ProfessorTomoe

Recording: "Your Speedo will self destruct in two seconds. Good luck, Michael." Michael:

I'm back in Foot Hell. Saw the podiatrist yesterday for a continuing problem with an ulcer on the ball of my right foot. He trimmed it down, drained a pus pocket (yum), and took a culture for a biopsy. Also put me on Augmentin until the biopsy results come back. Meanwhile, I've also developed "spots" on toes #2 and #4 of the same foot which he says are in danger of developing into bone infections, just like the ones on my left foot did. He gave me a pad to wear under my smaller toes which will raise them up (I've got "hammertoes") to a flat level. He's also mail-ordering a knee-scooter for me that he wants me to use in order to take the weight completely off of my right foot until everything heals up. No idea how long I'm going to be on that. Major annoyance. I mean, I'm not diabetic (A1C = 5.2), so why the hell is this happening?

I've spent a good part of the past two days piggybacking on the one and only Jon St. John's convention booth at the Let's Play Gaming Expo 2019 in Irving, TX (a Dallas suburb). He and his agent were kind enough to let me set up and sell copies of my Calibrations CD. Didn't sell too many, but it's the experience and the camaraderie that count. Had some fun conversations with Jon during slack time, none of which I'm at liberty to share. Big thanks go out to him for this year, as well as for the invite to return next year!

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/8/6/20756162/30-to-50-feral-hogs-meme-assault-weapons-guns-kids

Mrs. Prof and I were treated to a surprise luncheon (no Steamed Hams references, please) today, courtesy of Mr. Jordan John of the Texas Motor Speedway. He invited us out to The Speedway Club, a very swanky private club at the track for lunch and viewing of private Firestone tire-testing laps being run by Josef Newgarden for Chevy and Graham Rahal for Honda. It was a good day for testing - clear, hot (100°F with a heat index around 105°F), and not much wind. Fortunately, we were high above it all, on the 8th floor of The Speedway Club, having pulled chicken & dumplings, garlic mashed potatoes, elotes (Mexican corn off the cob), and more desert choices than you could shake a stick at. That, plus a great view of the track. Jordan went well above and beyond the call of duty today. He didn't try and sell us anything (directly), and he didn't ask for anything in return. He said that he just wanted to get to know us since we placed our 2020 IndyCar ticket order so early. I'm sure he probably wished that he could have sold us season tickets, but we let him know right up front that we don't like NASCAR racing - just IndyCar, Formula 1, and IMSA Sports Car/Endurance Racing. I sent him a personalized MP3 copy of my Calibrations album as a gift. He deserved at least that.

I've been asked to be a special guest aboard a game/anime-related cruise/convention! It takes place in February of 2020. The cruise departs from Galveston, TX on a 4 day round-trip cruise to Cozumel, Mexico. It's hosted by Jon St. John, who is best known for his role as the voice behind Duke Nukem in the video game Duke Nukem 3D. To come out from behind my persona for a bit for those who don't know me - my name is Lee Jackson, and I'm the former Music and Sound Director for Apogee Software and 3D Realms Entertainment. I worked on music and sound for PC games, writing the soundtracks for Rise of the Triad, Duke Nukem 3D, Shadow Warrior, and Stargunner. I'm not sure what kind of presentation (if any) I'll be doing on the cruise yet, but I'll be bringing copies of my Calibrations album, as well as two unique autographed Calibrations T-shirts to give away! If you've ever been crazy enough to want to meet and greet either Jon St. John or myself, now's your chance! Go to http://jsjnotcon.com/ for more information and to sign up. I'm looking forward to seeing you on board!

It's Tuesday, and the pain relief has been holding steadily since I got home Monday. It even held through a dentist's appointment today (two fillings and a temporary crown - that bit is still sore due to all of the injections I got for the crown). Granted, I've been asleep for most of the day save for the dental appointment. That's probably a good thing, since it's letting me get the Versed out of my system (I have big problems with Versed, normally). Fingers still crossed, and chicken wings eaten.

