It finally motivated me to order a new PC.

Intel i7 960 cpu - not the fastest, but still one of the short list for the top
12 gb of PC 1600 ram
a basic 1tb hard drive
2 ati HD5850 video cards. FIrst time for me doing multiple video cards
Also has a killer Xeno pro "gamer networking card" to offload networking from the cpu and a dedicated sound card for the same.

In theory this box should be ok for nearly as long as my current pc. (which is pushing 6 years)

I blame star trek online, Dragon Age, and Mass effect2 with a little blame aimed at the future release of Knights of the old republic online.

So.. at work they decided to do a halloween thing on 10/29.. it was also a de-stress event before our big drug study announcement.

Originally, I had no plans to wear a costume, but the cat work we up at 5:30am, and in a fit of sleep-deprivation, i thought of something..

So looked around, noticed this mostly-abandoned trash can that only holds one item - carboard rolls used for toilet paper.

in a flash of Ozwyn evil, i took them to work, wrapped them in duct tape, then taped them to a trench coat. I dressed in a shirt and tie and slacks (massively out of character). The bomb components were finished with a dead cell phone and car charge for a detonator and 3 ethernet cables.

I had yet another round of Kidney stones late in 2008, which resulted in an operation yesterday to remove on stuck in the bladder. Except it was not just one kidney stone, it was TWO, one stuck in the pee tube.

looks like a lot of my chronic kidney stone issues may have been these two kidney stone not passing.

so the good news is they are gone, and with luck they can be studied and such

Now for the bad news - PAIN AND BLOOD.

the Blood - well, I get to pee a lot of blood, which, due to blood thickness compared to pee, hurts and burns a little.

the PAIN - they had to put a from my bladder to my left kidney, when I pee, it almost feels like a pain baloon inflating in my left side. It hurts a LOT, insanely so. They gave me Vicodin, but it doesn't slow down this pain ONE BIT.

After 3 days in a row of no pain and almost no painkillers, I called my boss and tried to go back to work.

Turned out I needed a doctor's note to return to work. So I called the urologist and said "Hey, I think I am doing ok.."

Then I had another "4am pain wake up call" Lasts like 3 hours before the meds got it under control. Also had the experience of peeing a little blood.

Fortunately, my director (boss's boss) was incredibly cool (along with my boss) and even drove my backpack with my personal cell phone from the office to my house so I could charge it before I fly off to Texas this week for Blackrabbit's wedding.

Saw the urologist today after still feeling pain.

He now believes something, which, considering I am Oz, makes all the f-ing sense in the world.

Apparently normally kidney stones up to 4mm pass easily.
However,l some evil sonsofbitches get kidney stones with SPIKES. therefore they stick. and hurt.

Oz + kidney stone = evil spiked kidney stone, stuck or perhaps very slowly sliding down the tube, ripping its way along slower than a snail through the piping between my kidney and my bladder.

So... now I have 2 new perscriptions: flowmax ("You are now Sir pees-a-lot of the kingdom Urine. serve the cause well..") and Percocet (remember the tv show House? this was one of his favorite "get sotned" drugs)

Had some massive side pains Tuesday morning. In fact, they happened just as I got into work tuesday.

7:45am, the IT area is deserted, and I was in so much pain I had to call an ambulance because I could not trust myself to drive like 1.5 miles to the hospital. I mean it is in walking distance from work.

2 hours of no pain meds or treatment later, I managed to literally scream myself into warm and fuzzy and lightheaded place... a place with no pain. Everyone figures the stone must have dropped, and I am sick of waiting, so I get a ride back to work and drive myself home.

Wednesday: still feel a little sore, took the day off just in case, and after getting 2-3 v ery supportive calls from coworkers and my director (mnaager +2 levels above me), I am thinking I should be ok, and I barely notice some slight feeling in my side again

just a few initial pics of the Entry into SF this year

I don't normally do blogs, but what the hell...

On sunday, may 13, my Grandfather had his 99th birthday. Last night I found out he died. I sent hima card for his 99th saying I would deifnitely show up for the 100th birthday.... proving spite is indeed a law of physics. As a surprise to many, I am not all that torn up about his passing. The man lived well, he lived long, he saw most of his kids do well, and more than a few of his grandkids do well, and even got to meet and come to know more than a few great-grandkids. That's a pretty damn good run if you ask me. He didn't die in any great pain or suffering, he elft a lot of good memories and he helped a lot of grandkids through college.