ProfessorTomoe

I've uploaded a new (private) track to SoundCloud, for which I could use assistance again. It's an original composition for concert band called, "Fantasias on a Hillside Theme," and it runs approximately 13 minutes long in 3 movements. I'm not ready for it to go fully public yet, so that's why I'm asking for feedback once more. Here's the link: https://tinyurl.com/464s9mmx Please give it a listen and tell me if anything needs changing. Thank you.

FYI... https://www.daredictionary.com/view/dare/ID_00034481?language=en The definition of "larruping" (or "larrupin'" for short). Found often in Texas parlance, apparently.

Maggi brand Cream of Asparagus soup. Mrs. Prof and I had individual bowls of it this morning. Larrupin' stuff, especially when you consider that it's an "add water to a packet of powder and boil" product. Even has real bits of white asparagus in it. I've ordered more, but of the Knorr variety.

Homemade chicken salad, crafted from the meat from leftover Wingstop chicken wings and using a recipe adapted from the America's Test Kitchen cookbook. Served on Ritz crackers. Om nom nom. I'd give it a larrupin', but the heat from the several-days-old Habanero-Mango wing meat has concentrated a bit too much to qualify for a larrupin' rating.

Sofa, so good.

Merry "crisp" mass.

"What we've got here is failure to communicate." There was no office surgery today, due to a breakdown in communication between myself and the doctor. I told him I wanted my lipoma removed, meaning the whole big honkin' lipoma removed, but for some reason he interpreted my desire as one to have just a small, hard lump at the center of the lipoma removed. When I corrected him, he said there is no way he could numb me up sufficiently in the office for the full lipoma removal, and that I'd have to go to a general surgeon to be put under using general anesthesia. Sigh. So, as a result, I'm back at square one. I have a consultation appointment set for the morning of Monday, December 30th, where I'll discuss getting the whole fatty tumor (a.k.a. lipoma), not just the hard lump, removed under general anesthesia with a doctor who works in General, Laparoscopic, Robotic, and Bariatric surgery. Hopefully I'll only need the General, and maybe the Robotic, specialties, in my case, and hopefully I'll be covered by insurance. Either way, the surgery won't take place until 2025, so it won't fall under my Catastrophic Deductible exemption for this year. Again, sigh. I told you to watch this space. Keep watching it.

I'll be going in for some office surgery at around 2pm CDT today, As Seen On Television(TM). Seriously, if you've ever watched an episode of Dr. Pimple Popper, you've probably seen what they're going to do to me. I've got what they call a lipoma, or fatty tumor, on the back of my right upper leg. It's quite large, and weighs several pounds. It doesn't directly interfere with my daily activities, although it sometimes gets in the way when I sit down on the toilet. Anyway, I mentioned it to the dermatologist when I went there to get a rash checked out, and he said it was a candidate for removal. So, at 2pm today, he's going to bring me into the office, numb me up, slice me open, and for lack of a better term, rip it out. I've been told that the recovery isn't too bad, as long as I don't put weight on it. That will be a neat trick. I almost have to put weight on it, since I'm required to keep my legs elevated in order to prevent them from swelling up from edema. Something tells me that the recovery is going to be worse than the operation. Watch this space.

Yeah, whatever the fsck "normal" is. I haven't been able to stay awake for an hour straight today.

Merry Crisp Mass!

I don't know what was causing it. I'm just glad the extra pain is over with for now. Back to my regularly scheduled chronic pain.

The rain has come and gone in the DFW area, so this shouldn't be weather related, but I am hurting like a mofo all over both my arms. My carpal/cubital tunnel syndrome is acting up in my left arm from the elbow down, and it's been flaring in my right arm as well with my arm feeling like it's been falling asleep every time I use my mouse today. Now, over the past hour, my right rotator cuff tear has been hurting, and my left shoulder is hurting like it's got a torn rotator cuff, too (which it doesn't, damn it). I'm in serious pain, just under level 9. I normally take 16mg of Dilaudid at 6pm, but tonight I took an extra 4mg to try and get this pain to settle down. That was about 20-30 minutes ago, and it still hasn't calmed down much. I can feel a bit of a Dilaudid haze setting in, though, so I believe this is going to be one of those "knock me out" remedies, if it works at all. I've never used this acronym before, ever, but here goes: FML.

*ROAR snarl growl rowr* ...oh, sorry, make that... pacman -syu ROAR snarl growl rowr

If it weren't for my love of making music, I would still be running Arch Linux to this day. I ran it for a couple of years after I left Apogee/3D Realms. Alas, Cakewalk and Adobe Audition did not run reliably under any flavor of Linux, so I had to switch back in order to cut serious audio and albums..

Saw my knee surgeon today to get my left knee looked at. The pain and swelling around my replacement knee joint has been really bad lately, especially today. He went ahead with his promise from the last appointment to "aspirate" (i.e., stick a big honking needle into and drain fluid from) the joint. He used what must have been a two-inch-long needle and a pair of syringes to pull a total of 25 milliliters of blood-red fluid out of the joint. The insertion hurt a bit, but the aspiration itself didn't hurt that much. It was just a bit unnerving to watch all that fluid come rushing out of my knee. Anyway, my knee has been sore all day afterward, so I don't know if it did any good. We shall see tomorrow, I guess.