Thanks! This one has gone relatively well, compared to past rhizotomies. I let the anesthesiologist give me both Versed and Propofol. I usually have problems with Versed, but last time when I asked him to leave it out, I had rather unbearable post-op pain (go figure, eh?) in the right side of my back. No such pain this time around (in the left side). I was having some bad double-vision problems for the first few hours afterward, but a nap took care of that. I'm now on my second post-op oxycodone dose, and the pain is more-or-less under control at about a 5 as long as I don''t get up and move around too much. We'll see if it survives until Brenda complies with National Chicken Wing Day and brings home dinner from Wing Stop. https://nationaldaycalendar.com/national-chicken-wing-day-july-29/

Wish me luck, folks. Time for another back surgery/procedure Monday morning (7/29). I'm having a lumbar rhizotomy done on the lower left side of my back - in other words, they're going in and doing a radio ablation on my nerve endings again. The last one wore off after about 6 months. I go into the hospital at 9:10 a.m. CDT. I've got about a half-hour to drink as many fluids as I can before I have to shut down all oral intake.

Now, my right foot has what my wife says is a Plantar Wart. Sigh. It never ends. Oh well, as long as it doesn't interfere with my plans to go to Iowa to see the IndyCar race on the 21st.

We were the first Brexit. Glad to see you again, old friend.

Kinda nervous about this one. I've just submitted my latest single for Grammy consideration: It's in the Record of the Year and Best Instrumental Composition categories. Probably has a snowball's chance in hell of getting nominated, but it was worth the try.

Thank you. It's been a long time coming. I do wish my stomach would return to normal now, though ... gotta give it the old probiotic/Greek yogurt shuffle.

It's feeling better, at long last. The Augmentin gave me stomach trouble, but it didn't mess with my hives. Those responded to hydroxyzine for once. Never have before.

Have taken a rizatriptan for what I think is a migraine. My head feels like a watermelon.

WT-Actual-F? Now my hives are acting up again, in the exact same location that they were before (left shin). This is getting ridiculous!

... and wouldn't you [CENSORED] know it, the ingrown toenail surgical site has become infected! I've been put on Augmentin for it. Smegging feet. I need a new pair.

I've been keeping my podiatrist busy again. Had part of the nail of my right big toe removed Wednesday. It had gone ingrown on me, and I only just noticed the pain a few days prior to my scheduled follow-up appointment (for the surgery to amputate most of the third toe on my left foot - that part went well). He gave me a couple of anesthesia shots into my big toe - quite painlessly and very skillfully I should say - and then cut into and removed the right edge of the nail. Turns out it had grown thick due to previous trauma (long story), and the ingrown portion had developed a nasty, sharp hook which was causing the recent pain. He treated the nail bed with a mixture of phenol and something else, which should prevent that part of the nail from ever growing back.

As well. Don't think I have cluster headaches, though. Those are more nasty than what I get.

My/Mo Mochi Ice Cream. Found it at Costco. GOOD stuff. https://www.mymomochi.com/

I'm having eye pain as I type this. My eyes were dilated today for a yearly diabetic retinopathy exam, despite the fact that my A1C levels for the past 3+ years have been below a 6 (which essentially makes me not diabetic, according to my cardiologist). Anyway, for some reason, my eyes have been more light-sensitive than usual post-exam. This white background is making them hurt, some 7 hours after the exam. That's never happened before. I even took a nap, thinking that would help. It didn't. My oxycodone's not even helping. I had work of a sort that I needed to do tonight. I'm not going to get any of it done.

Having a decent Indianapolis 500 this year. The race was good, the crowd turn-out was fantastic, and hopefully the ratings will be high. Good IndyCar action.

I had two cups of coffee this morning, and my pain medication still managed to knock me out for several hours. Makes me wonder why I bother to drink the stuff at times.

My son and I conspired behind his mother's back to commission another webcomic artist (Kittyhawk, http://montrose.is/sketching ) to draw his mother as one of the sailor senshi from Sailor Moon. I've always associated her with Sailor Jupiter because of her kindness and her strength, so we had Kittyhawk try and adapt a 56-year-old woman to a sailor senshi. The results were remarkable. So, I give you my wife's mother's day present: Sailor Brenda, a.k.a. Sailor Scorpio! She's not really that skinny and her legs aren't that long, but hey - artistic license, okay? Anyway, my wife loves it. She's gonna get it printed on slate to match the Kittyhawk drawings of our two cats I had commissioned last year.

I need to invest in a good set of steel toes.