes down, grimaced slightly, and said, "Hey, I'll be there the whole time.  You'll be fine."  I honestly wasn't so assured.

Next came one of the things I always dread the most - the person putting the IV in your arm or hand.  I lucked out this time because the lady was super nice and kind, and also very compassionate about my nervousness.  I asked if the IV would be in my arm and she said, "No, I was going to put it in your hand."  Again, my blood pressure must have raised yet another 20-30 points since they were giving me all the wrong answers, in my opinion at least.  I explained to her how for the colonoscopy that it took 3 nurses to hold me down while they placed it in my hand, and I was basically screaming and couldn't hold my hand steady.  She thought about it a minute and then changed course.  "Let's put it in your wrist, then."  This was a new one for me but I wasn't sure what my recourse was at this point.

She then went on to tell me that she's very good at this, does it X times a day, and that I shouldn't really feel anything because she uses Lidocaine.  Now, this didn't mean much to me but I was sure that the previous time nothing was used to help the pain so who knows.  I felt the initial prick but it wasn't much worse than getting your blood drawn, and then she used the Lidocaine, and by the time she put the IV in she was absolutely correct for I didn't feel a thing.  Wow.  Mental note = Lidocaine.  And so, that trauma actually ended up being quite okay.

Next came the obligatory but worrisome "do you have a will?" and "do you have any visitors that you want to say goodbye to before the surgery?" sort of thing.  You know, the types of things that really give you comfort.  After that, I was placed in a wheelchair and given a nice little ride through the hallways and over to the OR.

This was my very first time ever being in an OR, apart from birth, that is, hence my nervousness.  Strangely, in hindsight now, it doesn't seem anywhere near as nerve wrecking as I had imagined.  I got up off the wheelchair, said hello to all the people involved, laid down, got "comfortable", and then it was like completely lights out, meaning there was no warning or anything...I was simply gone.  I then woke up and it was exactly as the anesthesiologist had explained, where my right eye had absolutely no vision and I felt not a thing except for a mild tugging here and there as the doctor worked on my eye.  I kept making a strange low moaning sound because that's all I could muster but overall the procedure was pretty non-concerning.  This went on for awhile, I heard them talking in the room and having a conversation as they worked, and then there was a moment where it was similar to the Three Stooges routine where the doctor said, "Gas on....gas off", or something like that, as they started filling my eye with the gas to replace the original fluid in it.  Shortly after, the doctor said, "That's it...you're done."  Gobs of tape and other things were put on my eye and I was wheeled out, completely doped to the nth degree.

I stayed in the recovery area for a bit where they started rattling off instructions that I knew I wouldn't retain whatsoever due to my dopiness.  I also started the face down positioning at this point.  Then, I was wheeled out by a large friendly guy who took me down to the waiting area on the side of the road where I could be picked up.

The whole ride home was a complete blur.  It's about a 45 minute ride but it felt like 5 minutes, that's how out of it I was.  Upon getting home, I started the endless problem of trying to get comfortable in a face down position of which I can now say is close to impossible.  In fact, I rented a special chair, bought a handful of special pillows from Amazon, etc., and none of these seemed to really work.  It took me about 2 days to finally realize that just using standard bedding pillows, more or less hanging off the side of the bed so that I can watch movies on my laptop, and so on, was better than any of the alternatives.  So, you read it here, folks...if you're going to have a vitrectomy and need to be in a face down position for a week, I personally wouldn't bother with any of the BS that's on the market.  Just grab some comfy pillows and whatever device you prefer and hang off the bed in order to fill your time.  Sleeping, however, is a whole different issue.  Due to my tremendous back problems, this was a real torture for me until I figured out that I needed to use muscle relaxers each night.  Even so, the positioning was awful and gave me loads of pain in my back that I can't even begin to describe.  I slept very little for days and kept constantly waking up every 20 minutes.

And so, in the end, I was correct in my thinking...the actual surgery wasn't that big of a deal but the recovery is killer.  My eye looked like I had been severely beaten up by a gang on a street corner, with both eyelids super swollen to where I couldn't even open my eye, and the actual eye itself so red and blood filled that you couldn't really see the iris or pupil of my eye.  The pain seemed to get worse as the week progressed, probably due to lack of sleep.  My eye socket continually throbbed for days.  At this point, I'm back upright thankfully but my eye is still pretty red on one side although the iris and pupil are now visible.  My actual eyesight, however, is another story.  The gas bubble is now only in the lower part of my vision but the upper area is not only blurred but also out of sync with my left/good eye which makes pretty much everything challenging.  This is what has me worried at this point.

On the plus side, I did watch tons and tons of horror movies all week long, some of which were super enjoyable and ones I had never seen before.  My personal fav's from the week were "Frankenhooker", a must see for anyone who likes weird horror comedy from the 80's, and "Mr. Vampire", one of the Hong Kong vampire movies that I didn't even know were a thing.  Other notables were "Bordello of Blood" and the "Terrifier" films which are beyond disgusting.  I also revisited the "Psycho" sequels, some "Texas Chainsaw Massacre" films, and the remaining films in the "Phantasm" series that I hadn't seen.  I dare say that I kind of enjoyed watching the films although seeing them downward is an odd experience indeed.  I certainly can attest to why the inventors of TV thought that it made more sense to watch it on the wall versus on the floor.  It's also astounding to note how, when recovering from eye surgery, how many horror movies have something in them having to do with poking or gouging eyes out.  It's not exactly comforting at that moment, as you can imagine.

That's pretty much catching everything up to now.  If anyone ever needs info about detached retinas or Mohs procedures, I'm unfortunately your guy since I'm slowly becoming an expert in both, albeit an unwilling one.