I am having hell with my right hand today, especially with my ring and pinky fingers and the portion of the palm to which they both connect. It's pretty obvious that my right-side carpal tunnel is acting up something fierce. Add this to the pain from my right-side torn rotator cuff, and let's just say things are less than comfortable on that half of the upper part of my body.

Our female tortoiseshell cat, Pretty Girl (we didn't pick the name, she was a rescue from a hoarding situation) and me, relaxing together in my recliner,

I haven't run into anything that fits the definition of "weird" yet. Everything so far has been edible and nom-a-licious, if not downright larrapin'. Right now, I am slowly dissolving a yuzu+sake hard candy ball in my mouth. It's quite good indeed, even if there isn't much of a trace of sake to be found. (Yuzu, for the uninitiated, is a Japanese citrus fruit, somewhat related to the lemon, but not exactly the same. It's interesting. More mellow than a lemon.)

My son, in consultation with Mrs. Prof, bought me an early Christmas present. Early, because the contents are perishable and needed unwrapping. The present? A 3-month subscription to Bokksu.com's Japanese snack mailing service. So, for the next couple of months, I'll get a nice, red box, chock full of Japanese snacks, some of them duplicated (in the event that I'd want to share, or that I really, really like them). I opened my first box, a Japanese Seasons-themed box, which has had some absolutely delicious items so far. It's taking every ounce of my will power to keep from eating all of the contents at one sitting. Some of them I've shared with my son and/or Mrs. Prof, the latter of which who doesn't seem to be too taken in by the flavors. IMHO, it's because she's eating the snacks too fast (i.e., too American-like), and needs to slow down and let the flavors develop in her mouth. But I digress. The snacks are hard to describe from memory. There was a piece of Earl Grey Tea-infused pound cake (or sort of pound cake, not quite as dense) that was nice - very subtle. A white chocolate-infused strawberry was interesting, if a bit rough on the teeth. And the first thing I opened, a senbei cracker with Japanese ume plum flavor, dusted with a bit of coarse sugar, was a fantastic mix of sweet and savory, with savory winning out in the end. I really liked it, and wished there'd been a duplicate of it. I'm absolutely enjoying this to the hilt so far, this coming from someone whose FB feed is full of Japanese life scene imagery. I'd love to visit the place one day, but we have a hard time affording a trip down to Austin, much less one to Tokyo or Osaka. The Bokksu.com subscription is a neat little way to take a gastronomic (and mental) trip to Japan every once in a while. I'm grateful, most definitely.

It's not much, but Mrs. Prof and I hope you still enjoy them. Maybe they will help you hit your daily calorie goals. Om nom nom. In any case, If I don't hit up FB today, have a very Happy Birthday, kind sir. You deserve one, by all means.

Saw the dermatologist on Friday. He froze off a couple of "pre-cancerous" spots on my face and shoulders with liquid nitrogen. Said they were nothing serious since we caught them in time to prevent them from developing into anything nasty. As for the rash that I developed after the iron infusion, he agreed that it's probably in retreat, but gave me a cortisone cream just in case - told me to mix it with a 16oz tub of CeraVe and apply it to the rash areas then (not to apply it straight from the tube). I also showed him a rather large lipoma that I've had growing on the back of my upper right leg for many years now. It's quite unsightly, and something I normally don't talk about. Well, in the true spirit of "Dr. Pimple Popper" (he even recognized her when I brought her up), he agreed to remove it. So, on the day after Christmas, I'll come in to his office and get the full "numb up" treatment so that I can get it cut out and removed. My "Boxing Day" present, if you will. Fun.

Aaaand, no sooner do I take my first dose of methadone do I get a phone call from the pharmacy where I tried to get the Dilaudid (hydromorphone) filled, telling me they now have the Dilaudid in stock and ready for me to pick up!!! AAUUGGHH Mrs. Prof picked it up for me this evening, sometime after my second dose of Methadone. I'll go back on the Dilaudid when it's time for my midnight dose (in about 10 minutes). Everything should go back to normal at that point.

My currently prescribed pain medication, Dilaudid (hydromorphone), is currently unavailable in the area in which I currently reside due to a current nationwide shortage of Dilaudid (hydromorphone). Therefore, I am currently not taking it and instead am being prescribed Methadone 10mg 4x a day in its place. I do not know if this is a large or small dose. I do know I felt a bit woozy about 30 minutes after taking my first dose of it, though. I will watch a bit more carefully for side effects at my 1800 (6pm) dose.

Now ingesting a homemade quesadilla, constructed from two soft taco-sized flour tortillas, a small handful each of queso quesadilla and mexican 4-cheese blend, and a packet each of Taco Bell mild and salsa verde sauces. Not 100% larrapin', but close.

You're more than welcome. Enjoy.