After a Labor Day race (10K), my right knee had quite a bit of pain. It didn't happen right away, but gradually got worse. So in mid-September, I went to the doctor. He diagnosed IT band syndrome (common in runners) and prescribed some physical therapy. I did that for a month and it wasn't getting better. Back to the doctor. The doctor ordered an MRI. I had it last Friday. The results from the doctor himself are "significant bone bruise in your lateral femoral condyle". "Borderline stress fracture." And worst of all, "crutches".
Saw the doctor yesterday. We looked at the pictures from the MRI. Yep. Fluid in the bone. Stay off of it for 6 weeks. Crutches. <sigh>
Here's a decent picture. Imagine that the camera is in front of my right knee and can see through my kneecap to the femur behind it. That white blotch in the lateral (outside) condyle (bone knob) is the fluid. Fluid is bad in the bone. So I need to stay off of it for a while. The next appointment is December 23.
I get asked all the time by people I know about stuff for their PC. "Do you know of any good backup software?" or "I hate Norton Anti-Virus. Do you know anything better?" Here is a pretty good list of stuff that I recommend and even use. All of these are free. Click each link to be taken to the download page.
K-Lite Codec Pack
A package of codecs for use with VLC or even the Windows Media Player. Works great for playing files that might be old and encoded with weird codecs. Start with the Basic or Standard.
iTunes
Apple's music manager. I actually like it as a music manager (although is is extremely bulky). NOTE: I no longer purchase music through the iTunes Music Store. I use Amazon MP3. They even provide a nice little tool for interfacing with your iTunes.
I know I haven't updated the site in a while. I'll fill in some posts about running, Muddy Buddy, and other boring things. For now, here's a picture of our new cats, Pepper and Ginger. We got them last month.
When I had the opportunity to be a chaperone for Jackson's 5th grade trip to Springfield, I jumped. So, we left at 4:45 AM on 3 buses from the school one April morning and spent the day ridin' and learnin'. The destination was fun, but the best part was watching Jackson among his friends and schoolmates.
We hit the Abraham Lincoln museum, Burger King, the state capitol building, Lincoln's tomb, New Salem, and dinner at Bonanza. We got home at 9:45 PM. A long day indeed.
Abe
Wax versions of the Lincoln First Family
Outside the Burger King
Capitol Building
A huge painting of George Rogers Clark (a great, great, great, great, great, great, uncle of mine!) in the Capitol building. This is actually painted on the wall, so it can't be moved. It is easily 40 feet tall.
A painting on the ceiling of the old Supreme Court chambers. Lady Justice.
Abe at his tomb
Abe's tomb (no hats or gum allowed)
"My boys" - I was responsible for the safety and well-being of these fine young lads
Over the years, both Jackson and Kennedy have been spoiled by Aunt Becky's and Uncle Tom's cake genius. Gaze with wonder at their beautiful cake creations. Most for birthdays, but several for other occasions. There are a couple of missing years in here, but you should get the idea. (Lots of pictures coming up!)
Before I could drive, a neighbor friend of the family "donated" an old car that was sitting in his garage for years. Evidently, he realized that he would never get the car running again and gave it to me. I was 15. My Dad figured that this would be a good "learning experience" about working for the things you wanted.
What I learned was that (1) my Dad hated it when you shined the light in his face instead of shining it in the dark part of the car, (2) he knows A LOT of swear words, (3) working on cars is a fool's game.
Anyway, we (mostly he) got that thing running. A nice blue 4-cylinder 4-speed stick shift coupe. I drove all my friends around in that thing. I tried to nickname it "Blue Lightning", but since we never could find a resonator, even in boneyards, it was loud. So, of course, my friends called it "Blue Thunder" and it stuck.
Ah, memories.
Here's a picture I found online that resembles Blue Thunder. It really looked exactly like this, except blue.
